Tonya R. Moore

Baye McNeil Interview

Today's gifted guest at Misadventurous is Baye McNeil, otherwise known as Locohama. He's a blogger and author from Brooklyn, New York who currently resides in Yokohama, Japan. Baye is a great storyteller and possesses an enviable talent for engaging readers. You might not need me to tell you this. You probably already follow locoinyokahama.com. If not, you should and while you're at it, I heartily recommend that you grab a copy of his increasingly popular new book, Hi! My Name is Loco and I'm a Racist.

Baye took some time for a blog interview. He shares a bit about his aspirations and the experiences that inspired this book.
 
When your first started blogging about your life and experiences in Japan, did you ever envision that you'd have the kind of following/success you have today?
 
BAYE: Actually yes, I did. I surfed around a lot before I started blogging, mostly around the Japan blogosphere since I had planned to blog about primarily issues related to life in Japan for a foreigner, a New Yorker and a black man. I wanted to see if the issues that were motivating me to blog were already being tackled earnestly elsewhere. When I learned that they were not, I knew my blog would kind of shake shit up. However, I have to admit that I didn't expect my readership and circle of support to be Caucasian by a vast majority, that's for sure. Live and learn, Tonya. Live and learn.
 
What was it that prompted you to make the leap from a blog to a book?
 
BAYE: Well, nobody really dreams of being a blogger. LOL! When I was a kid the Internet was a GI Joe Walkie Talkie and a CB radio but books were around and I devoured them. I wrote a book about 10 years ago, and was able to land an agent and everything, but the big publishers didn't show me much love. Rejection letters piled up and undermined my flimsy confidence and I shelved that dream to a later date, This time around I decided I wouldn't wait on the Random Houses of the world to figure out a way to market a book declaring the writer was a racist--you know? I could hear that meeting in my head.

As is usually the case, the most innovative, groundbreaking and courageous work put out is released by start-ups and indies (then the big boys swoop in with their checkbooks and acquire it.) So, the blog was just my way of feeling out the market, float ideas, hone my skills and build up a name and Internet Presence so I could either A- show I had the chops to attract the big boys, or B- build an audience so I could do it myself.
 
Have you ever had to deal with awkward situations in your personal life as a direct result of what you've written? How did you get past that?
 
BAYE: Funny you should ask that, cuz I'm currently going through some drama with personal relationships, both on and offline, because I often prioritize my writing over relationships. People who have no passion have a great deal of trouble accepting that editing an essay comes before going to Disneyland or reading and commenting on other people's blogs, And sometimes this causes me a great deal of stress. Some people are able to manage and balance their lives better than I am. I suck at it, but I'm working on it. Particularly, while working on this book, I have been a piece of work and some relationships didn't survive this damn near three year process. I haven't gotten past it. I'm still working on it.
 
On the flip-side, have you managed to resolve tensions or forged real friendships as a direct result of what you've written and shared with your readers?
 
BAYE: The interactive nature of blogging has a tendency to get personal from time to time. This tendency has positive and negative aspects, like most things. But that all depends on how you get down. I write about deeply personal and often time sensitive subject matter, and my writing approach is often provocative. I don't do fluff well. I bring the noise and say some things that people either would prefer remain unsaid or said with a great deal more caution then I incorporate at times. People either love me or hate me. Both have their challenges but for the most part, it's been love. People feel like they know me and to a certain extent they do, and vice versa. How much does anyone really know anyone else anyway, you know?

 
Now that you've achieved the goal of becoming a published author, do you feel differently about Baye McNeil--about your capacity to achieve the things you want?
 
BAYE: YES! There's a certain validation that comes with that jump from blogger/dreamer to Author/publisher, and respect. Even if it's done independently as I have, it still speaks to people. It tells them that you take yourself seriously and aren't afraid to put yourself out there, especially with the kind of book I've written.

Can your fans look forward to the possibility of another book from Locohama, sometime in the future?

BAYE: Yes, I have a second book in pre-production. It's not as heavy as this book but definitely on a subject that has become near and dear to me: teaching.

I also am trying to raise funds to translate Hi! My Name is Loco... into Japanese. I think it's something that Japanese people would benefit from knowing. I think knowing the background of an individual "foreigner" living here and how some of the behavior encountered here impacts him is something that many Japanese would love to read about, and frankly need to know.

Is there anything in particular that you'd like to tell potential readers out there?

BAYE: Yes, actually. I know some of your readers might find the title of this book a bit jarring. A writer declaring his racism openly may come off as some sort of marketing scheme to get attention or as something better left unsaid, and kept in a dark closet beneath piles of stuff you've no intention of using but haven't gotten around to throwing away yet. If that is your frame of mind, then this book is for you!

This book is about how that kind of thinking is what perpetuates racism, breathes life into in it. It thrives in the dark. I'm of the mind that as long as we ignore the issue or persist in denying that it will cease to be, the stronger it will become until eventually, we're looking at yet another genocide, ethnic cleansing, hate crime, race riot, etc. on the news, while sitting around scratching our heads saying "where did all this hate come from???" You know?

Author Baye McNeil

www.locoinyokohama.com | www.himynameisloco.com
Follow on Twitter: @Locohama | Like Locohama on Facebook

Buy the Book

Hi! My Name is Loco and I'm a Racist
Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble