1. TANANARIVE DUE By: Bethany Bonny and Jenna Britton

2. EARLY YEARS AND INSPIRATION  Born January 5 th, 1966 in Florida during the final years of the Civil Rights Movement  Patricia Stephens Due and John D. Due Jr. Both parents were involved in the movement Co-authored Freedom in the Family: A Mother- Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights with her mother Later founded scholarship in their name  "As we were growing, we always had a sense that you're supposed to be doing something...[my parents] always gave back to the Black community and encouraged us to do the same“ – Tananarive Due

3. EDUCATION AND WORK  Won several awards in high school for her writing  Received Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and her Master’s Degree in English with a focus on Nigerian Literature  Got job at Miami Herald as a features writer and advice columnist Still had goal of becoming a fiction writer Found inspiration for first novel when preparing interview with Anne Rice  Author of 12 novels, 5 published short stories, a Civil Rights Memoir, and completed Alex Haley’s novel on Madame C.J. Walker  Currently the Cosby Chair in the Humanities at Spelman College Teaches screen writing and journalism  Teaches creative writing at Antioch University Los Angeles

4. AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS  Received Afro-American Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) gold, silver, and bronze medals for various written works and readings during 1982- 1983  In 1995 received the Horror Writers Association Bram Stocker Award for her novel The Between  In 1998 was given NAACP’s King of Clubs of Greater Miami Presidents Award  Freedom in the Family was named 2003’s Best Civil Rights Memoir by Black Issues Book Review  Received the “New Voice in Literature Award” at the Yari Yari Pamberi Conference in 2004  “Ghost Summer” received 2008 Kindred Award from the Carl Brandon Society  Received NAACP’s 2009 Image Award for the novel In the Night of the Heat  The Living Blood received the 2002 American Book Award

5. THEMES  Due tends to write in the supernatural genre including horror and mystery  Has also written some historical fiction  Some of the underlying themes found in Due’s novels include: Death, power, and love while addressing roles of race and gender

6. THE AFRICAN IMMORTAL SERIES  Horror series of four novels focusing on the struggles between a secret Ethiopian sect of immortals and the Wolde Family  Due never intended for there to be a series  My Soul to Keep (1998)  The Living Blood (2001)  Blood Colony (2008)  My Soul to Take (2011)

7. MY SOUL TO KEEP: PLOT SUMMARY  Jessica’s partner Peter is killed by David who fears he knows too much  Others close to Jessica begin to die causing questions to be raised  David tells Jessica how he became immortal, risking his allegiance to the immortals  David plans to make Jessica and Kira immortal through a ritual using David’s blood  Jessica becomes ill; David kills Kira in order to save her  Jessica goes against David and uses his blood to save the lives of sick children  David returns to Lalibela at the request of the immortals unaware that Jessica has given birth to a second child Beatrice

8. MY SOUL TO KEEP: CHARACTERS  Jessica Wolde Investigative reporter  David/Dawit Jessica’s husband refers to him as “Mr. Perfect” Member of Ethiopian Sect of Immortals  Peter Jessica’s friend/ partner Killed by David  Kira Wolde Daughter of Jessica and David  Khaldun The person who granted the 60 men immortality  Alex Jessica’s sister

9. MY SOUL TO KEEP: THEMES  African American History Dawit has lived as both a slave and jazz musician, shedding light on the dark and painful period Coming from Ethiopia, Dawit represents the original lineage from Africa to America.  Immortality/Death Sacrifice one’s soul to become immortal; David gave his, and pushed his wife to do the same Immortality comes with a price; guarding the secret for all of time, which means killing those who become curious Murder was never an issue for David until his killings impacted those he loved Kira’s death resulted in sick children being cured  Love/ Loyalty Dawit battles with his loyalty to the immortals and his love for his family Jessica battles with her love for David after finding out his secret Jessica’s love for her daughter causes her to go against her husband  Religion Jessica is a devout Christian while David is an atheist

10. MY SOUL TO KEEP AND OTHER STORIES  Kindred Alice’s love her husband led her into slavery; David’s love for Jessica got David into trouble with the immortals Dana had to let Rufus die in order to free herself from him; Jessica’s decision to let Kira die, set Jessica free from her husband’s command  The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Ex-Colored man rebels from his life as a “white man” after being controlled by a white man; David goes against the sect of immortals when he realizes how much he loves his family