Weaver spoke with rolling out about the book, how to keep the faith when running into barriers and tips for young Black professionals.
When people hear Love & Whiskey, what do you want them to think about?
Hope. Every page of this book is hope. My story, Nearest’s story, Jack’s story, the town of Lynchburg — America as a whole right now is something that we are lacking, and everyone is feeling a bit pessimistic. This book reminds us of what it’s like when everyone is operating at their best.
How do you keep the faith when you run into barriers?
I keep the faith because barriers don’t mean anything. If you are a hurdler — and that’s what you do for a living — then you expect the hurdles to be there and your job is to jump over them. I never have an expectation of a straight track. I’m always expecting the hurdles, and that I need to go over them.
How would you unpack the difference between little dreams and big dreams?
I don’t know why anybody would dream a little dream. A dream is free, so why would it not be the biggest dream you could ever have? A lot of people are afraid of disappointment, so they will minimize their ability to succeed because we’re only going to go as far as we believe that we can go. It’s silly to just have a small dream when a big dream is free.
What would you whisper into the ear of young Black professionals?
Be authentic; be yourself. Don’t code switch, walk into every room like you belong there and operate as if you can do anything.
What makes this book special to you?
The book is special to me because it’s my personal journey, much of which I’ve never shared in the pages of a book before. It’s my personal journey, but also how my life intertwines with the lives of Nearest and Jack and that story. It’s just a beautiful story. Even going back through and reading it to edit and reading it to begin the audiobook, I love every page of that book. There are not very many authors who can get to the other side of that process and go, “I love reading this book, and it’s my own.”
