Seven Days in June(101)
Though the characters in Seven Days in June have suffered real pain and trauma, your novel is about joy, passion, and creativity. How important was it for you to write a funny, sexy Black love story?
We don’t get enough stories that celebrate and amplify Black humanity. All parts of it, not just art about oppression. I’m interested in the hilarious, sexy, joyful, regular, banal, everyday ecstatic moments. When I was growing up, I soaked up romantic comedies, Judith Krantz, Jackie Collins, and any film written by Nora Ephron. But these dramatic, glorious, everyday slices of life never starred Black characters. It always seemed that we had to suffer in art. It’s exhausting, and it’s not the only Black experience. We’re dazzling, and I wanted to show that.
New York’s creative Black community and the literati play a significant role in Seven Days in June, and it reads like you had a lot of fun writing those scenes. Have you found being a part of an artist community necessary or helpful to you as a writer?
As a writer, I definitely feel that it’s necessary to find a community of like-minded artists. Writing is a lonely experience—you don’t do it by committee, it’s just you and the blank page—so connecting with people who get it helps prop you up. Also, most creative communities are pretty colorful and scandalous, so there’s endless plot inspiration!
Who are some of your favorite writers, and did they influence the way you wrote Seven Days in June?
This is going to sound weird, because I don’t write in the horror genre, but in terms of the flashback structure, I was influenced by Stephen King’s It. In the scenes following the protagonists as kids, you learn everything you need to know about who they are, as adults. As a reader, the flashbacks help you piece together clues about the characters. Along the same vein, I’ve always loved One Day, by David Nicholls—each chapter follows the life of two protagonists on July 15, over twenty years. I find it fascinating, the way love changes and grows as the characters blossom and evolve. Plus, One Day somehow manages to be hilarious, sexy, and moving, all at once. My favorite kind of story!
What are some of your favorite love stories?
Their Eyes Were Watching God is the most deeply romantic novel I’d ever read. In Zora Neale Hurston’s hands, even the most mundane observations become mythological. The story was written at the height of the dazzling Harlem Renaissance, but it takes place in an all-Black, backwater Florida town and follows the life of Janie, a vivacious woman with a complicated past who falls in love with a (much) younger man. The love between Janie and Tea Cake is sensual beyond belief, and back then, it was damn-near impossible to find Black love in mainstream fiction. Honestly, the way Hurston wrote their love story was a revolutionary act.
About the Author
Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Lucky, Teen People, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty-blog industry with her award-winning site, Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling debut novel The Accidental Diva and penned two young adult novels, It Chicks and Sixteen Candles. Her most recent novel, the award-winning The Perfect Find, is being adapted by Netflix for a film starring Gabrielle Union.
Tia is currently an editorial director at Estée Lauder Companies and lives with her daughter and her husband in Brooklyn.