What is the title of your latest release?
THE BOOK OF CHUCK
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
On the surface, it’s about a family with the ability to see death coming. But underneath, it’s really about one man trying to become the kind of ancestor his descendants deserve. To love well, to break cycles, and to leave his family with something better than what was handed to him.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
After reading the Deep Vellum Publishing re-release of THE ACCOMMODATION, the 1987 Jim Schutze book that explores race and civil rights in Dallas, I knew I wanted to set some of the story there.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
I would. Baby is cool, compassionate, and honest. I think she’d be a solid friend.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Human, wounded, healing
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Because I see this book as a love story, I learned a little bit about love. Mainly that love is work of the soul. While that work is unfolding, it can appear flexible, kind, or even cruel, depending on where we’re standing. We spend so much time judging the work itself that we forget to wait for the fruit. And the fruit of love never disappoints.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I do a little of both. For this book, I edited as I drafted.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I’m a self-proclaimed cookie connoisseur. Right now, there’s this spot in DFW – Cookie Society. I do a lot of celebrating with a box from that spot.
Describe your writing space/office!
No overhead lighting. I’m a lamp-light person. It’s a little more cluttered than I’d like, but a little more organized than usual. There are pictures of the people, places, and things that matter most to me. It always smells like citrus. There’s a record player in the corner, and when I can’t seem to focus, I put on Al Green. Calendars everywhere.
Who is an author you admire?
Alice Walker. This is the writer that made me want to write.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Pat Conroy’s THE PRINCE OF TIDES. This is the book that made me want to write.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was surreal. I’d had a call with the editor and publisher, and I knew they liked the book, but I didn’t realize how much until my agent called to tell me they wanted it. I honestly thought she was joking. It had taken so long to get to that moment that I didn’t know what was supposed to happen next. What surprised me most was realizing that when a dream comes true, you don’t get to stay in the dream. You wake up. Suddenly you’re in a new reality, and for a little while it feels just as unfamiliar as the one you were trying to leave. That was the strangest part for me.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
This is difficult because I like several. I think I must go with fiction though.
What’s your favorite movie?
The 1985 version of The Color Purple.
What is your favorite season?
Fall
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Most people find this strange, but I like to spend my birthdays alone. I enjoy letting the day pass quietly, reflecting on what it means to have been granted another year. There’s something sacred about taking the time to notice the life you’ve been given and sitting with the gratitude of still being here.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Right now, on this day, Mexican
What do you do when you have free time?
Binge watch foreign television shows
What can readers expect from you next?
A story collection: Starlite/Astro/Galaxy
THE BOOK OF CHUCK by LaToya Watkins
A Novel
An extraordinary new novel about family, legacy, and an inherited curse, from National Book Award–nominated author LaToya Watkins
Set across Texas and spanning four generations, The Book of Chuck is a gimlet-eyed investigation into birthright and belonging through the story of one family in which certain members have clairvoyant powers.
“Pa, no go. Him burn.” When baby Nannie utters these prophetic words in 1936, she marks herself as cursed. The ability to see death before it happens forever changes the course of her life, and the lives of her descendants.
Forty years later, Chuck is about to become a father. He intends to make a home filled with love, unlike the one he was born into. But when he begins paying visits to his estranged mother, Nannie, in search of answers, she starts pushing him away from the life he’s always wanted.
It’s the cusp of a new millennium, and Baby is on the precipice of major change. Her mother is packing up their home and moving them into a religious community that believes the world is ending. But when Baby begins to have surprising visions of death, she investigates her lineage, piecing together what she can about her father, Chuck, and her family’s deeply shrouded past. These visions, once seen as a curse, become an indelible link to her history—recasting what she thought she understood of love, parentage, and prophecy.
Multicultural African-American | Women’s Fiction Southern [ Penguin, On Sale: August 18, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593854549 / eISBN: 9780593854556 ]
Buy THE BOOK OF CHUCK: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About LaToya Watkins
LaToya Watkins was born in Texas (USA). … She received a PhD in Aesthetic Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is co-director of the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat. LaToya lives and writes in Dallas, Texas.
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