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Craft Chat Chronicles
Craft Chat Chronicles
Episode 12: Crafting Compelling Stories: Tips from NYT Bestselling Author Ladarian Williams
What if you could transform setbacks into a launching pad for success? Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Ladarian Williams, the debut author behind the best-selling novel "Blood at the Roots." Ladarian takes us on his journey from the small town of Helena, Alabama, to the bustling streets of Los Angeles, sharing how his early passions in theater and the hurdles he faced as a Black man in the arts shaped his path. His transition from screenwriting and playwriting to novel writing, sparked by both setbacks and a fierce dedication to storytelling, is nothing short of inspiring.
Ever wondered how to craft openings that grab your reader's attention or endings that leave them satisfied? Ladarian breaks it down for us, focusing on the YA fantasy genre. He passionately discusses the significance of representing Black youth in fantasy without falling into the trap of stereotypes. By sharing practical tips on maintaining narrative momentum and ensuring each scene is essential, Ladarian offers invaluable advice for aspiring writers. The conversation extends to the crucial vision for a novel’s ending and the importance of having a clear endpoint even if the journey evolves.
Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of spirituality and magic that forms the backbone of Ladarian’s writing process. With insights drawn from his Southern Baptist upbringing, Ladarian reveals how powerful imagery and cultural elements like call and response play vital roles in his storytelling. He even shares the tools that keep his creative juices flowing, from Pinterest boards to music playlists. As we celebrate the launch of "Blood at the Roots" and look ahead to future projects, Ladarian shines a spotlight on the necessity of boldness in writing and the importance of centering Black experiences and stories. Don't miss out on this episode filled with wisdom and inspiration!
Keywords: Ladarian Williams, NYT Bestselling Author, Blood at the Roots, debut novel, diy mfa, writing tips, writer's digest, Drexel university, setbacks to success, storytelling, YA fantasy, representing Black youth, aspiring authors, theater, screenwriting, playwriting, novel writing, narrative momentum, essential scenes, clear endpoints, spirituality in writing, Southern Baptist upbringing, powerful imagery, call and response, Pinterest boards, music playlists, cultural elements, creative process, Black experiences, bold writing, launch celebration, future projects, aspiring writers.
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast for tips on crafting best-selling fiction. Here at Craft Chat Chronicles, we bring you expert interviews, insights and tips on writing, publishing and marketing. For workshops, show notes and more information, visit jdmyhallcom.
J.D. Myall:In episode 12, a mini episode of Craft Chat Chronicles that is audio only today we're going to talk to author Ladarian Williams. He's a debut author whose novel Blood at the Roots has made the bestsellers list. Ladarian is going to talk about his publishing journey, his novel Blood at the Roots, and he's going to give you some insight into his debut year and some cool writing tips. Let's get chatty.
Ladarian Williams,:I'm good. How are you doing?
J.D. Myall:Doing well, doing well.
Ladarian Williams,:Can you?
J.D. Myall:tell me a little bit about your life before books.
Ladarian Williams,:Oh, my life before books, oh yeah. So I grew up in Alabama, you know small town, helena, alabama, which is actually inside the book, you know. And you know I was that theater kid doing choir, um and I, and I thought I was going to move to la and or new york when I was 18 but that didn't happen and, uh, I went to college. I went to a small private arts christian college for two years. That's where I got kind of like the reality of like, oh you're, you're a black man doing theater. You are not going to get the same roles as everybody else. I only got one role, which was a slave in Big River, but you know, amen. So I went back home and I was working at Taco Bell at the time and I was just like I can't keep living here, I need to be, I need to be creative, I need to write, I need to be an actor.
Speaker 1:At the time and so you know.
Ladarian Williams,:I packed up. You know, I bought a one-way ticket in the drive-thru while working the drive-thru at Taco Bell. I bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and I moved away May 9th 2015. I moved to Hollywood to pursue writing and acting and you know, been here ever since and you know I started off writing plays and started off writing like TV shows and you know, trying to just try to make it as a TV writer, trying to make it as a filmmaker, and a lot of ups and a lot of downs and I think it's more downs and ups in regards to that. But so, yeah, that was kind of like my quick journey.
Ladarian Williams,:You know, before I started writing books, you know, I didn't think, you know, I thought I was going to be my place, that was going to take off, or I thought it was going to be my screenwriter was going to take off. But it's so interesting that my books, you know, is what's starting my career. So it's just, you know, it's just one of those things where I'm just like, you know, go wherever. You know, whatever happens, you know.
J.D. Myall:So, so yeah, that was kind of like my, my life a little bit before, before writing books, that's awesome.
Ladarian Williams,:Can you tell me about your publishing journey? Yeah, so Blood at the Root came. So Blood at the Root was one of those scripts that I was writing. It wasn't supposed to be a book. I wrote it as a TV series idea back in 2020 because I kind of just grew tired of not seeing enough Black fantasy and not seeing us in that realm. I wrote it as a TV pilot because I also tweeted. I was like what if Harry Potter went to an HBCU? And then people were like, let's, you, gotta make that, you? You know, let's, let's, let's get it off the ground. And so I took that script idea, wrote it, and then we me and my friends shot a whole short film in the middle of the pandemic. You know, we, we shot it around LA, you know, sneaking onto the UCLA campus. You know, shout out to them because they didn't arrest us, you know so and from there I thought that, you know, we had something very special.
Ladarian Williams,:And we, you know, I was like, okay, you know, I'm thinking Hollywood is going to come calling, and eventually they didn't. And this story wouldn't leave me alone. So I was just like, well, how can I get this story out? And so, um, my friend was like yo, turn it into a book. You know, you know, you've all you grew up reading books, so why don't you write it as a book? And at that time I was like, nah, because this was again.
Ladarian Williams,:This was very, this was a very tense time in our history. You know, george riots, there was a lot going on and I was like, no, I'm good, I think, publishing. They're not going to want a book about a black boy not dying. They're not going to want that. They're not going to want a full fantasy book that's based in the South, that black people, you know, cussing and casting spells at the same time. You know like, they want that.
Ladarian Williams,:Um, and so I, so I was convinced to self-publish it, because I was going to do all of that by myself and I was working with a, uh, an editor, um, black woman from louisiana. She was like you gotta, you gotta traditionally publish this. She's like you need a machine behind you, you need the resources because she's publish this. She's like you need a machine behind you, you need the resources. Because she's like this can change something. And I was like no. I was like no, publishing is not going to, they're not going to want this.
Ladarian Williams,:Eventually she convinced me and so I was like okay, well, let's start submitting it to agents and publishers. And so we started submitting it and we were getting rejections left and right. We started submitting it and we were getting rejections left and right and everybody was like no, we're good, we can't really, we don't really connect to the story. We can't, you know, we don't know how to market this. And I was just like I bet, because it's literally going against the grain. It's about a young black boy from Alabama who's not dealing with police brutality, he's not dying on the page. But eventually, you know, I signed with an amazing agent and we went on our sub a year later. Who?
J.D. Myall:was your agent.
Ladarian Williams,:Peter Knapp at Park and Fine Literary A titan, he took a chance on this book.
J.D. Myall:And you did the traditional query route.
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah. So I queried him around around. This was may 2021 and we saw, and we started working together august 2021 and, uh, yeah, and then we didn't go on to sub to publishers until september 19th and, um, and I was so dramatic because I was like, oh my gosh, like this is about to be the longest year of my life, you know. But because we were.
J.D. Myall:I'm sorry to cut you off. Did you guys do any revisions?
Ladarian Williams,:Oh yeah, that entire year yeah.
Speaker 1:So, I thought I was done.
Ladarian Williams,:You know, when I started with an agent, I thought I was done. And so, yeah, we, because my agent he's very editorial, but he but it made me get the book into such a better shape before we went to publishers and um, yeah, so we, we went on september 19th, 2023, 2022, I'm sorry, 2022, um, and we were getting I think we got rejections in the first hour that he said a first patch out. People were saying that, you know, editors were saying that they loved the book but they couldn't connect to the voice and we all know that's kind of coded right. They couldn't market it, they didn't know how to, they didn't know how, they didn't have a vision for it. At that point I was like I don't think it's going to happen, ladarian, I don't think it's gonna happen. I don't think it's gonna happen. Like you might as well hang up this story, because it was.
