TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.
Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?
The Blueprint follows Solenne, who is coming of age
in an alternate, oppressive Texas. She becomes entangled with a white
government official, and she navigates those experiences using the stories of
her ancestor who was an enslaved concubine in 19th century Louisiana. The
Blueprint is rooted in history, but it’s literary speculative fiction, in
the vein of Atwood.
Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why?
I truly loved writing Solenne. Inspired by the lives of
enslaved girls in the Antebellum South, she emerged fully formed after initial
research. Fine tuning her into a living, breathing person took work. In early
drafts, I worried that it would be too difficult for readers to root for or
identify with a flawed Black girl, which led to a passive, dishonest, shell of
a character. Once I honored my vision, Solenne’s voice developed into something
I loved.
And which character gave you the most trouble, and why?
Writing Bastien, my antagonist, posed unique challenges. He’s
a recombination of historical figures, men from slave narratives, and real-life
narcissists. Striking a balance in creating negative space—embracing the unsaid
and untold to leave room for readers to question him—without veering into a
redemptive arc was a delicate task.
Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s
road to publication.
I have a bit of a unicorn story in that after writing for
five years, I found my agent, revised with her, and sold the manuscript within
five months. I made the mistake of thinking things would continue to be smooth
sailing. However, a month post-Harper acquisition, the HarperCollins strike hit.
After the strike ended, my editor, my champion I hoped to work with for many
more books, moved to a different publisher. I was an orphan. Losing the editor
who loved and fought for your manuscript is devastating and terrifying.
What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?
Write honestly, even when it reveals ugliness.
My favorite writing advice is “write until something
surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?
I was fully prepared to write this as historical fiction
after my initial research. But when Solenne’s character came to me, I was
surprised to see her, not in the Antebellum South, but standing on a train
platform in a world that looked like our own, desperate for emotional and
physical freedom. I went with it. Emotional resonance was my primary goal. Setting
the story in a world that looks like our own removes distance between the
characters and contemporary readers.
What’s something about your book that you want readers to
know?
A blueprint is a set of ideas or a set of beliefs. In The
Blueprint, two very different characters interact. Like their ancestors,
both want things that can’t coexist. Both look to history to inform their
actions. The Blueprint is an
acknowledgment that history designs the present.
*****
READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.raegianarashad.com
ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-blueprint-rae-giana-rashad/20297568?ean=9780063330092