De’Shawn Charles Winslow: On Adding Mystery to a Literary Novel
Award-winning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow discusses the process of writing his new literary thriller, Decent People.
De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s first novel, In West Mills, was the winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, Publishing Triangle Award, and Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. He has been featured as a “Writer to Watch” in The New York Times and one of the “Black Male Writers of Our Time” in T, The New York Times Style Magazine.
He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and now lives in Atlanta. Follow him on Instagram.
In this post, De’Shawn discusses the process of writing his new literary thriller, Decent People, why he wanted to write the book, and more!
Name: De’Shawn Charles Winslow
Literary agent: PJ Mark of Janklow & Nesbit
Book title: Decent People
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, USA
Release date: January 17, 2023
Genre/category: Literary thriller
Previous titles: In West Mills
Elevator pitch for the book: Decent People is about the havoc patriarchy can wreak on adults and children.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to shine a light on racial injustice, the homophobia adolescents often have to deal with in and outside of the home, and on people who want a fresh start with love after the age of 50.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It took three and a half years, total. I started writing the book in summer of 2019, but had a few false starts. Also, I do other work, so I’m rarely able to write on a daily basis. Then the pandemic hit, and I stopped writing for a few months.
Late spring of 2020 is when I was ready to start writing the book on a more regular basis (a few days a week). I turned in a draft in January of 2021, received macro feedback, and took about seven months to slowly revise. My editor and I started the editing process with that second draft.
Editors are often working with a few or more authors at a time, so we swapped the manuscript back and forth as often as our schedules allowed, with the goal of being done with in early 2022. After that, there’s copy editing, proofreading, and planning behind the scenes.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I surprised myself by deciding to add a murder mystery element into the mix. I never would’ve imagined I’d try it, but I went for it. I’m glad I did!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
First, I want readers to really take note of the social issues in the book (race, shame, addiction, and societal expectations). But I also want readers to enjoy trying to figure out “whodunit!”
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Make sure the topics you are covering are ones you’re passionate about. If those topics happen to be timely, great. But writing about something just because it’s timely may take all the fun out of it for you. Write for yourself first, readers second.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
