Billed as “the first Jordan Manning novel,” As the Wicked Watch introduces readers to a character who appealingly reads a lot like Hall herself: She’s a crime reporter who’s just moved from her native Texas (Hall hails from the teeny Lone Star State town of Luling) to Chicago (where Hall worked at a TV station for 10 years). In the Windy City, where she finds herself to be one of the few women of color working in her field, she investigates the grisly deaths of two young Black women murdered by a mysterious serial killer. “Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power,” the book’s official description reads. “Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving a voice to the voiceless.” With As the Wicked Watch (which comes out Tues., Oct. 26) and her Jordan Manning series, Hall herself wants to do the same: to give a voice to the voiceless in the real world who so often wind up relegated to the margins of major news coverage, not to mention the crime-fiction genre. Towards that end, the host of her own self-titled talk show recently answered some questions exclusively for Parade.com outlining her ambitions as a crime novelist and where Jordan Manning’s narrative may be headed next.
Have you always wanted to write fiction? When did the ideas that fueled this novel first surface and when did you start working on it?
I didn’t harbor any dreams of writing fiction, [but] I did think about many stories I’ve covered in the past and over the years, to be honest. I wondered what happened behind the scenes in the investigations, including what we weren’t able to report on or uncover that could’ve shed light on what happened and why. The idea to write the novel started four years ago, around the time I was preparing to leave the TODAY show. I was taping Deadline Crime and was looking for a new way to communicate with people who read and watch some of the work I had done.
Is writing fiction easier or harder for you than nonfiction journalism? What’s the biggest challenge in making that switch?
I found fiction to be liberating because I was able to create scenarios, scenes and relationships without giving inaccurate information. When you’re reporting, the facts are the facts. With fiction, you’re able to create ideas and conversations about how you imagined them versus how they actually happened. The biggest challenge truly was time; creating this world while working daily in the real world, making sure I didn’t let the real world bleed in. I wanted to be clear this story was fiction—and to be clear with the reader [that], while inspired by me, this was not my life.
You modeled Jordan Manning, your main character, on yourself, but I’m wondering in what ways you chose to differentiate her from you and why?
Jordan pushes the establishment and the status quo in a way I didn’t early in my career. I think when I found my voice, I pushed back in a different way, creating a talk show that many believed wouldn’t work or wasn’t a good idea. For me, her ability to push the establishment and push conventional wisdom is very different from my personal career as a journalist. That doesn’t mean I fell in line—I certainly always advocated for families and survivors—but I didn’t always feel empowered to push the establishment within the confines of the newsroom in fear it could end my career.
After covering so many real-life stories about murder and domestic abuse, what made you want to tell a similar story through fiction?
I feel I approached this from a place of how to write wrongs in a way that you’re unable to as a reporter. Again, there are boundaries and limitations with any job and Jordan liberated me from those rules. There are things you’re unable to do, there are documents that you can’t have access to, and Jordan is not burdened with some of the realities that exist when you are a real reporter. While living in a world inspired by reality, she is a forensic scientist turned journalist. I wanted the reader to be able to suspend their imagination of what her life should or should not be.
Are there messages or morals you hope to get across that you think are best delivered in a novel?
I don’t know if there are messages of morals, [but] I do think this character allows reflection of how we treat victims, how we talk about victims, how we assign value to some lives over others based on race and/or gender.
The crime genre has seen such a proliferation of female protagonists over the past several years. Why do you think that is?
I think we’ve seen a proliferation of female protagonists—but not Black female protagonists, or women of color. I think that touches on one of the reasons why I wanted to start my series where the victim is Black and the protagonist is Black. It presents a different perspective and view that I believe is much needed.
How do you hope your book expands on the crime genre and pushes back on some of the genre’s stereotypes?
I hope the character allows people to expand their view of who or what a hero is. I talk a lot about the storyline of what a victim looks like, but who are the good guys? Who’s the good woman? Who comes in to save the day and what does that look like? Far too often, it’s men and when it comes to race, Black women aren’t seen as the protagonist who can come in and save the day. We are often victims or in worse cases, invisible or not in the storyline.
What can you tell us about where you see Jordan Manning going from here?
I see Jordan focusing on her career and having to make tough decisions. What is she? Is she a reporter or an investigator? And how does she thread the needle while also being an ambitious young woman with a bright future ahead of her? Will the industry crush that or her unapologetic nature? Or will she force the industry to bow to a new voice and a new generation of women? Jordan’s journey will continue in the second book of this series. Next, 25 best books written by women of color to read in 2021.
