Still Waters follows a man who wakes up with no memory of his family and must navigate the challenges of starting a new life while grappling with the traumas of his past. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration for the setup of this story was actually a scene from Ava DuVernay’s limited series When They See Us (2019). For those that don’t know, When They See Us (2019) tells the story of the Central Park Five — five young Black and brown boys who were accused of brutally assaulting a jogger in New York City in 1989. All of the boys were convicted between six and twelve years. Throughout their trials they maintained their innocence. Later their sentences were vacated once the true (and lone) assailant admitted to the crime in 2002. Ultimately, there is a scene when Korey Wise (played by Jharrel Jerome) is locked in solitary confinement, and he begins to daydream about what if he decided not to go to the park with his friends that day. How differently his life would’ve turned out. When his daydream ends, he is back in prison, alone. I wanted to do something similar with a case that involved another Black teenager — and that was the case of George Stinney, Jr., the youngest American to be executed in the United States at 14-years-old. I wanted to re-imagine his world, and give him a different reality, if only briefly. 

George is an interesting and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Admittedly, it was a bit difficult writing George’s character because I am writing about a young teenager, who is in the body of an adult. When you’re young, you’re naturally very curious and so I think it was important for me to make George curious about the world around him — and try to grasp what was happening to him. He is being forced to mature quicker than he would probably like to, like many Black children in the U.S., and so I think it was important to capture both his innocence and budding adulthood.  

What themes were important for you to explore in this book?

It was important for me to explore how Black adults in the U.S. are often treated like children, and Black children are often treated like adults — and where these two ideals meet in this novel. George’s children are attacked for being children, in one scene in the book because they are expected to present much older. They are given less leniency than other children. Ultimately, George is being treated as an adult by the state of South Carolina when he is sentenced to death. So this was something that was important for me to explore. 

What is the next book you are working on and when will it be available?

I do not currently have a book in the works, but am thinking of turning Still Waters into a screenplay so stay tuned for more news on that front!

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