September 29, 2024 • 21 mins
Malik scored an interview with Caron Butler…a 14 year NBA veteran. He and Justin A. Reynolds collaborated on a book called Clutch Time: A Shot Clock Novel!
Next up, an interview with Trisha Thomas who wrote The Secret Keeper of Main Street: A Novel…she went from dress shop owner to 4-time author!
And Malik has a question…which is more likely to end this world: Climate Change or Nuclear War? Something to think about…
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My League Buns has how the knowledge you want.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
My League bus has here the knowledge you need. My
league but.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yet they have out the books that the whole wild
world onner read My League Bus.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
To Malik's Book Show, Bringing a world together with books,
culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik, your host
of Malik's Book Show, Changing the world with one Book
at a time.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, I'm glad you tuned in because this is a
hot episode.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I was able to get a few interviews I'm gonna
air on this episode. I was able to interview Koran Butler,
who is a two time NBA All Star and won
the NBA Championship with the Minnesota Timberwoods fourteen years in
the league, NBA phenomenal player. I gotta interview him and
(00:57):
Justin A.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Reynolds.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
They collapse on a book called Clutch Time, So I
interviewed them.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
They're out here trying to help the next generation.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Of youth to read, to achieve, and understand the importance
of being there during clutch time to excel. So that
book Shot Clock was the first book they wrote. Then
the sequels Clutch Time is out Guy. That Malik's where
all books are sold as well, but I'm going to
air that interview. Classic also was able to interview Teresa Thomas,
(01:33):
who wrote a book called Napoli Ever After. They turned
into a movie. But her latest book is out called
The Secret Keeper on Main Street. She used to own
a dress shop. She's a former entrepreneur now a full
time author. I was able to interview her and her
new book and the book that paved the way of
(01:54):
her success as an author, Napoly ever After. So I'm
a feature that interview as well, So stay tuned for
the upcoming episode. But before I get to the episode,
I had a question what's more likely to end this world?
Climate change or WARLD War three a nuclear war? Which
(02:16):
one is likely to end this world? This civilization? Ay,
that's just a question for the audience here on Malice,
Folks show me personally, I think nuclear war.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Climate change.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I think is gonna take a whole lot longer to
destroy the earth than how.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Close we are to a nuclear war.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
People having such major disagreements and think that violence is
the answer. You know, technology and science has evolved humanity
and civilization rapidly.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Violence might have worked in the past to.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Solve a lot of problems in cr and in wars
that were devastating and the violence of power change. But nowadays,
because of technology and the advancement of nuclear weapons, it's
a lot more serious and the consequences could be a
lot more devastating.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So this just violence needs to end.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
This violence needs to stop because technology is able to
kill a million people more so in a much more
quicker pace than traditional methods of war.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And no one wins.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
That people can s I can look at it and
and analyze it and dissect it, but no one when
everyone loses. We have to find a some civility to
talk out the deal differences and be fair and equitable.
There's a lot of in unjust injustice occurring because of
(04:07):
inequities and social injustice. We have to be fair. We
have to understand that there's opportunity in space for all
of us to exist and to have what we need
to be happy. And we cannot keep thinking that a
small group of people should own all the resources, all
(04:30):
the power, and all the wealth.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
This is is strangling humanity and creating a bubble that's
going to bust.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We add the closest than ever for a nuclear war.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And no one wins.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
No one wins, so we have time to to make
a change. We should do it, and we should do
it now. As far as this uh climate can ch change. Okay,
well that's gonna take a long time for the Earth
is destroyed. But they are wars right now going on,
(05:06):
just escalate not de escalating, and people are are are
being obliterated. So we a m I my opinion is
more likely that a nuclear war would kill the planet
before climate can change, and more emphasis should be on
that issue than any other issue because of the t
(05:30):
the the fractions, I mean, hell, we in America they
had two attempted assassinations on a presidential candidate, Donald Trump,
another attempted assassination so one because they don't like what
he says, they don't agree with his policy, They wanna
blow his head off. That's crazy, that's crazy, and we
(05:52):
need to find a different path to deal with our
differences because killing and murdering and assassinating I don't think
it's the answer, and I hope you don't either.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Anyway, if you want.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
To give me your feedback on terms of their question
I asked, you can email Real Malik Muhammad at gmail
dot com. Realmlik Muhammad at gmail dot com to give
me your answer on what's likely to destroy our planet
nuclear weapon or climate change?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
All right, thank you. Now here come the episode.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I'm sitting here at forty second Street School. Were about
to put an event together with Karan Butler justin a Reynolds.
They got to brook out called shot Clock is the
first book of the series, and we out here with Clutchtime,
the new release. But more importantly I got an opportunity
to talk to them from my fans on Malik's bookshelf
(06:53):
bringing the world together with books, culture and community. Welcome
Kuran Butter, Welcome, justin a real we out here chopping
up entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
We ain't even talking about books. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'm I'm so impressed with Karan Butler's moved in from
basketball to entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Tell me all about that, man.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I'm extremely blessed the monitor to you know, be able
to pivot into another space and different verticals. The hospitality
business with the Graduate hotels. We just iPod we sold
to the Hilton and uh it was a significant number.
And it's still doing other stuff in the community as
far as like franchising with the Starbucks, the O n
H Bakery and just trying to employ people that look
(07:36):
like me, but also just try to inspire young people
that you know, it ain't just basketball, is not just
just a sport. But we could pivot in other things
and be successful in and it's still be clutch time
and still be up against the shot clock, a hit
game winners.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
That's like a cliche, clutch time. We in the clutch time,
justin riddles, Come on you brother. One of the books
that we constantly sell all the time is the Mom
Spider Man series. Tell us all about that man, because
that book is man touching people.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, no, it's a it's been. It's been wild to
see the way that the books impacted young people. I think,
uh the best part about it is I think about
growing up and loving uh Spider Man myself.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But we had Peter Parker, right, and now.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
We get to give kids a new Spider Man, Miles
Morales from Brooklyn, and so just to see him the
way he moves.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
The crazy thing about Miles Morales is like when I'm
trying to figure out the villain that he's gonna go against,
he's so powerful. It's like I have to set up
extra stuff just to make him slow down, Like, how
can we slow him down? How can we slow that?
That's that's actually real, Like actually he would just use
his camouflage in that situation. I was like, man, this
guy is too powerful. This wi so so it's it's great.
(08:50):
The only thing that the only challenge I thought that
we could actually give him to show his connection to
the community, because that's what he's about, the friendly neighborhood Spider.
He's about the community first and foremost, even more than
saving the world. It's about saving the people, you know,
save your family, your friends, the people on the corner,
people at the corner store, like all that. And so
I had to I had to give him an earthquake
(09:11):
because we see that happen and the devastation it causes,
especially to the beautiful people of Puerto Rico, and being
half Puerto Rican, right, that would impact them deepley family
and friends over there seeing his mom and the distress
it causes her, and that's something that even Spider Man
can't change, right, but he can impact in the aftermath.
He can rally the community together to bring to bring
(09:33):
resources and make sure that they get in the right
hands and so yeah, it's it's been a blessing to
be able to write those stories. We got another one
coming out with April. We just announced it, so we'll
be happy about that.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Wonderful wonder them.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Well, when you go on your tour, tell them the
Leak books.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Hey, we out here.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
They're about to speak to the students at forty second
Street Elementary. So you're gonna be talking about the book
Clutch Time that just came out.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
So just touch on, you know, up this series about
how it came about.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Let's star what you corone.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
You know, basically, we're gonna be talking about life because
that's what Shot Clock and Clutch Time is really about.
It's about young people in a nutshell getting the experience
of going out the confines of a seven mile radius
north southeast west Oasis Springs and just being able to
see the world, and also talking about just the trauma
(10:25):
that they carry and the adversity that all these individuals
are going through different channels of adversity. But they go
outside the confines of that that seven of myle radius
and they see different things, they get exposed to different things,
and then the village of all these individuals, the love
and the empathy that so many people just rally around them,
(10:48):
the mentorship, the subtraction of lives and what they experience,
and then also the healing of it. And then you
see so much growth from the young people and they
become solution based instead of being and you know, in
the dark space, and they're controlling their own narratives. And
I think that's the real game changer and all of
this because we have to stay solution based to move
(11:09):
forward in life. You just talked about it. Life be
life and all the time. So you gotta, you know,
either you deal or you get left behind. And we're
teaching young people at a young age to understand that.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Absolutely right time is not gonna wait for nobody use it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Why is it now?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Justin let's let you talk about the book and just
how y'all too connected, man, because y'all dynamic dual?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Yeah, yeah, we like to say we like the perfect
pick and roll. You know, you can't you got to
pick your poison. You know, you stop you try to
stop hiling me. Okay, I got you try to stop me.
