SKBR: What inspired you to write Nothing Else Matters?
Sybil: I went to college at a predominantly white private school. Every four years this school held what was called Mock Convention. It was a huge deal in which every state was represented and students signed up to be delegates at those states. In 2000, the students of the Idaho delegation decided to make T-shirts that featured a black woman dressed as a prostitute with the tagline "I Da Ho." Black students and female students were appalled. We held lots of meetings discussing this and trying to come to sort of truce among the student body. I remember at one particular meeting, I was to speak. But when I went to say my well rehearsed words, I just broke down in tears. Even now thinking about it, I get a little teary eyed. Many people won't understand why so let me try to explain for your readers. I have worked my entire life to be the smartest, most accomplished person I can be. At that time, I played five instruments, spoke two languages, majored in math and music, and danced ballet and tap. I have done everything I can just to overcome the stereotypes that were hoisted upon the people who lived in my neighborhood. Just graduating high school without a baby was an accomplishment for someone in my old neighborhood let alone going to college and majoring in math. So the thought that no matter how much hard work I put into my academic pursuits people at my very school still look at me as "ho" is hurtful beyond belief. I felt like nothing I did would ever change what people saw when they looked at my skin color. I've had people comment that the banner that gets made in Nothing Else Matters is unrealistic and would never happen. Those people don't know what I myself have lived through.
SKBR: When did you first start writing?
Sybil: It was a long arduous road. I wrote Ain't No Sunshine first, but I didn't think it was very good. Then I wrote The Queen Bee of Bridgeton and I fell in love with that story. Queen Bee also has a lot of me in it. It is about a 15 year old girl who lives in a very poor neighborhood but is determined to be a ballerina. Since she can't afford lessons, she makes arrangements to clean the studio in exchange for lessons. When I was five, my mother did this for me so that I could have ballet lessons. I grew up with a knowledge of ballet and opera that made me all but an outcast in my neighborhood. Anyway, I spent two years writing query letters to agents trying to find representation. I finally got an agent and spent four years with that agent. All the while I was writing other books. HarperCollins showed interest in my middle grade series Priscilla the Great and had an exclusive on it for eight months as they sent me through three complete revisions. They later rejected me even after the movie option was sold. Henry Holt showed interest in The Queen Bee of Bridgeton and held on to it for three years as they sent me through revision after revision. Finally, I got tired of the traditional publishing game. I pulled my books, left my agent and opened my own company to publish my books. I currently have five authors in my company and I'm reaching 15,000 sales in Sybil Nelson/Leslie DuBois books alone.
SKBR: What is the best part of being an Author?
Sybil: The best part is having fans that "get" me. I love it when I get fan mail from people that understand what I'm trying to do. I just want to tell good stories that feature a variety of people. I don't want to write black books, I don't want to write white books, I want to write books that everyone can read and enjoy.
SKBR: What was your favorite part/character to write about in Nothing Else Matters?
Sybil: I think Stu was the most fun to write. He is an awesome guy. But Reyna is the character that was most like me. Except she was a better version of me. I wasn't able to talk sense into my classmates. Reyna is the girl I wanted to be.
SKBR: Out of all of the books you've written, which was your favorite one to write and why?
Sybil: Nothing Else Matters was my favorite one to write. The reason is the answer I wrote for question five. Reyna is the strong confident girl I wanted to be. Yes, she was weak in private and she needed Scott's strength, but she was all grace and eloquence in public. While Nothing Else Matters was my favorite book, for some reason it does not sell very well. Ironically, Ain't No Sunshine, the book I thought wasn't very good, is my bestseller hands down.
SKBR: Who is your favorite Author?
Sybil: You can't ask an author who her favorite author is? That's a loaded question. Plus, it changes like every week. I go through phases of authors. Ask me one day and I'll say Michael Crichton. Ask me another day and I'll say Jane Austen. I have no idea who my all time favorite author is.
SKBR: What project(s) are you currently working on?
Sybil: I am currently working on the third and final book of The Queen Bee of Bridgeton series while simultaneously working on a new series called Dark Marco which is a spin off of the Priscilla the Great series.
SKBR: What kind of feedback do you hear from your readers?
Sybil: I get the most feedback for my Ain't No Sunshine book and my Priscilla the Great series. My Priscilla fans constantly want to know when the next book is coming out or why I killed this character or that. My Ain't No Sunshine fans usually want to know more about what happened in the book. I've answered questions for several book clubs for that book. I finally ended up adding a study guide section to the end of it. I plan on doing the same for Priscilla as well.
SKBR: Are you a morning person or a night person?
Sybil: Both. I rarely sleep. It's hard to find time to sleep when I have to write, run a publishing company, work on a PhD, and raise two kids. But I feel like I think better in the morning. I usually leave nights for writing and work on math in the morning. It works out well that way.
Sybil: I started writing as a child. I loved to read and would often write stories as well. My scholarship to college was actually for journalism and English. But while I was in college I lost confidence in my writing and changed my major to Math and Music. While I was teaching high school in private schools, I started dabbling in writing again all the time using my students as inspiration.
