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Speaker 1: On this week's episode of Cultivating her Space.

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Speaker 2: What I would love to see is that everybody who

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Speaker 2: reads a copy of the Merrick Maxwell Streek can go

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Speaker 2: out into the world and find someone else where they

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Speaker 2: can share their opinions and revelations with. Because that's how

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Speaker 2: stories live, that's how they become immortal, is through the

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Speaker 2: sharing of them.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode is sure to provide you with motivation, inspiration,

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Speaker 1: or a fresh perspective. If you have any AHA moments

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Speaker 1: or appreciate anything from this episode, please leave us a

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Speaker 1: review to let us know we're on the right track. Also,

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Speaker 1: we release episodes every Friday, so be sure to subscribe

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Speaker 1: on iTunes and visit cultivatingheirspace dot com to access our

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Speaker 1: exclusive after show and other bonus content from the Patreon tab.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to Cultivating her Space, a podcast dedicated to uplifting

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Speaker 3: women like you. We're your hosts doctor Dominique Bussard, a

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Speaker 3: college professor and psychologist.

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Speaker 4: And Terry Lomax, a techie and motivational speaker. In a

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Speaker 4: world where black women are often misrepresented and misunderstood, please

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Speaker 4: join us as we initiate authentic conversations on everything from

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Speaker 4: fibroids to fake friends and create a safe space where

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Speaker 4: black women can just be Lady. We have a very

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Speaker 4: special guest today that we believe is going to be

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Speaker 4: super inspiring, and we're so excited for this conversation. So

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Speaker 4: I'm going to go ahead and read her bio and

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Speaker 4: then we'll jump into our quote of the day and

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Speaker 4: get to this juicy conversation. Avery Cunningham is a resident

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Speaker 4: of Memphis, Tennessee, and a twenty sixteen graduate of DePaul

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Speaker 4: University's Master of Arts Writing and Publishing program. She has

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Speaker 4: over a decade of editorial experience with various literary magazines,

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Speaker 4: small presses, and bestselling authors. Avery grew up surrounded by

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Speaker 4: exceptional African Americans who strive to uplift their communities while

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Speaker 4: also maintaining a tenuous hold on prosperity and a starkly

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Speaker 4: segregated environment. The sensation of being at once within and

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Speaker 4: without is something she has grappled with since her childhood

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Speaker 4: and explores thoroughly in her work of historical fiction. When

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Speaker 4: not writing, Avery is adventuring with her Bernie's mountain dog,

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Speaker 4: Grizzly and waiting waist deep in research for her next novel.

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Speaker 4: She aspires to tell the stories of complex characters fighting

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Speaker 4: for their right to exist at the fringes of history.

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Speaker 4: The Mayor of Maxwell Street is her debut novel, which

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Speaker 4: you can go get a copy of, So be sure

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Speaker 4: to take a look at the show notes and click

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Speaker 4: on that link. And without further Ado, Avery, welcome to

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Speaker 4: cultivating her Space.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Hello, thank you so much for having me. I'm

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Speaker 2: so excited to be here. This is it is a

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Speaker 2: wonderful honor, and I can't wait to talk with you

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Speaker 2: all about about the book. Yay, we're so excited.

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Speaker 5: To have you.

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Speaker 6: Yes, we are definitely looking forward to this conversation. And

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Speaker 6: so I will start us with the quote of the day.

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Speaker 6: And Avery, you know we have been on your social

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Speaker 6: media as you have been on oppress for getting ready

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Speaker 6: for the lusch of your book, and so.

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Speaker 5: This quote will sound very familiar to you.

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Speaker 6: Okay, Oh dear either your words, all right, our quote

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Speaker 6: of the day. A part of me is still a

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Speaker 6: little girl staring up at her mother's collection of books,

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Speaker 6: dreaming of the day when my story could sit on

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Speaker 6: that shell. I'm gonna leave that one more time for

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Speaker 6: the people in the back so they really grasp what

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Speaker 6: we are going to be talking about today. A part

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Speaker 6: of me is still a little girl staring up at

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Speaker 6: her mother's collection of books, dreaming of the day when

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Speaker 6: my story could sit on that shell. Avery, how does

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Speaker 6: it feel to have your story sitting in your mother's

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Speaker 6: collection of books?

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Speaker 5: Well, and thank you so much for choosing that quote.

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Speaker 2: It's quite representative of my entire history, my entire journey,

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Speaker 2: my entire legacy. I owe so much of who I

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Speaker 2: am today to my mother. Her name is Cheryl pat

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Speaker 2: She Some of your listeners may actually be familiar with

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Speaker 2: her in the Memphis area. She's a pretty prominent entrepreneur

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Speaker 2: and influencer here in Memphis and owner of the show

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Speaker 2: Petcy lifestyle store. And without her, I doubt that this moment,

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Speaker 2: this place, in this time would have been possible. About her,

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Speaker 2: you know, constant and loving support. She knew I was

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Speaker 2: meant to be a writer from the start, and she

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Speaker 2: never faltered and encouraging that impuls in me. And along

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Speaker 2: with that story of her of her bookshelf that I

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Speaker 2: used to stare at for hours when when I was

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Speaker 2: a child, we also tell the story of when I

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Speaker 2: was maybe three or four, stand on a stool in

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Speaker 2: our kitchen and just orried. I would just well, actually

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Speaker 2: what my teachers were called preaching. I would tell these

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Speaker 2: long and fantastical tales to an audience only I could see.

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Speaker 2: And one day my mom she stopped and she listened,

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Speaker 2: and she had a pretty prophetic realization. She heard what

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Speaker 2: I had to say and felt that there was some

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Speaker 2: meaning in it and some of our purpose in it.

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Speaker 2: And she picked up a piece of paper and wrote

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Speaker 2: it all down, preserving that moment, and that copy of

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Speaker 2: my first ever story still exists to this day. And

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Speaker 2: that's just one example of how she has nurtured this

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Speaker 2: side of me. The opportunities that led me to this

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Speaker 2: moment are are really due to the fact that she

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Speaker 2: never stopped believing in me.

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Speaker 5: That is so beautiful, Avery.

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Speaker 4: It just makes me think about the importance of investing

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Speaker 4: in our children and being so in tune with them,

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Speaker 4: recognizing their gifts, and being able to cultivate them at

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Speaker 4: a young age.

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Speaker 5: So close to Yoma. Shout out for my mom. Okay,

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Speaker 5: that is an icon and a hero.

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Speaker 2: She has everything that I could ever hope to be

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Speaker 2: ever in life and a huge inspiration.

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Speaker 5: That is so beautiful and Avery. Speaking of you know,

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Speaker 5: your mother and your upbringing. Tell us about your origin story,

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Speaker 5: like how did you become the Avery cunning hand that

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Speaker 5: sits here before us today. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So I was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee. For

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Speaker 2: those who are familiar, it's a relatively small town outside

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Speaker 2: by an hour outside of Memphis, four hours from Nashville.

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Speaker 2: And I was raised in a pretty predominant African American community.

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Speaker 2: You know, my father's a cardiologist. We're very connected to

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Speaker 2: you know, the c Inme church and Lane College. And

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Speaker 2: I grew up, as I said in my bio, really

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Speaker 2: surrounded by African Americans who were exceptional and truly striving

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Speaker 2: to make a place for for all of us in

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Speaker 2: you know, this incredibly oppressive and segregated part of the

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Speaker 2: country even to this day. And my parents are both

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Speaker 2: great supporters of the arts, and especially my mother, you know,

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Speaker 2: she was an English major and English teacher for a time.

