00:00I am working on new music so I am doing that. Also if you haven't already checked us out Amory's Book Club is on IG. We do post on YouTube too but the book club does live pretty much on Instagram and it's at Amory's Book Club so definitely come through. Follow, give us a follow and follow along.
00:17Hi, I'm Amory and I am here with a very, very special announcement. News that I get to finally share with you after waiting for a really long time. It's been quite a while that I've been holding on to this. This being the publication of my first picture book, You Will Do Great Things.
00:34The book will be released spring 2023 but you can pre-order right now. Obviously I'm going to provide you with some links but you can pre-order the book anywhere books are sold. Pre-order if you are so inclined.
00:46I wanted to know, have you always had a desire to write a book or were you inspired by, you know, your situation, your life to do, you will do great things?
00:55Yeah, I always wanted to write a picture book but I knew that for myself, for it to really, I would know what to say once I had a child. I felt like that's what I needed for me to, for it to really, I don't want to say, I don't want to say be authentic but I think that's the closest thing I can say.
01:16And for it to not be something that I was just guessing, like how would a parent feel like, but I was like, there's something that I know is going to be so specific and I know that I'll know exactly what to say once I'm in that position.
01:27And so You Will Do Great Things, as you mentioned, is a picture book. So how did you come about like planning this out and putting it together?
01:35Well, you all do, once I had that experience where I just knew I wanted to say what I wanted to say.
01:40And then I also had the experience of not having enough books in which I could turn the pages and my son would see himself reflected in those pages.
01:49You know, we have books that have so many different people and characters in them, but I wanted one more, more books that where he could see himself and books that weren't about his skin color or anything like that.
02:00Just a magical book, an experience, an adventure, just something that was as wondrous as all the other books that we were reading, but didn't necessarily reflect him.
02:11I wanted him to see that. It was very important to me that when we were building his library, that we were very cognizant of balancing that out so he could see a lot of everyone.
02:21And so I was like, that's what I feel is missing. And I want him to hear this message with seeing his reflection.
02:29And as a book lover, do you remember some of your favorite books as a child?
02:33I do. I loved Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Amelia Bedelia, Winnie the Pooh.
02:42I got into, but I also loved Nostradamus and those, I used to like reading a lot about like Nostradamus, Prophecies of the Apocalypse, Extrasensory Perception, ESP, Out of Body Experiences.
02:56This is all in third and fourth grade. Like the books are piled on top of Mary Poppins.
03:03But I loved Magical Things. I love The Chronicles of Narnia. And what else?
03:11And then later on, The Babysitter's Club, Sweet Valley High, The Girls of Canopy Hall, Cheerleaders, Couples.
03:20As an adult, do you have favorites right now? Like, can you add all those books that you have in your life?
03:26Do you have some favorites? Let me see. I can see it backwards. Okay.
03:32Ta-Nehisi Coates is the Water Dancer. Amazing. Americana by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
03:38Love that. Love that book.
03:38Love that book. It's almost like Day in the Life and it's so long, but you just, every page, you're just like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
03:45I'm going to talk to you again. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I'm going to underline that.
03:49Right.
03:49The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
03:53Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson.
03:55This really funny book about a girl who basically just doesn't belong to anyone, but she just wants to find her way.
04:00And she finds it with these kids who have like a very busy mom and a politician dad.
04:05But the thing about the kids is that they spontaneously combust. So he's just like, I'm going to run for a politician. I can't have all that happening.
04:12People are going to just, you know, it's too much attention, but it's just fun hands about love.
04:16And I used to be afraid of spontaneously combusting because when I was a kid, I also would read a lot of stuff like that.
04:22And it was like a book, like, believe it or not. And I was like, how do you, like, I remember asking my parents, like, how do you know if you're going to, like, what are the signs of spontaneously combusting?
04:31Like, what if I get too high? And I was always like, I was very scared of that. And killer bees.
04:38Okay, cool. And how do you get into your books? Like, how does Amory, like, find the time to sit? Like, how are you doing books?
04:45Are you, like, sitting in your backyard? Or are you, like, after you put your books on the bed? How does it work?
04:51I make the time. I would put books, before I had, like, the Kindle apps and all that, I would put the books in my bag between radio interviews, for instance.
05:00You know, now we have the phone, so it's easy. But I try to get off of the phone, because almost like the phone is just, it feels like the phone.
05:07And already, when I was reading the Harry Potter books, they're huge. And I came upon them as an adult, because when I was going on tour, someone from the record label,
05:16one of the people that I was working with, was really thoughtful and put aside some candles.
05:22I was like, this is your first tour. You're going to need to, like, de-stress. Here are some books online.
05:26Here are some kid books. Okay. And I was like, wow, this is taking me back to when I used to love to read as a kid.
05:33Right.
05:33And I was only reading nonfiction at that time, so I fell into the Harry Potter books. I would read, like, a thick one in, like, two days.
05:40But now, it's like my phone keeps calling me in my attention span, and it's sad. It's very sad, but I'm trying to do my best to stay off of it.
