Authors of Note: Eddie S. Pierce Jr. -

This article was originally published October 26, 2013 Photos courtesy of Eddie Seron Pierce Jr.

Eddie Seron Pierce Jr., is one of the most creative and ambitious authors that you will ever meet. Pierce self-published his first novel Love: Something Infinite which was largely inspired by personal experiences that took place in his life. He founded Rainbow Room Publishing Company because he wanted the autonomy of working with whomever he wanted and to help other artist promote their works. In July 2013 for the release of his second novel “Love: From Behind,” which was based in Las Vegas, he had the first of kind casino night themed red carpet event. Pierce is currently promoting his book at venues around Chicago his next event will take place on Saturday November 9 at Jeffery Pub located at 7041 S. Jeffery Boulevard at 4:00 pm-6:00 pm. PrideIndex chatted with him about why he became a writer, the ultimate goal of Rainbow Room Publishing Company and what’s next.

Pride Index (PI) Tell us about your background and where you’re from.

Eddie Pierce (EP) Well, I am from Chicago, born and raised. And as far as background is concerned, I, African American SGL male raised in the Christian tradition, which I still adhere to, I have studied English writing for the better part of my life. And I have a bachelor’s and English with a concentration in composition and a Masters of Fine Arts and Creative Writing. So it’s something that I do in the informal setting of my own home in my own time, but I’ve also studied it in the formal setting.

PI: Why did you become a writer?

EP: Well, basically, you know, reading and writing is something that has always been around me, it’s always been a part of my life. And in a lot of respects, when I think back on the times that I was safest, happiest, most comfortable, involve literature in some way, something that I was reading or something that I was writing myself. And it’s kind of funny that, you know, when I think about the question, I can’t really say what initially, he encouraged me as far as like my family or friends. But you know, when they saw that initial Spark, you know, they’ve always, you know, encouraged what they’ve called my writing talent. So all that, to be quite honest, leads me to believe that, you know, it’s because what is what God wants me to do is what he called me to do that he put it in me. And if all I know to do, it’s great.

PI: That’s great. Could you shares some of your earliest memories of being a writer?

EP: Well, like a lot of my teachers they had, especially my Masters that writers first have to read. And not even just necessarily read books, but the, especially for people that write fiction and everything, we have to kind of be engrossed in stories. And so one of the earliest memories I have was reading some of the stories out of the Bible, specifically the book of Daniel, and looking at the child craft encyclopedia set, and it’s kind of dating myself. But there were volumes on mythology, folklore, fairy tales, all of the things are kind of, you know, parts, creative writing, and narrative and prose. And so that early literature, basically coupled with me watching a whole lot of TV, something I do to this day, but back then it was primarily cartoons. I was just really engrossed with the stories for the most part. And it kind of led me to be like, well, man, I wonder what would happen if this happened? Or what would happen if that happened. And so the only way I could explore that was for me to write my own story.

PI: When/Where were you first published? And what was the name of your first book,

EP: My first book was actually self-published first, novels, Love Something Infinite, which is largely, and when I say large, I mean, like, the good 99% of it is inspired by events or experiences, and just even emotional experiences in my own life. And when I did it, I did it versus the traditional publishing route, which, you know, there are a lot of barriers there a lot of red tape, and a lot of it to be honest, it’s just business is related to, you know, what they’re willing to take a risk on. And a lot of people can tell you that, you know, you just can’t really get into traditional publishing as easy as you could once upon a time. And so then they need to think about self-publishing. And I looked up and saw a couple other people that was doing some things that involve self-publishing. So I looked into an online self-publishing service. And when I thought about what I was actually doing with that service, and compared it to the traditional publishing house, I thought about the fact that, you know, in the traditional publishing house or the traditional publishing route, you know, they typically cover all of the expenses, the direct, direct the editing, the manufacturing, the marketing, the sale, the distribution of the book, the promo and everything is done, you know, with them. And that’s pretty much what ideas you know, with this service, I pay for everything, I told them what to do, what not to do, what will work, what wouldn’t work. And so when I considered that, you know, I said, you know, like, yeah, I really did so publish this and so the more I thought about it, I was a publisher now, and, and that means that idea of having my own company and this company is called the Rainbow Reading Room.

PI: Rainbow Reading Room publishing is a mouthful rainbow.

EP: Yeah, I get a couple of people that just go rainbow buzzing or rainbow roam and now rainbow roam publishing.

PI: So what is your ultimate goals in for your publishing company?

