Tia Williams Discusses Her New YA Novel: A Journey of Friendship and Love

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Hello.

Hello.

How are you all feeling?

No, no, ma' am.

No, try again.

How are you guys feeling?

Yes, yes, yes.

It's Thursday, we're almost to Friday.

We got a lot to be excited about.

But my name is Ramonda Young.

I am co owner of Mahogany Books along with my amazing husband, Derek Young.

And thank you, thank you, thank you.

Appreciate it.

We actually have another event going on right now.

We usually try not to do two events, but it's a kids event, so he's at that event with an award winning authority, an illustrator rather.

And so I'm here with the amazing Tia Williams and I'm here with all of you.

So thank you.

Give yourselves a round of applause for being here.

Yep.

So just a little bit about.

Actually, before I talk about Mahogany Books, let's give it up for the Prince George's Memorial Library System, where we are.

Yes, absolutely.

And the Austin Hill branch.

Just to let you know, the library is officially closed, but they stayed open for you all, for us.

So it's just, it's very, just mind blowing that they do this for us.

So let's give them another round of applause because they can be at home.

But just really quickly, Mahogany Books, we've been in business now for about 18 years.

Thank you.

The first year, actually, the first few years, we started our business in our one bedroom apartment in Alexandria, Virginia.

And the whole impetus was how do we make black books accessible no matter where you live?

It was important to us then and 18 years later is important to us now.

I'm from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and when I grew up, I never knew black Wall street was a mile from my home because it was never taught in my classes.

And so when my husband and I talked about why do we want to start a business?

That was one of the reasons no one else should have their history dictated to them.

Whether they get to know it or not.

Right?

So bookstores.

Thank you.

Bookstores allow that to happen to where you don't have to wait for somebody else to make your book successful.

You can go down the street and support a local bookstore.

So that's why we're here.

That's why we did it, and that's why we will continue to do it.

So thank you all for being here and supporting that dream.

So, again, give yourselves another round of applause.

I got my church fan out.

I'm in a.

Well, I'm not going to say I'm in a pause, but I'm probably right there at it.

But let's get into it, because I don't want.

You guys didn't come here to hear Mahogany Books.

You guys came here to hear Tia Williams and Nikki Payne.

And I'm excited.

Yes.

And I'm going to read because they have a lot of good stuff on here.

So I'm excited to welcome Dr.

Nikki Payne.

Let me see if I show up hands.

Did anybody know she was a doctor?

Okay, okay.

Y' all true followers.

Yes.

I'm emphasizing doctor Even though she won, but I'm so excited to celebrate that as a Black woman.

So Dr.

Nikki Payne.

She's one of our favorite local author friends here in the dmv, but she has national prominence, too.

Just because she's local.

She got national recognition as well.

By day, she's a curious tech anthropologist asking the right questions to deliver better digital services.

By night, she dreams of ways to subvert canon literature.

She's a member of Smut University, her premium feminist writing collective, and a cat lady with no cats.

She is the author of Pride and Protest and now Sex and Sensibility.

Please help me welcome Nikki Payne to the stage.

What?

Come on, come on.

Cat lady with no cats.

Hey, y' all.

Cat lady with no cats.

That's what we're doing.

It is.

Let me tell you something.

I'm so allergic, but I feel like their vibe is who I am.

Okay, okay.

And so next, our author of the evening, Tia Williams is the New York Times bestselling author.

Yes.

Yes.

Period.

And tonight, we are celebrating the launch of her latest and her first YA romance.

Audrey and Bash are just friends.

It's perfect for fans of Seven Days in June.

Let me see how many have read Seven Days in June.

Okay, that's like all y' all.

The five of you guys who have not read it.

We have a few because there was only, like, five hands.

She's actually had a 15 year career as a beauty Editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Teen People, and essence.

And in 2004, she pioneered the beauty block industry with her site, Shake youe Beauty.

She's the author of the Accidental Diva.

Let me see if we read that.

Yes, we actually hosted her here on this same stage for the Accidental Diva years ago.

I'm sorry.

I think it was for Perfect Fine.

She's the author of Accidental Diva, the It Chick series, and the Perfect Fine Now, a NETFLIX film starring Gabrielle Union.

Anybody seen that movie?

It was fire, wasn't it?

I loved it.

So please put your hands together for the amazing Tia Williams.

Can everyone hear me?

Okay, just a little bit of housekeeping.

