Derrick Ferguson: What are the major
changes that have taken place in your life personally and professionally since
we last talked?
Balogun
Ojetade: Personally, I now have two grandchildren (I had one back then), with a
third one on the way and my father passed October 16, 2013, a year and a day
after our first interview went live.
Professionally,
I have published several books, completed a feature film, won a screenwriting
contest and participated in several panels around the country.
DF: How have you grown as a
writer/editor/publisher in the past 32 months?
BO: I
certainly have – physically, at least. I now weigh 220 pounds. Back in 2012, I
weighed about 180!
Seriously,
I believe I have. I certainly have much more experience in all aspects of the
business and the art. I have always worked hard at my craft as a writer, but I
am devoting almost as much time to learning the business side of books.
DF: Is the direction you’re heading
in now the same as it was 32 months ago?
BO: Pretty
much. I have a stronger focus on pushing Black Speculative Fiction to the
masses, now and I – with Milton Davis – have produced and / or curated nearly a
dozen events since we last talked. These events include The Mahogany Masquerade; Alien
Encounters; the Black Speculative Film Festival; the Black Science Fiction and
Fantasy Youth Summit; The Black Speculative Fiction Author Showcase and
many others. And now we are Co-Chairing SOBSFic Con (“State of Black Science
Fiction Con) in 2016.
DF: Where do you see
yourself five years from now?
BO: I see
myself publishing other authors, making more films and giving the world SOBSFic
Con II. I also see a vacation in there, as I have not taking a vacation (other
than working ones) in twenty-five years. My vacation spot of choice is Gabon,
in Central Africa, my ancestral home.
DF: Do you think you’ve found your
audience? Or that your audience has found you?
BO: My
audience has found me. I wish I knew exactly who they were; it would certainly
help with marketing. However, in this digital age, people buy books and you
don’t know who they are unless they send you a message saying how much they
loved, or didn’t love, your book.
DF: Have any of your attitudes about
your work or your style of writing changed completely or modified?
BO: No sir.
I’m still the same old me. If anything, I am more willing to experiment. Three
years ago, I would have been too intimidated to write a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style
book. I did that last year with The Keys and I am plotting out the second book
in the series.
DF: Tell us about Steamfunk and your
place in the genre.
BO:
Steamfunk is the Black / African expression of Steampunk, but it is more than
that. While steam is the dominant technology in Steampunk it doesn’t have to be
in Steamfunk. Most non-European cultures did not rely on steam and saw steam
technology as a tool of the oppressor. We deal with that in Steamfunk. We tell
the stories of George Washington Carver, Bass Reeves, Harriet Tubman, John
Henry and Frederick Douglass – stories you won’t read in Steampunk.
My place in
the genre is as an author and screenwriter. Up until this year, I would have
been considered the Steamfunk activist. But now I push Black Speculative
Fiction in general. I think Steamfunk has grown wings and really caught on,
which was my plan. No need for me to keep that as my focus.
DF: Rococoa is a genre that really
excites me. For those not in the know can you tell us what Rococoa is?
Where Sword
and Soul ends and before Steamfunk begins, there is the Age of Spring
Technology and Clockwork. Think Three Finger’d Jack; the pirate, Black Caesar;
and the Haitian Revolution. Think the Black Count, Nat Turner, and the Stono Rebellion…that
is Rococoa!
A couple of
years ago, at the Mahogany Masquerade: An
Evening of Steamfunk and Film, I
inquired about the era that sits between Sword and Soul – the subgenre of
African-inspired epic and heroic fantasy that is usually set before colonization
– and Steamfunk, which normally takes place between 1837 and 1901. I asked if
anyone had a name for that time because it is a time that fascinates me – a
time of revolution (in particular, the Haitian Revolution); a time of pirates
and swashbucklers; a time of reverence for art and science. I am a huge fan of The Three Musketeers in all media and Brotherhood of the Wolf, also set during
that era, is one of my favorite movies.
No one at
the event had a name for the era, however, everyone agreed the time possessed
that same “cool factor” found in
Steamfunk and Sword and Soul.
Curious by
nature and a researcher by choice, I immediately began my quest of discovery,
fueled by my determination to find a name for this era that fascinated me so.
After a
brief bit of research, I stumbled upon Rococo…and, to my surprise, Rococopunk.
Rococo is
derived from the French word rocaille,
originally meaning the bits of rocky decoration sometimes found in 16th-century
architectural schemes. It was first used in its modern sense around 1800, at
about the same time as baroque, and, like baroque, was initially a pejorative
term.
Rococopunk
is – like Dieselpunk – a sibling of Steampunk, set in the earlier Renaissance
era, primarily in the high-class French community of the time. Participants in
this movement wear outlandish makeup and hairstyles and sport bold, brightly
colored clothing.
Think Amadeus, Pirates of the Caribbean, or The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen. For darker Rococo, think Last of the Mohicans, Perfume: The Story of A Murderer, Brotherhood of the Wolf, or Sleepy Hollow (the
1999 film, not the television show).
Okay, I had
a name for the era. Now, I needed to come up with a name to define the Black
expression of Rococopunk; a name to define the subgenre so that – as author and
publisher Milton Davis says of Steamfunk and Sword and Soul – “when you hear or
read ‘Steamfunk’ or ‘Sword and Soul’, you know exactly what you’re getting.”
Before I
could come up with a name myself, the brilliant Briaan L. Barron, artist and
owner of Bri-Dimensional Images, did
it for me with her release of the documentary, Steamfunk and Rococoa: A Black Victorian Fantasy. While there is
not much talk of Rococo or Rococopunk in the documentary – it is mainly about
Steampunk and Steamfunk and features Diana Pho of Beyond Victoriana and Yours
Truly – the spelling, Rococoa, was perfect!
