Episode 39 - Brittney Morris
Photo Credit: Kariba Photography
Happy Fall, Readers!
It feels so good to be back! Today our guest is Brittney Morris, a new YA author.
Her novel, SLAY, takes us into the world of gaming from the perspective of a black teenage developer. Kiera Johnson is a 17-year-old honors student who made SLAY, a multi-player, online, role-playing card game that attracts fans worldwide. The game, which celebrates black culture, was inspired by the movie Black Panther. Kiera created it to help counter some of the racism black gamers face in other gaming communities. But when a dispute over the currency used in SLAY leads to a teenager's murder, some members of the media argue that the game is responsible, while others criticize it for excluding white players. In the end, a troll enters the space, forcing Kiera to fight to keep what she created.
Brittney and I recently got together to discuss her novel at the Miami Book Fair International.
Interview Highlights:
Brittney reveals...
- Why she wrote the novel in 11 days
- How she started writing fiction in fourth grade
- What we can expect in book two
Click here to listen to the podcast.
We'll send a free, signed copy of SLAY to the first listener to tell us the book Brittney says she plans to give away for Christmas this year. You can tweet us the answer or write it on our Facebook page.
If you have won a ReadMore giveaway in the last 90 days, you're ineligible. If you and I ever attended a staff meeting together, you're probably ineligible. ReadMore doesn't have a friends and family plan. But we'll always have memories of those long, eye-roll inducing events that could have been emails.
You can also purchase the book here. Proceeds will benefit the show and the author.