The EA Friday Feature is a circle of five writers who write 1,000 word flash fiction stories every Friday and post them on their blogs. This week, we feature these authors, as we get to know them better, and learn what inspires them to write their stories.
Annemarie from Child of Destiny
I love her stories because they always touch on the paranormal, the other world, or just plain fun. Her wit makes me laugh, and let’s not forget the love of Sam and Dean in Supernatural. This October, she’s worked on her story about a man named Bulitia. He’s a man taken from his home and thrust into a new world, this story reminds me a bit of Amistad. Annemarie has also published a book this October.
Child of Destiny is her third book out…here’s a short glimpse.
….“Where’s your grandmother?” he asked, in a tone that strove for light curiosity but ended up sounding 
merely exasperated.
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously; he noticed that they became almost black.
“Why?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve been here three times and haven’t really seen her. I just wondered…” he replied, managing this time to sound casual about it.
She seemed to think about his answer like she was searching for loopholes or hidden implications.
“She went to New Orleans,” she replied finally,“for the festival.”
“Festival?” he asked, intrigued.
He put down his brush and sat on the floor facing her.
“The Feast of the Dead,” she replied.
“The feast…of the dead?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes,” she replied without embellishment.
“You mean like Toussaint?” he asked, accenting it correctly in French.
“Yes,” she said in surprise that he knew that name.
“But…isn’t that like, on Halloween?” he asked, trying to get her to speak in more than one syllable.
“It is.” She replied.
He raised his eyebrows at her, and kept silence so she would be forced to fill it.
After a minute of staring, she sighed and said, “My grandpa George is buried in the family crypt in New Orleans. Every year, my grandmother and…other friends gather to celebrate the day of his death which was 17th of August, 1980. They prepare immortelles for his grave, burn candles and tell stories to remember him. It is a ceremony that starts on the day of his death and concludes on Toussaint or the All Saints Day as the Christians call it. This year is special because it’s the ten year anniversary of his death.”
This little speech brought up so many questions for him; he didn’t know where to start…
“By friends, you mean other witches?” he asked her, wondering if she would answer.
She did not generally talk about her witchyness. If it hadn’t been for The Charlotte Incident, he probably wouldn’t have believed the stories.
“Witches, warlocks, other family members…” she replied with a shrug…”
Read more of this story, get the book here: Child of Destiny
Author Profile:
Annemarie Musawale is a free spirited single mom with a passion for reading and writing stories. She’s lived in Nairobi, Kenya for most of her life but considers herself to be a citizen of the world. She is a very cerebral person, able to exist mostly in her head which is very advantageous because the life of a writer is rather solitary. Her first story was written at some point in nursery school and her mother said, “Very Good, keep going”, so she did. But somehow she did not consider it as a career choice. She assumed writing stories is just what people do…like in their spare time. However when her son was about nine, he got a serious respiratory infection that required him to be admitted to hospital. Her job working as a pharm tech for a chemist meant she could not get any leave time to go be with her son in his time of need. That was when she considered a career change which would give her greater flexibility. Enter Academic Writing…which lead to other types of writing for money. Somehow, through that process, her first book, Child of Destiny was written and submitted to the Kwani Manuscript Project. The rest is kind of history.
Elly in Nairobi: You have recently published a book, Child of Destiny, tell us a bit about this book.
Annemarie: Child of Destiny is the first book I wrote in this series (Child of Destiny series), yet it’s the last to be published. It’s about the power of love to overcome and what the magic of love can produce if you let it. It’s totally not a romantic story though. It serves too much realness for that. But because of its realness, it seems to me to be likely to happen sometime somewhere. That’s what I try to do with all my stories however outlandish; make them likely. I really enjoyed writing this one; I didn’t hold back in any area and people might go from fanning themselves in arousal to embarrassment. Hopefully it starts some conversations going. Mostly I just really want people to enjoy it.
Elly in Nairobi: What inspires you to write fiction? What is your favorite thing about writing fiction?
Annemarie: The thing I love about fiction is the creation of worlds and universes that both the reader and the writer can escape into when reality gets too harsh. Its also just another form of being a creative being that
God made us to be. Everyone has the gift of creation;mine is stories.
Elly in Nairobi: What is your day like?
Annemarie: My day begins with checking my mail and then my social media. After that, I set up my ‘office’ either on my verandah or my living room depending on the weather and my mood. Have some breakfast and get to
work. Sometimes I exercise before starting on my workday, other times I don’t. Depends on my energy levels. I write most of the day sometimes until past midnight with one or two stops for meals and lots of tea.
Elly in Nairobi: The quirkiest thing you’ve done lately.
Annemarie: The quirkiest thing I’ve done lately is DM Rihanna on twitter a link to my book I guess.
Elly in Nairobi: What is it like for you writing the EA Friday Feature?
Annemarie: I enjoy the camaraderie of having five other writers collaborating with me. It’s a window to other worlds and teaches me something about how other writers are doing things. It also gives me feedback on my writing which is wonderful. I love honest feedback.
Elly in Nairobi: Anything you’d like to tell your readers, and new fans.
Annemarie: I’d like to tell my readers that I have created the Child of Destiny universe for their enjoyment and maybe also they learn something new they didn’t know. I try to base my legends and all in actual historical fact as much as possible though I don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Get her Book today:
Price: $5
Thank you Annemarie for taking the time for this short interview. I look forward to reading more stories from your blog. Look forward to an interview from Vincent of Flashes of Vice
Book Reviews | Self Publishing Ideas | ellyinnairobi.com 