To collaborate to create a book like this. I mean, this book is
so perfect for modern times because there's a lot of things in this book that
we can learn from. And I mean to come together and make this book
happen. How I mean, I mean, is it like what Hollywood says
it takes it takes magic to make a movie work. Well, it definitely
took some magic. I will say that we had to really dig deep here
because you know, we're both too very different writers. We're friends, right,
but we had to really find a way to make our craft work together.
And I'm a plotter, which means like I outline every story I'm writing
before I actually start writing. And Catherine, you're not so much right,
you have like a little a different approach. And I'll let her talk about
that a little bit. But in the end, we found a way to
make the process work for both of us. And I think, I think
as what's most important, how do you laid out? Catherine? Yeah,
I am a little bit more on the seat of my pants kind of thing
and see where the story takes me. And also I think my background in
journalism has kind of led to that as well. Where I before I did
Rebecca not Becky. I had made a documentary and I was really just sort
of following what happened, and so I think I took that into the novel,
writing of like, let's see where these characters go. But that does
not work when you were writing something with someone. And I love how you
framed it as magic, because you know, there is a lot of that
where you think by the end of it, when you finish. And now
that we're in this moment where we're talking about the book and it's so well
received and we're having these great conversations with people about the things that come up
to them in the book, you can start to kind of forget about how
hard it was. That's actually bring it together. But we made it work.
The book itself. Right when you walk into the bookstore, it catches
your attention because you're you know, you see Rebecca not Becky, and right
away your your imagination is going, well, what's this one about? Most
books you just walk by this one, you actually pick it up and you
go really and then and then you find yourself going, I we're living this
and and and I think that's so so this time around. The book cover
really does serve as that free ticket to ride amazing. We love to hear
that we were very much involved in the collaboration on that book cover, and
you know, we think it speaks directly to the story to Rebecca as a
white woman, a character DeAndrea, both of them as mothers and looking out
over at this playground in these rolling hills, which is you know, rolling
Hills is the fictional setting for the book and it you know, even right
down to the white picket fence, right, And so we wanted the cover
to really draw readers in and to be curious about it. So glad to
know that it's doing just that. Did your editor come with rules saying okay,
well, I know that you guys are gonna be touching a very high
subject, but we've got to keep it on the up and up. But
at the same time we have we have to make sure that we, you
know, don't start anything. No. I think that was us. They
trusted us wholeheartedly, as you know, practitioners and folks have who have been
doing this work for a very long time. I think Catherine and I really
came in with like, here is what we know this book needs to do.
And then it's like, how do we get there, and you know,
because we want the book to foster conversations. I leaned on Catherine pretty
heavily in that regard because you know, this that is her area of expertise.
It's facilitating difficult dialogue. So Katherine, I'd love for you to share
a bit more about that. Yeah, you know, there were a lot
of people who kind of jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, in
terms of saying like, oh okay. After George Floyd, there was this
urgency to engage in this work. And while we welcomed a lot more people
into the movement, which was which was really important, we also found that
a lot of people were jumping in and not doing it with a ton of
information and knowledge and analysis, and so we really wanted to help provide a
way for people to have these conversations in a different ways. We weren't only
living online, right, They're going online. You can get a lot of
information that's really important. There's plenty of books and podcasts and films that can
educate us. And then really it's in the meaning making when we come together
and talk about these issues. And so that was really important to us.
And because we had been in this work for so long, as Christine said,
the publisher really trusted us, and I think in a lot of ways,
you know, the team, the editing team and our agents, and
they learned as well while reading the book, So that was really important to
us. Well, you bring up a really interesting subject here that I hope
becomes a big conversation starter, even even with the daytimes talk shows, And
that is the task of making a blank friend. And I've sat back many
times just thinking about that if I could, what would it be, how
would it be and how can we get to grow forward in this day where
there's so much ghosting going on. Yeah, I think what was really important
for us to show with this, you know, this dynamic of wanting to
have an interracial friendship, understanding how important it is to have interracial friendships,
right, We really wanted to show what that looks like because I think so
often, you know, folks come across people like me and Catherine. I
can think of so many other friends that we have who have you know,
these inner wonderful interracial friendships and people who are genuinely friends and people who they
trust, and they're just like, how did y'all get there? You know
what I mean, and so we wanted to show here is what that looks
like, right like, and sometimes it is bumpy, sometimes it is uncomfortable.