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Speaker 2: So I've grown up always surrounded by the arts and

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Speaker 2: artistic media and artistic mediums, and always encouraged to enjoy

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Speaker 2: the arts and pursue them. I was a theater kid

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Speaker 2: for most of my real life, and so have a

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Speaker 2: lot of passions around the theater, as well, and growing

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Speaker 2: up in you know, such a small community like Jackson,

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Speaker 2: you really get a chance to connect with people, to

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Speaker 2: learn their backstories, their histories. You know, after a while,

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Speaker 2: you see how everyone's connected, how everyone's you know, related,

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Speaker 2: how everyone's gone through, you know, some similar trials, no

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Speaker 2: matter you know where exactly we lived or we grew up,

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Speaker 2: or who exactly our families were. And I think that

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Speaker 2: also had a lot to do with the type of

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Speaker 2: writer I became. How I love characters. I love people's histories.

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Speaker 2: I love to see characters really lean on their legacies,

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Speaker 2: lean on their past, not only for them individually, but

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Speaker 2: going back to you know, their ancestors, even to understand

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Speaker 2: the true implications of who they are and the decisions

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Speaker 2: that they've made and how that will be reflected, you know,

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Speaker 2: through the millennia. And growing up in a small town

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Speaker 2: where everyone is so interconnected and where one's history is

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Speaker 2: so important, I think that really did nurture that side

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Speaker 2: of me, and it made me the type of writer

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Speaker 2: that enjoys not only telling those types of stories, but

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Speaker 2: consuming those types of stories as well. And then from there,

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Speaker 2: I grew up in Jackson, and I was there for

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Speaker 2: most of my life and then as my biostates, I

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Speaker 2: attended to Paul University for undergrad and grad school in Chicago.

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Speaker 2: Was there about five to six years. And I like

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Speaker 2: to say that Jackson is a city that raised me,

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Speaker 2: but Chicago is a city that made me. It gave

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Speaker 2: me my first real professional opportunities. I wasn't really able

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Speaker 2: to stand on my own outside of, you know, my

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Speaker 2: parent heads and their influence in a brand new city

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Speaker 2: with brand new community. And truly, if not for my

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Speaker 2: professors and instructors at De Paul, I probably would not

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Speaker 2: have chosen to really pursue writing professionally. For the longest

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Speaker 2: time in college, I thought I wanted to be a

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Speaker 2: professor or an editor, you know, something practical. Even though

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Speaker 2: I loved writing, I just couldn't see the realism in it.

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Speaker 5: But my professors say they really encouraged me.

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Speaker 2: They said I had a skill, and if I nurtured

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Speaker 2: my talent and my craft, that I could be a

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Speaker 2: professional writer someday. So I truly owe this moment to

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Speaker 2: them as well, foreseeing that talent and me and allowing

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Speaker 2: me to really embrace it and to even dwell in

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Speaker 2: places of not being a pragmatist where I could really

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Speaker 2: see myself as a writer and know that if I

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Speaker 2: worked towards that craft, work towards that goal, it would

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Speaker 2: be a real possibility for me. Wow, thank you for

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Speaker 2: sharing that, and you know it just.

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Speaker 6: It brings to light the importance of community, and the

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Speaker 6: importance of having a village, and the importance of when

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Speaker 6: people the impact of when people poured into you. And

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Speaker 6: so first let me say congrats on your debut novel.

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Speaker 5: Oh that is a huge deal.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, It's it's incredible, it's exciting. I'm incredibly grateful

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Speaker 2: and overwhelmed and terrified, and then back to grateful.

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Speaker 5: God, I know how rare.

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Speaker 2: This moment is, and so I do, I know what

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Speaker 2: acknowledges that for me to be here at all is

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Speaker 2: a huge blessing and it's just been the most incredible experience.

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Speaker 7: Hey lady, it's Terry here, Dom and I want to

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Speaker 7: take a moment to thank you for choosing to listen

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Speaker 7: to our podcast. We love you for real, and we

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Speaker 7: want to give you a chance to learn more about

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Speaker 7: what's important to us. So tell us what you think

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Speaker 7: about this.

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Speaker 8: Imagine a world where you have a chance to get

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Speaker 8: featured on the Cultivating her Space podcast and share your business,

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Speaker 8: brand or perspective with millions around the globe. Imagine joining

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Speaker 8: our monthly virtual video check ins where you can connect

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Speaker 8: with like minded black women like you and share your

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Speaker 8: ideas and episode suggestions with Terry and I. Now, I

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Speaker 8: want you to imagine a world where you're in the

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Speaker 8: exclusive Cultivating her Space sanctuary Slack channel, and throughout your

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Speaker 8: day and week, you are conversing with us about what's

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Speaker 8: happening in your life and sharing funny gifts.

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Speaker 1: And or personal wins.

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Speaker 7: How does that sound? Hopefully this is up your alley, lady,

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Speaker 7: because we are taking things to the next level this year,

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Speaker 7: and we're doubling down on investing in our community.

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Speaker 5: That means you.

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Speaker 7: We want to meet you, connect with you, and create

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Speaker 7: communities of genuine women who love on black women and

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Speaker 7: push our culture and movement forward. We launched this podcast

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Speaker 7: in twenty nineteen, and to date, we have not missed

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Speaker 7: a week. We've been great stewards of our platform, all

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Speaker 7: while working full time and navigating our own ups and downs.

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Speaker 7: We release fresh new content every single Friday, light clock Work,

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Speaker 7: and we have hundreds of valuable episodes in work workshops

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Speaker 7: that can really help you up level your life. So,

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Speaker 7: if you love our mission or you've gotten value from us,

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Speaker 7: this community effort forward. Visit herspacepodcast dot com and click Patreon.

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Speaker 7: You can learn more about our goals and exclusive offerings

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Speaker 7: on Patreon, and we highly highly encourage you to join

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Speaker 7: the Sister Frontier so that you can get someone on

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Speaker 7: one time with us. We also have an option for

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Speaker 7: you to donate on a one time basis if that

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Speaker 7: meets your needs. Again herspace podcast dot com and you

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Speaker 7: can click that link that says Patreon. All right, lady,

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Speaker 7: we'll hop right back into the conversation.

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Speaker 5: It is such a huge blessing.

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Speaker 6: And I know that we have so many listeners who

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Speaker 6: may be aspiring writers themselves, and so what advice would

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Speaker 6: you have for them in terms of keeping on the

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Speaker 6: path getting to the point of having a debut novel

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Speaker 6: right exactly.

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Speaker 2: Well, when it comes to the kind of the experience

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Speaker 2: of becoming a debut author, nothing can really prepare you.

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Speaker 5: I feel like you can read articles.

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Speaker 2: You can talk to writers, watch panels, but in the end,

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Speaker 2: everyone's experience is very unique. I am truly grateful for

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Speaker 2: the team that I have on my publishers at Hyperion Avenue.

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Speaker 2: Their willingness to collaborate and champion this novel and every

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Speaker 2: opportunity has really made a world of difference in writer's

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Speaker 2: programs and in writers' spaces. As an aspiring author, you

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Speaker 2: always hear about how you know your publishers are going

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Speaker 2: to be difficult and I'm compromising, and you have to

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Speaker 2: look out for all tier motives and all of these

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Speaker 2: things that you kind of go into the process prepared for.

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Speaker 5: But my publishers have been nothing but.

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Speaker 2: Holly transparent and excited and motivated, and I do feel

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Speaker 2: like if I didn't have that particular team behind me,

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Speaker 2: that this would be an entirely different process. I also,

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Speaker 2: of course want to shout out on my twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: four debut group many authors with the debuts launching this year.

