January 28, 2024 • 30 mins
Avery Cunningham is a resident of Memphis, TN, and a 2016 graduate of DePaul University’s Master of Arts Writing & Publishing program. She has over a decade of editorial experience with various literary magazines, small presses, and best-selling authors. Avery grew up surrounded by exceptional African-Americans who strived to uplift their communities while also maintaining a tenuous hold on prosperity in a starkly segregated environment. The sensation of being at once within and without is something she has grappled with since childhood and explores thoroughly in her work of historical fiction. When not writing, Avery is adventuring with her Bernese Mountain Dog, Grizzly, and wading waist-deep in research for her next novel.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Well, hello everyone, and welcometo another edition of The Pulse. Ladies
and gentlemen, we're back up inhere, Honey. That's no slowed us
down, but we are back andthank you guys for being here with us
every week. Many of you listento the show. I am Stormy,
the host of The Pulse, says, we keep our fingertips on the pulse
(00:22):
of our community. And my guesttoday, another special guest in the studio,
tell us who you are and whatit is that you do. Hi,
I'm so glad to be here.My name is Avery Cunningham. I
am a debut author of historical fiction, and my novel, The Mayor of
Maxwell Street, comes out this upcomingTuesday, January thirtieth, and it's my
(00:42):
first official, traditionally published novel.So it's very exciting. It is very
exciting. So Avery, okay,so you deal in historical fiction, yes,
ma'am. Wow, Why what whenit comes to writing and all of
that? Because now, first ofall, let me tell y'all, Avery's
going to be all over the place. Can you tell them? Can we
can I spill the beans on theshow about some of the places that people
(01:03):
can see. First of all,you can see her on the Daily Memphian.
You probably already caught her with Countg Anthony on wrig and you'll see
her in more places. Oh,some of those I have to keep under
wraps until they air, very verysecret to Oh. Oh, we can't
tell you everything. It's all veryexciting. It's very exciting, you know.
The wonderful thing. One of thereasons she's here because I don't really
(01:26):
interview authors. We don't really talkabout books on the show. But I
wanted to interview you because of thejourney and because this is a your book
is published by Disney. Yes,so how many authors I don't know how
many authors we have from Memphis thathave books that are published by Disney.
Y'all, Walt Disney, you hearme, thank you, thank you.
(01:51):
So what tell me the journey?What was the journey for that happening for
you? Right? Well, theprocess of becoming published is any writer will
tell you published or or aspiring tobe published. It's very long. And
for me, I've known that Iwanted to be a writer since I was
aware of language essentially really truly threeor four really, Yes, my mom
(02:15):
always tells the story of how whenI was really tiny link, tiny toddler.
I would stand on this footstool inour kitchen and I would just rate,
or as my teachers used to callit, preach, and I would
just stand and tell these stories asthey came to me to this non existent
audience, like something out of aGreek tragedy. And my mother would walk
(02:36):
through the kitchen and, you know, smile at me. Well, I
told my stories. But one dayshe stopped and she listened, and she
was actually quite impressed by how complexthese strange little stories with this little child
were, and she wrote them down. Yeah, we have copies of those
transcriptions to this day, and that'sjust kind of proof that I am now
who I've always been, becoming astoryteller of some sort, and novel writing
(03:00):
and fiction is my chosen, mychosen medium. That's always been my destiny
to an extent. There's a moviethat I watched and in the movie,
oh my goodness, Oh, Icannot remember the name of the movie,
or I want to say, wassomething with I won't say Denzel, but
(03:22):
I don't know if it was Denzel. But anyway, he was teaching the
young person in the movie about howtheir imagination and how basically to write,
but to tell stories. I can'teven remember then, y'ap. Some of
you guys probably remember the movie.You probably know what I'm talking about,
But it was seeing that in themovie is like, I think we've probably
(03:46):
more of us have done that thannot, because some of y'all know how
to lie reel good the original stories. Yeah, hello, and you didn't
even know you could be an awfulyou could write a book. Uh.
And and that is because really storytellingis making up stories, yes, ma'am
(04:10):
exactly. It's kind of like lyingto an extent, but but not really.
But I'm just saying that for somepeople that you're really good at lying,
you might really have another colleague andput it into something positive. Yes,
I'm just saying. But seriously,though, even your young people,
(04:31):
uh, do what Cheryl Peschi.Many of us know Cheryl Peschi. Hey,
Cheryl, she's probably listening your mom. Yes, my wonderful Yeah,
and so many of you probably knowher. But do what she did with
your child, because a lot oftimes, it's like you're saying, but
sometimes we don't stop and pay attentionor notice that our children, our child
(04:57):
is really talented, and sometimes it'sthe parent that helps to bring that out
of the child. If your momnever did that, do you think you
would be a writer today? That'san interesting question. I do believe that
this part of my personality and mycharacter would have shown itself in some form
or fashion. But I do completelybelieve that without my mother Sharel's support from
(05:21):
that early age and every moment onward, I would not be in this position
where I am now. Just herconstant dedication and enthusiasm, and at no
point in my determination to become awriter did she ever tell me it was
not possible, or it was notlogical, or you know, I need
a job that makes money, Ineed a job with some stability. She
(05:45):
always just encouraged me to do mybest and if this was the path that
I felt I should take or musttake, then I should do it to
the fullest and put my entire selfinto it. Yeah, and as to
what you were saying, I dobelieve that that just small amount of support
coming from parents for a child,especially a child who's interested in something more
creative artistic, can go a reallylong way. Yeah, because I think
(06:09):
a lot of parents. You see, your child likes to dance, and
you know there are other dance movesthan maybe the move that your child is
doing, and maybe that's really somethingthey really want to do, and maybe
getting them into some dance classes,is it. My granddaughter is in ballet
(06:30):
classes right now. Oh that's wonderful, I know, in that sweet four
years old taking ballet classes. Oneof them is in doing soccer. And
my grandson likes to bounce around,so they take him to this bouncy house
every week. Oh that's beautiful.Oh that's so great. So it's sometimes
(06:50):
it is the I don't think sometimes. I think a lot of times,
but there are times when your childrenwill just automatically, like said, that's
in them will eventually come out.But I just think it's so great when
I hear stories like yours. Yes, And I'm truly so grateful because to
(07:13):
be a published author is such arare accomplishment of their achievement. There are
only so many of us, andwell there's so many of you. There
are only so many of you thatreally have this thing as a career.