He already got the rack, right, So it's like it's
been like that from the very beginning. Honestly, our first conversation.
This is not even a joke. My editor, he hit
me up and he said, he said, I know how
(11:52):
much you love basketball. We should talk about Koran and
everything I tell I tell Karan. I grew up. Me
and my dad used to go to Cavs games all time.
And when he came out to be drafted with the
tenth pick. We had the tenth pick, we thought one
thousand percent, We're like, oh, we about to definitely take
Kron Butler. And then we took no offense to mister Wagner,
somebody named Dwan Wagner who didn't pan out, and so
(12:15):
now have the chance to kind of come full circle
and be able to partner up with him and be
able to tell these stories. It's been amazing. The reason
why we even chose those titles is because you know,
we don't know how much time we have, right, and
so we got to make the most with every possession.
You can't afford to turn over the ball and then
clutch time. That's winning time. Right when your backs against
the wall, the seconds are are taken down, are you
(12:36):
gonna be able to have the afforded you to take
the shot? Are you gonna be able to have the
understanding of I need to make this pass right here?
Do you understand the game well enough to make the
right decision when it counts the most? And so that's
what it is about about winning. And the thing about
winners they know that whether that ball goes in or not,
there's always the next shot, and they're gonna be ready
(12:57):
for that, right And so it's about preparation. You're not
taking a shot in a game that you didn't take
a million times before in practice.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Right. Absolutely, that book is life and all the keys
to be successful is what you described. You know, put
up a shed up. The most critical time is when
you're under pressure.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
How do you perform? You know?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean I was a track ad the leader, so
I know about the pressure.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I ran in the Olympics, so I know about it.
I ran for Puerto Rico. So but that was one
of the highest achievements in my life.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So sports have helped me, especially individual sports has helped
me to and I carry in every industry of my life,
every endeavor in my life because of what I've learned.
Team sports teaching certain things, individual sports teacher certain things.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So finally, what's the takeaway you want readers to get
from your book?
Speaker 4 (13:53):
You could be anything. We're trying to unlock the realness
in the most authentic way. We have a cliche that
we're just trying to unlock the magic inside of you,
but you know, it really is what it is. You know,
we're just trying to open your mind to something different.
We're trying to let you know that there is no
seelings to the possibilities. Stay dreaming. I'm forty four years
(14:14):
old and I still dream when I sit down and
think about characters and share my ideas, and we write
these books, we're dreaming. It's a little bit of all
of us in this book. And we just want everybody
to be able to connect identify with the visual that
you see on the covers, that is black and brown
boys and girls. And you can see yourself in this
(14:35):
book and you can be inspired by this book. And
not only that, the true legacy is, you know, impacting lives.
You know, the money and the material stuff that's nothing.
But if you could change someone life, you could change
their direction and their trajectory. That's that's so impactful, and
that's beyond best.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Any final thoughts about it.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Just The only thing I'll say is he mentioned something
about having black and brown kids on the cover, and
Crina and I talk about this all the time. We
could have put a basketball on the cover and so
three times more copies, right, but we were insistent that
we wanted black and brown faces.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
To be representative.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Because the most powerful thing you can see is your
own image reflected back to you. It gives validation, right,
It says that you belong to you belong here. Not
only do we see you and hear you, but you
are invaluable.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
You deserve to be the hero of a story.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Every child deserves to see themselves reflected in the story,
especially as the hero, not the sidekick, not the comedic relief.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Right.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
We're done with that being at the forefront of the story.
And so we're just proud to be a part of this.
