Things Fall Apart

What's woody, grasshoppers?

I had to squeeze in this shout out to show love to Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and other joints he'd written before I hit up a networking event tonight
 
He passed away last week at the age of 82
 
I've read Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God in African Literature back in college...if I wasn't panty raiding in dorms and skirt chasin' around campus, I was gettin' my read on for African Lit class...the Indian lady who professed African Lit was NO JOKE...straight up

She once asked the king out of anger if I wanted to teach the class because I was talking too much...and now that I think about it, my smart ass should've replied, "HELL YEAH!!!" and swagged on them niggas

Ha ha!

Anyway...Achebe is one of the reasons why I put culture into my novels...I always make a point to put some form of culture, whether it's Black or foreign, into my work so people can learn about certain customs

What's wild is that I actually thought about purchasing Things Fall Apart to read it again before he passed...that joint is most definitely on my "books to get" list

And yeah...I STILL read paperbacks, baby pa

Ayo, I'm out...I'm finna throw back a couple drinks in honor of brother Chinua

Peace

Nah'Sun the Great

Freakazoid Mondays Week 4

>>> He unbuttoned her white shirt and pulled down her skirt. The flash of her kitty got him Chinese algebra hard. Her hairless snatch charged him to sit her on the burgundy sofa. She opened her legs wide enough for him to bury her face between. The strawberry scent filled his nostrils as he dug his tongue in her gospel of bliss. Her holy water soaked him. You woul've thought the fitting room held church service with the names of the Father and the son muffling in the pit of her hand. She covered her mouth as he wrapped a lick to send her a pleasurable gift. <<<

Taken from page 190 of Thick in the Nick of Time @ www.nahsunblaze.com

 

How to Make a Book Cover for Dummies

What’s woody, grasshoppers?

Play the video above to get your groove on while you read the breakdown of Thick 3
 
This week I unveiled the book cover for In the Thick of Things aka Thick 3…the story itself is only 5 percent done…I’m taking my time with the story because I want THIS one to be special….
 
…kinda like how you continue to sleep and hoe around until you find the RIGHT person to settle down with
 
Anyway…I purposely posted the book cover a year before the novel’s release date to motivate me to finish the project
 
The visual helps out the king with the content of the story…besides the provocative nature of the book covers in the Thick series (half nakedness DOES help), they give me an idea of how I should approach the story…the better the book cover looks to the public, the better I write the story to MATCH the intense beauty of the visual before you pick up a copy
 
And for the record, I’m NOT the illustrator of the book covers…the artwork is done by Joshua Calloway, straight from the mean "skreets" of cornfields and cheese factories of Wisconsin USA, baby
 
Check out his work @ www.jacart.org
 
I hand picked Joshua to work on the book covers of Thick 2 and 3…I fell out with the illustrator of Thick 1…I was an asshole to Zach, but shit, I play hardball when it comes to projects that need to be done
 
I can be VERY anal about how I want the book covers to be executed...real rap
 
Shout out to Zachary Schoenbaum…check out his work @ www.umbralust.com
 
I emailed Joshua about a one-week book cover project for Thick 3…he agreed, and worked from the material I’d given him…I specifically told him I wanted yellow to dominate the illustration, just like how red dominated Thick 1 and orange dominated Thick 2
 
Thick 3 is also known as the "yellow book"
 
Joshua went to work with the first draft of the cover…the watershed style is used right 'chea on some Leonardo da Vinci type shit…I switched things up so the book covers won’t look the same from the other Thick novels as well as other books in today’s market
 
A week after our initial emails, Joshua hit me off with…

I wasn’t feeling it…the drawing wasn’t wack…it was just…
 
…eh!
 
The illustration didn’t make my dick hard…I told money (Joshua) to make her face smaller, sharpen the nose, make the lips fuller, fix the index finger, and put some red in the illustration to contrast with the yellow
 
Money headed back to the drawing board with this…

We were right on track, baby!

