A Conversation with A Good Ending for Bad Memories Author, Vailes Shepperd

Vailes ("Joye") Shepperd is a captivating author. There are few historical novels about the successful Black experience before, during and after slavery. Because of a lack of documentation about the African American experience and culture during the early part of U.S. history, A Good Ending for Bad Memories (Bold Story Press, 2021), while fiction, is a true account of Black reality and culture in the U.S. It is full of compelling characters and rich settings, and adds to an important narrative. "Our history was not compiled and kept like others, but we all know stories that are important to know," Vailes relates. Her book's characters bring to life multiple aspects of the American Black experience, and her readers, like me, are the beneficiaries of her shared work.

A Good Ending for Bad Memories is a richly sensual novel about a prosperous African American family before, during, and after slavery. It threads truth, folklore, legend and fact, in a captivating exploration of a family’s complex legacy. The plot frames their experiences and events in the United States, as well as in Mexico and Egypt. Vailes brings her characters to life in a way I have not experienced, in recent memories. She shares that her brother is a poet but, I believe, Vailes's work sometimes reads like poetry.

Vailes is one of the founding/member editors of the Washington Independent Review of Books (www.wirobooks.com), which began when The Washington Post ceased publishing Book World. She interviewed authors and wrote regular articles about writing for the Washington Independent Review. She designed a writing program for high school students while teaching in a Saturday program under the auspices of Substance Abuse Prevention Education. Vailes was editor of The African Safari by P.J. Fetner (St. Martin’s Press) and Take Me with You by Scott Jackson, President and CEO of Global Impact. Her short story, "Monroe" was published in an anthology of women writing about men, Brothers and Others. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and, sometimes, two sons. A Good Ending for Bad Memories is the first of four upcoming books.

When asked what she does to become her best version, Vailes explains that "sometimes you just have to make a decision, like 'This is a good day. I am thankful to have this day and I'm going to make it the best I can. I'm going to smile at this. I'm going to look at something beautiful and smile.'" Vailes reminds us to be intentional about what we ingest with our minds. We all have the ability to control, more or less, what we allow into our orbit.

Learn more (and check out her blog) here: https://linktr.ee/vailesshepperd

https://www.vailesshepperdbooks.com/