Air Date: 1/1/21

The Root Presents: It’s Lit!

Ep. 15 - Two is Better Than One, With Maika and Martiza Moulite
Danielle ​Welcome to It's Lit, where all things literary live at The Root. I'm Danielle Belton,
The Root's editor in chief, here with the managing editor of The Glow Up, Maiysha Kai.

Maiysha ​Hello, everyone.

Danielle ​Today, we're joined by two very talented guests, sisters and coauthors Maika and
Maritza Moulite. The Moulites' first book, Dear Haiti, Love Alaine came out last year to tons
of praise from outlets like the Kirkus Reviews, Book List, NPR, Publisher's Weekly and
even won a Parent's Choice Award. Now the Moulites are gearing up for the launch of
their second book, One of the Good Ones, which is set to come out on January 5th.

Maiysha ​And I, you know, we have to mention that the Moulites are practically family here
at The Root because they also happen to be the sisters of one of The Root's own video
producers, Jessica Moulite.

Danielle ​They are. Which was so cool as someone who has nothing but sisters, it was so
much fun to get to talk to some members of The Root's, wider family.

Maiysha ​I agree. I agree. You know, and what really impresses me about the Moulites is
that, first of all, they do have such a strong sense of family and both of their books really
kind of like lean into that, like the the unbreakable bonds, the uncomfortable moments, the
sometimes feelings that these people who are the closest to you in the world are also
strangers and kind of learning new things about them even though you've been on this life
journey together. I know. You know, I am the eldest sister of three—well, technically four
excuse me. And I have to say that, like with my sister in particular, I'm eight years older
than her. And I think that, like, I'm still finding new things out about her as she, you know,
gets into motherhood and works in a totally different field. And it's it's really fascinating to
be on that journey with her. And I love that they get so much of that into their books.

Danielle ​No, what was most striking to me, just the sisterhood, you know, just the bond
between sisters and how that bond can be used in a creative way, in a creative process to
create literature as good as what the Moulites are doing today, which is absolutely
incredible. So with that, I think we should get to the interview.

Maiysha ​I think we should, let's do it.

Danielle ​Hi Maika and Maritza.

Maritza ​Hi, Danielle.

Maika ​Hi, Mai.

Maiysha ​Hi.

Danielle ​Welcome to It's Lit.

Maika ​We lit though. Okay, I'm back.

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Danielle ​We are thrilled to have you with us today and to be kicking off the New Year with
you. We survived 2020.

Maritza ​Yeah!

Maika ​Barely.

Maritza ​Thank goodness.

Maika ​Barely. Barely!

Danielle ​You know, this is our first time meeting you in person, but you're essentially part
of our extended family here at The Root. And writing clearly runs in your family too. You've
published two novels as a sister act.

Maika ​Yes, we have. I can't believe it. It feels like we're scamming people. We're like two
books! This is great.

Danielle ​Now, Maiysha and I are truly excited to speak with you about your process and
your upcoming book, One of the Good Ones. But first, we have a ritual here, at It's Lit.
Since this is a podcast about Black books and writers.

Maika ​Yeah.

Danielle ​We like to begin by asking all our guests to name at least one book they've
considered to be mind blowing, life changing, life altering, life affirming that just like set
your mind on fire with ideas and excitement. Maika, since you are the eldest, get us
started.

Maika ​Yes.

Danielle ​What book was that for you?

Maika ​OK, so the book for me is The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. And the reason why is
because when I was growing up, I was just like Xiomara, the main character, very angsty
in my feelings, poetry book, religious household. Like all of these things. That was me. I
am her. It is great. So The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo's totally resonated with me. I
remember I was reading it for the first time when my family went to Haiti when we were
editing Dear Haiti, Love Alaine and I was just like, you know, in a room with my family. All
just a room full of Haitians crying because the book was so good. It's so beautiful. So
yeah. Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X I say it every time but I love that book. And Elizabeth
Acevedo too.

Danielle ​Awesome. And Maritza?

