Birth of the Vampire Pimp follows a powerful Oakland pimp who catches the attention of a vampire queen searching for a new king, thrusting him into a dangerous supernatural kingdom where he can become a ruler or another victim. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

My inspiration for Birth of the Vampire Pimp comes from me thinking outside of the box and combining situations that aren’t common place in vampire stories, my vision of Birth of the Vampire Pimp comes from me growing up in Oakland and watching pimps interact with their women, to make a long story short, vampires are creatures of the night, and so are pimps, vampires are charming and charismatic, and so are pimps, vampires can make you do unspeakable things without giving it a second thought, and so can pimps, but you have to be careful because even though vampires and pimps are looked at as seductive mysterious people they’re also beast that can and will kill you.

How did you develop JB’s personality, particularly his confidence, ambition, charisma, and willingness to use violence, and what aspects of his life in Oakland did you want to carry into his identity as a vampire?

I grew up watching and actually studying pimps, I’ve known several pimps and there are certain rules to being a “real” pimp, these rules come with the attitude and the way you should carry yourself as a pimp, I simply carried these characteristics over to my main character JB, when JB is transformed into his new life as a vampire I didn’t want him to stray away from who he was when he was alive, I wanted him to remain that same hard nosed street hustler that he was when he was in Oakland, that continuation of him kept his street wits intact and also allowed for a few funny antics in the book.

How does Birth of the Vampire Pimp explore the relationship between wealth, influence, intimidation, and authority?

JB uses the same political vantage point that he used in Oakland; money and influence are power; he could shape and mold reality to be what he wants it to. After he injects bits and pieces of his own influence into it, JB will hand it back to you. Once he’s certain that you understand his way of thinking he’ll kick back and watch you do his bidding. JB has shown some parts of empathy in this book, but he’s definitely not a “good guy.”

Do you envision continuing JB’s adventures or exploring other characters and regions within the world of Vol’kare?

JB will definitely continue his adventures in Vol’kare. Everyone will discover so many questions are answered in the second book. I purposely left a lot of questions unanswered in Birth of the Vampire Pimp. I have a bunch of aha moments that will make you go back to the first book and make you bridge the gaps, The second book will be just as good as this one is; I can actually guarantee it.

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