Vanessa Brown

The thing about being in America is when you are driving with the sun on your back, there's hip hop. I never used to be into hip hop, but there's hip hop in the food, soul food, there's hip hop in the cars.

Smart authors, faced with storms, chose to create umbrellas. That's why a diverse group of authors banded together to create The Fiction Writer's Co-op, which will work to find innovative ways to promote each other's work and cheer each other on in a very competitive field.

You make your first album, you make some money, and you feel like you still have to show face, like 'I still go to the projects.' I'm like, why? Your job is to inspire people from your neighborhood to get out. You grew up there. What makes you think it's so cool?