Our interview today is with Qwantu Amaru as he discusses his thriller One Blood (rated 4.8 stars on 15 reviews). A short description of One Blood: For Every Action … Lincoln Baker, born a ward of the state, has gone from orphan, to gang banger, to basketball superstar, to lifer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in the space of eighteen years. During his prison term, he meets Panama X, a powerful and mysterious father figure who gives Lincoln a reason for living – he must assassinate Randy Lafitte, the sitting Governor of Louisiana.
There is an equal and opposite action … Lincoln orchestrates the kidnapping of Karen Lafitte, Randy’s only daughter. But Randy Lafitte is a man who built his fortune by resurrecting a family curse from slavery to kill his own father. A curse that may or may not have been responsible for his son Kristopher’s death in the gang crossfire that sent Lincoln to prison for life. Randy will stop at nothing to save his daughter, even if it means admitting the curse is real. Even if it means committing greater atrocities … Too bad for anyone stuck in the middle.
Interview with Qwantu Amaru:
1. What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?
Louisiana is, has always been, and will probably always be a very unique place to set a novel. This is due to the history of racial intermingling, the legacy of Spanish, French, and American colonization, and the aftereffects of corrupt politicians, damaging hurricanes, and the influence of Voodoo and Hoodoo that pervades the culture and still thrives today.
2. What specific themes did you emphasize throughout the novel? What were you trying to get across to the reader?
There are two warring themes in One Blood. The first is the danger of belief, especially blind belief. The second is the redemptive power of the truth. I was trying to get the reader to consider and question their own belief systems, in a subtle, entertaining way of course.
3. How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?
Every character believes in something very strongly at the outset of the book and these beliefs are shaken to their core by the events of the story. By the end, each character has to reevaluate the way they have lived their lives and choose a new path, or perish.
4. In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of your world view?
I don’t intend to try to influence anyone’s thinking as a result of this book, but I do believe that you can only find the truth by challenging your beliefs and not enough people do that. We follow too blindly and this blindness is very dangerous.
5. Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?
Many of the characters in this book are quite disturbed and do some pretty depraved, terrible things to people they love. But to tell the truth you have to be willing to go to the dark places in order to get back to the light. One of the characters takes to cutting himself as a teenager to deal with the loss of his mother. It was difficult to imagine desiring to injure myself as a release from my own troubled existence. Navigating the bleakness of my character”s psyche’s made me appreciate how normal my own life has been by comparison and made me quite protective of that normalcy!
6. Was there a basis for your story? A previous experience? Something else?
I think debut novels are always written in an effort to understand one’s one life and self, but the catalyst was the combination of a creative writing assignment and a powerful memory of meeting former politician and KKK Grand Wizard David Duke when I was attending high school in Lake Charles, LA. Novels I’d read by Anne Rice, Stephen King,Richard Wright, Harper Lee, Toni Morrison, Wilbur Smith, and Tananarive Due also inspired me.
7. What research did you have to perform to back up your story? Any research which really opened your eyes or gave you new respect for a topic or profession?
Since a large part of the book takes place in The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, I had to become very familiar with this prison which I did by reading different prisoner’s accounts, watching documentaries, and interviewing prison officials. Vodun is also a central element in the story so I had to do extensive research on the religion because I wanted to portray Vodun as accurately as possible and not do some bad Hollywood rendition.
8. What is your method for writing a book? A certain amount of hours every day? A certain routine? Are you character/story builder or an outliner or some other method?
I don’t write full-time, although I do write every night from 8:30 to 10:00 pm with a goal of completing 5 hand-written pages a night. I am definitely a character builder. If I can really craft living, breathing characters than they will tell the story for me!
Qwantu, thanks for a great interview.
Learn more by visiting his website: http://www.qwantuamaru.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onebloodbook
On Twitter: @onebloodbook
