My grandmother told us (her grandchildren) folktales in her kitchen, while we waited for her to finish cooking. She told us tales when we finished eating and waited to go to bed. I remember the sound of her voice, her laugh, the scent of the sweet potatoes she roasted in the hot ash under the firewood coals. Most of all, I remember the warmth of her kitchen, as she spun wild tales about an ogre in the forest who ate naughty children. Her stories could be quite frightening at times.
She’s long gone now. All we have are the memories of her tales. Most of which are not as clear as we wish they would be. We were young, the years have gone by and us, her grandchildren, are often sad because her stories while entertaining are lost to memory. I wish someone had written them down. I wish I knew them well enough to write them down and print them.
I tell you this memory because you must also have stories you enjoyed, you experienced and hold close to your personal history. They are yours, told in your language, your way. To never forget them is a gift, to share them is your privilege. Write them down and get them read by others. Share your experiences in our beautiful East Africa with the generations to come.
A fresh new start for the year 2022. I’m excited for new projects, and a new creative cycle. Here is what is on the writing desk this year:
Zev’s Afrotheria – This is a story I’ve worked on off and on for the last few months. I’ll post it more often on this blog , look out for the chapters.
Zev Mablevi’s younger sister goes missing after a vicious attack on their home by ghost wraiths. To find her, he needs the power of the Guardian Guild. Zev gives up on his dreams to join the prestigious Tech Class and enters the Guardian Guild. He works hard to join the most elite force in the guild on a quest to gain enough power to investigate his sister’s disappearance. He soon meets Dahlia, a progressive scientist who believes she has found a way to win against the wraiths for good. She needs a guardian who can take her to the top of the mountain where the ghost wraiths come from. She promises Zev to help him find his sister if he gets her to the mountain and back.
Kipepeo – I started this during the 2019 nanowrimo cycle. I always feel it needs more work, so I’ll polish it up and share it soon.
Henson lives in a two-room house in with his mother and four siblings. He wins a swimming competition in the local community center and wins a scholarship to Bayside College. An elite school in the Lavington Hillsides. There he meets Livia, the daughter of an affluent businessman. They fall in love, but when her parents discover their relationship, they threaten to withdraw his scholarship. Livia breaks Henson’s heart to protect him.
Ten years later, Henson works in a reputable accounting firm in Nairobi. He meets Livia, who is now managing her father’s business. She needs help to save her family’s business from creditors. Will Henson help her?
Jelani’s Empire – This is a tentative name for this story. In the books it is simply Ram & Amber. Hoping by the end of the year, it will be more than a shell.
Ram fights to recover his mother’s place in his family’s empire. This is a work in progress with no real blurb. I’m lost in development world with it.
So much to do and write, and January is already underway. ^_^ This is my list of work in progress. I hope yours is going well too.
Dead fathers. Critical mothers. Abusive marriages. Body insecurities. Young love. And always, expectations. Notes Under the Door is an anthology of seven African literary short stories that explores what it can mean to be a girl, a young woman, in a world that demands too much of women, and gives back too little. Set in urban Kenya, each story follows a girl or a woman grappling with the experience of being who they are – young, female, African, layered, complex, whole.
Book Review
Notes Under the Door & Other Stories is a collection of seven short stories. Each story is a glimpse into a deeply profound moment. A moment delving into the secret, complicated mind of Kenyan women at different stages of life. The experiences described in these moments are tangible and feel very real.
Chepchumba’s characters speak on diverse, sensitive issues such as, unexpected pregnancy, and how hard it can be to acclimate to the dramatic change of life a baby brings. She delves on relationships, and how hard they can be to maintain. A short story on domestic violence from the perspective of a young girl shows the impact it has on children. How domestic violence changes a child’s view of a parent.
Notes Under the Door gives this book its name. It is a story tackling grief, obligations, and abortion. Each one of these adding on to the damaging effects on a mother at the time of abortion, and years later, when life continues on.
In Spilling into the World, a character asks, ‘…why can’t you decide you’re beautiful?’. What a powerful question. Spilling into the World looks at body image in a world where mainstream stereotypes impact women’s views of their own beauty, and their self-confidence.
A heartbreaking story told from the perspective of a young girl whose father does not look at her, nor treat her as ‘his princess’, concludes the collection.
Overall, Notes Under the Door & Other Stories reads like tales told from a best friend’s perspective. Stories to make you feel, ‘Ah, I’m not alone in this. There are others like me.’ These stories depict women living experiences in our rapidly changing modern world. They are a conversation to continue, and normalize. I most enjoyed the realness of these short stories.
June ends with grace and half a year is in the bag. Nairobi is cold. Coffee, warm clothes, and scarves have become a staple in our corner. It’s perfect reading weather. If you’re a writer working on improving your writing skills, here’s a list of books to get you started, or to keep you going. They add great resources to your writing kit and I’ve found I’ve returned to all of them more than once.
I discovered this book right after high school and it’s been a staple in the library. I’ve lost copies of it and ended up with an ebook. This book is a great start if you’re just beginning. When you don’t know where to start, it will get you through the idea stage, to how to formulate your story, and equip you with tools on how to create characters, decide your POV and dialogue basics. My favorite concept from this book is, ‘Ideas are everywhere. The writer of fiction must learn to search the world for these seeds.’ It’s a great addition to your writing books, and will help you find out how to plant your seeds and help them grow into fiction
This book was a referral. My favorite quote from this book is: ‘Good Storytelling…gives the audience the experience of a life…” If you want a more in-depth way of approaching storytelling, this is the perfect book. It discusses story structure, parts of the ‘story world’, and exploration on how to develop that world.
I absolutely love the idea of looking at writing as a form of telepathy. I love magic and the possibilities it represents. On Writing is a look at how to deal with rejection letters from publishers, how to build your writing toolbox and unearthing the fossils of story that fill your imagination. It’s a very entertaining take on the craft and I find that it helps to return to this book when I’m stuck. The best advice I got from this book is that you need to keep reading. Read everything that you can, to become a better writer, to increase your knowledge on people, places, ideas, concepts…just read, probably more than you write, or just as much.
Now, if you’re like me and English is the third language, hahaha, you’ll know that writing English can be difficult. It has very many words and a gazillion ways to describe things. This thesaurus is a great addition to your library for this purpose. Writers need new words in their writing toolbox so as not to repeat themselves and become boring. We remember what we often practice, so the thesaurus will help you discover new ways to say remember.
This last book is about embracing your writing and loving it no matter what level you are in terms of publishing/self-publishing or just sharing your fiction space. I love everything about this book. It explores productivity, how to create and share without allowing fear to cripple you. Mostly because I have a serious productivity weakness that I’ve been working on conquering. The last two years have been full of activities in my personal life that took attention away from writing. It’s not easy getting back. It’s like starting again when you get back to it. You need input, ideas, and concepts in books to help you along. ^_^ This book has been perfect. Words like these, ‘Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you. Make me really happy. I want to say I’m in love with this book and because I love it, I’m sharing and hoping you will love it too.
Writing is a skill to learn and improve. The books above have been a great addition to my reading list. There are more, but these have stood out for me in this month of June.
Prompt: Three children are sitting on a log near a stream. One of them looks up at the sky and says…
The Hyena’s Marriage
Three children sat on a log near a stream eating sweet ripe mangoes from their grandmother’s garden. Mango juice ran down their chins, but none of them stopped to wipe it away, too eager to savor the taste. The sweet delicious feast was oddly exciting, as they had to climb the tree to get the mangoes. After their grandmother explicitly told them not to climb the tree.
The fact that they had not listened to her, and had then gone to climb that mango tree, with the threat of her finding out, made the mangoes all the more sweeter.
Now, one of them looked up at the sky and saw an old hawk fly by in a hurry.
“Where do you think Kito is going?” the boy asked.
“To cause trouble no doubt. Why?” the girl in the middle asked.
The boy wiped his chin on his sleeve and stared at the mangled mango seed in his hand.
“Kito was carrying a sweet potato vine in his beak. Where do you suppose he is taking it?”
“You’re seeing things, Munya. Why would a hawk carry a vine?”
“I don’t know.” Munya shrugged, licking on the mango juice escaping between his fingers. “Aren’t you curious, Lena?”
“No.
Munya sighed. He was the curious one. Everyone in his home knew it. He asked too many questions and got into trouble because of his curiosity. Once, he asked his mother if being curious was a bad thing, but she smiled and said it was the best way to learn.