Yes, because you know what I'msaying, A lot of authors, there
are a lot of them, butthere probably aren't a lot that's making money,
right, right, that's doing itfor a living, is what I'm
(07:35):
saying exactly exactly, And that's abit of the crux with becoming a professional
author, especially in this day andage. It's really just about being consistent.
And when you ask authors, youknow, how do I make a
living becoming a professional professional author,It's truly about writing consistently. Yeah,
continuing to improve your craft and perfectis the best of your ability. Do
(07:57):
you write every day? I tryto. I try to know. Right
now, we're in the midst ofpublicity, so it's very much about promotion
and marketing right now for the upcomingbook, The Merrick Maxwell Street. But
that's the golden rule of being aprofessional writer. You have to write every
day. You have to work toimprove every day because as you become more
consistent, as you become more productive, those will turn into books and you'll
(08:22):
prove to yourself that I can writeconsistently, I can write a bookie year.
And that type of I'll say,stamina is really what makes some of
the most prolific writers so successful.Yeah, they're able to maintain that over
such a long period of time.How long have you been actually writing,
I guess professionally let's see, Well, this is my debut novel, and
(08:45):
prior to this, I've done alittle bit of ghost writing and a lot
of editing, literary editing, editingfor novels and short fiction. So I
suppose my entire literary career, ifyou can call it, that goes back
to really the startup undergrad and thatwould be around twenty eleven when I started
getting a lot of or receiving alot of opportunities to work in a more
professional space. And that's been myprofessional path all the way up to this
(09:07):
point. But truly, as Isaid, and I'm sure as my childhood
friends would say and my family wouldsay, I've been calling myself a writer
for as long as I was awarethat that's something that I could be Wow,
what was it like ghostwriting? Becausewe've heard of ghost writers, you
know, and it's it's really likethe name, it's a ghost exactly.
(09:30):
You don't know who it is,right, You just know this author has
this book and he said he useda ghostwriter, so that means he really
didn't he wrote it, but heused somebody to pin the pages. Right.
Ghostwriting, as I discovered, itis really a collaboration. It's about
working with another author and instead ofmaybe the what might be the stereotypical view
(09:52):
of you know, someone just givesyou a vague idea and then they pass
it all off to you to dothe hard work, and they collect all
of the the accolades, exact money, right right, It's truly a partnership.
It's about working together to tell abroader story. And what I really
appreciated about my ghostwriting opportunities it reallyseems like these are authors or individuals who
(10:16):
want to tell a very certain story, who wants to say something very specific,
but don't feel that they have theknowledge of the experience or the life
experience to to tell those kinds ofthings, or the literary capabilities. Oh
well to put it on paper,put you know what I'm saying. So,
you know, because a lot ofpeople feel like they've got a story,
like let's just use Mike Tyson forexample. We know Mike Tyson is
(10:39):
smart. I mean, you knowwhat I'm saying. He says some very
wise things. We know there's somehe's a wise man, but he probably
would use somebody to write it forhim, right right, I mean writing
is is I think Will Smith useda ghostwriter. Oh sure, of course,
of course. I mean writing isa skill and a craft, and
it's incredible time consuming. And ifyou're someone who's never experienced that before,
(11:03):
if you're not someone who's practice writing, especially any kind of fiction or narrative
nonfiction or memoir, then you doneed a kind of guide through that process
or experience, otherwise it can seemvery overwhelming. Wow Okay, Yeah,
I bet it would be, right, because it's like, okay, where
the word's gonna come from? Youknow what I'm saying, right right,
I don't know your life, youknow it, tell me give me something
(11:24):
exactly. And it's not so muchthat a person may lack the capability,
it's just they've never tried before.Ah Mmm, they never tried, right,
Okay, okay, And that couldbe a lot of the experience with
ghostwriting. And it's a really broadindustry and there are so many incredible writers
who also ghostwrite, and it's,as I said, just a really great
way to collaborate with another creative.Yeah. Yeah, Avery Cunningham, Ladies
(11:48):
and gentlemen, she wrote a book. It's called The Mayor of Maxwell Street.
And she's talking to me. She'sin the Daily Memphie, and she's
all over the place. You guysare going to see more of her.
She's got some big things happening,y'all. Memphis, Memphis, May y'all
give her some love. And that'swhy she's here today to talk to us.
Because I know there are a lotof people out there that want to
write. There are a lot ofpeople out there that have written books,
(12:11):
you know what I'm saying. Igot a letter about two or three weeks
ago, well maybe a little bitlonger than that, from a woman who
said that she had a book andshe's in Memphis, and she decided to
write about the people at a specificplace. And the title of her book,
I can't give you the title.It was pretty out there. And
(12:33):
I don't mean, you know,to her, that's her talent on paper.
Because I don't think you should evercriticize anybody, no matter whether you
like the you know, the nameof the book or whatever, because that's
somebody pouring their heart into something thatthey believe in. It's a book,
right right exactly. And I firmlya believer in the idea that everyone who
(12:56):
writes as a writer, that youshouldn't gate keep such a fundamental type of
creative expression. Yeah. There maybe different opinions on what makes a quote
unquote good writer or a good book. But if you're putting in the time
and the emotional energy and the physicalenergy and the mental energy to tell a
story, any kind of story,then you are a writer. That's an
(13:18):
accomplishment. H that's good. Yes. I think that type of mindset just
creates more unification that people who havea story in their heart, whether that
be their own life story, thestory of someone who's close to them,
or something completely fictional. Yeah,everyone should feel encouraged to record that,
(13:39):
not only for themselves in their ownheart and their own soul, but for
posterity. We need those stories forhistory. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
and we probably don't do it enough. We don't even think about. Do
you journal? I have to admitI'm a terrible journaler. I think I
try to write too much. WhenI journal, it ends up becoming I
edit myself and it's like, noone's going to read this? Why am
(14:00):
I? Why am I editing myself? Yeah? Well, for those of
us that do. Uh, Andwe've seen movies where you know, a
family has uh you know, uhfound a copy of the of a journal
from a loved one and you seehow that much that means to that family.
And I think that's. Uh,you're making me think, girl,
(14:24):
Yes, so now those thing it'sgood for you journally, It is,
it is, it is. Maybeif I can let go of some of
my inner inner critics, I canjournal with more freedom. I do like
mood boarding though, that that whatis that? So mood boarding is mood
boarding? Yes, mood boarding okay, And and they're probably listeners who can
describe it much much better than Ican. But it's when you take a
(14:46):
piece of paper or you do itonline and you put together different images of
goals that you have, like say, for example, yes, ma'am so,
yeah, exactly. So I've heardof people doing that. What do
they call that? Oh, visionboarding? Vision yeah, born and vision
border are kind of interchangeable at leastright now for that type of thing.
