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Welcome back to IN THE CHAIR. Today in the chair, we have Kenya Moss-Dyme. She's actually the first horror author I've ever interviewed.
Kenya is also an avid crafter and entrepreneur who makes swag for her customers. We can tell by the reviews, we are in for some thrills.
As Kenya says, “When I’m not plotting tales about monsters — be they demons or humans —you’ll find me hunting zombies in VR or tracking down Funko Pops for my ever-growing black horror collection. Happily ever afters? Eh, occasionally maybe. But let’s be real, monsters are way more fun.”
When did you start writing, and what did you write about?
I’ve been actually writing stories since I was a child. My earliest memory of a full story was around 7. My elementary school did a thing where they would take our books, stitch them with a cover and put them in a section of the library. My book - about a cricket who wanted to go to the moon – was in that section for years. I tried to get it back years later when the school closed but it wasn’t there. I think someone checked it out, loved it so much they didn’t want to give it back. That’s the way I want to remember it, lol.
Too funny. Good story and you're sticking with it. What is the difference in your perception between now and the time you started writing?
Well, before self-publishing (at least, the way we know it today), you had a very slim chance of being picked up by a traditional publisher, especially as a black author. Now I really enjoy having freedom and control over my career, over what I publish, when and how.
Please write a few lines about the books you have published, and what brought you to publishing each one of them.
The first books I wrote were Prey for Me, a thriller about a child predator in the pulpit, and A Good Wife, an erotic suspense drama. I wanted to write horror but the publisher I was with at that time told me that “black folks don’t read horror”, so when I left him, I published Daymares, a collection of short horror stories. The success of that convinced me that I had found my audience and that’s where I’ve remained focused in the horror/thriller genre.
I'm glad you followed your instincts. From what I've seen of your TickTock videos, it looks as if you're having a lot of fun marketing and sharing your work.
You’re right. This would be the perfect time for it. You would have a bestseller on your hands. Tell me, how do you go about writing your books? Do the ideas just pop in your head or do you have to plot and plan?
The ideas do just come to me! I could be watching the news – most of my stories are based on real life, either my life or someone else’s. Then I will lightly outline my ideas but I don’t necessarily stick to that outline once I start writing. I tend to make notes in my phone about ideas that may or may not develop into a book.
We have that style in common. I’m a voracious panster, can’t plot or outline for my life. My first tattoo says, “Life is inspirational.” Because that’s my motto. I’m having a bit of a hard time marketing my books. What are your techniques and do you feel they are working?
Marketing is HARD! As much as I love being independent, that is one of the biggest drawbacks of being on your own, you’re responsible for everything! I’ve floundered with this for years – and one of my degrees is in Marketing (although it’s old at this point and was never designed for this social media era we are living in!). One of the most impactful things I’ve done as of late was to form a team with not only the Black Women Who Read Thrillers/Horror/Suspense group but several other authors who actively and loudly support each other. None of that whispering behind the scenes like I’ve experienced in other groups. We are LOUD with it, at all times. If you see one of us post a new release, then you’re gonna see my team share that post across all of the platforms; you’re gonna see us reading/reviewing and recommending; you’ll see us making videos talking about it. Quiet support is not real support in this environment.
You gotta shout from the rooftops. And the ones that don’t return that energy, you know they don’t belong on your team. And I’m not saying they can’t be your friends; I’m speaking solely about people who want you to succeed just as much as they want it for themselves. Too many people secretly don’t want you to do better than they are, so their support is QUIET. If I’m truly supporting you then I’m trying to turn my $4 purchase into at least $40 for you! I may not have time to read it myself but dammit I’m gonna try to get 10 others to read it!
Oh, wow that's the kind of team spirit I've always loved. I used to run a Facebook writing group where we encouraged sharing and promoting each other, it was a good group, but not always towards everyone. Some aspects felt a bit clique.
In this past year, I’ve been privileged to meet fellow
authors who really love hard on each other and it’s made all of the difference
in the world. I don’t like to name names because I hate to forget anyone but, I
talk to some folks probably more than I talk to my own children – Octavia Grant, Toni Larue’, Keira N. James, Tanisha Stewart and JR Mason. We all move together. Then
I have other tiers of folks that I talk to a few times a week but those 5 –
it’s voice notes and DMs from the time I wake up ‘til I go to bed. “What are
you working on? What are you posting? Let me see. Let me go share it. Let me go
read it real quick.”
Get yourself a team of trusted authors who are gonna ride as hard for you as you do for them!
Exactly. Talking about teamwork, I know you wanted to edit a response but I think some of the points readers did need to hear because some don't know what they can do to help their favorite author become someone else's favorite. I like your suggestions for the reader to review, gift, to someone, and post about the author's book on their social networks.
What else would you like readers to know when it comes to aiding their favorite authors?
.
I know your time is precious and you need to leave, can you share with the audience where they can purchase your books?
I’ve been slowly removing my books from KU (Kindle Unlimited)so that I can distribute them from my website, but they will remain on Amazon as well. You can find all of my paperbacks on my website (www.kenyawrites.com) with the added bonus of special goodies with each purchase.
I have had the pleasure of seeing the swag you give your customers while stalking you on TickTok and other social networks. I'm totally impressed. I wanna be that good at marketing.
I have a habit of talking (interviewing) to the people in my books. How do you communicate with your characters?
I don’t think I really do that too often. I don’t always connect with my characters in that deep sense. The only ones I really did connect with were the women in my collection, Sick xoxo. Each of those women were based on either myself or women that I knew. So, I did talk to them and listen to them talk. Especially Due, the character in The Kids are Alright. That was a deeply personal story for me and I wanted Due to be really SEEN. I also wanted her character to help somebody out there…
What hobbies or activities do you enjoy other than writing?
I’m a big Oculus (Meta Quest) player, that’s the VR headset. I got mine at the start of the pandemic, actually the first one to hit the market. I just used it to work out since I was stuck at home, then I had my son get one since he was quarantined in his college dorm and we used to play games together while the world outside was being weird. Then of course I found the horror content and I do the zombie games and other visual media. It’s my favorite way to workout though because I can’t stand going to into gyms. I’ve been trying to find time to learn how to design some content for it myself, like a Meta world to explore black horror. There’s so much fun stuff to do inside of the headset.
That's a new one for me. I'm not a game player, basically cuz I'm pathetic when I'm the loser. I didn't know the gaming could go that deep into narratives. This has been a very interesting conversation and for all of you who want to learn more about Kenya Moss-Dyme and would like to keep in touch with her - visit her linktree
Thank you for your time Kenya and stopping over to chat with us here at IN THE CHAIR. It’s been fun.
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