DEAR READERS, Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love Old Things™️. I’m a classic movie fan, I’m always playing my perfectly curated playlist of 1960s love songs, and I will always watch a period piece. The thing about period pieces is that they so rarely star someone who looks like me. Even more rare is a Black period piece not about slavery or starting a jazz band. I set Dead Dead Girls in the Prohibition era for two reasons: One. I was writing an essay for my senior-year history class about the era, and why Prohibition failed; and two, I really like it. I think it’s my favorite decade in history. There’s something so alive about the decade. Even after a world-changing war, the generation of youth that followed was determined to live their lives the way they wanted to, and there’s something inspirational about that. Along with the fashion, and the music, writing, and art styles that grew from the Harlem Renaissance, I think it is criminally underrated. Something else I love is an unsolved mystery. Who doesn’t relax to true crime documentaries and fall asleep to related podcast episodes? My love of unsolved cases and mysteries has followed me for most of my life. The case in Dead Dead Girls is based on Jack the Ripper, the case we studied in (you guessed it!) my senior-year history class. The real Jack the Ripper remains unsolved. The one thing I need in a book is a main character who is relatable. Growing up in Alberta, I didn’t get many books with main characters who looked like me. I was allowed to be the sassy Black friend or the sidekick. I love detective novels, I love detective shows, but I was hard-pressed to find one that starred someone who looked like me. I did my best to make Lou a whole, well-rounded character, because there is nothing that bugs me more than a character who is flawless and perfect and never makes a mistake. Thank you so much for considering Dead Dead Girls for your book club. I loved writing every word of it, and the fact that I get to share it with the world is nothing short of a dream come true. I hope you love it as much as I do.
HAPPY READING,
NEKESA AFIA
LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT DEAD DEAD GIRLS PLAYLIST? Look no farther. Nekesa Afia’s favorite way to procrastinate is by making playlists and she’s curated the perfect, authentic playlist for your party.
MY BABY KNOWS HOW Original Indiana Five
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET Art Tatum
DANCING ON THE CEILING/ OF THEE I SING Richard Himber and His Orchestra
FIVE MONTHS, TWO WEEKS, TWO DAYS Louis Prima
I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU Helen Kane
I WANT TO BE BAD Helen Kane
POSITIVELY-ABSOLUTELY The Six Jumping Jacks
JAZZ ME BLUES Bix Beiderbecke & His Gang
I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH ME The Jack Payne Orchestra
MAKIN’ WHOOPEE Eddie Cantor
FIVE FOOT TWO, EYES OF BLUE Art Landry I’M CRAZY ’BOUT MY BABY Duke Ellington PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ Jack Livingston Big Band
I’M WILD ABOUT THAT THING Bessie Smith RUNNING, WILD Duke Ellington & His Jungle Band I’M NOBODY’S BABY Marion Harris EV’RYTHING IS HOTSY TOTSY NOW Herb Wiedoeft’s Cinderella Roof Orchestra
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ Duke Ellington IT DON’T MEAN A THING (IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING) Duke Ellington
AIN’T WE GOT FUN Van & Schenck
SOMEBODY STOLE MY GAL Fletcher Henderson
AIN’T SHE SWEET Gene Austin
(I WOULD DO) ANYTHING FOR YOU Duke Ellington
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME Teddy Ralph and His Orchestra
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LOUISE AND ROSA MARIA’S ULTIMATE PREGAME PLAYLIST Louise and Rosa Maria have pregaming down to an art. Clubs didn’t even open until midnight and Nekesa Afia knows from experience that choosing the right dress, jewelry, and accessories and putting makeup on is nothing short of a sacred ritual. And every ritual needs the perfect playlist. She’s sure that Louise’s taste in music is just as eclectic as hers, albeit in different ways. And with that, Nekesa presents:
TRUTH HURTS Lizzo
BOYS Lizzo
NEW RULES Dua Lipa
LOVE SHACK The B-52’s
JUICE Lizzo
FERGALICIOUS Fergie
GOOD AS HELL (REMIX) Lizzo feat. Ariana Grande
GLAMOROUS Fergie feat. Ludacris
SHUT UP AND DANCE Walk the Moon
MICKEY Toni Basil
DON’T YOU WANT ME The Human League
TOXIC Britney Spears
NO DIGGITY Blackstreet feat. Dr. Dre and Queen Pen
THANK U, NEXT Ariana Grande HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER Marina and the Diamonds
SHOOP Salt-N-Pepa
DONE. The Band Perry
WOMANIZER Britney Spears GIRLS CHASE BOYS Ingrid Michaelson UGLY HEART G.R.L. WANNABE Spice Girls
SHORT SKIRT / LONG JACKET Cake GIRLS The 1975 TIGHTROPE (SOLO VERSION) Janelle Monáe
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TALK LIKE THE TWENTIES Want to sound like you’re ready to do the Charleston with Louise and Rosa Maria? Here’s some 1920s slang to add to your vocabulary:
APPLESAUCE: Meaningless nonsense. BEE’S KNEES: Great, wonderful, the cat’s pajamas! CABBAGE: Money. CHEATERS: Glasses (the kind you wear). GAMS: Legs, especially on a sheba. GIGGLE WATER: The kind of drink that gets you ossified. GIN MILL: A speakeasy. HOOCH: Homemade or bootlegged alcohol. HOTSY-TOTSY: The bee’s knees. OSSIFIED: Drunk. SHEBA: An attractive woman. SHEIK: An attractive man. SPLIFFICATED: Ossified. SWELL: Hotsy-totsy. WHOOPEE: A good time. ZOZZLED: Splifficated.
ABOUT NEKESA AFIA Nekesa (Nuh-kes-ah) Afia (Ah-fee-ah) is a Canadian millennial who is doing her best. When she isn’t writing, she is either sewing, swing dancing, or actively trying to pet every dog she sees. Dead Dead Girls is her debut novel Photo © FizCo Photography