Oh well, Munya threw away the mango seed and stood. He went to the edge of the stream to wash his hands, otherwise he would be sticky all day. Besides, their grandmother would take one look at their sticky fingers and know they stole her precious mangoes.
“Lena, Karua, don’t forget to wash your hands,” Munya said. “Grandmother might really beat us with that cooking stick she waves this time.”
“Yesterday, she wanted to hit me with it when I forgot to close the chicken coop,” Lena said with a giggle as she rushed to his side.
Karua moved slower, he was the youngest in the family and often followed Munya and Lena on their adventures. Munya worried about Karua more than Lena, because Karua was slower. He didn’t like running as much as Lena did. Lena was a tomboy, or so their mother said. Whatever that meant.
“I want to know where Kito was going,” Munya said, looking above the trees near the stream.
The small forest near the stream bordered their family’s farm. Their mother and grandmother often sent them to collect firewood. That was how they met Kito, the old hawk that lived deep inside the forest.
“Let’s take Karua home first,” Lena said, watching their youngest brother splash water in the stream.
“That will take too long,” Munya complained. “Kito moves too fast. Please, I’ll look out for him.”
“You said that last time, and I ended up falling behind taking care of Karua.”
“Lena, I promise I won’t leave you alone,” Munya said. To convince her, Munya went to Karua, took his left hand, and led him toward the forest. “See, he’ll walk with me. Let’s go, Kito is surely going to cause trouble. I want to know.”
“You’re going to get us in trouble,” Lena complained even as she followed them.
Munya ignored her and with determined footsteps, led them into the forest. Sunrays from the sun shone in intervals, breaking through the tall, tall trees with leaves that sang when the wind blew. Soon, Munya noticed they weren’t the only ones in the forest heading in the direction Kito had gone. Rabbits raced by, each carrying a gift in its mouth. Monkeys laughed overhead, swinging from tree to tree. More birds flew by, and the great big elephant who sometimes came by the stream for water stomped by.
Each animal carried a small gift, and Munya wondered if he’d been wrong about Kito going to make trouble. They soon came to a clearing and Munya clutched Karua’s hand tight when he started tripping over a stone. Lena took Karua’s left hand and together they steadied him. They looked up to find the animals waiting in a circle in the clearing.
The silence was unusual, even the chattering monkeys sat in silence on the edge of the circle. Munya glanced above and saw Kito resting on a low tree branch next to them.
“Old Kito,” Munya said, his voice in a loud whisper.
“Shh…” Kito answered, not looking at him.
“But…” Munya started only for Kito to fly off his branch to land on Kito’s right shoulder.
“Stop making noise,” Kito said, dropping his sweet potato vine.
Munya caught it before it touched the ground.
“What is going on? Why have the animals in the forest gathered?” Munya asked, trying to keep his voice low.
“You’ll see,” Kito answered. “Here it comes. Look to the sky, my noisy friend.”
Munya and his siblings all looked up in time to see the sun’s rays dance into the middle of the clearing. Bright and pretty, they were golden yellow and almost blinding. Munya gaped when he saw two hyenas walk into the clearing from opposite sides. They moved slowly, and only stopped when they met in the middle of the clearing.
Before Munya could ask what the hyenas were doing staring at each other in the middle of the clearing, a light rain started and all the animals cheered.
“Munya,” Lena said, her tone amazed. “Look, it is raining and sunny at the same time.”
“Yes,” Kito answered, his voice too pleased. “The Hyenas are getting married.”
Munya smiled in wonder as each animal walked to the two hyenas in the middle and left an offering close to them. Munya lifted the sweet potato vine he held, looking at the old hawk.
“Why did you bring a sweet potato vine for the hyenas?”
“So they may have a prosperous and long life together,” Kito answered.
Munya gave the sweet potato vine to the hawk and watched him take it to the new family. The animals then included them in celebration and Munya and his siblings had a fun and exciting afternoon celebrating the hyena’s marriage.
***
This post is part of the East Africa Friday Feature entry. Still going with the writing challenge. I went out last week and it started raining while the sun was out and I remembered this story my grandmother used to tell us.
The EA Friday Feature is a circle of five writers who write 1,000 word flash fiction stories every Friday and post them on their blogs. This week, we feature these authors, as we get to know them better, and learn what inspires them to write their stories.
