First in a weekly series of author's insights on the seven completed novels in the Black Camelot series.
Revisiting the Beginning
I recently found myself in the city and decided to bring my first novel along for the journey. I should tell you that I did a revision of the first Black Camelot novel, The Publisher's Dilemma: A Big City Tale of Privilege, Power & Murder, originally published seven years ago. My editor — "Lady Boss of Me," a nickname used to respect her desire for discretion — convinced me a couple of years back that the debut needed a facelift.
I wasn't a fan of fixing what wasn't broken, but I relented out of respect. Lady Boss of Me's talent is on a Michelin-chef plateau, and as is true with most areas of debate regarding these works, I yielded to her expertise.
What's Coming Next
I'm still hard at work on the Black Camelot series, a new series, and a YA story that will kick off a thriller featuring a yet-to-be-introduced generation of Black Camelot progeny. At the same time, I'm putting the finishing touches on the release of the first audiobook for The Publisher's Dilemma — coming very soon. These matters must be done in order, and book one will always get that treatment.
A Hard-Learned Lesson
I paid a handsome sum three years back for voice-over talent to record my first and second books. I auditioned them carefully — meticulously, I might add — but when a trusted friend gave the work two big thumbs down, a rebuke followed: "Take those books down. No Bueno, brother." I did just that. One of many costly "oops, oh well" lessons I've endured on this journey.
Reflecting on the Foundation
During my commute, I was reading the revision for fun — something I never do because I'm still neck-deep in the work. It was pure joy, especially knowing where we are now. Seven books completed. And this book, while a murder mystery and a fun standalone, does way more for the Black Camelot franchise.
It's your first look at Donald Alexander, the crown prince of Gotham — a good-doer determined to reach back. Hence the quandary that begets the title, The Publisher's Dilemma. Kwame Mills is in Chicago, divorced and settled in as a top gun — he can only be lured back to New York through the wooing of Alexander for a leading role at Harris Simmons, the place you can retire from with two homes and two country club memberships. There's also that broken romance he left behind, a chapter never properly closed.
And then there's Samantha Rivers — the forgotten, beautiful love child. She's new to all this, and while trying to figure out how to fit in, she could become the prime target in the biggest murder of the decade.
These are the Black Camelots. Their backstories and their place in the world that follows are what you gain from book one.
A Modern Tale of Power
This world is mine — the one I build, layer by layer. But it all starts with this book. It is a modern tale of how one uses power. Some reviews take it as a literal story of one man making a DEI hire, but this is way more than that.
Yes, Donald has a dilemma — but he is not the only publisher. Gill Harris is more powerful than Donald, and he has his dilemmas. Retired CEO Oliver Jr. is facing his dilemma. Cornwall Harris is facing his dilemma. Wynne Shields, publisher of WORLD Media, is facing his dilemma. Sammy Rivers is facing her dilemma. And Kwame Mills is coming back to Gotham to face his.
This Black Camelot world of mine is not easy. Everyone is called to the carpet. There's no easy way out. It may be glamorous in Gotham — but darkness lurks.
And when in Book 2, the Celebrity Hack Patrol decides to name Alexander, Mills, and Rivers the "Black Camelots" to sell newspapers, white supremacists converge on Gotham to end the era of Black Camelot. That's when this world of mine gets really crazy.
Don't miss Book 1. I read it for fun for the first time in seven years. Page-turner fun.
Darius Myers is an independent fiction author and former media executive with a professional history at Time Inc. (Fortune) and USA Today. He is the creator of the seven-book Black Camelot thriller series.
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