We probably bring the stories together and you know, we
just keep making the magic happen hopefully.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So intentional intention and intention. Thank you, My brothers appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's bookshelf, bringing a world together
with books, culture.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
And community. We did an event tonight with.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Tricia are To, the author of the secret Keeper of
main Street. But she hit it big and hit it
out the park and had made a home run with
the Napolis series.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
So that's you know, they didn't make movies.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They didn't, you know, she didn't want it was the
Monapoli Ever After series.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So but I got it right here.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And as I always say.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
No one can tell you about the book more than
the author and her new book, The Secret Keeper of
main Street. She just did a book designing and discussion
with Jay Allen as the moderator. But I had to,
you know, for my audience at Malik Bookshelf, we do
book reviews and author interviews, and we need you.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
To tell us about this wonderful new release.
Speaker 6 (16:50):
The Secret Keeper of main Street is a historical novel
set in nineteen fifty at dressmaker has the ability to
touch a bride and know if she's marrying her true
love or if there's someone else out there who might
be her soulmate. She particularly helps one bride who has
a secret. When she touches her, she finds out there
(17:13):
was a crime committed, and a body turns up and
that bride is arrested, and only the dressmaker knows what
truly happened.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So describe this book in three words.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Oil, love, and scandal.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Oh we like drama, don't we?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
We like drama.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Now, now, apparently you're a maginative. So how did you
come up with this idea?
Speaker 6 (17:39):
I actually owned a bridal salon for ten years, and
I was a dressmaker, and I had so much time
with the brides, and they had so much heartache and
so many things that they wanted to talk about, and
I was there for it, and so I just poured
it all into the story.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Wow wow, Wow.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So you wrote a little bit from some experience and
people that you met over those ten years owning.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
A bridle shop. Now tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You've been an entrepreneur, that's right, you know, not just
the author, you know what I'm saying. Wow wow, So,
so what made you get into bridle.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
My father was a dressmaker. My grandmother was a dressmaker.
I learned how to sew when I was really young,
and it was just the thing I knew how to do.
I used the money to put myself through college and
eventually just got a shop and opened up and started
paying rent. But it was it was a big undertaking,
and it was profitable and it was fun. And so
(18:41):
by the time I was done doing the job, I
sold the business and started writing, became.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
A full time writer. That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
But now here you work owned a bridle shop, worked
in a bridle shop. But years later you write a
book about the bridle shop. Why not early in your career,
because you came out with Nappy ever After.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
That was first, and that was really a story that
was on my heart at the time. And so I
think everything comes when it's supposed to come. I mean,
Napoli ever After was really the story that needed to
be told at that time. It was a big deal
for natural hair at that moment, and it just needed
(19:25):
to be told.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And it still needed to be told.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
You know, you got kids running up the black kids rubbing.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
In their hair.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
You know, adults doing it too. So but yeah, we
need to love our napoly hair. We need to fall
in love. So that was your inspiration as you experienced something.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Well, I was going through this time where I was
being a teacher and you know when after I sold
the salon, I finally used my degree and started teaching,
and so I was with the seventh grade and they
were so mean to each other and they were calling
each other nabyhead this and nabyhead of that, and it
just it just broke my heart that we were still
(20:08):
experiencing that, and it just really just triggered something. And
I started that story just remembering what it's like, you know,
when your hair is not perfect.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, those are two things that you know being in
bookstore owner.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You know a lot of books have come out on identity,
about loving self, about accepting who you are to be
who you are, the skin color, the hair texture, all
of these things matter because these two big important things.
Why a lot of black kids grow up, boys and girls,
you know, not loving themselves, not looking in the mirror
(20:43):
and appreciating themselves, believing in themselves, all based upon the
color of their skin and the texture of their hair.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And a lot of it.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
Is just inflicted by other kids, really and it's sad.
So it was just something that inspired me to tell
that story and it became a film.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, hey, this has been wonderful, wonderful one.
Now I'm gonna tell people go out and buy The
Secret Keeper of Main Street. Now we got to have
Elik books. But we know it's so wherever books are
so We appreciate the time you took to talk to me.
Malik's Bookshelf bringing a world together with books, culture and community.
