Musings in the Dark: The Origins of "Corruption"

9/25/2011

The Origins of "Corruption"

Last year, I was introduced to the Blasian movement by my business partner and friend, Ankhesen.  It made me aware of an entirely different world that existed outside of my own.  I addressed this in a previous post and wondered if I’d be able to write in the genre after years of writing about black women exclusively paired with black men.  Not necessarily the easiest thing to do.

Fast forward one year.  I just finished my first Blasian novel, a 350-page animal titled Corruption.  I started writing it last September, after being inspired by a most wicked scenario.  The book had risqué origins and was meant to be an erotic short story that I was going to contribute to MCP’s The Sultry Court.  But Jordan Yoshito and Mahogany Carroll, the protagonists, had way too much life and would not be restricted to a mere sixty pages.  And so I kept writing, wondering where I was going with it.  I got lost many times and considered abandoning the story, but once again, Mo and Jordan wouldn’t allow it.  I tried going in random directions, but then something occurred to me and it was then that I understood what it was I was really writing about.  And I learned a few things.

I wrote the last third of Corruption in an emotional whirlwind, as I was using the plot as a cathartic canvas for my own volatile emotions.  There were many crevices and cracks in the storyline that I filled with my own experiences and I knew that this novel represented a major shift in my ability to tell a story.  I’d finally gotten some stuff out of the way and could move forward in my writing.

Because Jordan is Japanese, his characterization required extensive research; research I’d never done before and it was a lot more difficult than I imagined.  However, with the aid of a wonderful, knowledgeable, insightful beta, I was able to reasonably authenticate Jordan’s background and aspects of his culture.  I think that by making him Asian instead of black gave the story a depth that it would not have had otherwise.

You can find a short little tease hereCorruption will be published sometime this fall; it is currently in its final stages of production.  It is my sincerest wish that the book is well-received by the Blasian community, as I believe it is my best work to date.

2 comments:

  1. Looking forward to purchasing your book Amaya. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! It's being finalized, so you won't have to wait much longer. Because it's so long, it takes more time to convert it into an eBook. I hope you enjoy my first foray into Blasian fiction.

    I appreciate the support!

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