It was important for India Hill Brown to see a Black boy tell his story of falling in love after having two of her own, so that's one of the reasons why she wrote "Rhythm & Muse."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
My inspiration for "Rhythm & Muse" was my desire to see a Black, male protagonist tell his own story of falling in love. When I was first becoming interested in YA Romance, I realized that there wasn’t a lot of that, and the type of protagonist that Darren is wasn’t really represented. I wanted to see a Black, teenage boy, who’s a little too in his head, too careful, a little cool but mostly awkward, with a loving family and friend group, fall in love with a Black girl. This became more important to me as I was drafting this story and gave birth to two boys of my own. I wanted to make sure they have stories they can see themselves in as they get older.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
Reading Rainbow, to me, means knowing yourself and knowing when you see yourself on the page. There is nothing like seeing yourself on the page for the first time. Reading with Pride means feeling recognized and inspired.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
There are so many different types of people in the world, and they all deserve two things – love and grace. The only way we can give each other grace is if we understand and empathize with one another. I think one of the best ways we can do that is by reading each other’s stories.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
"Rhythm & Muse" is the story of Darren Armstrong, who is a perfectionist that mostly lives in his own thoughts. He doesn’t want to do something if he can’t be perfect at it. At the beginning of the story, we find out two things – that Darren has a crush on Dillie Dawson that he is too afraid to act on, and that he used to sing but for unknown reasons he’s stopped. Dillie has a contest running for a new theme song for her podcast, Dillie D in the Place to Be, and a song of Darren’s is sent in anonymously. The song blows up, and Darren is faced with whether he wants to take ownership of this song, and by doing that, step back into his passion for singing and admit that he’s in love with Dillie.
I wanted to fuse my love for romcoms and music into one book. This was truly a fun book to write, and so different from what I usually write! I also wanted to write about how freeing it is to step out of your comfort zone.
What can fans expect from your book?
Laughs, music, love, and food!
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I have a few things I’m working on that I’m super excited about! I’ll say they are in genres I’ve written in before.