So if anyone has ever been to an event with me, one of the things that I love to do is keep these fantastic authors in the hot seat.

But I also like to get into the crowd a little bit and ask a couple of questions of you all.

And I'm gonna talk to you all today a little bit about some challenges that you've had or some bold steps you've taken.

And I will be looking at hands.

And if hands don't raise, I'm just gonna find the person with the biggest booty, and they're gonna have to go first.

Okay?

I make the rules.

This is my house.

Okay?

So, first of all, thank you so much for just being such a creative force.

I read Seven Days in June, and I remember calling everyone that I know.

Do you know that meme?

Ain't nobody tell me nothing.

I was livid.

I was like, where was this my entire life?

Why didn't you publish this 30 years ago?

It was gorgeous.

It revolutionized, altered my brain chemistry.

And I think about them pretty consistently, like, as people living in the world.

I really do.

I really do.

Thank you.

And.

But you have this YA book, which still had me kicking my feet.

Okay.

Had me squealing those texts.

I love a text.

I love a text.

And I guess my first question is, answer for your crimes.

I mean, people wanted Audrey, so I had to do it.

Yeah.

So I wrote Seven Days in June.

I have to shout out, daddy, where is he?

This is my father, Dr.

Williams.

He named seven days in June.

He says I don't credit him enough, so I'm calling attention to him right now.

Yeah, so when I wrote it, you never really know what people are gonna think about the characters you write.

And it became very clear to me very fast that Audrey was a fan favorite.

I was getting all sorts of DMs and texts like, I wanna be Audrey when I grow up.

You Know, mind you, she was 12.

Exactly.

And, you know, she was just funny and the wisest person in the room and so confident, and people wanted to see more of her story.

And so I thought it would be fun to catch up with her in real time four years later as a 16 year old and give her her own rom com.

It worked.

It worked.

Can you talk a little bit about that transition from writing for adults to writing for teenagers?

Oh, it is so different.

It's so different.

Do you think it's different?

Every time I try to write for teens, it always sounds like, hello, fellow youths.

Right, right.

I know.

And that's why it was so scary.

Because what I didn't want to sound like was a Gen X person trying to, you know, speak teenager language.

And my daughter, who is 16, who inspired Audrey, made it very clear to me that I was not to embarrass her and bring shame upon our family.

And so it was really important for me to, you know, because it takes you out of it when you hear, like, sayings that are off or, like, references that are weird.

And so I would just bounce everything by her and her girlfriends.

If there was a summer party, I would sit them all down and I'd be like, what's the tea go?

Too explicit.

Your turn.

And, like, I'd go down the line and I would take things and take inspiration and.

How many people have read it yet?

I know, it just came out.

Okay, so this will be a spoiler free.

Yes, yes, spoiler free.

Let me look through my questions because, baby, I had all kinds of.

Wait a minute.

Okay.

No, this is great.

Little to no spoilers.

I love that.

I love that you especially, like, went through your daughter and like, that this was a moment to kind of connect.

I'm saying this because me and my daughter read this together and it's just like, such a moment to think through some of the things that Audrey was working with, understanding her chaotic life, feeling displaced, but also still feeling like a part of this family.

And my daughter loved this book so much.

And one of the things that I'm also going to do because I also have a teenager manager, is bring her up today to ask you a couple of teen questions.

Yes, Zonie.

Hey, Zoni.

I love that Blue Ivy has created a whole profession that didn't exist before.

Yeah, yeah, it's real.

It's real.

I can tell you.

She's a Virgo, so she just.

She runs the whole family.

Ma' am, the floor.

Hey, girl.

Okay.

Hi, guys.

So my primary question was how Connected you were with the locations that you mentioned.

Because it genuinely, every time I read about whatever location you were talking about, I felt like I was there.

Like, it was like, do you know these people?

Like, it was really authentic.

And I, I don't know why I keep forgetting that you're like somebody's mom.

Because like the, the lingo, the Sol de Janeiro, like that, that, that line got me.

Okay.

I was like, are you, are you my mom's age?

Are you my friend?

Like, I know.

I was really like shocked.

I was like, you really paid attention.

I love you.

Do you know how proud I was of that?

Sol de Janeiro.

Yes.

Like literally I reference today.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sol de Janeiro is a beauty brand that all the teenagers and 20 somethings myself use.

Yeah.

So I live where the book takes place.

