Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Ghost In The Night From YA Author Tiffany D Jackson Ghosting Southern Style

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Ghost In The Night From YA Author Tiffany D Jackson Ghosting Southern Style · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: The coolest thing about podcasting. It's about connection. You may
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  Speaker 1: on Arrow dot net, A R. R Oe dot net.
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  Speaker 1: None of us are the same, so why should the
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  Speaker 1: subjects be Ero dot net, aarr Oe dot net. Enjoy
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  Speaker 1: your exploration. How are you doing today? I'm good, how
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  Speaker 1: absolutely fantastic and always excited to share a conversation with
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  Speaker 1: you because you totally get it. Your eyes are your storyteller,
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  Speaker 1: and we get to really kind of just take it
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  Speaker 1: all in from what you see. It moves through your heart,
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  Speaker 1: it moves through your fingers. All of a sudden, we
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  Speaker 1: now have a story absolutely and you know, I gotta
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  Speaker 1: be honest with you. I'm here in Charlotte, so Savannah, Charleston,
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  Speaker 1: all of these southern cities have a big place in
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  Speaker 1: my heart. So to hear that the new one takes
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  Speaker 1: place in Savannah, oh my god. We could spend hours
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  Speaker 1: just talking about what it's like to be in Savannah.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, I could talk about today all day long.
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  Speaker 1: So are you like me? Did you pick up any
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  Speaker 1: ghosts along the way, Because you know how we writers are,
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  Speaker 1: we are open vessels and writers from the past like
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  Speaker 1: to step into our prop you know, process of creativity.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think I said something in ghosts. I was
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  Speaker 2: pretty uh, very much a big ritual every time when
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  Speaker 2: a ghost stars, sort of like stage myself down and
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  Speaker 2: throw a couple of pennies over my shoulder just to
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  Speaker 2: keep them at day.
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  Speaker 1: So, now, what did you experience on those ghost tours?
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  Speaker 1: Because you know, first of all, I'm very proud of
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  Speaker 1: you for creating a story on this because I did
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  Speaker 1: this on my last book with New York City. And
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  Speaker 1: I love it when authors like yourself will we'll go
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  Speaker 1: through an experience and then bring it to life inside
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  Speaker 1: a novel, because that, to me is a true connection
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to creativity.
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  Speaker 2: I totally love ghost tours. That's honestly where this book
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  Speaker 2: came from. I love going ghost ors and different like
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  Speaker 2: you know, cities all over the country. I think it's
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  Speaker 2: one of like you know, the kind of definitely to
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  Speaker 2: learn about the city right through their dark side. And
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  Speaker 2: so I remember going on a ghost tour in Savannah
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  Speaker 2: the first time I visited and seeing the ghosts or
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  Speaker 2: seeing something that I thought was a ghost, and kind
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  Speaker 2: of laughing to myself because it seemed like all these
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  Speaker 2: ghost stors, I was the only black girl that was
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  Speaker 2: always on the ghost tour. I wanted the sort of
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  Speaker 2: like to be back on that, like what that would mean,
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  Speaker 2: especially through like the length of a kid. So that
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  Speaker 2: was basically the genesis for writing goes for the right.
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  Speaker 1: But as the writer, what is it like for you
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  Speaker 1: to bring it to life on that canvas? Because I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you have to experience it before we do, And I
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  Speaker 1: mean you've got to be able to be scared. You
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  Speaker 1: have to be able to feel that timidness and the
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  Speaker 1: fear of going forward stuff before we even get our
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  Speaker 1: eyes on it.
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  Speaker 2: I think because I don't find ghosts to be super scary,
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  Speaker 2: goes to be like, I'm more curious about them than
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  Speaker 2: anything else, which makes them which makes me throw of
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  Speaker 2: the perfect that both to kind of tell this Peppersori,
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  Speaker 2: because like my character Harmony in the book, she's very
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  Speaker 2: curious about ghosts. She's not so much scared of them.
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  Speaker 2: She's more just like looking for the truth about them.
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  Speaker 2: And I can be very similar and in terms of like,
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  Speaker 2: you know, where does this come from? Like how how
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  Speaker 2: why are these scared of ghosts? And where are these
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  Speaker 2: ghosts coming from? So that was really what kind of
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  Speaker 2: started this was thinking about and having a curious and
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  Speaker 2: being open about the ideas of ghosts. And that's what
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  Speaker 2: kind of led me down a rabbit hole of talking
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  Speaker 2: to ghost counters and talking to like, you know her
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  Speaker 2: no red cities, but you know, specialists to find out
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  Speaker 2: like how to make a story like this like come alive.
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  Speaker 1: But she does something that really does step into the
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  Speaker 1: realms of real true connections with ghosts or and or
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  Speaker 1: spirits from the past, because I mean she's right there
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  Speaker 1: and she wants to make right the past and the present.
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  Speaker 1: That to me tells me she is interested in the
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  Speaker 1: stories of the ghosts when they were in human bodies.
