Oh goodness. I have loved every minute of writing the Ryan Hart series and sharing it with readers. That story came to me at a time where I needed to take a break from writing about this more serious heavy topics. And so it’s been very refreshing to spend time with her and to shine a light on that community, that part of my community that I know so well, that nurtures you and loves you and pushes you to be your best self. So Ryan heard the inspiration for the Ryan Heart series is twofold. It came to me because of the Ramona series and my desire to make sure that black folks are not erased from the Pacific Northwest. I think it’s important that when Oregon is written about that, when the city of Portland is written about that we remember that there are black people there. Black people helped make the city what it is, literally build it with the railroads and all of that and the shipyard.
So yes, I wanted to make sure that I’m putting black Portland on the page and the joy and the strength and the perseverance of that community. It’s such a throwback to how I grew up. And so many of the scenes remind me of the church I went to, and I oftentimes will change the names of real places, but in the Ryan Heart Series, for the most part, I leave names as they are. So she goes to Vernon Elementary School. I went to Vernon Elementary School. She plays at Alberta Park. Alberta Park is a real place right across the street from Vernon. So I wanted to have those anchors in there like Beverly Cleary did for Click Attach Street and other places in Portland. Ryan is also based off of my goddaughter, Ryan, who when she was Ryan’s age, she’s now in high school, but when she was Ryan’s age, she loved to cook and do all the concoctions that Ryan does in the series.
She was always asking me to taste something or can we play? And she would have this feast that she would make. And so I remember one day just looking at her being so joyful and being so free to be herself. And I just wanted a book for her. I wanted something that she could read and see herself in. She does not have a story of struggle and of strife, and those books are important. I don’t think it should be either or. I think we need all stories. And so I just wanted something that would honor the real Ryan in my life. And so it’s been, again, such a joy to be with this character, put her in situations where she surprises me sometimes as a writer, you think I’m going to do this. This is the outline, this is the story.