Thursday, June 10, 2021

Interview with Preslaysa Williams

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I read Preslaysa William's A Lowcountry Bride last month and loved the look into Charleston's rich culture while watching Derek and Maya fall in love. Preslaysa Williams writes sweet romance and women's fiction that includes characters of Afro-Filipina heritage like herself. She's also an actress who fans of 90s Nickelodeon will remember from The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. 


What was the inspiration for A Lowcountry Bride?

I lived in South Carolina for about two years when my husband was stationed in Charleston. He was in the Navy, and he attended Nuclear Power School in Charleston. While he was in school, I was attending graduate school at the College of Charleston. We joined an African Methodist Episcopal Church there, and I fell in love with my church community and the city. I consider them family, even to this day. They were my inspiration for A Lowcountry Bride. 


Heritage plays a significant role in this story. Why was it so important to not only display both Maya’s African-American/Filipina heritage as well as the heritage of Black residents in Charleston, South Carolina?

As you know, I’m a romance and women’s fiction writer. When I was doing research on the romance novels in the marketplace, I noticed that many of the romance novels set in the Lowcountry did not have Black and Brown main characters. This was peculiar to me since the population of South Carolina is about 30% Black. 

In addition, Charleston has a deep and complicated history with regards to people of African descent. The Port of Charleston was the largest port that brought in enslaved people during the transatlantic slave trade. Many of their descendants became the Gullah folks of the Lowcountry and make up today’s African American population. 

I wanted to write a Lowcountry-inspired story that placed Black and Brown people at the center of the narrative and gave them a happily ever after.


Are there any traditions that you feel strongly about passing down to your own children?

I feel strongly about passing down food traditions to my children, traditions from both their Filipino and African American sides. Whenever I eat daing, a dried fish, it reminds me of my Filipino grandfather. He was a fisherman. A good plate of collard greens and baked macaroni and cheese reminds me of my late grandmother, and the times I spent at her table eating Sunday dinners.

I also want to pass down our history to my children. I want to let them know that they don’t exist in a vacuum. Their Black and Filipino ancestors have a rich heritage, and that’s their birthright. 


In A Lowcountry Bride Derek lost his wife in a church shooting and his faith has wavered since.  Why did you decide to give him that backstory and include both his grief and wavering faith in this story?

There was a mass shooting in my own community in 2019, and my spouse knew many of the victims. I was rewriting A Lowcountry Bride when the mass shooting occurred, and I ended up attending a multitude of wakes and funerals during this time. 

It was hard for me to continue writing A Lowcountry Bride after being surrounded by so much death and grief. The event also raised a lot of questions for me, questions about life. I decided to process my own grief by putting this topic into the A Lowcountry Bride. So I changed Derek’s backstory, and it helped me finish the manuscript. It also helped me find some closure after the tragedy in my community.


What kind of research did you do for this story?

I lived in South Carolina when my husband was stationed there, and so I learned a lot from being in community with the folks in the Lowcountry. We had cookouts together. We attended church together. And we spent Sunday afternoons in fellowship and friendship.

I am also a history buff. So I read a lot about the Black history of South Carolina. For example, I was surprised to learn that Black businesses declined in downtown Charleston after the gradual repeal of Jim Crow laws. Historical snippets like this ignited my imagination as I created A Lowcountry Bride. 


What made you decide to become a writer? And why did you decide to focus on writing sweet romance?

I was always an avid reader. From a young age, I inhaled books! I didn’t seriously consider becoming a writer until I had my first child. At the time, I was a new mother, and I needed a creative outlet. Writing was something I could easily pick up because it didn’t require that I travel to auditions. All I needed was a notebook, a pen, and my imagination.

I decided to focus on sweet romance because it’s a subgenre where I can uplift my characters and instill a sense of hope. I didn’t see many Black and Brown main characters in the sweet romance subgenre. Most associate us with grief and loss and tragedy. . . and nothing more. By placing Black and Brown folks in the sweet romance genre, I can still retain aspects of our complicated history while providing that hopefulness and happily ever after.


You were a child actor. What was that experience like?

Busy! My weekdays consisted of school during the day. After school, my mother and I took the train into New York City for auditions. I did my homework and memorized my lines for the auditions during the train ride. After the auditions, we took the train back home, ate dinner, and went to sleep. It was a fun time, and it also taught me the importance of perseverance. 


Are there any Black romance books on your radar right now?

I enjoyed reading Elle Wright’s The Way You Love Me and Beverly Jenkins’s Wild Rain. I am looking forward to reading Cheris Hodge’s Won’t Go Home Without You and Synithia Williams’s Careless Whispers


Can you tell us about your next project?

Right now, I am working on another love story set in the Lowcountry. This story is a second chance romance between a different couple. They have unique occupations, and the story references the zeitgeist of our current social climate.

That’s all I’ll say about that for now…


Do you have any hobbies you enjoy in your free time outside of reading?

I love watching Hallmark movies! It’s my favorite pastime, especially when the news headlines get depressing. 


Go order or library request A Lowcountry Bride if you haven't already!

 


 Fans of 90s Nickelodeon will remember Preslaysa from The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo




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