Ladarian Williams,:This was like October, like November rolled around and then December and you know, publishing shuts down in December. Basically like so I was like if I don't get a book deal by the end of 2022, like it's a wrap. And my agent, he was like no, let's keep going. And then January rolled around and we got offers. We got like three offers from like three competitive um publishers and on January 19th we signed a three book deal to Penguin Random House, you know, and my imprint is Labyrinth Road. So you know, that's kind of like been like the up and down journey of Blood at the Root. Lisa Abrams, which is my amazing editor now, she offered on the book and then two other imprints offered at a competitive publisher and so they kind of, like you know, had to go to auction and she was like I want this story. So she was like this is how much we can pay him. And so we took it off the table and we signed with Labyrinth Road January 19, 2023.
J.D. Myall:Awesome, that's exciting.
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, yeah. So you know, and now we're here. You know, now the book is out and yeah, it's a New York Times bestseseller. So I was just like, oh, that was literally a year ago and now it's. You know, it's just been so fast, it's been so long, it's.
J.D. Myall:It felt very calm but it felt very fast at the same time how did you get the news that you made the new york times bestseller list?
Ladarian Williams,:um, I was literally driving into new york, um, because I flew out to new New York to do promo. I was in the Uber and my agent called and they and my publishers agent, my agent editors, publishers they all called and they were all screaming and I was like, wait, what's going on? And it was like, yeah, it was like dude, you're number five on the New York times bestselling list. And I was like, and I'm looking at to scream, yeah, that's how I kind of find out, found out, you know, very um, new york times bestseller while going into the city of new york. It's just that you can't, like don't get any better than that awesome.
J.D. Myall:How did you come up with the idea? Um? Tell me the story behind the story. What made you think about the concept of harry potter at hbcu?
Ladarian Williams,:I it honestly was just random, it really was from a random tweet, um, but I think, as I like, as I like, started writing the story, I was really wanting to see more representation from like, especially like people from the south, especially, like you know, black life in the south and like our spirituality, um, because oftentimes in media, in literature, like black spirituality is demonized and it's been like that for before. Media was even a thing so and it just trickled down generations to generations. And now you know, kind of having kind of having those conversations with, like my friends or like my mom about just our spirituality and how it influenced a lot, you know, in our culture. And I wanted to do that because I felt like it was very demonized and so. But I wanted to put it in the lens, through the lens of a young 17-year-old Black boy from Alabama who has ancestral magic, who is a coming of age story, because, also, I just feel like we really don't get a lot of those right From the perspective of a young Black man, we don't really get that in YA fantasy.
Ladarian Williams,:So I really wanted to tell that story truthfully and I didn't want to center whiteness in the story. I didn't want the focal point of his story to be him just downtrodden, you know, dealing with police brutality. I didn't want him to be a drug, I didn't want none of that. I just wanted a story about this young black boy coming into terms with his magic and infusing a lot of like you know, my upbringing and my childhood into the story as well. So that's how I kind of like that's kind of like the story behind the story love that, love that.
J.D. Myall:What do you think makes an engaging opening for a novel? So if you're an aspiring writer and you're trying to hook people from the very beginning, what advice would you give them?
Ladarian Williams,:the question, uh, I'm trying to think of, like, what I, what, what, what I tried to make of it, um, when I did my, when I did my own writing, um, I think for me, I think for, like you know, the opening lot, maybe this is a lot of pressure on a lot of writers, but, um, the opening line has to like, I wanted, for me, my perspective, I wanted my opening line to be like, kind of like the main theme of the book, to kind of express, like, what's going to, what the book is about. So, you know, the opening line in Blood and Through is black boys like me don't have magic powers. Well, what does that mean, like you know? So, so, yeah, and like, just like, I think I tell people to make sure, like, especially in those opening pages, make sure your passion rise off that page.
Ladarian Williams,:That's what my agent kept telling me, that's why he signed me. He said he could feel the passion, he could feel the, the joy and the rage and the, the, the love of the genre, coming off the page. You know you're seeing this black boy, you know, ducking and dodging on a bicycle, but he's, he's feeling magic. You know around him, so it'sging on a bicycle, but he's, he's, he's feeling magic, you know, around him. So it's like yeah, I think that's my advice, like making making sure, like your passion is really the story that you're writing and whatever passion you have for that story, it rise off the page, off of page one literally. I know it's a lot of pressure but, um, because people can feel it, you know people can, people can tell that you're very passionate about a story. Based off of that and and I'm glad my agent was able to see mine through that- Love that, Love that.
