Has your muse always known what
genre you would eventually be published in?
Definitely! My favorite genre is
fantasy. When I began writing I knew the novel would fall into that genre.
Do you read your sub-genre
consistently or do you prefer another?
My sub-genre is urban fantasy. I do
read it consistently; however, I love paranormal romance, erotic romance,
sci-fi, and pretty much any novel that looks interesting. I recently stepped
out of my usual genres and read a cyberpunk book. The book is now one of my
favorites.
If you weren’t writing, what would
your fantasy occupation be?
Movie Critic or High-end Restaurant
Critic!
Do you live near, or have you ever
visited, the locations you use as settings in your works?
Yes. Fire Baptized’s setting is in Miami and I also live there. Miami is
such a vibrant city full of many cultures. I attempted to capture that within
the book. A lot of the supernatural characters are from Hispanic or Haitian
ethnic backgrounds. The magic system is also based on Santeria which is an Afro-Cuban
religion. The caged city that the supernaturals live in are divided into five
districts. Each districts is themed in a popular Santeria god’s favorite
colors, animals, objects, and powers. I really had a lot of fun writing the
book.
Where do you see brick and mortar
book stores in five years?
I believe brick and mortar book
stores will remain. Some will go out of business, but the smart and innovate
stores will survive. The survivors will provide some benefit to readers that
will motivate many to physically come to the store. Additionally, I have a kindle, but I still enjoy going into Barnes
and Noble, smelling the books, and sipping coffee as I browse the new releases.
You just can’t get that same feeling from the kindle.
Do you put any stock in reviews or
is reader feedback more important to you and why?
I put stock into both. Reviewers are
still readers. Both groups have taken the time to walk around in the book’s
world and experience the story. There is definitely value in both groups’
opinions.
Where do you write? Home office,
local Starbucks?
I write everywhere because I have a
pretty busy life. I work full time as an EEO specialist, I am a part-time
student at University of Miami Law, and I have three kids (5yr, 4yr, and 9mo).
I carry around a notebook with me. If I leave
the notebook at home, then I’m writing on napkins, receipts, and anything that
I can get my hands on.
However, I would say that there are
three places that I mainly write. One is the playground. It’s the best time to
write when I have my kids. Second is the Miami metro rail. I get a lot of
writing down while I commute back and forth to work. Third, believe it or not
is my bathroom. I put the little ones in the bath tub and throw some water toys
in. If it’s a good night, I am able to write for an hour.
Do you have mood music you write to?
What are your top five picks?
Music is my greatest inspiration. I
tend to like really weird songs when I write. Other songs I just enjoy to have
playing in my ear in the background. It is so hard to narrow down my favorite,
but I will have to say that in no exact order my top five picks are:
1- Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke
2- Mr. Right by Raheem DeVaughn
3- Rolling In the Deep by Adele
4- District Sleeps Alone Tonight by Postal
Service
5- Golden Brown by The Stranglers
Are you a full-time writer or do you
have other obligations? If you have another career, what do you do?
I have several other obligations. I
work full time with the Department of Labor. I go to University of Miami law
part-time. I’m a wife and a mother. I honestly don’t know how I was able to
write my book, but I do plan on buying stock in Starbucks. I drunk a lot of
coffee last year.
You’ve just found a magic lamp, the
genie popped out and granted you three wishes…what are they?
First Wish: Twenty billion dollars.
I would be able to write all day, travel, give my children an outstanding education, and even help those
that needed it.
Second Wish: The ability to eat
whatever I wanted and never gain weight. I could always eat chocolate covered fried cheese cake, foie gras over
pan seared duck, and bacon covered lobster.
Third Wish: The power to eliminate
all abuse and exploitation of children and animals throughout
the world. I hate when those that can’t defend themselves are harmed. I don’t look at the news when there are
cases about these issues because I become depressed.
If you won the lottery but the
stipulation was you had to give away half the winnings, what would you do with
that half?
I would give a large portion to
organizations that help children and animals.
Do you believe that we as writers
have certain moral obligations to our readers? How do you fulfill them?
This is a really interesting
question. hmmmm.
No. I don’t believe writers have
moral obligations to readers. A book is not as unavoidable as television shows,
radio music, and public signs. I believe that if a person picks up a book that
promotes abuse, racism, hate crimes, etc, then that person possibly was
interested in the topic to begin with. Granted there could be times when a
child happens to pick up the book, but then this would raise other issues like
parental neglect or the book’s placement in a public area
However, I do believe that writing
gives a great opportunity to promote moral issues. In Fire Baptized, the consequences of child abuse and drug addiction
are raised within the novel.
Do you have children and what do
they think about your career?
Well my little ones think it’s
awesome, but I’m not sure they truly grasp how cool it is to publish a book.
Favorite movie?
This question is so unfair. I am the
biggest movie goer in the world. I probably have fifty movies in my number one
spot. I’ll say Interview with a Vampire
because it is the first movie popped in my mind.
Bubble baths or long, hot steamy
showers?
Bubble baths with a nice book, my
husband, and/or Jason Momoa.
Beach or mountains?
