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You've been working in entertainment in various
facets over the years what made you decide to write
a book at this point in your career?
Tamara Gregory-I
was sort of growing frustrated because I wasn't able
to get movies made or see movies made by other producers
that had people like me in them and I realized there
were all these limitations in the film world, they tell
you black films don't normally sell overseas, the budget
has to be a certain size, if Halle Berry isn't in it
they aren't going to make it. All these limitations.
I realized in the book world, as long as the book was
50,000 words or more and made into a novel I could have
a character who was college educated and made six figures,
and be herself and I didn't have to worry about the
same issues I would have to worry about in the film
world.
The detail in the book, I love the little tiny
things like she saw the orange skittle on the floor
so when you were writing in your head were you picturing,
cinematic?
Tamara Gregory-No.
I purposely didn't because again I felt like, when you
write a script if you are writing a comedy it has to
be 90 pages. You have to be out of the first act by
page 25. 26-75 second act and you have to be done by
page 90, there are so many rules and things I said I'm
just going to throw that out and if it turns out that
its visual or made into a movie great but I wanted to
free myself of things.
Is this the first book you've ever written.
Tamara Gregory-
Absolutely.
Did you travel while you were writing the book?
Tamara Gregory-I
did go to Australia that's where I actually started
the book. Right after that I was pretty stationary.
It took me six months. I was pretty much writing from
my home in LA.
I know you said you wanted to write something fun.
Where did the inspiration for the story come from?
Tamara Gregory-I
went to Greece. I love to travel. I've been to London,
Paris, Italy and there all fabulous any one of those
cities, but they are very closely tied to America.
We've fought in wars together, we eat Italian food,
we eat Italian food like it's our staple, its very
common, but when you go to Greece you are truly in
a foreign place. I go to the Caribbean and you are
very enclosed. I love Jamaica it's beautiful, but
I always stay in these all inclusive resorts and I
never get to get out and meet the people. But when
you go to Greece, you are instantly meeting people
and you are instantly a foreigner. They aren't trying
to speak English, they're not trying to make you comfortable.
Once you settle in and get used to it it's fabulous.
Greece is one of those places that I encourage every
person black white or otherwise to visit. It's truly
an eye opening experience. When I was there I just
thought this could be a book it was shortly after
we invaded Iraq and they were very anti American but
very open and warm to black people. So it was just
one of those times when you benefited in a way you
normally don't feel like you do. That's sort of what
made me start thinking maybe there's a book in there.
Now I know you mentioned sometimes with films its
hard to get films made when you went through the process
of writing the book how did you go about getting an
agent and a publisher.
Tamara Gregory-My
film contacts. I was very fortunate and very blessed.
I don't say that cavalierly. I had a girlfriend who
I sent it to and she's a white girlfriend for lack of
a better phrase and I wanted to make sure my book translated
and I knew I had sent it to a lot of my black girlfriends
and I knew I had something but I wasn't sure it was
a book until a guy liked it and somebody's whose not
of the same world of the character. So I sent it to
my girlfriend who is a Hollywood executive and she loved
it and instantly got it and she said oh we should send
it to William Morris I got an agent and the agent sent
it to Harper Collins. I was fortunate I didn't have
to get any rejection letters or any of those things.
Are you in the middle of a book tour now?
Tamara Gregory-I
just got back from Oakland. I'm going to Houston next
week and on the 13th I go to Hyattsville, Maryland.
On the 14th I'm in Brooklyn, 16th I'm in Harlem.
Are you still working in entertainment or are you
devoting all of your time to your author career?
Tamara Gregory-I'm
a producer at heart, in my mind. Now I'm taking meeting
to make this a movie. But that was not my intention
when I was writing it. It's kind of two fold, it kind
of was my intention. I was thinking, "If I can write
a good book and prove there is an audience for these
kinds of materials I could come back and own the property
and I could make it a movie." But while writing
it I didn't write it as a movie. But I did have it in
my mind I have to prove to these executives that keep
telling me there is not a big enough audience for movies
about upper middle class black people, I knew if I had
a book that did well I could prove "You're wrong
there is an audience."
What advice would you give to young women who would
like to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?
Tamara Gregory-Its
tough. Be an agent. We need black agents. Agents sort
of are the gateway to the industry. If I were to do
it over again I would probably go the agent route. Then
maybe after you've had some success you became a manager.
The route I went I'm glad. I did I meet a lot of great
people back in the day when they had all of these minority
programs they don't have anymore, minority executive
training programs. Development executive there's no
real skill--you cant tangibly touch what we do the way
a director can handle a reel or a writer can handle
a script. Development execs cant really hand you want
they do because we read scripts and make them better,
we see the people, we put stuff together there's not
a tangible thing. It's hard to prove your value. But
as far as being an agent or being a writer or being
an actress those are the areas I would encourage people….
Will you be writing another book
Tamara Gregory-Actually,
I finished my second novel. We'll see what happens with
it.
Any last comments?
Tamara Gregory-If
there are other people interested in writing--start
writing. The minute you start writing you're a writer.
I could sit here and tell you I am a director then your
like, "What have you directed?" I have nothing
to show. You can write something on a piece of paper
whether it's something you want to sell or keep for
yourself. I've met people who say, "I think about
writing," you have to take that time everyday if
its 10 minutes. You can self publish and they print
on demand. You can print one book for yourself and put
it in your library.
 Tamara
Gregory interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler,
and Thabiz.com 2005
Visit Dorrie on the web at www.dorrie.info.
Dorrie is the webmaster for thabiz.com and the author
of Be My
Sorority Sister-Under Pressure.
May not be reprinted, copied or distributed.
Interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com
August 2005
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