When Tiara L. Simmons Mercius was crafting her debut book over the past decade, she had no idea she would eventually create a mirror for readers to see themselves in.
Her debut novel “Reasonable Accommodations” carries the weight of a life authentically lived. The story’s protagonist, Jordan Ellis, follows paths Mercius has experienced herself. The goal, Mercius told the Signal Tribune, was a story that examines diversity and inclusion in the workplace without falling into tropes of “fakespiration” or a soapbox tragedy.
Drawing on her experiences as a disabled Black woman navigating several legal workplaces, readers follow Jordan as she pursues her career as a corporate attorney at a prestigious law firm, with a sprinkle of her humorous dating life, flawed workplace culture and her own self-doubt and acceptance.
“I just wanted it to be a week in the life or a month in the life … and she just happens to be the main character,” Mercius said. “She just happened to be a Black disabled woman because I’m a Black disabled woman. She just happened to work at a law firm because I wanted to work at a law firm.”
The novel does not harp on the fact that Jordan is disabled or a Black woman; these are not defining characteristics, rather realistic flourishes and authentic experiences. Mercius includes several real-world experiences of being in a place that preaches diversity but doesn’t follow through in its actions, and what that’s meant for her and her career.
Just like Mercius, Jordan struggles with finding the moment where she “made it” in her career, which could only be accomplished once she put aside outside expectations and reflected on all she’s accomplished.
“Maybe I have made it and maybe I didn’t recognize it,” Mercius said of that moment.
The character of Jordan was a “brainchild from over a decade ago,” Mercius explained, living in journal pages across years of career changes, Mercius’ dating life, marriage and motherhood.
“I want people to realize disabled folks have range,” she said. “We’re not just here for inspiration, we’re not just here to be a tragic story. We have dreams, friends, and families.”
Thus, Jordan has a rich life in the novel, with a complex legal case, memorable dating experiences and life-changing realizations along the way. Jordan’s life follows the natural ebbs and flows that Mercius herself has experienced. Though she did not want to make “Reasonable Accommodations” a romance novel, and was careful not to make romance the central goal for Jordan, she said it happened as naturally as it did in her own life. It only felt natural then, to have Jordan experience romance in the midst of her career as well.
“People don’t see disabled people as romantic partners, so I was like I’m not taking this out,” Mercius said. “She [Jordan] goes on dates, she flirts, she has preferences. The non-disabled world, a lot of times because of that ableism and the way society has been structured over the years, disabled people are not romantic partners, we’re not the ones who take care of people, people take care of us.”
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Jordan’s character has also helped Mercius “play things out” in her head over the years, she said. Deleted scenes that didn’t make it into the novel taught Mercius things about herself, while some of her most vulnerable journeys and epiphanies are prescient themes in “Reasonable Accommodations.”
The title itself acts as a play on the term “reasonable accommodation,” which in the legal field means a modification to a job or environment that allows a person with a disability to receive equal employment opportunities. For most of her life, Mercius said she often tried to make herself accommodating to environments that were not physically suited for her.
When she was in college and grad school, Mercius remembers trying to make herself fit in and accommodate the world around her, later realizing the world should be accommodating her. This realization was a slow journey, though, which began when she found an online community of disabled people on social media in 2013 and began to fully accept her disability.
“I was trying to fight it my whole life,” she said. “Like, ‘I’m disabled but let me not be that disabled’ … They [her community] helped me understand that I’m not the issue, I’m not the burden, so why am I jumping through hoops?”
Weaving this complex and vulnerable relationship with herself into “Reasonable Accommodations” has already helped other people realize they too are not singular in their experience. She didn’t see the impact of her novel until she got a message from someone reading the book telling her how they went through the same experience in college.
“That feedback told me I have something bigger. I thought I was just going to have a novel. I didn’t realize the possibility of having a mirror that people were going to see themselves in,” Mercius said. “I came up in such a way where it was like you have to be for everyone and — no I don’t. I just have to be me.”
Though Mercius has come to accept herself on her journey, she persists in the goal of challenging workplaces and environments where marginalized people are still being left out in the world. It’s a sentiment that is best embodied by a central quote in her novel: “The system wasn’t built with me in mind. That doesn’t mean I don’t belong in it.”
“Reasonable Accommodations” will have an official book launch on Thursday, Aug. 27 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. at the Our Generation Cares Labs in Downtown Long Beach (235 E. Broadway, eighth floor).
The launch will feature a book signing, books for purchase and an interactive Q&A focusing on professional accessibility and local corporate culture, where attendees will act as a jury and review evidence provided by Mercius. Those interested in attending can RSVP at JordanEllisEsq.com/hearing. Space is limited, but virtual attendance is also an option.