And okay, it is a greatway to still manifest and actualize and work
(15:09):
through your day, work through yourgoals and your aspirations. But for me,
it's more of a visual representation,so I don't have to self edit
as much. So you don't critiqueyours, do you think you're your worst
critic, almost certainly, most certainly, it's why do you think that,
I think? And does it taketo you a person who can critique themselves
(15:35):
to be great at writing? Icertainly don't think so. I think for
me, where that comes from isthat I've always told people, especially before
I really decide to pursue to pursuebecoming a published author with you know,
my whole chest and my whole heart, that I was a better reader than
a writer. I always felt thatI was better at editing or critical analysis,
(15:58):
or critical theory or literary theory.And so I spent so much time
absorbing these incredible works, these thesereally wonderful books and works of literature and
these wonderful authors that I became verymuch aware of what a great book was.
And I think having that knowledge inthe back of my head makes me
constantly aware of how far I stillhave to go with my own writing.
(16:19):
So you still you critique yourself basedon where you are, you feel like,
and where you want to go to. Yes, exactly, that's okay,
and I won't say that's healthy,but but it's part of my mindset,
and especially over this last year oryear and a half. With this
debut process, I'm starting to letthat go a little bit and really just
lean in on my instincts and trustand hope that the years of practice I
(16:41):
put into this craft is at leastfor this stage, enough to produce something
I can be proud of. Yeah. Yeah, So the Road to Disney?
How did that happen? So it'sit's an interesting story and one that
I personally had never heard before fromany author. So to kind of have
a bit of a prologue. Mybook sold on proposal, And what that
(17:03):
means is when an author or awriter puts together synopsis, some comparative titles,
a general idea of the book,and then maybe even a few pages,
and by a few, I meanlike fifteen to thirty pages of the
actual prose, and you submit thatto a publisher and they decide, based
off of those materials, whether ornot to purchase the book and put it
(17:29):
on a contract. And I wasunder the impression that such a thing was
impossible for a debut author, andI think it's part of the myth of
being a writer that you have tospend years and years pouring over a single
manuscript and fine tuning it and perfectingit. And only then when you have
reached peak perfection can you even hopeto submit it to publishers, only for
(17:49):
them to reject it or to editit in a really extensive manner. And
so the idea of becoming a debutunder what the proposal was was revolutionary for
me. But that's my story andthat's how it happened. My agent came
to me and Disney Disney Publishing Groupwas starting up a new adult imprint called
(18:12):
Hyperion Avenue my publishers, and theywere looking for titles, they were looking
for writers. They were wanting to, you know, build up their their
roster. And you know, Iwas asked, do you have any ideas?
And I said, sure, Ihave ideas. I'd never lack for
ideas. So at the time,I was doing a lot of research into
the original black elite and Black upperclass of the time. I was reading
(18:34):
Our Kind of People by Lawrence ODIsGraham. I was reading The Original Black
Elite by Elizabeth Darling Taylor, andI really loved our history of what it
meant to be, you know,part of the talented, talented tenth and
the black upper class going back hundredsof years, and I really wanted to
write something in that in that world. And so when when this opportunity presented
(18:57):
itself, it felt like I alreadyhad at least the beginnings of a story
to tell. And so I workeda lot with my agent and then some
of my wonderful mentors who truly guidedme through that process and that experience,
and put together a proposal with somesample chapters actually the first two chapters,
the prologue and chapter one of thebook, or the chapters that essentially sold
(19:18):
the book Wow, and it waspurchased by my wonderful publishers, Hyperian Avenue.
Now the kicker with that is,I've never written an entire manuscript on
deadline before my previous work when Iwas doing a novel, or was doing
a novel I should say, onthe history of Memphis. Who do?
And I spent four years getting seventyfive percent of that manuscript done. So
(19:41):
now I go from someone who couldkind of linger over a manuscript or a
project and write and rewrite and startover and start again and go into these
deep wells of research. Now Ihad approximately eight to ten months wow.
And so that was a huge,I should say change for me, but
(20:03):
or a challenge for me. Butit was a challenge that I really enjoyed
rising to because it proved to methat you can write under these circumstances,
you can write in a professional manner. To be a professional writer means to
write under deadline, sometimes extraordinarily strictdeadlines. And this experientially proved to me
that I still, of course,have a long way to go to feel
more comfortable with those strict deadlines,but that what I accomplished in that timeframe
(20:26):
is something I can be really proudof. Wow. So yes, that's
essentially the story of how the Mayorof Maxwell Street came to be a publishing
standpoint. Wow. And I betyou there are people out there like,
oh my goodness. So I didn'thave to write the whole book. You
didn't. But I will say this, it's so rare that authors discussed the
(20:51):
concept of being sold on proposal,and I didn't think it was possible for
me. But as I've met otherdebut authors, it's not. There are
a few of us, but it'snot quite as rare as you might think.
Yeah, and here's the thing,my journey may not be your journey
or your journey may not be myjourney. If I decide to do a
book, I may not be ableto do it with you know, the
company that you're with. I mighthave to self publish, you know.
(21:14):
But still it's your work, exactly, way, exactly either exactly. Every
perspective is valid. Yea. Andhere's the good thing too, Your book
that you self publish, somebody wantsto read and somebody will buy right exactly.
I mean, the indie book isin self published book market is huge,
it is explosive. There are authorsin the indie space who are making
(21:37):
such incredible strides, and those gatesbetween you know, what makes a real
book and what is not a realbook are really falling to pieces as readers
are really searching for the stories thatspeak to them, whether those come out
of a huge publisher or one ofthe Big five, or whether it's someone
who makes their book available on likesay Kindle on the It's really the era
(22:02):
of reader's choice, where if there'sa certain perspective, a certain narrative,
a certain journey that you want togo on as a reader, there are
writers out there who who want totap into that, who are creating for
that. Yeah, you know,the thing for me is sometimes finding a
good book, you know what I'msaying, because sometimes you can, you
(22:22):
can stumble across a good book,right, and then sometimes you're like,
oh my god, I've started readingthis, I've paid for this, but
I don't want to finish it becauseI don't like it. You know what
I'm saying. I've done that afew times, what a few authors.
But then there are authors that thebooks are like, oh my goodness,
this is like reading, and Ihave hopefully by the time this runs on
(22:47):
the radio, I will have finishedthrough a book. But I have started.