The wrinkles from the brush strokes of the painting didn’t sit too well with the king…they made shorty look old in the face...like "Jesus is my homeboy" old...I told money to smooth out the lines in the painting and add the background I gave him
 
He hit me off with…

Nice…nice…niiiiiiiiiice
 
Actually, Joshua had sent me two versions of the book cover: one with a sun, and one without…I wanted the sun to have an “Oh shit!” facial expression as he’s lookin’ at shorty…Joshua thought that shit was weird…I didn’t give a fuck, I wanted that joint in the painting
 
I told him to make the size of the sun smaller, add a red strand in the middle of shorty’s hair, and add the book title in the painting for this…

The cover was dope, but I wasn’t wholeheartedly satisfied…I didn’t bust a nut from the illustration
 
I suggested that money make the woman a little bit smaller, make “In The” that rides the T in THICK look much bigger, and put his own swag to the finished product since we had an extra day until the deadline
 
I hate using the word “swag,” but I’ll let it ride for once this time
 
He cooked up the final project in the kitchen and hooked me up with what you now see

I wish I knew how to draw as great as I can write…that'll save me some dough...LOL...straight up...drawing cartoons were my first passion as a shorty standing knee high…I couldn’t draw a lick, so I wrote episodes instead
 
Every cover of my books are conceived by me…I hire artists to carry out the images I possess in my mind…I’m the conductor in the orchestra of art
 
Simple as that
 
There’s actually more to the creative process of this illustration than I’m giving away…the process is tedious; it takes longer than expected…but hey, it’s worth it
 
I treat book covers like album covers…even if you think the story suck, at least you can’t front on the cover…I want people to buy the book based on the cover ALONE
 
And also for the cover to become timeless while the clock runs laps around this small, cold world like it’s on crack

Aight, ya’ll…I’m out
 
Peace

Nah’Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com

Book Cover for Thick 3

What’s woody, grasshoppers?
 
There’s nothing much for me to say

The book cover for In the Thick of Things aka Thick 3 speaks for itself
 
You either gonna get under the wing…
…or get under the ring

2014 and beyond, baby pa

Peace

Nah’Sun the Great

Freakazoid Mondays Week 3

>>> She sucked her way to a quick nut. He backed up twice. Her head game was too much. Soft twists and light slurps of spit hit the spot. Tasting his pre-cum provoked her to go harder. She patted his magic stick on her face cheeks before sucking him weak. The tip of him grew sensitive like horny nipples. His legs shook. He caught himself screaming from the top of his lungs that hit the Marvin Gaye high notes with Tammi Terrell on the hook. There was no mountain high enough that stopped him from getting his rocks off. <<<

Taken from page 191 of Thick in the Nick of Time @ www.nahsunblaze.com

Are Writers Born or Made?

What’s wood, family?

Ayo, I’m a firm believer that everyone has at least ONE good story within them…including YOU…yep, you!, the same person reading this blog

The tricky part is having enough IMAGINATION to write more than one book…me personally, it’s about possessing a great imagination to write several books…I say you’re not officially an author until you write 3 joints...word up

Whether people are diggin’ your work is irrelevant…the books I think are trish-trash are well praised and sell like hot cakes, so opinions doesn’t matter unless you’re so bad that you can’t give the shit away for free

I think writers are born AND made

Writing swims bone deep in my blood stream…at least on my father’s side…but damn, I didn’t know I possessed the finesse to pimp my pen until the 4th grade…I wanted to be an architect and draw stadiums and shit...LOL

Winning 25 bucks from writing an essay on Malcolm X changed all dat…oh, fa’ sho…I figured, if a brotha can win money writing, then hell, I might as well play my cards right and shuffle a full deck with the kings, queens, jokers and aces...you feel me?