J.D. Myall:And how about? What tips do you have for avoiding the saggy middle? How do you keep readers engaged through the middle of the story?
Ladarian Williams,:Cause I'm, I'm in book two land right now. So that's technically, yeah, because I'm in book two land right now. So that's technically so my, my advice. So a lot of people don't like it. But apparently, save the cat, people don't like save the cat. I love save the cat right, so now, because it definitely saved me.
Ladarian Williams,:Um, the the middle. The middle is hard. Like the middle is hard because you, because it may change, your beats may change, right, as you're revising the story, like you know, your midpoint may change. So it's just making sure that you hit the midpoint mark. So all of that and making sure, like you know everything about your story, like what is going to be, the kind of like that, like I think of it like a roller coaster, right, like the rising action and then you just like the tip right before that big fall.
Ladarian Williams,:So yeah, it's kind of like that, think of it like that's what you know, say, the cat taught me. Like, think of your story as a roller coaster and like you know. So making sure that you know every scene is pushing the story forward, making sure that you know your character is. A lot is revealed, but also a lot of questions are still. They still need to be answered in your model and I think when you do that it's going to like kind of freshen it up for you a little bit. It doesn't. It does not like very dragging or like it's not very boring.
J.D. Myall:So I learned all of that from Save the Cat. Rice novel I'm just, I'm just saying, and do you have any tips on um creating a captivating ending, tying things up?
Ladarian Williams,:oh yeah, because I think about my endings, because I know, I know, I know how the whole trilogy is going to end.
J.D. Myall:Um, do you start a novel knowing, or is that something that comes to you along the way?
Ladarian Williams,:I, I know, like I, I know because I, I love, so I love opening image and I know final image, and those are two beats in save the cat, um, um. I want to make sure and like, also like, especially with this book, since this book is about spirituality, it's about magic like I love call and respond, especially, like especially with this book, since this book is about spirituality, it's about magic, like I love call and response, especially like growing up right in the South and in the church, in the Baptist church, the call and response is a thing in our culture. So I kind of for me, I kind of I kind of infused that into the book. So the opening image is my call and then the final image is my response, right? So I want to make sure they both, you know, match up to each other. So yeah, I think my advice would be like I don't know, like I'm a filmmaker, so I think of things in pictures.
Ladarian Williams,:I know books are supposed to be words, but I literally write in pictures and so I just kind of like, just think of like the most powerful image from the beginning and then think about how that's going to match my ending and find like a picture of that.
Ladarian Williams,:So, like I think the opening image although the opening image of Blood at the Root was a young black boy I found the picture he was looking up at the sky while fireworks were bursting, like in the sky, and so I was like, oh my god, like that's, that's, that's my book.
Ladarian Williams,:And then the ending was an image um, I just saw this and which was the book cover, which is so amazing. How it turned out was I saw a black boy in the middle of a sugar cane field. He's standing in front of a spanish moss tree and he's casting his magic and he's like lifting off the ground, like I'm just like that's what I? I don't know, it's just that's how I pictured my opening and final images of my book and, and maybe that's how people have to do it go search through pinterest. Pinterest is a really good tool for writers. I'm just letting people know, because you might find your, you know, you might find your final image, that in there, and that's how you can wrap up your story and that's how you can write it as well.
J.D. Myall:Were there any other tools Like, for example, you mentioned, pinterest that you found helpful, that you think other authors might find helpful?
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, spotify. Well, if it depends on what music you know, music app building a music playlist helps me a lot too. I music Like that's part of my world building. I'm world building for book two right now and I'm like I'm just, you know, I'm creating a music playlist, things that I think my character will listen to. I'm listening to a lot of like indie artists, you know, like artists. Of course, I listen to the big artists, but, like some of the indie artists are making great music as well. Course I listen to the big artists, but like some of the indie artists are making great music as well. Um, also, this is free. I learned is um. Her name is alexa dunn. She's also an author. She's a ya author. She has youtube videos about the entire industry and they're all for free. Like people pay what I don't know how much is masterclass. It's like what? 200 bucks a year or something like that.
