Nzondi (Ace Antonio Hall) is an American horror author and is the first African-American to win a Bram Stoker in a novel category. His novel, Oware Mosaic, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Young Adult fiction; the most prestigious award given to horror writers in the world.
Among his many short stories that were published in anthologies and print magazines, Nzondi’s short story, Raising Mary: Frankenstein, was nominated for the 2016 Horror Story of the Year for the 19th Annual Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. Additionally, three of his short stories were on the Horror Writers Association Reading list for the 2017 Bram Stoker Awards.
In addition to his literary work, Nzondi released a rock song through Triumphant T.M.E. Records featuring the iconic Fredro Starr from the legendary group Onyx. The song is called, “Teenage RockStarr,” and is inspired from a character in his upcoming vampire novel entitled, “Blood-Teens”.
As the former Director of Education for NYC schools and the Sylvan Learning Center, the award-winning educator earned a BFA from Long Island University. Hall currently lives bi-coastal in New York and Los Angeles.
Q: You are an American urban fantasy horror writer, and creator of Cozy Coleman, a teenage zombie slasher who also raises the dead for police investigations. What do you enjoy the most about writing horror?
A: I love having the power to be able to give readers goosebumps with my words. Also, more than anything, I love sharing my explorative ideas to horror readers of what happens to people, mostly ordinary people, when they’re faced with something so frightening, they’ll do the unthinkable in order to survive.
Q: Why do you think Cozy Coleman is a hit among readers?
A: In the last decade or more, we’ve been exposed to literature and cinematic experiences (reality shows) that reveal people in their worst behaviors and we’ve rooted for them, or love to hate them but couldn’t stop watching the train wreck. Cozy is a mess. She’s an angry teenager who has to get out of her own way in almost every situation she faces or suffer the usual dire consequences. Many readers can relate to that. They’ve either experienced someone like that in their lives or are going through those same conflicts: parent problems, boyfriend issues, angst, etc. I wanted to develop a character that was likeable but also relatable. I’ve gotten tremendous feedback wherein I’ve been told she’s one of the most real characters they’ve seen in a novel, and to be honest, that’s humbling.
Q: You are the first African-American to win a Bram Stoker in a novel category. Your novel, Oware Mosaic, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Young Adult fiction; the most prestigious award given to horror writers in the world. Tell us about Oware Mosaic. What was your inspiration for the main character?
A: Exclusive: I’ve never ever publicly told anyone this (I don’t think) but a long time ago, when I had dreams of becoming a director and actor, I wanted to do a reboot of the seventies medical procedural drama called Quincy, M.E. It was a show starring Jack Klugman as Quincy who was such a passionate medical examiner that if he smelled a murder, he would do everything in his power to bring the truth out: solve the murder, be insubordinate to his boss, yell at insincere suspects, whatever it took.
I developed Feeni Xo (pronounced Zo) to be a teenage African-American version of that who solves cases in the metaverse and real life. The publisher, Kate Jonez and I wrote a TV pilot script based on the novel and have a few interested Hollywood production companies interested in developing the series. It’s a steep hill to climb, getting a pilot greenlit, financed and then picked up but it’s a good story and I’m convinced we’ll get someone to make it happen.
Sidebar: The seventies theme for the TV series Quincy, M.E. is my second favorite theme song tied with The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. My favorite is the DC TV show Titans. That theme song is like a sidekick to the gut of any intro I’ve ever heard.
Q: You have received rave reviews including, “Once again, Nzondi creates a rich and vibrant world crackling with life. He is a brilliant writer, one readers and critics should be watching.” —Pete Nowalk, Creator of How to Get Away with Murder. What did you want people who aren’t familiar with your work to know?
A: In my novel, Lipstick Asylum, one of the characters says that “Life is maniacally beautiful!” and I have lived that quote my entire life. There have been so many traumatic experiences in my life, growing up as a child, as a teen and developing as an adult. Yet, in every one of those horrible things that happened to me, there was something beautiful that came of it.
My themes dance between misery and overcoming misery. I make my characters endure as much pain as possible. Every soul on this earth can relate to misery on some level.
Anyone who reads my work, whether young or old, should be able to resonate with the characters. That’s the goal, at least.
Q: How have you evolved as a writer?
