Stories and Book Talk

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  • this African Girl

    This Girl, she stands, ready to face the world. She stands, with her head held high, facing you, facing me, facing countless faces. In a crowd, a class, on the street, she stands, up to judgment, against the hate, despite the constraints, holding on to the support, she finds in those who value her the…

  • Somewhere Else by Mathew Shenoda – Poetry Review

    Somewhere Else by Mathew Shenoda From the river Nile to the teeming streets of Cairo, from the indigenous, pre-Islamic Egyptian Coptic civilization to an America struggling with its fear of the Arab world, Shenoda’s poems recall the sacred traditions of an ancient, enduring culture as they widen the political conversation surrounding ethnicity, pan-Africanism and pan-Arabism.…

  • 7 Things to Know when Self-Publishing on Smashwords in Kenya

    About Smashwords.com  Smashwords.com is an e-book self publishing site.  Smashwords distributes e-books to a wide network of online retailers, mobile app platforms and affiliates.  They have 3 catalogs: 1. Premium  Catalog – Every author aspires to get their e-book in the premium catalog in smashwords.  This means that your e-book is distributed to major global…

  • Choosing a Genre for Your Fiction in Kenya

    What is a Fiction Genre? It is a fiction classification based on content, setting, and mood of the story.  A book may fit more than one genres but most times a story leans to one type of genre. Why is it important to choose a genre when you write Fiction? Choosing a genre helps you focus…

  • 4 Questions to Ask Before You Self-Publish in Kenya

    First question, Are you a writer? You’re a writer if you fill notebooks with stories and random thoughts that could be stories. If your laptop/PC is full of files of stories you’ve written. You wonder why publishing can’t get easier in Kenya. You get jealous every time you see that Saturday story running on the…

  • Immortal Blood- Book Review

    Immortal Blood by Magen McMinimy A perfect night on the town turns out to be her worst nightmare. A date with a handsome man is the catalyst for events that she thought only happened in fairy tales. Thrust into a world of danger, Isabelle has no idea what is in store for her as the…

  • Writing Resources – Quick Edits – Grammar and Punctuation

    Quick Edits This  post will help you edit and format your work as you write. Grammar and Punctuation. Direct Speech a. We use speech marks (” “) at the beginning and end of the words that a person says, including the sentence punctuation. For example: “Are you going home?” – The question mark is included…

  • Writing Resources: Self Publishing in Nairobi- What it Takes.

    Hey, Hey, Hey! I got emails asking a lot of questions on how self-publishing works.  How to do it, and why.  So, I thought this post might answer all these questions at once. Publishing in Nairobi, and I mean like getting a hard copy-honest to goodness paper book is a journey. It requires your commitment…

  • Writing Resources: Conflict and Why It’s Important

    Conflict! You need it in a story, and it has to have purpose. Different types of Conflict Man Vs. Man Man Vs. Man is the most common Conflict.  Your character having a villain in his life who just wants to cause trouble.  This is the conflict used with most superhero stories, supernatural stories, and even…

  • Writing Resources – Plotting Romance Novels in Nairobi

    I’m in a dream that one of these days I’m going to walk into a Nairobi bookshop and find a full aisle filled with romance novels, or fiction set in Nairobi.  So all of you shy Kenyan Fiction Writers, typing away in the middle of the night in your houses, get creative, even though you…