In the ‘80s (the time period of my novel, Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair), tattoo shops in the U.S. were mostly male—and mostly white. It took a lot of tenacious, passionate artists to change that, and one of the very first was a Black woman named Jacci Gresham, who started tattooing in New Orleans …

That moment when you open your first box of hardcovers, sitting in the first female-owned tattoo shop in your county, in the company of two of the finest tattoo artists you know, who helped you with the research for the book and are thrilled for you; and your mom, to whom the book is dedicated, …