Tamron Hall relies on Texas roots and reporting background for crime novel
While many celebrities have poured their lives into memoirs, Tamron Hall had a different story to tell.
The Emmy-winning host and executive producer of the “Tamron Hall” show leaned on her 30 years of experience covering crime stories to write her debut thriller novel, “As the Wicked Watch” (HarperCollins).
“I wasn’t interested at this point of my life in writing a memoir,” said Hall, who also has hosted “Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall” on Investigation Discovery since 2013. “I thought about writing a mini memoir about the break when I exited the ‘Today’ show (in 2017) and created this show (in 2019). But we were in the middle of the pandemic, and I didn’t know if my show was returning. So I didn’t feel comfortable writing that story yet. But this, I felt compelled to write. This is the biggest part of my professional journey — 30 years of reporting, much of that reporting on stories like this.”
“As the Wicked Watch” is told through protagonist Jordan Manning, who is in many ways like Hall, a tenacious journalist with a flair for fashion, specifically stilettos, and a dedication to bringing justice. Manning is also a forensic scientist who leaves her hometown in Texas for a TV reporting job in Chicago and searches to solve the murders of two Black girls by serial killer. In Hall’s book, much like in real life, Black girls who go missing often don’t make the headlines.
Hall, a native of Luling who wrote the book with former newspaper reporter T. Shawn Taylor, recently has done virtual talks with Houston book stores, Kindred Stories and Murder By The Book. In this Houston exclusive interview, she talked about her novel, the heartache of covering crime stories and the best part of motherhood during the pandemic.
Q: Why did you choose the title “As the Wicked Watch?”
A:
It was something that came to me in my mind when I was thinking about my years of
covering crime and about individuals watching the coverage. I did a story many years ago in Texas where a man who had murdered someone barricaded himself inside of his home. The police in this small town asked us to back off and not have too much information on air because they believed he was watching. That has happened many times in my career, where we’ve wondered out loud or talked about it behind the scenes, “Was the wicked watching?”
Q: Your protagonist, Jordan Manning, grapples with her emotions in covering crime stories. Has that been your experience?
A: I have had this combination of heartache and confusion on how I, as a reporter, should handle crime stories, particularly when the victims are women and/or children. I had a folder with the photo and the life of that person that I would meditate over. I would pray, and I would actually ask the universe to help me. I didn’t want a family to ever watch a report that I did and feel hurt and pain from how I handled the story. The night before a shoot, I would really soak in that person and remind myself every step of the way that this was someone’s loved one who’s not going home, who they won’t hug again, and honor that person’s
life as I reported what happened to them.
Q: With your second book in the works, did you set out to have a crime series like author Walter Mosley’s character “Easy” Rawlins?
A: Yes, I did. Honestly, “Easy” Rawlins is one of my inspirations, and Nancy Drew. As a child, I grew up with a Nancy Drew series under my bed, and so it was really both.
Jordan is a protagonist that we have not seen before, truly fleshed out. It’s not just a novel about a reporter; she is, in so many ways, a superhero. She is fighting for justice, and she wants answers for these Black families and for these Black girls.
Q: How much of Jordan is you?
A: At her age, I wished that I was as fearless as Jordan. She’s a lot more forceful and more confrontational because, unlike me, she really doesn’t have to suffer the real ramifications of being called the “angry, difficult Black woman.” I live in the real world, where that can hurt your career and hurt your reputation. I would say about 40 percent me and a mix of all of these women who I’ve watched over the years in local and national news .
Q: With the issue of how the media values cases of missing Black women, do you see this changing?
A: Behind the scenes, reporters and women of color are speaking up about it in ways that viewers have no idea. Viewers often think they are the ones sounding the alarm, but it is happening in newsrooms. I think that we might see a change because more people of color, Black, brown, Latino, Asian, are now in higher decision-making roles. I don’t know how anyone can watch the coverage (of missing women) right now and not see the disparity and not ask, “Why is this happening?”
Q: What’s the most fun thing about having your own talk show?
A:
It’s like brunch with friends — and two mimosas in. The people we don’t like are gone, and we’re just really good friends having a conversation. That means having tough conversations like the mask debate and why wouldn’t you want a child to wear a mask, to love advice, real-life relationship dilemmas and dating.
Q: You’ve always had an incredible sense of style. Is it your Texas roots?
A:
My grandfather is from Luling, and every Sunday, even though he worked in the back of a grocery store at the barbecue pit, he’d walk out in his Stacy Adams shoes, his suit with his beautiful felt hat. My grandmother, also from Luling, was never seen without a beautiful hat on Sunday. So my family took great pride in presentation. They weren’t wealthy people; many of them wore uniforms every day to work, but at a Sunday service, they were unmistakable. So it’s really in my blood, I think. .
Q: Although you’re back in the studio now, what was best thing about doing your show from home?
A: Not missing milestones. A lot of the times you hear working parents say, “I missed his first step” or, “I missed her first word.” I had prepared myself, honestly, for that. I work a lot. We’re in the studio as early as 7 a.m., and some days I don’t get home until my son (2-year-old Moses) is already in bed. So not missing the milestones —was the biggest benefit.
Q: What brings you joy? A: Sunday morning in the bed with my son and my husband eating Cheerios and watching whatever is keeping him quiet in the bed. It’s our cuddle time. It brings me great joy.