Sounds obvious enough, right?
Theyve been best friends since kindergarten, but never really talked about race before.
Now they must start.
Below, Pride and Piazza talk with Bustle about faulty characters, sidestepping stereotypes, and book two.
Lets talk a little about the writing process.
Christine, youve collaborated with Jo before, but dont normally work on this side of the writing process.
How was this experience different?
There are strict roles when youre an editor and a writer.
Im just trying to help make a better book.
Can you tell me about a moment when you disagreed when writing?
Its interesting to look back on now.
Jo is very idea-oriented.
She would text or call with ideas that would not work mechanically or structurally sometimes.
Jo Piazza:Oh, Riley had a Tuscan study abroad year at one point, remember?
We took that out.
CP:I do remember that.
Sometimes I felt like [I was] pooh-poohing all the big pie-in-the-sky ideas.
But I think that balance is important.
That grounded our overall creative approach throughout the entire book.
In yourGood Morning Americainterview, you talked about tough conversations between the two of you during the writing process.
Can you tell me a bit more about those conversations?
They cant be perfect.
Most peopledo not have close intimate relationshipswith different kinds of people.
Why do they think theyre such good friends if theyre not talking about race?
Has anything surprised you about the public reaction to the book?
CP:I was surprised at the number of people not talking about race in interracial relationships.
It takes agency away from Christine.
This book was her idea, and she came to me with it.
CP:Im going to disagree with Jo on just that last point a little bit.
I dont want to overblow this conspiracy theory.
This is one woman on the internet.
I actually dont think its crazy to think a publisher somewhere would do something like this.
JP:I was more upset on Christines behalf, because I know how hard she works.
Taking that agency away from her, I felt very upset about.
CP:Which I think is interesting, because I was not upset at all.
CP:I dont think its that different, to be honest.
But one verdict does not a pattern change.
That was an important verdict.
We needed that as a society.
Yet one verdict also doesnt overhaul the systems in place and the culture of police forces in places.
That is not a change thats going to happen overnight.
You did a lot of reporting before writing the book, including interviewing news anchors and police officers.
Did anything surprise you?
JP:I mean, there were some officers who declined to speak to us.
CP:Thats true.
Thats just the world we live in.
We werent writing about an issue, period.
Were hoping the positive reception from so many different corners helps anybody whos making a knee-jerk assessment.
Were you drawing on previous contacts or were these mostly cold calls?
CP:And personal networks.
My brother-in-law is really shy, but [his] brother is a police officer in Baltimore.
You say interviews, [but] some of them were like conversations at the dinner table.
CP:We did it along racial lines, truly.
JP:Because we thought it would be more effective.
I think it probably was.
Christine did the same when we were reaching out to Black officers or other Black individuals.
We made a conscious decision to do that.
We were nervous about our emails seeming racially charged if it was the other way.
Was there anything different about the way you approached the mothers of shooting victims in particular?
Its a series of interviews.
You dont just show up once and ask a bunch of questions.
Its unfair to take something from a community without giving back your time.
Im still in touch with many of those mothers now.
CP:Its interesting that so much of the making of the book is mirrored in the book.
[Rileys] a reporter.
She wants to get the story right.
She deeply cares about the people shes covering, but there is a complicated factor there.
Thats a balance we also experienced.
We wanted to tell an authentic story.
Whats next for the two of you?
Weve seen a real hunger for this from readers.
Will readers see familiar faces from the first book in the second book?
CP:No, as of now.
Never say never were 100 pages in.
Jo might have a radical idea that Riley moves to the town that were setting the book in.
JP:I like Easter eggs.
Thats all Im going to say.
CP:But right now its a different universe and a different set of characters.
JP:I just had an idea.
Ill tell you later.
CP:Cant wait.
JP:I think youll like it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
