Meet Pamela Samuels Young, author of Murder on the Down Low

Pamela, tell us about yourself.

In addition to being a published author, I’m a native of Compton, California, a wife, step-mother of four and an employment lawyer for a large corporation. Until a few years ago, I taught business law at the University of Redlands School of Business.  I gave it up when grading papers began to cut in on my writing time. I still have a lot on my plate at the moment, but I love every hectic minute of it!  People often ask me how I find time to practice law and write a novel a year.  That answer is simple:  I have a strong faith in God.  Without that, I couldn’t do any of this.

What type of jobs or careers have you worked in the past?

Prior to law school I was a television news writer at WXYZ-TV in Detroit and an associate producer and news writer at  KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.  I also spent a summer as a reporter for the Rockford Register-Star in Rockford, Illinois and was a copy editor for the Long Beach Press Telegram.  Some of my prior jobs included sorting mail during Christmas time at the Post Office, working as a clerk at JC Penney’s and ToysRUs, and cooking up samples to hand out in grocery stores.

Who are your favorite authors?

These days, I read more mysteries than anything else. Some of my favorite authors include Walter Mosley, Greg Iles, Sandra Brown, Tami Hoag, James Patterson, Valerie Wilson Wesley, and John Grisham. I love a good plot and I think all of these writers write very entertaining novels. I also enjoy women’s fiction and I’ll buy anything Terry McMillan decides to write. 

What are your favorite books?

There are way too many to pick just a few!  The book that had the greatest impact on me as a kid was Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land. I can still remember stumbling across a copy of the book at my aunt’s house when I was about twelve. It was the first book I can remember reading that had African-American characters and I was thrilled to be reading about people who looked like me. It was also a very gritty and graphic coming of age story. I promptly “borrowed” the book without asking for permission for fear that my aunt would think I was too young to be reading such a sexually graphic book. After that, I developed an insatiable appetite for African-American fiction. That led me to Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison and other truly great literary authors.

When did you begin to realize you wanted to write?

I knew pretty early that I wanted to be a writer, having worked on school newspapers in junior high, high school and college. When I decided to major in journalism at the University of Southern California, I didn’t give much thought to creative writing. At the age of 18, I didn’t have the guts to even consider a career as a novelist. The writers I enjoyed reading – James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Joan Didion – were incredibly talented literary writers. I knew I didn’t have that kind of poetic writing talent. So I pursued a career in journalism and later, earned a law degree.  After finishing law school, I started reading mysteries, particularly those that involved fascinating legal cases. It bothered me, however, that the legal thrillers I read never depicted women or African-Americans as attorneys. So I decided to fill the void by bringing some diversity to legal fiction.

Tell us about your journey to publication.

It took me about three years to finish my first novel.  It wasn’t a very good book and it was months before I realized that.  Instead of telling me the book sucked, my friends just avoided me.  I then started working on another novel and with the encouragement of a friend who really enjoyed the first 50 pages of the new book, I finished it in less than a year.  That book, Every Reasonable Doubt, received a very different reception from my test readers.  Their praise for the book taught me a very valuable lesson:  If you’ve written a good book, people will tell you it’s good.  If you’ve written a bad book, most people will just avoid you.  Prior to my getting a book deal, an excerpt of Every Reasonable Doubt won the Black Expression Book Club’s Annual Fiction Writing Competition.  After months of rejection from agents, all of a sudden three agents were suddenly interested in the book.  I signed my first two-book deal with BET Books, which was later acquired by Harlequin, which published In Firm Pursuit. There were no takers for Murder on the Down Low, so I self published the novel, and I’m so glad I did.  Murder on the Down Low was not only the Editor’s Pick by the Black Expressions Book Club but was a finalist for the 2009 African American Literary Awards.  The praise for Murder on the Down Low that I’ve received from readers, particularly my book club, fans has been tremendous.  That’s what keeps me going!

Are you a full-time writer? If so, describe your day?

I wish I was a full-time writer!  I still work as an in-house employment attorney for a major corporation. I only work four days a week, but it’s still difficult to write and publicize my books in the limited time I have. As a result, I don’t write every day. I find the time whenever and wherever I can.  I will spend anywhere from a few weeks to as long as three months outlining a book before I actually start writing. During this time, I mull over my story quite a bit. I’m thinking about it in the shower, while I’m standing in line at the grocery store, and during my 45-minute commute to work. Even during the outlining stage, I can almost see each chapter as if it were a scene in a movie. Only after I have a completed outline do I start writing. And when I write, I go from page one to the last page without doing much editing along the way. For me, it’s psychologically motivating to complete that first draft, even if it’s so bad I’d never dare show it to anyone. Once I have a first draft, then the real writing starts. I revise, and revise and revise some more. That process can last six months or more.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger spree of violence in this scandalous tale of lust, lies, and vengeance. A brazen gunman is targeting prominent African American men on the streets of Los Angeles, and police are completely baffled. At the same time, savvy big-firm attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outrageous sidekick, Special, lead the charge for revenge against a man whose deceit caused his fiancée’s death. For Special, hauling the man into court and suing him for wrongful death just isn’t good enough. While she exacts her own brand of justice, a shocking revelation connects the contentious lawsuit and the puzzling murders.

Follow the rest of Murder on the Down Low Blog Tour at http://bit.ly/MurderOnTheDownLow

For more information about Pamela, visit her at PamelaSamuelsYoung.com.

Murder on the Blog Tour Giveaway

Please leave a comment to be eligible to win an autographed book and a 25 dollar gift card from Pamela Samuels Young.  One winner will be chosen each day for a total of FIVE winners.