FUNNY WOMEN: The Inspiration Behind Our Book, Boss Lady

by Alli Frank & Asha Youmans

Storylines– whether they be memoir, non-fiction, or fiction — are often born from a transformative time or event experienced by an author. A momentous event that changes the trajectory of the writer’s life, a perceived impediment to overcome, or perhaps arising from the ashes of heartbreak to love another day, are but a few examples of novel inspiration. And then there is our story of how Toni and the Arroyo family of East Palo Alto, California, came to be the luminaries of our fourth book, Boss Lady. Lucky for us, other than the occasional pains in the butt when we sat down to write, we experienced no suffering during the creation of Boss Lady.

What we were inspired by was a moment of humor and reverence for a fellow comediene that planted the kernel of an idea which blossomed into a balmy bouquet of a tale available to readers three years later.

As comedic writers, we are big fans of the remarkably talented Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her role as ‘Elaine’ in the iconic ensemble ‘90s sit-com, Seinfeld, was brilliant, and oh how we wish we could vote for ‘Selina Meyer’ from VEEP for president. Even in her silliest of jerky kicks masquerading as dance moves in Seinfeld, canned laughter of The New Adventures of Old Christine, or deadly politically incorrect zingers in VEEP, there is no doubt among her fans, that Julia is a smart, strategic, risk-taking talent to be admired for her abounding body of work.

On January 18, 2021, Julia appeared on the podcast Smartless with Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes. As the podcast is set up to do, there was a spirited amount of industry banter back and forth about worst-ever theater stories, expressions of admiration from the hosts over their hugely talented guest’s career, and probing questions about Julia’s ever so indulgent childhood: a mash up of WASPyness and Jewishness. 

Toward the end of the hour-long interview, the hosts asked Julia what she would do if she was not an actor. Would she be a director like Jason Bateman? No. She had zero interest, Julia responded.  A producer perhaps, Will Arnett enquired. No, Julia answered, she really only saw herself cut out for acting in the multi-faceted world of entertainment. Then what else would you do, Sean Hayes wanted to know. Julia thought for a beat and then deadpanned that she would work in an airport and that she “would drive the go-cart that takes the old people to the gate,” that that would be a cool job. (Can’t you just hear her saying it?) 

We are known for writing against the backdrop of schools in our books Tiny Imperfections, Never Meant to Meet You, and The Better Half. For these first three novels we chose schools for our characters’ milieu because between the two of us we have over forty years working in education, and we know it well. Schools are one of the greatest cross-sections of generations, gathering places for vastly different types of people, settings of the highs and lows of youth, and where great adventures in life often begin. 

Where else does this great confluence of humanity occur? Airports. Think of the conversations held in the hustle of passengers’ comings and goings. Consider the vast selections in on-flight entertainment, both on screen and among fellow fliers. Picture the snack carnage and mini-liquor bottles left behind during deplaning and visualize the variety of fashion choices when flying the friendly skies.  

If one of our comedic heroes was tasked with working amid the chaos of thousands in an airport, we imagined we could find something entertaining and interesting in that scenario too, so we brainstormed over one weekend of way too much caffeine and not a lot to do in the middle of COVID-19. While one of us was occupied with a pandemic binge-watching spree alongside her kids involving way too much Shark Tank, and the other of us was celebrating her son’s spoof of the same show created by her filmmaker son, an idea took hold.

And there it was. We had an airport, an entrepreneur, and our continued dedication to bring diverse voices to the page with joy and laughter. The last piece to our world-building puzzle for Boss Lady was our mothers. In our other books we have explored the aunt-niece relationship, mother-son dynamic, father-daughter deep love, but we had not yet invested our minds and our hearts in exploring the complications and curiosities of the mother-daughter connection. We decided to jump in up to our necks with Boss Lady. At this point in our early-book brainstorming we had more than enough ideas swirling to open a blank Word document and type – CHAPTER ONE.

We doubt Julia Louis-Dreyfus would have ever imagined her offhand comment at the end of an hour-long interview with three slaphappy men would be the ember that sparked the idea for Antonia Arroyo and Boss Lady, but in fact, it did. We owe you one, Julia and we sure hope our book makes it into your hands and readers’ hearts.

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ABOUT ALLI FRANK AND ASHA YOUMANS:

Alli Frank and Asha Youmans are coauthors of Tiny Imperfections (Random House, 2020), Never Meant to Meet You (Montlake, 2022), The Better Half (Mindy’s Book Studio, 2023) and now Boss Lady (Montlake; July 2024). Before becoming fulltime writers, Frank and Youmans each worked in education for more than twenty years. Learn more about Alli Frank and Asha Youmans at www.alliandasha.com and on IG/FB/X: @alliandasha.

BOSS LADY

In this funny and inspiring novel from the authors of The Better Half, a mess of a heroine is desperate to resolve her past so she can finally rediscover who she was always meant to be.

Antonia “Toni” Arroyo’s protective mother has outdated notions for her daughter’s life: employ her natural beauty and marry young. But Toni has wholly different aspirations.

A promising inventor and budding entrepreneur, she fights to keep her passions alive as a financially strapped mother of twins with a job in airport transportation services that has her going in circles. One treasured frequent passenger is elderly traveler Sylvia Eisenberg, Toni’s sage but unofficial adviser and cheerleader. When Toni meets Sylvia’s grandson, Ash, a striking venture capitalist, luck just might bend her way.

With a game-changing new business endeavor in development, Toni hustles an opportunity to pitch her idea on TV’s Innovation Nation. Toni’s unexpected challenger? Her very own recently resurfaced, self-aggrandizing not-quite-ex-husband. As Toni’s interrupted past collides with her tenuous future, she is more determined than ever to follow through on her delayed dreams. Toni’s been clinging to “maybe” for so long―it’s finally time for “absolutely.”

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing