Back From My Break

*clears dust off blog*

Hi friends! It has been ages since I updated this blog. It almost feels strange to be writing here. In the past seven months or so, all of my thoughts have been gathering in my head, but I didn't have the time or energy to blog, so I just usually jotted down the important stuff that I really didn't want to forget. I remember a time (long ago) when I could update my blogs almost every day with any random thought that pops into my head.

Many, many thanks to you all for your kind wishes, thoughts and prayers towards me and my family. I really appreciate them and I pray that God will bless you in return. I am thankful for this new phase in my life. It's an odd feeling; knowing that I'm still me, but also knowing that my life has changed irreversibly. Having little FG around means so many different things on so many levels. Well, one of them is that I'm her first role model, so I have to behave myself! lol. I'm also thinking that this is where I need God more than ever before. I now pray that God, if I ever fail in anything in life, please let me not fail at being a parent.

So I'm slowly getting back to my (somewhat) normal routine (working round the little babe) and I'mgetting back to my work. I've started writing in little bursts again. I'm also devouring books like crazy, they're helping me to get my creative juices flowing. Previously, I thought my creativity had dried up cos my brain had switched completely into mummy mode. It felt good to take a break for a while, but it also feels great to be back, doing what I love.

I want to issue an apology to the fans and readers of our series In My Dreams It Was Simpler for the abrupt way we ended the public posts on the blog. Rest assured that I haven't forgotten my promise to keep you up to date with what happens next. So I've decided to continue working on Lola and Wole's story and have it as a separate book. I'll keep you guys posted with my progress on it. If you were not following the series before now, this is the time to catch up with the story because the conclusion is going to be hot!

So here's my quick update for now people, I hope to be back soon!

Stay blessed and favoured,
FG

New Month and Updates

Hi everyone! Welcome to the month of June! Sheesh, I can't believe I didn't update this blog for over a month. That's not because I didn't have anything to say, but I've just been so busy! Where do I even start from now? May was quite an eventful month, even though I feel like it flew by and I couldn't slow it down long enough to finish doing all I had planned.

On a personal note, I'm thankful I had a good month, I have many many reasons to be grateful to God. He remains faithful, the only One in my life that has never and would never let me down. I'm grateful for another year added to my life, and the many joys I have enjoyed. I'm grateful for my family and friends, for my health and for peace of mind. I'm grateful for provision and protection, for God's mercies, favour and guidance. I'm grateful for answered prayers, and even pending ones.

In other news:



I've started working on a new novel. My previous WIP manuscript has gone up in smoke. While it was a painful decision to throw it away, I have had time to reflect on it and I reckon, no knowledge is wasted. I've learnt a lot while writing it and I dare say, that my writing has improved. I may return to it much later in the future, but I would have to do so much work to edit it, that I fear it may not be worth the trouble.


Myself and some of my fellow writers (of the In My Dreams It was Simpler series) were interviewed for The Mantle. It was a fun experience, and we were thrilled to be approached by Shaun Randol, the Senior Editor to do a joint interview. You can read the two parts of the interview by clicking the links below:

The Mantle Interview (Part 1)
The Mantle Interview (Part 2)

I've got a feature in this month's edition of Reconnect Africa Magazine, also based on the series book. It turned out really interesting, so do check it out here:

Feature on ReConnect Africa

And finally, our group blog In My Dreams It Was Simpler has been nominated in three categories for the 2010 Nigerian Blog Awards! If you haven't already, head over to the Nigerian Blog Awards link right now to vote for us! We are in the Best Group or Collaborative Blog, Best Writing or Book Blog, and the Nigerian Blog of the Year categories. We are up against some tough competition, but it's great that we got recognised for our work! Do pop over there now to cast your vote. For us, of course. LOL

Have a lovely weekend and a blessed month!

FG

Books on My Desk

My books arrived from Amazon! So I've now got six books on my desk to devour. I've already started reading "In Dependence" by Sarah Ladipo Manyika. I might do a review of it when I'm done.

Apart from reading, I've been getting back into the swing of writing again. I've had to abandon my book manuscript for now. I hope to start working on another one very soon. Will keep you all posted.

And finally: I want to apologise to you guys for the closure of our "In My Dreams It Was Simpler" series blog. One of our writers was indisposed, and we were also making some changes to the story. Thanks for being patient with us! The blog has reopened now, and the series would be updated tomorrow so do check it out!

Have a lovely weekend ahead!

FG

Books Books Books!

This might sound kinda sad, but I'm so excited because I've just bought some books! Lol, I love reading, and now that I'm a writer it's become part of my job to read. My book shelf is now groaning under the weight of stuff, but that won't make me stop buying books! I've been eyeing so many books for a while, my Amazon wish-list has been calling my name, so I just decided to go ahead and treat myself this month.

I bought:

Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

On Black Sisters' Street by Chika Unigwe

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika

And finally: In My Dreams It Was Simpler

 (Yep, I bought a copy of our own book! It's for research purposes, lol)

I can't wait for all of them to arrive in the post! I'm eager to bury my head in crisp pages of literature... transporting me to places far away... introducing me to new people... bliss...

I think I'm sorted for the next month or so, but knowing me, I might just buy a few more sooner!

PS: Check out my interview on The Bookaholic Blog! (better late than never)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

FG

I Hear Voices

No, I'm not mad.

When I got the rejection letter from the publisher I submitted my novel to last year, I decided to put the manuscript away for a while so that I could get some distance and hopefully clarity on it. I haven't looked at the work since December. Now I'm hearing my characters whispering to me, asking me why I abandoned them for so long. They want me to come and clear up the twists I've left in their lives. One of my protagonists especially, is asking for a slight change in his life. I'm considering it.

Weird, huh? Most fiction writers would know what I'm talking about. It's funny having your own made-up characters come alive and start taking over your sub-conscious. Weird and a bit scary. Anyhow, I love my job, so I'm not complaining. I just wish they would let me do it on my own terms... okay, okay, I've got to go and finish re-writing that chapter...

Take care folks!

PS: Before you go, check out my interview on Femme Lounge

PPS: Our series blog will be updated tomorrow! Make sure you check it out!

xx

Book Launch, Interview and the Weather

Hey peeps! It's only the second week of the year and already so much is going on. I've been buried under a load of work and stuff, but also snowed in because of the cold snap the UK has been experiencing in the last two weeks. I find the UK media response to the snow quite amusing. It has been frontpage and headline news for days. They have dedicated so much airtime to covering every single tiny detail of "the big freeze". You would think there are other more important issues to talk about. You would expect that they know it is winter and it snows in winter, so they should just get on with it. But for some reason, the British make a big deal out of it, and it's almost as if the whole country grinds to a halt. Schools close, offices close, the trains don't work, airports close, flights are grounded, the postman doesn't go out, people panic-buy food, etc etc.

For me, it has been fun to look out of my window every day and see the snow. I've only been out in it twice, and I didn't enjoy it at all. I don't like the cold. So while I thank God for snow, I also thank God for the safety and comfort of a warm house. Here's a pic I took of my neighbour's garden:

Recently I've been following the news on TV and online about the Haiti earthquake. It's so sad to hear about so many lives lost, people in desperate situations, without food or shelter. If you are able to donate please go to Disaster Emergency Committee or World Vision and give something to help the victims of this natural disaster.

In other news - We are launching our blog series book tomorrow! We've compiled the story into a book, which I assure you is a really great read. It's available both in paperback and as an ebook, so you can choose whichever format works for you. We would really appreciate your support, so pop over HERE to get your copy! The first ten people to buy a copy tomorrow will get a nice discount. I got my proof copy some days ago and I had fun reading and admiring it. I couldn't believe it was actually real:

I've also got an interview (my first!) with Belinda Otas - check it out! I guess I have now completely removed the mask of anonymity. Ms NoLimit said I should not not be shy, so there you go! If you see me on the tube, come and say hi!

Enjoy the weekend ahead! xx

My.First.Rejection.Letter

I got my first rejection letter from a publisher yesterday. It is a rite of passage for every aspiring author :) In fact I got a text from my published writer friend to say congrats! Apparently it means I am now a real writer! lol.

As far as rejection letters go, this one's not too bad actually. The publisher said "Unfortunately with the publishing industry in it's current state, I felt your novel would not be commercial enough". I want to remain positive, so I will take that to mean the novel was not completely rubbish, and her rejection is simply down to economics and timing. I've heard of editors giving some really funny reasons for rejecting a novel to the tune of "Do yourself a favour and don't give up the day job"! So FG will pick herself up and carry on. As someone else said, it can only mean I'm one step closer to meeting the right publisher.

The fear of rejection was one of the things I was so worried about when I first decided to start writing, but I think I've had to see it as one of the things that come with the business side of writing, and not take it personally. Even the most successful authors who have won long lists of awards for their writing had to face rejection at some point. Determination and resilience is an essential strength to have in this game, and a thick skin is also very useful!

On to other news:

To say a big thank you to our readers and supporters, we are running a competition and giveaway for the next three weeks on our series blog! Check it out! This is the first one and entries will close on Monday the 14th. There will be two more competitions and prizes until Christmas, so make sure you click over to the blog now and enter. You could be a winner!

Hope you enjoy the rest of the week and have a great weekend ahead.

FG

Meeting No Limit, Encouragement, etc.

Hiya folks! Hope you week has been going great so far. And happy new month- it's already September! Does that mean the year 2009 is almost over? Wow, now that's a scary thought! Where does the time go nowadays?

I've had an interesting couple of days since last week. Last Saturday I attended a friend's (she's a fellow blogger) baby shower and I was introduced to Ms No Limit! It was really great to meet her. She's as bubbly and friendly in person as she sounds on her blog. She's also a great stepper o, don't mess with her on the dance floor, lol. There isn't a dull moment with her, and by the end of the evening, we were chatting away like old friends! It's always nice to put a face to the blog persona and I definitely hope we meet up again! What do you say girl?

Then on Sunday, hubby and I continued with our church-hunting. We have tried five churches so far. I know that sounds weird, but I'm actually enjoying it! It feels nice to be warmly welcomed at the end of every service, given special attention and the ministers try to recruit you to stay with them, all the while saying "Nice to meet you, hope to see you again next Sunday!"

Hubby and I smile politely but make no promises. I was telling my friend the other day that eventually we would settle somewhere, a place where "the Spirit leads us to" but for now, we just haven't decided yet.

I had cranky Bank Holiday Monday, didn't do much at all, even though it was the day everyone else in the UK set aside to have some fun. I tried to get some work done, but I was battling writer's block and raging hormones, so I shut off my laptop and went to read a book under my covers for the most part. But thanks to a good friend, Dr Icepick who encouraged me to get my writing flowing again, even if it didn't make sense at first. He has said he is willing to help other blocked writers, for a small fee (I kid, I kid).

Which leads me on to what I want to say about encouragement. Sometimes we are full of zing and energy and we can take on the world. But there are also times when the burden becomes to heavy, the pressure is mounting, or strength is failing, and you just need someone to get alongside you to encourage you to keep going. I'm very grateful

for friends, bloggers and family members who have been a great source of encouragement to me over the years. Sometimes I need a word of encouragement to lift me up when I'm down, sometimes I need a sharp word to prod me out of my despair.

Simple words like "You can do it!" "Keep Going!" "I believe in you!" are really great for motivating someone, and you never know if it was something you said that gave someone the courage to pursue a dream or fulfil a lifelong ambition! So I would like to say a big big THANK YOU to all of you, my friends and fellow bloggers for your kind words of encouragement. I treasure them, and I pray that God will reward you abundantly in return!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

FG

Church-Hunting, Blog Series

Hey people! Hope life is going great and you are enjoying the summer sunshine! Is anyone going on holiday somewhere exotic? As for me I've had a very busy couple of weeks. Writing and editing is fun, but it can get frustrating sometimes! I can't complain though, it's my job and I don't think I would love to do anything else :)

I did go for the Caine Prize readings (EC Osondu won- yay! See more info here) and I took some pics, but I'm feeling too lazy to upload them right now. I had a good time though, meeting other writers, listening to the readings and networking afterwards.

So we've been back in London for about two weeks, and settling in quite fine. I need to start finding out about transport links in my area, and useful things like the banks, post office, corner shops and so on. Meanwhile, hubby and I are now looking for a church in the area to attend. Some of our friends have been suggesting one church or the other. So last Sunday, we decided to try a branch of Redeemed not too far away. We were a bit wary, as we haven't attended a Nigerian church for five years and we had gotten used to a very different setting, but we decided to try it. Perhaps just the once, so off we went. Then at the end of the service, hubby asked me what I thought. Honestly? Okay I liked the praise worship and the message was good, but I just felt under a lot of pressure. What pressure, you might ask?

I don't know if it was just me, but I felt the pressure to conform, pressure to fit into a certain "type", pressure that people are watching you and they will immediately judge you based on the most superficial things.

For example, I couldn't help but notice the competitive size-ups I got as soon as I entered the church. Seriously, it was like people looked at hubby and I from head to toe, scrutinising our appearance before deciding if we were worth bothering with or not. Now I may be wrong, but that impression I got was too strong.

Then there was the pressure to "dress up". Don't get me wrong, I like looking good, but Nigerian churches take it to extremes when you feel you have to dress a certain way before you are good enough to appear in church. I've heard the argument so many times over that most people give. "When you want to go and see the queen/go to work, you dress well, so you must dress well too when you want to go and see God". Yeah right, I say. Like God is sooooo impressed by whatever I wear to His presence. He is not like us that judge people based on their outward appearance. I also think that kind of implies God only lives in church, and He is not with me 24/7 which is rubbish. God sees me when I'm in my living room, not dressed to impress and He hasn't told me yet that my outfit is not fit in His presence. LOL

Furthermore, there is the pressure to impress/oppress others. When hubby mentioned his job to someone, the first thing they said was, "Is that the car you drive?" Seriously! I found it quite amusing to be honest. Is that what people do - go out and buy cars they can't afford simply to impress people in church? So church is now where we go to show off our latest acquisitions, whether it's cars, clothes, gadgets and what not. Na wah o!

Apart from the pressures I mentioned, there are also some other minor issues of time-keeping, gossiping, looong messages about giving before the offering and so on that I have with the average Nigerian church. So by the time I put all these things in context, I said to hubby that we should either develop really thick skins or continue church-hunting! Any recommendations, good people of blogville?

If you are not already following our blog series, what are you waiting for? Click to read all the posts so far: In My Dreams, It Was Simpler . Yours truly is writing the post for this week (as Lola), so make sure you check it out and leave a comment! We would all really appreciate it.

Here's a little snippet:

I left Maureen’s flat in disgust. Why are the girls looking at me as if I’m just a trouble maker, lying about Dayo to Titi? I told them Dayo was married, I mean, I saw the photos with my own two eyes. Yet Titi is telling everyone that she went to Dayo’s house and didn’t see any evidence of a woman living there.

That's all folks! Hope you have a great weekend ahead!

FG

The Blank Page

You know the one.

When you pick up your pen to write in your notebook. Or open a new Microsoft Word document and you are faced with a white, blank sheet of paper.

Some days when I pick up my pen to write, the words come tumbling out, the ideas keep flowing, I'm on a roll and my arm aches to catch up with the speed at which my brain is churning out words. But that's actually the exception. Most other days, I spend ages staring at the blank sheet of paper, willing something to happen. Sometimes I manage to scrape a few sentences together, but sometimes I give up after a few torturous hours.

Someone asked me recently, "do you schedule some time to write each day, or do you wait for the inspiration to come and then write when you feel like it?"

Good question. If I had to wait for inspiration all the time, then I would hardly ever get anything done. So most times I have to grit my teeth and force myself to write something, anything.

Or to put it another way, as I read in the "Writing a Novel and Getting Published for Dummies" book (paraphrased):

As a writer, you must realise that the blank page is not your friend. The blank page is scary, and it is your enemy. Cover your pages with words. If you force yourself to write 1000 words everyday, in a month you would have written 30,000 words. Words which you can edit and correct later. Remember, you cannot edit a blank page.

That's a lesson for Favoured Girl.

Have a great weekend all!

Reflection

I look up into the sky

I see a dark blanket

Twinkling with hundreds of white dots

I also see the moon

Glowing silently but with pride

Knowing that even though

It has got

No light of its own

It reflects the light of one

Brighter that it

With this reflected light

It rules the night sky

Not even the stars can compete

It makes me pause and think

I have no glory of my own

I cannot shine by myself

But if I allow my emptiness

To be filled with God’s grace

My weakness

To be replaced with His strength

And my struggles

Be replaced with His ability

I would start to shine

Not of my own

But as a reflection of Him

Copyright © FG 2009

Positive Stuff

Hello blogville! I'm in a much better mood this week, for many reasons. It's been a defining moment in history for one! But apart from that, I've had several things happen to cheer me up.

First of all, I'm really glad to witness the fact that Barack Obama won the election! I know how significant his victory is to people of colour, to people who thought they can never break down some barriers. His victory has given hope to thousands of people all around the world that indeed, anything is possible. And that we can achieve our dreams, no matter how far-fetched they sound at the beginning. Imagine, a few short years ago, it would have been impossible to believe that a mixed-race, relatively young man of Kenyan descent would campaign and win the US presidential election by a clear majority. But it has happened right before our very eyes! My big congratulations to President Obama himself, and also to his family and the team behind him. For the first time in history, America has a black family living in the White House!

I'm sure they (Obama and his advisers) know the enormity of the task ahead of them. They must know that the eyes of the world will be on him, and every decision he makes will be scrutinised closely. They are definitely aware that Obama now has to prove a point to the rest of the world: that he deserves all the confidence the voters have in him to deliver on his promises. I just hope the American people who voted him into power, will be patient with him. It can't be easy inheriting the legacy of outgoing President Bush, with the heavy weight of expectations on his shoulders.

Now if I can dream, I hope for the day that my own country Nigeria, and indeed many other countries in Africa will have visionary leaders like Obama that we can believe in. I hope that one day the voice of the people will matter. I hope that one day soon, we will have leaders who want to serve the people, not rule and plunder them. I hope that one day, we will cast away the lust for power, ignorance, selfishness, greed and injustice, to give way for true democracy, peace and unity in our country. I await the day that I would say with even more pride: I am a Nigerian.

Okay, enough of politics! In other news.... last week, hubby and I went on a short break to the city of Porto and we had a lovely time. It was a nice change of scenery and a break from the usual humdrum which was exactly what I needed to get out of the gloom. It was fun hearing another language, trying different food, sampling another culture and exploring a new city. Porto is such a nice chilled out city, compared to London, it's definitely a breath of fresh air! The people are really nice and friendly too. More than once, seeing hubby and I poring over a map in confusion, people have walked up to us and offered to help us find our way around! We had fin walking over bridges, taking a river cruise, going on a tour of a Port Wime making factory and more. I would definitley recommend it to anyone looking for a place to have a relaxing city break for the weekend. Some photos:

I didn't plan this at the beginning of the year, but now I'm going to Nigeria this December by God's grace. How it all happened is still a bit of a mystery to me, but before I knew it, I found myself making plans and getting a ticket one day. Still, I don't mind though, going to Nigeria should be fun! I'll be seeing family and friends that I haven't seen for a year, so that's good. I might even meet up with some bloggers as well! If you are going to be in Lagos this Christmas, feel free to holla!

And finally, my writer's block has cleared, so I'm going to make the most of this time. I've finally updated my writing blog, and I'll be putting up a couple more stuff on it in the next week, fingers crossed. It feels good to be productive again!

Later blogville, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Award and Gists

Hi blogville people! Is it just me, or is this month of September flying by faster than all the previous months of the year? It's already the 23rd of the ninth month of the year for real! God is in control, that's all I can say.

I received a blog honour from Aloted - yay! She gave me the "Certified Honest Blogger" award. Thanks girl, I'm so grateful!
Okay so, this is my acceptance speech:

I would like to thank God, my wonderful hubby and Aloted for giving me this award. Thank you also to everyone who read and comment on my blogs, who have encouraged me and inspired me. And to all of you wonderful people that make blogville such a fun, entertaining and educative place to be! Thank you!

Here are the rules of the award:
1. When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back
2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.
3. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with an award
4. Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).
5. And then pass it on!

So I'm passing on the award to the following bloggers in no particular order:

1 Good Naija Girl
2 Vera
3 Believer
4 Diamond Hawk
5 No Limit
6 Cherub
7 Jaycee

I think you all deserve this lovely award!

Last week I had to embark on a transformation of some sorts. Alas, it seems after three years of marriage, I had been letting myself slip in terms of my appearance and hubby pointed this out to me (in a nice way of course, lol). He said he noticed that I only make an effort to look fabulous when I'm going out, and I don't bother much when I'm at home. I guess it became more noticeable because I stopped going to work so I didn't suit up and make up every morning anymore! That made me realise that I needed to take quick action before I became a frumpy housewife! So I took his advice on board and decided to do something about it. First, I had a critical look at my wardrobe and discarded the old and ugly stuff in there, gosh it's practically empty right now! Next I went to the MAC counter to get a make-over and update my look before I get stuck in a rut. Now I'm updating my clothes and accessories gradually, keeping an eye on the trends in fashion magazines and shows. You know how, before we ladies get married, we vow never to let our appearance take a back seat? Well I've realised that most ladies don't plan to allow it happen, it just does. It takes an effort to keep it up when you've become comfortable in your relationship. Now that I've realised though, I have no excuse so I'm going to make the effort. Fingers crossed!

