Now what did you think about what I said in this week's episode...
Happy New Yesr!!! Welcome to Blonde Intelligence. I am your host Ms. Roni and I always seek exquisite cranial repertoire. Enjoy this throwback interview and see you next week,...bye. What if a right swipe leads you back centuries? We sit down with co-authors Luce Neida and Marshall Crowder to unpack how a modern online match sparked The Wanderers Enduring Love, a novel that bridges present-day Arkansas and historical Cameroon through DNA results, family memories, and meticulous research. Their story travels from first messages and quick meetups to archives and slave-ship manifests, linking a contemporary relationship with the legacy of The Wanderer, one of the last documented slave ships to reach the U.S.
We dig into the craft: how journaling turned into therapeutic co-writing, why they avoid rigid physical descriptions to center character and agency, and how dual timelines let love and heritage speak to each other. Lusamba, their historical heroine, stands at the heart of the narrative—resilient, grieving, and forced into impossible choices—while the present-day arc pulls from Luce and Marshall’s lived experiences across Puerto Rico, Georgia, California, and Arkansas. The result is a story that feels intimate and sweeping at once, blending romance, historical fiction, and memoir-like honesty without sacrificing clarity or pace.
COVID reshaped their launch, canceling book signings but creating unexpected focus. They share the nuts and bolts of promoting a debut through social media, community networks, and word of mouth, plus what comes next: a sequel, a children’s book inspired by childhood misadventures, and openness to stage or screen adaptations. If you care about online dating that actually works, DNA testing and ancestry, Black history and the Atlantic slave trade, or simply how to turn real life into meaningful fiction, you’ll find practical insights and a moving, layered love story here.
Read The Wanderers Enduring Love on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and tell a friend who loves romance with roots. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review—what family story would you write into your own plot?
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