05:50I'm sure you get this often, but outside of your book, out of your love for books, where do things stand with you with music and the possibility of making some new tracks for people out there?
06:00I am about to start working. I actually, I'm always, like, I'm working on it, and I am, and this is what ends up happening.
06:05Because I'm working on it, and then I might stop and then do something. The vibe is different.
06:10So I have, like, songs that fall by the wayside, and I was, the ones that I have right now, I wouldn't say have fallen off, because they could still, I think that sonically they could still go.
06:20But I am, yes, something, yes, something in the works for a new project.
06:25Also, I would love to do, I think, we talked about this, we put together little things for it, but it's more of an idea still, is the All I Have tour, like an intimate tour.
06:36You should, yeah.
06:38I mean, for the All I Have album, and I would do a couple of songs, you know, from the other albums, but stick mostly to, like, just doing everything from the first album, and making that vibe of the show.
06:49I wanted to ask you, though, how has motherhood kind of changed your passion when it comes to music and things like that?
06:56Because I think we've had, people are having a conversation right now with Rihanna in Super Bowl, it's kind of like, oh, she's about to have another child, and her focus is, you know, not as much into music, but she's happy with that.
07:07Like, she's still going to do music at some point, but family seems to be, family and business, other passion that she has, seem to be the priority.
07:15And so, I think that's a great thing, because I think with, people make you feel like you have to choose something.
07:21And so, I wondered how, you know, your own experience with motherhood has kind of changed the way you approach music, and the desire to put music out in the way you may have done in the past.
07:32For me, I think, being a mother, and, you know, men don't always get this question.
07:38Some people say, well, why don't men get this question?
07:40I'm like, well, you guys, let's just be real.
07:42It's because a lot of the times men will, first of all, when they're pregnant, they just had a baby last week.
07:46You'll see them, oh, showing up to the conference or whatever it is.
07:49Right.
07:50Last week.
07:50But the woman who had the baby last week is at home right now.
07:53Right.
07:54So, it's a little different.
07:56You know, we are all equal but different, so it's not the same.
08:00So, women do juggle more.
08:02Women do tend to juggle a lot of that.
08:04And not just necessarily because they have to, but sometimes because they have to, and sometimes because that's what they want to do.
08:10And so, I think for me, becoming a mother made me a lot more empathetic.
08:15That's number one.
08:17But also, before I had a child, I was really able to put everything in perspective, I think.
08:23And just, like, knowing, needing balance, for instance.
08:26Like, before we had a child, I remember my husband and I having this conversation.
08:30And I was like, look, we need to have a little bit more of a schedule, like, a living schedule.
08:38Like, because our thing was, like, we just go, go, go.
08:41We're working on things.
08:42I was writing a lot and also juggling, like, some studio stuff.
08:46He was doing a lot of business things.
08:48And I was like, we don't have times where we, like, eat breakfast.
08:52This is lunch.
08:53Now it's dinner time.
08:54We just kind of just go and, are you hungry?
08:56I'm kind of hungry.
08:56I was like, that's cool.
08:57But I don't think that's the best for our health, number one.
09:01And number two, like, one day when we do, you know, have a child together, that would be bad.
09:08We can't do that.
09:09I think if we're going to do it then, we should actually just do it now because my mom has been telling that.
09:14She's been saying that for, like, for years.
09:16It's like, you need to have, you know, it's breakfast time.
09:19It's lunch time.
09:19It's dinner time.
09:20If you don't eat breakfast, but the same time every day where you're eating, you're taking care of yourself.
09:24And so I think it kind of is an extension of that.
09:26You could have a balance.
09:28You know, it's weird that sometimes people feel like, okay, someone's going to have a child.
09:31I guess they're not doing that anymore.
09:34Right.
09:34You could still be doing it, but in a different way, either less time or a lot more incubation time.
09:42So instead of being like, we're going to just knock all these out all day, it's like, I'm going to think, process, let things marinate, and then boom, boom, boom.
09:50And then now I'm going to think.
09:51You do have to change your process if you want to be there to nurture your child and do all those things.
09:58But, you know, it is something that I think everyone has to balance, not even just someone who's, you know, in the public eye.
10:06Because people who are professors or lawyers or they're teachers or, you know, writers, every job, hairstylists.
10:17Right.
10:19Everyone, when you have a child, you do, it puts into perspective, like, this is your time.
10:23Time is definitely finite.
10:25You can't just, you have to work around some things.
10:29And lastly, I want to ask you, what's, where can people get You Will Do Great Things?
10:34And what's next for you?
10:36You Will Do Great Things comes out March 28th.
10:39So excited about that.
10:40The audio book, which is magical, like, fully soundscapes, sound effects, music.
10:47I'm narrating the audio book.
10:48It comes out also on the 28th.
10:51And I'm so, so excited.
10:52You can purchase it anywhere books are found as well as online.
10:56And if you go to amarie.co, you'll see links to pre-order the book anywhere you like.
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