Sometimes you are going to look back and have cringe moments, right and
understanding that you're coming in with a lot of preconceived notions. Your own lived
experience is your own history and baggage, right and you know, like the
of any friendship, that trust has to be there, and that trust is
earned over time, right and me it allows it means that I can show
up honestly and authentically and I can say some of the hard things during times
of racial strife, you know, I can trust through an ally Like,
There's so many layers and complexities to it, and I think we really wanted
to show how that came about, and not just from you know, Deandrea's
perspective, right as a black woman, like, oh, I'm in this
new town, there's all these white folks. Are one of them? How
am I going to be friends with one? But also, you know,
I think Catherine had a very real responsibility with her character Becky and what she
showed, you know, with her wanting to develop inter racial friendships as well.
I just want to add that when Rebecca sets out to say I'm going
to make a black friend, what she does with that in leading her is
missing out on all that DeAndre is in addition to being a black one,
She's a woman who is black. And when we do that and we set
out to do it that way, then we lose the chance of authenticity in
the relationship. I'll tell you one of the things that I love doing in
getting with the community is I I'll sit there and challenge people if you really
want to know how to be friends with every generation as well as every nation,
and that is, go get a job at a grocery store. Sit
there on that register, because everybody in your community is going to come by
you, and every one of them have a story. Now build up your
personality and become stronger in the community. I love what you're saying there because
and it points to the fact that we are very segregated society still, and
so it is, you know, it's very hard to say, oh,
I want to go and have a blank type of friend and go and seek
that out and lead with that when everything around us tends to be we really
do silo ourselves. Yeah, And the question is also I think why,
right, Like, are you looking for a good friend or are you looking
for a friend of a certain color for what reason? Right? Or you
know what I mean? Like, because I think that is you know,
one of the things Catherine said early on when we were, you know,
developing this story, and she said, you know, this has to be
a story that doesn't ignore race, right, And so that sort of became
the framing of the book. And you know, at the end of the
day, what these women discover, you know, after you know, they
go through a lot of this pumpiness that we're talking about, is that they
have so much in common. Right. But if we lead with I want
I want a white friend, I want a black friend, right, Like,
that's it, right, Like we want to show, like you want
someone like all your friends, you have things in common that you can learn
from each other, right, Like this is someone I can trust, this
is you know. So we really wanted to show like the the nuances of
friendship, right and again, just not ignore race. Yeah. Yeah.
One of the reasons why I feel like if this book is so important right
now is because over the past couple of years, our entire layout of cities
has changed, and I think that I would love to see the research behind
how many of the brown friends are going to be reading this book, because
they also want to be included, and we want to include them as well.
But we feel like, oh, the headlines are saying this evil,
evil, evil, when in fact they're just as human as the rest of
us. Oh, Catherine, I mean jump in, because we have we
woven some brown friend. We took all of this consideration. So, Kathin,
I'd love for you to talk about some of Becky's friends and how that's
explored. Yeah, I mean, Rebecca and DeAndrea live in a fictional predominant
white suburb, but before DeAndre moves there, I mean Rebecca has there are
other moms in the school, and she has a close friend who is Asian
American adopted raised by white parents, and she has you know, there's a
there's moms who are who are Indian and their moms who are Latina, and
then a lot of other variations. There are same sub couples and adoptive families
and all of this going on, and that is very much a part of
the conversation of so where do we all belong in this? And how do
we stand up for one another? And how do we show up for one
another while again not ignoring race, but acknowledging that it is a part of
everyone's experience, and we want to make sure that we're doing right by each
other and not actually coming at each other in terms of like a competition of
who can do better, who can be a better ally, whose struggles are
harder than others, And really again it's it's all about community. Are you
taking the book to the next level in the way of creating a website where
we can keep the conversation going, Well, we're actually going to be going
on the road to have somebody Yeah, yeah, we know that. You
know, some of some of the best in some of the best work that
we've done has been in being in community with folks right and being in these
safe spaces where they can ask some of these conversations and you know, we
can really help guide and facilitate the discussion. And it's also one of the
reasons why you know, at a few stops we are having moderators and some
of these folks are you know, individuals who Katherine and I have worked with
in the past, But for the most part, we are going to be
guiding these conversations because we know people want to ask the questions and more than
happy to give them the answers. Wow, So what is the website where
people can find out more about you and find out more of where your tour
is going to be going? Well? For me? You can find me
at I am Christine Platt dot com and I am on Instagram same handle at
I am Christine Platt and Katherine Yes, and you can find me at Katherine
Wigintongreen dot com and I am Katherine Wiganton on Instagram. And we are keeping
the conversation going in those ways and online, and we do. We are
most excited about engaging with readers in these conversations and helping communities have these conversations
with one another centered around what comes up in the book and then taking it
even further and saying, what is this? How does this show up in
our in our world? I love it, I love where your hearts are
I do, I really do? You got to come back to this show
anytime in the future. This platform is always going to be open for you.
Thank you so much, Thank you. Will you guys be brilliant today?
Okay you too? Thanks right, have a great day. Bye bye. Bye,