So I'm familiar with all the places that the teenagers are going.

You know, like I said, I spied on conversations and outright asked for, you know, anecdotes about their weekends, what they do after school.

And I might have gone to some of these places that I hadn't been before to sort of scope them out to see what they were like, not while my daughter and their friends are hanging out, but like you know, Tuesday at 6.

It felt really real.

Like it genuinely felt like the author was a teenager and knew what we did.

And I, When I actually found out that you had a daughter my age, I don't know why I was so shocked because it was just like, it was giving.

We're here.

Like we're, you know, well, you know.

I'm a youthful spirit.

I'm a young 40 something.

And also I come from a magazine background.

And so I was a beauty editor for a long time, which is also why the Sol de Janeiro.

So beauty editors write about makeup and hair and skin care and you have to.

It's all so embedded in pop culture.

Like what we're all doing, you know, at the time, in terms of entertainment, politics, you know, youth culture, what we're saying, the lingo.

So you sound out of date and out of step if you don't know those things.

Never as a journalist got the ick.

Like, seriously, because I read so many books and so many books are like.

And yeah, they hit up the party and I'm like, please just stop.

Yeah.

And like you, you perfectly, like encapsulated Gen Z in a way that didn't make it.

Sorry.

In a way that didn't make it feel like we were like dumb and like weird, you know?

Yeah.

Because like, we can be but it's like with the side of eccentricness that you perfectly encapsulated for me.

So, you know, I love that about.

Oh, thank you.

Oh my God, I am so honored.

Oh, Zonie.

My little Audrey.

Zoning.

She is everything.

She's so poised.

She didn't get it from me.

Yes, she did.

Oh my God.

Oh, no.

But this is, that is exactly what this type of book can engender.

Like you can read this as an adult and get so many lessons from this because Audra is a high achieving.

She is doing everything right and yet she still finds these places where maybe Stanford won't look at her.

If she's not doing X, Y and Z, she's trying to top the thing that's already fantastic.

And I think mostly like a lot of black women can relate to that.

Like some of the most degreed people in the country are black women because they're just like, what else, what else can I do?

And so like really relating to Audra and really like relating to her trying to become herself.

But another thing that like I loved about that aspect of becoming was that she didn't allow it to be just this one dimensional.

And that's where, that's where Baby Bash comes in.

That's where our nonchalant non dreadhead comes in.

Right?

He was such a safe place for her to grow and try new things and have some challenges and do something different.

And I'm just, I'm curious about writing this high achieving young black girl, especially kind of in this current climate of kind of taking all of those things like slowly away and, and then also bringing in this relaxed black boy.

Right?

Like those are all that's doing work.

Do you understand what I mean?

Yeah, it's doing work.

Sorry, that was a very long question.

No, no, I'm.

Yeah, well, I.

It was.

Oh my gosh, it was important.

So if you don't know, this is a quick elevator pitch for the book.

So Audrey, high achieving president of her junior class, captain of the debate team.

She realizes it's the last day of junior year.

She's going into her summer.

Her summer plans have fallen through.

She's stuck at home with her mom, her stepdad and her new baby sister.

Her big plan for the summer was to write a self published self help book for teens because she also has a therapy side hustle where she charges 45 in cash.

Not cash app or Venmo because that's traceable to give therapy lessons to her friends at school.

So she's writing a self help book.

Because she thinks that's going to really put her at the top of the pile to get into Stanford.

But she realizes that she doesn't have all of her, like, therapy knowledge is from reading psych books, but she doesn't have, like, real life experience.

So she hires Bash, who is a new kid, and he's like the local bad boy.

She hires him to teach her how to have fun for the summer.

But Bash is not really what he seems.

He looks like an F boy, but he's actually just the sweetest, softest cinnamon roll ever.

And he likes to surf.

He wants to be a tattoo artist.

And he has this sort of dark past that happened down in California that no one really knows about because he just moved to Brooklyn.

And without giving too much away, he grew up in an environment that was very kind of toxic.

Black masculinity, you know, only white boy surf.

What are you doing?

You know, tattoo.

No.

You know, his father forced him to anywhere.

I don't want to give it away, but, yeah, it was intentional that I wanted to create a young black boy that didn't buy into all of the toxic nonsense.

You know, I started writing this right when Megan and Tore.

Like, that whole thing went down when people, you know, and I spent too much time on Twitter, like, seeing the reaction to her coming out about getting shot.

And, you know, how many of us, how many black men, you know, didn't believe her?

And black women would stand behind them.

Girl, if you are, it'll be you next.

Yes.

If you are, you shouldn't be.

But if you're paying attention right now to black, the what's happening trial is the same thing, same thing over themselves to, like, protect toxic.

Right.

Like, behavior.

Yeah.

So I was really, really inspired to create this boy that did not play into any of that and was only exactly himself and loved that.

I love that.

And not only did he do that for me, like, not only was that beautiful to read, he was just such a beautiful contrast to Audra.

Like, he was.

I want to go into this discussion of, like, experience challenges, you know, because that, like, those really stuck with me because I think all the time about how hard it is to be intentional about moving slightly out of your comfort zone.

And I.

I just have.

Oh, sorry, look at me.

I was doing the same thing.

So I have one question for the audience about.

It's an experience challenge, if you will, about an instance where you have moved a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

What happened?

Did the world fall apart?

I would love to know any brave souls yes, ma' am.

Oh, you need the mic, right?

I'm just like, this is my mic.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Geneva.

I just graduated from Howard University with.

My BFA in acting.

And, you know, oh, yeah, so me not peace.

My back towards the audience.

But when in 2020, you know, it affected the world really bad.

And I love communicating and talking to friends and stuff, and everyone had the opposite effect.

They wanted to be to themselves.

So I was really lonely, and I prayed to God.

I was like, God, please send me some friends.

And this guy I knew in high school randomly was like, oh, like, oh, call me.

And then we became, like, really good friends.

Ended up getting a car, and he wanted to see my car, and he did something he was supposed to in my car, and I had hyper vigilance.

I went to therapy and stuff to get over the sexual assault, and it pushed me to move out of Florida.

I was in Florida for my whole life.

I never moved anywhere else.

And I was nervous about going to Howard.

I was like, maybe I should, like, choose a different school.

Maybe I should stay in the state so I can stay close to my family.

But that incident pushed me to go to Howard.

It was the best decision I ever made.

So, yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

No, thank you so much for that.

That was.

That was incredibly fantastic.

Really vulnerable.

But, like, this is what.

Like, to me, this is what reading those experience challenges did for me.

It made me think about where I was playing safe, where I was still, like, being small and thinking that if you just, like, got into this cookie cutter mode, then you could be more lovable.

And that's like, I'm getting emotional because I love Audra so much.

She just wanted to be lovable.

You know, she had this heartbreak without, you know, telling too much.

But, you know, she really wanted this time to be the singular focus, you know, with.

With her dad.

And when that fell off, like, she.

She was reaching for ways to be lovable.

And I just.

I just think we all do that.

I love this book so much.

If you can't tell.

Another question that I have is about the perspectives on, like, being a person on the other side of someone that has chronic illness.

And I felt like Audra was like, you.

You talk so deeply about, like, chronic illness in Seven Days in June, but also, like, those caretakers, those people sometimes on the other side of that, they have a story.

And I would just love to hear from you about.

About writing that portion.

Oh, yeah.

So Seven days.

So Eva in Seven Days in June was it's me, more or less.

She has chronic migraine, and so she is in pain all the time.

So am I.

And that puts your loved ones and your friends in a very, you know, precarious situation.

And if you're a single mother with, you know, a tween daughter, she's going to know everything about you, your roommates, basically, and she sees all the signs and she knows when it's coming, and she wants to take care of you and she worries about you.

And my daughter grew up, you know, with a mom that had to go to the hospital for weeks on end or, you know, she had to go stay with her dad longer than she was supposed to because I couldn't take care of her.

It was, you know, it's really tough.

And the parentification of, you know, your child happens whether you like it or not.

And so I touched on that in seven days in June.

But now that she's a teenager, she's able to articulate the ways in which that stress eats away at her sometimes.

And it's a lot of pressure on top of school pressure and boy pressure and everything.

You managed to, like, create that world.

But also, the book is really funny.

Okay.

Like, you have balanced so much depth with a lot of comedy.

There is a.

There's.

I'll just say there's a rapping scene.

I was just like, sis, But.

But wrap it up.

Like, a what scene?

Rap recently.

Oh, I was like, no more.

No more lines for you.

I know, but I just.

I'm a rapper.

Ma' am.

No, no, ma' am.

No, no, no, no.

Listen, ma' am, no one ever believes me, but I have.

I don't believe you right now.

Listen, what you got?

Every single.

I can't freestyle.

Okay, okay, but if you give me an.

No, seriously, in every book I've ever written, somebody has to rap.

Somebody's gotta rap.

And it's me.

It's me.

Tia, I love this about you.

No, I'm so hip hop.

Okay.

I love this about you.

Like, give you an hour and you just.

We got it.

Yeah, Okay.

I love that.

But this is.

What I mean is that this is.

It almost makes the funny parts funnier.

Like, when you do that, can you talk a little bit about balancing comedy and really heartfelt, really in depth things that you do?

People always ask me that.

Like, you know, how your books tackle so many dark themes, but it's like, you know, but why am I LOL ing?

Yeah.

Like, it's still like, I'm laughing so hard.

I'm.

You Know, annotating.

I'm remembering these quotes.

Like, and I have no.

Like, that's how I wrote in second grade.

Like, that's just.

I have.

I grew up in a funny house.

I have funny parents.

My sisters are so much funnier than I.

They're funny.

In person I'm funny, like on the page, but in person I'm like, Like, I can't.

Same way I can't, like, freestyle for you right now, but I could prepare it.

I can't wait for this.

No, but, but I think, you know, you can't.

It's my favorite people are funny people and you can't.

I mean, life is dark if you can't joke about it.

I'm always.

People that are really dry make me so nervous.

And then I act out trying to get a reaction.

And that has made for some strange situations at parties where it's like, it's just time for me to go home because I.

It's like the.

The like people that are too quiet or too.

Don't absolutely aren't self deprecating, don't know how to laugh at themselves.

It's the, like the.

What I call the dull stare of a dairy cow.

Like, instead of the eye of the tiger.

It's the opposite.

Yeah.

Yes.

Terrifying.

Yeah, it absolutely is.

So I like for my characters to.

To be funny.

Yeah.

So you're just saying, like, you're born this way.

I woke up like this.

Yeah.

I love it.

I love it.

I've always.

Yeah.

I have all these notebooks from high school where I would, you know, write short stories and stuff.

I have always had the same voice.

Always.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

I have one more question before we get to audience questions because I know that we are near time.

Two more questions because I have a whole essay here.

What do you hope people get from this?

Like, they read this book and they close it.

They're at the last thing and they're going, ha.

Like, what do you.

What do you want that exhale to be about?

I think for people like me and Audrey and my daughter, who can be, well, less so my daughter.

But like, I'm pretty rigid and correct like Audrey.

I make lists.

I, you know, I kind of live bullet point to bullet point.

Not super spontaneous at all.

I need a plan.

I need a strategy, like all of that.

And I wish that someone had given me a list of experiences to go and do the summer before my senior year and a boy to do them with.

You know, I was just so by the book, which is good.

But then you don't you know this?

I feel like this generation is also very correct.

They have beautiful language around inclusivity and you know, slut shaming and consent and all these wonderful things that we did not have growing up in the 80s and 90s, 70s.

It can make them afraid to, but.

It can make them afraid to do stuff.

Do stuff.

And like you have all the correct like talking points, but it's because tick tock told you and not because you experienced something and now you have a takeaway.

And that worries me.

No, that's real.

Because, you know, sometimes I can over.

I overheard at a diner this group of obviously teenage girls and they were like speaking in these wild hypotheticals about a date that one of their friends was on with a guy.

Hypothetical, because none of them were on the date.

And it was clear to me that none of them had been on a date.

And they were talking about like what is correct and what you don't do.

And you know, and I was just like, that's all well and good until you're stuck in a doorway with a boy that's six, three, you know, and he smells good and you have liked him for two and a half months and the air between you guys goes magnetic and then you forget all of the things on the list that you're supposed to adhere to.

And so it's important to have those experiences so that you know how to act in the world, not just hypothetically speaking.

Yeah, I love that.

I absolutely love that.

And my last question is, are we gonna get some more ya?

I don't know.

You know, I really enjoyed it.

So I wanted to tell a teenage Audrey book.

And in order to do that you have to write a YA book.

And so that's how I came to ya.

Like people ask me about Ricky Wilde and the magical realism that was in there.

I wanted to write a book that had voodoo in it.

And in order to have a curse, one must have magical realism.

So the device comes after the story.

So if a story leads me to ya, I will follow.

I love that.

