It is no coincidence that the standalone book out of the ten Ayana KSL John released on November 30 at the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) in Port-of-Spain is a religious book titled Church is on the Move.
“My mind completely went blank for the first time...the whole thought process, everything, God downloaded in me,” she explained.
The young author, who made local literary history by launching 10 books at once, began her writing journey at age 12, on an item that in Christianity represents God’s strength, reliability, and refuge - a rock.
“I actually started writing on this rock, so most of these books you see here today in my hand stem from me sitting here with my red laptop writing on this rock,” she shared.
Church is on the Move is a book about Isabella John who was named head pastor of Revival Christian Centre Church after the mysterious death of the original Pastor.
But her authority was challenged as she and the church faced various attacks from a proud atheist, warring gangs, and political hypocrites.
This causes the congregation to question her motives and her loyalty to God but she becomes a force to be reckoned with as God sent his powerful army, at just the right time.
“It was the longest book I took to write actually. I usually finish a book in three to four months at least. This one took a year...God wanted me to wait on him,” she said.
Over a decade later, the approximately three by four feet rock located in the hills of St Barb’s Laventille, where John grew up is still there.
And even though the 28-year-old no longer lives in the community, she took Guardian Media back to the spot where her creative juices started flowing, for this interview.
“It’s a lot smaller than I remember it to be,” she joked.
Like most of the children who grew up before the 2010s in a Caribbean household, John and her friends were entertained by the natural environment around them.
“I remember the plum tree we used to spend like hours there just laughing and cracking jokes, the cherry tree that we always run the chickens from, playing pan cup, catch and rescue, going down in the gully doing treasure hunting,” she reminisced.
The solid collection of minerals located right outside of her former home was where she went when she wanted to relax or blow off steam.
“This rock has seen me through the good, the bad, and the in-between times. You know sometimes when you not feeling 100 per cent like you feel sick, or someone gets you mad, and you just come here and you sit down and you say ah,” John added.
Some of those emotions were transferred to a sheet of paper, that turned into her first novel in 2014 (Unmasked Secrets) which she revamped this year when she released her nine other books.
“I started writing on pages because I did not have a laptop as yet and then when my dad bought me my first laptop at 12 years old that’s when I transferred everything on it and I didn’t know it would reach this level of 10 books,” she said.
On November 30, she also released Love & Drama which is a two-part series that delves into the lives of a sassy 17-year-old, captain of the school cheer squad and president of the student council whose life seems perfect but is not. The novel explores how the little happiness she holds onto is snatched from her the moment her father decides to run for mayor. The Unmasked books are also a three-part series that follows protagonist Destiny on her journey as she navigates the many ups and downs and ins and outs of this crucial period between childhood and adulthood. John also wrote and published a four-part children’s book titled The Adventures of Duchess, which tells the story of a six-week-old pup with a lot of spunk and style. And her religious novel, The Church is on the Move.
Her family and first supporters were all there to witness her accomplishment during the launch at NALIS.
“I have a cousin named Josiah and I would be sitting here (on the rock) and I would say tell me what you think about that I would be hitting him with ideas and stuff like that...to this day he would say, Ayana, I’m advocating for the villains in the story because you made them look so bad, I said but Josiah somebody has to look bad in the process,” she shared.
However, her writing does not only intrigue her relatives as new readers had similar reactions.
“Someone actually called me, I believe it was last Thursday, and they said ‘Ayana!! Ayana!!... You know I bought Church is on the Move, I can’t put it down, I can’t put it down’. There are persons literally sending me pictures and they circling the part and they like ‘Oh My God I did not expect that’,” she said.
John wants aspiring authors to take their time with the writing process and ensure they are passionate about the topic.
“Know that once they enjoy their work it’s all that matters,” she said.
And as for John, well she said is following God who led her to the rock that formed the cornerstone for her success.
