Society & Culture
Not only did entrepreneur and author of Why the Secrets?, Athalia Monae not realize that writing a fictional short story for a magazine contest years ago would one day lead to her turning the short story into a book. The contestants were given the direction that the short story should be about an African American woman with a struggle. Athalia thought about how a lack of communication was the demise of relationships she was one half of, in different relationships.Because there wasn’t honest and open communication, it caused years of anger, frustration and confusion. Knowing how she felt regarding her journey in these relationships, she decided to make the theme about showing the negative affects of how a lack of open, honest communication can destroy different types of relationships. Several months after Why the Secrets? published and during a conversation with a woman who had read the book, Athalia also realized that the journey Queen was regarding finding the whereabouts of her father was very similar to the journey Athalia was on in trying to find her birth father. Her hopes for anyone who reads this book is to realize having effective communication, no matter how scary it may seem, is worth having in attempt to save any relationship you care about. I would also like readers to realize that sometimes, things aren’t always what they seem. Gather all the facts before making any type of judgments against anyone, and understand that although you might be keeping a secret to try and protect others, you might be doing more damage than good. Have those uncomfortable conversations.Podcast: relevant talkTwitter: Athalia Monae Instagram: athaliamonae_authorFacebook: AuthorMonaeauthorWebsite: www.athaliamonae.comSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hownottothink)