Write of Passage by Vanessa Riley cover art

Write of Passage by Vanessa Riley

Write of Passage by Vanessa Riley

By: Vanessa Riley
Listen for free

Join bestselling author Vanessa Riley as she delves into untold histories, reflects on current events through a historical lens, shares behind-the-scenes writing insights, and offers exclusive updates on her groundbreaking novels.

vanessariley.substack.comVanessa Riley Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Move That Dang Rock

    Move That Dang Rock
    Jun 2 2026
    What’s holding you back?Is it what they did? Is it some failing from years ago? Or is it what somebody said that shook you?I am a cross between the “name it and claim it” generation and the put-a-root-and-an-evil-eye-on-it people. But somewhere between faith and magic, between action and waiting, there’s something we are doing wrong.Move That Dang Rock: What’s Really Holding You Back?This weekend, I found myself in a room with thousands of Black women readers. The ladies had traveled across the country to buy books from Black authors, meet their favorite writers, and celebrate stories that center Black love, Black joy, and Black hope.It was the second Black Romance Book Fest.What amazes me most is that this gathering started as the dream of one indie author, Lauren Lacey. She imagined a place that would become a pilgrimage site for readers seeking stories where melanated heroes and heroines got happy endings.The publishing industry told her it couldn’t be done.Some said no one would come.Others suggested this was a pipe dream. Still others questioned if this market existed.Many stayed quiet, sneering that she’d soon learn that Black readers didn’t matter enough to build something big.Lauren didn’t listen.She didn’t waste her energy arguing with people who couldn’t see her vision. She didn’t spend years waiting for permission. She simply started building.Today, the Black Romance Book Fest is one of the largest gatherings of Black readers in the country. Thousands of readers fill these rooms. Authors sold books. Friendships were formed or renewed. Community became stronger.All because one person refused to let doubt become destiny.Now, some people might ask, “Why create something separate? Aren’t there already plenty of book festivals?”Let me explain it this way.Have you ever ordered a burger and specifically asked for no onions and no pickles?The waiter brings out lunch, but the pickle and onions are still there.You’re hungry, so you try to make it work, ripping off the pickle and onions. The burger is good. The meat is flavorful. The cheese is perfect, but the juice of the pickle, the tang of the onion are still there. Every few bites, you hit a pickle. The taste of onion coats the tongue. You spend the whole meal navigating around something that wasn’t made with you in mind.That’s what many spaces can feel like.There are wonderful book events all over the country, and I love attending them. I love meeting all readers. I love introducing people to stories about powerful women and expansive histories.But at Black Romance Book Fest, I don’t have to navigate around the pickles.I don’t have to explain myself.I don’t have to wonder if I belong.I can simply exist.I can let my hair down. I code-switch for fun, not survival.I am fully seen.And that kind of belonging matters.One thing I love about the Laurens of the world. They don’t understand the word “impossible.”Tell them something has never been done, and they immediately start figuring out how to do it.They challenge systems.They move fast.They focus. They win.Can you focus? Are you so accustomed to disappointment that you can’t imagine success?Are you frozen by a past failure? Are you haunted by a dream that didn’t work out the first time?Have you convinced yourself that your best efforts will never be enough?Are you quietly quitting on yourself?Maybe you’ve wanted to write a book for years and just couldn’t pull it together.I meet people all the time who tell me they want to write a book. Then I see them years later, and they still want to write a book.Wanting is not writing.One hundred words a day—about ten sentences—creates more than 30,000 words in a year. That’s a novella.The problem isn’t always talent.Sometimes the problem is fear, fear wrapped up in perfectionism.What’s the rock sitting in the middle of your path? What’s the thing you’ve been walking around, staring at, complaining about, but never moved?Are you waiting for the perfect moment?Sometimes the problem is us.In my life, I’ve let fear silence me.I’ve kept my head down when I should have spoken up. I’ve worried about criticism instead of focusing on purpose.But there comes a point when you have to rise.There comes a point when you have to look fear in the eye and move anyway.And if you fail? At least you failed swinging.So here are three questions to ask yourself when you’re trying to figure out what’s holding you back.First: What do I truly want?· Not what other people want for me.· Not what looks practical.· What do I actually want?Second: What am I afraid of?· Failure?· Success?· Criticism?· Disappointment?Name it, but don’t claim it.Third: What’s one thing I can do today? Just one thing.Not next year.Not someday.Today.Dreams aren’t built in giant leaps but by daily steps taken. So start, start today.Along the way, encourage somebody else.Support people who are trying.Celebrate effort.Point ...
    Show More Show Less
    12 mins
  • Sorry for Slavery. Checks for Criminals.

