Q&A with Pamela N. Harris

 

 

 

Pamela N. Harris is the author of the young adult novel This Town Is on Fire. She also has written the YA novel When You Look Like Us. She lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write This Town Is on Fire, and how did you create your character Naomi?

 

A: The idea for This Town is on Fire came to me in the midst of the pandemic. While we were all quarantined, our access to the world was through social media—and a popular trending topic at that time was the rise of the “Karens.”

 

For those unfamiliar with the term, a “Karen” is the name given to white women who overly complained, especially when it came to people of color completing routine tasks such as delivering food, cooking out, or even birdwatching.

 

As I watched these videos, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would do if one of my close friends became a trending Karen. Would our friendship survive the scrutiny? Would I think that she was a racist, or simply misunderstood? Would she understand me?

 

This Town was spawned from those questions. I decided to set the story in a fictional town very similar to the town in which I worked as a school counselor. I wanted to write about a tightknit community, and how the townsfolk might react when a viral video highlighted some of the racial tensions that brewed underneath the surface.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Naomi and Kylie?

 

A: Naomi and Kylie grew up almost as sisters. They were raised to not necessarily pay much attention to their racial and socioeconomic differences—even though these differences could fill a chasm.

 

However, when Kylie goes viral for threatening to call the police on two Black guys, Naomi has a reckoning. She can’t help but see those differences, and that influences how she sees herself and the choices she’s made, whether it’s her friendship circle or even where she wants to go to college.

 

I really wanted to allow Naomi to come into her Black identity, and I wanted to see how Kylie might cope with this evolution. The resulting dynamic is chaotic, to say the least!

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: At the time I was thinking of a title for this novel, there were several people online who were describing some of the negative things going on around them as being a “dumpster fire.” That term always stuck with me.

 

Since I wanted to write about small-town life and how it might get upended by pointing out some of the underlying problems, the title just all came together. This never happens so easily for me when it comes time to name my books.

 

Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “By highlighting issues of economic disparity, racism, and white privilege, Harris weaves a nuanced social narrative in which a Black teenager is forced to reckon with her white best friend’s racist actions. Complex.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Wow, I think that excerpt accurately depicts my goal of writing this story. I love to write about important social justice issues without necessarily preaching to my readers. In other words, educate, but make it engaging.

 

Young readers should know about power and privilege discrepancies, and if I sprinkle in a mystery and a dead body or two, they might be more likely to read it.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My third YA novel is coming out this fall and I’m super excited about it. It’s called Through Our Teeth, and it’s a female empowerment story with a high body count.

 

It’s a little different than my first two novels in that it is more of a thriller, but hopefully it will appeal to fans who love Karen McManus and Holly Jackson—two of the queens of this genre.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: One of my favorite parts about writing This Town is on Fire was all the research I had to do on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and dance teams. I never attended an HBCU even though I was accepted to attend Hampton University, and it’s one of the only regrets I have in life.

 

I loved being able to live vicariously through other college students’ experiences—it almost made up for not deciding to enroll in an HBCU myself.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Pamela N. Harris.