In 2018, at age 16, she was named the Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, California.
[3] She began attending Smith College in 2019 and is currently on indefinite leave to pursue writing.
[6] Mottley co-wrote and starred in a documentary short, When I Write It, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020.
[9] She wrote the original version during the summer of 2019, shortly after completing her high school education.
[5][15] Her debut novel, Nightcrawling, was a New York Times Best Seller[16] and an Oprah's Book Club pick in June 2022.