I first learned of Yemaya when I was researching fertility and thinking about having a child of my own. Yemaya is an orisha, a Yoruba goddess, and the goddess of home, fertility, and love. When I heard about a new book about Yemaya, I knew I had to read it. Shallow Waters, the debut novel by Anita Kopacz, tells the story of Yemaya’s journey to find her love, Obatala, in mid-1800s America. We see her travel along the Underground Railroad, looking for her true love and discovering her inner strength and resilience.

Anita Kopacz is the former Editor-in-Chief of Heart & Soul Magazine and Managing Editor of BeautyCents Magazine. Along with being an award-winning writer, she is a spiritual advisor. Kopacz was gracious enough to chat with me over the phone about her upcoming book.

What was the catalyst for writing the story?

I have been connected with the orishas for a while, probably since my teens. One of my friends, who is a priest of Oshun—another one of the Yoruba spirits—told me that Yemaya was a Black mermaid that watched over the enslaved Africans on the Middle Passage. She watched over the ones that made it over and also the ones that were either thrown overboard or jumped. I was like, what? There’s a Black mermaid that’s watching over us? As soon as he told me that, the story just started creating itself in my mind. It was marinating in my mind for a couple of years before I decided to write it down.

I saw that you have an MA in spiritual psychology. Has that informed your writing at all?

Absolutely. I actually got my MA in spiritual psychology because before all of this, when I was around eighteen, I started giving spiritual readings to people. But this was a whole different time, right? It’s not like what’s happening today, where it kind of seems like it could be normal. People would come and it was almost more like they were there for the show. They would be like, how do you know this? How could you know these things? I felt like they were coming to learn what was going to happen, but they weren’t growing from it. So I went and did a masters so that I could have more tools.

With the book it felt like I was opened up to the spirit of Yemaya and she just told me the story.

I loved the braiding of spiritual and historical facts. Did you know that you wanted to combine all these different elements of fiction, non-fiction, and spirituality?

Yes, I definitely had that intention going in, but as far as the actual character that I was going to use, I had no outline when I was writing it. Yemaya told me what was happening and the way the way that I would receive information of what characters were coming through. So this is a funny story—at one point, I was writing, and someone sent me a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Then I was doing something else, and someone brought him up again. And then I saw something on Instagram from him, which I’m sure my phone probably heard me say it, right? I was like, I guess Emerson is supposed to be in this book. I looked at how old he would be during the timeline, to see if it would work out, and it totally worked out. So I would get things like that, where I would get the message that that’s a person that should be in there, and then I would have to check, historically, to make sure it would make sense. I didn’t know who was going to be in it. It just came through.

How long did it take you to write the book?

It took me seven years, but that’s including two years of writer’s block! I always add those years in there. The actual story came out in about four months, and the rest of that time was editing. I know a lot of authors have said it, that most of the writing process is editing, but it really is.

Do you have a writing routine? And if so, what does that look like? And how has the pandemic affected it, if at all?

My writing routine has changed quite a bit. It used to be that all of my creative thoughts would come very late at night. I would put the kids to bed and I would work into the night hours. How it changed was that I realized if I do that this way, it’s going to take me forever to finish any work. And so, I was like, am I going to have to write with the kids around? Because I did not have help; I could not afford help. But I had told myself before I had kids—and this is no way shaming to anyone else—but I wanted to be their sole influence on how to move around in the world. Like not just taking care of them, but them seeing how I react to things, and just being that influence on them. So I had them with me all the time. What I learned to do, which I did not think was possible, is that I pulled out my computer and I wrote while they played around and while they were making noise. I learned how to work in front of them.

Did you use prompts or was it just anything that came to you?

I wrote anything that came to me. I wrote in sequence so it was whatever Yemaya told me was next. I actually didn’t know the very ending of the book until probably a month before I was signed. So anyone who got the book before had a completely different ending. I was sitting in the bedroom and I was like, Yemaya, I don’t feel like this is the ending, can you just give me the ending? And all of a sudden, the ending came and I’m like all right, this is it. As soon as I put that ending in there, it just all happened, as far as getting it signed and getting it out there.

So during 2020 with everyone being home and going through the different experiences that were coming up with race, I thought, this is time for this book; the time is now. What I realized is that I didn’t feel like any publisher would move fast enough. I felt like I had to get it out, so I decided to self-publish it. I got an ISBN number, I had a cover made, and while I was in that process, my best friend went to the ocean and asked Yemaya, what does Anita need to do to get this book out there? She felt like she got the message to tell Charlamagne tha God about the book. So she called him and said my best friend wrote this book, you need to read it. Within two days, he called me and asked if I was signed with anyone, and I said no. He told me he wanted it, don’t sign with anyone. I was like, yes, thank you! Because while I was self-publishing, I don’t know anything about it and I was just diving in completely blind.

This part feels like it happened so fast. But there was the whole seven years of grueling writing, and trying to write with kids around and having a full-time job. So it was hard.

How do you balance everything?

I make sure that I have something joyful that I’m doing in my life. When I can be connected to my joy, I’m able to balance things. I have to have the joy. Whether that’s dancing at home, going to retreats, doing some traveling, self-care massages, my yoga or walking. Those are those are ways that I balance myself—oh, and saying no.

That’s the key—saying no. It’s easy to forget that. How do you think the creative community can support those who aren’t cis men, and mothers especially?

In this book, I wrote that it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to write a book as well. For me, what was really helpful is that I have women circles that I meet with and created connections with, where they can watch my children while I write for a few hours, or if I’m feeling really frustrated, I have a place where I can talk about it and feel held and move through whatever triggers are coming up. So that when I go back into my life. I’m ready. I’m ready for everything being thrown at me. I feel like it’s up to us, really, to create these communities and these women circles. It’s such an ancient thing. Women have been gathering and praying and helping each other. I remember reading The Red Tent a long time ago and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so beautiful. That is super important to create because it really is up to us to create it. I know there’s a lot of people who say “I don’t have a community, I can’t find one,” and it’s like, you have to put in the work and create it.

Right, because so often, it won’t come to you. What, if anything, are you struggling with as a parent or as a writer right now?

As a parent, I have three teenagers right now. It is definitely an intense stage and I feel like I’m doing everything wrong in their eyes, and that’s really new to me. I’m so used to, you know, when they’re little and they love you so much. I would say that part of my struggle is trying to make sure they’re happy.

What about as a writer?

Right now, it feels like finding the time is a little bit hard, so it would actually be good for me to get back into the routine that I told you about earlier. Sometimes it’s easier said than done. When I was in my master’s program, my professor said that if you ever want to get anything done, give it to the busiest person you know. Because you find more time and you can figure it out and do it—you work smarter.

What books inspire you and what are you reading right now?

I am super inspired by Octavia Butler. I love Kindred, Wild Seed; those are my favorite books. I also have been inspired by The Alchemist. That was one of my favorite books when I was younger. I think I read it when I was around eighteen and bought it for everyone I knew. Right now, I’m reading Cicely Tyson’s book. That’s the book on my bedside. There are things that she says that makes me feel as if I’m connected to her.

What’s on the horizon for you; what would you like to do next?

I have a way that I want to do sequels, and I’m actually working on two at the same time, but not in a traditional way of doing sequels. What I can say, because I don’t want to give the stories away, is that the sequels will be about different orishas. So one will be about Oshun (a river deity and a manifestation of the Supreme Being) and the other will be about Oya (an orisha of the winds).

Author photo: Kesha Lambert