Apart from that, I've been keeping busy with my work and I'm quite pleased with the progress I've made. I've now written five more chapters of my book. I've put the first five chapters on my writing blog now. But I'll be adding some more short stories to it, as time goes on. I'm hearing from other experienced writers that I should finish writing the whole thing first before editing it, but it's hard! I keep reading every sentence over and over, trying to make it sound better. It's slowing me down though, so I guess I need to finish writing the first draft before I worry about editing it. It's a huge learning curve for me and I know I still have a long way to go.

I'm off to start my day properly now, so take care friends, till I come back or pass by your blogs too! Enjoy the rest of your week.

New Month, New Ideas

Happy new month! I can't believe I've been away from my blog for two whole weeks. And I can't believe the month of August is already over. It's like the year is almost gone once you get to the "-ber" months: September, October, November and December. Before you know it, 2008 will be over and we will be ushering in the year 2009. Scary!

I've been quite busy in the last two weeks. Since leaving my job, I've been working on the book and taking small steps to reach my target before the end of the year. Check out my writing blog to read some chapters and short stories. I will be putting up more short stories as I go along. Then my little sis came round, and we had lots of fun! It was really nice to see her again even though it was quite a short trip. The bubbly girl helped herself to my clothes and stuff sha, before boarding her plane back. But it's all good, that's what little sisters are for.

My cousin also had her engagement and wedding ceremonies which was a great time. Weddings generate so much excitement in the family as you can imagine. Lots of people flew in, people staying over and such like. It was cool though - I got two new aso-ebi outfits, I got to see family and friends that I hadn't seen in ages, got to dance and take loads of photos. She's off on honeymoon now as the new Mrs and my life is slowly getting back to normal.

I've got a few new ideas up my sleeve, about making the most of my time outside the 9 - 5 routine. It's like there are so many things that you don't notice when you are busy working and working for someone else. Or you are too inflexible to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. I was talking to a friend of mine who is absolutely fed up with her job and ready to quit any day now. She's thinking of business ideas to go into. I told her that once you have the ideas in your mind, take the plunge. It may seem scary at first, but really, what's the worst that could happen? You might fail once, but if you are determined, you will rise up again and learn from your mistakes. And then be better prepared to succeed. For me, I'm trying to build up my tough skin and be ready to face rejections from agents and publishers time and time again when I finish writing my book. I know from the experience of many other writers, success doesn't just land in the letter box. So I'm preparing for the worst.

Anyway, recently I had been thinking about that age-old question, "Why am I here?" that most of us have to ask ourselves at some point in our lives. I read the book "40 Days of Purpose" in 2006 and it did change my life. Maybe I need to read it again because I still have some questions I need answers to. But really I guess I'm just a bit impatient. I know I can only find my true purpose in God, but sometimes waiting is so hard. I want to know so many things right now and God is taking His time to reveal things slowly. Maybe I need to work on becoming more patient. Anyway while I was pondering these things I got a few things in my mind and I decided to write them down:

I am not here just to be a statistic - I am not an accident or mistake - I am not here just to live and die quietly - I wasn't born just to add to the population on this planet - I am not here to live a miserable existence - God had a good plan for me when He sent me to earth - I have gifts and talents that God has blessed me with - I can become whatever I dream of - There are goals to achieve and awards to win - I should make every single day count!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your week.

My Birthday, Appreciating Life and Writing

It was my birthday last weekend. At the beginning of the year, I kept on remembering that I would soon hit the "quarter of a century" mark and I thought it was so scary. I kept thinking: "What have I been doing since I was born? Have I made my mark on the world around me? Am I accomplishing my goals? If I was to review my life thus far, is there a legacy I can leave? Is my life and inspiration to others? Am I really fulfilling my purpose?" and so on. I was discussing these questions with my sister one day and she said, "You have to look at the things you have achieved so far and count them as blessings, then figure out the next set of goals you want to aim for". That cheered me up and inspired me, so as my birthday approached, instead of having a panic attack, I was able to relax and celebrate the totality of my few years of existence on the planet. And I look forward to many more! I get that feeling of "make time count" now, because every second adds up so quickly that I know I must utilise the rest of my life well. Well, because I don't know how much of it I have left you see. Funny enough, I actually feel good about growing older every year now, but maybe you should ask me again in ten years.

Putting all these sober reflections aside, I planned to let my hair down and have a good time so I had a party! It's not everyday one gets to reach a milestone in life is it? So I invited hubby, a few old friends (and some new ones too!) to celebrate with me, including two of my favourite girl bloggers: Mimi and Aloted. It was my first time meeting Aloted because we narrowly missed each other in Nigeria during the Christmas/New Year period last year. We all had fun at the bar on Saturday, eating, drinking, dancing, taking photos and generally having a great time. I got loads of presents too and I can truly say I had a fabulous birthday party. (I have a wishlist if anyone still wants to get me a present .. lol).

I don't know if this is a sign of growing older, but I've noticed that I'm now appreciating the people around me a lot more than I used to. It's not as if I've ever taken my family and friends for granted, but there is definitely something different. I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently and afterwards, I felt so blessed to have her in my life. She's one of the people that I know will give me the last clothes off her back if I needed it. Then my mum came to visit as well and I have also started appreciating her more. Then my sisters... they are like God-sent angels and they have been so supportive lately. Then there's my hubby, it seems I now look at him through different eyes. He truly is an amazing person and I'm blessed to be his wife. I hope I never forget that in all things, it is the people that love me and the people I love that have the most impact in my life.

