In chapters alternating between present and past, Randi Pink explores two characters spiraling into hopelessness and how each finds her voice to make history. We Are the Scribes is such a stunning and impactful novel, but if you need some extra incentive to pick this one up, be sure to check out this interview with the author! What makes Ruth fierce? Ruth is quiet. Quiet can be misinterpreted as shy, bashful, or without opinion, but Ruth’s quiet spirit is in waiting. She is wise enough to understand that everyone has their moment. A time in life when the ground in front of them is primed and ready to stand on. Ruth refuses to rush her own moment, and that’s a fierce strength more powerful than the loudest person in the room. Calmness wins in the end because calmness allows space for foresight and observation. Steady, thinking calm is more fierce than boisterous any day. If you could give Ruth one piece of advice, what would it be? I’d tell Ruth to stay the course. The race is long and confusing. Continue taking in whatever information you need to equip yourself with the armor to take it all on. And most importantly, treat people well along the way. The race isn’t only long, it’s also cyclical. If you push someone aside as insignificant when the starting gun blasts, be prepared for them to show up at the finish line with an understandably vengeful energy. What's the most interesting thing you learned while researching We Are the Scribes? I kept finding things out about Harriet Jacobs as my research turned new corners. She was a crafty woman with survival constantly front of mind. She was determined not only to survive but to thrive after breaking free. She wrote her masterpiece while a demented enslaver was relentlessly searching for her. That masterpiece became a success, and she could easily have retired comfortably. But she went on to invest in the education of formerly enslaved and escaped people by opening a school. The most interesting thing about my research was Harriet Jacobs’ drive to propel herself, her family, and her people forward. If you'd met Ruth as a teen, would you have been friends with her and why? I believe so, yes. It would take time to find one another in the noise. Sometimes, quiet people seek out the loudest ones in the room so we can hide behind them. But I think Ruth and I could share quiet -- and even silence -- without feeling uncomfortable in it. I think we would replace audible words with written ones and write together. What's one fun fact most people don't know about you? I love plants and dirt. I love digging in the dirt with bare hands just to feel it working underneath the surface. I feel close to a magician when I’m planting dead things in the correct soil and bringing them back to life. It may not sound fun, but it is! What's your favorite part of being an author? Stretching my imagination to points that surprise me. It’s all in there, in my mind or heart or soul or wherever words and stories come from. But it’s jumbled up in a maddening ball of confusion until I open a new blank document and begin untangling. It’s difficult but exhilarating. It feels like I’d imagine a spider feels after the hard work of expelling a web. Publication day is catching the bug. What's the most challenging part of being an author? There’s always a moment for me when I’m lost in the story, and I want to throw my laptop in the trash. Figuring a way around never seems possible. Looking back, I can’t pinpoint how I came out of that time with any of my books. One foot in front of the other, I guess. Or one word at a time. What 3 words would you use to describe We Are the Scribes? Write your story. ABOUT THE BOOK Ruth Fitz, is surrounded by activism. Her senator mother frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox as a powerful Black voice fighting for legislative social change within the Black community. Her African American history professor father is a walking history book, spouting off random dates and events. And her beloved eldest sister, Virginia, is a natural activist, steadily gaining notoriety within the community and on social media. Ruth, on the other hand, would rather sit quietly in a cushy corner reading or writing in her journal. When Virginia is killed at a protest, Ruth decides to stop writing and speaking completely. After a few months of near total silence, Ruth begins receiving wax-stamped parchment letters with a seal reading WE ARE THE SCRIBES, sent by Harriet Jacobs, the author of autobiography and American classic, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). In chapters alternating between present and past, Randi Pink explores two characters spiraling into hopelessness and how each finds her voice to make history.