(21:24):
Changing the world with one book at a time.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
Man and come get the secret keeper of main Street
because there are signed copies and I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
For you to read it. Bawn, you heard it live.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Thank you, thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics
on the shelf are books, culture, and community. Be sure
to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my
instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.
My League Buns has how the knowledge you want.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
My League bus has here the knowledge you need. My
league but.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yet they have out the books that the whole wild
world onner read My League Bus.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
To Malik's Book Show, Bringing a world together with books,
culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik, your host
of Malik's Book Show, Changing the world with one Book
at a time.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, I'm glad you tuned in because this is a
hot episode.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I was able to get a few interviews I'm gonna
air on this episode. I was able to interview Koran Butler,
who is a two time NBA All Star and won
the NBA Championship with the Minnesota Timberwoods fourteen years in
the league, NBA phenomenal player. I gotta interview him and
(00:57):
Justin A.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Reynolds.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
They collapse on a book called Clutch Time, So I
interviewed them.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
They're out here trying to help the next generation.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Of youth to read, to achieve, and understand the importance
of being there during clutch time to excel. So that
book Shot Clock was the first book they wrote. Then
the sequels Clutch Time is out Guy. That Malik's where
all books are sold as well, but I'm going to
air that interview. Classic also was able to interview Teresa Thomas,
(01:33):
who wrote a book called Napoli Ever After. They turned
into a movie. But her latest book is out called
The Secret Keeper on Main Street. She used to own
a dress shop. She's a former entrepreneur now a full
time author. I was able to interview her and her
new book and the book that paved the way of
(01:54):
her success as an author, Napoly ever After. So I'm
a feature that interview as well, So stay tuned for
the upcoming episode. But before I get to the episode,
I had a question what's more likely to end this world?
Climate change or WARLD War three a nuclear war? Which
(02:16):
one is likely to end this world? This civilization? Ay,
that's just a question for the audience here on Malice,
Folks show me personally, I think nuclear war.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Climate change.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I think is gonna take a whole lot longer to
destroy the earth than how.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Close we are to a nuclear war.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
People having such major disagreements and think that violence is
the answer. You know, technology and science has evolved humanity
and civilization rapidly.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Violence might have worked in the past to.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Solve a lot of problems in cr and in wars
that were devastating and the violence of power change. But nowadays,
because of technology and the advancement of nuclear weapons, it's
a lot more serious and the consequences could be a
lot more devastating.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So this just violence needs to end.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
This violence needs to stop because technology is able to
kill a million people more so in a much more
quicker pace than traditional methods of war.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And no one wins.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
That people can s I can look at it and
and analyze it and dissect it, but no one when
everyone loses. We have to find a some civility to
talk out the deal differences and be fair and equitable.
There's a lot of in unjust injustice occurring because of
(04:07):
inequities and social injustice. We have to be fair. We
have to understand that there's opportunity in space for all
of us to exist and to have what we need
to be happy. And we cannot keep thinking that a
small group of people should own all the resources, all
(04:30):
the power, and all the wealth.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
This is is strangling humanity and creating a bubble that's
going to bust.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We add the closest than ever for a nuclear war.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And no one wins.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
No one wins, so we have time to to make
a change. We should do it, and we should do
it now. As far as this uh climate can ch change. Okay,
well that's gonna take a long time for the Earth
is destroyed. But they are wars right now going on,
(05:06):
just escalate not de escalating, and people are are are
being obliterated. So we a m I my opinion is
more likely that a nuclear war would kill the planet
before climate can change, and more emphasis should be on
that issue than any other issue because of the t
(05:30):
the the fractions, I mean, hell, we in America they
had two attempted assassinations on a presidential candidate, Donald Trump,
another attempted assassination so one because they don't like what
he says, they don't agree with his policy, They wanna
blow his head off. That's crazy, that's crazy, and we
(05:52):
need to find a different path to deal with our
differences because killing and murdering and assassinating I don't think
it's the answer, and I hope you don't either.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Anyway, if you want.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
To give me your feedback on terms of their question
I asked, you can email Real Malik Muhammad at gmail
dot com. Realmlik Muhammad at gmail dot com to give
me your answer on what's likely to destroy our planet
nuclear weapon or climate change?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
All right, thank you. Now here come the episode.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I'm sitting here at forty second Street School. Were about
to put an event together with Karan Butler justin a Reynolds.