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Speaker 5: We're all part of the.

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Speaker 2: Really large chet group where we support each other and

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Speaker 2: celebrate each other, vent to each other, and after going

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Speaker 2: through this experience with them, I really can't imagine going

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Speaker 2: through this experience alone. And as far as advice for

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Speaker 2: for writers who wish to become traditionally published, the old

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Speaker 2: saying just keep writing really does hold true. Before my

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Speaker 2: debut sold, I was in a really serious valley where

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Speaker 2: I considered giving up on writing. You know, I was thinking,

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Speaker 2: I really need to focus on, you know, the nine

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Speaker 2: to five, a stable career, you know, finally, you know,

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Speaker 2: grow up and kind of step into and step into

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Speaker 2: my life. However, I gave myself a deadline. I said

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Speaker 2: that if I wasn't published by thirty, then I would

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Speaker 2: commit myself to to something else. So I did continue.

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Speaker 2: Over those few years, I worked at my craft. I

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Speaker 2: wrote every day, I took on every opportunity to write.

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Speaker 2: I stayed determined and consistent. And now my debut was

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Speaker 2: launching a week before my thirty first birthday, so right

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Speaker 2: on schedule.

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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, ma'am, yes man.

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Speaker 2: And so that that is truly the one constant I

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Speaker 2: think for all published authors and all writers who do

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Speaker 2: eventually achieve publication, is just to continue writing, even when

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Speaker 2: it's frustrating, even when you're seeing that we're feeling that

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Speaker 2: it's not going anywhere, when you see other people kind

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Speaker 2: of reaching certain milestones and you feel like you haven't

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Speaker 2: accomplished those goals yet, just to continue working on your

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Speaker 2: craft to continue getting words on a page, because every

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Speaker 2: idea you have is a potential best selling novel, but

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Speaker 2: the world can't be exposed to that unless you get

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Speaker 2: those words down on paper. And even now, it's one

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Speaker 2: thing that published authors always say to debuts is to

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Speaker 2: keep writing.

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Speaker 6: Great.

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Speaker 2: You have one book down, give us two more every

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Speaker 2: single year, working on improving your career and adding to

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Speaker 2: your list of books, because that's just the most important

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Speaker 2: part of this industry. You have avoids, you have something

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Speaker 2: to say, you have a talent, but if you're not

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Speaker 2: actively the one putting the words down on page, and

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Speaker 2: the world can't experience that.

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Speaker 5: So that's my biggest piece of a to writers.

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Speaker 4: I just want to say, look at God, Avery, because

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Speaker 4: right before your thirty first birthday, write your book is

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Speaker 4: their viewing and I kind of want to take a

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Speaker 4: little detour. Okay, Avery, So you gave some great advice

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Speaker 4: about aspiring or for aspiring authors, and it was you

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Speaker 4: were talking about your parents. I couldn't help but think

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Speaker 4: about my own experience not having parents who were so

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Speaker 4: influential or established or supportive, And I think about some

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Speaker 4: of the listeners who might also be writers who or

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Speaker 4: just have any goals in general, but they don't have

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Speaker 4: that support, and so I just want to dig into

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Speaker 4: like one, that's so amazing. I'm so happy for you, Like,

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Speaker 4: that's so awesome that you had that, because it's so

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Speaker 4: critical place, such a game changer. I want to know

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Speaker 4: how how else did your parents nurture your gifts when

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Speaker 4: you were younger, because hopefully they can give other folks

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Speaker 4: ideas on how they can read their own children when

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Speaker 4: they see that they have, you know, creative gifts or

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Speaker 4: they see different talents. So what else do they do

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Speaker 4: to young or for young avery to kind of give

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Speaker 4: you that confidence in the determination to reach these goals.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly. I think exposure was a huge part of it.

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Speaker 2: Simply it seem that there might be something available that

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Speaker 2: I would be interested in or that I could grow from,

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Speaker 2: and just making it available to me. Going back to,

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Speaker 2: of course, my mother, who was my champion. Am I

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Speaker 2: rock and am I everything? And another story, when I

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Speaker 2: was really young, maybe ten years old, she was watching

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Speaker 2: a marathon of Hamlet film adaptations on turned classic movies

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Speaker 2: the the old cable channel. And I was only ten

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Speaker 2: years old, But you know, I love my mom and

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Speaker 2: I wanted to hang out with her. So she told me,

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Speaker 2: she said, well, Avery, you really like writing and this

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Speaker 2: could be a good learning experience for you. So she

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Speaker 2: sat down a little ten year old me and we

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Speaker 2: watched maybe five film adaptations of Hamlin, which of course

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Speaker 2: I didn't get it all I'm click going completely over

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Speaker 2: my head.

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Speaker 5: But but my mom was so encouraging and she's so

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Speaker 5: patient with me and talked me through the plot and

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Speaker 5: the language and the characters. And that moment.

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Speaker 2: I keep thinking back on is a critical moment for me,

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Speaker 2: kind of a cornerstone where I realized, Wow, this is

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Speaker 2: such an incredible piece of art and literature and writing

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Speaker 2: and maybe one day I could tell a story like this,

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Speaker 2: I could create characters.

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Speaker 5: As impactful as this.

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Speaker 2: And that was just off of one afternoon of exposure

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Speaker 2: that that set, you know, a course from my entire life,

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Speaker 2: and in terms of I guess advice, And of course

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Speaker 2: I'm not a parent, so I can't speak to to this. Well,

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Speaker 2: my Bernie's Mountain dog would debate that he is in

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Speaker 2: fact my child. But based on, you know, the experience

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Speaker 2: I've had with my parents and my mom, especially just

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Speaker 2: being aware of the interests and the passions that your

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Speaker 2: child has. And even if you do not fully support them,

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Speaker 2: if you see that they're passionate, if you see that

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Speaker 2: they're talented, simply giving them exposure, one moment, one afternoon,

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Speaker 2: one day, one meeting, one interaction can give them the

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Speaker 2: inspiration and the motivation that they need to chart their

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Speaker 2: own course. And and you know, my parents were always

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Speaker 2: excited to take me to you know, theater production and

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Speaker 2: they were always excited. It's there was a local author

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Speaker 2: in town doing a book signing a for you like

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Speaker 2: to write, let's go meet and talk to this person.

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Speaker 2: Books that I was really interested in are stories that

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Speaker 2: I might have seen in a movie, and they're trying

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Speaker 2: to find, you know, similarities in text or in prose

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Speaker 2: that they could give to me. Really simple things in

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Speaker 2: the long run, I think, but these were all hugely

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Speaker 2: critical moments that were foundational for me. And I think

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Speaker 2: when people are willing and comfortable to step out of

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Speaker 2: their own comfort zone and say, you know, I may

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Speaker 2: not be an expert in this, but I want to

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Speaker 2: find an expert to assist you, to guide you, to

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Speaker 2: mentor you, I think that does make a world of difference.

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Speaker 2: Those tiny opportunities are really necessary for young people.

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Speaker 5: I think.

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Speaker 4: Amazing exposure sounds like that's the name of the game,

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Speaker 4: being aware of their interest and passions and exposure.

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Speaker 5: Thank you for that, Apriy. That was so helpful.