At present,
I am seeking submissions of Rococoa stories for an anthology I will release in
early 2016. It is the first anthology I am publishing and I am very excited
about it.
DF: You and Milton Davis won the 2014 Urban Action Showcase Award for Best Action Script for your screenplay
NGOLO. How did you guys celebrate when you won?
BO: We
celebrated with some great Chinese food and a beer. The next day, we were back
on the grind, strategizing our next step with the screenplay.
DF: Tell us about the story of NGOLO
and your plans for it. Will we eventually see the movie?
BO: The
basic premise of NGOLO is this:
In the
near-future, assassinations are legal, as long as they are carried out by
government-sanctioned guilds of assassins, who settle disputes in boardrooms
and political offices around the world. One guild – the Bloodmen – is the most
skilled; the most dangerous; the most feared…until the day the hunters become
the hunted.
Here’s the
plot:
When a
contract for the life of Senator PATRICK STANTON – a man hell-bent on
eradicating the assassin guilds – is issued and taken on by the Bloodmen, it is
suspected by the Bloodmen’s Guild Professor (2nd-In-Command), STEPHEN JONES,
that the master of the guild, KAMARA KEITA, accepted the contract pro-bono (an
illegal practice) in order to force Senator Stanton to vote in favor of the
continued existence of legal assassination and assassin guilds at the upcoming
vote on the Anti-Assassination Bill.
Desiring
leadership of the Bloodmen, Stephen challenges Guildmaster Kamara to combat,
with the prize being command of the guild. Kamara defeats Stephen. Ashamed and
envious, Stephen leaves the Bloodmen and attempts to turn the other guilds
against Kamara. Instead, the other Guildmasters and Guild Professors back
Kamara and even encourage him to kill Stephen for his betrayal, which Kamara
refuses to do.
Stephen
goes to assassin wannabes, the TIGERS and offers them a chance to become a
legitimate guild if they help him bring down the Bloodmen. The leader of the
Tigers, CARLOS FAIRCHILD, is reluctant at first, but Stephen convinces him
that, under Guildmaster Kamara’s leadership, the Bloodmen have become corrupt
and they must be stopped before they cause the eradication of legal
assassination and all the guilds. Carlos joins forces with Stephen and hands
over leadership of the Tigers – and a few street gangs he has influence over –
to the former Bloodman.
The
Bloodmen throw their annual Founders’ Day celebration. All of the Guildmasters
and Guild Professors from around the world attend. Kamara awaits the arrival of
his son, MALCOLM and Malcolm’s fiancée, JAMELA RASHON, both top Bloodmen
assassins.
Jamela is
en route from an assignment in San Diego and Malcolm is en route from a job in
Japan. While on his way to the Bloodmen’s guild house, Malcolm is ambushed by
the Tigers. At the same time, the guild house is attacked by an army of Tigers
and thugs, led by Stephen.
Jamela
comes upon the house as it is being attacked.
And then…
You’ll have
to wait for the movie or the graphic novel to find out what happens next. We
are negotiating both right now, so I can’t say much, but a major feature film
is going to happen, but man, it is a long process. Hopefully, the feature film
will hit the Big Screen in 2017. The graphic novel should drop a bit earlier in
the same year or in late 2016.
DF: You and Milton Davis have proven
to be quite the formidable partnership. What’s the secret of such a successful
team?
BO: Hard
work, consistency and courage. When Milton and I first met – to discuss
creating Ngolo, actually – I told Milton that I operate from a position of
power; not fear; that I get things done and have no time for naysayers. He had
the same principles, so we started setting up events and projects together. Of
course, we would discuss our stories with each other and that led to us doing
some collaboration with Ki-Khanga, Rite
of Passage and Ngolo. Now, my final installment of Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman will be set in Milton’s world of
Freedonia.
It’s fun
working with Milton and we have much more work to do together.
DF: Tell us about the State of Black
Science Fiction Convention. How did it come about?
BO: Milton
and I have long discussed doing a convention. All of the Black conventions at
present are focused on comic books. That’s cool, but we need something more.
There are many fans of Black Speculative Fiction who aren’t into comic books.
I’m one of them. I lost a real interest in comic books after the last issue of
Brotherman dropped, but I never lost interest in novels, films and television.
Milton is not a fan of comic books either. I say that, not to bash comic books
or comic book conventions, but to say that we need conventions that offer more,
so we decided to create our own – one that would feature all aspects of Black
Speculative Fiction. After curating Alien Encounters, a four-day Black
Speculative Fiction conference (more academic than a convention) and sitting on
panels at cons across the country, we know how to do this and it is going to be
epic.
We call it
State of Black Science Fiction Con because State of Black Science Fiction is
the name of our collective. We call it SOBSFic [SAHBS-fik] Con for short.
SOBSFic Con is set for June 17-18, 2016. There is already a huge buzz around it
and we are expecting to get a great turnout.
DF: What are you working on now?
BO: I am
working on Moses: The Chronicles of
Harriet Tubman: Freedonia now. That will be the only novel I release this
year. The rest of my time will be devoted to developing and marketing SOBSFic
Con and doing panels at a few conventions.
Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we
should know?
Balogun
Ojetade: I am always seeking to collaborate with other authors and artists, so
if any readers want to work on something, they can reach me at Chroniclesofharriet@gmail.com.
I also love doing cons, so if you are doing a
con and need a panelist or a moderator, let me know that, too. Oh, and buy my
books. Word on the street is, they’re pretty good.
For more information about Balogun Ojetade and his work, check out his blog Chronicles of Harriet
