Book Club Questions for
Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Right off the bat I have to know - has anything like this ever happened to you?!

The idea for In Firm Pursuit did stem from an actual case. An African-American man was fired for sexual harassment and sued the company for race discrimination. I represented the company and tried the case in federal court. In real life, I was successful in winning a defense verdict for my client. In the fictional version, I took quite a few liberties with the facts. Most of the characters in In Firm Pursuit are not based on real people and nobody was actually murdered (thank God!) in the case I handled. I will admit, however, that I am a little bit like my protagonist, Vernetta Henderson. I guess that's why I find her so easy to write.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

I know all readers are wondering, is Special a real person, or at least based on someone you know?

Special is a combination of a couple of friends mine. She's that true blue friend who will always have your back, always speak her mind and always keep you entertained!

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Let's talk about the affair between Jefferson and LaKeesha. Can you really call it an affair? What should readers fault Jefferson for in this situation? Do you think it's possible that this is how many extramarital affairs get started?

I do suspect that some extramarital affairs get started as a result of one person setting his or her sites on someone who may not even realize they are a target. But I definitely wouldn't call what happened between Jefferson and LaKeesha an affair. It was important to me that readers didn't walk away from the book with negative feelings about Jefferson. I was trying to show that there are solid, true blue men out there who sometimes do stupid things. While Jefferson knew what LaKeesha was up to, he let himself get caught up in her web. He was a knucklehead, but I didn't think that should cost him his marriage.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Why does Special choose not to tell Vernetta what she knows about Jefferson and LaKeesha?

I think there were two reasons Special didn't tell Vernetta about LaKeesha. One, she didn't want to see her best friend get hurt. And two, she viewed Jefferson as a good guy whose biggest mistake was letting himself become a target of LaKeesha. I've attended lots of book club meetings where this issue was discussed. When the meeting consisted of women under 30, they were adamant that they would want their best friend to tell them. At meetings where the women were 40 and over, they were just as adamant that they'd prefer their friend to stay out of it. Interesting generation gap!

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

I found the theme of "abuse of power" very intriguing. Whether it was gender or race-related, there were some seriously inappropriate things going on at the hands of some powerful men. Is this common in a lawyer's world? How often is this misuse of power used by a female? Is it ever?

I think you can find an "abuse of power" in every profession be it a corporation, a law firm or an elementary school. And unfortunately, now that women are full-fledged members of the working world, we also get caught up in the fight for money and power. I think it comes down to who you are as a person. If you have integrity, you simply don't let yourself become embroiled in unethical situations.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Why does Vernetta need so desperately to be accepted by a firm that is obviously not that interested in having a black female lawyer as partner?

I think Vernetta has something to prove. She is by nature a very determined individual. She set a goal to become the first African-American partner at O'Reilly & Finney and she desperately wanted to achieve that goal no matter how many roadblocks were placed in her path. It is not unusual for people who spend years working in corporate America to wake up one day and say, "I can't take it anymore" and leave their high-powered jobs. We see that in the trend of professional women giving up the corporate world to become stay-at-home moms. Will Vernetta ultimately make partner? That question will be answered in the third book in the series, Murder on the Down Low, which goes on sale September 1, 2008.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

I was irritated that O'Reilly didn't stand up for Vernetta and do the right thing by nominating her name for partner. Why did he do this?

In my opinion, in the high-stakes world of corporate America, people simply aren't willing to stand up for others if doing so has even a chance of tainting them in some way. When Vernetta was golden, O'Reilly was more than willing to support her. But when she was accused of misconduct, he chose to stay clear of her rather than rally to her defense. Unfortunately, I've seen that happen more times than I care to admit.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Even more so I was bothered by Rich Ferris. Seems to me like he was the token black man in a club full of white men. Couldn't he see this? Did he not care? Was advancing his career at any cost more important to him than his own morals?

The scandals that brought down Enron, MCI Worldcom, Arthur Andersen and other companies tell us that power and greed are very enticing vices. These companies failed because the people at the top—who were already incredibly successful and wealthy—wanted more. Ethical behavior was placed on the backburner. While I think these individuals are the exception and not the rule, these types of people come in all shapes, sizes, colors and sexes.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

You raise quite a few poignant and hard to discuss issues that occur on a daily basis in the workplace. I actually was surprised that Randle really was innocent. Is it possible that the man is innocent more often than we think in sexual harassment cases?

I'm still a practicing attorney and my area of expertise is discrimination law. Without question, the hardest cases that cross my desk are those involving sexual harassment. This is because there are usually no witnesses to the alleged harassment. More often than not, it's a "he-said, she-said" case. So it comes down to credibility, which can be hard to gauge. Unfortunately, sexual harassment remains a serious problem in the U.S. workplace today and a growing number of the alleged harassers are women. Sexual harassment is definitely an equal opportunity offense.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

You've got the next book in the Vernetta saga due out this fall. Are you already working on a fourth?

I'm very excited about my third book, Murder on the Down Low, and equally excited about Buying Time, my first stand-alone book. In Murder on the Down Low, which goes on sale this fall, prominent African-American men are being gunned down on the streets of Los Angeles, leaving police completely baffled. The victims are all quintessential family men. Well-educated. Attractive. Successful. But appearances can be deceiving.

In Buying Time, a disbarred attorney literally stumbles into a far more lucrative career. But is he getting rich by murdering his clients?

Don't worry, there will be more to come from Vernetta, Special and Jefferson. I'm not sure I will ever be able to let those characters go.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

What inspired you to begin writing mysteries after careers in journalism and law?

I've always loved reading mysteries, particularly those that involve fascinating legal cases. It bothered me, however, that the legal thrillers I read never depicted women and African-American attorneys. So . . . I decided to fill the void.

I knew pretty early that I wanted to be a writer, having worked on school newspapers in junior high, high school and college. When I decided to major in journalism at the University of Southern California, I didn't give much thought to creative writing. At the age of 18, I didn't have the guts to even consider a career as a novelist. The writers I enjoyed reading – James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Joan Didion – were incredibly talented literary writers. I knew I didn't have that kind of poetic writing talent. So I pursued a career in journalism and later, earned a law degree. Flash forward several years and I somehow gathered the courage to give creative writing a try.

Book Club Questions for Pamela Samuels Young

Your life is extremely busy! What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers that are also juggling full-time careers and personal lives?

Learn to say "no" and don't feel guilty about it. Right now, I'm practicing law, promoting my books nearly every weekend, working on my next novel, and teaching a business law course at the University of Redlands School of Business. I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and I write a column for Global Woman magazine. I love teaching, but I recently decided that I just don't have the time or energy to teach another course this year. I also turned down a request to join the board of directors of a local non-profit group. I wish I could do it all, but there simply aren't enough hours in the day. For now, my primary focus is on finishing my next book and making sure I spend some quality time with my husband, who rarely sees me because I'm gone so much promoting my books.


Queenie D: Well Pamela, we surely appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us over here at Book Club Queen. You've found yourself some loyal fans!