Q & A with Nicole Bailey-Williams

Where are you from and how did you start writing?

I'm from Philadelphia, and Philadelphia has a strong literary community. I feel l am in good company with the likes of fellow Philadelphians like Donald Bogle, Bebe Moore Campbell, Lorene Cary, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Bernadette Connor, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Sonia Sanchez, Omar Tyree, and John Edgar Wideman.

I began writing as a little girl. It seemed only natural that I would write because of my love affair with the written word. I wrote my first story as a nine-year-old, and I've been writing ever since. I guess I got really serious about it as an undergrad at Hampton University, where I wrote for the campus newspaper. Upon graduating, I wrote for a local paper in Philly, and things took off from there.

Where did the idea for A Little Piece Of Sky come from?

The seed for the book was planted one afternoon while I was out driving with my brother. I looked up through his moonroof, and I had only a limited view of the sky, but I noticed that when I tilted my head in a slightly different direction, I could truly see the vast expanse of the sky. It was then that I conceived the idea that a slight change in environment or setting can reshape one's way of thinking. As for the actual story, I simply wanted to create a story in which a little girl with so many tremendous odds stacked against her, could succeed. So I sat down to lunch during one of my summer jobs, and I simply wrote. Ideas kept bursting in my head like pop-rocks, and soon I actually couldn't wait for lunch to come so that I could sit down and write some more.

Are there autobiographical elements in this novel?

The story is set in my hometown because that's what I know well. Unlike Song, I've had very supportive parents who have been married for thirty-five years. I have also had wonderful "co-parents" who, like Miss Olga, have lit my path like lanterns. In addition, I moved at an awkward time in my life, so from time to time I felt that I just didn't fit into my new surroundings. My "Anthony" is my husband Greg, and he's the calm in my whirlwind.

What drew you to write the story as a series of vignettes?

I fell in love with the vignette format after reading Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. Writing in vignettes allows us to experience a bite of this and a bite of that. It's like sampling dim sum. It also allows readers to fill in some gaps in their heads. Despite popular opinion, people don't always like to be fed every detail. Sometimes I think that we waste words by being too verbose. Words are too precious to just toss around. Besides, simplicity can be nice.

You initially published A Little Piece Of Sky yourself, and received an outpouring of praise. What did you learn from this experience?

I learned that people, readers in particular, can be so supportive. I also learned that it's important to develop relationships, and it's vital to be a woman of my word. Every book sale made a difference, and ego-tripping can cause people, fledging authors and other "personalities," to take a nose-dive. I also learned that so many things that I used to take so personally are really not personal at all. I developed a thick skin because my sensitive nature would not allow me to endure the rejection and continue to keep on keeping on. I also learned to listen better.

Song is an unusual character, do you see things in her that all women can relate to?

Absolutely. We all know what it feels like to be pigeon-holed. We all know what it's like to feel out of place. We all have carried guilt at one time or another. We, as women, all know what it's like to know our worth, but not to be acknowledged or compensated according to our worth. We all know what it's like not to be happy with the skin we're in. The ultimate lesson to learn is that self-acceptance is supreme. We all are dealt a certain hand, and rejecting that hand is like telling the dealer that he doesn't know what he's doing. We all simply have to learn how to play with the hand that we are dealt. Sometimes we come out on top, and sometimes we don't. Isn't the game fun in the meantime?