Interview with Author Kara Lee Corthron

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with an interview by another great author and I'm so happy that I was able to link up with Hear Our Voices Book Tours to make this possible. Kara Lee Corthron not only writes YA books, she's also a playwright and television writer. You can check out my review of her latest release Daughters of Jubilation which I truly enjoyed after you get to know a little bit about the woman behind the book.

People may not know but you’re on the writer’s staff of the popular series You. How has your TV writing affected your novel writing?

It goes both ways. Though I write in different categories, how I approach writing is pretty much the same: what’s the story? Who are the characters and what makes them compelling? I think the more I write in general, the better I get at storytelling.

You are also a playwright having written plays across different genres. What is that experience like and how does it differ?

Playwriting can be incredibly satisfying if your plays are being well produced and you’re not depending on playwriting for income. There is something unique about people gathered in a room to experience a story with live human beings on stage. I respect all the new virtual theatre experiments that have been happening, but without that special, electric connection between actors and a live audience, I’m not sure what the draw will be once the novelty wears off. But maybe the virtual performances will be satisfying in a different way.

Because there’s generally not much money in theatre, plays that have the best chance at being produced tend to have a small cast and one simple set—not something I ever have to think about when writing fiction and though we have to produce responsibly, it’s not an issue to the same degree in TV. I’m sure it comes as no surprise, but the vast majority of plays professionally produced in this country are written by white men. At some point, it became clear to me that I was not going to be a wildly produced playwright and once I figured that out, I felt freer and my work became richer. I wrote a play with talking dolls. I wrote a hip-hop play with a giant, talking rat. Playing with the fantastical in theatre felt natural to me and that experience definitely influenced my choice to try my hand at YA fantasy. And when I began to work in TV, I felt even freer as a playwright because I had an actual source of income. It probably sounds like I’m talking about money a lot, but the sad truth is I spent many years worrying far more about money than the quality of my work, which was unfortunate. Finding a way to unite all my interests into a career as a multi-genre writer took a long time, but it’s the best fit for me.

What was your experience studying at Julliard like?

Mostly great. I had some tough times there, too. Halfway through my first year, my mother passed away suddenly and I nearly dropped out. Because of a few fellow playwrights in the program and my mentors, I kept going. I learned the fundamentals of building a story there.

Plus, it’s Juilliard! I loved hanging out in Lincoln Center and there’s nothing quite like going into one of the lesser known bathrooms and hearing an exceptionally talented musician practicing the cello or viola—for some reason, it was always strings—in the lounge area near the sinks.

Do you have a favorite place you’ve gotten to travel to while working on a new play?

I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve gotten to travel to many beautiful places to write. The Italian Riviera is stunning as is the coastal town of Cassis in the south of France. I’ve loved working in all those places, but my all-time favorite is MacDowell. For those who don’t know, MacDowell is the oldest artists’ residency in the U.S. It’s located in New Hampshire just outside of a tiny, charming town called Peterborough. (The town in Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town is based on Peterborough. Why? Because Wilder wrote the play while in residence at MacDowell, of course.) At MacDowell, the artists decide how their days will be spent. The only rule is that residents follow the meal schedule. They deliver lunch to each studio in a cute basket, which I love. It’s nice to be treated so well, but I also love it because you’re fed without disrupting the rhythm of your day. I hope every writer gets the opportunity to work at MacDowell at least once in her life.

Side bar: the last time I was at MacDowell, I was writing the very first draft of Daughters of Jubilation in a lovely studio where James Baldwin once stayed. Now I think it may have been haunted, but that’s some cool history!

What is your writing process like when you’re ready to jump into a new novel?

Usually, I’ll get an idea that won’t let me go. Then I just vomit out some pages, maybe 30 or so and this tells me if my idea is worth pursuing. When I have trouble sleeping because I can’t stop thinking about the idea is a sign that I’m onto something good. Once I get hooked into writing, then I have to carve out as much time as possible, because I need to write in chunky time blocks, typically about three hours a session with a break in the middle. This is especially important for me when working on the raw first draft of something.

You choose to set this story in the Jim Crow South. What drew you to historical fantasy and this setting specifically?

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly where this idea came from, but there were a few powerful inspirations. I once saw a Gordon Parks’ photograph that left a deep impression on me. It’s from his “Untitled, Mobile, Alabama (1956)” series. In the photo, there’s a little Black girl in the foreground, a house with some people on the porch in the background and what appears to be a strange disturbance …coming from her head. Maybe it’s smoke, a distant twister, or a cloud of dust. But when I saw the photo—knowing the context, that Parks was chronicling the lives of everyday Black people living under Jim Crow—my imagination wondered what life might’ve been like for this girl if she did in fact have magical powers and with just one thought, she could wreak havoc on the world. This was a pivotal moment of inspiration for me.

 

Recently, I realized that part of the reason I wrote this book was to understand what my mother’s life as a teen might’ve been like. She’s gone now and when she was living, she didn’t talk much about her past. This was my way of imagining a world that she could’ve easily belonged to. So these things figured into my choice, but as soon as I began writing, my heroine Evvie would not shut up and she told me where and when her story took place. Hers was a not a voice that could be ignored (not that I wanted to). Even though this story is set in 1962, as we tragically all know the themes are all too resonant today. And the magic element? The power I dreamed of for that little Black girl in the Parks’ photo is what I’ve wanted for countless Black people today. We don’t live in a world where Breonna Taylor had the supernatural ability to protect herself and punish her murderers. So why not create one?

Untitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956

How was this experience writing Daughters of Jubilation different from writing your debut novel, The Truth of Right Now?

When I wrote The Truth of Right Now, I was a playwright, who’d always wanted to write YA, but was timid about committing to the idea. My timidity was the result of receiving a rejection letter years before that was a two-page, single-spaced treatise on everything wrong with my manuscript (the real first book I wrote). The editor ended the letter by suggesting I find something else to do with my life. I let this one person’s opinion of my skills keep me from writing YA again for nearly ten years. This is a long way to say that when I tried it again, I had nothing to lose; I was teaching in the middle of nowhere for a semester so I had time and I thought “it’s now or never.” So I just wrote a book that I wanted to read. With Daughters, I felt like I more clearly understood the undertaking of writing a novel, but the fear is the same. In both cases, I got to a point in the writing when I wanted to quit. In both cases, I worried that I’d never finish. And now, as I’m starting a new book, I keep asking myself, “How did I do this twice?” I’m comforted by how familiar my doubts feel. It’s just a part of my process.

What drew you to writing for young adults?

Ooh hard question. It’s almost like asking what drew me to ice cream. I just really, really enjoy writing for this audience and teen protagonists come to me easily. I also remember the intensity of the time between age 12 and 17. It’s the last time in our lives that we’ll develop in a significant way, the stakes feel unimaginably high, and many adults forget the urgency of being in that age range. And that just isn’t fair. My hope is that by writing YA, I’m showing young people the respect they may not often receive and genuine empathy.

Are there any books that have been published in 2020 or are going to be published soon that are on your must read list?

Yes, and I can’t wait until I have time to read them! I know there are more, but here are the ones I’m thinking about right now:

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Reconstruction: Stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

Is there anything you’re currently working on that you can mention here?

I’m currently writing for the M. Night Shyamalan thriller SERVANT on Apple TV+. Season one is available now and horror fans should definitely check it out. As I briefly mentioned above, I am working on a new book, but that’s about all I can say right now. There’s also a movie that I probably can’t talk about yet, either…Let’s just say, I’m keeping busy.

What is one thing you’d like readers to take away from Daughters of Jubilation?

Everybody has some special magic within. You just have to find it. And when you do, use it with love.

Daughters of Jubiliation by Kara Lee Corthron

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I switched gears from romance back to fantasy to read this book which has intrigued me since I saw the cover months ago.  So I reached out to Simon Schuster for an advanced review copy.

Now some people might read the synopsis and see Jim Crow and be intimidated. White supremacy may be ever present but that doesn't mean there's an absence of Black joy. I love the refreshing approach to 60s South Carolina summer filled with summer love and family. Our main character Evalene speaks in a Southern dialect that flows naturally. 

Evvie is navigating first love and growing into her own as a woman all while trying to understand her ever growing magical abilities. Her mother sees their gift of jubilation as a curse on their bloodline but Evvie just wants to understand their powers. Evvie is at times impulsive and when it comes to protecting her family and friends she's ready to leap into action. But why does she have trouble using her powers of jube around her new boyfriend Clay? 

Her mother takes her to see her grandmother tell help her control her abilities. Now Grammie Atti is seen as the town crazy woman who is rumored to have killed her husband. Her sharp tongue holds nothing back and she's determined to whip her granddaughter into shape. She's strict but loving and supportive all the same.

I loved the uniqueness of the magic too. Who wouldn't try and use their magic to prevent pregnancy or speed up their period? Not that magic is 100% effective in either situation which is a lesson for Evvie to learn. As as her momma tells her jube can't keep the clap away.

I feel like when we talk about Black people in the 1960s images come to mind about us fighting for our rights during the Civil Rights Movement. But this wasn't just a time of marching. Black people were tearing up the music charts with Motown Records cranking out your favorite classics. And I love that those vibes could be included in this story as well. One of my favorite scenes was the Juneteenth cook out scene. 

Evvie has twin kid sisters who are bright lights and balance out the family dynamic. Typical little sisters they're annoying one minute and too cute the next. 

And she has dreams too. She loves reading and she loves watching the stars. Secretly she dreams of being an astronomer even though the thought she so far fetched. 

There is some darkness in this book which includes violence from white supremists, racist slurs, physical abuse, and sexual assault. Evvie is battling an old foe who has made a return and threatens to spoil her happiness. Though a survival story it never felt draining or completely hopeless. 

This was truly a beautiful book that felt like a book teens could read that wasn't actively trying just for the adult audience like many YA fantasies. And the dark realities in this story are written in a way that is easy to comprehend without being overly traumatizing. Evvie is relatable, unfortunately the struggles she and her family go through are familiar, and there's a persistent theme of hope. 

**CLOSED** 1000 Followers Giveaway!

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! I appreciate everyone who has been following me this year. I've watched my blog grow and grow in viewership. Thank you to everyone who has made purchases using my links. Thank you everyone who leaves comments. I truly enjoy reading your thoughts and hearing how you feel about my reviews or discussion topics. 

I've done giveaways a few times this year and I enjoy giving people the gift of books by Black authors. Black authors don't get the attention they deserve and if you can come to my blog and discover a new author I'm happy.  And though this year has been a great fantasy reading year for me I also love romance. And there's just not enough Black romance being praised in traditional publishing right now. And there's no reason we should be getting recommendations for interracial or multicultural romances when we ask for Black romance.

So I decided I want to do another giveaway to celebrate hitting the 1,000 followers milestone on my Twitter. And because the holidays are right around the corner I said, "Let's make it festive!" I'm always asking where are all the Black Christmas romance books? So here's one from the backlist up for grabs. You must be following me on Twitter and leave a comment on here with your handle. And in your comment answer the question, "What is your favorite Christmas tradition?"

Winner receives a copy of Her Mistletoe Bachelor by Carolyn Hector. Winner will be announced on Twitter on 10/24

This tycoon knows if she’s been naughty or nice!

After a public breakup, CFO Donovan Ravens plans to spend the holidays alone in a small-town hotel. But beautiful science teacher British Carres has other ideas for the space that the sexy bachelor booked—a contest starring her students. In British, Donovan sees a future he never expected. As they give in to their chemistry, a threat from the past could keep them from finding true love…

Something About You by Bridget Anderson

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! I've been in need of a Black romance to destress and give me all the feels. And Something About You was just that book I needed. 

This book is set in small town Kentucky on an organic farm that also runs a bed-and-breakfast. So it was already giving me those Up Tv/Hallmark movie vibes. And it opens talking about strawberry picking on the farm. We used to go strawberry picking every year and last year was actually the last time I went so it brought back great memories of picky juicy berries straight off the vine.

Kyla is working on her PhD and has a passion for organic farming. She teaches workshops at the farm in addition to helping run healthy eating workshops at a local school and assisting with their lunch program. While speaking at the University of Kentucky's World Hunger Day conference she meets former baseball player Miles Parker. Since retiring he has gotten involved in the agriculture industry. The chemistry is instantly there as he and Kyla are both passionate about ending hunger though with different methods in mind.

Miles decides to take Kyla up on her offer of spending a week at the farm learning about organic farming. Though Mile's company specializes on genetically modified food he's up for getting his hands dirty in the fields for a week if it means getting to know Kyla better.

Though Miles is a former baseball player and a subject of tabloid fodder I liked that he really didn't have that cocky athlete persona I often read in romance. He admits he was that man in the spotlight with the supermodels at one point but you can clearly see he has changed for the better. 

I liked Kyla because she was just a country girl passionate about her job. She didn't have any trauma she was recovering from and she didn't have to change herself for her love interest.