They got to brook out called shot Clock is the
first book of the series, and we out here with Clutchtime,
the new release. But more importantly I got an opportunity
to talk to them from my fans on Malik's bookshelf
(06:53):
bringing the world together with books, culture and community. Welcome
Kuran Butter, Welcome, justin a real we out here chopping
up entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
We ain't even talking about books. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'm I'm so impressed with Karan Butler's moved in from
basketball to entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Tell me all about that, man.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I'm extremely blessed the monitor to you know, be able
to pivot into another space and different verticals. The hospitality
business with the Graduate hotels. We just iPod we sold
to the Hilton and uh it was a significant number.
And it's still doing other stuff in the community as
far as like franchising with the Starbucks, the O n
H Bakery and just trying to employ people that look
(07:36):
like me, but also just try to inspire young people
that you know, it ain't just basketball, is not just
just a sport. But we could pivot in other things
and be successful in and it's still be clutch time
and still be up against the shot clock, a hit
game winners.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
That's like a cliche, clutch time. We in the clutch time,
justin riddles, Come on you brother. One of the books
that we constantly sell all the time is the Mom
Spider Man series. Tell us all about that man, because
that book is man touching people.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, no, it's a it's been. It's been wild to
see the way that the books impacted young people. I think,
uh the best part about it is I think about
growing up and loving uh Spider Man myself.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But we had Peter Parker, right, and now.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
We get to give kids a new Spider Man, Miles
Morales from Brooklyn, and so just to see him the
way he moves.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
The crazy thing about Miles Morales is like when I'm
trying to figure out the villain that he's gonna go against,
he's so powerful. It's like I have to set up
extra stuff just to make him slow down, Like, how
can we slow him down? How can we slow that?
That's that's actually real, Like actually he would just use
his camouflage in that situation. I was like, man, this
guy is too powerful. This wi so so it's it's great.
(08:50):
The only thing that the only challenge I thought that
we could actually give him to show his connection to
the community, because that's what he's about, the friendly neighborhood Spider.
He's about the community first and foremost, even more than
saving the world. It's about saving the people, you know,
save your family, your friends, the people on the corner,
people at the corner store, like all that. And so
I had to I had to give him an earthquake
(09:11):
because we see that happen and the devastation it causes,
especially to the beautiful people of Puerto Rico, and being
half Puerto Rican, right, that would impact them deepley family
and friends over there seeing his mom and the distress
it causes her, and that's something that even Spider Man
can't change, right, but he can impact in the aftermath.
He can rally the community together to bring to bring
(09:33):
resources and make sure that they get in the right
hands and so yeah, it's it's been a blessing to
be able to write those stories. We got another one
coming out with April. We just announced it, so we'll
be happy about that.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Wonderful wonder them.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Well, when you go on your tour, tell them the
Leak books.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Hey, we out here.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
They're about to speak to the students at forty second
Street Elementary. So you're gonna be talking about the book
Clutch Time that just came out.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
So just touch on, you know, up this series about
how it came about.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Let's star what you corone.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
You know, basically, we're gonna be talking about life because
that's what Shot Clock and Clutch Time is really about.
It's about young people in a nutshell getting the experience
of going out the confines of a seven mile radius
north southeast west Oasis Springs and just being able to
see the world, and also talking about just the trauma
(10:25):
that they carry and the adversity that all these individuals
are going through different channels of adversity. But they go
outside the confines of that that seven of myle radius
and they see different things, they get exposed to different things,
and then the village of all these individuals, the love
and the empathy that so many people just rally around them,
(10:48):
the mentorship, the subtraction of lives and what they experience,
and then also the healing of it. And then you
see so much growth from the young people and they
become solution based instead of being and you know, in
the dark space, and they're controlling their own narratives. And
I think that's the real game changer and all of
this because we have to stay solution based to move
(11:09):
forward in life. You just talked about it. Life be
life and all the time. So you gotta, you know,
either you deal or you get left behind. And we're
teaching young people at a young age to understand that.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Absolutely right time is not gonna wait for nobody use it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Why is it now?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Justin let's let you talk about the book and just
how y'all too connected, man, because y'all dynamic dual?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Yeah, yeah, we like to say we like the perfect
pick and roll. You know, you can't you got to
pick your poison. You know, you stop you try to
stop hiling me. Okay, I got you try to stop me.