And the good part about starting isyour book. I haven't been able
to put it down. Oh thankyou. Yeah, and that, babe,
I've put many a book down.Probably one of my favorite books was
(23:07):
Americana by in Gozi Adichi. I'msure I'm not saying her name right,
but have you read Americana? Ihaven't. I must say I'm familiar,
but I haven't read it yet.Man, And they're supposed to be doing
They're supposed to be doing a moviearound it or or a series around her
(23:32):
book. Oh wow, mm hmmm. That's a great accomplishment. Then see
that could be you. Oh well, let us pray. I'm trying to
see her name, because you mayhave a person out there that, uh
is your. Her name is ChiMamanda in Gozi Adichi. I love her.
(23:52):
I love her writings. I've actuallywritten, not written, but read
several of her books and yeah,yes, really good. So her style
of writing is like it draws youin. Who's your favorite hmm? It's
interesting. That's if I had children, that would I would have an easier
time saying my favorite child than myfavorite author. Let's see, well,
(24:15):
one of the one. One ofthe authors I'll say that that influenced me
the most was Tannon and Reevedo,and most specifically My Soul to Keep and
My Soul to Keep, Yes,and my mother Cheryl, and my aunties
and a lot of my mother's friendsloved Tanner to Read's books for years back.
And she's a very prolific writer.She just had a really popular book
(24:37):
called The Reformatory come out a coupleof months ago, I think. And
I was first exposed to her whenI was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old.
I got to get this book too, Yes you do, though,
in all seriousness, My Soul toKeep is an exceptional novel and oh thank
you for sharing. I absolutely loveit. And how the reason that Tannan
(24:59):
and reeved Do played a huge impacton me at that time of my life
is that I even then was notaccustomed to that level of diversity stories of
black characters, black families. Butthese are black charrias and black families where
they're going on these incredible adventures.There's romance, there's intrigue, suspense,
magic, and so much of itis built into black joy and not so
(25:23):
much about the struggle, yes,and our oppression and the violence that we've
lived through. And I was notaccustomed to that. Most of the narratives
I'd experience at that age were aboutthe great trials and tribulations of our histories.
It was so refreshing to read astory where characters were going through some
(25:45):
fantastical situations, but they're also justliving life, perfectly aware of the racial
dynamics of living. Yeah, Iwas a black person in any area of
this country, Okay, I couldsee that. Now that you tell me
all of that, I can seewhat how she influenced you reading the initial
stories of your you and I thinkwhen you read Chimamanda, I think you
(26:07):
will feel kind of the same way. But it's not a story about they're
in America, that's what she callsit. An American but they're from another
country and she brings another reading forme opens my eyes to different people and
different places and spaces that you've neverseen or been, and you've come to
gain a compassion, I think,for people. And it gave me a
(26:33):
compassion for African the real African Americans, the ones that that that I mean,
we're born in America, so Ithink we're more of American than African.
But but the ones that come fromAfrica to cumpany here as adults or
whatever. Gave me a deeper compassionfor those folks. And even some of
(26:53):
the other books that I've read justopened me up like that. So I'm
looking forward to being opened up towith your book, the Mayor of Maxwell
Street and just your works that youare going to do. I see great
things just from sitting here talking toyou. Oh, thank you, thank
you so much, and I'm gladI had a chance to have this conversation.
I've known you for a while,but we've never really talked to This
(27:15):
was wonderful. Yeah, I thinkit's amazing, and you're getting ready to
have a book signing too. Iam so On launch day, January thirtieth,
the day that the book hit shows, We're having a launch event,
a signing, reading, and aconversation on January thirtieth at Novel Bookstore,
which is an East Memphis and theLaurel Wood Shopping Center. Doors open at
(27:37):
five and we'll be going to aboutseven o'clock and Terror Stringfellow will also be
participating, will be conversation partners.And I know Tara Stringfellow. She's such
an immaculate author and her book Memphis, it does so much to honor this
city and honor the city's history,and I'm really looking forward to the chance
to talk to her. So ifyou're interested in coming to celebrate with us
(28:00):
to hear from Terry to here forme to learn more about the mayor of
Maxwell Street, I highly encourage youto come. It's going to be a
great party. We'll have live music, we'll have refreshments, will really lean
into all of the nineteen twenties aestheticsthat are present in the book. Oh
wow, this is amazing. Thankyou again for stopping by and having this
conversation. Thank you for Tea takingus on this journey. For those people
(28:22):
that are aspiring our artists or authors, of course, I think you've encouraged
them and maybe inspired them to thinkoutside of the box. I certainly hope
so, because I think your storyis that I could see your story being
a lifetime movie. Oh wow,but maybe not lifetime because it's not that
depressing. Sot's see Netflix. MaybeOh that would be That would be wonderful
(28:48):
ABC special, Yes, oh wow, oh wow, just give me a
musical episode. Man, I couldsee it. Seriously, I could see
it. It would be Yeah,it would be so great and so inspiring
to young people. Avery Cunningham,ladies and gentlemen, an author out of
Memphis. You'll hear more and seemore in the days to come. Thank
you again for stopping and talking tome today. Any last words in parting,
(29:12):
well, just for your listeners,thank you so much for of course
having me here, and thank youso much for taking the time to listen.
I do hope to see all ofyou if you can make it on
January thirtieth, that novel, it'llbe a really wonderful event. If you
can't make it, of course,that's perfectly fine, but do take an
opportunity to pre order your book fromNovel Bookstore to support our own local indie
(29:32):
bookstores. We have a really greatgroup of local indies here. And yes,
as to really double down on whatI said to if you write,
you are a writer. So allof those who doubt themselves or question their
abilities or their skills or the capabilities, if you're continuing to write, and
you're telling stories that are important toyou, then your voice is valid.
And that was a lesson I hadto learn, and I hope that's a
(29:52):
lesson that other creative individuals can learnas well. Yeah. Yeah, and
you can follow Avery on social mediatoo. Yes, I'm on Instagram at
Avery Writes Big Books. I'm alsounder that same handle on TikTok. I'm
on Twitter slash X are we callingit x now? I'm at AA Underscore
Cunningham. And then I'm also onFacebook, I'm Avery Cunningham Author. I'm
(30:15):
most active on Instagram though, ifyou follow me over there. We have
a lot of fun. We havea lot of great discussions about historical fiction
and black history. All right,y'all, Avery Cunningham. You'll hear that
name more in the days to come, and you'll say that's the girl the
stormy head on the radio, andthen you'll be calling me for my autograph.
