Good morning Hank, it’s Tuesday.
It’s question Tuesday, the day that we answer real questions
from real Nerdfighters. And I say “we” because I’m joined
by Ashley C Ford, bestselling memoirist and my friend!
It’s called Somebody’s Daughter, it’s out now, it’s so great.
What is your opinion on seagulls?
I am not a fan.
Me neither.
One of them has chased my husband.
Yeah.
Down a beach.
He is handsome.
He is very handsome
So I don’t blame them.
And I think that they were like “ay! skee! skee!"
How does it feel to have Oprah love your book?
When you’ve been outside all day And it’s been really, really cold and
you take of all of your wet, soggy clothes and you get into
the perfect hot shower, that’s what it feels like.
Wasn’t it amazing? Even though there were a lot of people in the
comments who were like, “hey Oprah where’d you get that quilt?”
Tomorrow as this is uploaded you can see Ashley C Ford in conversation
with Oprah Winfrey, live in person on zoom. [Laughs] Link in the dooblydoo.
Wait what is Somebody’s Daughter about?
Somebody’s Daughter is about my girlhood growing up with a
difficult parental situation. My mom had some emotional issues
and we had some interactions that were not super fun and the
whole time my father was incarcerated. So just talking about
dealing with that, talking about feelings that come from that.
And the hope that I could make it to the other side.
When does the worry about releasing a book end and the relief set in?
You tell me. [Laughs] What’s it been like coming home
to Indiana after so much time in New York?
Perfect.
What would you say to a young person living with trauma, or what do
you wish someone had said to you?
I wish someone had said to me that there’s no such thing
as a bad feeling. That my anger, sadness, frustration--
that I wasn’t being punished when I was having that kind of feeling.
And I also wasn’t doing anything wrong.
Part of what makes trauma often so difficult is not knowing when
or how it will end and not seeing a way out of it. And just because
you cannot see when or how something will end,
doesn’t mean it won’t end. I had somebody explain
emotions to me one time as like little tunnels that you walk
into and they curve. And because of the curve you can’t
see the light necessarily for a long time when you’re walking
into that tunnel. But eventually as you follow that curve,
you see the light and you can walk towards it. But a lot of
people have been taught or shown by example to stop in
the middle of that tunnel, and that’s just not going to work for
processing emotions. You got to go through it, but there’s
always a way out. What is powerful about memoir
as a means of expression? Memoir, in and of itself, asserts
that every single person, every human life, also has a story.
What’s your favorite thing about the Midwest?
Driving on backroads past cornfields way too fast,
listening to yacht rock like Christopher Cross. Ride like the Wind.
That’s got Michael McDonald in the background.
I can’t get into Michael McDonald.
That’s ok. -- And I feel bad
Can I do my Michael McDonald impression? -- Yes!
I keep forgetting we’re not in love anymore. -- Wow!
I’m gonna give everybody this secret really quick.
If you want to do a Michael McDonald impression for anybody,
all you have to do is yawn and sing at the same time.
Oh. I wonder it that’s how he does it. If he’s like “ok, it’s 3 in the morning.
Time to get to work.” “Time to hit the studio.”
Ashley’s book Somebody’s Daughter is available wherever
books are sold. It is such a special, extraordinary book.
Ashley, thank you for being here, and also for being the first guest
in our house in 15 months. -- Thank you for having me!
Hank we will see you on Friday.