Joan Barbara Simon

Hi! I’m Joan Barbara Simon. I live in a former vicarage with three dogs and an uninvited mouse who seems here to stay so I've named her Susie (I'm being optimistic here, hoping it's the same mouse I see every time). The vicarage came furnished, although the sex education books were in the bin when I was given the keys. Fortunately, the dustman hadn't passed by yet, so what does a woman like me do with books like those? She dusts them off and puts them back on the shelves next to the bibles (dozens of them!), the songbooks, the handwritten sermons and the works of great religious leaders, because I'm into ALL of that. I'm also into and therefore write multicultural historical fiction, erotic literary fiction, but mostly I write what I am passionate about even if the commercial labels don’t fit. I’m rather pleased to be able to say that I have been compared to some of the best: James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Anais Nin and A. M. Homes but have you noticed something? None of these people are black, whereas being black is both central to my person and my fiction. Being black and, of course, more than black. The way I see it, we are all 'more than'... Someone called me a literary terrorist and madwoman. I rather liked that. Someone else called me a woman with a dick. The more I think about it, the less I like the imprisoning, gendered presumptions at play here. As long as you can handle me the way I am, I guess that’s fine. Labels. Tricky. They never seem to quite fit, so rather than trying to squeeze my work into some specific genre, let me reveal whom I am writing for. I write for readers who say a loud and proud 'yes!' and 'amen!' to adventures in thought and style. If you're expecting conventional erotica in Mut@tus: She's Gotta Have It, or in Verses Nature: The Memoir Of A Lonely Hotwife, you're in the wrong place. If, however, you like your fiction contemplative yet sensuous, raw and unflinching and you're ready to wrestle with your demons and angels, then I'd say you're in the right place. As for my historical fiction, Long Time Walk On Water (and amazon bestseller in three categories), the invitation here, is to acknowledge the human face behind history; not of those who wage wars and take away territories, but of those who dare to love. The colder facts of 'history' has our lives dehydrated to numbers that leave no space for the warmth of memory. This is a warmth we must give ourselves. Women, in particular. If you like Alice Walker (The Colour Purple), Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life Of Bees), Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye), Maya Angelou (I know why The Caged Bird Sings), or you are simply looking for an unforgettable read that reminds us of the essential qualities we all share, you will love Long Time Walk On Water. If you’d like to know more (and I’d love you to!), then please check out my books, my website and my blog: https://wp.me/P4lsjL-1 See you soon! Joan