I'm still working on my writing and it's so slow! I'm now appreciating all those books I see on the shelves in stores. I can now imagine the writer, taking time everyday to write each word down one by one. I can visualise how many times they wrote something and tore it up because it didn't sound right. I can picture them editing and re-editing their work before they got to the final draft. I can see them adding or taking out a character or sub-plot. Gosh I now know that writing a good story is not as easy as it looks! Sometimes I wish it were easier and I could just transpose all the thoughts in my head somehow and it would make sense to anyone that comes across it. But I can't. I have to physically write it out and read it out to myself until I get it right. And even then, I should be open to criticism.

Anyway let me not bore you off my blog with my rants, who sent me eh? It's getting warmer in England now (finally!), the sun is out and so are the miniskirts and shorts, ice-cream and lunches in the park. I'm out of here to enjoy the rest of the daylight. Who am I kidding, I'm off to my class! Hope you enjoy the rest of your week and you have a lovely weekend!

Many Thanks, Other Stuff

Thank you everyone for your kind words and prayers about my mum. I'm really grateful and I pray that God will bless you in return! Mum is doing much better now and I'm trusting God to fully heal her. She has already improved a lot since she arrived and I can see the difference. Hubby and I are going to see her tomorrow and we are going to her physiotherapy session together. I'm glad I can go with her, we may even have a small bonding time by going shopping afterwards! That is if she feels strong enough to brave the shops on the high street. I'm excited about that, I must admit.

Well my writing's been going well so far. I'm working on a short story at the moment and it's harder than I thought! I thought you know, it's just a short story of no more than 5000 words - how hard can it be? But I've realised it is hard. I have to tell the whole story and come to a conclusion in a short space so it's not easy at all. So that's my first learning experience about writing a short story. I'm still working on a novel as well so my head is full of different characters and story lines right now, really cool! I've actually started dreaming about the characters too, is that weird?

In the past week I've "met" and spoken to some amazing people who are writers and I've been awed, challenged and inspired. I feel like I've got so much to learn about how to continually improve my writing, how to carry out research, seek out inspiration and overcome writer's block. I formed the "Nigerian Writers" group on Facebook and I've met more writers that way and it's great! I'm developing a new obsession: stalking other Nigerian writers and their work. I'm not just interested in Nigerian writers though, I think I'm just particularly curious about how they express themselves through their writing.

Speaking of Nigeria, I've just heard about the currency reforms the Central Bank is proposing. They are proposing a revaluation of the naira so that the current denominations will be a hundredth of their value ie N1oo.00 will be worth N1.00, the N20 note will be the highest in circulation etc. I've read about the supposed benefits the revaluation will have. It will reduce the amount of notes that people have to carry around, it will make the exchange rates with the Dollar and Pound Sterling more comparable and so on. But I just can't help wondering: Did they not change the Naira notes a few months ago? Why didn't they reform the value then? Why do the new notes need to be phased out again? Are there not more pressing economic problems to sort out first? How about lowering inflation and creating more jobs? Would revaluing the naira make any difference to the average trader in the market or the average salary earner? I very much doubt it, but we'll see.

I know I shouldn't look back and regret things I can't change, but sometimes I can't help wondering why I had spent all that time at uni studying the wrong degrees, and then graduating and doing the wrong career. I feel as if all those years were a waste and I'll never get them back. An acquaintance of mine called me recently, we went to uni together and I knew her through a mutual friend. She was calling to invite me to an event and then she just asked: how is work? I told her I had left my job. She asked to why and what I did now. I told her I was now a writer and she was like wow, just a few days ago, she was thinking of leaving her job to follow her dream of starting her own business but she was afraid. I told her not to give in to her fears anymore because further down the line, she could end up regretting not taking the plunge earlier. She said she would think about it, I really hope she goes for her dream!

This summer has been such a dampener, it's so annoying. Imagine, it's raining in the middle of August! Hubby and I had planned a day out last week, but the weather forecast had predicted rain so we decided to move it to this week. Well it's been raining this week too, so we've had to cancel our outing. Sigh. I guess I shouldn't complain too much, I should think of the green grass and the lovely flower hedges enjoying all the rain. Hope you are all enjoying the summer where you are.

Mummy, Health and Writing

I've been away from my blog for a while, I know. It's not because I didn't have things to say, and not because I was stranded on a remote island somewhere. I didn't have the inclination to blog for a reason, or maybe a few. I got a phone call recently that my mum was ill. My aunt didn't want to tell me what was wrong with her, all she said was that my mum had fallen ill and had been taken to hospital. I asked how mum was doing and my aunt said she was responding to treatment. I was quite worried because my mum is never sick. She is one of the most active and hardworking people I know. I can't remember the last time she was ill and had to go to hospital. Initially I thought maybe it was a fever or something, so I told hubby and we prayed for her. I called my dad and he was being very vague as well, he just told me that she had been admitted into hospital and she was getting better. But he wouldn't let me speak to her. So everyday all I could do was pray for mum to get better. It wasn't until a week later before he told me that my mum had had a stroke. A stroke?! I was stunned and I couldn't speak for what seemed like several minutes. The first thing I asked him was: why did you keep it from me all this time? There I was thinking she only had malaria or something! After I had recovered from the shock, I calmed down enough to ask more important questions about her health and how her treatment was going.
Well to cut a long story short, mum came around two weeks ago. I had been so scared that she would be permanently disabled or something, but to God be the glory, she is recovering well and she is able to walk and talk almost as normal as before. I spent the last five days with her and I'm really glad she is improving everyday. She told me what she could remember of when it all started happening and how she was rushed to hospital, how she was unconscious for many days, how she herself didn't believe she was so ill until the doctors told her. She is undergoing physiotherapy now, so she will be around for a while until she fully recovers. I'm just really really really grateful to God for sparing her life and I pray she will be perfectly healed - amen. When she gets better, I'm going to tell her that she must not stress herself again, she needs a long holiday.

That got me thinking about how much we take our health for granted. It is so so vital, something that cannot be bought in the market. I mean, for me that I had never seen my mum being in hospital, it did come as a shock. I had never imagined it could happen. I now thank God for my health everyday, it is a precious gift. I now appreciate life itself a lot more as well. My mum's friend said that after my mum got ill, she started appreciating that life is short, so she has started wearing all her nice clothes that she used to keep for "special occasions"! I thought that was funny but there is an element of truth in there. Why wait for another day to start enjoying your life? Who knows how long we will be around to live our lives anyway? I've made up my mind to live my life to the full everyday, because I don't know if I will be given another day.

I'm glad I could take the time to be with mum last week since don't have to be "in the office", but that does mean though that I've fallen behind my writing target for this week. I was hoping to have written a short story and another chapter of my book by Friday but that didn't happen. I couldn't do any work during the weekend either because I had to attend a wedding all day on Saturday, and I was so tired on Sunday. I'll have to adjust my deadline now but I intend to work extra hard and have something substantial to show for it by the end of the week. I'd better, otherwise my friends could start ribbing me like Brian in the funny clip below.

I hope not! LOL, have a blessed week everyone!

One Month, and a Celebration

It's the end of July! Wow time really does fly. I can't believe it's been a month since I left my job. It's a good feeling though. It seems like a noose around my neck has been loosened. I feel I have made the third best decision in my life. The first one was giving my life to Christ. I have been complete since I made that decision. The second one was getting married to my husband. That I haven't regretted.

My work is going a bit slower than I expected though. Sometimes everything flows, I'm excited and I can't wait to get all my thoughts down on paper. Sometimes I have stuff in my head but I can't work up the enthusiasm to write anything. And sometimes I get on my computer and start stressing instead of doing useful work. Still I'm learning a lot as I research and write a little every day. I've resumed my passion for reading as well. In the last week I have bought four books that I want to read. That should get more ideas going.

If you follow my other blog, you might have guessed I had a special date this month. Yes it was our second wedding anniversary! Traditionally that's the cotton or china anniversary right? Hubby and I went out to celebrate and we had a great time. I still can't believe it's been two years already. Time really does fly. I remember talking to a couple recently. They had been married for 46 years. I was like wow! That's a long time to be with somebody. Sometimes I still find it scary to imagine being with the same person for that long, but that's the essence of making a lifetime committment. I pray that hubby and I will go on to celebrate 46 happy years together - and more!

I took up jogging recently. I finally stopped giving myself excuses not to improve my fitness level. I've only been doing it for two weeks and it's only early in the mornings for now. But I hope to continue with it and get better and fitter as time goes on. Maybe one day I'll be able to join blogville's long-distance runners: Londonbuki, Vickii and Calabargal at the London marathon. Ok maybe that's going too far....

First Steps

It's been a week already! Wow, this week really flew by. I guess that had to do with the changes and adjustments I am making in my life and my career. Right now I still feel a huge sense of relief. I know it won't always be rosy and there will be challenging times along the way. But everything feels right somehow and I know I've made the right decision. At least I've decided to give it a go. And I'm determined to see my work through. And my dreams becoming a reality!

My first week as a "writer" has been good, I can't complain. (I'm wondering if I should start calling myself a writer already, since I haven't actually published anything yet. That can be rectified right?). Anyway, I haven't had to commute or follow a rigid working pattern this week so that's good. I've had to set myself some targets though, so that I can measure my progress everyday and every week. I think I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. But hey, every accomplished writer, poet or novelist had to start from somewhere, and I'm starting at the beginning. I've enrolled for a writing course which starts in September. I'm hoping to have written enough stuff by then, so that I can get some feedback from the course tutor.

Now even though I'm just starting out, I can already see God's grace and favour at work. I mentioned in my last post that I met two girls at the London Literature festival last week. What I didn't know was that one of them was Funmi Odulate! She is a leading fashion expert and journalist, author of a vintage fashion book (see here) and she is currently working on her second book. I hadn't known who she was, I had simply introduced myself to them because they happened to sit beside me during the programme. Since the festival, we have kept in touch and exchanged several emails. She is very nice and down-to-earth and I've now appointed her as my unofficial mentor......

The Caine Prize winner was announced on Monday. The shortlist was as follows:
Uwem Akpan (Nigeria) for "My Parents Bedroom", Monica Arac de Nyeko (Uganda) for "Jambula Tree", E. C. Osondu (Nigeria) for "Jimmy Carter's Eyes", Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa) for "Bad Places" and Ada Udechukwu (Nigeria) for "Night Bus". The prize was won by Monica. I guess her novel stood out because it touched on a taboo subject in many parts of Africa : lesbianism. I'm looking forward to reading some of the works because they sounded so interesting at the readings and the interviews were good.

