Creativity Defined Now Has An App!

Creativity Defined

So I got myself an app which makes it easier for you to connect with me, talk to me, keep up with my books and interact with me. I've posted the link above so feel free to download it and let's get interacting!

Rihanna, An Inspiration

So in just the last month or so, I watched my idol +Rihanna go from the set of +Oceans8 to the set of +Bates Motel, back to Ocean's Ocho and then off to Dubai for her last +ANTI WORLD TOUR 2016 LIVE performance. She managed to avoid exciting talk about her and +Drake Aubrey Graham.

Do y'all think they broke up?
I don't particularly care but I am not convinced of it. Just taking history into account, +Rihanna isn't on social media enough to be single. When she's 'occupied' she tends to disappear. And she surely has disappeared. If it wasn't for paparazzi we would have no idea where she was. Also Leandra Simone, Riri's friend and social media manager, posted something about a 'dinner date'. My suspicion is that going public wasn't her idea and she wanted to get back under the radar with their relationship.

You remember I said once that everyone has a mental illness?
Well I really believe that she suffers from PTSD from that incident that shall remain unnamed.
So I do believe they're low key still together.
Anyway back to her grueling schedule.
So after going to Dubai for her last show, slaying it, she was back in BIM for the 50th Anniversary celebrations. There, she met Prince Harry and brought my ship to life for four five seconds. They did a HIV test in public together...

Speaking of HIV tests, y'all should go get tested. I understand that now you can get a 'to-go' kit and do the test in the comfort of your own home, without anyone's help. Also if you are positive, and you catch it early enough, you can go on medication and live a happy, loving long life. It's not a death sentence anymore. So go and get tested today. And use condoms.
Back to Rihanna's schedule; so after she was done educating us and making us die with feels, she was back in New York on the Oceans' set...On top of that, she released those velvet Puma Creepers that are giving me FOMO (whatever that is) and a new collaboration with +Manolo Blahnik, and accepted the award for Shoe of the Year - the first time a woman has ever gotten that award.

Meanwhile I'm just trying to get through this one novel. I tried doing Nanowrimo but couldn't find the time to write anything apart from my day job. When I watch Rihanna slaying like she does, it inspires me to try harder, do better. I wrote Child of Destiny because of Rihanna's Only Girl in the World then new album then Diamonds World Tour schedule. I was like, we all have the same 24 hours. Look at what she does with hers. I felt like I was drastically under-utilizing my own 24 hours. I still feel that way.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
However, so long as I wake up and Rihanna is still trying well then so will I.
My characters though, I think they do better than me when it comes to trying. Take Phil and Lillian for example. They're dead right? But they're still trying. What other possible excuse could there be not to keep at it?

#EraseandRewindChallenge is Live!

So you've bought the book. You've read it.
I hope.

Now win an $10 Amazon gift card by posting an +Instagram video of yourself reading from the book in thee moste dramatique fashion imaginable. I'll repost your vids on my instagram (@fictionistah) and the one that gets the most likes wins the prize.
Yay!
So simple right?
Get posting!
Challenge ends 10th December.

Of Ghosts and Legends

Child of Destiny has really benefited from Erase and Rewind launch week. But not my other books. Not Between Death and Heaven or Requiscant in Pace
*ponders why that could be*

Could it be that I pay too much attention to Child of Destiny and not enough to the rest?
Maybe.
So today, I'm going to talk about Between Death and Heaven. The fun facts.
For example did you know that my editor for the book called it a masterpiece? He was pretty in love with it. So in love in fact that he wasn't too thrilled that Child of Destiny went off in different tangent.
There I go, mentioning COD...
Anyways, seriously let us discuss the reasons why Between Death and Heaven is epic.

• It gives a whole new perspective on the after-life. Not totally original of course (what is?) but a twist on various cultural beliefs and legends plus a bit of Beetelgeuse which kind of depicted the afterlife as this dreary government office where you get these forms in order to move on to the next phase. And there are endless lines and lots of waiting.
• Between Death and Heaven has forms to be filled, and hoops to be jumped. But...like any good story, there are obstacles to getting there. Also Hitler.
• We meet Mama Ruth in this book. If you've read any of my child of destiny series books, then you know Mama Ruth. Only she and Armand are in all of them. Forever mysterious, forever pulling strings behind the scenes.
• Ah Armand...Mr. Hot Sexy Piece of Ass. What is he? Who is he? How does he fit? When I was writing him, I kinda visualized him as Louis de Pont du Lac. Not the Brad Pitt version; the original in the novel. Tall. Green eyed. Graceful. Angsty. Self-absorbed...Super cute.

And then there was Phil and Lillian. I wanted to write Lillian as the most anti-heroine to ever exist. She's taller than Phil, self sufficient, not delicate in any sense of the word. Hell, she's from south London. She comes from the Ends. She wrestles crocodiles for a living.She's a modern day Amazon. If she reminds me of anyone, it's Jamie Fraser.

Phil on the other hand is a delicate flower. In my head he kinda looks exactly like JLo's ex-husband Marc Anthony. Or Maria Doria Russell's Father Emilio Sandoz. Phil is actually part Native American so the latter probably fits better.

Yet.

They're a perfect fit.

Because the hero isn't always tall, square jawed and muscled.

And the female isn't always a crying, shrinking violet who needs to be saved.

Sometimes they save each other.

