Nashauna Drummond, Acting Lifestyle Coordinator

Jerome Dickey explaining the characters in his latest novel, 'Waking With Strangers'. - Junior Dowie / Staff Photographer

After a slew of tantalising novels and an immeasurable throng of fans, Eric Jerome Dickey continues to explore the 'what if' of human interaction.

On his recent visit to the island to launch his latest novel, Waking With Strangers, Dickey explains that his characters work by exploring the 'what ifs'. He notes that he never knows where his characters are going and that's the fun part.

Waking with Strangers

The sensual sequel to Sleeping With Strangers, it opens with the main characters, Gideon, Lola and Mrs. Jones, in London and the periodic flashback to how they got there. "It catches them at this particular moment when so much is going on." Both women with their own set of 'baggage' get caught up in the dangerous game that is Gideon's life. Lola came to London to be with the love of her life only to find out that he has been living with another woman. Mrs. Jones who is Jamaican, is 'fleeing' a failed marriage and there's a price tag on Gideon's head. Dickey notes that he wanted his characters to move and a book that moves.

Gideon, an assassin, met both women on a flight from the United States where he had just completed a hit in Tampa and realises that he is being followed. With all the enemies he's made in his line of work, it could be anyone, and at the top of the list is the woman who taught him how to kill - his mother.

As the book unravels, his three main characters try to lose and find themselves with sex being a favourite past time. "Sex is reflective of his hedonistic world," explains Dickey of Gideon whose mother was a prostitute. "He's doing the same thing his mother did; it's how he knows to relate to a woman."

True calling

Jerome Dickey autographs copies of his latest novel during its launch at Devon House, recently. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Dickey studied computer programming in university and was a middle school teacher before becoming an author. "I think I've found what I was meant to do, what I'm doing now. When you're doing something and it no longer gives you joy, you need to move on."

Dickey is a 10-time New York Times best-selling author and is categorised as an African American writer who writes about people of colour. "I write about people of colour because I have more characters to pull from. I write characters that are not stereotypical. But you have no control over how you are characterised. You'll never get to just be a writer as an African American".

While some of his fans thought some of his novels were autobiographical, he notes that the only aspect of his work that's autobiographical is that his novels take place in cities that he has been. Dickey usually takes six to nine months to complete a novel but notes that he's writing all the time, wherever he is.

He notes that of all the novels he's written, his favourite would be Thieves Paradise, Drive Me Crazy, Sleeping With Strangers, and Waking With Enemies, as it's a sort of series where the characters keep reappearing.

At the launch of his novel at Devon House on September 12, his fans were out in large numbers. One of the few men among the throng was Dave Scarlett. Dave has read seven of his novels, his favourite being The Milk In My Coffee. "I like the twist it has at the end. His characters come alive. Sometimes, its like you can reach out and touch them. And if we're going to be honest about it, there are things in his novels that men will do if no one knows about it. But the feelings he puts into the books might be why women like him, he's a fantastic writer."

Among his female fans, there was no shortage of praises. Nicole Campbell has read all of Dickey's novels and notes that men could learn a thing or two from them. Sophia Harris who has also read all of his books said, "You can relate to his books. I like him because he makes black women so beautiful in his novels, he represents them as very beautiful women."

Dickey notes that he gives the same amount of feelings and emotions to all his characters. "I try to give that same feel to all of my characters, male or female, young or old. Protagonist or antagonist, I think all of my characters emote. The all have fears and desires. Most of the book buyers (no matter what genre), tend to be female. Maybe people tend to cling to characters that remind them the most of themselves. When the male characters are given depth and detail that same level of appreciation doesn't seem to exist which is not a bad thing, it's just the way people are."