Flashgordon’s Items of Note

Linda Villarosa

Passing for Black

Linda Villarosa has long used her writing to raise awareness. A journalist, editor and now a novelist, she’s written about a variety of important subjects from LGBT issues, African-Americans and HIV, to parenting and health. In 1991, as the executive editor of Essence magazine, she co-wrote an article with her mother entitled “Coming Out.” The article — about, you guessed it, how coming out affected Linda’s relationship with her mother — received a record number of responses at that time in the magazine’s history.

Villarosa is also the author or co-author of three books: Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being, Finding Our Way: The Teen Girls’ Survival Guide, and The Black ParentingBook. Dafina Books recently published her first novel, Passing for Black. The book follows Angela, a young black woman whose search for identity crosses lines of race, sexuality and family. Villarosa spoke with AfterEllen.com about the book, what inspired the novel and the challenges of using her skills as a journalist to write fiction. Read the rest of the interview here.

Read more about Fiction, Photography, Animals, and Basketball: Exciting Author Interviews for July here.