Daily Inspiration: Meet Ryane Nicole Granados

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryane Nicole Granados

Hi Ryane Nicole, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The life of an artist is often spent untethering oneself from the margins that restrict creativity. The life of a mother, however, is all about the ties that bind. Reconciling the struggles of parenting, race, gender and publishing are the critical components of my writing identity. This is an identity that was shaped by my mother and grandmother whose lives as Black women served to fortify my writing career.

I wanted to be a writer ever since I was a child. My grandmother gifted me the title of author at eight years old because I was constantly telling stories inspired by my adventures growing up in South Central Los Angeles while attending a private school in Bel Air. My grandmother eventually encouraged me to write my stories down in a notebook defining for me the meaning of fiction.

By the time I graduated Loyola Marymount University as the first ever African-American Valedictorian in the history of the college, I had witnessed my mother sacrifice so much for me and my writing dreams. When I opted to forgo law school in exchange for an MFA in creative writing, she simply handed me back the notebook my grandmother had given me all those years ago.

Now when I write, I write for the women and mothers who often have stories that exist outside the margins. I also write for myself, fighting against the financial strains brought about by caregiving for children, to declare, as Audre Lorde states, “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

As shared in a panel I facilitated for AWP called Writing & Mothering: Black Women Writing Under a Quadruple Minority in America, Andrea O’Reilly’s book Toni Morrison and Motherhood highlights how “Motherhood, in Morrison’s view, is fundamentally and profoundly an act of resistance.” In this spirit, my prose allows me to author a more magical world for my descendants and my writing reflects stories of survival inspired by innovative twists on the hero’s journey.

My hometown of Los Angeles serves as the backdrop for much of my fiction and non-fiction work and themes of family, legacy and resilience sit at the core of my writing portfolio. My essay about my son turning 13 and how this transition moved him from an adorable child to a perceived threat as a Black teenager in America garnered me a Pushcart nomination. Inspired by my role as a protector, as an educator, and as a woman in this unique political climate, I have found that my narrative voice is also deepened by my intersectional activism. I am a current member and the former Chapters Director for Women Who Submit, an organization that empowers women and nonbinary writers to submit their work for publication. Additionally, I teach at Loyola Marymount University where I also serve as the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center and Writing Center. I view my work in higher education as a significant opportunity to promote antiracist, culturally responsive, and inclusive practices for all students.

Currently the undertaking I am most excited about is my middle grade novella set to release with Leapfrog Press October 8th, 2024. This manuscript, THE AVES, was selected as the winner of the 2023 YA/MG Leapfrog Press Global Fiction Prize. Told in a series of vignettes, the collection explores the coming-of-age experiences of a young Black girl growing up in a fictionalized area of Los Angeles. Memories from my childhood growing up in South Central Los Angeles inspired me to write THE AVES. While the neighborhood in this novella is a make believe account of a bunch of neighborhoods that stretch between the boundaries of Crenshaw, Slauson, Central Ave, Florence, West Adams, Vermont, Van Ness and Inglewood, at its core, THE AVES is a mapping project of a magnificent people. THE AVES is a tribute to those we love and those we lost in a neighborhood where the concrete is always hot, and the sun bounces like a rubber ball off liquor stores, church doors, and laundromats into kitchen windows where little kids eat Cheerios.

THE AVES is also dedicated in honor of my young cousin who was killed by a hit and run driver when we were young children. The death of a child greatly shaped my own childhood, which adds to my desire to protect and preserve the life and dreams of young people though stories like THE AVES.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My writing process can be a challenge. I try to balance writing with work and the rearing of my children who range in age from toddler to teen and a 10 year old in between.

My writing process most resembles one of those cartoon bombs from the 19th century. I have a slow burning match cord filled with ideas that I tuck away during various times of the day. On my work commute, while waiting at one child’s drum practice or another child’s soccer practice, or even in my dreams, the fuse continues to burn. Eventually, it reaches the gunpowder, and it explodes. It’s at that time that I write feverishly.

Sometimes I write in the early morning and other times I write over a summer and winter break. I have also found I get a lot of writing done while pregnant. The explosive bursts seem to happen more frequently during this time, but I wouldn’t advise the continual conception of children as a viable writing strategy. Because of the frenetic nature of my writing process, I find that I use revision as a reintroduction to the work. This periodic distance provides new perspective and allows me to start again.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a proud LMU alumna having earned my BA in English and graduating in 2000 with the distinction of being the first ever African American Valedictorian in LMU’s history. For over 20 years, I worked in the fields of education and fine arts, including 13 years as a tenured Associate English Professor at Golden West College. In addition to teaching writing instruction for LMU’s First Year Seminar, I am currently the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center and Writing Center. My experience brings me to the ARC and Writing Center with a wealth of writing knowledge and a background in learning communities that promote student success.

I loved my time teaching at Golden West College. Likewise, returning back to LMU, a campus that lived out its mission of educating the whole person in my own undergraduate years, has been an exciting journey. I am most proud of the students I have helped to achieve their dreams. In this undertaking, they’ve helped reenergize my own dreams too. Through my longstanding commitment to writing and literacy for students, I pledge to keep upholding safe and collaborative interdisciplinary spaces. As a result, my colleagues have described me as an equity and inclusion resource for students and faculty alike.

I theorize that good writing should serve two purposes: It should be a mirror, where readers can see themselves depicted in a story, and it should be a window, where people who aren’t familiar with the setting can see into a new world. In the spirit of mirrors and windows, I hope THE AVES can be used as an educational tool to examine voice, character, theme and setting. I also hope it can be a window into a part of Los Angeles that is often described by people with no ties to the community or actual connection to its remarkable residents.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is figuring out a way to lessen the suffering of those around me. I feel like I have seen so much suffering: emotionally, psychologically, financially etc. in the world.

Suffering is also tied to justice, or a lack thereof, in humanity. I want to help shape a world where my children receive equitable opportunities despite race, class, or ability. I want my dreams for my children to be realized and I want the suffering of the world, often at the hands of greed and hate, to be overshadowed by love.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ryanenicolegranados
• Facebook: Ryane Nicole Granados