(30:36):
Not just kidding exactly. Thank you, Avery, thank you for coming.
I'm stormy. It's the pulse.I hope we inspired somebody today,
a future author out there today.It's the pulse, keeping our fingertips on
the pulse of our community. We'llsee you next week, same time,
same station. God bless you havea great week.
Well, hello everyone, and welcometo another edition of The Pulse. Ladies
and gentlemen, we're back up inhere, Honey. That's no slowed us
down, but we are back andthank you guys for being here with us
every week. Many of you listento the show. I am Stormy,
the host of The Pulse, says, we keep our fingertips on the pulse
(00:22):
of our community. And my guesttoday, another special guest in the studio,
tell us who you are and whatit is that you do. Hi,
I'm so glad to be here.My name is Avery Cunningham. I
am a debut author of historical fiction, and my novel, The Mayor of
Maxwell Street, comes out this upcomingTuesday, January thirtieth, and it's my
(00:42):
first official, traditionally published novel.So it's very exciting. It is very
exciting. So Avery, okay,so you deal in historical fiction, yes,
ma'am. Wow, Why what whenit comes to writing and all of
that? Because now, first ofall, let me tell y'all, Avery's
going to be all over the place. Can you tell them? Can we
can I spill the beans on theshow about some of the places that people
(01:03):
can see. First of all,you can see her on the Daily Memphian.
You probably already caught her with Countg Anthony on wrig and you'll see
her in more places. Oh,some of those I have to keep under
wraps until they air, very verysecret to Oh. Oh, we can't
tell you everything. It's all veryexciting. It's very exciting, you know.
The wonderful thing. One of thereasons she's here because I don't really
(01:26):
interview authors. We don't really talkabout books on the show. But I
wanted to interview you because of thejourney and because this is a your book
is published by Disney. Yes,so how many authors I don't know how
many authors we have from Memphis thathave books that are published by Disney.
Y'all, Walt Disney, you hearme, thank you, thank you.
(01:51):
So what tell me the journey?What was the journey for that happening for
you? Right? Well, theprocess of becoming published is any writer will
tell you published or or aspiring tobe published. It's very long. And
for me, I've known that Iwanted to be a writer since I was
aware of language essentially really truly threeor four really, Yes, my mom
(02:15):
always tells the story of how whenI was really tiny link, tiny toddler.
I would stand on this footstool inour kitchen and I would just rate,
or as my teachers used to callit, preach, and I would
just stand and tell these stories asthey came to me to this non existent
audience, like something out of aGreek tragedy. And my mother would walk
(02:36):
through the kitchen and, you know, smile at me. Well, I
told my stories. But one dayshe stopped and she listened, and she
was actually quite impressed by how complexthese strange little stories with this little child
were, and she wrote them down. Yeah, we have copies of those
transcriptions to this day, and that'sjust kind of proof that I am now
who I've always been, becoming astoryteller of some sort, and novel writing
(03:00):
and fiction is my chosen, mychosen medium. That's always been my destiny
to an extent. There's a moviethat I watched and in the movie,
oh my goodness, Oh, Icannot remember the name of the movie,
or I want to say, wassomething with I won't say Denzel, but
(03:22):
I don't know if it was Denzel. But anyway, he was teaching the
young person in the movie about howtheir imagination and how basically to write,
but to tell stories. I can'teven remember then, y'ap. Some of
you guys probably remember the movie.You probably know what I'm talking about,
But it was seeing that in themovie is like, I think we've probably
(03:46):
more of us have done that thannot, because some of y'all know how
to lie reel good the original stories. Yeah, hello, and you didn't
even know you could be an awfulyou could write a book. Uh.
And and that is because really storytellingis making up stories, yes, ma'am
(04:10):
exactly. It's kind of like lyingto an extent, but but not really.
But I'm just saying that for somepeople that you're really good at lying,
you might really have another colleague andput it into something positive. Yes,
I'm just saying. But seriously,though, even your young people,
(04:31):
uh, do what Cheryl Peschi.Many of us know Cheryl Peschi. Hey,
Cheryl, she's probably listening your mom. Yes, my wonderful Yeah,
and so many of you probably knowher. But do what she did with
your child, because a lot oftimes, it's like you're saying, but
sometimes we don't stop and pay attentionor notice that our children, our child
(04:57):
is really talented, and sometimes it'sthe parent that helps to bring that out
of the child. If your momnever did that, do you think you
would be a writer today? That'san interesting question. I do believe that
this part of my personality and mycharacter would have shown itself in some form
or fashion. But I do completelybelieve that without my mother Sharel's support from
(05:21):
that early age and every moment onward, I would not be in this position
where I am now. Just herconstant dedication and enthusiasm, and at no
point in my determination to become awriter did she ever tell me it was
not possible, or it was notlogical, or you know, I need
a job that makes money, Ineed a job with some stability. She
(05:45):
always just encouraged me to do mybest and if this was the path that
I felt I should take or musttake, then I should do it to
the fullest and put my entire selfinto it. Yeah, and as to
what you were saying, I dobelieve that that just small amount of support
coming from parents for a child,especially a child who's interested in something more
creative artistic, can go a reallylong way. Yeah, because I think
(06:09):
a lot of parents. You see, your child likes to dance, and
you know there are other dance movesthan maybe the move that your child is
doing, and maybe that's really somethingthey really want to do, and maybe
getting them into some dance classes,is it. My granddaughter is in ballet
(06:30):
classes right now. Oh that's wonderful, I know, in that sweet four
years old taking ballet classes. Oneof them is in doing soccer. And
my grandson likes to bounce around,so they take him to this bouncy house
every week. Oh that's beautiful.Oh that's so great. So it's sometimes
(06:50):
it is the I don't think sometimes. I think a lot of times,
but there are times when your childrenwill just automatically, like said, that's
in them will eventually come out.But I just think it's so great when
I hear stories like yours. Yes, And I'm truly so grateful because to
(07:13):
be a published author is such arare accomplishment of their achievement. There are
only so many of us, andwell there's so many of you. There
are only so many of you thatreally have this thing as a career.
Yes, because you know what I'msaying, A lot of authors, there
are a lot of them, butthere probably aren't a lot that's making money,
right, right, that's doing itfor a living, is what I'm
(07:35):
saying exactly exactly, And that's abit of the crux with becoming a professional
author, especially in this day andage. It's really just about being consistent.
