Interview with novelist Yani for Love's Deadly Masquerade

The author of the psychological thriller, Love’s Deadly Masquerade, is here today. Yani is talking about her books, writing, and more.

Bio

Yani is an Amazon best-selling author of five 5-star novels hailing from the North Philly and Germantown sections of Philadelphia. She's been in the top 20 of African American Fiction-Urban Life for A Thug's Redemption and debuted at number 12 in Romance and Erotica for Obsessive Intimacies.

Yani has a unique way of bringing stories to life, giving her readers the feeling that they are watching a movie with every page that is turned. Her characters are real, raw, and easy to relate to while her story lines are original, and have the ability to evoke emotions in the readers from start to finish.

She has been featured in Yo! Raps magazine for A Thug's Redemption and was also a featured author at the 2013 Houston Black Book festival. Yani first got her start writing for her school paper at University City. Her popular poems granted her an invitation to the Tri-State area's number 1 Hip-Hop and R&B radio station, where she recited one of her most memorable pieces, "Why Tyrone Can't Read".

She then moved on to performing at various open mic nights in Philadelphia before landing a publishing deal with Publish America. With the desire to self-publish and develop her own production company, Yani bought back the rights to A Thug's Redemption and re-released it under her own publishing company "Anitbeet Productions". She then followed up with two sequels and penned her first erotic novel in 2014. She is currently in the process of turning A Thug's Redemption into an independent film and working on her sixth novel which will be released Summer of 2016.To learn more about this remarkable author and her incredible body of work, visit theauthoryani.com

Welcome, Yani. Please tell us about your current release.

Love’s Deadly Masquerade is about Vanessa, a beautiful young woman with a bright and promising future. She’s never known love until she meets Eric, who sweeps her off of her feet. But is he the man of her dreams, or the monster of her nightmares? In a blink of an eye, Vanessa finds herself the victim of Eric’s brutal assaults physically, mentally, and sexually. With the help of strangers, she makes an escape. Soon after, she learns that her fairytale introduction to Eric was a disguise for something much darker and sinister. Reality sets in that once you deal with Eric, the only out is a deadly one. No one is safe once they’ve made contact with Vanessa and Eric won’t stop until the blood trail ends with hers. Love’s Deadly Masquerade shines a light on domestic violence fueled by possessiveness and past demons. It’s a story that every woman needs to read

What inspired you to write this book?

There have been a lot of stories popping up in the news over the last four years about women who were killed by their spouses and in most of those situations, when the family was interviewed, they either said they always suspected that something wasn’t right with the guy or they said they never expected anything like that to happen because the guy was “perfect”. Women are being silent about the abuse they endure thinking that will keep things from getting out of hand. Most times it’s their silence that results in their murders. I also wanted to give people a better perspective about women who are abused because too many think they are stupid for staying when the reasons aren’t as simple as “stupidity.” While I have never been in a physically abusive relationship, I’m hoping this story will get others to be more empathetic towards women who are being abused.

Excerpt from Love’s Deadly Masquerade:

Arianna opened her arms to hug her best friend and was more than slightly miffed when Vanessa winced and cringed after she squeezed her. Arianna backed away and looked her bestie over. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just called myself working out with Eric yesterday at the gym and I'm feeling it today, that's all," Vanessa lied.

Arianna knew she was lying and she was now positive that there was something more going on. "Take the glasses off, Vanna."

"You know I hate when you call me that," Vanessa replied, refusing to take the glasses off.

"Never mind that shit. Take off the glasses," Arianna said more sternly. "Take them off, now."

Vanessa was moving too slow with taking the shades off so Arianna snatched them off of her face. Her mouth hung open and she gasped. "Vanna... seriously?! SERIOUSLY!"

"Ari, it's not that deep, really I'm fine," Vanessa said as she reached for her sunglasses.

"The hell you are?! What the hell kind of work-out were y'all doing yesterday? Because judging by that black eye and your sore ribs, I'm going to guess boxing and you were the punching bag! Did Eric do this to you?"

"I'm fine," Vanessa replied, avoiding the question.

"You are not fine!" Arianna snatched her friend by the arm and pulled her into their apartment and slammed the door behind them.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Right now I am working on two books. One is about a group of women who are having “Girls’ Talk” and the conversation is raw, raunchy and without filters. It will be funny, but very real as it will go into what women deal with while dating, married or just having casual flings.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I knew I was a writer the first time I wrote a story and my teacher requested a copy of it outside of the assignment so she could share it with family and friends. The reaction that I got from her as well as my classmates let me know that I had a gift.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I am a writer full time now. Since I have 3 children, I don’t get to write as often as I would like to. Most of the time I steal time away late at night when everyone is asleep and I write as much as I can.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m not sure if this is a writing quirk but when it’s quiet, my thoughts are everywhere and even though I’m able to write, I’m not in the “zone” so to speak. But if I turn on a Tupac record or put on a Tupac movie like “Poetic Justice”, I can write like there is no tomorrow. It’s almost as though listening to him gets my muse in a groove and my fingers form a life of their own.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a nurse and a lawyer, a singer and a dancer. That was until I was about 10. But from then on, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I loved reading and writing and the reactions that I got from people whenever I read my work.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I want to thank readers for checking out this interview. To show my appreciation, I’m doing a free give-away for kindle copies of Love’s Deadly Masquerade. The first 10 people to follow me on Twitter (@urbanlit_goddes) and tweet me with the hashtag #LovesDeadlyMasquerade will win a copy. As soon as I follow you back, just be sure to DM me your email address and I will send the book to you.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon 

Thanks for being here today, Yani!