But it is hard, like, because I like, you know, a little bit of steam.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I felt so creepy because I am an adult writing about like first love and like lust between teenagers which should not.

A grown up should have.

No.

Has no business in there.

Yeah, but I'm telling the story.

Yeah.

So you remember.

And I remember.

But also I have things in my search history like, oh, they come in for you, hot, hot tall teen boy.

They coming for you, sis.

Don't Prison.

Prison.

Like so.

But I need something for my Pinterest board to round out these characters.

It was just weird, you know?

Yeah.

I don't know.

So maybe.

Maybe.

Thank you for this book.

Thank you for putting it in the world.

Thank you.

It was a joy.

And you guys are gonna.

You're gonna love it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Your questions are great.

I just want to open up for questions now.

Yes.

And actually, you got to do a little legwork for me.

If you'd like to ask a question, I'd love to have you come over here to the mic.

We'll do five, and we'll see where we are at that time.

Right here.

Come.

We'll come in line.

Five of you, please.

Pardon me, neighbor.

Pardon me, neighbor.

Got a slide through.

All right, first question.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Giselle.

I'm here with my mom.

And can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Yeah, better.

Okay.

Can you hear me now?

Yeah, lovely.

Okay, so my name is Giselle.

I'm here with my mom, and Seven Days in June was the first slightly smutty book I recommended to my mother, but it was because I knew she had to read it.

And, you know, just the lineage of the generational.

Just relationships and trauma from mother to daughter, it was.

It was just very important to read.

And coming to Audrey and Bastard as friends, I actually.

I'm only in chapter nine now, but I had to put it down for a second, because when we get to the part of Shane and Eva, you know, I'm realizing without putting any, like, spoilers out there, there is, you know, criticism of these characters that I could see.

And my question is, what was it like to go back to these characters that now I see you see yourself in and that all of us love so much?

What was it like to see some of their flaws more after you wrapped it up in such a beautiful bow in the end?

Oh, thank you.

Thank you for your question.

Okay, so you know how you're, like, at Wendy's and there's just a couple at the next booth over making out and being ridiculous or, like, in line at.

What's that?

At Busch Garden?

You know, how couples get where high school couples get weird or, like, people just, like, hanging all over each other in line?

They're not, like.

To them, they're, like, lost in each other, and it's.

It's.

You know, that's their whole world, but we're looking at them like they're ridiculous.

Like, get a room, you know?

And I always feel So I was stuck in lockdown with my 12, 13 year old daughter and my new boyfriend.

We were stuck together and so.

And they get along very well.

He's now my husband and we have a baby.

But the whole time I was like.

Cause we're still like honeymoon phasing and like giggling and frolicking and being ridiculous.

And I'm like, how does this look to the seventh grader?

You know, she's like, you got like, grow up.

You're ridiculous.

Like, you know, one time my.

We were kind of frolicking around my niece, who was nine at the time, and she was like, some of us are single.

And so I was just thinking about that a lot, like, what is.

What it's like being on the outside looking in on a relationship.

And yeah, it's so beautiful to the people in it, but like, love is the most extraordinary thing, but it's also the most banal thing.

It's the most regular, everyday thing.

And it was almost exploding the myth of Eva and Shane a little bit because they're really just regular people that are living regular lives stuck in an apartment that's too small, doing renovations and trying to plan a wedding and have a teenager.

And it was fun for me to take the focus, you know, like, it's not no longer Eva's point of view, it's what does she look like from the outside, from the therapist that lives in her house.

So yeah, that's.

That's where that came from.

It's a great question.

Yeah.

Hi.

Thank you so much both for coming and for putting words on the page and sharing your brilliance with us.

I have two questions.

One's fake, one, which is which voodoo history book would you recommend that we check out to Quasi Go back to Belflore, because that was such a cool dive.

And then the second one is, what are you most proud of about your relationship with your daughter that you put into the book?

Because the journey that they took in this book was so hard.

It was tough.

And I think the mother daughter relationship is quite.

It's quite a hike sometimes.

So that was really well done.

Congrats.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I cannot remember the titles.

I'm perimenopausal, so I can't hold a thought in my brain.

I can't remember the names of my books.

I have a whole shelf.

I'll put them in the Instagram caption about this event.

So, yeah, once I get back home to Brooklyn.

And the thing I'm most proud of about my daughter and my relationship is that we really can talk about anything.

And that's because that's the mom I grew up with.

I mean, there's a scene when mommy was very frank about everything.