And when you ask authors, youknow, how do I make a
living becoming a professional professional author,It's truly about writing consistently. Yeah,
continuing to improve your craft and perfectis the best of your ability. Do
(07:57):
you write every day? I tryto. I try to know. Right
now, we're in the midst ofpublicity, so it's very much about promotion
and marketing right now for the upcomingbook, The Merrick Maxwell Street. But
that's the golden rule of being aprofessional writer. You have to write every
day. You have to work toimprove every day because as you become more
consistent, as you become more productive, those will turn into books and you'll
(08:22):
prove to yourself that I can writeconsistently, I can write a bookie year.
And that type of I'll say,stamina is really what makes some of
the most prolific writers so successful.Yeah, they're able to maintain that over
such a long period of time.How long have you been actually writing,
I guess professionally let's see, Well, this is my debut novel, and
(08:45):
prior to this, I've done alittle bit of ghost writing and a lot
of editing, literary editing, editingfor novels and short fiction. So I
suppose my entire literary career, ifyou can call it, that goes back
to really the startup undergrad and thatwould be around twenty eleven when I started
getting a lot of or receiving alot of opportunities to work in a more
professional space. And that's been myprofessional path all the way up to this
(09:07):
point. But truly, as Isaid, and I'm sure as my childhood
friends would say and my family wouldsay, I've been calling myself a writer
for as long as I was awarethat that's something that I could be Wow,
what was it like ghostwriting? Becausewe've heard of ghost writers, you
know, and it's it's really likethe name, it's a ghost exactly.
(09:30):
You don't know who it is,right, You just know this author has
this book and he said he useda ghostwriter, so that means he really
didn't he wrote it, but heused somebody to pin the pages. Right.
Ghostwriting, as I discovered, itis really a collaboration. It's about
working with another author and instead ofmaybe the what might be the stereotypical view
(09:52):
of you know, someone just givesyou a vague idea and then they pass
it all off to you to dothe hard work, and they collect all
of the the accolades, exact money, right right, It's truly a partnership.
It's about working together to tell abroader story. And what I really
appreciated about my ghostwriting opportunities it reallyseems like these are authors or individuals who
(10:16):
want to tell a very certain story, who wants to say something very specific,
but don't feel that they have theknowledge of the experience or the life
experience to to tell those kinds ofthings, or the literary capabilities. Oh
well to put it on paper,put you know what I'm saying. So,
you know, because a lot ofpeople feel like they've got a story,
like let's just use Mike Tyson forexample. We know Mike Tyson is
(10:39):
smart. I mean, you knowwhat I'm saying. He says some very
wise things. We know there's somehe's a wise man, but he probably
would use somebody to write it forhim, right right, I mean writing
is is I think Will Smith useda ghostwriter. Oh sure, of course,
of course. I mean writing isa skill and a craft, and
it's incredible time consuming. And ifyou're someone who's never experienced that before,
(11:03):
if you're not someone who's practice writing, especially any kind of fiction or narrative
nonfiction or memoir, then you doneed a kind of guide through that process
or experience, otherwise it can seemvery overwhelming. Wow Okay, Yeah,
I bet it would be, right, because it's like, okay, where
the word's gonna come from? Youknow what I'm saying, right right,
I don't know your life, youknow it, tell me give me something
(11:24):
exactly. And it's not so muchthat a person may lack the capability,
it's just they've never tried before.Ah Mmm, they never tried, right,
Okay, okay, And that couldbe a lot of the experience with
ghostwriting. And it's a really broadindustry and there are so many incredible writers
who also ghostwrite, and it's,as I said, just a really great
way to collaborate with another creative.Yeah. Yeah, Avery Cunningham, Ladies
(11:48):
and gentlemen, she wrote a book. It's called The Mayor of Maxwell Street.
And she's talking to me. She'sin the Daily Memphie, and she's
all over the place. You guysare going to see more of her.
She's got some big things happening,y'all. Memphis, Memphis, May y'all
give her some love. And that'swhy she's here today to talk to us.
Because I know there are a lotof people out there that want to
write. There are a lot ofpeople out there that have written books,
(12:11):
you know what I'm saying. Igot a letter about two or three weeks
ago, well maybe a little bitlonger than that, from a woman who
said that she had a book andshe's in Memphis, and she decided to
write about the people at a specificplace. And the title of her book,
I can't give you the title.It was pretty out there. And
(12:33):
I don't mean, you know,to her, that's her talent on paper.
Because I don't think you should evercriticize anybody, no matter whether you
like the you know, the nameof the book or whatever, because that's
somebody pouring their heart into something thatthey believe in. It's a book,
right right exactly. And I firmlya believer in the idea that everyone who
(12:56):
writes as a writer, that youshouldn't gate keep such a fundamental type of
creative expression. Yeah. There maybe different opinions on what makes a quote
unquote good writer or a good book. But if you're putting in the time
and the emotional energy and the physicalenergy and the mental energy to tell a
story, any kind of story,then you are a writer. That's an
(13:18):
accomplishment. H that's good. Yes. I think that type of mindset just
creates more unification that people who havea story in their heart, whether that
be their own life story, thestory of someone who's close to them,
or something completely fictional. Yeah,everyone should feel encouraged to record that,
(13:39):
not only for themselves in their ownheart and their own soul, but for
posterity. We need those stories forhistory. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
and we probably don't do it enough. We don't even think about. Do
you journal? I have to admitI'm a terrible journaler. I think I
try to write too much. WhenI journal, it ends up becoming I
edit myself and it's like, noone's going to read this? Why am
(14:00):
I? Why am I editing myself? Yeah? Well, for those of
us that do. Uh, Andwe've seen movies where you know, a
family has uh you know, uhfound a copy of the of a journal
from a loved one and you seehow that much that means to that family.
And I think that's. Uh,you're making me think, girl,
(14:24):
Yes, so now those thing it'sgood for you journally, It is,
it is, it is. Maybeif I can let go of some of
my inner inner critics, I canjournal with more freedom. I do like
mood boarding though, that that whatis that? So mood boarding is mood
boarding? Yes, mood boarding okay, And and they're probably listeners who can
describe it much much better than Ican. But it's when you take a
(14:46):
piece of paper or you do itonline and you put together different images of
goals that you have, like say, for example, yes, ma'am so,
yeah, exactly. So I've heardof people doing that. What do
they call that? Oh, visionboarding? Vision yeah, born and vision
border are kind of interchangeable at leastright now for that type of thing.
And okay, it is a greatway to still manifest and actualize and work
(15:09):
through your day, work through yourgoals and your aspirations. But for me,
it's more of a visual representation,so I don't have to self edit
as much. So you don't critiqueyours, do you think you're your worst
critic, almost certainly, most certainly, it's why do you think that,
I think? And does it taketo you a person who can critique themselves
(15:35):
to be great at writing? Icertainly don't think so. I think for
me, where that comes from isthat I've always told people, especially before
I really decide to pursue to pursuebecoming a published author with you know,
my whole chest and my whole heart, that I was a better reader than
a writer. I always felt thatI was better at editing or critical analysis,
(15:58):
or critical theory or literary theory.And so I spent so much time
absorbing these incredible works, these thesereally wonderful books and works of literature and
these wonderful authors that I became verymuch aware of what a great book was.
And I think having that knowledge inthe back of my head makes me
constantly aware of how far I stillhave to go with my own writing.
(16:19):
So you still you critique yourself basedon where you are, you feel like,
and where you want to go to. Yes, exactly, that's okay,
and I won't say that's healthy,but but it's part of my mindset,
and especially over this last year oryear and a half. With this
debut process, I'm starting to letthat go a little bit and really just
lean in on my instincts and trustand hope that the years of practice I
(16:41):
put into this craft is at leastfor this stage, enough to produce something
I can be proud of. Yeah. Yeah, So the Road to Disney?
How did that happen? So it'sit's an interesting story and one that
I personally had never heard before fromany author. So to kind of have
a bit of a prologue. Mybook sold on proposal, And what that
(17:03):
means is when an author or awriter puts together synopsis, some comparative titles,
a general idea of the book,and then maybe even a few pages,
and by a few, I meanlike fifteen to thirty pages of the
actual prose, and you submit thatto a publisher and they decide, based
off of those materials, whether ornot to purchase the book and put it
(17:29):
on a contract. And I wasunder the impression that such a thing was
impossible for a debut author, andI think it's part of the myth of
being a writer that you have tospend years and years pouring over a single
manuscript and fine tuning it and perfectingit. And only then when you have
reached peak perfection can you even hopeto submit it to publishers, only for
(17:49):
them to reject it or to editit in a really extensive manner. And
so the idea of becoming a debutunder what the proposal was was revolutionary for
me. But that's my story andthat's how it happened. My agent came
to me and Disney Disney Publishing Groupwas starting up a new adult imprint called
(18:12):
Hyperion Avenue my publishers, and theywere looking for titles, they were looking
for writers. They were wanting to, you know, build up their their
roster. And you know, Iwas asked, do you have any ideas?
And I said, sure, Ihave ideas. I'd never lack for
ideas. So at the time,I was doing a lot of research into
the original black elite and Black upperclass of the time. I was reading
(18:34):
Our Kind of People by Lawrence ODIsGraham. I was reading The Original Black
Elite by Elizabeth Darling Taylor, andI really loved our history of what it
meant to be, you know,part of the talented, talented tenth and
the black upper class going back hundredsof years, and I really wanted to
write something in that in that world. And so when when this opportunity presented
(18:57):
itself, it felt like I alreadyhad at least the beginnings of a story
to tell. And so I workeda lot with my agent and then some
of my wonderful mentors who truly guidedme through that process and that experience,
and put together a proposal with somesample chapters actually the first two chapters,
the prologue and chapter one of thebook, or the chapters that essentially sold
(19:18):
the book Wow, and it waspurchased by my wonderful publishers, Hyperian Avenue.
Now the kicker with that is,I've never written an entire manuscript on
deadline before my previous work when Iwas doing a novel, or was doing
a novel I should say, onthe history of Memphis. Who do?
And I spent four years getting seventyfive percent of that manuscript done. So
(19:41):
now I go from someone who couldkind of linger over a manuscript or a
project and write and rewrite and startover and start again and go into these
deep wells of research. Now Ihad approximately eight to ten months wow.
And so that was a huge,I should say change for me, but
(20:03):
or a challenge for me. Butit was a challenge that I really enjoyed
rising to because it proved to methat you can write under these circumstances,
you can write in a professional manner. To be a professional writer means to
write under deadline, sometimes extraordinarily strictdeadlines. And this experientially proved to me
that I still, of course,have a long way to go to feel
more comfortable with those strict deadlines,but that what I accomplished in that timeframe
(20:26):
is something I can be really proudof. Wow. So yes, that's
essentially the story of how the Mayorof Maxwell Street came to be a publishing
standpoint. Wow. And I betyou there are people out there like,
oh my goodness. So I didn'thave to write the whole book. You
didn't. But I will say this, it's so rare that authors discussed the
(20:51):
concept of being sold on proposal,and I didn't think it was possible for
me. But as I've met otherdebut authors, it's not. There are
a few of us, but it'snot quite as rare as you might think.
Yeah, and here's the thing,my journey may not be your journey
or your journey may not be myjourney. If I decide to do a
book, I may not be ableto do it with you know, the
company that you're with. I mighthave to self publish, you know.
(21:14):
But still it's your work, exactly, way, exactly either exactly. Every
perspective is valid. Yea. Andhere's the good thing too, Your book
that you self publish, somebody wantsto read and somebody will buy right exactly.
I mean, the indie book isin self published book market is huge,
it is explosive. There are authorsin the indie space who are making
(21:37):
such incredible strides, and those gatesbetween you know, what makes a real
book and what is not a realbook are really falling to pieces as readers
are really searching for the stories thatspeak to them, whether those come out
of a huge publisher or one ofthe Big five, or whether it's someone
who makes their book available on likesay Kindle on the It's really the era
(22:02):
of reader's choice, where if there'sa certain perspective, a certain narrative,
a certain journey that you want togo on as a reader, there are
writers out there who who want totap into that, who are creating for
that. Yeah, you know,the thing for me is sometimes finding a
good book, you know what I'msaying, because sometimes you can, you
(22:22):
can stumble across a good book,right, and then sometimes you're like,
oh my god, I've started readingthis, I've paid for this, but
I don't want to finish it becauseI don't like it. You know what
I'm saying. I've done that afew times, what a few authors.
But then there are authors that thebooks are like, oh my goodness,
this is like reading, and Ihave hopefully by the time this runs on
(22:47):
the radio, I will have finishedthrough a book. But I have started.
