The tension builds the momentum of the next chapters.
Read Like a Writer
Chapters 6-11
It’s week two, and honestly, it’s been hard not to read ahead. Though you are certainly welcome to.
In chapter six we’re back with Aaron and Xavier who are seemingly ideal companions. But they both know a bit more about one another than they should, which Newson highlights on P. 69, “I’d been assigned to bring Xavier to heel, and he had at his disposal a half dozen options to ruin me.”
There are all these areas of tension within the story whether between Horace and Aaron, or in this instance, the fact that Xavier and Aaron had that exchange in the bathroom. From the beginning, setting a story in the 1950s creates its own angst. We know that these characters living in their truth is dangerous for them. When writing, we should think about how even setting can already help create the tension that every book needs to keep the reader turning pages.
I love how real every character feels, and so I find myself having to research who may be real or fictitious. Especially, with how easily we see the relationship between Diahann and Xavier, it’s easy to believe that he actually existed.
By chapter seven, we’re back with Aaron and Horace who is beginning to build his relationship with Hollywood executives while they’re still on the ship. Aaron and Preston Walsh have a moment that showcases that maybe more people are on to the depth of the relationship between Aaron and Horace. This is only magnified when Horace’s jet goes off the grid for a few hours and they’re unsure if he will make it back.
But here we have a resolve to the tension of the scene, Horace makes it back safely. But then it’s how they relate to one another when they have sex in the quarters later. Horace is tender with Aaron which we have not seen and here, Aaron resolves to join him in Hollywood. While the declaration of love is not there, we feel it.
I love that Rasheed takes his own advice in that the intimate scene between the two of them reveals a turning point in their relationship. We chatted with the author about writing sex on our podcast a few years back.
By chapter nine, Horace and Aaron land at the Skylight Pictures studio lot in Hollywood as they have bought the rights to Horace’s life story. We get another turning point where Horace says on P. 96, “we ain’t got to hurry.”
By P. 97, we get this foreshadowing that the bliss of this experience will be short lived. “Those early days did a number on me. I confused them with real life. I forgot that the creative madness and bubbly frivolity were the byproduct of a hard-nosed business.”
Now, chapter ten is the first time I get a little lost in the back and forth of the time period. Aaron’s wife Kimberly is mentioned by name for the first time, if I’m not mistaken, though we get a reference to her early on. I did think at some point, “what happened to his wife?” but here I realize that we will learn more about that relationship.
In the final chapter of this week, we already see the facade of the life that Aaron and Horace were living in Hollywood start to crack. From trouble with the writers to the screentest, it’s not looking promising. We have this awkward moment with the driver, Tobias, who seems to overstep and we see this scary side of Horace come out. Culminating in a lunch with the head of the studio where they learn that they will not be moving forward with the film.
My heart cracks when Horace leaves, and Newson truly punctuates this moment with this line, “It had to be this way. It had to be this way. For the likes of us, it had to be this way.”
He says this, and as a reader, you know it to be true as well. And that is the visceral reaction to this emphasis here. We see the rule of threes, and we can glean so much from this as Aaron tries to convince himself that it had to be that way.
Happy reading! Looking forward to digging into the next chapters with you. Drop your thoughts in our Bookum chat!
-Ashley
YOUR READING SCHEDULE
We'll move through the book together over five weeks, with our final gathering in Week 6. Here's the pace:
Week 1 (July 26) — Chapters [Letter, Chapters 1-5]: Let the voice in. No pressure to analyze yet — just read.
Week 2 (August 2) — Chapters [6–11]: We start to look at the seams.
Week 3 (August 9) — Chapters [12–17]: Mid-read Nook conversation (details to come).
Week 4 (August 16) — Chapters [18-23]: The home stretch begins.
Week 5 (August 23) — Chapters [24–29]: Finish the book. Sit with it.
Week 6 (August 30) — The Gathering: In-person (+ virtual option) @ Reparations Club
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📚JOIN US
We will close out the book discussion with a summer gathering at Reparations Club, one of Los Angeles's most essential Black-owned bookstores on August 30th, 10am-11:30am. If you haven't picked up your copy yet, we'd love for you to grab it directly from them — it's a small act that keeps community-centered spaces like this one alive, and it means something that our dollars go there.
→ Order from Reparations Club: https://rep.club/products/only-one-sin
Use discount code: BOOKCLUB10 for 10% off.
Not in LA? Make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube channel, where we will stream the conversation.
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This year, we're also doing something new. We've created a Read Like a Writer club on Bookum, a platform built specifically for book communities. Think of the club as the space between our emails — where the conversation doesn't have to wait for next week.
Join us there for casual conversations and annotations between emails.
See you inside.