A: When I first started writing there was a lot of gore and action. As I’ve evolved, my stories have become more complex because every character I’ve developed recently is flawed. I also focus more now on exploring what scares people the most and having them face that fear and overcoming it: a mother losing her child, a teenager losing parents, a soldier losing his courage, an artist losing her talent and how they handle the thing they were afraid of most in an environment of supernatural and horrific occurrence.
Q: Inspired by a character in your upcoming vampire novel, Blood-Teens, you have collaborated with iconic hip-hop artist, Fredro Starr, from the legendary group Onyx. Tell us more.
A: It was something that wasn’t planned, just sort of happened. I always wanted to create characters in my novel that were like the Archies/Riverdale; a bunch of teenagers that played in a band. I come from a family with a rich background in music. My father wrote a few jazz classics and my oldest sister sung with her band in a seventies’ movie called Velvet Smooth. One day, the idea of the song came up. I’ve been working on my vampire novel for almost two years now and I’ve developed a character that was one, a vampire teen and two was being stressed out by the record industry. In essence, the industry was bleeding her dry of everything that made making music fun.
I wrote an alternative rock song called Teenage RockStarr, went in the studio with a guitarist, sung all the vocals and recorded it. Through the owner of the studio, I met David Moreno who's the drummer for the rock band Puddle of Mudd and we became cool. Dave played the drums on the track and in my opinion showed why he’s the best drummer in Los Angeles. He completely murdered the track—in a horror writer sense of the word.
Now get this. The way I sang the song was gritty and I thought it needed one more element, something that matched my coarse voice. Who has a gritty, grimy voice that would match my energy? All of a sudden, I knew the perfect person. That’s when I called up my friend Fredro Starr. He’s part of the hip-hop group Onyx and is also an established actor. One of the reasons why I called him is because I remember us watching True Blood over at a friend's house one night and him telling me he loved that show. I knew he would be perfect for the song. No one would be able to capture all of the vampire horror elements I needed like he would. I sent it to him. He loved it, and recorded his part.
The rest is now up to the record gods. If the fans love it, that would be very cool, and honestly very humbling because it wasn’t planned, it sort of just happened.
It ties in with my upcoming books and projects, and has potential to show the entertainment industry the scope of how my novels, characters and brand can all tie together in something bigger.
Q: Your new release, Lipstick Asylum (where the dead rise) is all the craze. How does it continue in the alternative universe of your novel, Oware Mosaic?
A: Lipstick Asylum (where the dead rise), continues in the alternate universe of my novel, Oware Mosaic and loosely, my upcoming vampire novel called Blood-Teens. Lipstick Asylum is about a group of kids who call themselves the Scream Teens who are hired as the necrotainment to raise the dead on a cruise ship. Similar to a zombie walk or simply a Halloween party, everyone on the ship are zombie enthusiasts and fans—think of Comic-Con on a ship. I’ve developed a universe that is similar in tropes to the common vampire and undead stories and I’ve developed a few original rules and ideas.
So far, one major talent agency has contacted my publisher for a shopping agreement to option Lipstick Asylum to a TV series or Movie and two Hollywood producers have done the same, so the story is surprisingly creating the kind of buzz I hadn’t anticipated.
Q: What’s next?
A: Well Jules, I‘m glad you asked! First: finish up my vampire novel Blood-Teens and get it into the hands of a New York literary agent who I promised a first look at it a year ago. We’re also still in the beginning stages of a record launch for the alternative rock song Teenage RockStarr, so my record company and production team are doing whatever it is they do to get radio play and exposure for the song. Also, an award-winning producer is remixing the song and he texted me recently that it should be ready soon. If all goes to plan, the Teenage RockStarr remix will be released in September ’22. Recently, I met with a guitarist in a New York studio who is going to work with me on the next single, also inspired by the teenage band in my novel. I’ll be flying back to Los Angeles soon to work on the show Bel Air so hopefully we can get it done before then.
Lastly, I’m developing an idea with a Hollywood producer that showcases my father, Chris Acemandese Hall’s works/life as one of the founders of AJASS; a group from the late sixties who were the pioneers of the Black is Beautiful Movement. He’s featured in a documentary by Louis Dente, along with the other founders. The film has already won seven film festivals, so it’s a good time to develop a project displaying all my father’s creative contributions to the world.
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