Yasmin Angoe Books In Order

Publication Order of Nena Knight Books

Yasmin Angoe is an author from Northern Virginia who is a first generation Ghanaian American best known for her debut novel “Her Name is Knight.”

Yasmin taught middle school and high school English for several years, worked as a freelance copy and developmental editor and was an instructional coach for virtual teachers. As a member of the Sisters in Crime offshoot Emerging Writers of Color, she was the 2020 winner of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award.

She currently makes her home in South Carolina alongside her blended and very beautiful family. When she is not penning her stories she can often be found trying new recipes, editing for clients or listening to an audio book.

Angoe first discovered her love for writing when she was in middle school. It was at this time that she wrote her first story about woodland creatures who try to save their forest habitat from humans intending to chop down trees for lumber.

The first book she remembers reading which made her want to become an author was Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Christopher Pike’s “Spellbound.” She does not exactly remember the exact date she read the novels but the feelings she got from reading them remain very vivid.

“Spellbound” scared the hell out of her and she developed an obsession with finding out how she could elicit that kind of emotion from a reader using words. “To Kill a Mockingbird” hit her on another level with its layered story and she vowed that if she ever wrote novels she would write just like that.

Other novels that she loved to read when she was young that also played a part in inspiring her to become a writer were the “Sweet Valley” series and the “Nancy Drew Mysteries” and many other teen stories she could get her hands on.

Yasmin Angoe does not have the exact moment of inspiration for her novel. Much of the inspiration came from her imagination and an amalgamation of things. She has always been an avid viewer and reader of action, horror and thriller genres but never saw an immigrant or Black woman in the types of roles she reveled in.
In writing the novel, she intended to highlight her culture and discuss themes she found were important to her. However, while these were serious themes, she wanted them in cinematic spy action thriller format, which is how she enjoys her stories.

Writing was not an easy endeavor but she was determined to overcome any challenge thrown at her. It was an emotional thing for Yasmin as she was using it to deal with the feelings of her father’s death. It was a time she thought about quitting, as she had been writing with no success for more than twenty years.
During this time, she used to write on her breaks and off time and after her children were in bed. What she would do is take advantage of any time she was free and try to write. It came out super fast and pretty easy because she had it all in her head and all she needed was to put it down.

Once Yasmin was done with the querying process she began the arduous, long and sometimes heartbreaking query process. She started querying in 2003 back when one had to send wholes or partials of their manuscript snail mail to agents.

Her second round of querying was more than fifteen years later and it was a simpler process given that it was all electronic. Still, she got more than a hundred rejections before landing an agent. Even though she would go on to part ways with her agent in 2019, she was determined to still become a published author.

She usually told herself that maybe the next query or one more contest had the big break she so craved. This was what she told herself when she submitted her manuscript to the Emerging Writers of Color Eleanor Taylor Bland Awards of the Sisters in Crime organization.

She was not so optimistic about winning until she got an email later in the year and almost tossed it as she thought it was a huge joke. Soon after, she landed Stonesong Literary’s Melissa Edwards as an agent and a little while later got a book deal. A month after that, her work was optioned for TV.

“Her Name is Knight” by Yasmin Angoe is smash debut featuring an elite assassin looking to avenge her family by destroying a human trafficking ring. Nena Knight had been stolen from her village in Ghana when she was a child. She has become an elite assassin working for the Tribe, a powerful business syndicate.
While working on an assignment in Miami, Nena saves a life rather than taking one. Her life is changed from the experience and she finally hopes for a life beyond obligation and rage.

She has now been asked to kill a man she has developed a deep respect for and she cannot reconcile her loyalty to her organization and her new purpose. When she sees one of the men that had destroyed her village and sold her, it is all she can do to resist the rage and temptations to exact vengeance.

Before she can have a semblance of normal life she may have to leverage everything she is and take down the man to end the cycle of bloodshed once and for all.

3 Responses to “Yasmin Angoe”

1. JDixon: 2 years ago

   Again, Yasmin Angie has impressed me beyond measure. She is exceptionally creative, an excellent writer and an exciting and imaginative story teller. ‘They Come at Knight’ is a wonderfully written and thoroughly entertaining follow-up to Nena Knight Book 1. I especially appreciated the Aninyeh / Nena / Echo psychological trichotomy … Ms Angoe’s exceptional descriptive writing / telling of each character and how they interact, connect, disconnect and clash kept me reading until late because I just had to finish. Beyond that the African American and Black African themes were highly relatable, all of the characters are well developed and the humor was wonderful … I laughed, cried, was sad and angry …. my emotions ran the gamut with this wonderfully well written story. I eagerly await the next Nena Knight installment. Cheers 🥂

   Reply
2. Nancy Gilpatrick: 2 years ago

   I just finished “Her Name is Knight” and I could not put it down. I am already to read the next book hopefully soon. When is “They Came For Knight” going to be available? I hope it is soon and look forward to reading it. Keep writing, please.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     Hi Nancy – it is currently scheduled for September 13th of this year.

     Reply