EP: Well, basically kind of piggybacking off of my last response, having done all of that myself, and, you know, I paying people to do it. But the idea of having my own company was born and then you know, I looked at the fact that I love the autonomy. I love being able to tell everyone how my work would be produced, who I would work with who I would pay whose talents I wanted to involve. And it was especially gratifying that I was able to look into my own circle in a lot of respects, or some of the different artists in photography and graphic art and that sort of thing. And so, you know, that coupled with my plans to help other authors and artists, you know, find and promote their own stories, their own voices, that fuels the development of rainbow run publishing, so my ultimate goal is to keep doing that, or I’m over on publishing LLC to become a vehicle for a lot of people who wouldn’t necessarily be able to have, you know, their art and their stories and the things that are important to them express through art, you know, they wouldn’t necessarily have a vehicle. So I’m trying to make a vehicle for as many voices as possible, as I can, you know, put out into the mainstream.

PI: Damn, that is outstanding, that is very commendable. Oh course I wish you all the best of luck with that endeavor.

EP: Thank you.

PI: Could you name at least three people who have had the most influence over your artistic style?

EP: Well, the first person I have to mention is Richard Wright. He, to be honest, as far as I remember, was the first serious author that I ever really followed, obviously, looking at his novel, which is being argued back and forth about whether or not it’s an autobiography, but black boy. And to be quite honest, you know, that in a large respect, I think is where I get the idea of telling my own story and putting a creative flair to it. But you know, that may have been a lot more reading a lot of a lot of different genres. But, you know, eventually, like most Black SGL males of our age, I came to the land Harris series, James Earl Hardy, and you know, and they spoke more to what my experience was, as an STL, black male, living in this time and age, you know, trying to find my own self-acceptance and that sort of thing. So, you know, all of them kind of inspired, I felt like they also provided entertainment, but they also taught, you know, for me, there are ministered to me. And that’s what I want my art to do, I wanted to tell my story, but a collective of other people’s stories, and help us all kind of, you know, explore some things and work through some things.

PI: There was one word that I zeroed in on, as you were speaking, and that word was “creativity.” Last summer, you had an event, a casino night, red carpet type event to promote your party, which is one of the most creative things I’ve ever heard anyone ever do to promote their book. I really should applaud your effort. And I really do hope that at some point, you continue to do events like that. I want to know a little bit more about that event. And do you plan on having other events in the near future?

EP: Okay, well, you know, the night was, it was a casino themed night. And that was born out of the second novel Love From Behind, which takes place in Las Vegas. And you know, there’s mentioned that the casinos and that sort of thing and so the book was coming up and I needed to be able to, you know, present it you know, to the audience so the Casino Night was designed to celebrate and to promote the release of my second novel Love From Behind, as well as you know, I wanted to present my company I wanted to introduce it to the world on a larger level than it had been done previously. So it turned into a presentation of the creativity, the professionalism, the diversity, the spiritualism and just class and all of the things that I feel are representative of Rainbow Room Publishing LLC. As a result, there are literally six projects in pre-production right now including the next two books, one of which I’m about 35 pages into and the other I’m about maybe 10 or so pages into and all of these projects will most likely include you know, another very public event or presentation similar to the love from behind release party. Each of them will ideally be themed according to the nature of that respective project.

PI: A little birdie whisper in my ear that you are working on the stage play.

EP: Now I love the little birdies, especially the ones that talk and know I’m in discussions with a number of performance artists about adapting my first published work love something infinite into a stage play, which I plan to debut sometime in late 2014. I’m here in Chicago, great thing was that in the midst of all of that networking from different connections, and California also expressed an interest on a couple of levels. And so there’s a possibility of it being debuts there as well, well being introduced and debut here in Chicago, but also being taken out California, and hopefully it will turn into something to that, you know, can travel around to different cities. But, you know, ideally, I want to do it here at home at Chicago, where, you know, the birth of the company is where the birth of the support is. So before it gets to California, I’m having their budget catch up to your while you can. It’s great, and we shall, we shall, what advice, I always have to ask this question of someone who has been successful in public health. Wow, thank you. I’ve been successful. I like that.

PI: What advice would you offer to some of the young and or aspiring authors?

