Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
We are actually a married couple (Ash and Marcus) who enjoy writing a blend of romance and women’s fiction together. All our couples are interracial, as are we. We love to see more diversity represented in literature. So far, we have written eight novels, and two novellas together.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Defying Gravity is our latest book. It is book 3 in our Shattered Cove series. Our hero Bently is the sheriff of the small town and has a run in with a gorgeous Black woman and her younger brother whom she’s raising. Both our hero and heroine have been through a lot of trauma, but they’ve both made choices to break the cycle and came out stronger because of it, despite their flaws. We really wanted to use their love story to shed a light on police brutality and racism in all its forms. A modern forbidden love story if you will.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not unless you count being interrupted by our kids several times. LOL. Ash will typically listens to music that inspires the scenes and have it play out in her mind before planning the book chapter by chapter, we call it a chapter map.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
A.L. Jackson, Mia Sheridan, Brittainy C. Cherry, Colleen Hoover, and Kennedy Ryan.
What are you working on now?
More of the Shattered Cove series. We are loving this small town and all the interesting and diverse side characters who are just begging for their own stories. After Defying Gravity, we have Bently’s little sister Jasmine in The Lighthouse Inn.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
www.amkusi.com
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read. Keep reading authors who make you think about their book for hours or days after. Learn your craft. Find a writing coach, if you can. That has really helped us grow.
And figure out the reader expectations for your genre. We use Story Grid.
Oh, and learn the difference between showing versus telling.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t wait for everything to be perfect, just write it.
What are you reading now?
Gold Mine by Skye Warren and The Beautiful Mess series by T.K. Leigh
What’s next for you as a writer?
We are continuing to better our craft and dive deeper into social issues weaving them into love stories with twists and turns. To take deeply flawed characters and shed light on the beauty through the pain.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh my gosh! This is hard. Probably The Wish Collecter by Mia Sheridan, It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Beautifully Broken Control by Catherine Cowles, By a Thread by Lucy Score, and Road to Fire by Maria Luis
Author Websites and Profiles
A. M. Kusi Website
A. M. Kusi Amazon Profile
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