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Speaker 2: No, of course, of course, of course. And I worked

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Speaker 2: with young people in a nonprofit organization here in Memphis,

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Speaker 2: Memphis Challenge, where we work with high achieving sidents of

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Speaker 2: color and a kind of high school age group, and

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Speaker 2: that that's still very very true, you know, just for

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Speaker 2: young people especially, just acknowledging that you have a passion

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Speaker 2: and saying, well, here's a book or a story or

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Speaker 2: a person that could change the game for them. And

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Speaker 2: all you've done is just just open a door. Well, Avery,

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Speaker 2: we appreciate you. And this conversation is just getting started,

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Speaker 2: so we're not going anywhere yet, but we do want

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Speaker 2: to shift up the energy a little bit. Okay, So

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Speaker 2: get ready Avery, okay, because we recognize and we appreciate

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Speaker 2: and celebrate the multifaceted woman, and we hear we believe

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Speaker 2: that it's okay to be bougie, classy and ratchet. We

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Speaker 2: believe that you can still be elegant and dance to

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Speaker 2: strip club music. So, Avery, we want to invite you.

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Speaker 4: To the oh you blatchet segment?

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Speaker 5: Do you take on the challenge? I do? I'm so excited.

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Speaker 4: Oh good, I thought you want to think nervous. I'm like, yes, no,

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Speaker 4: you excited.

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Speaker 5: Maybe nerves turning into excitement. I don't know. We're good.

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Speaker 5: We're good.

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Speaker 6: I'm in it. I'm in it.

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Speaker 4: Okay, we got our down. So now that you've agreed, Avery,

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Speaker 4: we're going to tell you what to expect. So we're

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Speaker 4: going to ask you or questions. We have four sentence completions,

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Speaker 4: and we're going to close out by sharing with you

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Speaker 4: a photo from your social media that we have pulled up.

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Speaker 4: We're gonna share on the big screen and what we

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Speaker 4: want you to do. I'm laughing because of Avery's facial expressions.

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Speaker 2: Y'all.

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Speaker 4: So you have to go to our website to watch

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Speaker 4: the interview on Patreon.

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Speaker 5: So many things flashed before my eyes. Oh my goodness,

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Speaker 5: what pictures do they find? Which pictures? Which social media account?

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Speaker 5: Am I about to be exposed on this internet? On

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Speaker 5: the snow.

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Speaker 4: We will not be doing we will not be exposing you.

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Speaker 4: But these are cute pictures, I will say, Avery, They're

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Speaker 4: very cute. I think you're gonna have some good memories.

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Speaker 4: So what we'll do is we'll pull up one of

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Speaker 4: these photos after you choose a number from one to three,

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Speaker 4: and then give us some context about the photo that

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Speaker 4: we wouldn't know by looking at it. Oh right, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: sounds great. Okay, let's dig on it. And I actually

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Speaker 4: think I misspoke. We're going to do three questions and

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Speaker 4: three sentence completions. Okay, So here we go. What is

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Speaker 4: the best piece of wisdom or advice you've ever received?

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Speaker 5: It's an easy one.

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Speaker 2: The ease it in there. Yeah you would think it

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Speaker 2: is easy. But now, but I've received so many good

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Speaker 2: so many good lessons, and I suppose this is This

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Speaker 2: is one that I think another thing that came from

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Speaker 2: my mother, but I think she pulled it from someone else.

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Speaker 2: We're both big fans of the Godfather and something that

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Speaker 2: we always talk about in our family as a quote

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Speaker 2: from the Godfathers never let anyone outside the family know

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Speaker 2: what you're thinking. And I think since for so long

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Speaker 2: it was just me and my mom, we really kind

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Speaker 2: of embodied that piece of advice to to have each

438
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,879
Speaker 2: other's backs and you know it's okay to disagree, but

439
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 2: to not show any kind of division to those people

440
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 2: who are on the outside of us. You might use

441
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 2: that to hurt us. And so it's very specific, very niche.

442
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,199
Speaker 2: But but never let anyone outside the family know what

443
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 2: you think. And that's the first thing that comes to mind.

444
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:13,680
Speaker 2: I know there's there are a lot of other wonderful

445
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,879
Speaker 2: piece of advice, but but that's.

446
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 5: What's on my heart right now. I like that.

447
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 8: I like that.

448
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:28,680
Speaker 6: Now this next question is not necessarily depend on how

449
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 6: you answer, not as classy or insightful. Okay, all right, Avery,

450
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:37,840
Speaker 6: I have four words for you.

451
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 9: Twerk or two step, two step, two step, And doesn't.

452
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,200
Speaker 5: This is Memphis or the two sy area. No, we're

453
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,520
Speaker 5: having a good two step It is, it is, this is.

454
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,680
Speaker 2: This is definitely a two step capital, but it's also

455
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,640
Speaker 2: a twerking capital. Memphis is such a such hip hop nation,

456
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,440
Speaker 2: you know, R and B, gospel, rock and roll, country, blue.

457
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,280
Speaker 2: So many musical dramas came out of this area that

458
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 2: the city is.

459
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 5: Really an expert at everything.

460
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 2: But I think it's a bit of a two step nation,

461
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 2: especially for an old soul like me who has really

462
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 2: rough knees and cannot try to talk not anymore.

463
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 5: We understand girls, Yes, yes, we do. Ain't them a

464
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,119
Speaker 5: two step? All right?

465
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,160
Speaker 4: All right, we have one more question for you before

466
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 4: we move into the sentence completion. So this question is

467
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 4: what is the sexiest item you own? I have a guess,

468
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 4: but I'm gonna you have the microphone, so we love

469
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 4: to hear.

470
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 5: Oh my goodness, I wish my boyfriend was here he

471
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 5: could answer that question.

472
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:54,720
Speaker 2: But sexiest Okay, Okay, So I just I got this

473
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 2: stress for the launch and it is emerald green velvet,

474
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 2: kind of an off the shoulder, and it's really slinky

475
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 2: and really form fitting, and it makes me feel amazing,

476
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,959
Speaker 2: gorgeous and beautiful. So I'm going to say that today

477
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:10,360
Speaker 2: is the sexiest thing I own.

478
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 5: And I don't wear it. I'm encasioning it.

479
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 4: And it's so I mean, it sounds amazing from what

480
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 4: I like.

481
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 5: It's such a great dress. Oh my god, I can't.

482
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:28,680
Speaker 6: Okay, Okay, we see you in the green belfits.

483
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 10: Kay.

484
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 5: I have to match the cover. I have to match. Yes,

485
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 5: you go, as soon as you post that picture, we're

486
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:38,159
Speaker 5: gonna be liking it. Okay, you're getting like waiting.

487
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 6: Okay, And so now we're going to do that sentence completion.

488
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 6: One question or topic I wish people asked me about

489
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 6: more often is.

490
00:25:53,840 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 5: H m hmm. I'm just gonna be honest. Avatar, the

491
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:01,359
Speaker 5: Last Airbender.

492
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 2: That was my TV show as a kid, and I

493
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 2: know way too much about it, and I wish people

494
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:07,919
Speaker 2: would talk to me more so I can get it

495
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 2: out of my head.

496
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,639
Speaker 5: It is an into the world. I'm just going to

497
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 5: be honest. I'm going to be honest here, I'm gonna

498
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 5: be honest.

499
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 4: Yes, So tell us Avery, what's something you would want

500
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,760
Speaker 4: to tell people about Avatar that you don't get to

501
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 4: share often, Whether it's like a realization, well, I don't

502
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 4: share oh yes, she ready, she ready, Easter eggs, whatever

503
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 4: it might.

504
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:32,480
Speaker 5: Be, exactly.

505
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 2: Truly, I think that that show is a great recommendation

506
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 2: for aspiring writers if you want to perfect your characters,

507
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 2: if you want to perfect your plot, your world building.

