23-Year-Old Nigerian Author Lands Seven-Figure Film Deal With African Fantasy Novel

Photo courtesy of Tomi Adeyemi's Instagram

Written by Sharee Silerio

23-year-old Tomi Adeyemi, a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach, is following in the footsteps of Margot Lee Shetterly, author of the book-turned-hit-film Hidden Figures.
Continue Reading
Like Shetterly, Ayedemi’s first book, Children Of Blood And Bone is being developed as a movie, even though it hasn’t been published yet!

Described as ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Black Lives Matter’, the book is a West African YA (Young Adult) novel about redemption, family, love, loss, systemic oppression, hatred and strength.

Her book deal with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group is reportedly one of the biggest YA debut novel publishing deals ever, and Fox 2000’s acquisition deal is said to be in the seven-figures.

There aren’t many details about the book, but the author’s website provides a brief, yet stimulating synopsis:

In a blog post titled Why I Write: Telling a Story that Matters Adeyemi says that she writes because “it is a burning passion to tell a story about someone who is different and to force readers to fall in love with what is different from them. It's the thought that one day a little girl might be able to walk into the library and see a protagonist that actually looks like her.”

Finding books with black people on the cover or as main characters can be difficult. Even further, black representation in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and mystery is scarce.

Finding books with black people on the cover or as main characters can be difficult. Even further, black representation in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and mystery is scarce.

Children Of Blood And Bone is the first in what will be a trilogy, hopefully sparking a literary empire like that of J. K. Rowling’s, author of the Harry Potter series.

The book has a 4.75 rating on Goodreads, and according to the site, it’s expected to be published next year.

We should all keep our eyes on Adeyemi and her work as it looks like she’s going to have a major impact on the types of black stories that are written, published and brought to the big screen.

Sharee Silerio is a St. Louis-based freelance writer, Film and TV writer-producer, and blogger. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from St. Louis University and a Master of Arts in Media Communications from Webster University. When she isn’t creating content for The Root or The St. Louis American, she enjoys watching drama, sci-fi, and comedy movies and TV shows, writing faith and self-love posts for SincerelySharee.com, relaxing with a cup of chai tea, crafting chic DIY event décor, and traveling. Review her freelance portfolio atShareeSilerio.com then connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

from Natural Hair Care | Curly Nikki http://ift.tt/2o6tQ9t