He already got the rack, right, So it's like it's
been like that from the very beginning. Honestly, our first conversation.
This is not even a joke. My editor, he hit
me up and he said, he said, I know how
(11:52):
much you love basketball. We should talk about Koran and
everything I tell I tell Karan. I grew up. Me
and my dad used to go to Cavs games all time.
And when he came out to be drafted with the
tenth pick. We had the tenth pick, we thought one
thousand percent, We're like, oh, we about to definitely take
Kron Butler. And then we took no offense to mister Wagner,
somebody named Dwan Wagner who didn't pan out, and so
(12:15):
now have the chance to kind of come full circle
and be able to partner up with him and be
able to tell these stories. It's been amazing. The reason
why we even chose those titles is because you know,
we don't know how much time we have, right, and
so we got to make the most with every possession.
You can't afford to turn over the ball and then
clutch time. That's winning time. Right when your backs against
the wall, the seconds are are taken down, are you
(12:36):
gonna be able to have the afforded you to take
the shot? Are you gonna be able to have the
understanding of I need to make this pass right here?
Do you understand the game well enough to make the
right decision when it counts the most? And so that's
what it is about about winning. And the thing about
winners they know that whether that ball goes in or not,
there's always the next shot, and they're gonna be ready
(12:57):
for that, right And so it's about preparation. You're not
taking a shot in a game that you didn't take
a million times before in practice.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Right. Absolutely, that book is life and all the keys
to be successful is what you described. You know, put
up a shed up. The most critical time is when
you're under pressure.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
How do you perform? You know?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean I was a track ad the leader, so
I know about the pressure.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I ran in the Olympics, so I know about it.
I ran for Puerto Rico. So but that was one
of the highest achievements in my life.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So sports have helped me, especially individual sports has helped
me to and I carry in every industry of my life,
every endeavor in my life because of what I've learned.
Team sports teaching certain things, individual sports teacher certain things.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So finally, what's the takeaway you want readers to get
from your book?
Speaker 4 (13:53):
You could be anything. We're trying to unlock the realness
in the most authentic way. We have a cliche that
we're just trying to unlock the magic inside of you,
but you know, it really is what it is. You know,
we're just trying to open your mind to something different.
We're trying to let you know that there is no
seelings to the possibilities. Stay dreaming. I'm forty four years
(14:14):
old and I still dream when I sit down and
think about characters and share my ideas, and we write
these books, we're dreaming. It's a little bit of all
of us in this book. And we just want everybody
to be able to connect identify with the visual that
you see on the covers, that is black and brown
boys and girls. And you can see yourself in this
(14:35):
book and you can be inspired by this book. And
not only that, the true legacy is, you know, impacting lives.
You know, the money and the material stuff that's nothing.
But if you could change someone life, you could change
their direction and their trajectory. That's that's so impactful, and
that's beyond best.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Any final thoughts about it.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Just The only thing I'll say is he mentioned something
about having black and brown kids on the cover, and
Crina and I talk about this all the time. We
could have put a basketball on the cover and so
three times more copies, right, but we were insistent that
we wanted black and brown faces.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
To be representative.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Because the most powerful thing you can see is your
own image reflected back to you. It gives validation, right,
It says that you belong to you belong here. Not
only do we see you and hear you, but you
are invaluable.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
You deserve to be the hero of a story.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Every child deserves to see themselves reflected in the story,
especially as the hero, not the sidekick, not the comedic relief.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Right.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
We're done with that being at the forefront of the story.
And so we're just proud to be a part of this.
