My Quiet New York ... by Anna Taylor Sweringen

Being a native New Yorker the roar and rush that is the normal pace of the city ran in me from sunrise to sunset. I took for granted how the city never sleeps, even if I rarely took advantage of the attractions that draw most tourists there like the Chrysler Building and Radio City Music Hall.

New York at Night

Yet amid the famous and infamous pace attributed to NYC, the city gave me a soul-satisfying quiet that kept me anchored in what was important to me. I think that’s why my favorite song from the musical Hamilton is Quiet Uptown. The song is a reminder that New York has places of quiet that soothe and calm.

Four Freedoms Park

This is a view of the UN from Four Freedoms Park. Located on the south end of Roosevelt Island, the park is a tribute to FDR’s famous four freedoms speech. I’d go there and just sit and let the quiet calm of the East River wash over me.

Promenade and Ferry

Another of my quiet places was the Brooklyn Promenade. You’d think a walkway built over a highway would be noisy, but sitting on one of the benches with Brooklyn Heights behind and the lower Manhattan skyline before always filled me with peace. I got the same sense of stillness riding the best free water ride available: the Staten Island Ferry. Just looking at this photo I can smell the ocean and the feel of the breeze on my face as I gazed at Lady Liberty.

The grandeur of the 42^nd street branch of the New York Public Library worked its magic on me too.  I’d go to the main reading room, fondly remembering thumbing through the old card catalogues then requesting a book and sitting on the bench until my number appeared until I could pick it up just like in the scene in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

New York Public Library Reading Room

Now it’s a research library now but the majesty of the murals painted in tribute to the written word instills a sumptuous stillness of their own.

New York Public Library Murals

It’s no coincidence that my contemporary stories are located in the quiet places I’ve claimed in Harlem, too. St. Nicholas Park. City College. Strivers Row.

Harlem - St. Nicholas Park, City College, Strivers Row

It’s not only quiet uptown but all over the city if you know where to look. I hope you’ll be able to experience my quiet New York someday.

Haunted Harlem

 

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Sports, History Collide in New Boxing Romance

By Koko Brown 

Koko Brown

A couple of weeks ago I released my second sports-themed romance, Jezebel. The story revolves  

around a complacent exhibition boxer and a functioning alcoholic dancer during the Great Depression. Sound like a downer? It’s not I just chose to write characters who weren’t so darn perfect they make your teeth ache.

So how did Jezebel come about from a ten year old manuscript? Last, summer I wanted to publish a story right away. As anyone knows in this business, your next book is the best publicity. Unfortunately, my muse had a different plan. After I pulled Heart of Harlem (the original name of the story) out of an archived file folder, I realized how much fun I had writing my soccer romance, Players’ Ultimatum.   

The setting and the plot remained somewhat the same, but the character development received a major overhaul. And I enjoyed every minute of it.  Not only am I a sports fanatic, I’m also a huge history buff.  For this manuscript, I delved into everything from the Harlem Renaissance, social manners/etiquette, period clothing, Broadway musicals, Naval brigs, race movies, the first independent film companies, and about three dozen personal histories of boxers’ who fought between 1899-1950.  

I loved every single minute of it! I discovered Young Stribling, one of the first boxers to become a millionaire. He never fought in a title match, but made his money traveling across America during the Great Depression fighting exhibition matches. I ran across one of the coolest maps detailing “the fun to be had” in Harlem’s nightlife scene during the 1930s.  From this map alone, I was able find the names of lesser known nightclubs, what dances were popular during the time and how important the daily number was for many of the community’s inhabitants. Practically the whole city, considering the money to be made from the racket caused one of the biggest gangland wars in history. Dutch Shultz ring any bells? 

As a writer of a sports-themed romance, I also wanted to make sure that readers got a taste of the sport.  I hate reading a story about a professional athlete who never gets on the field or inside the ring.  In my opinion, that’s not poor character development. On the other hand, because I write romance I also keep the action to a minimum. I always have to remind myself that the hero isn’t romancing the other team or his opponent, his eyes should remain firmly on the prize, which is the heroine.  

All in all, I feel Jezebel really captures the essence of New York City during the 1930s. Hopefully, my readers will get the same enjoyment out of reading it as I did writing it. 

Want to learn more about me and my books?  Visit my official website: www.kokobrown.net.  For more about Jezebel or to read an excerpt, visit: www.kokobrown.net/taginterracialeroticromance/jezebel