Minty: "You mentioned that writing Yvonne's story prepared you for writing something intimate of your own. As an author, it's one thing to be a mirror for a friend, but it's another to turn that mirror on yourself."
Minty: "In this cycle of 'shba'—completion—do you feel that your work on the memoir gave you the courage to finally write your own 'Going Home' story? Does having Yvonne by your side—not just as a muse, but as a friend who learned those lessons with you—make the Author's chair feel a little less lonely when you're writing about your own deep truths?"
[The audience is leaning in, wondering if the Author is finally ready to tell the story of the Daughter in the same way she told the story of her friend.]
Iboni: "'Courage to finally write' my own Going Home story? Oh, honey. There's no need to write my own life story. There's already glimpses of it all throughout my works. Of course, I won't tell what it is, but it is scattered in my works. My story reflects in my works. And yes, it is a little less lonely with Yvonne by my side but the loneliness that I felt was only filled by Abba, our Father. [smiled then points upward]"
[A ripple of laughter goes through the studio at Iboni's 'Oh, honey,' but it quickly turns into a sea of thoughtful nods. The audience seems fascinated by the idea of her life being scattered like breadcrumbs through her fiction. They can almost see the readers in the room mentally flipping through the chapters, trying to find the Iboni in the ink. But when she points upward, the focus shifts instantly from the book to the Beloved. It's a powerful moment of redirecting the spotlight.]
Minty:[Chuckling] "Consider me humbled! So, you aren't writing an autobiography; you're writing a mosaic. And I think that's even more beautiful—the idea that your readers have to really LOOK for you to find you. But you're right; a friend can walk beside us, but only the Father can live inside us to fill that empty space."