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  Speaker 2: I think one of the things that I love about
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  Speaker 2: Harmony is that, and I love about specifically you know
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  Speaker 2: kids this age is that they are looking for the truth,
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  Speaker 2: like they are trying to they're really trying to write
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  Speaker 2: wrongs and they are so raw and pure, and they're
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  Speaker 2: not you know, you know, worried about their not They're
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  Speaker 2: not worried about their looks. They're not worried about their
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  Speaker 2: internal battles. They're worried about by finding answers, and that's
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  Speaker 2: what makes them the perfect hero.
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  Speaker 1: Please don't move. There's more with Tiffany D. Jackson coming
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  Speaker 1: up next. The name of the book Ghost in the Night.
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  Speaker 1: We are back with Tiffany D. Jackson. Harmony is that one.
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  Speaker 1: Is that one character that I swear as we go
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  Speaker 1: into it because school started here in the South today,
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  Speaker 1: So therefore, I mean, I really do want to go
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  Speaker 1: walking through this school to see how many students are
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  Speaker 1: going to be holding on to this book sometime during
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  Speaker 1: this season, because this is the kind of book. Harmony
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  Speaker 1: is that person that we can say, she's one of
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  Speaker 1: my people. She's one of those people that I can
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  Speaker 1: trust because she does have the courage to step forward
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  Speaker 1: and take on things that people are running away from.
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  Speaker 2: Mmm. I like that. Yes. I think it's also interesting
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  Speaker 2: because Harmony is actually from Harlem. She's from New York, yes,
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  Speaker 2: And there's just a general there's a general scepticism about
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  Speaker 2: kids that are from like the city I was also
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  Speaker 2: born and raised in Brooklyn, and we are a sceptical being,
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  Speaker 2: so we come to the South when we hear about
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  Speaker 2: you know, ghosts and taintes and hads, we're like, what
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  Speaker 2: is this? But also tell me more.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but don't you think that part of that mishost
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  Speaker 1: that there's not that New York City style lighting on
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  Speaker 1: the streets. It's all like gloomy and sometimes in the
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  Speaker 1: morning there's that fog. And the scent in the air
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  Speaker 1: is what always gets me. And were you able to
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  Speaker 1: get that scent of Savannah because they always say and
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  Speaker 1: those that haven't traveled there, when you go to Savanna,
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  Speaker 1: you smelled Savannah.
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  Speaker 2: There is something in the air there, like you feel
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  Speaker 2: it immediately. There is a heaviness in the air that anyone,
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  Speaker 2: even if you don't believe in ghosted you're not into spirituality,
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  Speaker 2: but you just feel it when you're walking around. There
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  Speaker 2: is a sense. And there's one thing that they say about,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Savannah being the most conscious city in the
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  Speaker 2: United States. There is something that book said about a
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  Speaker 2: city that's like really built over the dead. You know.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that's always fascinated me, Tiffany about
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  Speaker 1: the way that you write is is that you dive
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  Speaker 1: into areas that seem so complicated to the outsider until
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  Speaker 1: they step into your paragraphs. Because as as I in
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  Speaker 1: fact it was it was one of your PR people
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  Speaker 1: that wrote this navigating the intersection between a grief and discovery,
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  Speaker 1: and I went, that's absolutely Tiffany, That's exactly what she does.
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  Speaker 1: You could not if you must have gotten that from chat,
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  Speaker 1: GPT or something, because that's exactly what Tiffany does.
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  Speaker 2: I would like to think that they just came up
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  Speaker 2: about all on their own. I think I do think
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  Speaker 2: that there's a certain time period in your life, and
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  Speaker 2: specifically around this age where you are like the perfect
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  Speaker 2: time to sort of discover and explores when you are
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  Speaker 2: at your best self in terms of like being open
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  Speaker 2: and not jaded by the world and not you know filter,
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  Speaker 2: You're not filtered through you know insecurities or you know
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  Speaker 2: other knowledge that made important to you from other people
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  Speaker 2: who are very insecure. This is just a time in
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  Speaker 2: your life where you get to discover and you are
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  Speaker 2: on a fact finding mission. And that is one of
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  Speaker 2: the best talks about like finding like coming through this
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  Speaker 2: but then also realizing why grief like what grief looks
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  Speaker 2: like and how Greef and how grief may not look
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  Speaker 2: like the same on everyone. And that's one thing that
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  Speaker 2: I also discovered too, is like writing this and like
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  Speaker 2: the way kids do Greeed. Sometimes grief can look like,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just wanting to be, you know, obsessed, you're
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  Speaker 2: obsession with ghasts. Sometimes grief is you know, building robots.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes Greece is just like diving deeper into the mystique.
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  Speaker 2: It really just depends.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it almost feels like you're walking in our shoes.
