HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the October edition of the Wilde Readings Series, with Odessa Rose and Deborah Kalb, hosted by Linda Joy Burke. Join us at the Columbia Art Center on Tuesday, October 10th at 7 p.m., at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.
An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems. Sign up when you arrive, or in advance by calling the Columbia Arts Center at (410)-730-0075.
Below, get to know Odessa and Deborah!
Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?
Odessa: Until my latest novel, “Kizmic’s Journey”, no one in my life has ever showed up in my books. In “Kizmic’s Journey,” I wrote about my family’s church, so I had characters that were based on them in the book, in particular my uncle who was the Bishop of our church until his death.
Deborah: Various versions of myself.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Odessa: My favorite place to write is in my home office. My family are in the house with me and I like being close to them. My husband lets me bounce ideas off him. My daughter often comes in my office and tells me about her stop motion scripts or films that she is working on. My sons stop in to give me hugs and kisses. I know I can probably get more done if I worked some place else, but I am most creative when I’m home.
Deborah: My home office, at my desktop computer.
Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?
Odessa: Research is my only pre-writing ritual. I love to research because I love learning new things. I like discovering things about my characters and the many themes that run through my novels.
Deborah: Taking long walks and contemplating what my characters might do next.
Who always gets a first read?
Odessa: My husband always gets the first read. Often times I wake him up in the middle of the night to discuss something going right or wrong with the book. So, he deserves the first read.
Deborah: A few of my family members and a couple of close friends.
What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?
Odessa: Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” is a book I’ve read over and over and over again. I love Morrison’s writing. I love the imagery in “Song of Solomon.”
Deborah: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman.
What is the most memorable reading you have attended?
Odessa: The most memorable reading I’ve attended is when Terry McMillan came to Morgan State University when she was on tour for “Waiting To Exhale.” I had just had an operation and was supposed to stay in bed, but when I learned that Terry McMillan was coming to town, I got up and went. I somehow forgot my book, but she signed my ticket, and I got a picture of her with my friend. I will never forget that day.
Deborah: Various book events featuring my father, Marvin Kalb, who is 93 and still writing books.
• Odessa Rose received her B.A. in English from Coppin State University and her M.A. in Literature from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is the author of Water In A Broken Glass, which was her first novel. This intriguing story captured the #6 spot on the On-Demand Best Seller list, received the Just About Books Annual Book Award, is ranked #17 on Accredited Online Colleges’ 20 Essential Novels For African-American Women list, was recorded for the Maryland School for the Blind, is included in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature, Ethnic American Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students, and Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction.
In 2018, Water In A Broken Glass was adapted into an award-winning feature film called Water In A Broken Glass. Her second novel, In the Mirror received the African American Expo Award for Fiction. Rose is a member of the Black Writers Guild of Maryland. She is also the co-creator of the television magazine, This Is Baltimore, Too. She resides in her hometown of Baltimore with her husband and three children. You can find Odessa and links to all her social media pages at odessarose.com.
• Deborah Kalb is a freelance writer and editor. She spent about two decades working as a journalist in Washington, D.C., for news organizations including Gannett News Service, Congressional Quarterly, U.S. News & World Report, and The Hill, mostly covering Congress and politics. Her book blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, which she started in 2012, features hundreds of interviews she has conducted with a wide variety of authors.
She is the author of the forthcoming novel Off to Join the Circus (Apprentice House, 2023), as well as three novels for kids, Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat (Schiffer, 2020), John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead (Schiffer, 2018), and George Washington and the Magic Hat (Schiffer, 2016) — and she’s the co-author, with her father, Marvin Kalb, of Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama (Brookings, 2011). She is the author/updater of Elections A to Z, 5th edition (CQ Press/SAGE, 2022), the editor of the two-volume reference book, Guide to U.S. Elections, 7th edition (CQ Press/SAGE, 2016), the co-author of The Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents (CQ Press, 2009), and the co-editor of State of the Union: Presidential Rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush (CQ Press, 2007), and has contributed updates to a variety of other CQ Press books on politics and government.
Deborah can be found online at deborahkalb.com and on Twitter @deborahkalb, Instagram @deborahskalb, and on Facebook.
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