Myah Ariel’s Mother Integrated Mary Steenburgen’s Junior High School. Their Story Inspired Her Novel (Exclusive)

Ariel reconnected with Steenburgen, her mother’s childhood friend, ahead of writing her new novel, ‘When I Think of You’

After her mother's death in 2021, author Myah Ariel received an unexpected email from Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen.

“Mary is someone that my mom had talked about,” Ariel tells PEOPLE. “She emailed me and just said, ‘I heard about your mom's passing. I'm so sorry that we lost touch.’...something about the ripples that [my mother] sent out in her life. It was just one of the most poetic statements.”

Ariel’s mother, Karen Louise Muldrow, and Steenburgen had both attended Ridge Road Junior High School in North Little Rock, Arkansas in the mid-1960s, where Muldrow was one of four students to first integrate the all-White school. Steenburgen had asked one of her former classmates for Ariel’s email address.

That story, along with Muldrow and Steenburgen’s eventual friendship, inspired a plotline in Ariel’s new novel, When I Think of You, out April 16 from Berkley. Both a romance and an insightful look at the entertainment industry, the book also touches upon connection — both between its characters and for people who inspired its material.

When I Think of You follows two film industry professionals— Kaliya, who works as a receptionist at a movie studio, and Danny, a rising director. When the two end up collaborating on Danny’s next project, complications ensue — especially since Kaliya and Danny are exes with heartbreak in their past. The film that Kaliya and Danny are working on — about Danny’s parent’s experiences with integration — is based on Steenburgen and Muldrow’s story.

Steenburgen recalls that she had never gone to school with students of color prior to the arrival of Muldrow and other students at Ridge Road. She noticed that Muldrow sat near her in many of her classes.

“I desperately did want to be her friend, but I also didn't want to scare her to death,” Steenburgen says. “And so little by little, we just would chat.”

Related: '#SeeHer Story' Honors Civil Rights Leader Ruby Bridges on Anniversary of Attending White School

Ariel, who was raised in a multi-generational household, grew up hearing stories about her mother, and interviewed her for a project while attending New York University. Ariel learned that it was important to Muldrow’s parents that their daughter “dress a certain way” and “presented a certain way.”

It was equally as important to Muldrow to dispel stereotypes, Ariel says.

“I know that my mom, even as just a little 12-year-old girl, had all of this pressure on her shoulders,” she says. Though Ariel notes that it was brave of Steenburgen to forge the friendship, the actress says she feels a similar way. When Steenburgen was later honored for her humanitarian work, she flew Muldrow to Los Angeles to accept the award alongside her, and credited Muldrow for inspiring her passion for civil rights.

Related: How Mary Steenburgen is Helping Kids Read With the Help of Her Accordion

“You would think of the bravest human you knew as an adult, but the bravest human I knew was someone my age and her name was Karen,” Steenburgen says.

When I Think of You’s larger plot, however, is rooted in the film industry, which both Ariel and Steenburgen know well. For Ariel, who worked as a receptionist at a film studio, her experience in Hollywood helped her to develop her character Kaliya, who works a similar job.

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“I was the person who answered the phones, made the coffee,” Ariel recalls. “If there were ants in the conference room, I was on it…all of that in the name of paying my dues, because hopefully one day, I'll get to work my way up the ladder.”

Steenburgen recalls how some people also doubted her own ability to make it in Hollywood, where she would later star in movies like Ragtime, Step Brothers and the Book Club franchise.

“I remember in maybe my sixth year of waitressing, people would say to my parents, ‘You should tell her she can come back to Arkansas, and she can always teach drama,’” Steenburgen recalls. “‘Or she could be in local productions.’ And it's not like I didn't think that would be cool, but I never doubted that I was going to be able to do the things I have been able to do.”

Related: Mary Steenburgen Makes Sentimental Statement at 2024 Oscars with Vintage Wardrobe Choice from Her 1981 Win

Ariel, who was “used to being told no” throughout her career, says that her new path as a novelist, which was spurred by reading romance novels starting in 2020, came for good reason.

“Even though all those doors felt like they closed on me so many years ago, the ones that are opening now, I think were always meant to,” Ariel says.

Readers can also expect some spice in When I Think of You, for which Ariel found inspiration in ‘90s Black romances like Love Jones and Love and Basketball. Steenburgen calls the novel “smart sexy” and Ariel says the book is slowly getting into the hands of her family members.

“If I can get through my mother-in-law reading this book, I think I can get through anyone,” she says.

Related: 14 Romance Novels You'll Love for Valentine's Day (and Beyond!)

The novel’s story-within-the-story also remains important to Ariel, who notes how relevant it remains today.

“It's really important to just be honest and upfront about how this wasn't so long ago, and how there are people here today who've lived these experiences and who are deeply impacted by these experiences,” she says. “This is very real for them and it still matters that we talk about these things even more openly so that we don't lose the lessons that we've learned.”

“I just found that so beautifully true and moving,” Steenburgen adds.

Ariel also hopes that readers go into the story expecting romance — and leave with something more.

“Not only does it become my story based on my experience in the entertainment industry, but I get to honor my mom by giving a piece of her story as well,” she says.

When I Think of You comes out April 16 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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