'Dark Leopard, Red Wolf' Author Marlon James Oozes Charm as He Announces That His Dark Star Trilogy will be going to the Movies

by Rana Asfour

Author Marlon James was invited to speak this evening at an event co-hosted by DC's Politics and Prose Bookshop and Sixth&I. James's new book 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf', which was released Feb 5, is the first book in his Dark Star Trilogy. It was revealed that the rights for the movie have already been secured by Michael B. Jordan.

Exasperated by the lack of representation diversity in fantasy novels in general, he set out to write his own, the culmination of which resulted in the extremely well-received Trilogy. At the event he said: 'The Hobbit isn't real, so you could've included a range of characters in there.' 

The author who won the 2015 Booker Prize for his 'A Brief History of Seven Killings' was beyond charming. He worked that full house like putty in his hands and when I got to the book signing of the man who I'd read everything he'd written, and everything written about everything he'd written, the only words I managed were, 'Hi, Thank you, Bye' - like seriously #Duh (hashtag intentional).

I've made a list of the 8 best nuggets on writing Marlon James shared with his audience on the night:

1. 'Try writing in another writer's style until you find your own'
2. 'It's cool to sit down and not write sometimes'
3. 'Your internal critique cannot create. Try to get over the self policing impulse and just write'
4. 'My workspace is a mess'
5. 'Have you read 'We've Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson? It's terrifying!'
6. 'There is nothing wrong with a little ego when writing'
7. 'Always write the novel that is in your head'
8. 'You have to have confidence in the story you're telling'

And then there was this: 

'Even if I don't have interest in my culture, I still have a right to it' - Marlon James on being asked about cultural appropriation