We probably bring the stories together and you know, we
just keep making the magic happen hopefully.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So intentional intention and intention. Thank you, My brothers appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's bookshelf, bringing a world together
with books, culture.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
And community. We did an event tonight with.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Tricia are To, the author of the secret Keeper of
main Street. But she hit it big and hit it
out the park and had made a home run with
the Napolis series.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
So that's you know, they didn't make movies.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They didn't, you know, she didn't want it was the
Monapoli Ever After series.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So but I got it right here.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And as I always say.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
No one can tell you about the book more than
the author and her new book, The Secret Keeper of
main Street. She just did a book designing and discussion
with Jay Allen as the moderator. But I had to,
you know, for my audience at Malik Bookshelf, we do
book reviews and author interviews, and we need you.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
To tell us about this wonderful new release.
Speaker 6 (16:50):
The Secret Keeper of main Street is a historical novel
set in nineteen fifty at dressmaker has the ability to
touch a bride and know if she's marrying her true
love or if there's someone else out there who might
be her soulmate. She particularly helps one bride who has
a secret. When she touches her, she finds out there
(17:13):
was a crime committed, and a body turns up and
that bride is arrested, and only the dressmaker knows what
truly happened.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So describe this book in three words.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Oil, love, and scandal.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Oh we like drama, don't we?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
We like drama.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Now, now, apparently you're a maginative. So how did you
come up with this idea?
Speaker 6 (17:39):
I actually owned a bridal salon for ten years, and
I was a dressmaker, and I had so much time
with the brides, and they had so much heartache and
so many things that they wanted to talk about, and
I was there for it, and so I just poured
it all into the story.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Wow wow, Wow.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So you wrote a little bit from some experience and
people that you met over those ten years owning.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
A bridle shop. Now tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You've been an entrepreneur, that's right, you know, not just
the author, you know what I'm saying. Wow wow, So,
so what made you get into bridle.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
My father was a dressmaker. My grandmother was a dressmaker.
I learned how to sew when I was really young,
and it was just the thing I knew how to do.
I used the money to put myself through college and
eventually just got a shop and opened up and started
paying rent. But it was it was a big undertaking,
and it was profitable and it was fun. And so
(18:41):
by the time I was done doing the job, I
sold the business and started writing, became.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
A full time writer. That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
But now here you work owned a bridle shop, worked
in a bridle shop. But years later you write a
book about the bridle shop. Why not early in your career,
because you came out with Nappy ever After.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
That was first, and that was really a story that
was on my heart at the time. And so I
think everything comes when it's supposed to come. I mean,
Napoli ever After was really the story that needed to
be told at that time. It was a big deal
for natural hair at that moment, and it just needed
(19:25):
to be told.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And it still needed to be told.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
You know, you got kids running up the black kids rubbing.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
In their hair.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
You know, adults doing it too. So but yeah, we
need to love our napoly hair. We need to fall
in love. So that was your inspiration as you experienced something.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Well, I was going through this time where I was
being a teacher and you know when after I sold
the salon, I finally used my degree and started teaching,
and so I was with the seventh grade and they
were so mean to each other and they were calling
each other nabyhead this and nabyhead of that, and it
just it just broke my heart that we were still
(20:08):
experiencing that, and it just really just triggered something. And
I started that story just remembering what it's like, you know,
when your hair is not perfect.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, those are two things that you know being in
bookstore owner.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You know a lot of books have come out on identity,
about loving self, about accepting who you are to be
who you are, the skin color, the hair texture, all
of these things matter because these two big important things.
Why a lot of black kids grow up, boys and girls,
you know, not loving themselves, not looking in the mirror
(20:43):
and appreciating themselves, believing in themselves, all based upon the
color of their skin and the texture of their hair.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And a lot of it.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
Is just inflicted by other kids, really and it's sad.
So it was just something that inspired me to tell
that story and it became a film.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, hey, this has been wonderful, wonderful one.
Now I'm gonna tell people go out and buy The
Secret Keeper of Main Street. Now we got to have
Elik books. But we know it's so wherever books are
so We appreciate the time you took to talk to me.
Malik's Bookshelf bringing a world together with books, culture and community.
(21:24):
Changing the world with one book at a time.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
Man and come get the secret keeper of main Street
because there are signed copies and I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
For you to read it. Bawn, you heard it live.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Thank you, thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics
on the shelf are books, culture, and community. Be sure
to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my
instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.
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