And the good part about starting isyour book. I haven't been able
to put it down. Oh thankyou. Yeah, and that, babe,
I've put many a book down.Probably one of my favorite books was
(23:07):
Americana by in Gozi Adichi. I'msure I'm not saying her name right,
but have you read Americana? Ihaven't. I must say I'm familiar,
but I haven't read it yet.Man, And they're supposed to be doing
They're supposed to be doing a moviearound it or or a series around her
(23:32):
book. Oh wow, mm hmmm. That's a great accomplishment. Then see
that could be you. Oh well, let us pray. I'm trying to
see her name, because you mayhave a person out there that, uh
is your. Her name is ChiMamanda in Gozi Adichi. I love her.
(23:52):
I love her writings. I've actuallywritten, not written, but read
several of her books and yeah,yes, really good. So her style
of writing is like it draws youin. Who's your favorite hmm? It's
interesting. That's if I had children, that would I would have an easier
time saying my favorite child than myfavorite author. Let's see, well,
(24:15):
one of the one. One ofthe authors I'll say that that influenced me
the most was Tannon and Reevedo,and most specifically My Soul to Keep and
My Soul to Keep, Yes,and my mother Cheryl, and my aunties
and a lot of my mother's friendsloved Tanner to Read's books for years back.
And she's a very prolific writer.She just had a really popular book
(24:37):
called The Reformatory come out a coupleof months ago, I think. And
I was first exposed to her whenI was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old.
I got to get this book too, Yes you do, though,
in all seriousness, My Soul toKeep is an exceptional novel and oh thank
you for sharing. I absolutely loveit. And how the reason that Tannan
(24:59):
and reeved Do played a huge impacton me at that time of my life
is that I even then was notaccustomed to that level of diversity stories of
black characters, black families. Butthese are black charrias and black families where
they're going on these incredible adventures.There's romance, there's intrigue, suspense,
magic, and so much of itis built into black joy and not so
(25:23):
much about the struggle, yes,and our oppression and the violence that we've
lived through. And I was notaccustomed to that. Most of the narratives
I'd experience at that age were aboutthe great trials and tribulations of our histories.
It was so refreshing to read astory where characters were going through some
(25:45):
fantastical situations, but they're also justliving life, perfectly aware of the racial
dynamics of living. Yeah, Iwas a black person in any area of
this country, Okay, I couldsee that. Now that you tell me
all of that, I can seewhat how she influenced you reading the initial
stories of your you and I thinkwhen you read Chimamanda, I think you
(26:07):
will feel kind of the same way. But it's not a story about they're
in America, that's what she callsit. An American but they're from another
country and she brings another reading forme opens my eyes to different people and
different places and spaces that you've neverseen or been, and you've come to
gain a compassion, I think,for people. And it gave me a
(26:33):
compassion for African the real African Americans, the ones that that that I mean,
we're born in America, so Ithink we're more of American than African.
But but the ones that come fromAfrica to cumpany here as adults or
whatever. Gave me a deeper compassionfor those folks. And even some of
(26:53):
the other books that I've read justopened me up like that. So I'm
looking forward to being opened up towith your book, the Mayor of Maxwell
Street and just your works that youare going to do. I see great
things just from sitting here talking toyou. Oh, thank you, thank
you so much, and I'm gladI had a chance to have this conversation.
I've known you for a while,but we've never really talked to This
(27:15):
was wonderful. Yeah, I thinkit's amazing, and you're getting ready to
have a book signing too. Iam so On launch day, January thirtieth,
the day that the book hit shows, We're having a launch event,
a signing, reading, and aconversation on January thirtieth at Novel Bookstore,
which is an East Memphis and theLaurel Wood Shopping Center. Doors open at
(27:37):
five and we'll be going to aboutseven o'clock and Terror Stringfellow will also be
participating, will be conversation partners.And I know Tara Stringfellow. She's such
an immaculate author and her book Memphis, it does so much to honor this
city and honor the city's history,and I'm really looking forward to the chance
to talk to her. So ifyou're interested in coming to celebrate with us
(28:00):
to hear from Terry to here forme to learn more about the mayor of
Maxwell Street, I highly encourage youto come. It's going to be a
great party. We'll have live music, we'll have refreshments, will really lean
into all of the nineteen twenties aestheticsthat are present in the book. Oh
wow, this is amazing. Thankyou again for stopping by and having this
conversation. Thank you for Tea takingus on this journey. For those people
(28:22):
that are aspiring our artists or authors, of course, I think you've encouraged
them and maybe inspired them to thinkoutside of the box. I certainly hope
so, because I think your storyis that I could see your story being
a lifetime movie. Oh wow,but maybe not lifetime because it's not that
depressing. Sot's see Netflix. MaybeOh that would be That would be wonderful
(28:48):
ABC special, Yes, oh wow, oh wow, just give me a
musical episode. Man, I couldsee it. Seriously, I could see
it. It would be Yeah,it would be so great and so inspiring
to young people. Avery Cunningham,ladies and gentlemen, an author out of
Memphis. You'll hear more and seemore in the days to come. Thank
you again for stopping and talking tome today. Any last words in parting,
(29:12):
well, just for your listeners,thank you so much for of course
having me here, and thank youso much for taking the time to listen.
I do hope to see all ofyou if you can make it on
January thirtieth, that novel, it'llbe a really wonderful event. If you
can't make it, of course,that's perfectly fine, but do take an
opportunity to pre order your book fromNovel Bookstore to support our own local indie
(29:32):
bookstores. We have a really greatgroup of local indies here. And yes,
as to really double down on whatI said to if you write,
you are a writer. So allof those who doubt themselves or question their
abilities or their skills or the capabilities, if you're continuing to write, and
you're telling stories that are important toyou, then your voice is valid.
And that was a lesson I hadto learn, and I hope that's a
(29:52):
lesson that other creative individuals can learnas well. Yeah. Yeah, and
you can follow Avery on social mediatoo. Yes, I'm on Instagram at
Avery Writes Big Books. I'm alsounder that same handle on TikTok. I'm
on Twitter slash X are we callingit x now? I'm at AA Underscore
Cunningham. And then I'm also onFacebook, I'm Avery Cunningham Author. I'm
(30:15):
most active on Instagram though, ifyou follow me over there. We have
a lot of fun. We havea lot of great discussions about historical fiction
and black history. All right,y'all, Avery Cunningham. You'll hear that
name more in the days to come, and you'll say that's the girl the
stormy head on the radio, andthen you'll be calling me for my autograph.
(30:36):
Not just kidding exactly. Thank you, Avery, thank you for coming.
I'm stormy. It's the pulse.I hope we inspired somebody today,
a future author out there today.It's the pulse, keeping our fingertips on
the pulse of our community. We'llsee you next week, same time,
same station. God bless you havea great week.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com