Here at URBAN AINT DEAD, one of our authors will be spotlighted on our blog every week. This will allow our readers to get to know some of your favorite authors more personally and even get an inside scope about the making of some of your favorite URBAN AINT DEAD titles.
This week, we asked Kyiris Ashley one question:
"If you could name three books that influenced your writing style the most, what would they be and why?"
And this is what she had to say:
"Describing my writing style can deem challenging at times because I’m the type of writer that never wants to be put in a box. I write whatever I’m feeling. Sometimes, I’m that hood ass bitch from the D, and I wanna give the savageness of the streets. Sometimes I want to be in love and give y’all a dope ass love story. Other times I wanna tap into my erotic side and give y’all a little something hot and sticky.
However, when I think about the three books that inspired me to become a writer, I think about three things. The first book I read, the book that changed the game, and my all time favorite book.
When I was eleven, my six grade best friend handed me a book. The cover had me intrigued. There was a girl who looked to be in her teens with huge gold triangle earrings. The book was called Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree. When I got home from school that day, I went right up to my room and started reading. The book had me in a chokehold from there, because it was unlike anything my young mind had ever read. I fell in love with reading that day.
The book that changed the game for me was The Coolest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah. That book was the best thing that entered my fourteen-year-old brain at the time. Every word played through my mind like a movie, and nobody could tell me I wasn’t Winter Santiaga. The grittiness of the streets was painted from the first sentence to the last, and I couldn’t get enough. To this day, that is the only book that I’ve ever read twice.
Now for my all-time favorite book. Some would say, “Key, how can you have a favorite book when it's millions of books out there?” Well, to me it’s easy. This book was well written, and the creativity was out of this world. The book was the Upper Room by Mary Monroe. Once I picked the book up I couldn’t put it down. This book showed me that jealousy is indeed a real thing, and even your closest friends could do you dirty. Mama Ruby was something else, and for Miss Mary Monroe to come up with such a character had my mind blown. I’ve read every book she’s put out, and she is my all-time favorite author.
So there you have it, the three books that inspired me to become an Author!"
Check out her debut release with URBAN AINT DEAD, The State’s Witness: An Unwanted Dilemma, available for purchase now in the URBAN AINT DEAD shop. You can also read this title free with Kindle Unlimited, here.
Make sure you are following Kyiris Ashley as well as the URBAN AINT DEAD on Instagram.