Emily
Knight I Am....
Emily
Knight Series Book 1
by
A. Bello
Genre:
YA, MG Fantasy
Emily
Knight I AM... is about a thirteen year old warrior named Emily, who
is far from ordinary and she hates it! The daughter of a heroic
warrior and the press favourite problem child. Against her wishes
she is sent to the Osaki Training School to control her powers. She
learns to fly, breathe under water and battle but someone has their
eyes set on Emily and now she has to chose between the two people she
loves.
Emily
Knight I AM... has elements of grittiness that is more mature than
other fantasy books. As well as being laugh out loud funny, the
characters are real, complicated and relatable. A. Bello pushes the
boundaries by breaking the conventions in this diverse, absorbing
novel.
Emily
Knight I Am...Awakened
Emily
Knight Series Book 2
Dark
times are upon us. Neci is back and she is more dangerous than ever.
The warriors are forced to pick a side and to stand up for what they
believe in. The race is on to find the missing warrior first. It's
the only way to prevent a war from happening and to stop Neci from
destroying everything. Emily Knight has to get sharper, stronger and
faster because Neci has made her a target and someone is going to
great lengths to hurt her. Can Emily win the race? Or will Neci take
her down once and for all?
**Nominated
for the 2019 Carnegie Medal!**
**Finalist
for London's Big Read 2019!**
A.
Bello is a young author from North London and the author of the Emily
Knight series (Emily Knight I am... & Emily Knight I
am...Awakened)
She
wrote her first novel at aged 8, where she fought monsters and
dragons daily and was first published at aged 12 for a poem she wrote
in school.
A.
Bello wrote the first in the Emily Knight saga at aged 12, with the
intention of filling in a gaping hole in children's fiction for an
inspirational, strong, black female protagonist (who can fight like a
man!)
A.
Bello has received rave reviews for her debut book as well as success
with her Emily Knight Warriors pop-up book. She is the founder of The
Lil' Author School and co-founder of The Author School. The Author
School was shortlisted for The Great British Entrepreneur Awards
2016.
A.
Bello has appeared in Female First Magazine, The Mirror, BBC1XTRA to
name a few.
GUEST POST
What inspired you to write
this book?
As a a kid and a teenager,
there wasn't any books for my age group that had a strong female
character. If they were a main character, they were very dependent on
men. There definitely wasn't any characters of girls that looked like
me!
I also grew up watching
DragonBall Z, X-Men and WWE and I just wanted to read what I liked to
watch. I'm obsessed with powers and the idea of being more than what
meets the eye.
What can we expect from you
in the future?
More books for young people
that show strong diverse characters
Do
you have any “side
stories”
about
the characters?
I usually do a pop up blog
every August and it's a side story featuring one of the characters
from the Emily Knight books. I've done 4 so far and they always seem
to go down well. It also pushed me to think of the back story of the
character in more depth but it all depends if I have a book out that
year. Sometimes I don't have time to write one.
Can
you tell us a little bit about the characters in Emily Knight I
am...Awakened?
Emily Knight is a powerful
teenage warrior who has lived with her godparents since she was a
child. She is the youngest child of the legendary Knight family and
her father is the strongest and most famous warrior in the world.
Emily is rich and privileged but she can't control her strong
powers. In the second book I am...Awakened, there's a threat of war
and you really see her become more of a leader despite how scared she
is to battle in this potential war.
How did you come up with
the concept and characters for the book?
The main thing I wanted to
show was a young girl that can fight even better than the boys and a
black girl that wasn't from the ghetto, in a gang etc but she
actually lives in luxury. I didn't want the book to be about race or
hair. Emily has normal teenage issues and she just happens to be
black.
What did you enjoy most
about writing this book?
I really enjoy writing the
dynamics of the friendships between Emily Knight, Michella Kinkle,
Wesley Parker and Jason Notting. They fight and throw shade at each
other but they still love each other so much and push each other to
be great.
How did you come up with
the title of your first novel?
I wanted my characters name in
the title because it's centred around her and I liked the I am...
concept because I wanted to reader to figure out who Emily is. Plus
the first book is really about the character learning and accepting
who she is
Who designed your book
covers?
The first edition of Emily
Knight I am was designed by Giles Greenfield. He actually did Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire, first edition cover. The second
edition of I am and Emily Knight I am...Awakened was designed by the
power team of Alexandra Artigas and Jem Butcher.
Did you learn anything
during the writing of your recent book?
My latest book is my first YA
commercial fiction book and I found it so hard! I didn't expect it to
be so challenging. I guess I'm a fantasy girl at heart. I wrote the
story about eight times because I couldn't decide on what perspective
to write from. I finally got it together
If your book was made into
a film, who would you like to play the lead?
My book is set in England and
it's very diverse. There's not much diversity in film over here so I
couldn't think who would play Emily but I would love John Boyega to
play Emily's rebellious brother, Lox and Idris Elba to play the
legendary Thomas Knight.
Anything specific you want
to tell your readers?
Emily Knight I am...Awakened
is nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2019 and is shortlisted for
London's Big Read 2019. Yay!
What is your favorite part
of this book and why?
My favourite part is any scene
where Emily and her brother Lox interact. Just their back and forth
as siblings is fun to write and all the battle scenes, where I can
throw in some crazy punches and fireballs.
If you could spend time
with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you
do during that day?
Ooh this is a good one. If I
could spend time with any character, I think it would be Lox Knight.
I would get him to show me Legend's Village, where he grew up and all
the spots he went to when he ran away.
Convince us why you feel
your book is a must read.
The Emily Knight I am series
is a must read because it has a bit of everything! Strong female
characters, great friendships, kids that can kick some serious butt,
diversity and inclusion, vivid battles and also real challenges in
life - relationships, not feeling good enough, being brave when you
don't want to be. Everyone will be able to see themselves in this
series.
Have you written any other
books that are not published?
My latest book Beats, Love and
high top trainers is currently with my agent under submission. We've
had great interest so fingers crossed!
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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