Speaker 1:But I'm like all that info for free on YouTube.
Ladarian Williams,:So I suggest people to go to Alexa Dunn's YouTube channel because she has everything from writing the first draft to the money middle, how to create a query letter, how to have the conversations about agents and publish. She has all of it for free, so that helped me as a writer. So, yeah, I definitely advise people to go YouTube University and you look up Alaysia Dunn.
J.D. Myall:Tell me a bit about your debut year. How was that? Yeah?
Ladarian Williams,:my debut. Well, my debut year has been great. I mean, you know, I just left New York a few days ago and I was on Good Morning America PIX11. I did a feature with Ebony, which was amazing. No, my book is in LA times. It's one of those things that was just like. It's just, it's just beautiful to see um publications and big platforms, you know, posting my book because my book cover.
Ladarian Williams,:I wanted a black boy on the cover Right, and imagery is so powerful and it can literally change lives. It changed my life when I saw, you know, the Watson's go to Birmingham. When I saw a black boy on the cover, I was like, wait, what is that book? I mean, that's how I fell in love with reading. So I was so glad to have that platform blast my book cover because you never know to, you never know what. Young black boys watching that and saying, look, I will now write my story. So it's been great, you know, and I got to do my first school signing yesterday, which was amazing Eighth graders and just seeing and just telling those young black boys like, hey, I wrote this for you, you see yourself in it.
Ladarian Williams,:I hope. You see, I hope you feel loved and protected and heard with this book. So, yeah, it's just been great, it's just been a great debut year. I'm grateful because, you know, not a lot of authors get got what I got, you know, and so I just want to be, I just want to be in gratitude and also in reflection, because this all started with a tweet. This all started with a short film, the little short film that could you know, and now it's here, yeah, and yeah, it's just been great, it's just, it's just been, it's just been a blessing.
J.D. Myall:Did you do a launch party or anything like that?
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, I did a launch party at Malik Books, which is a black owned bookstore out here in LA. We had jazz music, we had food and, you know, black people coming in singing and dancing. It was just, it was just great. It was of like a. It literally was it felt like a family reunion, you know. So it was just a great launch party. Um, and, yeah, you know, I got to celebrate it with my friends who were, who was in the short film, and you know, and like I, you know I posted, you know I had pictures all over the bookstore like steals from the short film and as they walked in they could see it. You know, and it was just, it's just a gift, you know, it was my gift back to them, you know. So that that was kind of like my lunch party and you said you're doing a three book series.
J.D. Myall:So you're working on book two now yes, I'm on book two.
Ladarian Williams,:It's it's the first draft. So, yes, yeah, I'm definitely, I'm, I'm world, I'm doing world. I'm actually gotta get back to it, but I got to do my world building. I got to, I got to write it because my my editor was like OK, you had fun, you had a great time in book one, but you actually have to work on book two. So, yeah, yeah, I'm definitely working on book two and then book three will be here when it be here, because it's not, it's not out in the world yet.
J.D. Myall:OK, and after this series, have you started thinking about what you're going to do after this?
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, I think I think I'm going to genres of young adult because, again, you know, my mission is to create, you know, books, you know stories of where black boys get to be the focal point, they get to be the hero, they get to, you know, experience, love and heartbreak and, um, family and friends, right, um, so I want, I want to, I definitely want to continue that, but I also want to continue to kind of shake the table a little bit and and and write books where black kids feel seen and they feel, you know, heard, uh, uh, but yeah, definitely, I definitely want to stay in ya, because I feel like it still needs some work as far in regards to representation. It needs some work, you know. So I have some ideas. Um, you know, hopefully my publishers buy them because they're gonna. So, yeah, um, so, yeah, I definitely have more ideas and more book series and I also have a spinoff idea from of blood at the root. So once people get to the third book, in that last chapter, I introduce a spinoff character.
Ladarian Williams,:So, yeah, I don't want to say who it is because it's a big sport yeah, so yeah, definitely, I definitely have more plans to to come out with more stories in the in the novel world publishing world.