508
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 2: Even though it's so called a show for kids, it's

509
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:51,480
Speaker 2: incredibly mature and it's a perfect representation of how to

510
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,880
Speaker 2: write a tight, concise, but still broad and thematically profound story.

511
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 2: And I think anyone who wants to be a writer

512
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 2: deserves least to watch it one time through and it'll

513
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:07,920
Speaker 2: really help perfect your craft. Also, Dante Bosco voice is

514
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 2: one of the characters, and I swear that man has

515
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 2: an age. He looks exact same as he did twenty

516
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 2: years ago, and I'm okay with it. I'm fine with

517
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 2: it personally, Yeah, to look at it.

518
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 6: Yes, yes, me too. Our final centis completion. What I

519
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 6: love most about myself is.

520
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 2: Mm oh wow, you put an introvert on the spot.

521
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 5: I love I love.

522
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 2: My my willingness to go on adventures. I love to

523
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 2: travel to new places, even if it's just a hike

524
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,440
Speaker 2: in a new location here in Memphis or outside of Memphis.

525
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 2: I love to be swept away on a grand adventure.

526
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 2: And I think that's one of the really parts about

527
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,480
Speaker 2: my character and one of the things that gives me

528
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 2: the most enjoyment in life.

529
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,880
Speaker 5: Good answer, We love it, Avery.

530
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 4: Okay, So we have some photos, photo of a few,

531
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:15,520
Speaker 4: and what we want to do, because we can only

532
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,680
Speaker 4: share one, we would like for you to choose a

533
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 4: number out of one in three and once you choose

534
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,000
Speaker 4: a number, we will reveal that particular photo on the.

535
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 5: Big screen for you. Okay, all right, I'm gonna go

536
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 5: right in the middle and say two.

537
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 4: Awesome, good choice. I can't wait to hear the context

538
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 4: behind this photo. So here we go, Avery, I'm gonna

539
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 4: go ahead and put the photo on the screen, and

540
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 4: feel free to describe the photo first, Avery, because some

541
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 4: folks are only going to be tuning into the audio,

542
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 4: so feel free to describe it and then give us

543
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 4: the context.

544
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 5: I see your face and I love this. Yes, Oh

545
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 5: this is good. This is good.

546
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 2: Okay, there's a nice story behind us. So, but the

547
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,640
Speaker 2: photo that's on the screen is of me. I am

548
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 2: sitting at a table with a brick background, holding a

549
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 2: coffee mug and sitting in front of a typewriter looking

550
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 2: out the window. And this photo was taken maybe around

551
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, and the context is I was chosen by

552
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,959
Speaker 2: DePaul University as part of their campaign after they raised

553
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 2: some ridiculous amount of money I think just over a

554
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 2: million dollars in fundraising and they had a whole campaign

555
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 2: the kind of honor that that fundraising initiative, and I

556
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 2: was one of the handsful of students who was chosen

557
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 2: to be featured in all of the materials and the

558
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 2: ceremony materials to talk about, you know, all of the

559
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 2: good that this fundraising has done for students. And this

560
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,719
Speaker 2: all came about because one of the administrators for this

561
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 2: event was taking a master's class with me and he

562
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 2: really liked the way I presented myself and now how

563
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 2: I spoke about you know, DePaul, and how I got

564
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 2: to the school, and he felt like I'd be a

565
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 2: good representative. And they asked me, you know what I

566
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 2: was aspiring towards. I said, I want to be an author.

567
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 2: So they set up this whole really cool seen at

568
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,480
Speaker 2: this great coffee shop that's around the corner from DePaul University.

569
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 2: And it was a great It was my first really

570
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 2: professional photo shoot and I use these photos for years

571
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 2: because they were just so beautiful and so well done.

572
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 5: And this is a really beautiful photo.

573
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:20,360
Speaker 2: And I was a I think a baby twenty one

574
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 2: or twenty two year old at the time, but I

575
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 2: these photos were a huge inspiration for me for so

576
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 2: many years. Yes, this is what I can aspire towards,

577
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 2: This is what I can be one day. This will

578
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 2: be my author headshot until the day I was able

579
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,240
Speaker 2: to get my official author headshots and start a whole

580
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,120
Speaker 2: new journey. So thank you so much for choosing this photo.

581
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 2: It's gorgeous and I love it and I'm just happy

582
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 2: to share it.

583
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 5: Yay.

584
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 4: This picture is so beautiful and I love the typewriter

585
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 4: and sort of that it's just like this authentic writer feel.

586
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,400
Speaker 4: So I'm glad you chose that picture. Thank you so

587
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 4: much for sharing that, Avery, and thank you for participating

588
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 4: in the oly Bleatchest segment with us.

589
00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,719
Speaker 5: This is fun. This was so much fun. Thank you.

590
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,600
Speaker 4: We're going to get back into some of these questions

591
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 4: because we have got to know, Avery, how do you

592
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 4: research your books? And can you walk us through your

593
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 4: process of creating the story and the characters?

594
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 2: Yes, of course, and so talking about this the Marith

595
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 2: Maxwell Street in particular, what we uncovered research is often

596
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 2: so much more outstanding than anything we could ever capture

597
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,600
Speaker 2: in fiction, especially when it comes to the nineteen twenties.

598
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 2: The twenties were boozy and flashy and provocative, but they

599
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 2: were also pivotal, and through writers such as Isabelle Wilkerson

600
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 2: of the Warmth of other Sons and Casts, I learned

601
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 2: just how transitional and pivotal this time was for Black

602
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 2: Americans all across the country. Her accounting of the Great

603
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 2: Migration took this period out of the not so distant

604
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 2: past and made it profoundly and intimately present and in truth.

605
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 2: Her narratives in the Warmth of other Sons were huge

606
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 2: inspirations for me when so much of her research became

607
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,960
Speaker 2: foundational for what I was trying to capture in the

608
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 2: Mary of Maxwell Street. And then another great so orse

609
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 2: was Our Kind of People, by the late Lawrence Otis Graham.

610
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 2: For those who are familiar, it's a comprehensive history of

611
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,240
Speaker 2: the black elite in this country. It doesn't overview of

612
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 2: its culture, it's customs, its traditions, key cities, key locations.

613
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 2: And this book in particular was so impactful for me

614
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 2: because even though I'm I'm a black woman, a Black American,

615
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 2: I was raised in, you know, a pretty prominent black community,

616
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,000
Speaker 2: I had no idea about the true depths of our

617
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 2: history from this face and from this angle, how far

618
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,320
Speaker 2: back the wealthy black elite go and all of the

619
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,080
Speaker 2: institutions that were built around this community and this and

620
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,000
Speaker 2: this society. And it was just so uplifting to read

621
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 2: about and to because popular media loves to present us

622
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 2: through the lend of struggle and oppression, and it's so

623
00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 2: inspiring to see how our existence is so much more

624
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,959
Speaker 2: than that, that we're multifaceted, that we existed in places

625
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,920
Speaker 2: of wealth and prosperity and glamour and our kind of

626
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 2: people is just a great accounting of that and I

627
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 2: really recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more

628
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,880
Speaker 2: about you know, about our history, about black history and yeah,

629
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 2: and the novel was filled with cameos of a lot

630
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 2: of notable individuals who lived during these times, like the

631
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,080
Speaker 2: really notorious Gino Brothers, which were an Italian crime family,

632
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 2: the former Stelle CLOBs, who was one of the first

633
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 2: black opera singers, and then the gangster Dan Jackson, who

634
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 2: was one of the most prominent black gangsters in Chicago

635
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 2: at the time. And even though all these people aren't,

636
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 2: you know, the main characters in the novel, really incorporating

