>> Sasha Dowdy: So welcome to the library. It's great to see this college auditorium full of kids for middle and high school. So give us a cheer for being here. You're amazing. [Cheering] My name is Sasha Dowdy. I work in the library's Literary Initiatives team, and that's a place in the library that creates book programs such as this one. And we work with lots of people from across the library to create these. Yeah. In case you don't know, the library is the nation's library, so it's for everyone, all of you here. It holds millions of items in the collections, you might already know about our historic flute collection. You know what I'm talking about with Lizzo playing some of our⁠— Yeah, that was from our collections, which was very special. And of course, we have books, comics, maps, movies, music. Basically, any format you can think of that you can use to record knowledge, creativity and memories. And it might seem sometimes like the library just holds historic items. But these programs is what we use to make sure that you see that your stories matter, too. It's not just stuff that happened a long time ago, it's from all over the country. We're collecting as we speak, and I hope you know that your voices, your ideas, what you bring to the library matters. I hope you enjoy this program today. But let me tell you a little bit about the authors you're going to see. The authors of "Whiteout," which is a collection of stories. Well, one big story, like a puzzle piece that comes together with black teens exploring love in a snowy Atlanta. Dhonielle Clayton is the first author. And instead of reading their full bios, I'll tell you how you might know them. She is the author of "The Belles" series, "The Marvellers" and co-author of "The Rumor Game." Tiffany D. Jackson is best selling author of "Grown," "Allegedly," "Monday's Not Coming," and "Let Me Hear A Rhyme," "White Smoke." Wonderful titles. Angie Thomas is here, too. You might know her from her title, "The Hate U Give," which was also made into a movie. She also wrote on the come up in "Concrete Rose." Ashley Woodfolk is the author of "The Beauty That Remains," and "When You Were Everything," "The Fly Girl series" and "Nothing Burns as Bright as You." Nicola Yoon is our sixth author today and she is the author of "Everything, Everything" and "The Sun is Also a Star." Both of which have been also made into movies. These six authors are in conversation today with a very special moderator. It is my honor to introduce Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th librarian of Congress. She's both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. And yes, that is worthy of a cheer. [Cheering] She was appointed to this post in 2016, and she's the first professional librarian to hold this post since the 70s. At this year's National Book Festival, Dr. Hayden had a great conversation with five out of these six authors with "Blackout," the book that came before "Whiteout." You can find that video on the library's YouTube and website, loc.gov. And this video today that we make by recording what you see on stage is also going to be available in the same places libraries, website and YouTube. So I hope you check it out. Final note before we start. The last 15, 20 minutes are for you. That's for Q&A. So hold your questions in your head and be ready. So let's get to it. Please help me welcome Dhonielle Clayton. [Applauding] Tiffany D. Jackson. [Applauding] Nic Stone. [Applauding] Angie Thomas. [Applauding] Ashley Woodfolk. [Applauding] Nicola Yoon. [Applauding] In conversation with the librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. [Applauding] >> Dr. Carla Hayden: The lucky librarian because I begged to be the one to be with these wonderful authors. So thank all of you. Well, this all six? Yeah. When we were together at the National Book Festival and I went and had just say before we even start. Thank you to HarperCollins, the publisher, because and this is my Oprah moment, you'll each get a book. [Applauding] All right. So⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: You get a book and you get a book. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Were not just going to talk about it and everything and then say, "Oh, go check it out at the library," which you could for your friends, but you're going to get it. But I got to meet the authors at the National Book Festival when they were talking about "Blackout," the first book. And I had an advance reading copy of "Whiteout" that was common. So it is a joy to be here because we've got some secrets to explore and think. But before we do that even, I'd like to just call out and have you give a shout out so that we can see the schools that are here like Hart Middle School. [Cheering] All right. All right. [Inaudible] Middle School. [Applauding] Okay, Hart, you might have to come back and be a little louder, too. Columbia Heights Education Campus. [Applauding] All right, School Without Walls. Come on. Come on. Okay. McFarland Middle School. [Applauding] Dunbar High School. [Cheering] Well, you know, Dunbar, every city, that was our rival in Chicago. Eastern High School. [Cheering] >> Dhonielle Clayton: Okay. Okay. All right. Good morning. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Ron Brown Academy. [Cheering] And the Eliot-Hine Middle School. [Cheering] Well, thank you all. All right. Let's just jump right into it. Right into it. And thank you, HarperCollins. So, six authors, this is not the first book because you did "Blackout," but how did you come up with the idea of working together all six? Because that's something. >> All: We are going to blame Dhonielle Clayton. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Go on. Okay, I apologize. My voice is a little raspy this morning. Yeah. So I collected all of these wonderful ladies with my leadership skills. I just said, you know, we need to write a book together. I have a 16-year-old niece, and she asked me a really tough question about why black girls weren't the center of love stories in TV and film and in books. They're always the sidekicks, right? And I thought, this is a⁠— This is a real problem. And so I called some of my favorite people and my close friends, and I said, "Well, we're going to do something together. We're going to write a book together that features all these black kids falling in love. And we did it once with "Blackout," New York City, lights go out, 13 kids stuck with someone they like or they hate. And then we have two Christmas queens who also use their leadership skills. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, that's how that came? >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes. To bully us into "Whiteout," which is black kids falling in love in the snow [laughs]. >> Unknown speaker: Wow. >> Unknown speaker: Yeah. Yesterday, Oprah's best friend told Dhonielle she had executive leadership skills. And now⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: You can't tell me nothing. >> Unknown speaker: You can't tell⁠ her— >> Dr. Carla Hayden: That's all she's gonna talk⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: Ms. Gayle King said I had leadership⁠— Executive leadership skills. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Well, you go for it. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: So you did it with "Blackout." So that must have been a good experience because then you kept on. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yep. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: And how did it get better? Because at first you said it was during the pandemic. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yeah. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: And it was all Zoom and everything like that. So did you get a chance to work differently with the "Whiteout?" >> Ashley Woodfolk: I mean, I think we did work differently, but not in the way that you might think because, oh, like there's a little bit more flexibility as far as like the pandemic goes or whatever. We were still in our houses by ourselves [laughs]. But I think the difference was because we had done it separate⁠— Like so separately the first time, we wanted to make sure that this book was more cohesive overall. So we talked about⁠, so this book is different from "Blackout" in that we each wrote a POV. So like we each wrote a point of view, a certain⁠— A specific character as opposed to last time we each sort of wrote these stories that we wove together. This one was like, okay, we're all characters in the same story. So yeah, and everybody's having their own little love story on the side while they're helping⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: Help pitch the story. Pitch the⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: Yeah, while they're helping the common goal. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Okay, so it's about a girl who messed up her relationship and she's trying to fix it, right? Second chance, she has to grovel like she really messed up. What she did was, like, real bad. And she calls in all these⁠— All her friends get together, and they're dealing with their own, like, love stories. Like they're with someone they like or someone they hate, right? Or someone they might have feelings for. And they're all going to help this main character, Stevie, pull off like the most epic apology of her life so she can get her partner back, her girl back. So it's a lot of drama [laughs]. >> Ashley Woodfolk: A lot of drama. >> Dhonielle Clayton: But you won't know who wrote which point of view. So it feels like a puzzle, the way that Stevie's friends are putting together this big surprise and helping Stevie. You won't know which point of view everyone wrote. So it's part of a game to figure it out. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Because in "Blackout," you had actually listed who was writing which chapter. This one, you didn't know, you were into it. And I have to tell you, I had a little moment after I was so excited about "Blackout," I got into the characters and I was sad that I couldn't follow them up but it's what? Two pages in, I was into this. So how do you get these characters. Where do you get the characters from in the situations? >> Nic Stone: Writing is the only job where it's okay to have people who don't exist talking in your head all the time. We have a lot of imaginary friends, and because we're able to put them on paper, people think it's fine. But the way we wrote these books is very deliberate, right? Like, you don't have to read "Blackout" in order to read and enjoy "Whiteout." Part of the reason for that is because we wanted to take the opportunity to tell as many different stories of black teen love as possible. And then the other reason has to do with film and TV stuff. [Laughing] But that's the thing, right? So the very exciting news is that "Blackout" was optioned for both film and TV. So Netflix. [Applauding] Yes. Netflix is going to do⁠— Netflix is going to do a movie and a television show, which means that like if you read "Blackout" and you want to continue with those characters, you'll get to just in a different format. And then, of course, the coolest part is that it's being produced by the Obamas. [Applauding] >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Okay. Okay. Stop. How did that happen? >> Nic Stone: Dhonielle, you tell this story the best⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: Oh, it's so good⁠. >> Nic Stone: Because we all were not okay. >> Dhonielle Clayton: So we have an amazing⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: But wait, but wait. Before you tell that story, tell how we actually ended up with the Obamas because that's kind of fun too. That we were on like Zoom calls with⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: Right. We were on Zoom calls with everyone like Ms. Viola Davis, like everybody. I had like 37 film calls about "Blackout," it was exhausting, but it was great. And then at the end, we were still trying to decide who which producers we felt would best translate this big love story to the screen. And then our wonderful film agent called me on a Friday night at like 8 p.m., and she said, "Sit down." And I said, "Uh-oh, what's the problem?" And then she said, "Lay down." I said, "Okay, I'm laying down." She said, "The Obamas are going to be your producers." And I was like, "Oh, no. Oh my God," and I blacked out. And then she said, "Now you have to call everyone because it's 8 p.m. and I'm off the clock." >> Unknown speaker: She said, "Bye." >> Dhonielle Clayton: "Bye," click. Right? So then I call Nicola Yoon and she says, "What? Wait, wait. I texted her and I said, "Lay down, lay down." Like, "Sit down, lay down and report back once you've done that." And then I called each one of them. Nicy was like, "Oh, wait, don't play with my heart. Don't play with my heart. I'm too tender for that." >> Nic Stone: I love the way you make my voice sound so smoky. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Because you got really quiet. You were like, "Dhonielle, what's going on?" You're like, "What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?" And then you got really silent. And so you were like, "No, no, no, don't play with me." And so Ashley didn't pick up the phone. I'm gonna tell your parents, I see your parents are right there. She did not pick up the phone. I called her about six, seven times. She clicked me to voicemail. She didn't pick up the phone. Angie was driving, and I told her to pull over. And I told her she was screaming. I could hear the honking and everything screaming on the phone. Her mom was screaming. She was screaming, all of that. And then we were crying. Nic, I can't repeat the things that she said because it was a whole⁠— She cussed me out. She cussed me out. And Tiffany was like, "Yo, what?" She was like, "I can't tell my mom, all of Jamaica will know." Your mom is the only one that didn't know until the day before we announced. How are you going to do Miss Linda like that? >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Because it was a secret. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Mama's can keep secrets⁠— >> Tiffany D. Jackson: There's not one mom out there who's keeping secrets, you know. Come on now. Miss Julia kept that secret. My mama kept a secret. >> Angie Thomas: She did not. My mom did not keep it a secret. She was just selective of who she told. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Look, But it was great because everyone had such different reactions and it was hilarious based on their personalities. And then finally, Ashley decided she was going to call me back. Right? And then she was like, "Oh my God. Oh my God." That's what she does. And she said, "Oh my God." And then she hung up on me. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: So she could tell somebody? >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yeah, so she could call her mom. >> Ashley Woodfolk: My mama. That's the only person I told. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes, she could call her mom. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Well, see, what you just heard and saw was what you feel in this book. The friendships and how friends come together. And friends can have different personalities. And I remember you're the love bug, right? >> Nicola Yoon: Yeah, I'm the cheesiest one of the group, I think. And I like kissing, so I'm the kissing guru of the group. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Yeah. There was a lot of kissing. >> Nicola Yoon: Yes. >> Dhonielle Clayton: And Nicky gave us a mandate. She said, "We need more kissing in this book." >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Yeah, there was a lot of kissing. There was a lot of language. And I did check⁠— I did check with our audience before I came out to see how they could handle it, because I learned a few things about language. So from the first book. So when I got to the part that said, W-H-F, I knew what it meant. >> Nicola Yoon: W-T-F. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, well. See? [Laughing] But I got the point. I got the point. And so how did you⁠— I got the point because I've⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: Heard so many acronyms? >> Dr. Carla Hayden: I'm learning. I'm learning. But that's the thing. The voices are so authentic to young people. So do you check with the young people in your lives or how do you get it so that you know, the fashion, you know, everything? >> Angie Thomas: Yeah. And we listen and we respect them. We respect how they talk. We respect what they like, what they listen to. We listen to the same music like, especially as to like, you know, Lil' Baby, all that we be⁠— Yeah, that's us. I don't know about the rest though. That's me and Nic. So we are on it. And so sometimes we have to put them on game, but you know. But no, it's really just about listening. And I hate that so often people make make you all feel as if if you speak a certain way, it makes you less intelligent. And that's not true. That just means that's your way of communicating. And it's on them to figure out how you're talking, you know? So but also there's this thin line you have to walk because none of us are teenagers, but we never want to make it feel like we're like, you know, "Yo, what's up?" We're you know, we're cool like y'all. No, no. But still, there are ways to sprinkle it in there. So it still sounds authentic, but it doesn't sound over the top. Because I'm not going to lie. I've read some books that, like, that was so over doing. I'm like, "You're doing too much boo, fall back." Like that's⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: But I think also, like we spend a lot of time with kids. Like we're doing school visits and we are talking to, like you said, like the kids in our lives and stuff like that. But I think we're also trying to figure out what they're into and then sort of taking that into consideration while we're writing. So we're all⁠— Like, we're always curious like we were just talking about behind stage. There's this thing. I mean, the kids know, but the the adults don't know. There's the thing where⁠— >> Nic Stone: We can't tell the adults. >> Ashley Woodfolk: Oh, we can't tell? Okay, okay. Sorry, sorry. I didn't know the rules. I'll say this. We're always learning like new things about what is happening because we're around kids. And so I think that that is we're always trying to keep up. We're trying to keep up, and we're a little bit closer so we can almost keep up. So I think it's⁠— >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Almost. >> Nicola Yoon: I mean, it also it's not so much about, you know, the slang or anything. The thing about kids is that they're always asking questions, right? And in a way that adults sometimes don't ask questions about the world. So if you just tap into that part of trying to figure out what the world like, who you are in the world, who you want to be, like how to be a good citizen, like what your identity is, what your sexual⁠ identity⁠— Kids are questioning all the time. And I think we are naturally questioning people and we want to be in conversation with the kids and just show them the world. And the thing about kids is that they go through hard stuff just like we do, but they're going through for the first time, right? So you want to be in conversation and be respectful and just talk about the world as it is. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: That's one of the points that really came out the way you weave real life. So naturally, like going to therapy, taking meds, having a diverse family, but also having a difficult relationship with a mom that wasn't there. And all these things you just weave right on in and you did it. Now, identity and gender, that's a big part of it. Okay, well, talk about it now. That's the big part. >> Nic Stone: We really want to make sure we are reflecting the world not only as we would like it to be, but like as we see it, you know. I think literature has the power to shift the way that we view not only the world, but ourselves. And so normalizing things like questioning your gender identity, it's important to us. There's a character who is trying to figure things out. And I think that it's showing characters who don't come to answers is also really important. When we're working on books like this. Like you have all of these kids dealing with all of these things, like there's a character in the book who, like we mentioned, the one that's having some gender identity questions. There's also a character in the book who's like, "Well, I know I like this person and this person, and they're different genders, but I don't know how I feel about liking this person of this gender when I said I only liked⁠—" You know what I mean? Like, there's all of these questions, like Nicky said. And I think our goal is just greater empathy and compassion. We want people to recognize themselves in characters who might be a little different from them. And then once you see that we're all connected, it's kind of hard to to hate people. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: He had some cool nerds. I know this is Ms. Non-fiction. [Laugh] Very cool nerds. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: There weren't like⁠— That's why I actually love about the way that we write, because we're also vastly different. And so we bring a lot of diverse characters to the page and sort of be able to like, talk about different things. Like there's like characters that which I don't know if we mentioned this. So since we wrote all of this together, we didn't actually note who wrote what. So it's sort of a surprise, but obviously I know. So there's like characters that Dee wrote that I was in love with just because I love the way like Dee thinks about things too. So it's just like there's a lot of characters that I just I adore just simply because of the people who wrote them. And that's why it's actually kind of a fun little surprise when you guys read it, because you won't⁠— I mean, how many of you read books that's not "Whiteout?" Any of our books. So you kind of like⁠— You kind of know our writing style just based off of like previous books that we've written. Oh, well, that would help. Yes, I guess we've⁠— >> Dhonielle Clayton: I can run it down. Tiffany D. Jackson has written "Grown," "Monday's Not Coming," "Allegedly," Weight of Blood," "Let Me Hear A Rhyme," brace yourself for her work. >> Nic Stone: I mean, you also could have started with your own. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Somebody else can do me. Nic Stone does "Dear Martin," "Dear Justyce." She did the "Shuri" books. She did "Odd One Out." I know y'all collected works. Okay? "Chaos Theory is Coming." Angie Thomas did "The Hate You Give," "On The Come Up." Yes. She has another⁠— She has her middle grade debut coming out next year. Ashley Woodfolk has done many books that are very emotional and very good. Nothing burns as bright as you. You've got, "Opening My Eyes Underwater." You've got "When You Were Everything." So many books, Nicola Yoon, "Everything, Everything," "Instructions For Dancing," and "The Sun is Also a Star." >> Ashley Woodfolk: And you? >> Dhonielle Clayton: And I've done⁠— Oh, God, what have I written? I did a series called "Tiny Pretty Things," which is a Netflix show. I did the "Belles Series." I did "The Marvellers." I wrote a book called "The Rumor Game," which is set in DC. Those are all my books. I've forgotten even how to spell my name today. So I thought I got most of everyone's books. Okay. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: So a lot. So I got to ask this. Did you have any disagreements now? Everybody's all lovey dovey now and talking about how you wrote but were there any disagreements? >> Dhonielle Clayton: It's really easy. >> Ashley Woodfolk: People will never believe us when we say it's a very smooth process, right? >> Angie Thomas: The only time we did have a disagreement was with "Blackout" with Tiffany. Because if you read Tiffany's books, you know what kind of books Tiffany does? And she was like, "Is there going to be a murder?" [Laughing] And we put a rat⁠— She was like, "Can we at least put a rat in the book?" >> Dhonielle Clayton: I'm suprised she [inaudible] for a dead body in the snow. But she was in her Christmas bag, so she didn't want to add a dead body in the snow in "Whiteout." [Laughing] >> Ashley Woodfolk: The way that we plotted it out, I think we sort of⁠— We left space, I think for everybody's taste and everybody's opinions to be incorporated because we weren't so much in each other's⁠— The separate chapters that we wrote. We weren't in there unless it was⁠— Unless we were invited, right? So if we were like, we need more kissing over here, go take a look. Nic combed through the whole thing because she's our Atlanta native and this is set in Atlanta. So she had her fingers in there. And then if somebody was like, "Oh, I feel like this scene is a little flat. It needs more emotion," then I would jump in, you know. Angie's great at humor, Nic's great at dialogue. So we sort of have these sort of places that we know we can go to sort of tighten things up. I think that also gives the book a unified voice, even though everybody is writing separately. But yeah. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: You mentioned Atlanta, but you also had in a book that one of the goals of some of the characters was to get to Howard University. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Absolutely. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: That played prominently in here. >> Dhonielle Clayton: We got our bison right here, our bison babe right here. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: I mean, I had to pick up my school, but⁠— >> Dr. Carla Hayden: But that came out to⁠— >> Tiffany D. Jackson: I feel like, well, one of the things that we always do is we try to have kids in our books aspire. So we want them to talk about going different places, traveling, going to college or not going to college, choosing to follow arts or music. I think that's important to know that, you know, considering that kid the same way that we talk about how like black people aren't like a monolith, that we're not all the same, the same way we feel about kids not all being the same. Every kid I've spoken to has a different dream. Even if everyone wants to be a rapper, they want to be a different type of rapper. No, seriously, I have not met the same rapper once. So yeah, I'm actually thinking about that now. Yeah. >> Angie Thomas: Even a Lil' Baby in Da Baby. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Yeah, they're totally different. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: But [inaudible] a little baby somebody. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: But I do feel like they should have had a meeting. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: About middle some⁠— They had a rapper in the book. >> Ashley Woodfolk: Yeah, there's a rapper in the book. His name is Lil Kenzie. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Little Kenzie? >> Ashley Woodfolk: Lil'. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Little. But you got to show what little Kenzie was before, and that was a good thing. And then all the different cultures. Yeah, speak about that because she had [inaudible] everything, every culture. >> Angie Thomas: I mean, even us sitting up here, we're all different in that sense. Two of us are southerners. >> Nic Stone: Hey, y'all. >> Angie Thomas: You know, you have⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: Two of us are from around here. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Hey, hey. >> Ashley Woodfolk: Hey, hey. >> Nicola Yoon: And two of us are Jamaicans. [Laughing] >> Angie Thomas: But even just with us, different cultures. And I think that's important, too, to show that even in the black community, there are different cultures, because so often we get all grouped together and it's unfair to us. And it's unfair to what makes us so beautiful as a whole. The fact that we are different is beautiful, and that's not celebrated nearly enough. >> Ashley Woodfolk: I also think the other thing that happens is that because so much of the world does see us as a monolith and because so often the same story is told about us, any time we inhabit more than one identity, it's seen as too much, right? And so I think it was important for us to include characters who were black and queer or black and and immigrant or black and Muslim, because those ends definitely exist across the diaspora. But lso often, the world makes us feel like, "Oh, but you're black, so you can't also be this other thing." >> Nicola Yoon: Or that black just means one thing, right? And we're all⁠— The strength of our book and the strength of people in general is that we're all different, right? So we embody so many things, and so do every kid in this room, right? And then no one, no two of you are the same. But in our media, you see the same story all the time, and it's just not a true story, you know? So, I mean, I think one of the things we want to do is just tell the truth. And it seems revolutionary, but it's so basic in the end. We're just telling the truth about people, right? >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Would you encourage young people to write⁠— To start writing their own stories? I bet they're already doing this. All: Absolutely. >> Dhonielle Clayton: And to revisit what they think a story is, right? We write books, but stories are also writing graphic novels, writing comics, writing video games, writing for TV, writing for film. When we think writing podcasts, like people think of writing as one thing, writing rap lyrics, writing music, it's all writing, it's all storytelling. And so I think that young people should think about telling stories because that is what we get to do for a living. It's the greatest job in the world, and the way that you tell your story is uniquely yours. >> Nic Stone: Also, think about the ways that you're already telling stories, right? Because I feel like we underestimate the power of story and the fact that we're telling stories all the time. Content creation for social media is storytelling, commercials are storytelling, [inaudible] which your homegirl to talk about what happened with old dude on the phone last night is storytelling. >> Dhonielle Clayton: That story that tea. >> Nic Stone: And we use story to figure out how to be people in the world, right? Which is why your stories are important. They help us connect with each other. They also tell us⁠— They give us an idea of what's okay and not okay. And so be intentional, right? Knowing that you are engaging in storytelling pretty much at all times, you can be intentional about the stories you're telling. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Before we open it up for Q&A and just comments, could you⁠— I know you're not going to tell us who wrote what, so I give that up. However, were there favorite characters that you [inaudible]? Yeah. >> Dhonielle Clayton: I have a favorite one. One of my favorites is Sola. So she's the aggrieved party. She the one, she mad, real mad, okay? She's the one that Stevie broke up. They broke up, right? And she's digging a grave for her relationship. She's like, putting his six feet under in the snow. Literally. She's putting all Stevie's stuff in the ground because that's what I would do [laugh]. So I like a person in the petty palace and who is dramatic. So that's why I love her. She was like one of my favorites. >> Nic Stone: [Inaudible] is my favorite. So there's a character and I think it's partially because of the setting. So [inaudible] story takes place in the mall and it's just he's such a⁠— He's like a cinnamon roll of a human and is so ideal boyfriend to me. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: In the mall? >> Nic Stone: In the mall. >> Nicola Yoon: I liked little Kenzie. The rapper. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, the rapper. >> Nicola Yoon: Because I might get to see what he was like a very young and what he's like now and what the front he puts on. He's really vulnerable, but he pretends he's not. And I like that. >> Ashley Woodfolk: I really liked Ava and Mason together because they were arguing even as they told the story. So that chapter sort of switches in between and they're like⁠— I don't know. You'll see when you read it, but they're like arguing as they're telling the story. There's a part where Ava is like, "I broke up with him," and then Mason's like, "No." Or no, "He broke up with me." And then Mason says, "No, she broke up with me." And it's like they're going back and forth even as they're telling the story. And it's hilarious. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: And you use the text to actually physical⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: Yes. And there's text messages throughout it. Yeah. And also weather reports, things happening on Twitter. So that sort of breaks it up. Sometimes, you know, my eyeballs need a break when I'm reading a book. And so that is really helpful to just like break up the chapters. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Favorite character or you voted on? Okay. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Oh, so I guess I'm last. I love Stevie the most. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, Stevie. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: I think Stevie is over analytical, which I can very much be. And she's just problematic in her own, best way because she's just making problems for her own self and it's just hilarious. She's self sabotaging by overthinking, which I feel like we all do at some point. So it was amazing to see it on the page, like play out in such a detailed way. So I love that. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: And the nerdiness, that's what I love. >> Ashley Woodfolk: I also love Portia. She's not a character who is narrating, but she's a character in the story. But she loves Christmas so much and it's so funny. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Yeah, she really loves Christmas. >> Ashley Woodfolk: There's my favorite line in the whole book is from Portia, and she screams "No trap music during the Jesus season." And like, that is my favorite line of the whole book. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: So we're going to open it up. We've got microphones. Or not. Why don't you just stand up? Here you go. Come on. It's right here. >> Nic Stone: If you want to ask a question⁠— There you go. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, you have to come up? What, you can go tour. >> Ashley Woodfolk : When you have the mic stand up so we can hear you ask the question. The lights are very bright, so we can't really see what's happening. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: And when you finish, you could just give the mic to the next person. Okay? Just go to the person. And look, [inaudible] tell you everything. Raise your question, honey. >> Micayla: Okay. Hi. My name is Micayla. I'm from Eastern Senior High School and⁠— Hi. And I remember you saying at the beginning that your niece asks you why black girls are not the center of love stories. My question to you is, in what way does this book kind of do justice to that concept of black girls or black people in general not being the main characters in love stories? >> Ashley Woodfolk: Well, we made them the main characters. The whole book, every character is a black girl or boy or person who is falling in love, they have their moment in the sun, it's all happy endings like this is in protest of that. The whole book is. >> Unknown speaker`: Black on black on black >> Ashley Woodfolk: Wait, black on black on black on white in the snow. On snow. Black on black on black on snow. >> Lonnie: My name's Lonnie Daniels and I'm from⁠— [inaudible] my whole name. Anyway, I'm from Columbia Heights. And my question was, the characters in your book, have they ever been through any of the conflicts or issues that they were like in y'all younger years? >> Nic Stone: Well, we've been through some of the conflicts issues in our older years. So this is the beauty of writing young adult literature is it's just a really great place to process your problems, whether they happened when you were 16 or when you're 35. But we're always writing our own stories into our books. Even this one, like the story⁠— The chapter that I wrote, there's a lot of like my own feelings from situations written into⁠— >> All: Entanglements >> Nic Stone: Situationships as I've heard they're called these days are written into the story. I mean, but that's what makes it fun, right? Like y'all pretty much can assume that if you see something in a book you like, either this person went through it or wants to go through it. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: It feels like you've been through something. Even I from decades back, could relate to some of the things. >> MEMBER OF AUDIENCE: Hi. My question is, with you all being different authors, with different ways of writing, what have you like learned and gotten inspiration from each other? >> Dhonielle Clayton: That's so great. I know it's such a great question. I've learned a lot about structure and suspense from Tiffany D. Jackson. She knows how to really lay out a suspenseful narration, like to where? And that's what I think "Whiteout" does effectively. I've learned a lot of voice and how to make my voice better from Nic Stone. I learned how to punch up funny dialogue, I'm not a funny person from Angie Thomas. I learn how to tap into my heart, my emotions from Ashley Woodfolk, she writes such beautiful poetic, it's like emotional things. And from Nicola Yoon, I've learned how to take these big philosophical questions and let them play out through character and it's why I pick these women to get in and do this. I wanted to learn, this is selfish on my part. I was like, "Teach me" all that⁠— >> Tiffany D. Jackson: I was totally on the struggle bus here. Because I mostly write thrillers and horror. So when Dee asked me to write this, I was like, "You know, you got the right number." >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes, I did. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: And I was like, "Okay, well, it's a creative challenge." And with both "Blackout" and "Whiteout," I felt myself in moments of pivotal romance. I was like, it fell flat. And so I had to sort of lean on the ladies here to sort of like, figure out like, oh, how do I punch up this kissing scene so it's more like climactic or whatever? I just felt like this was something I needed to learn for the future, because obviously I do still want to have like love stories or some type of romance, even in my thrillers as well, too. So this was such a great learning experience. >> Nic Stone:Yeah, it's like Tiffany, you're⁠— It's like, I love you so much. I'm going to kill you. It's great. >> Dhonielle Clayton: If they're not kissing, they're murder. >> Nic Stone: They're murder after kissing. Now you can add kissing to the murder. And I think I speak for all five of us when I say that from Dhonielle, we learn worldbuilding. We learned how to put detail into a story so that you are fully immersed in where you are. >> Ashley Woodfolk: I'm normally not a plotter. And that's why my books are literally just like people are sad, or emotional, but nothing's really happening. They're walking around talking about their feelings. But working on these books with Dhonielle, I'm like, Oh, stuff can happen, and they can have feelings. [Laughing] >> Nicola Yoon: Style, beliefs and plot. >> Ashley Woodfolk: Yes, she's great at plotting and like hitting certain points and you're like, beats. That's the word. See, I don't even know how to talk about this stuff. Yeah, Yeah. No, that's true. So yeah. I learned the planning part of it because I'm not bad at planning. >> Dhonielle Clayton: I'm very good planner. I was a teacher and librarian for 13 years. I know how to plan. Oh, well. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: You know, I'm a little⁠— >> Nic Stone: Thank you for that question. >> Dhonielle Clayton: That's so great, we've never been asked that. >> Alia: Hi, my name is Alia, and I go to Dunbar High School, and so this year I've made it like a goal to read ten books. And I would say definitely to Miss Thomas and Miss Jackson, like your books have helped me when it comes to one get into my goal. So written books like especially when you made "Grown" and the ending of it, I was so mad, I was so happy. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Oh my God. Thank you. >> Unknown speaker: Don't spoil it, don't spoil it. >> Alia: It really kept me hooked in. And with your book, "Concrete Growth," it was so good. I was just drawn the entire time. But it was really a pleasure to meet all of y'all. And oh, Miss Evans my librarian wants me to tell you to come to Dunbar. >> Dhonielle Clayton: No problem. I'll make it happen. >> Alia: [Inaudible]oh, I'm sorry, Miss Jackson. And I'll definitely try to read all of y'all books because from this panel, it sounds like, y'all got a good bunch of books going on that I'm going to read. But thank you so much. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Oh, I think we have time for couple more. >> Maya: Hi. My name is Maya. I'm from Elliott High Middle School. I have started writing some books, my friends have read some, and so far they say it's pretty good. But have you ever gotten so immersed in your character that you couldn't write anymore or like you just couldn't figure out how to express yourself in a certain way? >> Nic Stone: Ashley, I feel like this is a⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: For me, I find that⁠— I feel like what you're describing in the writer world, we call it writer's block, right? And so for me and like, I don't think this is true for all writers, but for me personally, when I'm experiencing writer's block, it's one, because I'm trying to make something perfect, right? So I keep stopping because it's not flowing exactly how I want it to flow. Or there's two parts that aren't really mixing together or there's something that I know needs to be fixed, but it makes me stop as opposed to finishing and then going back to fix it. So I'm trying to make it perfect on the first try, which is like not a thing. [Laugh] Also, perfection is not a thing. So yeah, so that is one reason. And then the other reason is because I have some kind of emotional block, right? Like the character is too similar to me or I'm writing about something that I haven't fully processed myself yet. And so sometimes you just need to take a break, take a walk, you know, take a week off, read a different book, watch a TV show like that kind of thing. And that usually pulls me out of it. But yeah, recognize if you're stopping yourself because you feel like it needs to be perfect or if there's something that you're not processing about the story yet. >> Nicola Yoon: I mean, I think that part's really important about perfection, right? Because all of us, the first drafts of everything we've written individually or together is terrible. Just universally, you would never want to read the first draft of any of our books because writing is rewriting. You just have to⁠— So every one of us, we sit there and we get miserable and we think we're the worst writers in the world. But the thing that we all have in common is that we're tenacious, right? We'll just keep going and you'll get to the end and then you'll make it better. But you can't make a blank page better. But you can make trash better, I promise you. Because like⁠— >> Ashley Woodfolk: As we do it every day. >> Nicola Yoon: All the time. So just get to the end and trust the process. Do it again and do it again. And the version of the book that's on the shelves so much better than the first thing that you put on paper. [Applauding] >> Ashley Woodfolk: Your mic's not on, honey. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: There we go, it's on. >> Sophia: My name's Sophia Urgeta and I go to Columbia Heights Educational Campus, and I just wanted to say that I love your hair, Miss Nicole. And how do you guys deal with procrastination? >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Yeah. Tell me about that one. >> Angie Thomas: I'll answer that in about 10 minutes. I'll answer that in about 10 minutes >> Nic Stone: Yeah. Okay, look, I will actually answer this question. So I procrastinate by doing other work. And it's a terrible⁠— I'm going to stop saying it's a terrible habit because I've figured out it works for me, right? And I think that sometimes when we think about procrastination, we cast procrastination into this like light of moral ineptitude, right? Like if you procrastinate, you are the worst human. But procrastination is rooted in emotion. We procrastinate things that we're not emotionally ready to deal with. So what I wind up doing is like, I'll have a book due⁠— I'll give you an example. Let's say I have a book due in two days, I'll start another book. No, but I'm saying, this is how⁠— And then 6 hours before the book is due, I'll sit down and I'll write an additional few thousand words and then I'll tell my editor I need another week, and then I hit that next deadline. But typically, if I'm going to procrastinate and I am, zero question, I'm going to make sure that I'm doing something that is also contributing to my growth and probably something that I could eventually sell. So procrastinating with other work. >> Ashley Woodfolk: She better than me, because I just be watching Netflix. >> Angie Thomas: And playing PlayStation five. >> Nic Stone: I mean, but even those things are like self-care, right? So like, even with that, you're⁠— >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Are you thinking while you're procastinating? >> Nic Stone: Well, all I know is, oh, I got a book due, let me write a new one. >> Angie Thomas: I don't know if raging against gamer people is like self-care. >> Nic Stone: That's catharsis. >> Ashley Woodfolk: It is. >> Sarah: Hi, my name is Sarah. I'm a senior at Elliott High and Middle School. First, I want to start by saying you guys are so inspirational for me. Like as a young black girl who just realized black girls can write and be in books, what? This is amaizing. Yeah. So I was just wondering, like, if you guys have dealt with imposter syndrome as an aspiring writer. That's like my hurdle I'm trying to get over right now. And if you did, how did you deal with feeling that imposter syndrome? >> Ashley Woodfolk: Y'all really woke up this morning and chose violence. [Laughing] They're coming from us, They're coming for us. >> Angie Thomas: I deal with it all the time. I still deal with it all the time, you know? And what I have to have to tell myself is any time I walk into a room, I'm meant to be in that space. Can't nobody take that from me. Period. That's what you have to tell yourself. If I'm here. If I'm here, I'm meant to be here. Can't nobody take that from you. So that's what I have to tell myself all the time, you know? And I think, too, even with success or whatever, sometimes you feel like, but did I really? Did I really do this? So sometimes what you got to do is you got to get the big head, get in your Beyonce mode and be like, look, I did this. I am the you know what at times, stay humble, though. Don't get [inaudible]. Stay humble. But every now and then, you got to give yourself that pep talk like, "Yo, I did something. Yo, I'm here if nothing else. Yo, we survived 2020." You know what I'm saying? So the thing about impostor syndrome is you're doubting yourself, but it also is you're wondering how other people perceive you. And the biggest piece of advice I have about that is what other people think about you is not your business. [Applauding] Correct facts. So. You belong wherever you step foot. You belong. >> Nic Stone: Like, literally all. If you did not belong there, you literally would not be there because you can only be where you are. >> Ashley Woodfolk: So I'm going to give the real answer, which is great. No, this is great. But I feel like when you're in that imposter mode syndrome, sometimes it's really difficult to get to that point where you are able to tell yourself those things. So the best advice I can give you is to have people around you who will tell you those things when you can't get yourself there, because there are so many times when I am in that space⁠— I live there, y'all. I get a book deal and I'm like, "Are you sure? [Laughing] Are you sure? I don't know. I don't know." maybe you sent the wrong⁠— You set the email to the wrong person. So that is my home. >> Dhonielle Clayton: And just call you phone a friend. >> Ashley Woodfolk: Yes. Imposter syndrome is where I live. So there have been so many days where I've dropped into the group chat and I'm like, "Can somebody just give me⁠— Can somebody just tell me I'm pretty? [Laughing] Can someone just tell me that like I'm a good writer? Can somebody please just FaceTime me right now and give me a pep talk? Can somebody send me a calendar invite so I can write with them?" Because that community is so important because I think it's great if you can convince yourself to have a Beyonce moment, I need to work on that. But what's more important is to have people around you that are going to celebrate with you in your success and always reassure you that, no. To tell you⁠— >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Definitely is the biggest part because I'm always big on leaning into love, like leaning into the people that really like love you, that support you, because they're the ones that are going to remind you of how amazing you are. And so, yeah, I deal with imposter syndrome all the time. Last month, I came to homecoming and I walked into the bookstore and, you know, Howard Bookstore actually has like a huge, like wall of, like, alumni. So, like, you have Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, you have all these amazing authors, and my book was up there and I was like, I am in denial. [Laughing] >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes, you stay in denial. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: I was I was completely in denial. And you should see all my drunk friends behind me, "Yes, girl!" taking pictures, pictures all lopsided. But for me, that was like a huge moment for me. And it was amazing to have my girlfriends that I've been in college with. I mean, you know, we graduated together. We've done all these things together. So it's amazing to have the people in your life like⁠— So sometimes we don't look at the reviews. We don't look at the good reviews because yeah, because we don't need that energy. We need the energy of the love of the family and friends and readers and teens that we adore. So definitely into the love. [Applauding] >> Dr. Carla Hayden: We have time for one more. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Oh, hello. >> Ellen: So, I'm Ellen Dodsworth from Eastern Senior High School. So several of your books have been made into movies and now Netflix series. Do you give up artistic creation? Are you involved in the creation of the projects, the movies? >> Angie Thomas: It's different with everybody, every project. There's no like blanket answer because I know, like for me, I was involved to a degree with both film adaptations. I was a producer on "The Hate You Give." I was an producer on "The Come Up." But I was like a grandparent giving advice to a parent who's raising the kid. Whereas I know, like Dhonielle was a different experience. It was a whole different experience. But if you want to talk about that. >> Dhonielle Clayton: I wasn't involved in my adaptation of my book on Netflix. >> Nic Stone: Boy, could we tell. >> Dhonielle Clayton: Yes. So, like, it's like, I don't know. I don't know what that was. But just know that we are very involved in the adaptation for "Blackout," so that doesn't happen to our baby that we made. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: And then sometimes like so there's a bunch of⁠— So three of my books are in development right now and— >> Unknown speaker: Aw! [Laughing] >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Kind of don't want to be involved. And I know that sounds really weird because I was a film major. I worked in television for 15 years, so it seems kind of weird, but for some reason, I don't want to change my book, I don't want to change my baby. So I'm like, "Go ahead. I don't want to be involved." >> Dhonielle Clayton: Don't let them do to you what they did to me. [Laughs] >> Tiffany D. Jackson: Facts. But no, for real, I don't want to be so involved that I lose touch with the real dream that I had, which is to be a writer. Which is to talk to kids about writing. Like, if I'm like, so stuck in a studio, I won't get a chance to come and speak with kids and still, like, go around the country and visit detention centers and stuff like that. I still want to be able to be involved. So that's one of the reasons why I do sort of take a back seat in the film production of a lot of my books. >> Dhonielle Clayton: So what about Nicky? >> Nicola Yoon: Yeah, I mean, for "Everything, Everything" and "The Sun is Also a Star," the thing that you have to realize is that books and movies are different, right? And it took me a little while, like the first version of the "Everything, Everything" script was so bad, it was not good. And I, like, cried. My husband couldn't finish it. He was just like this, I'm not, we can't. But when you sell the rights, you sell the rights. So that means they do not have to involve you. And they could sell it in space and you have no say. I mean, for me, anyway, you would have no say. Fortunately, we got to be involved. And by the time I got the fifth script for "Everything, Everything," the director had rewritten a lot of it and she was great and the script was really good. The thing that helped me was just realizing someone else is making art about your characters, some new art about the characters you love. And that's a nice way to think about it, because then the book is here and it's my baby and the film is their baby, but it's still about the people that you made and the people that you love, and that makes it okay and made it okay for me. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Yeah. So even casting to⁠o? >> Nicola Yoon: And we do not cast movies. >> Tiffany D. Jackson: We cannot cast movies. >> Dr. Carla Hayden: Don't cast, you don't get to book. Well, we really appreciate you, and I want to just end. And you acknowledge a lot of people. You say this book was a fun, complicated challenge and you gave a shout out to so many people, your family, your friends. You could tell that that made it. But you end with "Most importantly, thanks to readers who follow us into story after story. Thank you for diving into another love story with us." So you all get to dive in to "Whiteout." >> Dhonielle Clayton: Thank you. [Applauding]