Molara Wood's submission was also listed as highly recommended. That makes it the best of all the entries out of Nigeria.

Congratulations to her too!!!!

I have been asked to act as a resource person for a young readers book club.

Please do recommend books that meet the following criteria:

1) Fiction; biography/ autobiography with good plot / storyline
2) African / Nigerian themes
3)They must be clean /devoid of vulgarity
4) Available in Lagos. Please let me know where bulk purchases can be made

Thanks

Below are a few book fair taking place in the next couple of months. I hope you can attend them

National Book Fairs
1) Enugu 22nd - 27th October 2007
2) Abuja  29th - 3rd November 2007
3) Ife       3rd - 8th December 2007

For more details - http:www.nibf.org

Christian Booksellers Convention

Date: 29th October to 2nd November 2007
Venue: Oranmiyan Hall, Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos
Time: 9am to 7pm daily

9th Lagos Book and Art Festival

9th -11th November
8a.m. daily

See www.stampedecora..com for more information

Continued

Dele's phone rang as he sat at dinner with his family that evening. He picked it up and the code name he had coined for her – EBONY, appeared. The sight of those five letters made his heart shudder and his hands tremble. This must be urgent; he had warned her never to call him at home.

“Hello, who is this?” He pretended not to know

“Sweetheart, it’s me. I feel so alone and desperate. What do I do? This baby grows by the minute and you are not doing anything?”

He stole a sideway glance at his wife. God forbid that she even knows about this conversation. He had to find a way to settle Ebony to permanently cover his stupid recklessness.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll give you a feedback then.”

“Make sure you do” Ebony dropped the call before he could blink.

His heart pumped harder as his wife asked ever so casually, “Who was that?”

“Nothing. It’s official.” He picked up his glass of water and drank long and hard.

The next day at her home, she gave him an ultimatum. “I’m not taking this any longer. I don’t like the way you are taking me for a ride. You either give me enough money to have an abortion in a proper hospital or,” she paused, “ …. you marry me.”

The accumulated apprehension of the last few days erupted in his throat as a croaky laughter. “Marry… what? You must be joking.”

She eyed him and sneered. “It’s not marry, what! It’s marry me.”

“Don’t even think about that. It’s not possible. I love my wife, I love my kids, I am not going to disrupt their lives because of my foolishness. No way! You had better get that evil idea out of your mind.”

“The idea doesn’t sound evil to me, but if you think it is, well - no problem. I will not argue with that. It just makes things much simpler - give me a hundred and fifty thousand Naira for an abortion and we part ways.”

He was silent for a while. “I can’t do that either. I believe abortion is murder.”

It was her turn to laugh. “My dear lover, you are an intelligent man and that is why I respect you. You must know that can’t eat your cake and still have it. Even the bible asks, ‘Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?’ Just listen to yourself, you are not making sense at all…”

He wondered about her quoting from the scriptures but then he had to make her see things from his point of view. “Look this is what we will do. You will have the baby. I will take care of you and the child. I will pay for your rent, school fees, hospital bills, and upkeep, anything you want.”

“No way. I won’t mortgage my future for you or anyone. Who will marry me if I have a child and keep it’s father in tow perpetually. You are happily married, what makes you think I too don’t deserve a home some day soon. Abortion or Marriage and that is final”

He was confused. He had not bargained for this; all he had wanted was a little fun. There and then, he took a decision. He knew what he must do next.

Dele saw her smile at him across the room. He should have looked away but he didn’t. In a split second, he recognised that she was pretty in a homely way, had a beautiful figure and wore her braids elegantly.

He didn’t know her name but became pleasurably aware of her. However he wasn’t going to do anything about it because he was happily married, content and loved his wife dearly. He had been married for ten years and had never slept with another woman since then.

He left the restaurant and went back to work. As he lay beside his wife later that night, thoughts of her attacked and penetrated his peace. That smile, those braids, the pretty face, the slim figure! He indulged himself and let the thoughts roll. He slept off much later with a happy smile on his face.

Two weeks later, he sat at an empty table at the same restaurant enjoying his lunch. A shadow fell across his meal. “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked in a most sonorous voice. He couldn’t say no. He reveled in their short chat and wished he could prolong the lunch hour.

