Congratulations are in order for Eric Jerome, the man has expanded his Caribbean fan-base now to include Antigua –

Barbara Arrindell of Best of Books, said, ?the Antigua & Barbuda Literary Festival has been greatly enhanced by the kind sponsorship of Digicel. Marketing Executive Troy Byrne and his team have not merely assisted by finding ways to reduce our costs, but they have partnered with the standing committee, offering suggestions, encouragement and moral support to the small hardworking team of volunteers who are endeavouring feverishly to make this a great festival with activities for everyone.?

The Antigua and Barbuda International Literary Festival began last year as the Caribbean International Literary Festival and was hugely successful.

?Encouragement from the ministry of tourism suggests that this festival could become a permanent fixture on the nation?s calendar of events,? the press release continued.

To date, internationally acclaimed writers, publishers and publicists including Barbara Collins, Eric Jerome Dickey, Ava Hutchinson, Elizabeth Nunez, Donna Hill and Linda A. Hutchinson have confirmed their attendance. A number of local authors including Brenda Lee Browne, Joanne Hillhouse, Nerissa Percival and others, are also pledging their involvement.

Literary enthusiasts will have an opportunity to hear some of their favourite authors read their work and will also be able to attend various workshops designed to bring to the surface, and discover more of the nation?s dormant talent.

But as we promised, another glimpse into the dark and seamy world of Gideon as told to Eric Jerome Dickey, apparently a villain – he’s the black James Bond that women can’t get enough of and most men secretly aspire to be…

I see in the book some names were danced around by the secondary characters of Mrs Jones/Henrietta Kellogg and Lola Mack as to who could play Gideon in a film – one name was tossed in the middle of the convo and for me is first choice… CSI‘s Gary Dourdan! He has the right mixed look that is Gideon and the air of menace about the eyes!

Lola Mack is a permed edition of Stacey Dash (Renaissance Man, Mo’ Money, etc.), that character is something else – she makes a vocal Energizer Bunny seem as though it’s on tranquilisers! OMG, gal, just HUSH! Very well written by EJD, and extremely convincing, she loves to the max and was done wrong.

My choice for Mrs Jones the Jamaican expat is a rather dark horse so to speak, but I think she can pull it off – Barbadian actress Varia Williams! (In the first photo below, she’s second from the left) She can appear to be a Caribbean transplant, she really is a lawyer, and she has enough acting talent to give that air of mystery that is so Mrs Jones!

Who can play Arizona? Maybe Tia Carrere (immediately above) or Lucy Liu… But Bruno/Edward Johnson is a weird toss up – since EJD never stated if the man with the broken nose was black or white (he adored listening to Bobby Womack and called him The Poet), my choices are? Denzel Washington or Bruce Willis!

In this second edition on Gideon‘s travails, Waking With Enemies, we see him get into what many men desire but seldom attain, as he longs for normalcy but struggles with his all too literal demons of such a hideous way to earn a living.

Eric Jerome Dickey shows how despite some may think that London has been a melting pot of races and cultures and probably been that way for THOUSANDS of years – the man is an Education, I tell ya; even down to Caribbean expats!

The way of Gideon‘s redemption is slow, he receives a blow to his structured view on vengeance when he finally gets to confront Thelma – and more revelations are thrown at him than he can immediately assess, this damn near costs him his life!

But, as they say, in dying – he truly lives, and when he deals with having been changed to prey as opposed to predator? He has to face what choices he made and where they left him or how they affect others!

For my part, I believe he made the right choices and in so doing leads to other potential novels of Gideon – the mansion in Atlanta with Sven (As in – what will happen next?); Searching for the true memories of his past – in tracing his family tree, will there be new adventures?

Arizona? In leaving her hanging, he has found closure. I love the end of Waking With Enemies {SPOILERS HERE: last chance!}, it is truly a man’s paradise! Two chicks, a Caribbean island and a shitload of money – what more can a reformed antihero want?

I know what I want, more Gideon books, LOL! For those who like tracing the history – try Thieves’ Paradise and Drive Me Crazy they are indirect prequels.