Brenda's books and blog: Guest post by AD Koboah paranormal author

Title: Dark Genesis

Author: A. D. Koboah

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Format: eBook

Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.
On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise.
Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.
Author Bio
A.D. Koboah was born in London and completed an English Literature degree in 2000. Her first novel, Dark Genesis, was inspired by the concept of dehumanisation and the impact it can have on the psyche. She is currently working on a screenplay and will begin the sequel to Dark Genesis shortly.

Guest Post

Hello Everyone.

I’d like to start by thanking Brenda for letting me do a guest blog today.

I really wasn’t sure what to write about today so I decided to go with a topic everyone can relate to. Love.

Dark Genesis is, in essence, a love story and is narrated by Luna, a slave living in Mississippi in 1807. When we meet her she is so dehumanised by her experiences that she has spent most of her life keeping others at a distance. So when she falls in love with a vampire, it is an unexpected and frightening experience for her. But she loves him deeply despite the fact that everything she has been taught flies in the face of that love. For example, his race, the fact that he is no longer human and is someone who has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

The love these two characters have for each other is intense and unconditional. And maybe I’ve turned into a bit of a cynic in my old age, but I’m not so sure that kind of love exists in the real world. And even if it does, is it healthy to love another person unconditionally?

I believe that a mother and father’s love should always be unconditional. Luna’s mother was sold away from Luna when she was three. She eventually finds a way to get back to Mississippi to be near her daughter although she only sees her roughly four times over the years. So her daughter is, in effect, a stranger but that doesn’t stop her from loving Luna deeply.

But when it comes to relationships and friendships, conditions should be placed on your love. If you’re in a relationship and someone is abusive, is it love when you stay with them? No. I remember watching the British equivalent of the Jerry Springer show in which a female guest who was in an abusive relationship had decided to have a child in the hopes that it would change her partner’s violent behaviour. Naturally, the host asked the critical question: Why would you stay with this man and bring a child into such an abusive environment? Her answer was that she loved him.

Now I was watching that and thinking: that’s not love. In my mind, when you genuinely love someone you want them to be the best that they can be. If someone is behaving badly in a relationship and you stay, your actions tell them loud and clear that their behaviour is acceptable. The only way they’ll see that it isn’t is if there’s a negative consequence as a direct result of their actions. Hopefully that will be enough for them to address their issues and become a better person for it. That is love

Everyone needs boundaries and I believe you should set boundaries for yourself and the people you care for.

Apart from your children, the only person who should have your unconditional love is you. You can’t really love anyone else the way they should be loved if you don’t see anything worth loving in yourself.

I hope you all have a good day and take the time to appreciate the people you love and care about.

ADK x