Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings Debut Spotlight feature. For December that debut is Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ by Simone Amelia Jordan (Hachette), a rallying call for anyone who dreams big and a deeply personal story of family, culture and music from Australia’s most successful hip-hop journalist, a high-achieving Lebanese-Australian woman who refused to be limited by others.
Stay tuned later this month for a review of the book from Debut Spotlight critic Rosie Ofori Ward, and a video reading from the author on our Instagram.
Can you give a brief summary of Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ for those who haven’t read it yet?
Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ details my journey to becoming Australia’s most successful hip-hop journalist. Growing up Lebanese-Cypriot on the Central Coast in the 1980s and becoming a scholarship student in an elite school, I often felt like an outcast. Hip-hop became my lifeline, the pro-Black art form inspiring me to embrace my identity and challenge societal limitations.
From founding Australia’s top hip-hop and R&B publication to editing a renowned rap magazine in New York City, the narrative explores my experiences of love, heartbreak, family ties, illness, and resilience. It’s a story of defying the odds and realising that dreams can evolve with personal growth. My memoir serves as a love letter to young, racially diverse women, encouraging them to recognise and embrace their inherent power in a world that too often tries to diminish their potential.
Can you tell us about what drove you to write this book and what you hope readers will take away from it?
Several people have admired how I held onto so many keepsakes from early girlhood and used them in the book, e.g. letters I had written to The Daily Telegraph as a child, rueing racist media coverage, high school diaries, and more. Much to my mum’s dismay (she is the anti-hoarder), I held onto these mementos because, looking back now, I’ve always wanted to document my life.
Regarding writing, I hadn’t written one word until I learned about the Richell Prize during a COVID lockdown in 2021. With one month until the deadline, something about Hachette Australia and the Emerging Writers Festival’s simple and powerful callout—“BE BRAVE, BE BOLD AND SUBMIT YOUR WORK”—finally set aside my procrastination. I spent four weeks busting out the first three chapters and other entry requirements.
I hope that readers of Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ see themselves in my wins and failures, in the times I got it right and, like clockwork, horribly wrong. I come from a family that isn’t educated in a classic sense, but they gave me the tools to survive this rollercoaster we call life. My memoir is for those hellbent on going places, for anyone ever told they can’t (spoiler alert: you can).
I hope that readers see themselves in my wins and failures, in the times I got it right and, like clockwork, horribly wrong.
Before you were a debut author, you founded Urban Hitz, the country’s highest-selling rap and R&B publication (at the age of 23!) and have interviewed some of the genre’s biggest icons. Can you tell us how you got started in the music journalism scene and how much it’s changed since you started out?
I leapt from editorial assistant to editor-in-chief when I pitched Urban Hitz to a major publisher. Before that, I spent my late teens and early twenties contributing to music rags like 3D World, Juice, REQUEST and more. I wanted to be a music journalist from nine years old (detailed in chapter one, Dream A Little Dream), and thus, I had a head start when mapping out my career.
My time at Urban Hitz was a training ground for the next phase of my journey, which was in the Mecca of hip-hop: New York City. Initially, I was hired as the content director for DrJays.com, the most prominent online street fashion retailer at the time, because its Manhattan-based owners recognised my hustle. Then, I ventured into radio, becoming a co-host on America’s most prominent satellite network, SiriusXM. After eight years of Big Apple hustling, in late 2015, I reached a pinnacle: becoming content director of The Source, the Hip-Hop Bible.
Fast forward almost a decade later, and sadly, music journalism today—especially hip-hop reportage—has changed entirely since my glory days. First, blogs, social media, and now podcasts and short videos cover unverified news and salacious gossip in a fast-fashion model that is a total disservice to the art form—no respect for the foundations, barely any critical thinking or research, and a glaring lack of writing that packs a raw punch and has any rhythm, as pioneers of the craft like Greg Tate and dream hampton taught us.
Sadly, music journalism today—especially hip-hop reportage—has changed entirely since my glory days.
I hope that if and when this period ends, it generates a new wave of credible reportage. I’m not holding my breath for anytime soon.
As the recipient of the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for 2021 (congrats!), can you tell us about this experience and your book’s journey to publication?
Thank you! It was a manic experience. As I said, I started the first draft expressly for the contest. After the winner’s announcement in late 2021, I took the summer off to recharge my batteries. I added two more chapters in early 2022. With those five chapters, I was made an offer from Hachette Australia (the Richell Prize is $10,000 plus a 12-month mentorship, with no guarantee of publication). I had the fantastic Victoria Chylek at the Australian Society of Authors Legal Service work on the agreement with me.
Once the contract was signed, my brilliant editors Vanessa Radnidge and Rebecca Allen gave me target dates for the final manuscript. They told me when to have photos with credits, undergo a legal check, approvals, etc. Thankfully, it all fell into place right on time. As a journalist, I have an unwavering regard for deadlines and damn near broke my back to make each one.
Is there one thing you know now about the writing and publishing process that you wish you’d known when you were starting out?
You meet many generous writers who offer advice, introduce you to their contacts, and are genuinely committed to uplifting the industry. Sadly, you will also encounter one or two who are miserable and project (unwarranted) negative energy. You must steer clear of those.
What does your writing process look like? Any particular strategies or philosophies that help you find inspiration or put words on the page?
My process is simple: when I feel it, I write. When I don’t, I read.
What other writers or books influenced your writing (either this book specifically or your writing more broadly)? Are there any great books you’ve read lately that you’d like to recommend to KYD readers?
Hip-hop writers (names include Greg Tate, dream hampton, Danyel Smith, Nelson George, Dan Charnas, Mimi Valdes, and Raquel Cepeda) who inject a social conscience within their music criticism have influenced my work the most. Seminal books like Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc also stay with me.
When writing Tell Her She’s Dreamin’, I drew inspiration from wildly different yet similarly unapologetic modern women, like Jaquira Diaz, Roxane Gay, Sophia Chang, Melissa Febos and Rosie Waterland.
I drew inspiration from wildly different yet similarly unapologetic modern women.
Ultimately, my favourite stories, especially those female-driven, are rooted in the underdog emerging victorious. On that final note, I recommend KYD readers pick up Noura Erakat’s Justice for Some: Law & The Question of Palestine (2019). Free Palestine!
Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ is available now from your local independent bookseller.