And there's a scene in the book when Eva is talked.

I don't remember why they're talking about sex.

And she says, well, you know, can I say this in front of your daughter?

She read it already?

Yeah.

She was like.

Eva said, you know, it's better if you get on top, because, you know, mercy women have tilted uteruses.

So.

And this is something that my mom told me when I told her I had lost my virginity.

She was like, did you get on top?

Cause, you know, it feels better.

I was like, who gets on top the first time they do it?

But this, you know, that was a real conversation, and that's the only way I know how to be a mother and daughter.

And so, you know, my mom was the one that my friends could say anything in front of, and I'm kind of that mom for my daughter.

And Eva is like that, you know, with Audrey, too.

So I'm putting your mom on bl.

Mom, can you stand up?

Where are you?

Mom?

Come on, mom, stand up.

Hey.

Mommy.

Put you on blast.

Now we know all of your business.

Yes, it is true.

It is true.

Hi, Tia.

Thank you.

And Nikki, thank you for being here.

Tia, what is your process like after you finish that last page?

So, for me, I finished reading the book last week, and I'm still thinking about Audrey and Bash and, like, what does this year look like for her senior year?

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So I guess my question was for you.

Are you able to easily let go of the characters, or do you.

Are there stories in your head that we're not privy to about them?

And then the other question was, you've done magical realism.

You've done ya.

You've done all this.

Is there a sneak peek on what's next?

And I know authors hate that, but I just love your book, so it's okay if you don't.

Thank you.

Okay, first question.

What was the first one?

Oh, afterwards.

Yeah, I don't.

I have stories going in my head from when I used to walk to school.

Like, I have stories in my head from that.

That I would make up when I was laying on hospital beds, you know, in pain, that are just.

That I just pick up sometimes and just.

You do that?

My daughter does that.

She used to.

My daughter does that.

She thinks she has a mental problem.

She's like, I just think of stories and Whole things in my head, I'm like, that's creativity.

That's creativity.

Just write it down.

You're a star.

Yeah.

Yes, that's right.

So, yeah, they never go anywhere.

You know, it's just that that story was over.

And in fact, all of my.

I feel like I put, like, extra.

I love side characters and I love villains.

And a creative writing professor once told me that villains and side characters don't know that they're not the star.

So you have to give them the same amount of respect and time and attention and research as you do your main protagonist.

So all of the friends, like, every.

Everyone, you know, the secondary characters, I write them.

So they're like.

You can imagine them wandering over from the book where they're the star into this one and then going back.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think about Tuesday.

You know, I think about Miss Stella.

I think about Cece, like, you know, Billy, they're.

They're all in there somewhere.

And the second question.

Oh, I have a book due in November.

I have not started writing it at all.

At all.

But I have a beautiful outline.

An outline is something I'm supposed to have.

Oh, now I'm sweating.

I'm supposed to have 100 pages in by the beginning of July.

Would you like to write it?

I'm gonna quickly tell you what it's about.

Yes.

I know that we're strict on time here.

Cause we have to.

To get out.

But.

So, okay, so it's about this woman who just started working at this Global corporation, okay?

She's new, and her first sort of thing is to go to this international summit with people that work for this corporation all over the world.

So she gets on the plane.

I haven't decided if it's like, Italy or something, I don't know, somewhere in Europe.

And she gets on the plane, she sits next to this gentleman.

They get drunk.

She's like, I'm in love.

Like, this is it.

They're too drunk to remember to exchange their information.

And the plane is kind of filled with people that work for the corporation.

But she's new, so she doesn't know who anyone is.

So tipsy, she emails HR and she says, I found my husband.

He looks like this.

I was sitting next to him on the plane.

Does he work for the corporation?

And because she's drunk, what she doesn't realize is that she sent that email to Global.

Oh, my God.

So everyone around the world that works for this corporation got that email.

And so they're all looking for the man for her.

And it's called Ms.

Connection.

Oh, my God.

Good.

It's good, right?

That's good.

It's good.

Oh, my gosh.

I can't wait to write it.

Oh, my God, I can't wait to read it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's iconic.

We're not going to pressure you to come back to D.C.

for a book tour, but we are.

That's a nice.

That's a good one.

Yes.

I'm coming.

I'm coming.

Peer pressure works.

Okay, so this kind of goes into.

What you were just saying.

You mentioned the Pinterest board and building out the characters.

