"The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery" Author Clarence Haynes [WASHDAY WOOSAH]

Brown Ambition

iHeartPodcasts

Careers, Education, Self-improvement, Investing, Business

4.9 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, BA fam—grab your coffee, get cozy, and let’s talk all things The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery, our official August/September book club pick! Mandi Woodruff-Santos sits down with none other than Clarence Haynes, author, publishing pro, and all-around NYC icon for a bold, joyful, and real convo packed with gems.

Want to join the BA Book Club? All you've got to do is become a free member of our Patreon >

Show recap:

Mandi introduces Clarence and gets real about what inspired the Brown Ambition Book Club and her own book altar game.
Clarence shares how the powerful women of NYC—and some serious Shirley Chisholm style—sparked his creation of Gwendolyn Montgomery.
Dive deep into the book’s plot: a high-powered publicist with mystical secrets, a fashion event gone wild at the Brooklyn Museum, and a botanica in the South Bronx run by an Afro-Latine queer psychic
Discussion on breaking generational trauma, mother wounds, fierce ambition, and why we’re all haunted by more than just ghosts.
A real talk about dating as a queer Black man in NYC—Clarence gets candid on finding intimacy in the big city and the sometimes wild, sometimes isolating dating scene.
The realities of Black-centered speculative fiction—why it matters and what hustle it takes to get these stories out there.

Follow Clarence on IG @clarenceahaynes

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:09.2	You know, the language is kind of saucy, so a lot of times.
0:12.7	So it was a section with...
0:13.5	I know.
0:15.4	Yeah, that's why I chose it.
0:17.8	It's fun, a little spicy.
0:19.7	You're like my target reader.
0:22.5	You're the person I wanted to like create this book for like powerful,
0:26.7	um,
0:27.3	brown black women who are like just doing doing the thing.
0:31.0	And then, you know,
0:31.9	make it complex and crazy.
0:34.7	Yes.
0:35.4	I felt that.
0:36.3	I felt like you were speaking to me. All right. Well, let me kick off the show. Welcome, Brown Ambition. I am so excited to be joined by the Clarence Haynes. He is the author of Brown Ambition's official book club selection for August and September.
0:56.3	Y'all, I am so excited for y'all to read his book.
0:59.6	It is called Ghost of Gwendolyn Montgomery.
1:01.9	I have 5011 copies.
1:04.0	This is the one that I've been Gail King reading, you know,
1:07.0	and Gail always comes out with a book and it's got like 7011 little sticky notes in it.
1:30.3	That's my note taking copy. I also have one on display. I told Clarence, I made an altar to his book, which is very on brand. We're going to get into the book. It's all going to make sense. But Clarence, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you here. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. I'm over the moon. And thank you for your hospitality and the altar and the coordination of all things.
1:36.6	I appreciate it. You're going to feel right at home. My dog's about to start barking. I can feel her
	...

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