WEBVTT - Same Year, New Stories? 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:04.200 On Theme is a production of iHeartRadio and fair Weather 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:14.560 Friends Media. You are the start. 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.439 You remember the beginning of twenty twenty four. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:27.440 It feels like it's been years since the beginning of 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.080 twenty twenty four. What exactly are you remembering? 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.680 I was thinking about us talking about what stories we 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.440 were looking for to consuming and creating. I said, I 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.320 wanted to read more nonfiction classics, finish my book, and 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:45.720 write short stories. So thinking about like the new year 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:47.640 and things we want to see in the future, I 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:52.239 am thinking about like what stories I want to read, watch, 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.160 listen to, and just like what I'm going to be 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:57.040 on the lookout for. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.400 Oh yeah, I remember that, And I said I wanted 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.280 to read more folk tales and write more about nature 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:09.080 and the environment. So some of the things that I 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.360 want to explore in the new year are stories that 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.680 are centered around local and regional folklore. And that's because 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.759 I do like fantasy. I like being in imagined worlds. 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.160 I like world building in certain ways, but things that 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.039 have really rich characters in them. And I feel like 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.360 there's so much that I want to learn about the 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:28.760 world and the people in the world. 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.720 I thought it's time of checking on our goals, share 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:35.960 our progress and what we've been writing, and give reviews 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:40.040 on our latest frees. Okay, let's do it. I'm Eves 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:53.800 and I'm Katie. Today's episode, Same year news stories, So 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:56.480 let's hear an update on the writing front. 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.560 The writing front is stressful because I feel like I'm 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.720 never doing enough for myself. I haven't been writing as 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:08.800 much environmental and horror fiction and fiction or it just 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.639 works in general about nature as I wanted to. I've 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.880 been able to work on some updates on some old 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.480 stories that I was putting together. I've also been able 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.680 to work a little bit on my book, but a 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.640 lot of my time has been taken up with writing 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:31.239 about history and writing about black people too. But yeah, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:35.040 that's that's how my writing is going. But it's been 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:36.959 I will say I've gotten a lot of words out. 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.200 I've gotten a lot of words out, but were they 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:42.800 always the words that I really wanted to be putting 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:43.720 on the page in the moment? 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.119 So tell us more about your stories. 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:51.560 So I am working on a story that it has 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.600 a beginning and an ending. It's probably about I don't 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.240 know three hundred three thousand words right now, but I've 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.640 been working on it, but it just needs something else. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:07.080 It's about the game of knocking on doors and running 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.440 with a group of black kids, and it ends up 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.280 in this kind of like fantastical place that they find 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:19.280 themselves in in this dilapidated building, and there is a 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.960 group of adults that they meet and they're not really 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.680 sure what's going on. But I really don't like the 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.400 ending right now, like something needs to be refined in it. 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:35.280 In the story, I'm thinking about abandonment, like I'm thinking 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.880 about like having a close knit group of friends as 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:47.080 a black child in the South. Specifically, I'm thinking about 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.240 what it means to show up for children in a way. 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.760 But I think some of my themes might shift as 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:54.920 I like figure out more where I want to go 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.040 with the story. But it definitely needs several more drafts. 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.680 I would say, how many of them are you said 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:01.600 you're updating it. 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:03.800 It's one of those stories that I wrote probably like 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.880 a year ago and have been just like touching it 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:08.320 every now and then since then. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:10.760 Do you know what you want to do with it? 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.360 Is it like you post it online? Are you? Is 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:14.320 it a part of a collection. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:16.880 I've sent it out, but I still would like it 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:18.000 to be in a different place. 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.360 So explain to people what you mean when you say 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:21.400 sent it out to some places. 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.600 When I say sent it out, I mean submitting it 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:28.640 to literary journals to be published in their pages. 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.760 Okay, Yeah, so you wanted to stand on its own Yes. 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:34.119 That's correct. Yea. I wanted to be its own story. 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.240 I've thought about expanding it for a minute. I thought 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.599 about turning it into like potentially like novel, but I 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:42.600 don't think I want to take it there. It felt 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.320 right as a story. Once I tried to start doing that, 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.360 I was like, nah, this is a story. 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:48.360 Yeah, some things are better short. 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:49.120 Yeah. 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.200 And you said you're writing about history. 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.719 Yes, and that is work that's not for myself, that's 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.920 for other people. But so, you know, one of those 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.120 obligation things. I mean, I'm not going to complain about. 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:02.599 I'm grateful to be able to write and get paid 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:07.599 for it. But I have been writing quite a bit 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:12.280 about history, about the civil rights movement, about civil rights leaders, 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.960 about leisure. Yeah. I've been doing some of that work, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:18.400 and that's been taken up a lot of my time. 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.279 So in this writing process, have you learned anything? 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.760 Yeah? So I think I've learned. Content wise, I've learned 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.400 some things. I feel like it's a never ending process, 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.560 but learning a lot about the craft of writing and 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.080 being able to hone in on a specific moment and 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.080 be able to really get people to step into a 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:42.000 moment and feel like they're there and be invested in 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:47.240 the motivations of the characters, and to build an arc 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.960 that is actually one that people want to follow. I 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.440 think a lot of the time I get lost in 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:59.400 all of the small details and I try to fit 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.200 in as many as possible, and I am unable to 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.640 see the whole for all of the small details a 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.320 lot of the time. And that it's like if I'm 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.240 on deadline or if I'm writing for somebody else and 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.839 there's the word limit me eves, it's probably gonna go over. 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.400 Like you know, that comes first, and then getting down 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.320 to the meat and potatoes and like making it something 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:26.359 that feels alive. I guess comes a little bit later, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.000 which I guess is typical, but you know, just refine 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.159 that for myself. So what about you, Katie, What do 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:33.920 you have going on in writing land? 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:40.920 I have submitted my book, so the first draft and 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.440 the second draft are done, and I was looking back 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:48.640 at my book proposal and I really undersold what I 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.480 turned in. I was like, girl, you could have get 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.760 some about buddy. I undersold it. And I think it's 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.640 interesting because you can see like the the growth I 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.480 had and just knowledge. It was a lot of things 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.240 that I didn't know until I started researching it and 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.040 started talking to people, and it's like, oh, well, there's 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.240 no way this can't go in the book. But when 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.480 I proposed it, I just had no idea it existed. 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:14.160 So I think an exercise in like journalism that I'd 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:14.880 never had before. 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:15.240 For real. 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:17.920 It was a lot of research, a lot of talking 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.560 to people, and then like synthesizing that in a way 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:25.320 that would be interesting. And it's profiles of bookstores from 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.800 eighteen thirty six to twenty twenties, and so each profile 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.520 it's like, Okay, gotta say something different about this bookstore. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.360 And I think black bookstores are always like put together, like, oh, 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.240 here's a list of fifty block bookstores. Here's a list 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.480 of these block bookstores support these block bookstores. So they're 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.880 kind of put all together in a group, and it's like, 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.000 what can I say that's interesting about each one? What's 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.960 something that's really funny that happened at these bookstores. What's 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:54.200 something that no newspaper, you know, no social media posts 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.520 has said about this bookstore. And I feel like I 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:58.120 was being like kind of selfish in that way. I 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.600 was like, I want all the details tell people. I'm like, well, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:03.680 don't tell me all the other stuff you told people, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:05.880 because I already read it when I was researching them. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.840 It's like I want something new. And it's like talking 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.680 to people and they have like their stump speech, and 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:11.280 like I have it too when people talk to me 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.160 about stuff and I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, what's really going on, 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.240 you know, like trying to break that down for them. 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.560 So that's been a lot. And also I learn is 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:24.160 that writing is I would say, like a tenth of it. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.080 It's really editing. I have never edited something so much 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.520 like myself, not like having an editor. I'm like, I'm 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.480 going to edit this like three or four times before 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.480 the editor even sees it. And so like seeing how 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.240 that has progressed, and seeing just like all the tricks 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:39.720 to make something just interesting, Like you can be saying 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:43.520 giving people the same information, but if you're saying it 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.360 in a way that uses all these like rhetorical devices. 