How does that work into your writing process?

Is that towards the end or at.

The beginning or where does that fit?

Are you a writer?

No.

You're just curious.

Just curious.

The beginning.

Because I have to envision what they look like and what they dress like.

I was a beauty editor, so, like, the visuals are very important.

I get frustrated when I read a book and it's like, she was wearing a red dress.

Okay.

Zara, vintage.

Is it Dior?

Like, what it tells you so much about who someone is and, like, the interiors, like, where are they sitting?

Like, I need to know.

Even if things, you know, how it is, like, even if it doesn't make it on the page, it helps you because, you know, in the back.

Yeah.

In order to write it.

In order to write it.

Yeah.

So that's at the beginning is what.

Is there a Pinterest board for a misconnection?

Yes.

So I have done that.

Yeah, I've done that.

That's writing.

That's writing.

Okay.

Hello.

Hi, Tia, Nikki.

Love you both so very quickly.

Audrey is an exceptional young woman.

An exceptional young black woman.

I feel like a lot of women fall into the trap of needing to be exceptional and incredible in order to feel value or, you know, to be worth anything.

What is your message to young women and young girls who feel like they need to be that in order to be valued and seen?

I think the Met.

Because I'm one of those girls.

I was one of those girls.

Like, it was the kind of thing, like, my parents used to tell me to chill, like, that I was being too intense, you know, about school and things like that.

Yeah, it's.

Yeah.

You know, it's bad if your own parents are like.

I think the message is that the living part is just as important as the quote unquote, excelling part.

And, you know, you never know what you.

What you learn while you're playing can be just as or even more important than what you learn.

In somebody's class.

You hear that, Joni?

I think that's it.

You hear that, Joni?

That's the message.

Okay?

Zoning.

I have to know, are you an Earth sign?

I'm a Leo.

I'm a Leo.

I think we have time for two more questions.

I'm an August Leo.

My son is a July Leo, and me and my father have the same birthday.

Yeah, so he's a Leo, too.

We have time for two more questions.

Is that okay?

Anybody?

Well, anybody else?

Two more.

We're going to pass the mic down to you.

A question, not a comment.

Summary.

No, I'm messing.

Oh, say that again.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Okay, so this question.

Hi, I'm Angie.

Hey, Angie.

Hi.

And my question actually is about seven days in June.

I want to know, which seven days was it?

Was it when they were kids or was it the seven days when they were grown?

From the title.

Do you know that?

No one has ever asked me that.

Which seven days was I referring to?

Unclear.

Wait, let me think.

Let me.

Let me think.

You know what?

No, the teen.

The teenage years.

Because it built them.

It was like the grant.

It was the ground floor.

Yeah, right.

I agree.

And it's the first thing I wrote.

Yeah.

I feel like.

Yeah, that's what it is.

Yeah, I agree.

Last question.

Anybody else?

Last question.

Right here.

Let's talk really loud.

Hi, I'm Danita.

Question.

Did you have Audrey already in your mind when you were writing Seven Days in June?

Because that was one of the things when I was reading it, I said, she gives this child a lot of attention in this book.

I want to know what's going on with Eva and this dude, you know, so.

But you did.

You kept circling back to her a lot.

So did you already have that book in your mind?

Because now that I know, I think.

Now I know.

So did you?

No.

No.

I had no idea.

I just liked her.

And I was tickling myself as I.

You know, I was like, oh, she's so cute.

Like I said, I love a side character.

And also, she was sort of the audience proxy, you know, like this thing, you know, like in horror movies.

Like, you need a character that's like, you know, we need to get out of this house.

Yeah, exactly.

And she's kind of the person who sees even Shane, like, that scene when she's like, which one of you is the turtle?

You know, you're writers.

You figure it out.

So I just.

I wanted someone who was, like, witnessing them and sort of thinking what we were all thinking.

But Really?

I had no idea.

I don't.

I've never written a spin off.

I'm surprised that I've written one because when I'm done, I'm like, ready to do something else.

So, yeah.

Let's give it up.

Oh, let's give it up for Tia Williams and Nikki Pay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, both of you for just for sharing space, creating space for us tonight.

We just appreciate you.

Thank you for putting these books out into the world.

We need a little bit of joy, we need a little bit of escapism.

We need a lot of different things right now and your books provide that for us.

So thank you both.

Thank you.

Give it up again for Nikki Hayne and also Tia Williams.

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