Four years ago I decided to pursue what was fast becoming my first love - creative writing. This wasn't going to be an easy transformation, though. There's a big difference between analyzing financial statements and creating characters that leap off the page. I spent a year on a self-study campaign to improve my writing skills and my understanding of literature. In August 1999, I took that leap and self-published my first novel, Not All Dogs. The book received favorable notice in Midwest Book Review and Quarterly Black Review. Nationally distributed, the book did two printings and was selected as an English and Humanities course requirement at Wilberforce University in Ohio. It was a tough road trying to get my voice heard among the increasing crowds of Black writers, but it was worth every minute. Anyone who is thinking about self-publishing, feel free to e-mail me with questions. The first thing I'll do, though, is point you toward The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross. This book will give you all the information you need and to the extent that you don't understand some things, that's your opportunity to network with fellow writers for help! Anyway, the end of my self-publishing road came in January 2001 when Not All Dogs was purchased for re-release by the Strivers Row imprint of Random House Inc. We agreed to re-title the book Between Brothers (long story, let's just say the old title turned off a few sisters who had been wronged by "dogs") and it will be on shelves in October.