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.559 It's like way more fun to read. It was more 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.079 fun for me to write and like put my name on. 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.480 So that is what is going on with the book. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.720 So as you've gone through that editing process, do you 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:58.840 feel like you've gotten more proud of your work. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:04.920 I wouldn't say I'm a proud a person generally, so sure, Yeah, 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:09.120 I started at zero. Now we're here, and I have 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.520 not been writing short stories. I'm gonna go. 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:12.280 Ahead and admit it. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.000 I ain't right. I ain't reading one short story. It's 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:16.920 funny because I'll be having so many ideas for a 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.199 short story, like I have a collection, I have the 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.320 overall theme, I have each story in my head. They're 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.480 so funny. I'm like, I don't know, maybe they're just 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.120 for me to laugh at in my head until you 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:32.840 get them on the page. Yeah. 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:33.240 I don't know. 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.600 I've never written fiction for real, and it's just something 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.920 that I I don't know. I'm just a real ass 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:41.280 beach for real, So I don't even know if I 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:42.200 can make it up for it. 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:45.360 Here we go. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.360 After the break, we'll get into what we're reading and 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:52.920 if we recommend you read it. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:54.600 Too, stay with us. 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:03.960 So earlier this year, I said I wanted to read 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:08.000 more classic nonfiction, and I ain't gonna hold you. I 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.320 have not been doing that, but I have gotten into 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.440 classic fiction. Okay. As someone who's on book talk and bookstrogram, 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.880 it's easy to get swept up in all the new releases. 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.559 But there's definitely a lot of books that were published 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:22.680 way before I was born that I never got around 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.880 to reading. One of them being The Street by Anne Petrie. 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:26.480 Have you read it? 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.079 I think I started that book and didn't finish it. Oh, 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:29.920 you ain't like it. 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:30.840 It didn't hold your attention. 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.400 I want to say that I get distracted, but tell 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:35.800 me where. 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.840 Okay, So here's the synopsis. So the Street was published 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.920 in nineteen forty six, and it is among the earliest 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.760 novels published by a black American woman to receive national 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.199 critical acclaim in literary prestige. It's set in World War 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.880 two era black Harlem. So the Street is rough, and 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.520 the Street becomes a character itself. It's so present, But 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.800 I'm getting ahead of myself. The novel centers Luddy Johnson. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.120 She's cute, she's hard working. She has an eight year 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.320 old son named bub An alcoholic father and a cheating 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.560 husband who she quickly leaves after she finds out that 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.480 he's using the money she sends back home from working 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:15.440 as a live in maid for white folks to shack 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.920 up with another woman, so she finds an apartment and 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.880 building in Harlem. The building isn't great. There's prostitution, folks fighting, 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.120 a creepy souper who becomes obsessed with Leuddy and assaults her. 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:27.959 She really is trying to make enough money to move 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.760 into a better neighborhood with bub. She tries out singing 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:32.840 in a nightclub, but the white man who owns the 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.439 building she's in has other plans for her, and she's 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.400 forced to stand up against all the bullshit that's been 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.439 thrown her way. When I finished this book, I was like, no, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:41.480 not my gird. 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.559 Okay, yeah, I definitely don't say anything because I don't 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:47.360 want it to be spoiled. I'll probably read it. 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.839 Okay, no spoilers. But I really felt deeply for these 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.480 characters in particular. It felt like they were real and 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.120 I want to reach into the book and save them. 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:58.199 And that didn't make you want to write fiction. 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.160 No, I it made me not want to because I'm like, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.680 I can't do that. I don't have the range. 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.480 So when you were reading it, did you feel like 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.360 you were paying attention to the craft, like how she 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.240 was building from one moment to the next, or were you. 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.160 Just fully I was wrapped up in it. Yeah, I 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.320 was wrapped up in the story. I think there's sometimes 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.920 when I can do that, but I think I can 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:22.240 do that more with nonfiction. I see what you're doing there, Okay, Yeah, 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.800 I got it. I think maybe when I'm like listening 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.679 to like comedy specials, I can see what they're doing, 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.199 you know, with the callbacks and you know. 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:36.000 That's a very specific example why comedy specials. 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:37.880 I don't know why I can see it, but I can. 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.000 I don't know because like comedy specials, they're presented as nonfiction. 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.240 They're not one hundred percent nonfiction but auto fiction. Yeah, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:49.120 but I don't know. I was wrapped up in the story. 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.199 Okay, So tell me more about Letdy. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.800 I identified with her, like she understands like what she's 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.839 up against as far as you know, the economics of 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.160 it all, the sexism of it all. But she's like, 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.280 you know, I got my son, and I got to 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.280 make it work. Like she doesn't really mention her mom. 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.640 I think her mom died, and her dad ain't really 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.040 much help. He's like an okay guy. He'll like watch 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:15.800 the baby sometimes, but you know, he got his own 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:17.880 stuff going on. And then her husband's not helping her. 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.240 So she's like, you know, I gotta get it out 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:20.679 of the mud. I gotta do what I gotta do. 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:23.480 So you know i'd be getting out the mud. I'm 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:30.240 just like, oh God. But you can like really see 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.000 like she's really trying, like you know, like you you 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.760 be rooting for people. She was a central character and 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.000 then like all the people like she came in contact with, 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.320 you could see how they were like working towards her 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.400 betterment or like working against it, and unfortunately there are 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:47.520 more people working against it. And then so you identify 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.040 with her and you root it for her. But did 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:50.880 you feel like she was an unlikable character or a 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.760 likable one? No, she was likable. I feel like the 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:58.280 author made her likable, Like she wasn't a pushover, but 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.559 you could tell like she had good intentions for her 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:04.080 and her son, and she peeped when people were being weird, 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:09.080 and you know, she wasn't shy about you know, expressing that, 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:10.520 but yeah, she was liable to me. 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.679 Okay, So besides Luddy, who are some of the other 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.720 characters that you found compelling or that you really felt 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:19.520 aligned with? Aligned with? 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.840 None of them, But there was a character. It was 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.480 a woman who lived in her same building. And the 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.560 way she's described is she'd just be sitting in her window, 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.840 like washing the street. She knows everything's gone on the street. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:36.000 And she also was a madam, so she was pimping 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:38.960 out girls out of her apartment, which you would think 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.200 is like not that likable, like, but I still liked her, 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:42.680 you know. 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.320 Did she feel like a mother figure in there? Because 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.120 that's often how madams are portrayed. 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:52.520 She was by her business, you know that she was 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.320 by her business. But there's, like I want to say, 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.360 like multiple situations in the book where women go to her. 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.800 Not women that she pimping out, but women who live 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:02.320 in the building go to her for help and she 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:06.280 helps them and she don't charge them, and she like 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.200 protects the women in the building, even the ones that 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.520 aren't living with her, and so she like helps out Letty, 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.320 she helps out another woman who's like being mistreated in 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.359 the building. So you know, even though she has her flaws. 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.520 I was like, I see what you're doing. Her name 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:22.080 is miss Hedges. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.560 I think, So what were your expectations when you went 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:25.480 into the book? 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:29.800 They're pretty neutral. It's an older book, and sometimes older 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:34.560 books like will have like outdated language or just like 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.320 situations that you really can't relate to as a twenty 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:45.040 first century guawl. So they're neutral. But I do like 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.720 books from around this time period too, So I read 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.080 like Passings or like around the time period, like the twenties, 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:54.320 So I do like books on that time period. Black 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.920 nol More set in that same time period or they're 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.840 about so I was like, okay, kind of neutral, just 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.960 like open and open mind. I know people have said 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.280 they really liked it. It was a classic. Some classics 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.480 don't be good, oh no, some don't be hidden. So 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:08.120 that was neutral. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.800 So without spoiling it, what did you make of the 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:12.720 ending of the book? 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:17.160 Me, personally, I wouldn't have written that ending, okay, but 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:19.640 I think it was an appropriate ending. 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.000 That did not sound like that was positive to me 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:27.240 because when you say appropriate, that sounds safe, and it 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.520 wasn't safe. Okay, it wasn't safe, but it was. 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:32.920 Like the ending I would have written would have been 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:37.480 like fantastical, like girl, does ding' happen? Like it's not 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.840 like the thing that would happen like something miraculous would 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.920 have had to go down from my endings happened. 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.880 Did it seem like other editors or the publisher might 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.280 have had their hand in the ending that was written. 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.040 It's hard for me to say. I don't know what 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:54.280 her writing process was. And that was my first book 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.720 I've read from her. I know she has a couple 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.160 more that i'm that are on my list to read. 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.800 But I think looking back and how she set everything up, 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:05.160 it was probably gonna end that way. 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:06.359 Would you read it again? 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:08.159 I don't be reading books twice. 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.560 Oh yeah, I do know that about you. So I 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.679 know there is assault in the book. How did that 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:14.280 portrayal impact you as a reader. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:19.199 It was like a very suspenseful scene. I am glad 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:25.040 that it wasn't like so graphic. It was physical assault, 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:27.560 but it was racistin so I'm like, oh, no, it's 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.159 gonna happen to my girl. No, no, no, like you know, 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.280 trying to race through to see what happens. And then 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.679 but in that scene you see like again the women 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.560 coming to another woman's aid, which I think is a 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:40.320 theme in the book. 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.199 So how do you feel like she was able to 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.879 build that suspense at the moment, Like, thinking back on it, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.520 do you kind of see the moves that she did 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:49.080 to get there? 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.239 Yeah, I mean she foreshadowed that the person that was 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.399 going to assault her was like obsessed with her and 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.080 like creepy and just like leering, So you kind of like, Okay, 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.720 something's going to go down here. And they she always 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.000 talks about like how beautiful she is and shapely and 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:07.960 a good singer. She's just like truly the baddest bitch 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:14.960 on the street. Yeah, so you're like, okay, like if 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:19.120 someone just like doesn't respect, you know, another person's autonomy 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.800 like they would, she would be the person that they're like, Okay, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.520 I'm going to take you. So she she did some 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.120 foreshadowing for sure. And the version that I read, Tyari 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.000 Jones wrote the intro, which I don't always like reading 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.280 intros by someone that's not the author, but I think 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.680 TYRII did a good job because she was talking about 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.000 like her experience reading it for the first time in 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.199 college at Spelman, and she put it in conversation with 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.720 other books that she read during that class and how 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.680 they portrayed women differently, and this book portrayed women more dynamically. 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:54.040 So I think she did like a good setup. She 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.520 gave some like all right, she's gonna get assalted, so 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:00.760 it wasn't like a shock. But yeah, I liked how 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:02.480 tire you did that. She did that, good job, Tire. 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.560 So ultimately, would you recommend this book to someone else? 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:10.240 Yeah, I think anyone who like fiction, historical fiction, even 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.120 though it doesn't read us historical fiction, would like it. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.159 I think if you like character studies plus good plot, 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:19.040 you would like it. And yeah, if you're like me 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.520 and trying to read more classics and not just be 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.120 on every Tuesday looking to see what new book is out, 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.760 this would be a good place to start. After the break, 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:28.359 we'll hear what Ease is reading. 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.280 So I really enjoyed hearing you talk about The Street 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.440 by Anptree. You have recommended it, so now I will 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:49.280 move it up higher on my list. So yeah, I'm 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.919 excited for that, because, like I said, I do I 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.200 need some more fiction in my life. I'm not sure 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:58.560 if this sounds like the lightest book to bring in now, 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.000 but I'm looking forward to reading it because I already 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.439 know about Amptrie and like, you know, started it and 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.560 didn't finish it, so I'm going to go back to it. 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.840 But as to be expected, what I have been reading 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:19.400 is nonfiction, and I read Black women writers at work. 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:24.280 I read nonfiction, but I don't read I read craft sometimes. 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.240 And I think I actually kind of revising what I 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.720 said at the beginning of the year want to read 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:33.080 craft books more. I've actually enjoyed the craft books that 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:35.760 I have read. I think the thing with craft is 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.320 that it can really compound if you don't integrate it. 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:40.960 It's like you get all of this knowledge about craft, 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.320 you're like, Okay, Wow, that's a great technique or that's 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:46.040 a good tactic that I can use in writing. This 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.080