Hubby bought me a new laptop yay! It's actually a very late birthday present, but he said he gave it to me now, to mark the start of my writing career. Apparently I had to prove that I was serious about it. The only rule he gave me was that it should be for strictly business use, so I'm not to download messenger and fun things onto it! OK o. Meanwhile I've started working on my first novel. I have a vague outline and I've started working on developing my characters so that's interesting. I'm discovering there's a wealth of resources available to amateur writers on the web. I just have to sift through the fluff to get the useful stuff. Special thanks to Abidemi Sanusi for her website http://www.christianwriter.co.uk/ which has been a great resource. Her blog is here and I've just ordered her book, Kemi's Journal. It arrived today and hopefully I'll start reading it next week once I'm through with the one I'm currently reading. (Thanks for your comment, I'll keep it in mind!)

I'm looking forward to a nice, chilled out weekend. A friend is organising a birthday party for her baby's first birthday so I'll be attending that. I can't believe that baby is one already, when was he born? Apart from that, I'll be spending quality time with hubby *wink*. Hope you have a great weekend!

Complete New Beginning

I'm sitting in front of my computer this morning, thinking I should probably get some work done. Except, I'm not in the office. I'm at home in my living room. Yes I finally did it. I left my job and career in accounting to become a writer. I had handed in my notice a few weeks ago, but the enormity of what I was getting myself into didn't sink in at the time. Now I have been without the secure structure of a 9 - 5 job for a week, and it's finally beginning to sink in! It's exciting but very scary. I realise that success in my career depends completely on me now, so I had better deliver. It's scary also because the security of the monthly paycheck is gone. I'm so blessed to have hubby and my family there to support me while I find my feet. Otherwise it would have been a much bigger risk to take.
I was going to put up this post last weekend, but I came down with a flu. Perfect timing, I didn't have to go to the office anymore so I could stay at home for five days fighting the flu virus - a parting present from the City of London. I had made plans to launch into my new career with so much vigour, instead I was coughing and sneezing and feeling sorry for myself. So last week didn't exactly go as planned. On Thursday, I started feeling much better so I finally ventured out of my house. And I realised that I was now free. Free from the straight-jacket of the corporate world. Free from working myself hard to meet another person's targets. Free from the monotony of the j-o-b. Free from office politics and power struggles. I came up with a list of things I won't miss about my former career path, and some thing I would miss.

What I now miss:
1) The regular paycheck, knowing I would get paid as long as I was in the office that month
2) The funny banter of my colleagues, their jokes and grumbling.
3) My former boss, she's a really lovely person, so warm and kind.
4) Meeting up with my friend in St Pauls for lunch. On nice days we used to go to the cathedral gardens and sit on the benches gisting our lunch hour away.
5) Exchanging emails with my friend, planning our weekends and meetings after work
6) My morning newspaper - free Metro!
7) My evening newspapers - free London Lite and thelondonpaper
8) The Krispy Kreme shop just outside the station where I used to work
9) The whole London vibe, you just feel like you are in touch with what's happening

What I most def don't miss:
1) Waking up in the morning to the annoying ringing alarm at 6.00am
2) Running to the train station in uncomfortable "office" shoes
3) Getting the train and having to stand all the way into Central London - just awful
4) Sharing a carriage with people coughing sneezing and spreading their germs
5) Getting to work already tired before the day has even begun
6) Having a limited lunch time break
7) Getting back home in the evening absolutely tired
8) Paying one-third of my salary to the railway company for the dodgy service
9) Tied down to spending that rigid block of my time in the office
10) Spending most of my Saturday cleaning and cooking because I haven't had time during the week.
(There's more but I'll leave it as that for now)

In the light of this new path I'm now on, I've been looking for networking opportunities and events. Yesterday afternoon, I attended the London Literature Festival at the South Bank Centre. It's a series of literary events spread out over two weeks but yesterday's event was dedicated to African writers. The first part was specifically about three Nigerian writers: Biyi Bandele, Helen Oyeyemi and Helon Habila. All three of them read from their books and discussed their work. They were interviewed and we were able to ask questions and stuff like that. It was cool. The second event was the Caine Prize 2007 Readings, where the African writers shortlisted for the Caine Prize came up to read their works and were interviewed by Zena Saro-Wiwa. Some of the works read were so inspiring and intriguing. I have three books on my mind that I'm definitely going to buy. The Caine Prize winner will be announced later today.
I met two Nigerian girls there and after the first session, we talked and went off to have a chat over drinks. One of them is a fashion journalist, and they are both writers so it was good talking to them. We had fun talking about works we had read, analysing different styles of writing, Nollywood movies and so on. After the events, we swapped details and I intend to keep in touch with them. I told them I was a blogger and gave them my other blog address so they might read this (hi girls!) In the meantime, it felt so good to be among like-minded people. That just inspired me. I've got ideas for my book now so I feel more confident about becoming a writer.
I still have one or two things to work out though. The options and opportunities are so vast, it is a bit overwhelming. I'm thinking I might take up some freelance work because I want to build up a portfolio of written published work. I want to look into writing articles for magazines and stuff like that. I could do also some short stories before attempting a full-length novel, and I might look into writing for children. In any case, there are so many opportunities, and at the moment I'm taking one step at a time and seeing where each step will take me to in future.

For now I'm off to start my day. I'm going to register for a creative writing course to help me brush up my skills and develop my ideas further. And then I'm meeting up with my friend that I haven't seen in the flesh since 1998 or is it 1997. Thank God for hi5 and Facebook that helped us to keep in touch again.

I'll be back...