    Sorry for Slavery. Checks for Criminals.
    May 26 2026
    While criminals get rich, a holy man said sorry. - The pope apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery. Five hundred and seventy-four years after popes authorized the enslavement of Africans, the Vatican finally admits its complicity.So I’m asking. What does an apology mean when violent offenders and felons get reparations? I’m thinking this might be the first receipt in a long-overdue accounting.Today, Pope Leo XIV used his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas — “Magnificent Humanity” — to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in legitimizing slavery.I don’t know if y’all understand how big of a deal that is.According to the Associated Press, this is the first time a pope has publicly acknowledged and apologized for the role that past popes themselves played in giving European sovereigns authority to subjugate and enslave non-Christians.That is huge.But at the same time?It is still just words.So today, I’m going to give you a little history — and some math.In every book I write that involves the Caribbean, one of the most disconcerting things I find is that the Catholic Church was complicit in the moral sin of enslavement.I am a woman of faith (or, as Ellen, my daughter, says, Non-denominational with Baptist leanings).My faith grounds me. It’s my identity. It has sustained me in some of my darkest hours.But when I do research and see enslaved people working in horrible conditions for priests, ministers, missionaries, and all the Catholic orders, I have to sit with that contradiction.Can you imagine spreading the good news of a Savior while returning to camp to beat and punish someone because the law said you were allowed to own them? Can you imagine preaching salvation while denying someone else’s humanity?Today I ask: what matters more — the apology, or the 574-year delay?In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued Dum Diversas, authorizing the Portuguese crown to conquer, subjugate, and enslave non-Christians in Africa. The AP reports that this gave permission to “reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”That was 574 years ago.Five hundred and seventy-four years is a long time to wait for someone to say, “We were wrong.” So yes, give some credit to Pope Leo.He’s American. He is from Chicago. His family tree includes both enslaved people and enslavers. Maybe all of that matters. Maybe that’s why he could step up and say wrong is wrong, even if his own hands were never on the master’s whip.That means something.But it does not mean everything.Because apologies without repair are just public relations.So let’s talk numbers.In 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus — the Jesuits — sold 272 enslaved people to two Louisiana planters for $115,000.That gives us a benchmark:$115,000 divided by 272 people equals $422.79 per enslaved person in 1838 dollars.Historian Andrew Dial estimates that they held more than 20,000 people in bondage by the mid-eighteenth century.So let’s calculate from there.If 20,000 enslaved people were valued at the Georgetown benchmark:20,000 × $422.79 = $8.46 million in 1838 dollars. $296–338 millionBut Jesuits are just one order of the Catholic Church, if you add the Franciscans, Dominicans, Capuchins, missions, universities, and the plantation systems throughout Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Louisiana, and the French Caribbean, you can increase that number to 100,000 - 400,000 enslaved people.The value rises from $296 Million to as high as $5 billion in today’s dollars.That is the math.Now let’s widen the lens.The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database estimates about 12.5 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic slave trade.Using the same Georgetown benchmark:12.5 million × $422.79 = $5.285 billion in 1838 dollars.In today’s dollars, that is roughly: $185 billion to $211 billion.And that is still only the body-price.· Not labor.· Not land.· Not sugar.· Not cotton.· Not tobacco.· Not banks.· Not insurance.· Not universities.· Not inherited wealth.· Not compound interest.· Just the sale value of humans.Well, Vanessa, I’m not Catholic. I figured you’d remember that. Let’s bring this home to the United States.Historians generally estimate that about 388,000 Africans were directly imported into what became the United States. By 1860, the enslaved population had grown to nearly 4 million people through forced reproduction and hereditary slavery.Using the Georgetown benchmark:4,000,000 × $422.79 = $1.691 billion in 1838 dollars.Converted today: $59 billion to $68 billion.Now, if you divided that across roughly 49 million Black Americans today, that would be about: $1,200 to $1,388 per person.And somebody will say, “See, that’s not that much. Get over it.”They would be right about the number, because it is too small. It only values enslaved people as property. It does not include what was stolen from them and their descendants.It does not include:* 250 years of unpaid labor,* lost wages,*...
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • They Photoshopped Her Black

