Debut You is an interview feature on Our Stories Matter blog. Debut authors, who have released or have upcoming releases in 2022, are given five questions to answer about themselves and their book. Currently, the questions are the same for all authors. We hope you enjoy getting to know Julian Randall and can offer your support. Go here for past Debut You features.
Photo Credit: Johnny Lee Chapman III
Describe yourself in five words, then expound on one of them.
Talkative, obsessive, loyal, Chicagoan, and Virgo.
I think obsession can be a gift—I think Pilar is proof of that. Let me tell you a story: a couple of generations back, my Abuelo made a joke about Rafael Trujillo, the dictator who ruled over the Dominican Republic for 31 years. Somehow, the joke got back to his secret police, and they went looking for him, and my Abuelo and Abuela were forced to flee to America because the SIM killed and disappeared folks for less and would’ve gleefully done so again. There’s a version of this story that I obsess over, where one or two things don’t go right, and my Abuelo is captured. Or the joke is never made, and they never leave. In both these scenarios, my mother isn’t born in America, maybe not born at all.Just like that, I’m gone, and maybe there’s another Black Dominican showing you their novel, maybe there isn’t. I think about this a lot, honestly—since I first heard the story 20 years ago when I was eight. I found my mother crying over a book (In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez), and my mother told me the story of how her side of the family ended up in America.
Explain your book’s journey—how long did it take—from idea to publication?
Pilar began in August 2019. It was sold to Holt (and my astoundingly great editor Brian Geffen!) in November 2019, give or take. So, all in all, it’s been about two years, and now it drops March 1!
Belief in oneself is important; besides you, who has been your cheerleader(s) throughout this process?
I’ve been astoundingly blessed when it comes to cheerleaders, OGs, and big homies! Kwame Mbalia, Daniel José Older, and of course my hermana since slam days Liz Acevedo!! Liz has been there pretty much every step of the way in the process, and honestly, the process of putting a book out in the world is at once one of the biggest joys and one of the biggest and most surreal experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve been through the process once before, and if any new or young or simply not yet published writers are reading this, I can’t say enough how much it matters and makes a difference to have someone to compare notes with! I’m really grateful for all those folks who have been down to lift ya boi up as Pilar makes her way into the world!
Understanding your audience is essential. What do you know for sure about the audience you are writing for?
That I’m not alone in my wonder, in my pain, in my curiosity—isn’t that one of books’ many magics! I know that when I was a kid, I wanted a book like this because no fantasy was interested in my Abuelo’s story, in my family’s story. And after that long without a mirror, you can become accustomed to stopping asking which is part, I’d argue, how cultural amnesia begins to take root. I wanted to reckon with this question of what became of folks Trujillo disappeared, what if we could get them back? I know I’m not the only one who asked such a question. I hope folks rock with what I made in its aftermath.
Tell us about your book.
It’s your classic, “12-year-old Black Dominican girl meets Magical World while making a documentary about the disappearance of her cousin 50 years ago during the Trujillato by getting sucked in through a piece of paper in the office of a man who studies those disappearances” story. But Pilar is also approximately 2.5 times funnier than I am, so it’s a funny, thrill ride through Dominican history and magic!
YOU did it, congratulations! Your story is going to be read by children or teens, educators, parents, librarians, book bloggers, etc. How do you feel, and are there any other projects in the works—that you can discuss?
Real talk, that was all I really set out to do. While it’s very difficult to both stay and feel present these days, I’ve been so joyfully overwhelmed as we make the final turn into the “Oh, so the book will be like…in my hands? Not a word doc but like…a book?” phase of trying to wrap my head around being a novelist and getting to arrive in that understanding of myself as an author alongside this story especially!! We’re in the homestretch editorial run of the Pilar sequel, I’m not sure I can tell you the title, but a storm is absolutely brewing for Pilar during her first trip to the island! Also, I’m working on a new middle-grade duology about an Afro-Latina grim reaper who helps guide the souls of folks lost during the Middle Passage. It’s been a wild experience seeing that world play out on the page for the first time this past week!
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa (Pilar Ramirez Duology, 1)
Julian Randall | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | March 1, 2022 | MG | 304 Pages | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Connect with Julian Randall
Please consider donating to support our mission to promote awareness of children’s and young adult literature by Black authors.
Amazon/Bookshop/IndieBound Disclosure: BCBA is a participant in the Amazon, Bookshop, and IndieBound Affiliate Programs. The affiliate programs offer participants the opportunity to earn fees by linking to Amazon, Bookshop, and IndieBound websites. Clicking on the book links will direct you away from this site. Thanks for your support!