A Look Behind the Curtain

Now that you've had time to read Erase and Rewind it's time to take a look behind the scenes. A few facts that might interest you about the writing of.
First of all you might have noticed that there was some kind of foreign language in the story.

“What is that?” she exclaimed in fear taking an involuntary step back.

“Djab”, the sailor said falling to the ground.

Devil.

That language is Haitian Creole. I used google translate to write so I hope I got it right. Let me know if I fucked up huh?
I like to do that though. I like to mix and match cultures according to their lore and beliefs. A thing that I find is that there is a lot of intercourse between the cultural beliefs of different peoples. The people of Hispaniola who are featured in this story carried their beliefs in a boat from West Africa and then modified it from Christian beliefs, and the cultures of other peoples they came across. The thing is that ultimately, we all come from the same root.

This week is a good one to remember that huh?
There is also no escaping that mix and match that has taken place because it's like HIV. It gloms itself onto your DNA and you can't kill it without killing yourself.
Which makes me question all these so called cures people are claiming to have. If you've found the cure for HIV it means you can now cure viruses. All viruses. Because they all behave in the same way and that's why you can only manage them.

It's the same thing with supremacy. Be it white supremacy, kikuyu supremacy, wherever you find it in the world. People think it's a cure but it's not. It's a blindfold. A blindfold to assist the person donning it to escape from reality.
One thing I like about myself and it's reflected in the way I write is that escaping from reality is not in the cards. My books might give you a new way to look at that reality, a way to gain new perspectives; but not to kid yourself about it.
Some people don't like that. They prefer the 'bury your head in the sand' approach. More power to you. :)

And Now...For My Next Trick

It's been about...twelve days since Erase and Rewind was released. I'd like to thank you all for all the copies of Child of Destiny you've bought as a result...Very confusing but gratifying nevertheless.
I did manage to get my first review for Erase and Rewind and it was FIVE STARS!
Wooohooo!
Whoever you are Kindle Customer, I'm so happy you enjoyed the book.
I was thinking about maybe doing a sequel but then you guys seem more interested in Child of Destiny so maybe I concentrate on that sequel. It's more than half written but life has been happening at a 2016 rate so...
Is anybody having an epic 2016?
I won't complain because I haven't missed a meal, my son is alive and healthy and I have work to do, and y'all enjoy my books.
At least a little bit.
Yeah?

Well so anyway, pretty soon I shall be unveiling the #eraseandrewind challenge to take advantage of the current social media craze and give you another reason to buy the book.
 It involves reading.
In accents.
Will you join me?

Now What?

So orangeface won the election a.k.a Donald Trump. He is now President-Elect...

Let's just let that sink in for a moment.
Are you alright? Have you done some self care? Ran across any fascists trying to lynch you in the streets? If so I don't know what I can say to make it better. I don't know who you turn to when your leadership is in favor of your extermination. I really don't.
I feel a little selfish even mentioning it but I feel personally betrayed by white Americans. I feel like every single one who said that they weren't voting for Trump was actually a lying liar who lied. And I don't know if I can even watch any TV show starring white people right now.
There are like four famous white guys who have demonstrably indicated that they are devastated by the Trump win; the Carver twins, Chris Evans and Misha Collins. Everyone else is suspect. Because if 62% of white men voted for Trump, and if you subtract Gay and Trans white men, what percentage of straight white men are left who didn't vote for Trump?
20%?
Less?
All in all, I do not trust y'all lying asses even a little bit.

Yep. I'm talking to you Jensen

The thing is white American racist people, I get it. It's disturbing that #Oscarssowhite and #Blacklivesmatter is getting so much attention. It's disconcerting when Beyonce brings the 'Black Panthers' to the Superbowl and performs at the CMAs. It's disconcerting that she discovered that she's black..
Black Lives Matter went from a fringe terrorist group to a legitimate mainstream phenomenon. People were actually acknowledging that Police were in the wrong! After 200 years of doing whatever the fuck you wanted! Philando Castile died so #BLM could become legit.
It's all very....frightening to you; I get that.
On top of that Mr. Motherfucking Perfect Obama came to office for eight years, and did an outstanding job. Y'all can't have that! No. Better to destroy the country.
Right?

it has began

The thing is though...white people, trying to hold back the march of progress does nothing except get you left behind. You want to maintain the status quo as it was eight years ago or whatever? Try. 

But the genie is out of the box and it won't go back in.

Furthermore, the rest of the world just lost major respect for you, as it has with Britain and France. 

Your president-elect is in bed with Vladimir Putin who is determined to keep up this war in Syria. Do you really think that bombing the fuck out of Mosul is the way to defeat ISIS? Who is really hurt here? Your continued war against the Muslim world means that you're continually unsafe. 

America

Britain

France

Germany

All you hear out of you is bad news; being bombed, mass shootings, death and destruction. 

Trump will continue to fuel that cycle.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is quietly working away. Importing cars from Japan, importing electronics from China, making trade deals with their neighbors, buying locally manufactured shit...I look around me and I don't see one thing American made. 

The West is being left behind. The people that you reject as 'immigrants' are what make your country great. If you don't appreciate the blessing, it will be taken away from you. Your current economic troubles are not because Mexicans are taking your jobs. It's because you're so used to living on unlimited credit. And then 2008 happened and y'all had to learn to live within your means.

It's hard to do that. We all know that. But you can't bring the pre-economic crisis world back again no matter who is in charge. You can only learn to live in the new world.

Or perish.