We recently connected with H.D. Hunter and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have H.D. with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I get my work ethic from my father. We grew up not always having everything we needed but working hard for everything we got. The lessons were not fun. And many of them didn’t stick until much later. But as far back as I can remember, not only was my father a hard worker, he also really emphasized for me to take p r i d e in my work. He used to say things like “anything you put your name on is a representation of you.” He taught me that good things happen slowly. He taught me how to put love and care into personal projects, to make every line straight and every corner neat, if for no other reason than to be able to look at it and say, “I did my very best.”
I was in college before I learned how to manage my time and prioritize, because I was so used to this indoctrination of going full throttle for every single task I was given. But as I matured and learned to create balance for myself, I became so grateful to my father for what he was trying to show me. Even though the application wasn’t always the best, he knew that he was giving me a skill that would last a lifetime — a skill that as a Black entrepreneur, would have to. I learned to work hard from my father. I learned to work smart from my father. I learned to do my very best from a man who I never saw take a day off when there were responsibilities waiting to be handled.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a kidlit author with contracts at Random House and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. I write books that center the experiences of Black teenagers in America, and that dive through different misremembered or lesser known historical topics, like the Rosewood, FL riots of 1923, Oscarville, GA (the town beneath Lake Lanier), and more. When I’m not working on a project (and sometimes when I am) I’m traveling the nation to participate in speaking events, creative writing workshops, panels, and conferences that seek to enrich the experience of young readers and hopefully provide some positive representation for young kids of color.
Becoming an author was my dream from the time I was in elementary school, so it’s surreal to be living it out loud now and navigating this existence that few believed was possible for me. My first traditionally published book, which was honored with distinctions from the Georgia librarian consortium as well as the American Library Association, has taken me across the nation to engage in dialogue with young people. I get a chance to learn about them and their lives, and its by far the best part of the job. I’m grateful for everything literature has given me. When I was young, I learned a lot about the world through books. Now I get a play a part in the learning and development process for thousands of kids worldwide. I write books that are fun, adventurous, and thought provoking. I’m always trying to push the limits on storytelling and pave the way for new, experimental forms of art.
Catch me this summer in Columbus, Ohio at the “Columbus Book Festival.” I’ll be one of over 120 authors participating on panels and signing books! July 4th weekend, I’ll be in NOLA at Essence Fest, on the “Author’s Stage.” If you’re based in Atlanta, I’ll be teaching a summer camp for tweens at The Wren’s Nest and at The Friends’s School of Atlanta. Check me out @hdhunterbooks to stay up to date.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
When people talk about resilience, I sometimes see it differently than them.. To me, resilience isn’t about being unshakable. It’s not about being predisposed to handling the hardest thing or taking a punch and continuing on. I think about how much rejection a person has to experience when they are striving to create art for commercial consumption as a career. You hear “no” at least ten times more than you hear “yes,” and sometimes the No’s can be brutal.
What makes me feel resilient is not my ability to keep on fighting when I’ve been injured. It’s having a support system that can remind me of my light and provide me with care when I’m running low. It’s investing countless time in my craft so that even when I’m rejected, I can feel confident in the quality of my art, because I know I’ve paid my dues. It’s having the courage to produce ideas that are original and unique to me, knowing that everybody may not understand, but that I’m not being rejected while trying to tell someone else’s story. When the yes comes, it will be because somebody sees me and my art for what it is and for what it could mean. It’s highest potential. And there’s no greater alignment than that.
If folks are early in their journey, I would remind them that nothing worth having comes easy. But nothing worth doing can be done completely alone. We all need each other. And you have to be a friend to gain a friend. Find a community that you can pour into and allow that community to pour into you. Get in your bag and grind it out, but make time to care for yourself and remind yourself of your greatness. You can be tough, but you don’t have to, necessarily. You only have to endure, and stay true to yourself.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
2024 is the year of me rebuilding my support team. After separating from my agent in 2022, I went through a long period of struggling to find folks who organically aligned with my vision and complemented my work. I’m always, always looking for people I can learn from. I need photographers, videographers, and right now, I’m particularly looking to hire someone to run my Instagram account. I need to know other writers and teachers so that we can co-program together. I need to know anybody with a Black owned storefront in the southeast (and especially if it’s a bookstore) so that we can collaborate with one another. TEACHERS. Librarians, anybody based in schools! My greatest allies. I believe in mutual exchange and always lead with figuring out how we can be of use to one another so that we can both experience success. If it sounds like anything I’m doing can enhance your work or passion, I would love to hear from you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hughhdhunter.com
- Instagram: hdhunterbooks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hdhunterbooks/
- Other: Medium: https://medium.com/@hd_tsd
Image Credits
Caldwell Pro Photo, LLC. Justin McCarroll H.D. Hunter
