The Introduction

The Introduction

June 09, 2021

Akirema, which is Amerika spelt backwards, with a K to signify the connotation of racism with the U.S., is original the name of what I hope to be an ongoing series of novels created by myself, Odie (O.D.). They will be black horror stories so the name reflects how America has been, and at times still is, backwards towards black citizens. I'm talking about North and South America and everything in between as well, not just within the U.S.

 

You may have noticed this blog is attached to a clothing brand site, and I'm talking about books. The Akirema brand was me playing around with logos for the book cover. I am a visual person first, so I will draw characters, creatures and designs that come to mind. The logo for the brand, a simplified U.S. flag with an X replacing the stars, came from me brainstorming a logo for the series. I settled on a more gothic looking title for the books but couldn't let the flag design go to waste. It looked modern and cool. When put to a shirt it sparked an entire line of tees inspired by the reports of injustices going on over the last several years towards the black community, and expanded into repping the black experience which has yet to fully be explored. I'm certain the clothing brand can stand on its own, so if you like what you see please make a purchase. If you would like to just support the writing project, I'm still going to suggest you go ahead and purchase an item as I don't have a Patreon account (yet). Thanks in advance.

 

As for the novel, I've had a story idea lurking in my head for at least a decade now, with the concept of black victims from the time of the U.S. slave trade returning to give retribution to the ancestors of their oppressors. This would have been a simple zombie slasher concept initially, but I still think the premise would be new and refreshing. I always wondered why Hollywood or story creators didn't make use of such a narrative. Quinton Tarantino is the only one that played somewhat with this idea, from what I know, in the movie Django Unchained. In that film the main character, Django, is a freed slave that seeks to free his wife whom is still in bondage to a slave master. So it kinda naturally falls into getting revenge on the white man but is very distant from what I had in mind. The subject matter must definitely be way too taboo for anyone to tackle, but not me.

 

Over time new ideas were added. I often find that I will fill the void of myself being represented in what I enjoy when it comes to original stories. In the particular case, the new idea that sprang to mind was there should be a prominent classic monster, like vampires or a werewolves, that originates from black culture. I've since done research and found various creatures from across the African continent I could have considered (and still do) but that was after I came up with my own.

 

So I'm going to chronicle my ideas, inspirations and work in hopes that I get some feed back. These posts will likely be all over the place. I am a first time writer so expect all the punctuation and spelling errors, especially in the blog posts that I don't feel necessary to edit to perfection. I'll put up the first draft of chapter 1 when it's done, and maybe some sketches next in the meantime please subscribe to my mailing list.

 

 

 



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