Then I later wrote cartoon episodes and blah blah blah…and now I’m writing novels

So while I was born a writer with a great imagination, I was also MADE because I had to dig deep to unearth that talent…but to keep it funky with you, I found that talent by accident…if it wasn’t for that essay contest (I beat EVERYONE at the 4th grade level in my grade school), I probably would’ve built a skyscraper in New York or some shit like that

Real talk

Michael Jordan was blessed with the skill to play ball, but even he had to bust his ass to be the greatest

You still gotta sharpen your swords even if you are born in a family full of warriors with the bloodlines of a killer...the more you do something, the better you'll get...practice makes perfect, family

Aight ya’ll…I’m out

Peace

Nah’Sun

Writing as a Hustle

Grindin' in front of Black & Nobel, Philly USA

What’s woody, grasshoppers?

Ayo…you have a lot of new authors…some have a genuine interest in writing, while others are fuckin’ up the game by thinking you can make a quick buck
 
The 99-cent eBook sale prices are pissing me the fuck off...it’s ruining the game...you see, people…every author in the game is a part of the same fraternity and sorority…in other words, the actions of one author can cause a ripple effect in the ocean

Kinda like how a single rock that’s thrown in the water can cause a hurricane

I say that because authors selling their eBooks for 99-cent screws up the flow of money making when you have authors LIKE ME that actually have confidence and high esteem for my work

I’ll NEVER sell my eBooks for pennies…I might as well sell them for free…real talk

I think eBooks are the devil for various reasons, but when I DO convert my paperbacks to eBooks, I’m selling them for no less than 4 bucks…I’ll be damn to short change myself for a quick come up…I’m sitting on a goldmine, and I’m not gon’ allow half assed authors to fuck up my paper

Now back to the issue…

Sweepin 'em off their feet in the ATL

Can you come up and make money writing books?

Hell yeah…hecky hell, fam

But like everything in life, you need to work HARD and SMART for the returns you wanna see…you gotta put in work…the overnight success is the exception, NOT the rule

There’s a big difference between the professional and the hustler…the professional lasts forever…the hustler leaves as quickly as they came

I’ll explain the different of the two next week

Aight ya’ll…I’m out

Peace

Nah’Sun the Great

Politickin' with fellow author Michael "Midtown Mike" Evans

Math vs Dose THE REMATCH

Math (the left) vs Dose (the right)

Ayooooo…
 
I’m a big time battle rap fan…as an MC, I too have battle rapped back in high school and college…battle rapping was a way to test your skill as an MC…nowadays, battle rapping has reached to higher levels with more sophisticated rhymes than years before
 
I wanna introduce this infamous rematch between Math Hoffa and J Dose for two reasons:


1. Their first battle was popular back in ‘07

2. Their first battle was popular in ’07 because of a punch to the chin

 
Now, I don’t condone violence in a battle rap…you kick someone's ass verbally because getting physical shows how weak minded you are…but shit, the punch was funny as hell…ha ha!
 
Check out the 1st clip below for the first battle between Math and Dose aka the infamous chin checkin’
 
The 2nd clip is an explanation of why Math had punched Dose
 
And the 3rd clip is the REMATCH that took place a few weeks ago
 
Here's my recap:

I think Math won the rematch 2-1 out of 3 rounds...Dose won the first round (he SNAPPED!) and Math won the last two
 
Dose is a dope lyricist, he just lacks a stage presence, and he needs to slow down his rhymes so everyone can FEEL what he's saying...some of the tightest shit he spat was rapped too fast to grasp in one listen
 
Math controlled the stage better and kept me more entertained...I'm all about bars (pure lyricism of wits), but I also want my battle MC to entertain and move the crowd
 
Anyway, enuff of that shit...see for yourself
 
Peace
 
Nah'Sun the Great

Smackin' Your Moms with a Smile on my Face

Ayoooo… 

Check out these clips from Super Nova Slom 

Some powerful shit, people…peep game if you wanna know why the youth are so damn wild…trust me on this one 

Peace 

Nah’Sun the Great

Freakazoid Mondays Week 2

>>> He eased his strokes and tongue kissed his way into her heart. Kisses came far and wide. She appreciated his intimacy. She held him closer to her body with tears leaking out her eyes. Feeling him taking the time to know her body crossed the thin line between fucking and making love. <<<

Taken from page 103 of Thick in the Nick of Time @ www.nahsunblaze.com

A Small Chronic Break

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Authors Helping Each Other Out

What’s woody, grasshoppers?
 