637
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:33,880
Speaker 2: their lives and legacies into the story made the world

638
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,720
Speaker 2: just feel a lot more vibrant and lived in. And

639
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 2: my huge hope is that people will pick up the

640
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 2: book and read it and see these names and think, oh,

641
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 2: I want to know more about this person, and then

642
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 2: look them up and educate themselves and learn more about

643
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,360
Speaker 2: about their story and their history. Let's see in a

644
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 2: couple of other sources I can shout out. There's a

645
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,640
Speaker 2: book on the Maxwell Street market, which is the kind

646
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 2: of behind the title of the entire book by Ara

647
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 2: Berkhou called Maxwell Streets Survivor and the Bizarre. If you're

648
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 2: wanting to learn more about the twenties, there's a great

649
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 2: kind of comprehensive history of the twenties called Anything Goes

650
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,480
Speaker 2: by Lucy Moore. And then another source that I found

651
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,959
Speaker 2: really randomly but became hugely impactful for me, was called

652
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,600
Speaker 2: The Negro in Chicago. And I apologize for the use

653
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 2: of that term that that is the title as it

654
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,360
Speaker 2: was written in nineteen nineteen, but that was a I

655
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 2: think about nine hundred page report that was commissioned by

656
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 2: the City of Chicago in the aftermath of the nineteen

657
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 2: nineteen race riots, where the city the city administrators were

658
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 2: truly at a loss for how something so violent and

659
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:39,760
Speaker 2: so catastrophic could happen, So they commissioned the Chicago Committee

660
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 2: on Race Relations to really get to the bottom of

661
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 2: what was the black experience in Chicago at the time,

662
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 2: how did this come to happen? And it's an incredibly

663
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:54,080
Speaker 2: detailed and surprisingly unbiased report, talking about redlining, talking about

664
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,680
Speaker 2: living situations. You know, what do black Americas Chicago do

665
00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 2: for work? How do they find that work? Where do

666
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,000
Speaker 2: they live? Why do they live there? There's even an

667
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 2: entire section where someone interviewed the owners of banks and

668
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:07,640
Speaker 2: was trying to get to the bottom of, well, why

669
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 2: aren't black Chicagoans getting these kinds of loans and getting

670
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:16,600
Speaker 2: these just really stark and disturbing commentary on how, you know,

671
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 2: big owners believe that black Americans can repay loans, that

672
00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 2: if you pay them alone, that they won't be able

673
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 2: to pay it back, even though black Americans are Black

674
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:30,279
Speaker 2: Chicagoans were some of the most responsible of lenders that

675
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 2: these banks were lending to.

676
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 5: And it's a really fascinating document. It can be a.

677
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,799
Speaker 2: Little unsettling sometimes, but the truth of it and the

678
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,920
Speaker 2: fact that it's so incredibly detailed, it paints a vibrant

679
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 2: picture of what black life was like in Chicago at

680
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,960
Speaker 2: the time. And if I could read the whole thing

681
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 2: over again, I would because it's just that interesting and

682
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,399
Speaker 2: just that educational. Also, and lastly, some of the most

683
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 2: poignant research for this project came from, you know, newspapers,

684
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 2: publications and the music of the time. Those sources, they

685
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 2: tapped directly into the minds of the individuals living through

686
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,840
Speaker 2: that era. What kind of songs were the top songs

687
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,960
Speaker 2: of the time, what news stories were the most popular

688
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 2: or the most controversial, And that inside really did help

689
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 2: make these fictional characters, you know, all the more real.

690
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 5: Wow, Sorry, that was a lot.

691
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 6: No, No, I it makes me appreciate.

692
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:29,760
Speaker 5: The work even more.

693
00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:34,960
Speaker 6: Right when as I'm listening to you share with us

694
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:40,640
Speaker 6: all of the research that went into crafting each character

695
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:47,799
Speaker 6: in every setting within the book. It's amazing. Thank you

696
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,320
Speaker 6: for doing all of that work. No, you would create

697
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 6: this amazing novel. And when you think about all of

698
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:05,879
Speaker 6: the research that tying the energy that you spit preparing

699
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:12,880
Speaker 6: to even write this novel, and it's, you know, considered

700
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 6: a historical novel.

701
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,040
Speaker 5: But when we write about people.

702
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:23,720
Speaker 6: Romance naturally or oftentimes comes into play.

703
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:24,759
Speaker 5: And so.

704
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 6: What you consider The Mayor of Maxwell Street a romance novel?

705
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 5: That is a controversial question.

706
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,440
Speaker 2: There are a lot of opinions on that currently from

707
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:42,360
Speaker 2: early readers. And for me, I do consider this to

708
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,440
Speaker 2: be a love story. But love story does not always

709
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,200
Speaker 2: mean a romance. Our main characters do love each other,

710
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 2: and they have a romantic relationship, but they love each

711
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:52,399
Speaker 2: other in the way of all that all young people

712
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,600
Speaker 2: who feel seen for the first time love each other.

713
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,280
Speaker 2: Our main character, Nellie Sawyer, is a young black woman

714
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:02,200
Speaker 2: blessed with unparalleled wealthcome privilege. And then her counterpart, Jay Shore,

715
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,759
Speaker 2: is a biracial black man who fled the South to

716
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 2: remake himself, and both are desperate for a chance to

717
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,400
Speaker 2: prove their worth, and that breeds a kind of attraction

718
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,200
Speaker 2: and even though it is complicated, it is no less real.

719
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,920
Speaker 2: Nelly is drawn to Jay because he challenges her, he

720
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,920
Speaker 2: cares enough to take her seriously, where Nelly is a

721
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 2: character is accustomed to be ignored, which is something Jay

722
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 2: refuses to do, even when it's a best interest. And

723
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:28,279
Speaker 2: Jay loves Nellie because he sees and heard that same

724
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,600
Speaker 2: brutal ambition that drives him. Nellie is a kindred spirit

725
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 2: until Jay goes too far, as the readers will discover.

726
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,600
Speaker 2: So yes, it is a love story, but not all

727
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 2: love stories have a happy ending. And I think that's

728
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,200
Speaker 2: something that a lot of readers, when they got into

729
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,319
Speaker 2: the book, they have to decide for themselves. Is the

730
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 2: love that these two characters have enough to outweigh some

731
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:54,879
Speaker 2: of the trials they put each other through.

732
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,840
Speaker 4: That was a great overview, and I just thought of

733
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,840
Speaker 4: a question I wanted to ask you. I don't know

734
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,200
Speaker 4: if this is in the works, but if your book,

735
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 4: or let's say, when your book let's put it out

736
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:11,560
Speaker 4: in the innis a series or a movie, who would

737
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:13,480
Speaker 4: you want to play Nelly and J Like? Are there

738
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 4: any actors where you're like, oh, they will be perfect

739
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:17,279
Speaker 4: for this.

740
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:21,719
Speaker 5: It's interesting the actors that I would want to play this.

741
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,120
Speaker 5: I feel like here so much.

742
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 2: Of my era and we're too old now. But if

743
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 2: I could go back in time, even just a little bit,

744
00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,719
Speaker 2: my ideal Nelly would be Denae Benton. Then your listeners

745
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,839
Speaker 2: and viewers might know her from Gilded Age, but she's

746
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 2: also a really popular Broadway star. She was part of

747
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,680
Speaker 2: the original cast for Natasha Pierre in the comment of

748
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 2: eighteen twelve on Broadway a few years ago. And when

749
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,279
Speaker 2: I wrote Nelly story, Danae Dunton was my vision. She

750
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,720
Speaker 2: was who I wasn't visioning for that character the entire time.

