What I ended up with was a fabulous and nuanced book about the fear of being silenced, racism, and discovering secrets. The when and how of the writing itself isn’t a huge deal. So I think I waited six months and then over the course of a couple of weeks, revised it before sending it back to the agents. We use it often to elevate a “hidden” truth and alleviate a uniquely oppressive burden. Bethany Morrow’s A Song Below Water is a difficult novel to sum up in a few words. Instagram. Home Tags Posts tagged with "Bethany C. Morrow" Tag Bethany C. Morrow. I think at this point the only thing I could categorize as a specific writing routine is that I write on a regular basis when I’m drafting. Something celebrated in them has consequences for her. Bethany C. Morrow. Yes, me. I’m laying these things back at the responsible party’s door, and giving an unapologetically pro-Black girl/pro-Black hair space. Tue Jun 2, 2020 11:30am 18 Favorites [+] ... Bethany is a recovering expat splitting her time between Montreal, Quebec, and upstate New York—yet another foreign place. My Authors. Bethany C Morrow’s YA debut, A Song Below Water, is a fantastical story that weaves racism, social justice, identity, and politics, with the magic and power of sirens.In Portland, Oregon, it is dangerous to be a siren as a Black woman. The day George Floyd was murdered, I finished reading Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water. Tavia and Effie’s hair plays a pivotal role in this story — a shield, a way to mask insecurity, and later as a source of their true powers. Write Like a Mother: Bethany C. Morrow I love reading YA, and back in mid-May, I saw the gorgeous cover of A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. What does your writing process look like? The world of A Song Below Water contains fantastical elements with modern adaptations of mythical creatures. Our August 2020 book club pick! What initially sparked the idea for this story? Books 10 Best New Books of June 2018. by Charles Trapunski June 15, 2018. Art and life were reflecting each other, as they so often do. Next year, I have two YA releases: A Chorus Rises, again from Tor Teen; and a Little Women remix from Feiwel & Friends. I learn a lot about the character and their place in their world from that, and I can usually say how the first act ends, or perhaps I’ll know the climax. I’ve recently read and loved GROWN by Tiffany D. Jackson, and earlier in the year I read MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite as well as RING SHOUT by P. Djeli Clark. Like last month, we will give a brief summary of the plot and then go over some of our discussion questions. A California native, Bethany graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Sociology. Bethany C. Morrow I sometimes feel like this is a trick question ;) - or at least one with a tricky answer. Black sisterhood is definitely of particular importance to me, because it’s lifesaving, and it’s what I know. Have your vision or hopes about the book and its message or impact changed since its publication? I wrote ASBW to Black girls, to teens, and YA being an established place in the bookstore means I’m able to be really specific about that and know that they’ll know where to find it. Tavia, a siren, uses American Sign Language to push against the mesmerizing call that burns like a fire in her throat. Posts about bethany c. morrow written by Jasmine Nicole. Was there research involved? I pre-ordered the book, and by the time it came out, George Floyd had been murdered by police, and protests across the country were underway. Bethany C. Morrow's A Song Below Water is the story for today’s readers — a captivating modern fantasy about black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today's racism and sexism. So much, lol. In Portland, Oregon, it is dangerous to be a siren as a Black woman. By explicitly pointing to the ways in which society decides and informs us how we’re supposed to feel about our hair and how it’s supposed to be undesirable, we shift the blame of self-loathing from the victim and show the intentionality and source of that assault. I don’t really experience a preference, but I suppose I could imagine a default, which would likely be adult market speculative literary fiction, like my 2018 debut [Mem], but since then I’ve written adult, YA, contemporary fantasy, historical, social horror, science fiction… The experience of writing isn’t horribly different for me in any of those because despite that, when I write YA I’m possibly more prescriptive, or intentional, and certainly more gentle with my protagonist and audience. I ended up doing an R&R for about half a dozen agents (a revise and resubmit or requested revision, usually with specific editorial feedback) which I delayed because I was preparing for my debut novel, MEM, to release. There are protests and discussions of police profiling, brutality, and racism, all in a world based on mythology and magic. Subscribe to our E-Mails. It isn’t my first YA, just the first one published. How did you choose to write from the perspective of a siren and weave in the fantasy elements? Set in a world much like ours, but pulsing with magic, Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water is a heady mix of mythos, power, and activism. That doesn’t necessarily mean every day, though it can. A Song Below Water really digs into the nuances of Blackness, of being a Black woman in a patriarchal and white supremacist society, as well as systematic oppression. Bethany C Morrow’s YA debut, A Song Below Water, is a fantastical story that weaves racism, social justice, identity, and politics, with the magic and power of sirens. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! A Chorus Rises is something of a companion novel to A Song Below Water, and I’m so excited to dive even deeper into the nuanced experience and discussion of what it is to be a Black girl in this country, and in the world, through a familiar character. In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers. Published: 2. ... Email Twitter Facebook. Edition: Tor Teen. Follow her online! Save as PDF . Following undergrad, she studied Clinical Psychological Research at the University of Wales, Bangor, in Great Britain before returning to North America to focus on her literary work. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Non-Fiction by Non-Men: Melissa Valentine, How I Got Here: A Basic Income Launched My Writing Career (and Turned Me Into a Socialist). Inspiration. I’m connected to my sisters by love, not by genetics or shared dysfunctions. There are currently 1 recent and new Bethany C. Morrow releases available to buy and pre-order. I am that siren, and I live in that misogynoirist world. Author of MEM (Unnamed Press, Spring 2018). Although this is a book about elokos and sprites and sirens, it is also a book about intergenerational trauma and racism and being a Black woman in America. A Song Below Water by Bethany C Morrow Welcome Back booklovers! Yes, I set out to write this as a YA. A lot of us have been writing fiction or poetry since we…more I sometimes feel like this is a trick question ;) - or at least one with a tricky answer. Buy a Coffee for Bethany C Morrow with Ko-fi.com. You’ve written for adults and edited a YA anthology, but this is your YA debut. It wasn’t a new phenomenon, of course, and I was speaking to the way the world is so vehemently opposed to the specific and insightful power of a Black woman’s voice, and why they try to hard to get us to believe we have no power—while they consume and emulate our voices, why they gaslight and denigrate actual Black women. I’m listening to a LOT of Tanerelle after discovering her song “Nothing Without You” at the end of an episode of Insecure, and I’ve just been drowning myself in her music since then.