Mountains. For the past six years I’ve
lived next to beaches, so it would be fun to have a nice change.
Chocolate, vanilla, or swirl cones?
Swirl cones full of Ben and Jerry’s
Chunky Monkey ice cream!!
Four wheel drives or sports cars?
Sports car. Truthfully, I’m more of
a bicycle type of girl.
Oil or lotion?
Well, it definitely matters what one
is doing with those two items. LOL! For regular daily use, I love lotion
because oil puts an extreme shine on my skin. However, in other situations I
enjoy oil, warmed if possible!
Kenya Wright always knew she would be famous since the ripe
old age of six when she sung the Michael Jackson thriller song in her bathroom
mirror. She has tried her hand at many things from enlisting in the Navy for
six years as a Persian-Farsi linguist to being a nude model at an art
university. However,
writing has been the only constant love in her life.
Now Kenya is
publishing her first book, Fire Baptized, the urban fantasy novel she always
wanted to read. This novel is the first book in a series.
Will she
succeed? Of course.
For she has
been coined The Urban Fantasy Queen, the Super Iconic Writer of this Age, The
Lyrical Genius of Our Generation. Granted, these are all terms coined by her,
within the private walls of her bathroom as she still sings the Michael Jackson
thriller song.
Kenya
Wright currently resides in Miami with her three amazing, overactive children,
a supportive, gorgeous husband, and three cool black cats that refuse to stop
sleeping on Kenya’s head at night.
Since the 1970’s humans have forced supernaturals to live in
caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their foreheads identify them by
species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of
wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been
tagged and categorized by humans.
Lanore
Vesta is marked with a silver X, the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens
shunned by society. She stays to herself, revealing her ability to create fire
only during emergencies. All she wants to do is graduate college and stop
having to steal to survive. But when she stumbles upon a murder in progress,
she catches the attention of a supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to
stop finding dead bodies in her apartment.
Enlisting
help from her Were-cheetah ex-boyfriend Meshach and a new mysterious friend
named Zulu, she is steered through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their
presence sometimes proves to be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.
While the
corpses pile up, and the scent of blood fills the air, Lanore is left
wondering: will she find the psycho or die trying?
Excerpt from Chapter
two
A creaking sound
announced MeShack’s door was opening.
“Like a slow river,
baby,” MeShack sang. His voice was a musical instrument, sending smooth liquid
tones through the apartment. “So slow, you run through my heart.”
He bent his
copper-toned body under the doorway’s frame.
“Like a slow river,
baby.” He wrapped a pink towel with yellow flowers around his waist and closed
the door. Drops of sweat clung to the rows of muscle on his stomach. “You run
through my heart. Like a slow--”
“Would you stop? You’re
going to get that song stuck in my head.” I glared at him. His skin glowed like
honey poured over layers of caramel. His black pupils blazed within hazel
irises. I looked away and asked, “Is Joanne asleep?”
“Is that her name?”
I rolled my eyes and
nodded.
“Yeah, she’s asleep.”
He walked in a bowlegged stride toward me, bent down to kiss my X brand, and
snatched the joint from me. “Cool shirt. The hot Were-cheetah that bought you
that shirt must be a comedic genius.”
“Or a pre-med geek who
thinks he’s funny,” I muttered. The shirt I’d put on after my shower said, ‘I
wish I was an Ion so I could form an exothermic bond with you.’
“I see you’ve been in
my marijuana supply tonight,” he said. "And I'm not a geek. Hot band
leaders can't be geeks."
"You're right.
Perhaps the best words to describe you would be humble and modest," I
said. He smiled and flexed his biceps in response.
Humming, he walked into
our kitchen, pulled a rubber band out of the ‘everything’ drawer, and tied his
black curls into a pony tail that went past his shoulder and lay at the center
of his back. He’d gotten the hair from his father, a Were-cheetah from
somewhere in Africa. Everything else came from his Iranian Were-cheetah mother.
Ten stray Pixies flew from under the door table
and swarmed in MeShack’s direction.
“These freaking strays
are killing me. No more, La La. I’m
serious. I convinced Janice to take two home with her.”
“Joanne,” I corrected,
watching him pull out sugar cubes and hand one to each pixie.
“I haven’t seen you
smoke in years. What’s up?” He grabbed a slice of raw ostrich meat from the
refrigerator, folded it, and then stuck the entire piece in his mouth.
I scrunched my nose up in disgust. “On a scale
of one to ten, with ten being horrific, today was a hundred thousand.”
“Why?” He drank milk
straight from the carton, threw the empty container into the trash, and burped.
“What’s wrong?” He
balanced the joint between his full lips and sat down next to me. “Whose neck
do I have to break tonight? Please say it’s Zulu.”
“For the thousandth
time, I’m not dating him.”
“Whatever, La La.”
MeShack had called me La La since we were
nine. Most Shapeshifters knew how to control their shifting by six. His mother
and my father were drug buddies. She’d been too busy getting high with my dad
to teach MeShack control. When I met him, he couldn’t say Lanore. His face had
shifted in and out of cheetah form. La La had been the only words he could
manage as his long tongue hung out of the side of his furry mouth.