Keep in mind this is a Kimani Romance which is a backlist line from Harlequin. So if you're looking for a copy of this book you'll be either buying it used or buying the ebook. But if you're looking for a light read with Black people in love in a setting you don't always see I would check this one out.

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers. Now I don't normally read memoirs but as a Mariah fan I just had to pick this up. She's been talking about releasing her memoirs for so long and I wanted that deeper glimpse into her life. Now it should've been titled Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel but I digress. I've never listened to an over 11 hr audiobook so fast.

Hearing her narrate the audiobook herself really made this one rise above. She doesn't do bleak narrations. Instead she talks to you as if you're a friend she's telling stories to. Anyone who is a fan is familiar with her mannerisms that are ever present here. Even if you are the biggest stan and thought you knew Mariah well this was full of information you've never heard. 

Now if you're jumping into this for plenty of tabloid fodder you're not going to receive much here. Outside of the details of her affair with Derek Jeter where she describes him making her feel alive again as they snuck around NY and Puerto Rico you won't find that salacious gossip. While ultimately not the love of her life she thought he would be he did give her the courage to feel free to act and dress the way she wanted to. So she holds that relationship dear for what it represents. That being said I didn't expect her to put so much of their business out there on front street. He hasn't even shared much of his relationship with his wife and they have two kids together!

We've heard her say she had a rough childhood but she always refrained from truly going into depth about it beyond stating she grew up poor and moving from house to house. Rough childhood was an understatement. With a family like her family who needs enemies? Her family seemed to never be able to pull it together and get along. Her mother was neglectful and jealous of her, her sister tried to sell her into prostitution, her brother had rage issues and was unpredictable, and her father became estranged from her.  She spends the first section of this book on her early life with her family. Her early life is dark and full of suffering with few bright spots outside of some family friends here and there and some weekends spent with her father's family.  And she walks us through the start of her music career doing paid gigs when she was young and commuting back and forth while working on her demo tape. One thing Mariah always had was determination and hope. She knew she was destined to be more and was willing to fight in the face of adversity. 

In the second section we see her start her career and a tumultuous relationship with Sony Music's Tommy Mottola. This was a precautionary tale about getting involved with someone so much older with more power than you. Not only was he pulling the strings in her professional life but behind closed doors he was isolating her to keep her under his thumb. She really goes into detail about her life looking like a fairytale to the public while she was suffering behind closed doors. She lights up when talking about building her first house but little did she know Storybrooke Manor would become a prison surrounded by security cameras, intercoms, and armed guards. 

For years people have acted like Mariah kept quiet about her Black side even though she's mentioned it from the beginning. In this book she lights up when talking about spending time with her father's family. She praises her aunts and grandmother for what they accomplished despite the odds against her. It's very easy to write her off as a "tragic mulatto" as many people have over the years but when you listen to her talk about what she experienced growing up feeling out of place surrounded by white people and their micro and macroaggressions as well as what her father experienced it sheds new light. Yes, we've all had it hard. But not all of us have been jailed, had our faces literally spit in, our homes shot at, been locked in a room and verbally assaulted. And Mariah herself states it took her meeting Derek's family to realize her family's many other issues had nothing to do with racial identity and everything to do with them being dysfunctional.

The post Tommy (but not really because he was still behind the scenes in the industry) era starts off very difficult for her. There's sabotage behind the scenes with a certain singer being used as a tool against her which she talked about back then but people chose to ignore. The media wants to see her fail and revels in the hurdles she must overcome. Since she's only recently coming to terms with being bipolar she does mention the hospital visits and treatments and lows and highs back in 2001 when she was originally diagnosed but you can sense the denial. And much of that seems to stem from not wanting to be seen like her mother.

And after the lost of her father who she was able to mend the fences with at the end of his life and understand why he was the way he was she takes us through her triumphant return. I have fond memories of sitting around with my friends belting out the lyrics to "We Belong Together". I remember doing laps during practice listening to "Don't Forget About Us". She's been the soundtrack to so many people's lives and it was nice to relive some moments in time. 

This book has so many quotable moments like the diva herself. It is filled with her humor and wit even during more difficult scarring times. We get to hear her sing acapella as she describes the making of some of her best songs. I will say if you had a rough childhood this could be very triggering for you but maybe at the same time healing. Her story proves you don't have to succumb to your surroundings and when you believe in yourself you can accomplish great things. And I left the book feelings like I understood more about why she acts the way she does including her eternally 12 mantra. It's very fitting that the audiobook closes out with Mariah's theme.