JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Amaya Radjani, author of The Sultry Court
(Middle Child Press)
What’s your pleasure? Assassins, queens or courtesans? Demons, princes or doppelgangers?
Whatever your desire, you’ll find it here in The Sultry Court. These erotic tales cross time and space, ranging from a seductive dinner date to the indulgence of a dark benefactor.
When you enter the Court, you enter worlds poetically disarming, darkly sensual and enticingly dangerous.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write The Sultry Court?
Amaya Radjani: My business partner and fellow author, Ankhesen Mié, came up with the idea last April in an online writers’ community for Black women. We’re connoisseurs of erotica, but Ankhesen and I wanted The Sultry Court to deviate from mainstream erotica to cover genres and individuals that aren’t always represented in erotic anthologies.
What you have here is an experimental compilation of stories where anything, and I do mean anything, goes. There is something in The Sultry Court for all of those who appreciate quality erotica, as well as those whose tastes tend to deviate from the norm.
JP: What sets The Sultry Court apart from other books in the same genre?
AR: The Sultry Court was envisioned as a mystical girls night in, where the Ladies of the Court come together in a supernatural realm to swap stories. Since each Lady is from a different era and/or plane of existence, these times must converge in one unique transcendent hub in order for them to get together and share their stories and poems.
Each Lady has an innovative, hand-drawn avatar included in the book, and the cover is also an original piece of art. I think the imaginative artwork adds an exceptional touch.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to The Sultry Court getting out to the public?
AR: Listening to the market is very important to us here at MCP; our target audience comprises women of color, and that’s a group which doesn’t get listened to very often here in the West.
We roamed through online communities, started blogs, read blogs and initiated discussions all because we wanted to hear what women of color want and don’t want. Even now, we encourage readers to come to our blog and talk to us about The Sultry Court so that we’ll know what direction to go in for future volumes.
And it’s not just about plots, but production itself. We understand that when people buy a book now, in the 21st Century, they want it now and they want it at a reasonable price. As a proud, “tree-friendly” company, we are happy to accommodate readers with strictly digital formats. See it, want it, have it now – the mantra of every woman.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish The Sultry Court?
AR: My writing process takes place in a manic void where all that matters is getting the next scene out on paper. The process is disjointed and unhealthy because I don’t sleep, I barely eat, my emotions are on a rollercoaster and my mind is on overdrive. Depending on the idea and the plot, I burn at various speeds until the book is complete.
The Sultry Court was conceptualized in May of 2010, and Middle Child Press was built around it. The anthology was completed and published in November of 2010.
JP: What’s next for Amaya Radjani?
AR: I have a contemporary Blasian novel coming out in the fall of 2011 entitled Corruption, and the first book in a sci-fi fantasy epic, The Velimirs: Sheila & K’avir, due out in the spring of 2012. Volume II of The Sultry Court is tentatively scheduled for release in the summer of 2010.
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