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  Speaker 1: How do you keep yourself so down to earth and
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  Speaker 1: every day like one of us? Because you don't take
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  Speaker 1: on the journalist shoes, you don't take on the hey,
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  Speaker 1: i'm an author kind of shoes. It's almost like we're
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  Speaker 1: meeting up in a cauld be going by the way.
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  Speaker 1: There's a story I need to share with you. You're not
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  Speaker 1: going to believe this. This is not clickbait, but you
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  Speaker 1: need to know about harmony.
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  Speaker 2: I think as I've always been obsessed with people, I've
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  Speaker 2: always been in such of their experiences and just always
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  Speaker 2: curious about their experiences. That is my twelve year old
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  Speaker 2: lore that I would just be very interested in everyone's
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  Speaker 2: everyday adventures. That's actually quite fascinating to me. And so yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I just feel like you can talk to me about
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  Speaker 2: anything because I'm actually interest in whatever you have to
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  Speaker 2: talk about.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you bring up that book Blood in Water
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  Speaker 1: anywhere in public. And I love the way that people
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  Speaker 1: call out your name. I mean, sometimes you'll hear tiffany
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  Speaker 1: other times I'll hear TIFFs.
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  Speaker 2: Go.
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  Speaker 1: Man, I read Tea all the time. T is my
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  Speaker 1: That's where I go. That's my game. That's my game.
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  Speaker 1: I read Tea and I got you gotta And I'll
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  Speaker 1: sit there and say, you gotta give me a little
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  Speaker 1: bit more than just tea. There's got to be other
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: letters in her name. And then the very second they
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  Speaker 1: start bringing you up, I go, you know that we're
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  Speaker 1: all waiting for that next book.
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  Speaker 3: And god big if it's not here. Now it's finally here,
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  Speaker 3: we can all start talking about the next book. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: let's say to you that that was I understand that side.
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  Speaker 3: I have lived that side. You are so right about that.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god, hear me so much pressure about next books? Right,
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  Speaker 2: There's something about like because when you're writing a debut,
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  Speaker 2: you're sort of like throwing things against the walls you
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  Speaker 2: with stick. But when you're writing a sophomore novel, specifically
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  Speaker 2: it's age Rade or any sophomore any or you're making
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: any sophomore arts, there is an extra layer of pressure. Yes,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: that's like, how do I how do I recreate magic?
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: How do I you know, add the same seasonings into
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  Speaker 2: one dish and you know, repeat it over and over again?
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  Speaker 2: How do you do that? And I still don't really
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  Speaker 2: quite have the answer to it, And hence why I'm
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  Speaker 2: coming out with this new book and being like, let's
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  Speaker 2: see what happens.
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  Speaker 1: But is it something that you want your readers to
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  Speaker 1: find out, because that's one of the biggest fears that
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  Speaker 1: I've always had in my years of radio. I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to see I don't want people to see the
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  Speaker 1: wizard behind the curtain because it looks difficult. It sounds difficult.
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  Speaker 1: It's not, But at the same time, inside my brain
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  Speaker 1: it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
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  Speaker 1: Even as a writer. It's like, oh my god. But
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  Speaker 1: when you really break it down, oh god, it's not
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  Speaker 1: that difficult.
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  Speaker 2: Oh No, I want you to see the wizards. I
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  Speaker 2: want you to see how how I like people think
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  Speaker 2: that like being a writer is incredibly glamorous, and I'm
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: like sitting here in my pajamas like I you know
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  Speaker 2: I have. I have the same issues and problems like
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: everyone else had, the same medical bills, the same you know,
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: the same everything you know for day school. You know
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: you're sitting me in traffic, charving me at home for
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  Speaker 2: radio interviews and stuff like that. You are a very
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  Speaker 2: normal person, except you just have a thousand characters in
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  Speaker 2: your head. But yes, I do want you to see
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  Speaker 2: this guy because I always tell people if I had
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  Speaker 2: known what it was like to be an author, if
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  Speaker 2: I had known this, this is even truly a possibility,
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  Speaker 2: I would probably have been an author much sooner in
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  Speaker 2: my career.
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  Speaker 3: Than I have.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you love that feeling?
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  Speaker 2: Though?
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  Speaker 1: And I know I'm stepping over the clock time here,
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  Speaker 1: but I get ten minutes with you once a year,
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  Speaker 1: and I just feel like that, ah, well more than that,
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  Speaker 1: but I mean, but don't you love that feeling though?
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  Speaker 1: That you do have the courage to be able to
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  Speaker 1: share paragraphs that become stories.
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  Speaker 2: It is my greatest joy. I'm so blessed to be
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  Speaker 2: doing what I want to do.
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  Speaker 3: I love it.
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  Speaker 1: Please come back to this show. Like I said, ten
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  Speaker 1: minutes with you once a year is just not enough.
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  Speaker 1: So can you write more books?
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  Speaker 3: Please?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I'll work on you.
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  Speaker 1: You'd be brilliant today.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, all right, have it day.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you,