EP: Well, you know, it’s a pretty deep thing. So, you know, for me, I would first say, to discern if this is your passion, you know, is it something that, as I have access to these I work with on a daily basis is what you’re pursuing something that you would do for, you know, seven literal days and nights straight without any sleep or without pay? You know, is this something that you love is something that you think about all day and dream about all night, you know, that the wake you up in the night? In a good way? Does it wake you up in the morning ready to, you know, go into the day, you know, is this something that you can’t not do? You know, and if you can answer all of that, you know, then I would say that, you know, this is pretty much your path. And this is what your spirit is leading you to do, your spirit is involved. And therefore, I say like anything else that you really want to live, you had to go for full force, you know, put everything you have into it, don’t doubt don’t shortchange yourself, you know, chase it down, like that object of your affections and your desires, just like that guy that you meet in the club, and you just dying to get to know his number and you put everything in, go get it, you know, dedicate your life to it, and trust it, no trust that it someday will provide access to everything you need in life, everything that you’re looking for in life. And, you know, that’s what my writing does. That’s what this experience has been for me, that I looked up and recognize that writing is my first love is always been there, you know, to pick and ban. And when I decided to put everything I had into it, it’s giving me back so much more in terms of spiritual matters, and emotional things, and even some material is coming. And you know, and then secondly, the most important thing is just the right. I mean, if I could say it, you know, verbally, I would say, with all caps, JUST WRITE. Don’t think about the business side. Don’t think about the money you’re trying to make or trying to save or hoping that you don’t have to spend. You know, don’t think about the final project so much, you don’t have to trip off of old cover and all of that kind of thing. Don’t even look at the editing, in the beginning is what I would say, you know, just write. And the rest of that is going to come out of necessity, and out of what I recognize to be divine order.

Just write.

PI. Amen, divine words from the minister.

EP: Laughs.

PI: What’s next for you on the horizon?

EP: Well, that is awesome, because I’m actually moving into a phase of my life where my writing will become, you know, full time. And the most immediate things, however, are that I’m working on a book tour across Chicago, which basically involves me hosting, book club discussions and various locales throughout the city. So ideally, locations north, south, west, and downtown-ish, which will allow the readers and all interested parties to come together have a very general discussion on the universal themes illustrated within the books. Which kind of include but it’s not by any means an exhaustive list, but it includes you know, ideas about what love is what it means. What is self-acceptance, discussion on safe sex. And for me, it was a big deal. So I want to talk about it, you know, the conflicts between spirituality and sexuality. I know it’s something that is very prevalent, especially in the LGBT community. And additionally, the most the other immediate thing is that I was actually afforded the opportunity to go to Atlanta during their black gay pride weekend. And organization down there in the life. Atlanta is hosting a literary cafe, where I’ve been invited to come down to be a vendor, but then later on was selected to be a presenter on issues related to LGBTQ authors of color. And of course, you know, there’s an opportunity for me to discuss my own work and basically labeling it says the first leg of the 2014 US tour, you know, for the company for the book, basically trying to hit you know, a lot of the major cities, especially anyplace obviously, there’s gay friendly, that want to be run out of town with torches and pitchforks. And then, you know, some of the different pride events and things of that nature. So basically, I’m kind of looking at it as a rocket ship. You know, it’s just taken off.

PI: That’s wonderful. This is wonderful. Tell us how and where we can find your books, website, Facebook, Twitter?

EP: The first place and the best place as far as I’m concerned, and yes I am bias, it’s my company’s website, www.rainbowroompublishing.com. There one more time www.rainbowroompublishing.com. The good thing about it is if you google “Rainbow Room Publishing” is the very first thing that pops up. And I don’t see anything else on it that looks just like it, it is a great place for you to see existing works to read excerpts of about seven pages each. For the two books that have currently been published. There are a number of great reviews, also do a video blog on there as well, which basically talk a lot about my experiences with writing and with the fight that it takes to write. And we have some really steamy video trailers as well, that are promoting the book. So it’s a great one stop place to buy the book to read more about the book to see upcoming events. And I love getting feedback on their love when people you know, tell me how well things worked or didn’t work for that matter. And then you know, I’m very aware of the fact that a lot of people, you know, aren’t necessarily going to trust you know, the internet these days when they make purchases to you know, a name that they don’t know as well. So the book is also available via amazon.com, as well as Barnes and noble.com. And in all three places you can purchase, you know, all three book formats, you can purchase the hardcover, the paperback as well as the eBook.

PI: Damn, all three, you just have it all covered.

EP: Well as marketing company, I got to get everybody what they want.

PrideIndex had the honor of interviewing one of the most creative, hardworking authors in the business. His name of Eddie Pierce, Jr. Last summer he hosted a casino night and red carpet event to promote his book second book Love From Behind. “I wanted to introduce it to the world on a larger level than it had been done previously. So it turned into a presentation of the creativity,” he said. Pierce, a Chicago native, is an author and Owner of Rainbow Room Publishing, a self-publishing firm he founded. He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Chicago State University. His works has appeared in 95Notes Literary Magazine for poetry and Sage Publishing’s Encyclopedia of Identity. Pierce shared with us his why he became a writer, his influences and vision for future.