SKBR: What was your journey of getting published?Sybil: It was a long arduous road. I wrote Ain't No Sunshine first, but I didn't think it was very good. Then I wrote The Queen Bee of Bridgeton and I fell in love with that story. Queen Bee also has a lot of me in it. It is about a 15 year old girl who lives in a very poor neighborhood but is determined to be a ballerina. Since she can't afford lessons, she makes arrangements to clean the studio in exchange for lessons. When I was five, my mother did this for me so that I could have ballet lessons. I grew up with a knowledge of ballet and opera that made me all but an outcast in my neighborhood. Anyway, I spent two years writing query letters to agents trying to find representation. I finally got an agent and spent four years with that agent. All the while I was writing other books. HarperCollins showed interest in my middle grade series Priscilla the Great and had an exclusive on it for eight months as they sent me through three complete revisions. They later rejected me even after the movie option was sold. Henry Holt showed interest in The Queen Bee of Bridgeton and held on to it for three years as they sent me through revision after revision. Finally, I got tired of the traditional publishing game. I pulled my books, left my agent and opened my own company to publish my books. I currently have five authors in my company and I'm reaching 15,000 sales in Sybil Nelson/Leslie DuBois books alone.
SKBR: What is the best part of being an Author?
Sybil: The best part is having fans that "get" me. I love it when I get fan mail from people that understand what I'm trying to do. I just want to tell good stories that feature a variety of people. I don't want to write black books, I don't want to write white books, I want to write books that everyone can read and enjoy.
SKBR: What was your favorite part/character to write about in Nothing Else Matters?
Sybil: I think Stu was the most fun to write. He is an awesome guy. But Reyna is the character that was most like me. Except she was a better version of me. I wasn't able to talk sense into my classmates. Reyna is the girl I wanted to be.
SKBR: Out of all of the books you've written, which was your favorite one to write and why?
Sybil: Nothing Else Matters was my favorite one to write. The reason is the answer I wrote for question five. Reyna is the strong confident girl I wanted to be. Yes, she was weak in private and she needed Scott's strength, but she was all grace and eloquence in public. While Nothing Else Matters was my favorite book, for some reason it does not sell very well. Ironically, Ain't No Sunshine, the book I thought wasn't very good, is my bestseller hands down.
SKBR: Who is your favorite Author?
Sybil: You can't ask an author who her favorite author is? That's a loaded question. Plus, it changes like every week. I go through phases of authors. Ask me one day and I'll say Michael Crichton. Ask me another day and I'll say Jane Austen. I have no idea who my all time favorite author is.
SKBR: What project(s) are you currently working on?
Sybil: I am currently working on the third and final book of The Queen Bee of Bridgeton series while simultaneously working on a new series called Dark Marco which is a spin off of the Priscilla the Great series.
SKBR: What kind of feedback do you hear from your readers?
Sybil: I get the most feedback for my Ain't No Sunshine book and my Priscilla the Great series. My Priscilla fans constantly want to know when the next book is coming out or why I killed this character or that. My Ain't No Sunshine fans usually want to know more about what happened in the book. I've answered questions for several book clubs for that book. I finally ended up adding a study guide section to the end of it. I plan on doing the same for Priscilla as well.
SKBR: Are you a morning person or a night person?
Sybil: Both. I rarely sleep. It's hard to find time to sleep when I have to write, run a publishing company, work on a PhD, and raise two kids. But I feel like I think better in the morning. I usually leave nights for writing and work on math in the morning. It works out well that way.
Leslie DuBois is the pen name of Sybil Nelson, author of the award winning Middle Grade series Priscilla the Great.
Leslie has always had a love of books and writing. During her school years, she’d choose a different author each summer and devour their complete works. Riding public transportation from her low-income housing, she always dedicated Wednesdays to her library pursuits.
Leslie also spent her time jotting down poems and stories in her beloved notebooks. She even won a full scholarship to Washington and Lee University for one of her essays. Though her scholarship was for journalism, she soon lost confidence in her writing and ended up changing her major from English and Journalism to Mathematics and Music Theory.
During the years after college, while working as a math teacher at Georgetown Day School, Leslie never lost her love of words. She continued to devour novels in her free time. In all of her reading however, she began to notice that the novels she enjoyed most never contained any black female characters. This observation bothered her.
After years noticing the role models (or lack thereof) for black girls in the media, Leslie finally decided to pick up a pen and do something about it. While working as a math teacher at Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina, finishing her master’s thesis at the College of Charleston, she began writing stories poems and novels that featured strong black women. She now attends the Medical University of South Carolina pursuing her Ph.D. in Biostatistics while caring for her husband and two daughters. She continues to write and, to date, has written twelve complete novels.
Find Sybil Nelson (Leslie DuBois):
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Find Sybil Nelson (Leslie DuBois):
Website
Goodreads
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