SJS DIRECT FANTASY FLASHBACK FALL STARTS NOW!

This month I’m proud to kick off a special event in the SJS DIRECT Universe: Fantasy Flashback Fall.

In the Fantasy Flashback Fall stories I give readers a look into the pasts of the characters in the SJS DIRECT Universe while taking a moment to teach a lesson in African-American history. These unique stories are designed to educate readers about Black culture and the Black experience while entertaining them with an action packed adventure.

The first book that will be released in Fantasy Flashback Fall on October 22^nd will be E’steem: The Sands of Time. In E’steem The Sands of Time we get a look at Princess E’steem’s past in Ancient Egypt before she became a demon. As she works towards getting a time displaced teenage John Haynes back to his time of 1987, readers will learn about life in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian culture and learn about the role the Heliopolitan gods in the building of Egyptian civilization.

With E’steem: The Sands of Time I wanted to give Black girls a Princess story in the style of Disney’s Princess stories like Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

I always felt it wasn’t fair that we couldn’t get a Disney Princess story with a Black princess. (In my eyes Tiana doesn’t count, because she was a friggin' frog for most of the movie and at the end of the day she married a nonblack Prince) So I decided to write a story where the Black girl could be the princess and falls in love with a Black Prince. Anyone who knows SJS DIRECT Universe continuity knows E’steem is descended from a royal African bloodline (Katia) and is adopted by Osiris, the Pharaoh of Heliopolis. So she’s a REAL Princess. And John Haynes is gonna grow up to become The Man Who Rules The World So he’s on his way to becoming a king…In the technical sense. So technically it’s a Princess story that meets the standard of Disney’s Princesses.  

In my Princess story I wanted readers to see a true picture of Black-on Black love and how that love transcends time. I always thought it was a shame that we don’t get many stories of Black-on-Black love these days. With E’steem: The Sands of Time wanted to show the power of Black love and how helped two people overcome the challenges they faced.

What makes E’steem:The Sands Of Time unique is that All the Egyptian characters are Black. When I wrote this story I imagined an ALL BLACK cast of actors voicing the characters like Salli Richardson as E’steem, Michael Ealy as John Haynes, Samuel L. Jackson as Osiris, Angela Bassett as Isis, Suzzane Douglas as Mamnet, Keith David as Lucifer, Dondre T. Whitfield as Ma-Sil, and Jada Pinkett Smith as Decadia. In too many media adaptations we get an image of Whitewashed Egyptians. In The Sands of Time I wanted to show what Ancient Egyptians really looked like and the parallels between Ancient Egyptian culture and Black American culture.  

E’steem: The Sandsof Time will be available in paperback this week, and Kindle and KindleUnlimited on October 22^nd Pre-order your digital copy today or get your paperback copy Tomorrow!