Thoughts on writing

Writing springs from an internal, perhaps eternal, need. It is an external manifestation of the spiritual search within. I need to know what occurs within. With every line I ask myself if I am any deeper in the well of Being than I was before? Have I brought back to the world what is uniquely me and universal at the same time? I am not driven by perfection. Instead I search for Nothing. Once found, that Nothingness becomes a view screen and I begin to take dictation, letting the characters and activities from the screen inform the writing. This method is why all of my work is so descriptive, as if I am writing movies instead of novels. If the Eternal MotherFather is endless and all creativity springs forth from This, then it follows that art tapped into the endless will constantly be unique and emotive expression. Meeting these goals is all that matters and I believe my technique maintains their integrity and my relationship to them.
Contact me by filling out the form below or email me at kamau@kamauatembooks.com.
Columbia College of  Columbia University, BA,

Northeastern University School of Law, JD, 

Hometown:                       

Harlem, New York

Influences:

Richard Wright,  Zora Neal Hurston, Ernest Gaines John Coltrane, Gil Scott Heron, Salim Washington 

Hobbies:   
African Martial Arts, sprinting, weights .

           

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Thank you for your interest in my work. All  information remains confidential.
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January 2011

          A note  about “my story” is in order. One which answers your question, “This brother’s got six books out and I don’t know him?” Succinctly and sweetly. You see I've never really advertised. My  non fiction sells itself on Amazon and different online sites, when it does sell and my fiction hasn't really. I simply never have marketed myself. I'm too busy writing. In 2007, I found Blogging and became pretty successful at it for an independent. Check my blogs and you'll see the evidence.

       Now I've been writing since fourteen and I'm forty four now. I found self publishing in 2004-2005, got into the art of it just to see my work and hand sold one or two copies here and there. But writing is my full time dream. Period. My passion and my life. Pick up my books and you'll find that I'm probably the most amazing African American writer you've never read. Period. If you're a reader and you like the genre of the book I've written and you don't feel compelled to finish it then I haven't done my job. I'd be astounded, but I would not have done my job, definitely. My greatest dream is to see my books in book stores. It drives me night and day past heartache and failure, past every release where no one ever buys on line. As an aside, I don't believe I've not sold. Look on Amazon and look at Knowing The Manifestations. Look which books it's marketed with. Wow. And I've seen it advertised on the pages of famous mainstream self help books.  I'm just not getting paid the way I believe I should. And this is the position of every artist, or business person in the distribution chain, I guess. But I will not stop dreaming So I've decided to try to pull everything back and sell only downloads from this site and/or find a publisher.

        And on this morning I'm  reinvigorated. As more people find out about me I believe I'll make it across the digital divide and find me. I'm older, wiser and realize I have a goal. Additionally, the world has changed. It has caught up to my vision. African Americans characters doing great wonderful things as leads is not so unbelievable any more. (Obama!) And I believe the very soul, core, spirit, of my people has changed in that time so that we are drowning out the self perceived self defeatism which was once the hall mark of editors' vision for the African American imagination and desires at these big publishers. Am I right? Can I make it? Only God and time can tell. I only know that no one will work harder, try harder; for I've sacrificed everything for this dream. God knows I've sacrificed everything.

Amen.

Kamau Atem