Okay, people…the book game can be VERY cutthroat at times. That’s why I don’t fuck with a lot of people in the industry. I write my books, shake hands and kiss babies, make my money, and call it a day
 
On the flip side of the coin, if an author asks me a question, I don’t mind giving them knowledge about the game. And if I don’t know, I’ll guide them to the right spot. Other times, I’m not answering dumb ass questions like, “How do you write a book?”
 
Um…you type on a keyboard…duh!
 
I remember one time I asked this editor to work on my first book back in 2007. Make a long email exchange short, she didn’t wanna edit my book because I wasn’t signed with a major publishing house. I say that because the first question she asked was, “Are you self-published?”
 
And my answer broke the winds in hell of a rejection
 
But fuck it…things happen for a reason. My editor, Shonell Bacon, whom I’ve been using since my first book has done a helluva great job 

I say that to say things happen for a reason...a rejection or brush off can be a blessing in disguise...a rejection from one of your peers can either make you stronger or break you down...but I say, "fuck 'em" and keep it movin' like it never happened
 
You see…
 
Authors feel like you might get the upper-hand on them if they drop jewels on you about the industry. Insecurity's a bitch ain’t it? Well, it is. Me personally, I don’t have a problem with doing my own research. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt to get additional info from my peers
 
I’ve come across a few authors that dropped helpful jewels to me. I haven’t met any asshole authors yet. Then again, I don’t go out my way to socialize with anyone in the industry.
 
So far so good

Lampin with author David L in Philly

Aight, ya’ll…I’m out
 

Peace
 
Nah’Sun the Great

The Favorite Part of Writing

What’s woody, family?
 
I have a love/hate relationship with writing…sometimes I’m amped up to write, while other times I don’t want anything to do with it…I get bored easily
 
That’s the main reason why it takes me 9 months to finish a novel
 
Back in the day, it took authors years to finish a book. But now, people are bangin’ out books like babies…a month or less. That’s not my style…you can’t rush perfection
 
The best part of writing a book to me is the middle parts…I just got comfortable writing the beginning and ending. Sometimes I wanna skip to different from parts of the book…that’s a pain in the ass because then I gotta figure out the proper timeline of the story

I just got comfortable with writing female characters. The majority of fiction readers are women. Writing female characters is important because of THAT fact. At first I avoided writing a female as the main character like the plague…that wasn't my thing...but the more I do it, the more I love it
 
It got to the point where I don’t wanna write male characters anymore. The challenge of writing outside my comfort zone is too intriguing
 
One question I hate that muthafuckas ask me is, “How do I write a book?”
 
Um, you put the pen to the pad or your fingers on the keyboard…DUH!

I mean, shit…if you don’t know how to write a book, your ass don’t have any bidness to write one…it’s bad enough that the book game is filled with mofos that can’t write themselves out of a wet toilet tissue

If you know how to read, then writing a book will come easy…notice that I used the word HOW…sometimes people just look at things without thinking outside the box
 
When I read books, I STUDY the writing style, the flow of the book, how the characters are used, literary devices like symbolism and flashbacks, etc…I’m not only a writer, I’m also a student of the game…the more you read and write, the more you'll become a better writer...at least in theory...ha ha!
 
I also love watching movies in closed caption to follow the movie as if I’m reading a story…or even mute the movie to study the body language of people for my stories and in real life to get a better read on people
 
Aight, ya’ll…enuff of that…I’m out
 
Peace
 
Nah’Sun the Great