I met Mr. Kendrick at the Writer’s Block event held by Shametra McGregor last month. I was drawn to his books because you don’t see too many books written by black authors that have comic books and deal with the Sci-Fi world. In reading this piece, I think you will want to get a copy of his books and enter into his world of mystery.

Tell our readers a little about yourself?

Kendrick: I was born and raised in small town in Kentucky. I am the youngest of six children. I’ve completed three college degrees and my likes range from movies from all time lines, martial arts, boxing, music, and my spiritual connection with GOD. My love for great storytelling comes from my vast knowledge of movies of different genres along with the many people that I have met from all walks of life. With all these things being said, I have a deep desire to leave my mark and inspire others to do the same.

Did you read a lot as a young child? If so, what book left an impact on you?

Kendrick: I did we had encyclopedias, I read something from them everyday. So basically if i saw or heard something on T.V. or the radio I would run to them or a dictionary, to discover if what I heard or saw was real. In turn those books led me to books about space, dinosaurs, other countries, Bigfoot, Cryptic things like undiscovered creatures and animals, oh and comic books which probably left the biggest impact on me Hulk or X-Men. I always wanted to be special, helpful, and powerful you know save the world against all odds kinda thing.

What made you decide to become an author?

Kendrick: Well I started off as a popular singer in my home town, when I graduated from high school, I left for Seattle to pursue that dream. I had a record deal and was young and thought I was in love, and traded that in for the love of a girl. Needless to say lesson learned, because I was really lost and in a lot of pain, then I had the most frightening dream ever. My town was turned literally to a burning, demon filled hell on Earth. I saw demons dragging friends, people, anyone they could get their hands on down to hell, some didn’t even realize the demons were on them. That dream went on for what seemed like forever, then everything went black. Out of the darkness I saw two lights in the distance, as they got closer i could see two distinct colors one blue, one red both glowing surrounded by flames.They just sat there floating, then they both shot straight at me I woke up in a cold sweat. Once I collected my thoughts I got pen and paper until I found a computer and wrote for 7 straight days that was 1996.

Tell our readers about your three books- Sky Hammer, Destiny vs. Chaos and the Paradox of Pain.

Kendrick: Destiny vs Chaos is the starting point it is a book of short stories that explains how the “Celestial Seven came to be origin stories if you will, all the way from high school to present times exposing the enemies. “Sky Hammer” is where it gets serious and you get the full spectrum of emotions, passions, social issues and how one deals with those challenges with the gifts and abilities to change the world and a major alien invasion takes place also. “The Paradox of Pain”is all out war, every major event that is going on now in our time is on display. It brings out in this book the end of the world the coming of GOD but the events that have led up to this point by rogue gods are mind shattering, and comparable to the world events they make you believe what you are reading is actually legit. The ending is heartbreaking to put it mildly. Also I’ve done two comic books “The Battle for Stonehenge” and “The Trials of Shabazz” those were done for the fans overseas that requested visual action from the novels. Shabazz, currently is the most popular character who happens to be female.

Do you consider yourself a Sci-fi author?

Kendrick: I do for certain other genres that I have written, but in the “Destiny vs Chaos” series I combine truth with fiction. At some point I would like to write a story about when I was in law enforcement. That’s going to numb minds I promise!

What makes your books so different from the norm?

Kendrick: Well being black I’m telling a story from a perspective that America just don’t get to see, it’s almost like when we are saving the world, “Black Folk” it’s not received well almost like we are not supposed to save the world. Almost like we should be grateful that we are in the world, when I write I introduce all nationalities, because the world never has been just one way, one dominate color, one mindset. As a kid I rarely had hero’s that I could identify with, every hero that was black either got an ability being, a drug user, jail bird, or some criminal activity. I kept thinking to myself this can’t be right, we ain’t all dirty in fact most of us “Black Folk”  are good people from the soul and heart. I only saw whites saving the world or making a difference again that can’t be right, that would imply that every black cop, or war vet, firefighter made no change in the world. Don’t even get me started on the black scientific minds and inventors with their huge and often unaccredited contributions to the world. But if America only looks at and shows blacks from the worst parts of the country or world for that matter, then they are doing us “the world” a injustice because every nationality has it’s bad and good, seems that we are only shown in the light of bad. I wanted to make sure I changed that perspective. My characters come from all walks of life, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian, European, Hispanic, other worlds because that would be the truth plain and simple. 

Basically my books combined, have zombies, demons, angels, heaven, hell, love, romance, aliens, magic, all that and more.

In reading your books, what is the message you hope readers will get from reading your books.

Kendrick: To use your imagination and don’t let video games and computers keep you indoors especially children. Get out, get dirty, get cuts and scrapes look up at the sky, see shapes in the clouds let the wind, rain, snow all that good stuff hit your face. Imagination is a perishable thing once it’s gone very, very difficult to get back. Look around make friends from all walks of life and cultures don’t let society tell you how it should be use good judgement. Once you do that then your mind is on it’s way to a stronger soul, and that’s when you start to make a difference for all of humanity.

What advice would you give a new writer?

Kendrick: Don’t quit your day job because at first it WILL NOT PAY THE BILLS, it’s a really tough climb that can take the hope out of a person. Fear not keep writing and for me, I keep God close, and it will pay off but you got to believe.

What do you enjoy the most about writing and what is your least enjoyable?

Kendrick: For me it’s the story telling and leaving a story that stands the test of time like J.R. Tolkien (Lord Of The Rings), and Alexander Dumas (Black Frenchmen writer of The 3 Musketeer’s). Least enjoyable would be that I put a lot of detail in my writing many subplots and hidden messages that sometimes gets over looked I do a great deal of history and science research.

What’s next? Any new books to look forward too?

Kendrick: Yes, just finished an age 10 and up novel called “The Benefits of a Bully” please don’t let the title fool you which is currently in the hands of a famous publishing company reviewing it keeping my fingers crossed. As we speak working on more comic books with my new artist, and finishing the last book in the “Destiny vs Chaos” series and a horror book called Vesuvius 13.

How can our readers get your book or connect with you?

Kendrick: They can Facebook or google me at L.A. Kendrick just click like, twitter @LAKendrick25, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kindle, Nook, BAM, ebooks sold even overseas, Youtube and subscribe http://youtu.be/mIBVauHKWo0,Trials of Shabazz. 2 here are 2 of my videos.

#LAKendrick #books #author #comicbooks #blackauthors #imagination #educateyourself #livelife #ujimamagazine @paigeturna @LAKendrick25, #writer

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Damita Miller-Shanklin

damita@ujimamagazine.com