Maritza ​OK. I knew you're going to say that, Maika. OK, so I would say a book that has
made me feel all the feels and just kind of like insane after was The Farming of the Bones
by Edwidge Danticat. And that book is about the moment in history on Hispaniola, where
thousands of Haitian people were massacred during the—they called it the Parsley
Massacre, where they killed lots of Haitian people on Dominican land because of all the
history that is involved on the island. But Edwidge, like, spends time with a particular
character. And I just was just, you know, chilling, minding my business, going along,

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reading, and then, like, by the end, I'm sobbing and crying like a baby, like in a way that
like I just didn't realize a book was going to make me, like, elicit such feelings from me.
Like, in a way—I thought like I was I was cool. I was calm, I was collected, but not really.
And Edwidge Danticat is such an inspiration for me just in general, because she is like the
Haitian GOAT author person and like...

Maiysha ​Agreed, yeah.

Maritza ​Yeah. So I really admire her work and just she inspires me to, like, know that you
can really make people feel a lot of things.

Danielle ​No, that's, those are excellent choices. Amazing books. I do like the fact that you
shouted out, Edwidge, because, you know, you guys are both Haitian. You know, Jessica
who works for us is Haitian. Well, I've been mistaken for Haitian. Haitian people tell me I'm
a Haitian.

Maritza ​We claim everyone if you if you say ren—rendezvous with a little accent we're like,
"are you Haitian?"

Danielle ​Exactly. I went to a Haitian, benef—like it was after an earthquake and there was
a benefit at a woman's house in Washington, D.C. and I went to it. It was all Haitian
people, Haitian food, Haitian culture, Haitian music.

Maiysha ​You go to all the fancy things.

Danielle ​...Was super Haitian. And literally everyone was like, "your name is Danielle.
Danielle is a French name. Are you Haitian? You look Haitian! Are you sure you're not
Haitian?" I was like, I'm pretty positive. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis is French.

Maika ​See that, Saint Louie.

Maritza ​We still like to claim Usher. And that's like.

Maiysha ​Nice.

Maika ​Yeah, that little French he said it. I can remember the music video right now, but
yes, we claim Usher too.

Danielle ​Awesome. You know, I, you know, I am Black American. We love claiming more
and more Black people. If you're Black, you're Black. And that's great. So I'm down for the
claiming.

Maika ​Amen.

Danielle ​So back to your books. In One of the Good Ones, which is your second novel in
less than two years. Both of the books that you guys have written have been for the young
adult market and you two are our first fiction writing team that we've had here at It's Lit and
we've heard through the grapevine, meaning Jessica, that this is the dream each of you
have had since you were children. Maritza perhaps you can tell us what prompted you to
attempt to do this together.

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Maritza ​Hmm. So, like you said, we have wanted to write books forever. And I mean, I
would try a few times, like, "chapter one!" and then just immediately get bored and over it
or just busy and forget about it. But when was it? It was a few years ago we were like,
what if we tried this together? And then we actually sat down and developed an idea like
Maika is a pants-er. She writes by the seat of her pants. And I'm a plotter, which makes
sense. And we like outline everything. So I got Maika to join the plotting side of things. And
we made this really extensive outline and then we figured out what the story was going to
be. And it was so crazy that Alaine just kind of like popped up as a character, like just the
way that she's so sassy and we think she's hilarious and she's so confident. And we we we
decided to make a story around that type of character. And like the rest is history. But,
yeah, it started with the character and a sister.

Maiysha ​Yes.

Maika ​And Maritza didn't mention. So the reason we ended up writing together is because
we're like, oh, we want to try this. So we started the process, but then there was a social
media contest and Maritza was like, "oh, we should enter it." Now, if you're entering any
writing contest, your book should be done. Our book was not done. We had like 25 percent
of it still needed to be written and Maritza's like, "oh, it's fine, nobody's going to see it. It'll
be fine." We got a lot of engagement from, like, agents and editors saying like "ooh send
this out. I want to see this. I want to see this." So then Maritza and I, it was during like
Hurricane Matthew was supposed to be coming to South Florida. So we were just like, "oh,
my God, a hurricane might come. Then we'll lose power. We won't be able to finish the
book and send it in time." So we scrambled and we sent it out. And that's actually how we
got started writing together. And even though we didn't end up signing with anyone from
the contest, we got such good feedback that we were able to make a whole bunch of
revisions and then cast it again, you know, with a wider net. And then that's eventually
what led us to being published and with our publisher now.

Maiysha ​That's an amazing story. I mean, I love that story. And, you know, as fellow
writers, I'm sure Danielle loves that story too. Both of us are like, "hmm..."

Danielle ​Amazing. I also have sisters and I wish I could write a book with my sister. That
would help someone to do some of this heavy lifting.

Maika ​Yes.

Maiysha ​You know, it's funny. Yeah.

Danielle ​Carry some of this load! I'm going to yell at my sisters for not doing enough.

Maiysha ​You know, I'm also I'm an eldest sister like you, Maika, and my sister and I talk
about writing a book together. I wonder how that would go. She's like eight years younger
than me. But we talk about writing books for my niece and nephew who she has blessed
us with. So I'm really intrigued by how you guys got into this. And, you know, that first
novel was I mean, you know, for such a crazy beginning, it was extremely well-received.
You won a Parent's Choice Award. So what, Maika, tell me, you know, as the eldest sister,
who, you know, has a name that rhymes with mine, which makes me feel like we're sisters.

Maika ​Yes!

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Maiysha ​What attracted you to writing for the young adult market? And were you prepared
for this? Like I mean, you talked a little bit about this reception, but were you prepared for
this kind of response?

Maika ​So, OK, what what got us writing for young adults? So growing up, our parents
were very strict immigrant Haitian parents and they were like, you're not watching TV
during the weekdays. You're not going to sleepovers. None of that foolishness. Right. So
there's a saying in like, you know, Haitian culture that you had the three Ls: Lekol, Legliz,
Lakay, which is Lekol is school, Legliz is church, Lakay is home and that was it. And
because we didn't have any entertainment during the weekdays, we would go to the library
during the weekends, our parents would take us and we'd each the four of us would all get
the max books I think was like twenty or thirty books, go back home and read it. And, you
know, we were accelerated readers. So even when we were in elementary or middle
school, we were reading books that we probably had no business reading, like a sexy
romance novels and all types of great stuff.

Maiysha ​Oh yes.

Danielle ​That's something I think we all can relate to.

Maiysha ​Yes, we can. Danielle and I are—were also accelerated readers. We talk about
this often that we were we were those kind of readers. But tell us more to tell us more. I
want to hear more about this.

Maritza ​Yes.

Maika ​Yes. So we read all of these books, and because we were mostly consuming young
adult novels at the time, it just really stuck with us because that's really a critical time in a
young person's life. You're trying to figure out who you are. You're probably starting to
form your own opinions, maybe breaking away from your family a little bit, depending on
what those opinions are. And it's just such a special time that Maritza and I felt that we
wanted to write for this audience and, you know, sometimes people will disparage folks
who write for young adult. And I'm just like, were you never a young adult? Did you not
want to read? I don't see why...Any who. But yeah. So that's really what got us started
writing for young adults. Just that desire to add books about characters who are Black, you
know, Haitian, whatever the case may be, because it was just lacking when we were,
when we were growing up. And then you ask the second part. But I think I forgot because I
was ranting.

Maiysha ​You know, I was asking—I was actually asking about your, you know, this warm
receptions you got. I don't I wonder sometimes, like, do you anticipate, you know, that
that's going to happen? But I you know, and I want you to answer that actually, I am
actually, as you talk about this, I want to know a little bit more about this process, because
having read both of your books, you know, these are there things that these books have in
common and then there's things that are deeply divergent, you know, just absolutely
different. And I love that. I love that versatility. But one of the things they do have in
common is that each of them shifts from, you know, perspectives from chapter to chapter,
whether it's through letters or just actual, you know, first person perspective. And in One of
the Good Ones in particular, you know, there's more than one protagonist, at least in my
my interpretation of it.

Maika ​Yeah.

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Maiysha ​You know, Maritza I'll lob this one at you. How do you to approach that process?
I mean, I know you said that. I think you said Maika is more of a just a go with it and you're
more of like a strategic planner, but like does each I mean, it's so seamless when it comes
together. Like, do each of you assume a specific character or, you know, like how does
this how does this collaborative effort work for you?

Maritza ​We're always so happy when people say that it seems like one voice.

Maika ​Yeah.

Maiysha ​It does.

Maritza ​Yay! Success.

Maiysha ​Maybe it's that household thing. I don't know. But.

Maika ​Right.

Maritza ​No we always like to say that we would be anyone like all four of us, we would be
anyone at like Charades to Taboo or any of those games because we just basically share
one brain. But...

Maiysha ​That's funny because when I kind of did a little pre interviewing with Jessica, just,
you know, just to get the lay of the land. She said she was an expert on the two of you.
So...

Maika ​Yes, we are each other's biggest fans.

Maritza ​Yes.

Maiysha ​Yes, that is true. Yes.

Maritza ​And nemeses. But. Oh, yeah.

Maiysha ​And that's consistent in this book, too, with the sister relationship there. I was like
this must be like what they're like.

Maritza ​Oh, yeah. So we sit down and be like come up with a really extensive like 15, 20,
30-page outline of what happens in the story so that anyone can jump in any place to write
anything. But we do leave enough space for the spirit to move you as you so desire. So
like if Maika wants to write this chunk of the chapter or I want to write this part of the book,
then like we just let the other person know and then you write it and then the other person
will go back and read it and do any edits or like tweaking that they want to so that by the
end of the story, it just ends up being kind of like one voice because everyone's hands are
in every single part of the story. And it didn't even occur to us to write the book like, oh,
you take Happi, I take Kezi or whatever, which is so it's like I don't even know why we did it
but...

Maika ​Why didn't we, we didn't think—I know it would have made our lives easier.

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Maritza ​So everyone's everyone. But I really enjoyed that. Like and I think it's also
because, like, we just always have so many different things that we want to, like, tackle in
one story. And sometimes it makes more sense to explore those different things from other
perspectives, from different characters. So we just end up having lots of characters and
lots of backstory. And it's fun for us as writers.

Maika ​Yes, I was actually going to answer what you said, the question that you asked
earlier about the reception of the book and if we anticipated that. I would say for Dear
Haiti, Love Alaine, when we set out with this story, we knew that it was very specific to like
Haitian American experience and honestly, we thought this might not be well received.
You know, we're a pretty small half of an island. You know, it just might not go where we
want it to. And actually when we were pitching and trying to get representation from
agents, we had folks who might have read the story. They loved it, but they were like, "oh,
we want to remove the magical realism aspect of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine. And I, Maritza
and I were just like, "OK, we know we can't—".

Maiysha ​Uh, no.

Maika ​Exactly. We were like we can't work with this person because the mysticism of Dear
Haiti, Love Alaine is parallel to the mysticism of Haitian culture. Like we are superstitious
about everything, like you can't just remove that. It's, it's like you didn't actually understand
the story. So there are definitely times as a writer, where you write the story, you put it out
there and you're just like, OK, whatever happens after this, it's out in the universe. And for
One of the Good Ones, Maritza and I, when we sat and we were writing it, we felt very
moved while we were going through this entire process for One of the Good Ones. But we
also know that there is this thing within publishing. And I would say even in young adult or
specifically children's publishing, where books that center Black folks focus on pain. And
we wanted to do our part at tackling this idea when we're talking about race and what that
means. And, you know, that's kind of why we made the decisions that we made with One
of the Good Ones, because we just wanted to kind of turn it on its head a little bit. But
really, you can't really guess how the book is going to perform. You're just like, well, we did
our part. I hope that it does well. And then you throw it out in the universe and see what
sticks.

