Pete, Eric E. 1968-

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Pete, Eric E. 1968-

PERSONAL:

Born October 1, 1968, in Seattle, WA; son of Earl Joseph and Edna Mae Pete; married Marsha Bluin; children: Chelsea. Ethnicity: "African American of Creole descent" Education: McNeese State University, B.S., 1993; holds certifications in management, claims, and claims law. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, drawing, travel, weight lifting, TV/film, music, dancing, news, sports, foreign policy, science fiction.

ADDRESSES:

Office—P.O. Box 2425, Harvey, LA 70059; P.O. Box 670562, Houston, TX 77267-0562. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, publisher, entrepreneur, public speaker, and novelist. Owner and publisher, E-fect Publishing, Houston, TX, 2000—. Worked as a claims representative for State Farm insurance company, 1994. Frequent guest at book shows, writers' conferences, and literary events around the United States. Military service: U.S. Army, infantry, Ft. Hood, TX.

MEMBER:

Black Writers Alliance, Romance Writers of America, Young Leadership Council of Greater New Orleans, Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity; Toastmasters International.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Raw Sistah Book Club, May 2001, Spotlight Author; Sistah Circle Book Club, nominee for Author of the Year, 2001; and book award nominee in fiction, all for Real for Me.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Real for Me, E-fect Publishing (Harvey, LA), 2000.

Someone's in the Kitchen, E-fect Publishing (Harvey, LA), 2002.

Gets No Love, New American Library (New York, NY), 2004.

Don't Get It Twisted, New American Library (New York, NY), 2005.

Lady Sings the Cruels, New American Library (New York, NY), 2006.

Blow Your Mind, New American Library (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to anthologies, including After Hours: A Collection of Erotic Writing by Black Men, Plume, 2002, and Please Come Again, 2002.

ADAPTATIONS:

Gets No Love was adapted to audiocassette, Recorded Books (Prince Frederick, MD), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Eric E. Pete's debut novel, Real for Me, is a romance set in Los Angeles, featuring Glover McDaniel, an independent black woman who works at the state employment office. Glover's relationship with securities broker Lionel is becoming dull, and when Maxwell "Max" Guillory shows up in Glover's office, excitement returns to her life. Max is a "bad boy," an athlete who likes to party, but he sees something in a relationship with Glover that has been missing. "After a few sexually charged meetings in public places, it is clear where things are headed," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Pete was interviewed by the Sistah Circle Book Club online and asked whether he thought the "boom in African American writers is a fad or another renaissance." Pete replied: "I don't think it's a fad at all. I just think it's a swelling of people finally doing what they want instead of just taking what is handed out." Pete's second novel takes place in Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, and he described it as "a little darker and spicier in tone."

Pete was interviewed by the Nubian Chronicles online and was asked, as a male writer, what he felt he "must tap into to reach that skill of portraying women in a realistic light." Pete responded, "With myself, I'm very observant. Always have been. I tend to watch the details/characteristics/mannerisms of people in general. It's something I've always done."

Lance, the main character of Gets No Love, is miserable after breaking up with the woman in his life. Enter Lance's best friend Akhet, also known as A.K., a reformed thug who has reinvented himself as a rapper. As the novel progresses, Lance and A.K. work to convince Lance's ex to come back to him, with unexpected results. Reviewer Glenn Townes, writing in Black Issues Book Review, noted that Pete's Gets No Love is "perhaps his most solidly written" book, and added that Pete displays a "knack for writing solidly developed characters."

In Lady Sings the Cruels, three characters' lives unfold in an "engaging novel of hard times and second chances" in some of the rougher areas of Houston, Texas, commented a Kirkus Reviews critic. Bodie, after being involved in a botched pawn shop robbery, is serving time in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Amelia, Bodie's girlfriend, is devastated by his arrest and conviction, barely making a living as a waitress while mourning the shattered dreams of singing stardom. Ike, a guard in the prison where Bodie is being held, becomes Amelia's romantic pursuer after meeting her in a bar, unaware of her connections to inmate Bodie. With her interest in music reignited after singing in the club where she met Ike, Amelia sees a possibly brighter future and nurtures her own interest in Ike. As Bodie serves time and becomes more powerful within the prison environment, he endures the abuse of a sadistic guard commander. When he discovers Amelia and Ike's romance, violence seems to be the only answer. "A gritty depiction of prison life, a few sweaty sex scenes, and a cast of well-drawn characters converge in this drama of damaged lives," commented the Kirkus Reviews critic. A Publishers Weekly contributor observed that the novel's "last few chapters build to a satisfyingly bittersweet conclusion."

Pete once told CA: "It's been an amazing voyage I've undertaken since being bitten by the ‘writing bug.’ I've gone places I've never been, met so many new and interesting people, and have really learned to look at the world with ‘new eyes.’ It's a joy creating entire worlds and people that readers come to believe in as much as I do."