Take a peak at RIC’s Interview with successful author, Margaret Johnson-Hodge.  Ms. Hodge has published over four novels, her latest, SOME SUNDAY is due in September.

General Bibliography

Name:  Margaret Johnson-Hodge

Pen Name?

I don't have a pen name.  I love my real name too much...

Occupation:  Author

Full Time/Part Time:  Full Time

Dream Job: 

To be a full-time writer, a dream of which I am blessed enough to be living right now.

Where do you live:  Atlanta, Georgia

Where’s Home: Jamaica, New York

Most romantic song ever sang: 

That’s a hard one. I love music so much, choosing just one is impossible, but here’s a sample: “We Got By” by Al Jarreau. “Oh Me Oh My” by Aretha Franklin.  “How I Remember You” by Michael Franks. “Your Song” by Elton John. “This Woman’s Work” by Maxwell. 

When did the writing bug bite you?

When I was twelve years old. (I still have the original manuscript!)  

What was the title of this manuscript and what was it about?

My first manuscript was for "The Real Deal", which came out finally in 1998!

What were your initial expectations for your writing career after you sold your first novel?

That the whole world would know my name and I would make the NY Times Bestsellers List. Of course the reality was far from that. But the experience taught me to appreciate the baby steps I’ve taken in my career.  My mentor, Brenda Connor Bey, studied under John O. Killens, who taught her that “any real writer wants to be a long distance runner”. What that means is you want to start out at a steady pace and keep that pace for the journey. If you start out the gate too fast, you run the risk of loosing steam. There have been a number of people who were overnight success but they quickly faded from view.

What is your greatest source of inspiration?

The blessings God has bestowed upon me. My husband, my kids.  The view outside my writing room. Good music. Wonderful friends. Understanding what life is and isn’t. It’s gumbo of things that keep me wanting to tell stories.

How do you contrive your story ideas?

I play the ‘what if’ game. I think of a situation and try and let the story ‘tell itself’. Often it’s a mystery. I have no idea how the stories going to end but I trust the process.

Of all of your stories, what has been your favorite to write?  Why?

My books are like children. Some I adore, some got on my last nerve. Some gave me real grief, others were true gifts. I can never choose one over the other, because I love them all. But anyone who’s mother knows, there will always be a favorite. Unfortunately, it is a secret I’m not going to tell (smile).

How do you make each of your stories distinct from the next?

Ideally stories should be like fingerprints, no two should be the same. In actuality it is not the actual story itself that makes the distinction, but how the story is told. Someone once said there are only 12 stories, yet we have millions of fiction books worldwide, based on just those 12 story lines. I think if you stay true to the characters, none of them can be the same. Just like my life is like no other’s, no story of someone’s life should be like any other. In my early years of writing, I used to try and ‘force’ the direction my novels would go and they would read just that way—forced. Now I respect the ‘truth’ of my tales, whether I like the direction it takes or not. In “Butterscotch Blues” I was mad because I didn’t want Adrian to die. But the ‘truth’ of that tale was that wonderful, warm, fine, considerate, loving human being was suppose to die..

In your current work, what do you try to do with your novels?

I try to explore real life. In my first book, THE REAL DEAL, the lead character masturbates, smokes and has an abortion.  In my second, A NEW DAY, a single mother ‘prostitutes’ herself with her ex to get what her daughter needs. In my third, WARM HANDS, the character’s father is stabbed because he was cheating on the woman he had left his wife for.  In my fourth, BUTTERSCOTCH BLUES the lead male contracts AIDS and dies.

Tell me about SOME SUNDAY.

SOME SUNDAY is the sequel to BUTTERSCOTCH BLUES. When I first finished BUTTERSCOTCH BLUES”, I found myself wondering what happened to Sandy after Adrian’s death. How did she live her life as a woman whose husband had died from AIDS? Was a stigma attached to her? What about the next man who entered her world? Would he be strong enough to stay or would he get scared and leave?

I realized there were a lot of ‘Sandy’s out there, surviving partners of people who had succumbed to the deadly disease and I wanted to find out more about what that was like. So I decided to write the sequel. But it’s not just about Sandy. It’s about her friends too. It’s about Martha the hard nose ADA who has gotten so burned by love she thought she’d never own it again. But she does and she finds herself wanting more than possibly her boyfriend is willing to give. It’s about Janice, who wanted someone to love her with all his heart but when she gets just what she asks for, she doesn’t know if she can handle it. And it’s about Britney, the Queen Bee of the group who never expected to be in that situation but finds herself there anyway. To her friends her life is golden, but the reality is no matter how good things look on the outside, it doesn’t always add up on the inside. So what I’ve done is taken Sandy and her friends and dug deeper into their lives. Sequels don’t always pan out, but so far the response has been wonderful.

What inspired this story?

BUTTERSCOTCH BLUES of course!

What, if any, parts of your own character or life are reflected in your hero/heroine and their struggles?

Defining myself on my own terms and learning to embrace my joys and my sorrows. I believe that is the one main theme that runs through all my stories.

What would you like your readers to take away from your story?

When I write a book, I would like the reader to experience a few things: a) a smooth coast down the highway where my words are freshly paved asphalt beneath their wheels—no lumps, no bumps, no potholes. Nothing that makes them scratch their head or question what they’ve read. Secondly, I want my readers to glimpse some lesson in my story that they can carry like tiny tokens of wisdom in their pockets.  And thirdly, I want them to close the last page and feel good about the purchase, that maybe, just maybe, they might pick up a Margaret Johnson-Hodge book again.

How can readers contact you?

Unlike most writers I do not have a website but they can e-mail me at mjhodge@bellsouth.net