751
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,600
Speaker 2: And then my ideal Jay. I've thought about this a lot.

752
00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 2: I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest trying to

753
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 2: find my ideal J. And I what I really think

754
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 2: about it the character I have to choose now? Now,

755
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:09,319
Speaker 2: is it okay? If I pause real quick to look

756
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 2: up this person's exact name, I know we're for sure.

757
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,160
Speaker 4: I'm looking at Denay right now. You're good, girl, put

758
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 4: visuals together. I know who this person is, and I

759
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,400
Speaker 4: only just recently. If anybody is out there, and you

760
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 4: remember when Tia and Tamara Lowry did this adaptation of

761
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:35,920
Speaker 4: thirteen again wherein man, Yeah, what.

762
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:36,840
Speaker 6: Is his name?

763
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:40,279
Speaker 5: I have a name. He's in my Pinterest board. Wait

764
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 5: a second, Mark Taylor. Mark Taylor is his name, and

765
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:47,879
Speaker 5: and he he was my crush for the longest time,

766
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 5: before I even knew what a crush was. He is

767
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:50,279
Speaker 5: my J.

768
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 2: He is way too old to play him now, of course.

769
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,040
Speaker 2: But if I could just go back in time and

770
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 2: take young Mark Taylor and put him in today, that

771
00:40:58,640 --> 00:40:59,719
Speaker 2: would be my ideal.

772
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:09,080
Speaker 6: Yes. I love this and so and I love what

773
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:14,200
Speaker 6: you pointed out that as you were writing, you envisioned

774
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:21,840
Speaker 6: who Nelly would be, right, and so, what it makes

775
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:28,000
Speaker 6: me think of is what are some of your favorite

776
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:36,080
Speaker 6: books and authors? And how have they inspired you not

777
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:40,240
Speaker 6: only in writing this particular novel, but as a writer

778
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 6: in general.

779
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 2: Right, let's see, well, the two that that that you know,

780
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 2: I owe so much to so many amazing authors in

781
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:51,360
Speaker 2: their books. It's honestly really painful to try to pick

782
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,359
Speaker 2: one that's more influential than another. And stead, I think

783
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:57,759
Speaker 2: I'll talk about the two ones that that I that

784
00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,799
Speaker 2: stay on my mind most often, that I think about

785
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 2: most and whenever I'm trying to work through something in writing.

786
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,120
Speaker 5: And the first one has to be a book called.

787
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,960
Speaker 2: American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was a revelation for me.

788
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,800
Speaker 2: I remember the day I first read that book. And

789
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 2: for those who aren't familiar with the American Gods is

790
00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:19,680
Speaker 2: we'll have to explain without spoiling. Essentially, the whole premise

791
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 2: is that when people immigrated or were brought to America,

792
00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:26,000
Speaker 2: they brought their religions with them, and they brought their

793
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,280
Speaker 2: gods with them. And it's a kind of a story

794
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,720
Speaker 2: of America where all of these kind of forgotten gods

795
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,200
Speaker 2: have to figure out how to live in the country

796
00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:35,240
Speaker 2: and in the world that doesn't believe in them anymore.

797
00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 2: And it's one of the most influential books that I've

798
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 2: ever read. When I read it over the course of

799
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:42,360
Speaker 2: a day, and it truly was over the course of

800
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:45,440
Speaker 2: a day, I couldn't put it down. Every sentence was

801
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:49,080
Speaker 2: so impressively clever, and the world building was so immersive,

802
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,920
Speaker 2: and the story was so well crafted. It how was

803
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:55,120
Speaker 2: shocked by how good of a novel this was. And

804
00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,000
Speaker 2: I was maybe nineteen years old at the time. And

805
00:42:58,040 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 2: every time I sit down to write, I try to

806
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 2: cap sure that same sensation that this book gave me.

807
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,919
Speaker 2: My deepest hope is that readers can read not only

808
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 2: in the Merrick Maxwell Street but future books and feel

809
00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 2: inspired in the same way I was inspired. And the

810
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:15,719
Speaker 2: second book that kind of lives run free in my head.

811
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,680
Speaker 2: It is my Soul to Keep by Tanda to Redo.

812
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,120
Speaker 2: It was a game changer for me. And my mom

813
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:21,920
Speaker 2: was already a huge fan of Tanna and Redo. All

814
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:24,080
Speaker 2: of my undies were huge fans of Tanna and Redo,

815
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,560
Speaker 2: and it wasn't until I was about twelve that she

816
00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:29,920
Speaker 2: actually let me read wanting her books. And for me,

817
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,160
Speaker 2: it was not just the characters or the suspense of

818
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:35,560
Speaker 2: the world building that I adored and my soul to keep,

819
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,359
Speaker 2: but the fact that these were all black characters, black

820
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:43,080
Speaker 2: characters going on these really incredible and dangerous and terrifying adventures,

821
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 2: and at that age I still wasn't accustomed to that

822
00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,799
Speaker 2: kind of diversity. I wasn't used to seeing those types

823
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:53,040
Speaker 2: of stories portrayed in media, especially not books. And it

824
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:56,240
Speaker 2: was usually motivational, especially again when so much of popular

825
00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:59,440
Speaker 2: culture seems determined to portray the Black experience is one

826
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:04,240
Speaker 2: of suffering and oppression and hardship and trials and tribulations.

827
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,880
Speaker 2: And My Soul to Keep was magical and fantastical, and

828
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,799
Speaker 2: it was about people truly living in the world. And

829
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,240
Speaker 2: yes they were black in their Black experience and formed

830
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:15,680
Speaker 2: all of that, but it was so much more than

831
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 2: the story of our collective suffering. And those two books

832
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 2: meant so much to me at the time when I

833
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,680
Speaker 2: was reading them, and to this day, whenever I feel

834
00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:28,399
Speaker 2: stuck or frustrated or in need of some kind of

835
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,720
Speaker 2: motivation to continue writing, I turned to those two books

836
00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:35,239
Speaker 2: because they continue to spark something.

837
00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:35,919
Speaker 5: At me even now.

838
00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,680
Speaker 4: I read You are so inspiring. We cannot wait to

839
00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:45,520
Speaker 4: see just how far you Goink. It's just so incredible

840
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:47,160
Speaker 4: to be able to just have this conversation and kind

841
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 4: of get a peek behind the curtain and learn about

842
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 4: your process and your inspiration.

843
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,000
Speaker 5: Of course, your process, your background. Is there anything in

844
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,399
Speaker 5: particular that you would want to tell our listeners as

845
00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 5: being closed out that you maybe have it shared already,

846
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,200
Speaker 5: just give them more context or something about your book,

847
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,480
Speaker 5: or just anything in general, Like you have the mic,

848
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,640
Speaker 5: the world is listening. What would you want to say?

849
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:11,440
Speaker 2: Let's see truly, of course I want to say thank you.

850
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:14,440
Speaker 2: This has been a wonderful experience and a wonderful opportunity.

851
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:19,560
Speaker 2: And it's crazy when when you're a writer, you go

852
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 2: through the process of writing the book and drafting and

853
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:23,920
Speaker 2: crafting and outlining, you begin to think that you're in

854
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:26,200
Speaker 2: it by yourself, that is just you, when your head

855
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,279
Speaker 2: and your thoughts and your computer. But in truth, these

856
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,920
Speaker 2: stories are made to be shared and these topics are

857
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,319
Speaker 2: made to be discussed. And it's only in situations like

858
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:38,879
Speaker 2: these talking to you, wonderful wonderful women, where you're really

859
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:43,960
Speaker 2: able to enjoy what stories mean and what books mean.

