Kenya Wright ~ Mixin' up the Supernaturals ~ Interview & Giveaway

Hello Kenya, welcome. We get to talk about Fire Baptized, a paranormal fantasy romance jammed packed with all sorts of supernatural beings. It’s also the first book of the Santeria Habitat series. *smile* Before we get started on the book interview, here’s a bit about Kenya:

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.

So here 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.

Yeah, I can believe the Urban Fantasy Queen name. I came close to coining that one on you, myself. *grins* 

Okay…I’m ready to ask those inquiring mind sorts of questions, so let’s get started…

What’s your main character Lanore’s job?

          She is a broke college student. In order to survive, she steals her course books, food, and anything else that can fit in her magically spelled pockets. From time to time she tutors Mixbreed kids in Shango district, but usually these kids are from poor families so she doesn’t get much money from tutoring them.

Interesting quirk Lanore has. Give us some insight into Lanore.

          Lanore is a kleptomaniac. In the opening of Fire Baptized, she has stolen textbooks from her college book store and is being chased by campus security Trolls.

          Lanore is also impulsive. She truly wants to help as many people as she can, and a lot of the time she puts herself in dangerous situations to protect others. Additionally, she has been known to simply act without thinking about the consequences.

Can you tell us about the abilities of Lanore? How do they help OR hinder?

          Lanore can create, control, and absorb fire. Her biggest weakness is water. If she is covered in water she will not be able to produce fire. Therefore, she hates walking in the rains while in her city’s most dangerous areas.

 

Why this location? Anything in particular in real-life that made you select it?

          Fire Baptized’s setting is in Miami. I also live there.

          Miami is such a vibrant city full of many cultures. I wanted to capture that within a fantasy world. In my novel, most 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.

 

Is Fire Baptized included in a series? If so, what series and can you give us titles and a tagline for other books in this series?

          Yes.   Fire Baptized is book one in the Santeria Habitat series.

Caged View (Book .5 of Santeria Habitat)

This is a collection of short stories and is available for free on Smashwords and Goodreads. The link is provided below.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141149

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13506743-caged-view

The Burning Bush (Book 2 of Santeria Habitat)

This will be released June 2012 and remains in Lanore’s point-of-view.

Which scene was your favorite to write? Can you share a little of it?

          I hate to admit this, but every scene between MeShack and Lanore are my favorite scenes.

          They’ve lived with each other since they were nine years old so they have this playful closeness that just makes me warm and fuzzy all over.

What are you working on now?

          I’m currently revising the sequel to Fire Baptized, which is called The Burning Bush. The sequel is longer than the first book. It also provides a lot of the world’s history.

Where can we find you? List all of your links.

          I am really active on goodreads. I do at least two blog posts a week and am always interacting with fellow readers on that site. I love to write, but my love for reading and discovering a cool book is number one. My goodreads link is below.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5402447.Kenya_Wright

          This is my author website:

 www.kenyawright.com

          This is my twitter address:

Firebaptizedd

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Quickie Quiz ~

What’s Kenya Wright’s Favorite…

Beverage?

Pinot Noir

Writing Tool?

Pen and Paper.

Pet?

CATS!

Season?

Spring.

Time of Day/Night?

Night

Fantasy/Paranormal Character?

Mermaid

Past time/Hobbie?

Foodie. Love eating at high-end restaurants.

What place have you never been and always wanted to go?  France

***giveaway***

Kenya is giving away winner’s choice of an e-book or signed print copy of Fire Baptized. Print copies open to US Shipping. Please leave a question or comment for Kenya AND your email address to be entered in the drawing. It will take place 4-7-12 sometime after noon EST and be announced here. Winner will be contacted. GOOD LUCK!!

Click Cover for more info & buy link

Fire Baptized

By Kenya Wright

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?

Kindle Paperback

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/a28T5HzpGJ4

Kenya, thank you for making my place one of your Bewitching Book Tours stops. Congratulations on Fire Baptized! And, I wish you many, many more successes.

Thank you everyone for stopping by to visit with Kenya – don’t forget to leave her a question or comment for a chance to win a copy of her book.

Until Next Time…Warm Hearts & Hugs,

Kay Dee

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