A month later, they had dinner together. If she had been a hunter, clingy, or demanding in any way, he would have found it easy to resist the attraction. But she was nice, selfless, submissive and pleasant and he often wondered if she was innocent.

During the next 3 months he spent all of his free time with her. It was just like a dream. He loved his wife but he enjoyed her company. An expensive indulgence; but he allowed himself to enjoy it.

Then one day she confronted him. He was responsible for her pregnancy. It was a mistake. She wanted an abortion. Could he please give her some money so she could do it at a professional hospital? He remembered he had always preached that - abortion is a sin against God. What was he going to do??

At that moment, his thoughts were with his wife. He loved her deeply and didn’t want anything to come between them, ever! How would she feel?

The joyful memories of the past 3 months instantly faded away. He held his head in his hands.

He remembered his mother's favourite proverb - "Don't smell what you know you shouldn't eat."

How he wished that three months ago, he had looked away.

a

It will be good to know where this book can be purchased in Nigeria.

At the last Nigerian International Book fair, the books were on display and i realise that they are still available. They requested that i should write some stories for them but i had to decline because i wouldn't have the time.

This may however be an opportunity for those may want to approach Macmillan with their manuscripts. Who knows,

Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

Max is one of my favourite authors and one of the non fiction writers I read regularly. am currently reading one of his 2005 books called  CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE and I recommend it.


The book is about finding that one thing in life you and no one else are meant to do. Da Vinci painted only one Mona Lisa and God created only one of you.

SMC
Thanks for the info, my website is now back up.

However, my books are actually available on anumber of on-line sites. Here a link to Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-3722114-4258530?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Dupe+Olorunjo&Go.x=10&Go.y=10

Happy reading!

I do not think this book was written for an African audience even though it did help me understand the issues surrounding the Biafran war better.

One of the first things you learn as a writer is to define your audience before you start a book. I believe the author has done just this. Personally i agree with most of the points Doyin raised

If you understand the dynamics of an economy and have some thoughts on how it can transform lives; here is a way for you to make your own contribution,

The International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group (IFC) and the Financial Times (FT) are pleased to jointly announce their second annual Essay Competition. This year's theme is "Private Sector Development: Creating Markets, Transforming Lives."
The Competition is soliciting action-oriented essays that:

Provide insight into current Private Sector Development (PSD) research
Develop and support the implementation of leading-edge PSD initiatives
Strike a balance between conceptual and practical considerations for private-sector involvement in developing countries, and the effect of that involvement on development
Reflect innovative, data-supported research resulting from the author’s own professional or academic work
Target economic & financial policymakers, the international financial community and/or international domestic investors

Six awards will be granted to the top papers as judged by the Awards Committee:

1 Gold Award US$20,000
2 Silver Awards, each US$10,000
3 Bronze Awards, each US$5,000

IFC and FT will publish all winning essays on their external websites and may provide publication in additional formats at their discretion.

Entries accepted: April 25, 2007 to September 30, 2007.

More information on the link below:

http://www.ifc.org/competition

Iwerebor:

Filth is filth no matter what container it comes in.

True!

Great tonic for all writers!

Every writer i know, believes their work will make an instant hit (including mine at the beginning). But it definitely doesn't work like that. 99% of the time success in every endeavour is a combination of hard work/skill, persistence and talent.

It is obvious that Half of a yellow sun was an extremely well written piece of fiction. But I also didn't care much for the explicit adult details and language used and the only reason why I read it to the end was because i had to carry out a personal reveiw on the book. When i started reading i decided to introduce it to our readers club in church, but then i had to change my mind.

However, its a free world and writers have a choice of language they want to use. Readers in the  western tend to celebrate writers who package graphic adult details in their writings. That's a possible reason why African writer's now feel compelled to satisfy their readers in this regard.

I have put in another link which should be easier and have sent one to your mailbox

How did the interview go?

If you run a search on the net you will find a lot of information about how to publish your book yourself. That's the easy part. The hard work comes when you start selling.

There are a number of subsidy publishing houses that would publish your books but then they leave you to hoist them out of their warehouse and take them to the market.

Some others e, g. Xulon press take over the logistics of posting/selling your book through a number of popular internet book sellers.