860
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,000
Speaker 2: It's in the discussion, it's in the connection that people have.

861
00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:51,040
Speaker 2: It's in the realizations and revelations that people have, and

862
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 2: that for those of you who have listened to this

863
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 2: podcast and you're like, I'm really interested in this book

864
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:57,880
Speaker 2: and you go to pick up The Merrith Maxwell Street,

865
00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 2: I really encourage you to read it with the or

866
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,399
Speaker 2: read it with a friend, someone who you can talk

867
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:06,400
Speaker 2: to about all of the different themes, plots, and characters.

868
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:07,320
Speaker 5: It's a book that's.

869
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:10,440
Speaker 2: Really made to challenge people, and these are themes that

870
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:12,879
Speaker 2: are made to be discussed. And what I would love

871
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,120
Speaker 2: to see is that everybody who reads a copy of

872
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:17,040
Speaker 2: The Merck Maxwell Street can go out into the world

873
00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:19,640
Speaker 2: and find someone else, but they can share their opinions

874
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,480
Speaker 2: and revelations with because that's how stories live, that's how

875
00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:25,959
Speaker 2: they become immortal, is through the sharing of them.

876
00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:29,880
Speaker 6: Yes, I am so glad that you said that angry,

877
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:34,120
Speaker 6: because as you were talking, what immediately came up for

878
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 6: me was the idea of like your book being read

879
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:38,280
Speaker 6: in a book club.

880
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 5: Right, and so.

881
00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:46,440
Speaker 6: For our listeners who are inevitably going to read the

882
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:48,479
Speaker 6: book and they're going to bring it to their book club,

883
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:53,840
Speaker 6: what would be the top two questions that you think

884
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,480
Speaker 6: readers should discuss.

885
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:06,160
Speaker 5: Yes, a question that I really love is and that

886
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:07,200
Speaker 5: I post to a lot.

887
00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:09,520
Speaker 2: Of people and a lot of book clubs is after

888
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:12,360
Speaker 2: reading the book and knowing that our main character, Nelly Sawyer,

889
00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 2: is a black woman, but she's also a black woman

890
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:20,080
Speaker 2: that comes from incredible privilege and wealth and prosperity. I

891
00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:21,960
Speaker 2: would love for readers to discuss whether or not they

892
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 2: feel that her background and her privileged upbringing had influenced

893
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:30,200
Speaker 2: her decisions in any way, whether positive or negative. I

894
00:47:30,200 --> 00:47:33,560
Speaker 2: would love to see people really converse around whether or

895
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,040
Speaker 2: not she made the right choices or how much of

896
00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:39,640
Speaker 2: her own biases influence her decisions. Another question is kind

897
00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:41,959
Speaker 2: of the question that you asked me. Do you feel

898
00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:45,239
Speaker 2: that this is a romance or a love story? That's

899
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:49,040
Speaker 2: another controversial topic, and I love to see people discuss

900
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:51,239
Speaker 2: whether or not they feel that the relationship between Nelly

901
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 2: and Jay is something to romanticize or something to ward against.

902
00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,480
Speaker 2: And I think that discussion would be really, really fun.

903
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:04,799
Speaker 5: Those are great questions. So now you have heard it

904
00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,239
Speaker 5: from the author herself. Okay, so add those questions to

905
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:10,360
Speaker 5: your book club when you check out this book. Avery,

906
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:13,080
Speaker 5: We celebrate you. We are so excited for you, so

907
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:13,600
Speaker 5: proud of you.

908
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:15,560
Speaker 4: We can't wait to see you in your Emerald Green

909
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:18,439
Speaker 4: Dress and to see all the success that comes from

910
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:21,480
Speaker 4: your book. So feel free to just remind listeners where

911
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:23,120
Speaker 4: they can purchase your book. We'll make sure to add

912
00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:25,279
Speaker 4: links in the show does but feel free to share

913
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:27,320
Speaker 4: how they can connect with you on social media and

914
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,239
Speaker 4: any other call to actions that you might have.

915
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:30,160
Speaker 6: Yeah.

916
00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:32,600
Speaker 2: Of course, in terms in terms of you know, purchasing

917
00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:35,200
Speaker 2: the book anywhere and everywhere books are sold. If you

918
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,440
Speaker 2: have a small indie bookstore that you love and they

919
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:40,400
Speaker 2: don't have the book in stock, ask them to order it.

920
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,359
Speaker 2: But otherwise anywhere books are sold, that's where you could

921
00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:46,000
Speaker 2: find your copy of The Merrior Maxwell Street and hardcover work,

922
00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:49,319
Speaker 2: paperback or audio book. And in terms of connecting with

923
00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 2: me my Instagram and my TikTok is Avery Writes Big Books.

924
00:48:53,719 --> 00:48:56,520
Speaker 2: I also have a Twitter account for What is Worth

925
00:48:56,560 --> 00:49:00,120
Speaker 2: Now but some at AA Underscore Cunningham. I'm also on

926
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:04,480
Speaker 2: Facebook at Avery Cunningham Author, but I'm really active on Instagram.

927
00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:06,560
Speaker 2: I love to connect with readers on Instagram and TikTok,

928
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:09,520
Speaker 2: so please be sure to pop over there, follow me

929
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:12,760
Speaker 2: see all the different content and posts about the book,

930
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:13,680
Speaker 2: and we can talk.

931
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:17,840
Speaker 5: We just we can talk about it Hey, thank you

932
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:21,560
Speaker 5: so much. Avery. Well, yes, of course, and thank you,

933
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:22,200
Speaker 5: thank you.

934
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:25,400
Speaker 2: This has been such a fun experience, totally worth staying

935
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:25,880
Speaker 2: up late for.

936
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:29,800
Speaker 6: This has been great. Yeah, so we appreciate you.

937
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:33,399
Speaker 11: Hey, lady, it's doctor dom here from the Cultivating her

938
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:37,439
Speaker 11: Space podcast. Are you currently a resident of the state

939
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:42,879
Speaker 11: of California and contemplating starting your therapy journey? Well, if so,

940
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:48,360
Speaker 11: please reach out to me at doctor Dominique Brusard dot com.

941
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:53,279
Speaker 11: That's d R D O M I N I q

942
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:57,759
Speaker 11: U E B R O U S S A r

943
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 11: D dot com to schedule a free fifteen minute consultation.

944
00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:08,040
Speaker 11: I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for joining

945
00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:12,960
Speaker 11: us today. Please note that our show may contain conversations

946
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:18,680
Speaker 11: about self help, advice, self empowerment, and mental health, but

947
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:21,600
Speaker 11: is by no means meant to be a substitute for

948
00:50:21,680 --> 00:50:25,960
Speaker 11: an ongoing formal relationship with a trained mental health provider.

949
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:29,480
Speaker 11: If you are someone you know is in need of

950
00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:33,040
Speaker 11: mental health care, please visit a Therapy for Black Girls

951
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:38,320
Speaker 11: directory Psychology today or contact your insurance provider.

952
00:50:38,719 --> 00:50:40,640
Speaker 10: If you liked what you heard and want to keep

953
00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:44,640
Speaker 10: the conversation going, visit our website at heirspace podcast dot

954
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:47,520
Speaker 10: com and be sure to click the Patreon tab. You

955
00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:51,720
Speaker 10: get access to video content, bonuses, and our weekly after

956
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:56,920
Speaker 10: show and before we Meet again, Repeat after me. My

957
00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:01,680
Speaker 10: thoughts create my reality. Today I tuse thoughts that in

958
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:03,440
Speaker 10: power and uplift me