Pepper Soup

After years of insisting “I’m not a fiction writer, please”, I wrote a story. A love story.

I have always loved stories, and one of the things that keep me going is reading.

Starting and completing a series of novels with my reading partner is high on the list of things I am looking forward to this year.

I have written stories in my head since I was a teenager, and actually penned some down in notebooks, but it was nonfiction – articles – that I felt most comfortable writing.

Then one day, my friend Timendu Aghahowa contacted me about contributing to an anthology she was editing called Pepper Soup. I sent in a nonfiction piece.

When she got back to me and informed me that everyone had to write fiction, I knew the time had come. I couldn’t run from it anymore.

At first I was worried, because all the other writers ARE AMAZING! I didn’t want my story to end up looking like the raggedy help!

Eventually I sat down and wrote a story that has lived in my heart for years. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Pepper Soup, a collection of 12 short stories, will be live on Okada Books next Friday, February 10. I’m thrilled to be part of it!

My story also happens to be titled Pepper Soup.

Pepper Soup will be released at the discounted price of N500 until March 1 when it goes back to the regular 1k.

On Friday I will wake up and squeal: I’m a published fiction writer! Yippee!

Hehe.

#PepperSoup #Romance #LoveStory #Fiction #NigerDelta #Warri #Lagos #Nigeria #ReadThis

 

 

 

 

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5 Myths Only Mills and Boon Lovers Will Understand

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There’s so much that can go wrong when a blog has guest posts often. The possibility of this is even higher when the blog owner doesn’t write as many posts as he features.

What I’ve come to realise in life is that many cooks do not necessarily spoil the broth; it’s too many cooks that spoil the broth. How can you tell how many is too many? Well, it’s an art, and Uncle Efe has it down to a T. It’s not easy to say whether it’s as a result of the timing, the quality of the writers or the assortment of themes, but there are never too many cooks on 19th Street.

This blog invites you to “explore memories of life’s experiences” and everything you’re looking for, from relationship gist and true life stories, to poetry and fiction, you’ll find here. I particularly love how the blogger invited various people to write about their 2013 in December last year. Rich, inspiring pieces, every last one. And Uncle Efe was such a graceful and gracious host, putting his little notes at the bottom of each one, thanking the contributors for sharing and wishing them well in 2014.

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Dr. N has been a medical practitioner for over 8 years and she started this blog to share “what you wish your doctor told you.”

Of course this was enough reason for me to be drawn to this blog- who doesn’t want to hear the truth about something as important as health? Her passion, burden and purpose in life is to educate, inform and empower Nigerians and the rest of the world to make informed health decisions. Add to that the fact that she is unapologetically Christian (it’s uncool to be that these days, by the way) very candid, a devoted wife and mother, and writes the kind of relatable fiction that I enjoy…there’s no denying the fact that I’m hooked.

You can be sure I’m always busy gobbling up all the posts that have any references to married sex; lord knows we spend too much time telling young people to abstain and way too little time helping them when they eventually get married. I’ve always been exasperated by how religious people like to pretend when it comes to sex. It’s one of the 25 Random Things About Me I shared in an old post here.

Here’s a delightful snippet from one of Dr. N’s posts:

“When you meet the right man, you need to open up your heart slowly to the idea that God has authorised him to receive the jewels you have been keeping for Him. Slowly, as the wedding approaches, you see him as a priest who receives the offering. Just as the Israelites gave their precious sheep and doves to the priests to burn and even eat, but believed it was God who got the glory. So I honour God and my husband with my body. If I lie there stiff as a board, muttering “Blood of Jesus”, the guy will be turned off. Soon, we will need a marriage counsellor. Rather, I let go with reckless abandon, just as I scream and dance in church, so both he and Jehovah are excited. Let’s be real ladies, it takes 2.”

Yeees doctor! Ladies, have you heard? It’s what the doctor ordered! And she talks to the guys too. Bookmark this blog today!

30 Days, 30 Blogs: Koolstory

Someone sent me the link to this blog and told me I would like it. There are very few fiction blogs I enjoy, so I was pleasantly surprised to find she was right!

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This blogger writes about things that we can relate to; scenarios that are familiar, characters we can recognise. And I think that’s what I find most enjoyable. I subscribed immediately.

30 Days, 30 Blogs: Kiah’s Script

How can I describe Kiah’s writing? Prose like poetry…in the most awesome way. If you love good stories, you’ll love this blog. She writes from a place deep within her, I don’t know how she has it because sometimes I read her stories and I think she’s too young to write like that.

Once, I saw a story without her name on it and I said, “This is Kiah. The sadness is Kiah. The exotic names are Kiah. The mesmerizing prose is Kiah.” I was right.

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She delivers. Every single time. And I love it.