Life & Work with Kenneth Fields of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Fields.

Hi Kenneth, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up in East Atlanta I was always the weird kid. Not because I didn’t take baths or didnt have any friends. I was a space cadet, I was obsessed with pokemon, dragon ball and all of the other cartoons that my grandma would record for me to watch on the weekends. My routine mostly consisted of going to school, drawing pictures of my favorite characters in class, discussing the latest episode with my friends in between classes, and acting out epic battles with toys for many years past what I care to admit. Outside of school my best friend was my mother, who has always been a very busy lady and would take me everywhere with her. It was in the passenger seat of her red Jeep truck that I fell in love with music. My mom wasn’t into alot of music, Missy Elliot, Shade, The Batman sound track. But she would play 107.9 and that’s how I learned about everything.

In middle school I got my hands on my first Shonen Jump magazine and fell even deeper in love with anime and manga and it was all over with from there. In high school I decided to divert my interest from drawing comic books to writing them thinking it would be much easier to write my ideas than to painstakingly draw them. I was wrong. Still I got into a creative writing class and had a blast learning and sharpening a skill that would lead me to pursue a degree in creative writing. Now, life had different plans for me from there unfortunately, but I did have some experiences that lead me to some magical stories in college that I developed into “Tales from da 6.

As a kid, and growing up I have always heard “Get it how you live”. And for me as an anime nerd, growing up in a city known for Little John and Gucci, I knew that meant writing a gangster hip hop style anime set in my city. New York, Harlem , Queens ,Chicago, California all have their own stories with their own heroes but ATL is kinda lacking in the super hero stories department. I want one to represent what I see. Gangster Rappers taking over the world, with shadowy figures in the background trying to control them. And what can stop them? An awaking of people in mass, using unconventional means despite opposition. It’s a work in progress, but I really think that I have the Idea for a crazy fun story that also can be moving in its own way.

My goal is to get my stories animated, but as of now I haven’t made the big bucks I need to do so, and for now I have decided to release my stories as a book called “Tales From Da 6: Volume 1: The Magic City”. This book is the first in what I planed to be a three part series, each with a handful of short stories that take place not only in Atlanta but across the states, past, future, and beyond. This book is mainly just setting up the world that the series takes place in and getting the reader introduced to the characters of this world.

It is my hope for this book is that the people who come across “Tales From Da 6” enjoy it and put a flame in me to keep going after my dream of becoming a comic book writer.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Writing a story isn’t easy, writing a book is harder, writing a good book felt impossible. I started working on this project when I was 21 and at the age of 33 have finally gotten it to a point that I am happy with. You might think that 11 years is a long time to work on anything and your 100% right, it is. Not only did I have to iron out my vision and try and teach myself how to write on a professional level, I also had to work, ride the train, deal with health and legal issues and all sorts of insane life things during this process. What ever it was I always worked on these ideas in the background until I finally was able to hone my skills enough to produce something worthy of being shared with the world.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What really makes “Tales From Da 6” stand out is that instead of focusing on one hero or group’s adventure, this book focuses on building the world that the stories take place in. You see this world similar to our own in the modern day, but the history of this world is much different and in major ways. This is a world that once had magic, and lost it. And for the people with the knowledge of this, obtaining this power is an all consuming obsession. Something that they will do anything to get their hands on, even at the cost of human life. And the people who dont know that magic was once real, who think magic is just stories and fairytales, are becoming magical themselves.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
When you don’t feel like doing it is when you need to get it done. Take the time out to write or read every day. Be kind to yourself and others and you’ll always have projects and readers. Be open to change your story completely many times, in many different ways, and develop a system to keep up with the changes in case you want to change things back or reuse ideas. Take risks and really bet on yourself when it gets hard or scary. And take the time to remind yourself who you are and where you come from because life will always try to change you.

Pricing:

• $17

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Six-I-Magic-City/dp/B0GX8RJ8V3/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dxdpublications