Fictional & Non-fictional Musings from The Shadow Self
My brother and I collaborated on my book trailer, and it turned out amazing! This trailer truly embodied the mood and aesthetic of the novel. My brother, Ken Nelson Jr., is an award-winning filmmaker and editor, with an even more impressive resume. You can learn more about his work at http://www.raymediacreative.com. https://youtu.be/cTYixhPgtsA https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?asin=B08R8FNFW2&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_YWVZG89NN60EX5HXQ4B3
Elliot Hunter’s celebrity persona, and role in a very dark scandal are inspired by every prominent hip-hop/R&B mogul, Dr. Luke (top pop music producer), the Elite Models sexual abuse controversy, and Jeffrey Epstein. I won’t name the names of the moguls for legal purposes. Dr. Luke (left) and Kesha (right). Kesha filed a lawsuit against... Continue Reading →
Elliot Hunter is the antagonist of Ungrateful. I won’t give away much about him since I’d rather people follow his dark journey when they read the novel. 😉 However, in two parts, I will give some insight into where I drew inspiration into creating his character, and the psychological features of what makes him a... Continue Reading →
When I designed this cover, I thought about embodying the story through color, font style, and composition. The colors red, black, and white are important to this story in terms of the story’s overall mood and its moral, Alimah’s music, and spirituality. I remember showing this cover to a close friend, and he told me,... Continue Reading →
Alimah suffers traumatic events in the music industry. Therefore, I sought extensive research to portray an accurate survivor of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse in the entertainment industry. While I have reached out to people who have worked in the industry or are still active in the music industry, the bulk of my research came... Continue Reading →
Alimah performs lead guitar and rhythmic guitar, performing for her own music as well as collaborating with other artists. And as far as her mastery as a guitarist, I was inspired by the guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Ernie Isley, and Pat Metheny. Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic" and "Are You Experienced" were two songs that greatly inspired how... Continue Reading →
Alimah's Vocals I had fun imagining Alimah’s vocal style and type. For her voice, I gave her a raspy, sultry, mezzo-soprano vocal type similar to Stacy Barthe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5UqwEmoXU However, in many of her rock ballads, her vocal pitch can go higher and sound similar to singer-songwriter Diana Gordon (FKA Wynter Gordon) in this video below:... Continue Reading →
As a debut artist, Alimah rode the old school hip-hop, nu-rave, and hypebeast popularity during the mid-2000’s MySpace days (yes, I’m showing my age). Artists like M.I.A., Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and NERD, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, Santigold, and Kelis were a big part of the style in this era. In her debut years, at... Continue Reading →
This year I teamed up with other literary experts at Literature & Pen to design and lead workshops for writers, readers, and others! So, I'm starting 2022 off pretty well. 👩🏽✍🏽 The title of my workshop is "Un-stereotyping: “Decolonizing” Offensive and Racial Tropes in Ethnic Literature". I will discuss the history of various racial tropes... Continue Reading →
...I was also writing my graduate thesis. 😱😭 I had started writing the novel (which was probably the fifth or sixth freakin' rewrite) back in 2020. That was a lot. But I did it. 🥳🎉 So, I'm sharing the graduate thesis that I have written and finished this past summer. The major theme of my... Continue Reading →
Kenya Nelson | Writer 