Dark Genesis Blog Tour Stop

Hello lovelies!  Today I am participating in the Dark Genesis Blog Tour!  I have an awesome excerpt and author interview for you so I hope you'll stick around!!!

This fantastic tour is being hosted by Enchanted Book Promotions.  It's an amazing site and I hope you all stop by and join! :)

Dark Genesis
by A.D. Koboah
Series: The Darkling Trilogy #1
Release Date: March 21, 2012

Amazon / Goodreads

Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.

On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise.

Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.

EXCERPT

My name is Luna and my tale begins on a dry summer evening in 1807.

I was walking quickly along a dusty country road, my shoes stirring up a small cloud of dust that turned the hem of my faded violet dress a muddy brown. The trail of dust I left in my wake soon settled. But the pressing need that had me make this two-hour journey in beaten shoes and a broken spirit, in the midst of a particularly merciless Mississippi summer, would not be settled as easily. Wiping the sweat from my brow and waving away the flying insects that droned lazily near my face, I wished for some respite from the relentless heat but found none. Although the sun hung low in the topaz blue sky, it felt as if I were walking through warm soup and it was likely to stay like this long after the sun went down.

I would have found some relief from the pitiless sun if I had chosen to walk through the woods that rose up on either side of the road like a green and brown wall. But green woody spaces such as those have been a deep source of fear for me since I was a child and I imagined that they would continue to be so long past what I guessed was my twenty-second or twenty-third year on this earth. So I clutched my lantern and small cloth bundle and walked on in the heat, listening to the birdcalls punctuate the otherwise still air.

I was lucky to be able to make this journey during the summer months as the previous two trips had been made in the dead of winter when night gathered up the day long before I could finish serving the family’s supper and slip away, leaving the other house slaves to do my share of work and conceal my absence. That small mercy meant that I didn’t have to walk alone in the dark, afraid to light my lamp in case the solitary glow brought unwanted attention my way, or have to dive into the trees every time the sound of a horse’s hooves disturbed the sweet melody of the crickets. It also meant that when I turned the corner and saw the woodland give way to cotton fields, marking the beginning of the Marshall plantation, there was still roughly two hours of daylight left, which meant I would be able to finish my business and be back before dark, hopefully before I was missed by my hawk-eyed mistress.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
 Hi, Emily. Thank you for featuring my debut novel Dark Genesis on your site.
I was born in London but spent the first few years of my life in Ghana, West Africa, before returning to London which is where I have lived ever since. Although I’ve always written in my spare time, I worked for a Facilities Management company until 2005 when I decided to write full-time.

2. Why did you become a writer?

I’ve pretty much always had my nose stuck in a book since I can remember and it is a great way to escape the world. Writing your own novel takes that escapism to another level, as instead of disappearing into someone else’s world, you can create your own and draw other people into that creation.

3. Who were your biggest influences?

Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Toni Morrison. I pretty much grew up on Stephen King and Dean Koontz but I didn’t ever think I would be able to write a paranormal novel. I think that everyone can write about normal human experiences but taking something completely unbelievable (like the notion of a vampire) and making it seem real enough for someone to invest their time in that story isn’t an easy thing to do. But those three writers have had such a big influence on me so it isn’t surprising that I would eventually write a novel which encompasses some of the things I like about their books: the supernatural, strong characters and slavery.


4. What's your favorite season?

Although I don’t really like the cold, my favourite season is autumn. I just love watching the landscape change from mainly greens to golds and bronzes.

5. Favorite color?

Lilac as it’s such a peaceful spiritual colour.

6. Favorite food?

Turtles chocolates. You can’t get them in the UK but a friend brought back a box on her last visit to the US and I’ve been addicted ever since.

7. When and how did you get the idea for Dark Genesis?

I started writing Dark Genesis towards the end of 2009. I was thinking a lot about dehumanisation, why people dehumanise others and the ways in which they do it. I was also wondering whether it’s actually possible for people to find their way back from being dehumanised. Everyone seems to be fascinated with the whole vampire thing and I thought it would be an interesting way to show what dehumanisation does to people.

8. Are there any other books in the works? If so, what can we expect?

Yes, a contemporary urban novel called Peace which will be out in September. I actually wrote Peace before Dark Genesis but first novels are always very difficult and it has taken a lot of revisions to get it to this stage. It is set in London and is about a young woman who is addicted to heroin. I’ve written bits of the sequel to Dark Genesis, but for some reason, I’m really nervous about sitting down and focusing on it properly. But I’ve already written two books so the third one can’t be that hard to write – I hope :-)

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