I have a remedy for the people who say they don’t like reading because it’s boring. I can assure you that these people have never read “The Awakening” or “Obsession”. Both books were written by the amazingly and talented Shakir Rashaan who created two series, “The Kink, P.I.” and “The Nubian Underworld”. The books within these series are far from boring, and they will take you far from this world and your worries into an erotic world with dominant characters like Ramesses and Neferterri and kinky detectives like Dominic Law, Niki Santiago, and Natasha Reddick.
Shakir Rashaan has always had an extensive imagination and he was able to channel his inner thoughts with words while in high school. Along with his mother’s encouragement for the written word, he was able to begin a hobby in the early nineties that would turn into a professional job as a writer in 2008. I was able to ask Shakir Rashaan a few questions about his book series and his passion for the erotica genre.
On your website, one of your headliners are “Corrupting minds…one book at a time”. Can you give us a description or backstory about your books?
I am a real-time practitioner within the BDSM and Fetish communities, so I actually practice what I write about with a lot of my books. Even in the more “vanilla” short stories that I’ve written for different anthologies, there is always a skew toward dominance and submission, even if it is subtle, almost unnoticeable to the uninitiated.
My Nubian Underworld series is, quite literally, what its series title implies: it is a look inside the BDSM “underworld” from the point of view of the characters of the series. The majority of the characters are people of color, which I did on purpose. I wanted to show people of color – particularly black people – that this lifestyle, this world, is not populated by only those of Eurocentric heritage. We are there, too.
My Kink, P.I. Series is my kinky spinoff mystery series. Think ‘Law & Order: SVU’ with a kink and fetish twist. The cases are based on real cases within the legal community, to a degree, with my spin on how they would work if they were kinked out, per se.
What made you decide to start writing for the erotica genre?
It’s funny; I could have picked a lot of genres to start out from, but at the end of the day, erotica is “home” for me. It’s where I’m at my most comfortable, and it comes through in my books and short stories. There’s a suspenseful element to my books also; they’re not purely strung-together stories. I simply wanted to give people books that they could blush while reading them, maybe even give them a few ideas to try on their significant others.
So, that honestly is what made me start there, and expand my writing universe from there.
A lot of your books are very popular and have gained rave reviews. Do you find a lot of pressure each time you write a new book? If so, how do you overcome the pressure of creating a successful book?
I’m constantly putting pressure on myself to come out with new and compelling stories; any creative soul worth their salt would always want to evolve and improve. Keeping things fresh and interesting is the challenge that I accept every time I pick up a pen and paper. My readers have come to expect something new each and every time, and thankfully, I have been able to show them something new every time. God willing, I will be able to continue to do so until I can no longer put pen to paper anymore.
What’s the difference between your Kink, P.I and The Nubian Underworld novels?
Well, the principal players are the major difference between them. That, and the genres that they encompass.
My Nubian Underworld series is an erotic romance series. There are romantic elements to my series, but make no mistake; it is purely meant to titillate and educate. That series has my dominant couple, Ramesses and Neferterri, as my main characters, along with their submissives, shamise, sajira and amani, and their exploits both at a bondage compound (originally named the Palace, but recently renamed NEBU) and abroad, which includes a private island in the Caribbean.
Kink, P.I. is entrenched in the mystery genre, but I have a trio as my main characters: Dominic Law, Niki Santiago and Natasha Reddick. They handle different cases throughout my series, with Dom as the private eye consultant and Niki and Natasha functioning in different capacities within their respective police departments; Niki as an assistant district attorney, and Natasha as a lead detective.
What are your latest and future projects?
My latest project is Obsession, the first installment in my Kink, P.I. Series, which came out last month. My future projects include the other two books in Kink, P.I.: Deception in January and Reckoning next summer.
After that, I’m looking to pitch the rest of my Nubian Underworld series (four books to complete the series), and I’m currently developing book projects under another pen name, P.K. Rashaan. I have about three or four books that I have yet to find a publishing home, and if I am unable to do so, I plan to go indie with them and put them out. I’m always in creation mode, and it’s been a fun ride…one I hope to never see end.