    They Photoshopped Her Black
    May 19 2026
    I almost got canceled over a book cover I didn’t create and fought against. But strangely enough, that disaster became part of a much bigger conversation about who gets represented in historical romance.My first book was traditionally published. Books two through sixteen—independently published.And the reason for going Indie after landing an agent was simple: at the time, there was this deeply toxic idea in publishing that stories centered on Black women in history—especially in the Regency and Georgian eras—didn’t have an audience.Publishers didn’t understand the history and how diverse it is. And worse, they underestimated readers. They didn’t think you were interested.So my agent and I parted ways, and I decided to prove there was a market for these books.And y’all showed up.Especially those of you who’ve been here since the beginning. You built this career with me. You bought the books, reviewed the books, recommended the books, argued for these heroines and these histories before the industry ever wanted to them to exist.Eventually, traditional publishers circled back. They wanted proposals, manuscripts, meetings. And I ultimately signed with Entangled Publishing in 2017.The Bittersweet Bride was my return to traditional publishing after years away.Now, if you think authors have control over their covers, let me lovingly disillusion you.Unless you’re a massive bestseller or have enough marketplace leverage to force approvals, you often don’t have much say at all. And at that point—In traditional publishing’s eyes, I was basically starting over. I had independent success, but not traditional “credibility.”So the cover came in.And you guys…it was digital blackface.The art department had apparently searched the internet trying to find a Black woman in Regency clothing and decided the solution was to take a White model and darken her skin in Photoshop.That was the cover for my seventeenth book.I told them, people could tell and that she looked ashy. Everyone knows Black women use lotion. That is my humor in a difficult situation. But despite my objections, that was the direction they chose.Then the internet detectives got involved. Folks on what is now X found the original image of the model and placed it beside the published cover. The outrage exploded.People were furious—and rightfully so. But a lot of folks also assumed I had approved it. Some came directly for me. And because my name was on that book, I stood there and took it.But I didn’t make that cover. I protested it. I lost the fight. And in traditional publishing, sometimes that happens—you lose the fight.Now to the publisher’s credit, once they realized how serious the backlash was, things changed. Suddenly I was included in cover discussions. Eventually they started working with the graphic artists who had designed many of my indie covers.The one benefit was the larger conversation became:Why is there such a lack of diverse historical stock photography?Why were publishers struggling to find Black models in period dress? Why weren’t there archives, databases, and photo shoots representing different skin tones, body types, cultures, and histories?People pushed hard for change.And like many things in publishing and media… some progress happened, a lot did not.A few companies stepped up. A few photographers expanded their collections. But a lot of the industry stayed status quo because the demand for diverse historical imagery was still considered “niche.”Fast forward to today.I’m scrolling through Instagram and I get a comment from the actual model whose photos were used for the cover of A Deal at Dawn.And y’all—I screamed for joy.This is book number thirty. Thirty.And this time, there’s a real Black woman on the cover portraying Katherine Wilcox, the eldest Wilcox sister, Lady Hampton. She’s elegant, beautiful, luminous—everything Katherine should be.And for me, it felt like a full-circle moment.My reentry into traditional publishing came with a cover disaster and now, years later, I have a cover miracle. My publisher Kensington Publishing Corp. found authentic imagery featuring a real Black model for my historical romance cover.That matters.Recently, I went on Threads and asked other authors how they’re navigating this issue now. Some shared resources for diverse stock photography. Some said they’re still struggling. Others have moved toward illustrated covers—what some folks dismissively call “cartoon covers.”But honestly? I love illustrated covers.Illustration allows artists to create a vision that includes everyone. You aren’t limited by the stock that exists. When I’ve had illustrated covers—let’s just say the difference in sales and wide appeal is apparent. It’s hard to accept that people look at pretty cover with a Black Regency Heroine and say it’s not for them.But things are better. Cover artists may still have to build composites from multiple ...
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet