The inspiration behind my debut novel, Blue Obstacles, changed drastically from when I initially started writing to when the project was completed. When I first sat down and started Blue Obstacles, I was trying to get over a guy. When I pulled it back up ten years later to revisit it, I was blown away at how much I’d changed. I’m not a super reflective person, sitting back and thinking about how I’ve grown from year to year is never something I’m doing but revisiting exactly where my head was when I started the journey was a real trip. I won’t say the negative terms that are truly coming to mind, but I will say the way that I laughed at myself still makes me squint and shake my head at the mess today.
The true inspiration that found its way into the pages of my beloved Blue Remy Stone came from the likes of ‘The Inkwell’, ‘Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.’, ‘The Wood’, and so many others. Although there are lists, I still think there could never be too many coming-of-age stories. That rounding part of life is so important and there is always an experience to relay that a child should never go through, but facts are life is life and there are so many who aren’t shielded from the uglies of the world at various ages. The words, ‘I’ve been there’ are always useful.
I was also inspired by that catastrophe that started out as Blue Obstacles because it showed me, that I wanted to pen a stronger young girl than the broken-hearted mess that was spilling out when I first sat down to write. I consider myself to be pretty objective now, but I know that I had to grow into that. It isn’t a blessing that was naturally within, it was developed and I’m thankful for it. All in all, I thought young girls, specifically young Black girls could use another playbook to add to their arsenal of ‘keep going’. I don’t think those ever get old and I pray that teenage and new adult girls continue to find their way to the title and walk away knowing they aren’t alone.
Comments