If you live in Nigeria, you probably will have to publish yourself. If you need any tips on this you can send me a mail.

Dipo, this is a great initiative but Ruudie here is right. What is the purpose of the competition? Is it one off or is it going to be an annual event? Will there be any other exposure for the winner beyond an announcement on a few sites. If it is really about encouraging people to write then there should be some initiative beyond the prize money? Or else people will just write for the money and that is it?

I suggest you connect the winner with a writing consultant in his or her field and offer support all the way towards publishing a book of their own.

It also needs to be clear that the contributors retain the copyright of their works.

Anyway like i started, it is a great initiative.

RuuDie:

with all due respect sir,
i didn't mean place a URL that leads to some site in this massive island of organized confusion --- i want you to write, with your own hands, in your own words; a little' succint description of yourself and what you hope to achieve with this your generous initiative. that too much to ask ?

Here's a sample chapter of my first book - TAILED. It's the story of a family of five helplessly bound by the power of an African Curse.

http://www.dupeolorunjo.com/downloads/Tailed_Chapter_1.pdf


I was greatly inspired by feedback/review of the sample chapter of my other book - THE AIREGINAN DREAM. I hope you will let me have your comments on this one too!

No comments from the literary analysts in the house?

Sorry it wasn't so clear. That's my personal definition of - a large market of potential readers/buyers. It may not be so apparent but they are there!

If you write fiction try browsing through www.advancedfictionwriting.com for some good writing tips and free courses

There's a gold mine out there waiting to be dug by a Nigerian Publisher with a vision and a strategy to sell books to our mass market. One day ,

sounds unbelievable, sounds funny, but the more successful books sellers are in Ajegunle, Ojuelegba etc and that is their strategy

babadee:

Get a broom, a mat and a bell.
then proceed to Ojuelegba under bridge,
find a good spot
sweep it clean,
lay your mat over it
arrange your books neatly and attractively
and the holla at the top of your lungs while ringing your bell
100, 100, 100( or whatever the amount you choose to sell), bendownlow and pick.
surely your books will sell

In Nigeria definitely not bookshops. Bookshops are just a good central place to direct people to, after you have made your own marketing efforts.

It's got to be direct marketing in whatever form. Define your target market and seek them out. Put the book in their face and if it is well packaged and has good content thethey will buy. For example if your market is in the schools then you have to find a way to run around and get the books to them.

Even soft sell magazine that sell like hot cake (in spite of the low Nigerian reading habit); sells because it is hawked on the streets and shoved in the face of car occupiers.

Selling books in Nigeria is hard work

This is where a writer pauses in the flow of a story and inserts an event from the past. I do use this technique in my writing as one of the tools to create tension or conflict. 

However I have heard many writing experts say that the flashback technique should be avoided entirely. I think i understand their point especially with the example of some Nigerian movies that overuse it. But i still think it can be useful in buiding a story.

As a reader what do you think? Does the flashback technique break your reading experience and pull you out of the story?

Icon:

Can you believe I just remembered about this today? I ran here to check and lo and behold, the dates have passed and the book fair is over! Need to kick myself

You Missed! However there will be many more, so i will attempt to keep you posted.

It took place last week from the 7th -12th May at the Unilag Multipurpose hall and was a great experience. The turnout was fair, it would have been better if the students were not on forced leave. There were visitors and participants from all over the country, South Africa, Norway to mention a few others.

All the participants including my goodself, had the benefit of a little bit more exposure; sales were good too.

For those who have a nostalgia for the Pacesetter series – I am glad to confirm that they are still being produced by Macmillan Nigeria Publishers. You can contact them for copies.

There were seminars on how to improve the reading culture in Nigeria. It was also clear that some organizations are taking this challenge headlong by working with the primary and secondary schools.

We need to organize and more importantly attend more programs like this to develop the Nigerian publishing industry. Apart from the fact that the event could have done with a bit more publicity; it was generally well organised

Ted Dekker is good. I liked the Blessed Child series, When heaven weeps and Three. However, he sometimes allows his imagination to run riot beyond what is real. For example Blink started off so well but somewhere in the middle he lost it.

But generally, i think he is a good writer.