J.D. Myall:Yeah, what has been your biggest learning experience or surprise um in the publishing industry so far?
Ladarian Williams,:it's not a surprise because it's kind of like it's like that in I'm a playwright and a filmmaker, so it's like that in the theater world in hollywood. Um, biggest learning experience is that you still have to fight for your story, always be an advocate for your story, right? Um, and this is not coming from a selfish place, but I I go into a lot of bookstores, especially like Barnes, noble, and just seeing that the placement of Blood at the Root is not always in the best, and having people come to me on social media and say, hey, we can't find your books, we want to make sure that your books get a lot of visibility Because, again, if you look at a lot of the YA fantasy titles, you're not going to find a lot of Black boys on the cover, right? So I want to make sure when a young Black boy walks into that bookstore, they see it, they see that cover and say, hey, mom, they, because I already heard it. I was in the bookstore in New York and this Black boy, when the worker moved my books, this young Black boy behind me he said, mom, like, look, look, look at that book. I want that book because that kid looks just like me. So it's still a fight, you know, and I'm still going to advocate for myself, and I always have to advocate for my art, and so that's kind of like the biggest lesson is to always advocate for your art, because, you know, we still got a lot of ways to go. So, yeah, that's a learning curve that I've been grappling with. That's great.
Ladarian Williams,:What has writing taught you to be bold? Uh, because, you know, I, I stand on the shoulders of, like august wilson, right, I stand on the shoulders of tony morrison and zora neale hurston, and they weren't. And james ball went, and they and they weren't afraid to shake the table, right. And Toni Morrison, always, she, always, she teaches me, like you know, not to center whiteness and in our black stories, because, you know, our lives are just as deep, our words and our way of living, and the poetry and the language of the everyday people, right, it's always it deserves to be told as well. And so, you know, because they did it, I have the chance to do it as well, and so I don't take that for granted when it comes to writing, because they paved the way for writers like me and so I want to carry that torch, you know, and so I just I always look to them. So, yeah, that's what writing taught. It's just taught me, you know, and so I just I always look to them.
Ladarian Williams,:So yeah, that's what writing told. It's just taught me, you know, like, always shake, don't be afraid to shake the table, be bold in what you write and don't be unapologetic about your writing, the way you know, writing about your people, writing about you and your upbringing, because everybody has a story to be told and it deserves to be told. So, yeah, that's a, that's a big lesson I'm learning as a writer. I, and it deserves to be told. So, yeah, that's a big lesson I'm learning as a writer.
J.D. Myall:I love that. Where can readers contact you? Where can everybody connect with you?
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, if you want to follow me on Twitter where I talk a lot of you know, a lot of ish about the industry, it's Ladarian, l-a-d-a-r-r-i-o-n. Also on Instagram, I try to be inspirational there it's Ladarian. And on TikTok, yeah, it's Ladarian, that's where I am. Also, threads I keep forgetting threads because threads is a thing now, so it's Ladarian across all platforms.
J.D. Myall:Awesome. Is there anything you wanted to say in closing, before we head out?
Ladarian Williams,:Yeah, please pull up, for when we do as Black writers and creators, we do hear people say on social media we want more Black sci-fi, we want more Black fantasy. But the thing is, people, you have to pull up. You have to go buy the books, you have to share the GoFundMe's, you have to share the short films or whatever. Please pull up, because we are out here writing the stories that people want to hear and want to see. We just need people to pull up, you know. So, um, we are, we are writing and please, please, support blood at the root, please support black authors, because we're here and we're telling our stories and so so, so, yeah, that's. That's that's what I always leave people with.
J.D. Myall:Well, congratulations on all your success, and you don't need my congratulations, though You're already flying. You got this.
Ladarian Williams,:Oh, thank you, I know I appreciate it, but I appreciate you and appreciate this. Thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to me.
J.D. Myall:Thank you.
Speaker 4:You have a blessed week. That wraps up today's Craft Chat Chronicles with JD Mayor. Thanks for joining us. If you liked the episode, please comment, subscribe and share. For show notes, writing workshops and tips, head to jdmayorcom. That's jdmayorcom. While you're there, join JD's mailing list for updates, giveaways and more.