Hello, everyone! In celebration of Black History Month, we are celebrating African-American authors and stories that highlight African-American characters! Today's interview is with theafricanwordsmith, whose story was featured on both the The_Reading_Room (previously StoriesUndiscovered) RL and Multicultural-Community's African Tales RL. 

About the Author: Jeff Mfiri is a 24-year old Zimbabwean Environmental Science graduate, who's always been in love with reading books since he was young and in turn writing some of his own. He enjoys writing african fantasy and historical fiction because he's fascinated by local folklore and different myths, legends and tribes that existed before our time, bringing them back to life as best as he can. Some of his favorite stories include This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

About 'The Legend of Hombarume': The Legend of Hombarume follows a hunter who shoots the Prince of the land after seeing him shapeshift right before his eyes. This leads into a myriad of unfortunate supernatural events that include the death of the local healer, seer and disappearance of a wealthy trader, which seems to all be connected to him. He ventures on a mission to clear his name losing the trust of most of the people around him on his way.

1. What made you start writing on Wattpad? What has been your favorite moment so far on the orange app?

A friend who knew about my love for writing recommended it to me. Getting to meet a lot of great people out there who enjoy stories as much as I do has been really amazing.

2. Which mythology and/or legends influenced your story? Why did you choose those?

African mythology, specifically Zimbabwean. I chose it because I've always been fascinated by the folktales my grandmother used to tell me when I was little and incorporating them into my stories just seemed like the way to go.

3. Tell us about the main character of one of your stories. What inspired their creation?

Hombarume, from The Legend of Hombarume is a character that I created because I wanted to build a mystery around a great and trusted person whose personality and actions have suddenly become questionable.

4. What were some challenges you experienced while writing the story?

The tale consists of a lot of characters who all have intertwining storylines so making sure each character was well fleshed out took a lot of time and effort. 

5. Do you have a song playlist for writing? Can you share one with us?

I find it hard to listen to music while writing most of the time.

6. What is your favorite myth or legend? Why?

The Three Sisters of Fate from Greek mythology. I think the idea of three women who have power over people's fate by spinning thread is a very cool concept!

7. What is your favorite mythical creature? Why?

Dragons. They breathe fire, how cool is that?

8. If you could have the same powers as a creature and/or deity from mythology or legends, what would it be? Why?

A werewolf, so I can howl at the moon.

9. What is your advice for other writers who want to use mythology in their stories?

Take your time to learn about the different types of mythology from around the world, that way you have a lot to play around with. 

That's it for the month, it was fun getting to know about theafricanwordsmith. You can check her stories featured in our reading list as well as her other works.

Until next time!