Jahmal Mayfield
Smoke Kings
DOSSIER: What’s the most embarrassing thing about getting lost in YouTube videos of 90s hip hop artists: getting laughed at by your kids, the looks they make when you start doing air instruments, or the collective household gasp when you start reenacting the songs Karaoke-style?
MAYFIELD: My favorite rabbit hole to burrow down inevitably leads me to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” remix. My wife and children know that bad things happen once Busta Rhymes starts growling and comes in with “Watch as I combine, all the jewels from the mind…” I transform right before their eyes. Start stomping and changing my voice to best approximate Busta’s. I think the first time they experienced this happening, it was pretty traumatic. It’s happened so many times since then, it barely registers a response anymore.
DOSSIER: Your inspiration for SMOKE KINGS came after watching a viral YouTube video. Does story inspiration simply appear for you from unlikely places, or do you purposefully go looking for it? (The Dossier understands there’s plenty to work with when it comes to living in New Jersey, but that’s another story … for book two, perhaps?)
MAYFIELD: I’m a longtime fan of crime fiction, and have wanted to write something in the genre forever. I try to be an intentional reader, meaning I curate the authors that I will spend my valuable time reading. In addition to being entertaining, I think the crime novel, in the hands of a fantastic writer, can speak to what is happening in larger society, can shine a light on these issues and illuminate the reader. I gravitate towards books that do this. SMALL MERCIES by Dennis Lehane is a recent example. S.A. Cosby’s ALL THE SINNERS CAN BLEED is another. So when I came across Kimberly Jones’s viral video, “How Can We Win?”, it really struck a chord with me. That last line, where she says, “and they are lucky that what Black people are looking for is equality and not revenge,” I knew I had a fantastic what/if for a novel concept. I don’t know if that kind of inspiration will happen again, but my current WIP does address a social issue of our times. For me, at least, it’s important that I’m writing stories with something to say. So, in that regard, yes, I will always be looking for something meaningful in terms of inspiration.
DOSSIER: When was the last time you were mistaken for Ving Rhames and, did Tom Cruise actually call you “…just one big teddy bear…” while filming Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning?
MAYFIELD: I haven’t been mistaken for Ving Rhames but have gotten some Charles Barkley comparisons. I’m not sure how I feel about that (lol). As for Tom Cruise, he didn’t call me a big teddy bear, though I like to think that I am. There is a rumor, though, that Travis Kelce was yelling at Andy Reid on the sidelines of the Super Bowl because he’d heard I referenced Taylor Swift in SMOKE KINGS and he wanted to read it to make sure it was respectful. I hope he gets his wish some day.
DOSSIER: You’re known to write to music, and your SMOKE KINGS playlist can be found online (thank you!). What other environmental factors do you find important to creating a good writing space? (Atmosphere, time, are there snacks involved?)
MAYFIELD: Yellow legal pad and sharpened pencils, that’s about it. I draft longhand because it slows down my creative mind and forces me to write with intention. Also, because it’s in pencil I’m not at all precious about the words I’m putting down on paper. They can be erased for a better alternative with little effort. I also like that once I transcribe to the computer I get a built-in second draft because I inevitably end up changing things.
DOSSIER: You wrote the draft for SMOKE KINGS in about ten months and then went another six working on about thirteen different drafts. What was the biggest change you made from draft one to the one you submitted to publishers?
MAYFIELD: I have a fantastic agent, Jackson Keeler of InkWorks, and once he came on board was when we went through those additional thirteen drafts. Because SMOKE KINGS has a provocative premise (a group of Black activists and an ally kidnapping the descendants of perpetrators of hate crimes and charging them reparations), Jackson knew it was important that the book handled this concept with care. During those drafts, we interrogated every scene, every character, every plot point, to be sure they were conveying what I was trying to say and that they were true to the story. I wanted, more than anything, for this to be an honest book. Getting to that honesty wasn’t easy. One character (Isiah) actually changed ethnicity. He started out as Black character and I changed him to Asian in the ensuing drafts. I also expanded Darius’s backstory through more detailed flashbacks in the later drafts.
DOSSIER: Reading is important for writers, but as this is your debut, what else can you say about the query and submission process that might help a new writer get their own story out there?
MAYFIELD: I’m going to always stick by reading being the most important aspect of getting published. I mean reading with intention. I sat down before working on SMOKE KINGS and put together a list of the five books that had enthralled me the most over these past two decades. For each, I reread them and listed out all the details that made me love the books. This “master list” of details definitely informed how I wrote. As for querying and going on submission, it doesn’t matter how good a query letter or proposal is if the writing doesn’t hold up. So focus on the writing first. Then, most definitely do a Google search to find resources for writing a query letter or proposal. The writer, Alex Kenna, recently asked me to share the query letter that secured my agent for her blog and I was happy to do so. She’s asked other writers to share as well and I think this is a fantastic idea on her part, to compile these letters on her blog as a resource for writers. To whom much is given, much is required. I love that Alex is giving back in this way.
Website: Jahmal Mayfield | Amazon Page
Jeff Circle 