The designer, Anna Laytham, really did her thing. My editor, Megha Parekh, is so fantastic because she put together concepts that I could pick and choose what I liked and not she kept me and my agent very involved in the whole process.

All I knew and said was if we used a model, she had to be like Yetide Badaki from “American Gods” who I happened to watch while I was writing Nena and could totally envision her as Nena. Yasmin Angoe: Thank you so much!!! I never imagined it would be so beautiful.

The cover is GORGEOUS!! How much input did you have in it? So, you’ll see Nena referred to as wudini in the books. The original title was Wudini, which is Twi for “killer, murderer” which is what Nena is, to be honest. She’s really talented with how she writes a pitch, among many other things. We got to both titles by brainstorming ideas from the descriptors Melissa used in the submission packet to editors. I’ve never been good at titles and pitches. Yasmin Angoe: My agent, Melissa Edwards, gets full credit for the title. How did that come about? Was it the original title or did it come later? She was going to be the head of a criminal organization, but then being the boss didn’t feel right for her, and everything just kind of dropped into place after I started thinking about who Nena would be and what kind of journey she was going to be on. I also wanted a story that was culturally rich and dealt with more than just “getting the job done.” I wanted a story that gave the reader a lot to unpack as well as provided a thrilling experience. Those are the genres I love and devour, so I decided to create what I’d like to see more of in these books I love to read and movies I love to watch. Yasmin Angoe: I always enjoy writing about women, and for years I never saw women who look like me or were from my family’s country as the lead protagonist in the thriller and action genre.

Where did the idea for Her Name is Knight come from? What was the first spark? She was taken from her home in Ghana as a teenager and is looking to gain back the power that was taken from her.Ĭulturess had a chance to talk with Angoe about Her Name is Knight, how she created Nena Knight, the difficulty of writing a dual timeline, how she balanced the darker moments in the book, and what’s up next for her as an author. We also get a look into Nena’s childhood to learn more about her present motivations. Nena’s story follows a dual timeline that begins in the present where she’s a trained assassin who is looking for more than just her next kill. They also happen to be her adoptive family. She works for The Tribe, a secret international organization whose mission is to protect the people and countries of Africa. Yasmin Angoe’s debut novel Her Name is Knight follows Nena Knight, an assassin who goes by the codename Echo.

Yasmin angoe her name is knight