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Danielle ​So I want to talk a little bit about some of the...Pivot into some of the research
that goes into these books, which is something near and dear to my heart because I'm
researching my own book, which also has a Haitian in it.

Maritza ​Yay!

Maika ​If you need a beta reader.

Maiysha ​You know you're quietly Haitian, Danielle. I don't know why you're playing.

Maika ​Right. Right.

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Danielle ​I mean, my spirit.

Maika ​By the end of this podcast we're going to be like, "actually we're related to
Danielle.".

Maiysha ​It's nepotism. It's nepotism.

Danielle ​So Maika, I'm wondering, is there one of you who typically takes the lead in the
research? Do you both share the research? Like how do you divvy up that particular part
of the work?

Maika ​Yes. So when we set out for the outline, we or when we're setting up the outline,
rather, we know that there are certain things that we're going to have to dig into more
extensively. And I would say that we each kind of research, the thing that comes across
the part that we're working on. As we're writing it, we'll leave a gap. So one of the things
that we'll do is like, "she walked into the [room world build here]..." And then we continue
writing because we don't want to get bogged down by certain things. But then when we're
going through the editing process, we'll also look at certain things to make sure if it makes
sense or if it's factually accurate. So, for instance, while we were writing One of the Good
Ones, we had certain things that we had to look up like when were seatbelts invented?
Like we had some characters in the like 1920s to 1960s. We're like, did they put a seatbelt
on? So we had to research that or I think Maritza had to search when did pools get
chlorine in them? Like, is that something that you would be concerned about as a Black
woman who got your hair straightened and you went into the pool during the summer? So
like.

Maritza ​You would be concerned.

Maika ​Yes, because they did exist or it was in the pools then. So we just kind of do all of
this research as we were going through the story, but also because we knew that we
wanted to tackle racial injustice in America. There's no way for you to have that
conversation, even if you're writing a contemporary novel without looking at the past,
because it informs so much of what we're going through today. But, yeah, and then we got
to find out so many really cool things. But I'll let Maritza take the rest of it 'cause I've been
rambling a little.

Maritza ​Yeah, well, I would say that, like, even before we 100 percent settled on what One
of the Good Ones was going to be, we had to do some background research to have an
understanding of what the Negro Motorists Green Book was and why it was so significant
to Black history and why someone would care about it still today. So we were—.

Maiysha ​Well it's proven very timely, hasn't it, in the last few years?

Maika ​Right. Lovecraft Country.

Maiysha ​Everybody's talking about the Green Book. Everybody got a Green Book.

Maritza ​I have three. I have three.

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Maiysha ​I mean, I'm sorry I totally interrupted you there, but, you know, I think the Green
Book conversation is really relevant. Right? You know, Danielle and I were talking about
the geographical aspect of this. Danielle you had a question about this, right?

Danielle ​Yes. Specifically, you know, without spoiling too much of the book, a good part of
the narrative of One of the Good Ones takes place on a road trip of the detail you include
really makes the reader feel like they're there. And Maritza, did you and Maika actually
take a road trip together?

Maika ​Maritza, did we take a road trip?

Maritza ​No, but we really wanted to. Like our plan for the summer was to like this past
summer when everyone was stuck in the house, was to go on a road trip and like use the
Green Book and do the whole shebang. But while we were writing, we really depended on
the New York Public Library Schomburg Center has this really cool Green Book website
where you could look at digitized versions of various editions of the Green Book, like from
the 30s to the 60s, which is really amazing and fun to look at. And something that the
website also has is that you can put in your address and your destination and it will give
you different stops and suggestions for your trip. So being able to, like, visualize what we
were doing and the type of journey that our characters would go on that way was helpful.
But we ended up like making up a lot of the different stops that we were going on and
made some of them inspired by actual parts of the Green Book. So like the rodeo that like
we have in our story is made up. But there were like Black cowboys and all of that
historically, too.

Maika ​Yeah.

Maiysha ​I mean absolutely.

