Ekari Writes

I've been collecting a stack of fiction that centrally features black characters, so after spinning around with my eyes closed and picking one at random, I started with reading  Amber and the Hidden City .  The book is a fantasy adventure story by  African-American  author Milton J. Davis, centered around the titular character. Amber is a 13 year old African-American girl who discovers that her grandmother is actually from the mystical city of Marai, which is magically hidden in the Sahara. Amber has inherited her grandmother's talents as a seer, and is urgently needed to guide the elders of Marai to who the next leader will be. The only problem is, she has no idea that the city is real, and the knowledge turns her whole world view upside down... She embarks on a dangerous trek across the world with her grandmother, to Paris, Senegal, Timbuktu, and finally Marai - all the while pursued by the minions of a power-hungry Marai elitist with his eye on the ...

Source: Wikipedia Creative burnout is a real thing. I realised this is the first time I have had to create a new story so soon after finishing one. Usually I have time to rest mentally, bask, absorb other stories through reading or TV... But this time I had to keep going when the creative well was all but dried up. I had a bit of a panic session as the deadline drew closer, but got it done in the end!

I'm a fan of behind the scenes specials, and I wish I could peep into the artistic process of all my favourite stories. So I'm going to attempt to offer some insight into how I came to write my short story "Montague's Last", an alternative history piece about a regretful slave seeking redemption in the final moments of his life.  First and foremost, if you have not yet done so, you may read the ebook on Amazon.com  before reading the article below, as it contains serious spoilers. You have been warned!  (Malawian readers can request an encrypted pdf version through ekarimbvundula@gmail.com) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Still proceeding? Ok then! I'll assume you've read the story. It took me three years (on and off) and 8 drafts to finish Montague's Last from conception to final draft. It started as just another one of my notes with raw ideas sp...

I recently rediscovered the joy of comic books. They are a fascinating medium of storytelling, combining both visual art and dialogue. As such they make a great entry point for people who want to get into reading but struggle to visualize the words as an immersive world which the author has created. Traditionally, comic books are meant to be something you grow out of at a certain age, but now there are many comic book stories which are targeted at adults. The most well known type in this category are known as graphic novels.  But if you don't have access to these, there are countless web comics accessible online, many are free, others not. I've decided to write about a few of the ones I discovered here, and specifically works which have a strong presence by a black character. I selected this category because when I was growing up, I rarely found characters in either books or movies who represented my race and/or gender. Times are changing!  I a...

Hey there. Yes, you with the remote control. Care to put that down for a moment? Just for a moment, I promise... there you go, that wasn't so bad. So, question: when was the last time you got truly lost in a good book? If you can't remember, then this is the post for you! If you're reading a good book now, then you can help me out here.  Let's face it, movies are becoming visual bubblegum. There seem to be more releases every year than ever before, but so many of them are sequels (how much Faster and Furiouser must we get??), or ideas that used to be unique but have been hashed and rehashed, until they lack the "something special" that the original versions used to have. I would even be so bold to say that many of the few good movies that have been released lately have come from....books.  I myself have been guilty of neglecting my passion for reading in favour of watching TV. But I've decided to actively add more books to my leisure time so that...

Previously, I wrote a post about some of the reasons why the X-men story works . In this post I want to focus on the characte r of Wolverine and why many X-men fans will choose him as their favourite.   Using example scenarios from the movies X-men, X-Men 2, and X-men 3, here are some of Wolverine's faults... and why we find ourselves so forgiving of them: Jerk Symptom 1 He looks out for number one. In all three movies, we hear other characters repeatedly complain about his tendency to ditch everyone at a moments notice. He often makes it clear that he feels he doesn't owe anyone a thing (lack of memory might add to this attitude), and is happy focusing on solving his own problems. But That's 'OK' Because : When push comes to shove, he will join, and even lead the team . Sure it may take circumstances to force him into leadership and teamwork... but he wouldn't, say, leave a bunch of school kids to fend for themselves outside when their school...