So, how do two people write as one?
With a lot of laughter, in the case of Alli Frank and Asha Youmans, co-authors of the new novel "The Better Half," out July 1. The two women, who met about 10 years ago when both were working at Seattle's Bertschi School, quickly found that they shared "a very similar sense of humor," Youmans said, in an interview this month. (Youmans still lives in Seattle; Frank is now based in Sun Valley, Idaho.) Although both moved on to other jobs, they stayed in touch, and one day in 2018, Frank contacted Youmans with an idea: Why not write a novel together?
That book was "Tiny Imperfections," inspired by Frank meeting a Black woman in San Francisco who was the head of an elite private school. "It ran through her mind, watching this woman surrounded by white families: She's holding the keys to the kingdom. What's it like to be her?" Youmans said. Frank, who is white, wanted to turn the idea into a novel, but felt she needed some help to authentically convey the Black experience — so she called up her former colleague.
Youmans remembered meeting Frank at Third Place Books in Seward Park, near her home, to discuss the idea. "We had coffee for hours, and talked and talked and talked, and fantasized about the story we might write, and we just started. One of Alli's favorite things to say is 'ignorance is bliss,' and we were very blissful because we had no idea what we were supposed to do and what we weren't supposed to do. But we knew we were passionate about books and passionate about education and telling a story of kids and their families."
Education and community runs deep in Youmans' family: Her late father, Thomas "T.J." Vassar Jr., was one of the first Black students to attend Seattle's Lakeside School. After two terms on the Seattle School Board, he spent many years at Lakeside as an administrator, working to make the school diverse and welcoming for all. "The reason I write the way I write, it's carrying on his legacy," Youmans said, calling Vassar "the father of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] in education in this region." Growing up, she watched him and learned "so much about how to be gracious myself. You may be faced with ignorance, put a smile on your face and things can change in an instant."
"Tiny Imperfections" came out in the spring of 2020 — just in time for the pandemic to cancel any planned book-launch events. That disappointment was channeled into the authors' second novel, "Never Meant to Meet You," in which a pair of very different neighbors find connection. "We drew on our relationship for book two," said Youmans, adding that it was written during quarantine, in which their bubbles were "just the two of us and our families." After Frank moved to Sun Valley, "we learned the magic of FaceTime and Zoom," writing their third book remotely yet together. (It's still working well; they've almost finished their fourth.)
Like its two predecessors, "The Better Half" takes place against a backdrop of a school: in this case, the fictional, elite Royal-Hawkins School in Pasadena, California, where head Nina Morgan Clarke is dealing with ethical issues on the school board, drama in her own family, and a surprise romance — with unexpected results. It's a rom-com unafraid to tackle weighty issues, and Nina's narrative voice is a delightfully funny one, particularly in a late scene at a school board meeting. The book recently caught the eye of Mindy Kaling, who named it as the third selection in her Amazon imprint Mindy's Book Studio, which champions emerging, diverse authors telling stories of women.
You can easily imagine "The Better Half" as a movie, and Youmans acknowledges that they've had thoughts along those lines: Frank (who briefly chimed in to the interview on FaceTime) has already assembled a dream cast, imagining Meagan Good as Nina, John Krasinski as Nina's love interest Leo, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nina's father Fitzroy. "Tiny Imperfections" had a Netflix option with Regina King's production company that sadly went awry due to the pandemic; Youmans says they've got fingers crossed for another movie deal, but that the duo has learned to focus on the writing — "the Hollywood stuff is just a cherry on top."
Writing in one voice, Youmans said, takes "a lot of trust, a lot of compromise and patience." She and Frank bring their different life experiences, as a Black Baptist-raised woman and a white Jewish woman, to the page, learning from each other. The books take shape through what Youmans calls "writing leapfrog," passing chapters back and forth, rewriting, editing, querying. Frank focuses on story and Youmans on character and dialogue, but there's plenty of overlap.
For each book, Youmans said, their goal was to "write about those experiences that can sometimes be hard — race, religion, class, privilege — but with a little bit of joy in there, some laughter and an opportunity to learn." And there's plenty of joy in the process as well. "When we get together," Youmans said, of working with Frank, "my face hurts so much from laughing."