Danielle ​It's so cool. Like when I was doing my research, like, you know, you're learning
so many interesting things, like I studied the history of the toilet for my story 'cause I didn't
know what the bathroom situation was like in the 1800s.

Maiysha ​You know, that's like that is a crucial conversation, I find myself wondering that a
lot.

Maika ​I know.

Danielle ​Was there a particular tidbit that, you know, whether it was trying to recreate a
road trip or, you know, researching various aspects of history was like a factoid, you know,
a deep dive that you guys went on that was like the most interesting to you?

Maika ​Oh, OK. So this one is sticking out to me immediately. So there is this woman
named Stagecoach Mary. I think it was Stagecoach Mary. And basically, if I'm
remembering this correctly, she was, I think, the first Black woman to become a part of
what we consider now the United States Postal Service. And she actually got her start as a
nun and she was kicked out of the convent because her and one of I think the
groundskeepers got into an argument and it escalated and she pulled out a gun on him as
a Black woman and like.

Maiysha ​As a Black nun.

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Maika ​In the early nineteen hundreds. Yes. I was like "this is re—what is this?" And so,
like, I just kept digging into the story about her and I think she was like a queer woman.
But, of course, you know, she was in a convent, so they didn't really discuss it. And she
ended up getting kicked out. And as life progressed, she became this like horseback riding
mail carrier, a woman in a time where there were not many women mail carriers and
especially not any Black women mail carriers. And I was just fascinated by her,
Stagecoach Mary.

Maiysha ​Especially because now there's Black women all up and through the postal
service.

Maika ​Yes!

Danielle ​Stagecoach Mary needs a stamp.

Maiysha ​You know what? Stagecoach Mary definitely needs a stamp. And I actually love
this whole conversation about the Black nuns, you know, fun fact. I went to Catholic school
as a child and it was full of Black nuns. I, like all the nuns in my school, were Black. But,
you know, that was one of many aspects of this book I took personally. I'm just gonna put
this out here. Readers will get it when I say it. But my birthday is on April 16th. And so from
the first page, well, you had me from the first page because a lot happens around April
16th. It is the day before. That's all I'm going to say about that. It's kind of a big deal. But,
you know, speaking of time frames, you know, you are our first guests of 2021.

Maritza ​Yay.

Maiysha ​We love to ring it in with family, but there is no way we can discuss One of the
Good Ones without doing so in the context of the events of twenty twenty. In fact, fun fact,
sometimes I'm the first point of contact for these books and I first heard about your book in
June of last year, early June, I went back and looked. It was June 2nd. And so I know it
was well on its way to being published when we had a new wave of racial protests and
uprising in this country in response to yet another series of extrajudicial killings of Black
people.

Maika ​Yep.

Maiysha ​So I'm going to direct this towards you, Maika, to start. I know that much of this
narrative was actually inspired looking forward by the murder of Trayvon Martin. You
know, you guys are both you know, you're from Florida. This was a narrative that was
very—not a narrative. This is an event excuse me, that was really personal to you as it
was to a lot of us. So how do you feel about this novel now kind of coinciding with this
moment in history?

Maika ​Yeah, yes. So when we sat down to write One of the Good Ones now, it's probably
been almost two years, if not more, since we started this story. And the fact that this just
continues to happen is not surprising because of the nature of this country and our history
here. Right. But also it's gut-wrenching, like when we were going through this process for
One of the Good Ones, we had to consider how so many more people were being
brutalized and victimized by, you know, whether it's the police or someone being a
vigilante and taking things into their own hands. And we specifically set out to write One of
the Good Ones because we had our great aunt who passed away. And when we were at
the cemetery, we were looking at the mausoleum and the different names of people who

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had passed before, you know, and we came across Trayvon Martin's name and it just
really stuck with us. And I think part of that is like his Miami was our Miami. The school that
he went to was this home school for our youngest sister at one point in time. Like, it just
truly he looks like people we have grown up around, you know, and if you at that point in
time might have been able to avert your eyes to the racial inequality and inequity that is
existent in this country, I think what happened to Trayvon Martin really opened your eyes.
And that stuck with us. And for One of the Good Ones, we knew that we wanted to tackle
this, but looking at it through the lens of sisterhood and Black women, because so often
when. We have conversations around Black Lives Matter. It feels like it's only certain Black
lives that matter, and we wanted to dig into that and really unpack that. And it isn't to be,
you know, to pit people against one another or to have an oppression Olympics because
we are all struggling out here. But really, it's to raise awareness and bring attention to
women who also are victimized by the system and who so often don't get the same level of
attention. But it's just it's terrible. And then when we were going through the editing
process, we're like writing our author note at the end and having to go back every few
weeks to add another name of somebody who was killed. That is surreal. It is. It feels like
you were writing something on a page make believe. And it happens in real life and it's just
truly something that, there are no words for it. Like I just I can't explain what that does to
you as a writer like Maritza and I were sitting here writing over just like this feels strange. It
feels uncanny. It feels wrong. And, you know, now we're having these opportunities, we're
able to talk about the book, but we wanted to make sure that we were doing it in a way that
gives us full agency and to look at all of the different intersectionality that we have. Right.
It's like you're a Black woman, so your life is not only pain, you have joy. And we try to
make sure that we incorporated that so that One of the Good Ones, although there are
moments of extreme grief, there's also moments of joy and all of the things in between,
because we should not be limited to only talking about our pain and tying up our existence
in this. You know?

Maiysha ​You know, I love that you said that actually, because, you know, one of the
things we've seen over and over again, but particularly this year and I was glad it became
a discussion this year, was what happens when we're crusading for some of these victims.
Right. You know, even in that the casting of them as victims, which they are, but they are
obviously people like vibrant human people, you know, just like we are. And where, you
know, there's this sort of, quote unquote, flattening. Right and meme-ing that takes place.
And we particularly saw this with Breonna Taylor, right?

Maritza ​Yes.

Maiysha ​So this is something that you also presciently kind of addressed in this book.
Why was like, Maritza, why was that like an important conversation for you to have?

Maritza ​So something that we also wanted to do with One of the Good Ones is talk about
all of the people who are left behind after someone is killed in such a way because like
after the conversations move on and the cameras go away, like there's still countless
family members and loved ones and friends and lovers and everyone in between who are
still grieving, who still have to process everything that has happened and the fact that they
are missing someone in their life now. So this book was also talking about Kezi's sisters
and her friends and her girlfriend and all those people who knew different aspects of her.
And these were the people who knew her the closest. You know, and it's so crazy because
like these past few months or last year, like we were able to vote for Sabrina Fulton
because she was running for public office in a local election in Miami. And it's like life goes
on and terrible, tragic things happen. And then the people who are left behind are trying to

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make life better and more just for the other people who are like them, you know, and it's
just such a crazy thing. Like we talked and we were saying how like when we sold the
book, Breonna Taylor was alive. We did not know her name. She was just out there, you
know, like just.

Maika ​Living her life.

Maritza ​Just living her life. And now, like, it's just difficult. Like, I feel like sometimes you're
trying to raise awareness, but then it comes off and insensitively because it's like in a weird
meme or something, that is not the best way to do that and stuff. It's just so hard to have
these conversations. But I do know that it's definitely I mean, it's been time to have these
conversations and talk through these moments.

Danielle ​That's so powerful, such powerful stuff there.

Maiysha ​I agree.

Danielle ​So guys, with one successful novel already published and another that we predict
will be even bigger, what is next for you two, as a team? Is there another joint narrative
already in the works or do you see guys pursuing individual projects?

Maika ​Yes. So we do have more coming down the pipeline or pike or whatever the saying
is, but we got more stuff coming. So we are working on our third book right now and we
can't talk about it yet because it's very hush-hush. But it is coming. Maritza and I are very
excited about this. There...Another author that we admire, her name is Ibi Zoboi and Ibi
talks about inhale books and exhale books and how you might have an exhale book, which
is like, Oh, you're releasing a breath. This was great. You know, like this was a fun writing
process. And then you have inhale books which you bring in everything and you're
carrying that with you as you go through the writing process. So One of the Good Ones
definitely was an inhale book where we were carrying all of this with us. And so for our
next book, we wanted to write something that allows us to kind of have a bit of release. So
we're very much looking forward to the third book and we have other things coming soon.
So stay tuned.

Maritza ​It's fun.

Maiysha ​We're going to hear all the things.

Danielle ​All right. I'm excited about all the things.

Maiysha ​We do have an inside track. We do. We have an inside track.

Danielle ​You're going to have to come back and talk to us about all the things.

Maritza ​I've always wanted to be on a podcast and they say, "oh, you've got to come
back!" so this is great.

Danielle ​This is amazing, like finding someone who loves to write and read and has
sisters. And is like an honorary Haitian now.

Maika ​Yes.

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Danielle ​I, yeah, you guys should totally come back.

Maritza ​Yes.

Maiysha ​I'm just going to insert myself in there. I'm like, I want to be an honorary Haitian.

Maika ​Yes. Maiysha, done. This was, right now The Haitians Are Lit podcast and thank
you.

Maiysha ​I don't know if you're our first Haitian-Americans on the podcast, but you were the
first ones to center Haiti on the podcast and I'm here for it.

Danielle ​All right. It was so great having you guys. Maritza, Maika, thank you so much for
joining me and Maiysha today.

Maritza ​Thank you for having us.

Maiysha ​Happy New Year!

Maritza ​Happy New Year!

Maika ​Twenty twenty-one, be nice!

Maiysha ​Listen.

Maiysha ​The Root Presents It's Lit is produced by myself, Maiysha Kai and Micaela Heck.
Our sound engineer, is Ryan Allen.

Danielle ​If you like the show and you want to help us out, please give us a rating on Apple
Podcasts. Spread the word. If you have any thoughts or feedback, you can find me on
Twitter at Black Snob or on Instagram at Belton Danielle.

Maiysha ​And you can find me at Maiysha on Twitter. That's M A I Y S H A and at Maiysha
Kai on Instagram.

Danielle ​And before we go, we always like to talk a bit about what we're currently reading.
Maiysha, what books are you getting into these days?

Maiysha ​You know, I am leaning into that young adult market a little bit. We got some
amazing books from a familiar name, Karyn Parsons. Those who are not familiar obviously
did not watch The Fresh Prince when they were growing up as we did. And, you know,
Hilary Banks has grown into a tremendous full rounded creative you know, she's still
acting, but she's also written some young adult books for both the little kids. And also this
book called How High the Moon. That's a so I'm in the middle of that. And just like the
Moulites, you know, she's kind of done a period piece here. So it's very much looking at
like a Jim Crow era story, which I think as we get further and further away from that era, it
is more crucial to have ways to share that with young readers so that they can get a
context for what that was about. So I am excited to be moving through this and I believe
we're going to actually be talking soon. So I'm excited about that, too. What are you
reading, Danielle?

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Danielle ​Oh, you know, I, I guess I'm on an actual book break. I didn't mean for this to
happen. I have not read anything other than The Root. And I know I've been really into
Vanity Fair's political coverage lately, like they have the snarky political coverage that's not
on The Root.

Maiysha ​I'm going to say. I think we have the snarkiest political—yes, we have the
snarkiest political coverage.

Danielle ​Yes, they have the snarkiest non-Root coverage.

Maiysha ​And frankly, as the editor in chief of The Root I don't think anybody would fault
you if that's all you read this week. I mean, you know, you kind of have to read The Root. I
get away with only reading portions of The Root. I think you kind of have to read the whole
thing. So we're going to give you a pass. But it's a new year now. So, you know, we're
going to get into lots of books. You have lots of stuff that's coming your way. I promise
you. So many books.

Danielle ​Definitely. And I'm looking forward to reading it all. And that's it for this week.
Thanks so much for listening. And we'll see you next week.

Maiysha ​In the meantime, as always, keep it lit!

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