I’ve read loads of Dora’s stories. I’ve also reviewed them on this same blog, so when she agreed to be part of the EA Friday Feature, I was excited. It’s great to have a seasoned author write with you, she makes me want to keep going as she writes on like nothing will ever stop her. Dora writes great romance stories, however, she’s branched off to delicious African Tales in her series of books called “The Currents Series.” The first of which was Fire, and then there was Water, now here’s a glimpse of Wind.
When the wind blows, even the strongest of trees sways. He felt it while he was at the training grounds. The people who witnessed it said they had never known the wind to have such anger that it brought down branches of the strongest trees to fall on their roofs. When he felt the wind on his face, he put down his shield and ran right into it. The people who saw him wondered why he would do such a thing, but he knew where he was going. He was Wema. He was going back home, back to Leo.
Author Profile:
Dora is a wanderer whose writing attempts have earned her some reviews. She is neither famous nor rich, but loves reading and drinking coffee. She is currently forcing her family and close friends to read her book, Fire. It is available on Amazon.
To follow her day in day out life, forget reality TV, and follow her on Twitter, @herhar.
Elly in Nairobi: You are working on the Currents Series: I’ve read your second book Water, and the following book three is out too. Please tell us a bit about this series, what inspired it, and the passion in the story.
Dora: The Currents Series was inspired by a friend’s frustration with his Father on his responsibilities and studies. He kept saying how much his Dad wanted so much from him and he was tired. So I thought that could be a theme, where you have such high expectations of your son and they do the exact opposite (as most if not all kids do). I didn’t start writing the series immediately, because it was more like “that could be a good plot right there” kinda feeling, but as time went by I gave it a shot and now I am writing the final book in the series.
Elly in Nairobi:Have you always written fiction? How did you get started? What made you feel, yes, I can sit down and put down fiction on paper?
Dora: I cannot stipulate an exact time when I started writing fiction, but its always been snippets of stories and scenes in my mind and some have made their way online while most have found themselves in my journal.
There is however a story I wrote in high school called ‘Butterfly Gossips’ that made rounds in class, and had ardent followers even during lessons, especially the Agriculture and History lessons. This made me write more.
Elly in Nairobi:How do you see fiction in Kenya? What would you like to see happen in terms of publishing, reading, movies e.t.c..Kenyan fiction
Dora: There are lots of writers in Kenya and social media has made it easy for aspiring writers to get feedback and have their works noticed. Isn’t it odd and grand that most people have blogs in Kenya? (Yep, lots of blogs)
On other hand, there is the need to nurture these writers because there is no regulation on the quality of content, and this could go a long way in improving the quality of blog posts and the writing. I wish Kenya had a paper mill, yes, according to my history, Webuye paper mill was closed, but we need to produce paper because now that we import, paperbacks published in the country are expensive due to the tax on imported paper. You’ll see a book by a Kenyan Writer on the shelf but it’s going for eight hundred or a thousand shillings plus, yet right outside the supermarket there’s a vendor selling international books at a hundred shillings, wouldn’t that hinder you from buying the book by the Kenyan Writer? (It sure does)
Elly in Nairobi:Does your day job affect your writing habits in any way? What is the strangest question you’ve been asked when you say you write fiction?
Dora: Yes, it does. First, my job entails a lot of traveling and I can always encounter something amusing or frustrating to write about, but sometimes I am too exhausted to write.
The strangest question I’ve been asked when I say I am a Writer, has to definitely be ‘what do you write about?’
I always wonder isn’t that old? I prefer someone asking me to tell them about a story or a character that I wrote about. It’s still on what I write about but it focuses on a specific aspect.
Elly in Nairobi:Your favorite book? Dora: I have a long list of books, but let’s say that I loved literature and narration through a lot of books, but when it comes to dialogue, it’s Chinua Achebe I resonate with the most.
Elly in Nairobi:Do you have another hobby? Dora: Yes, I love photography and cooking. If it can be fried, then I will fry it, nothing gets me like preparing fried food.
Elly in Nairobi:Anything else you’d like to tell your readers, or potential fans… Dora: Read as widely as you can, you can bury your nose in books, magazines, not just newspapers only, yes, and it never hurts to share a review of a good book. If you read a book, you have traveled on a journey with an author, and it wouldn’t hurt to share what you’ve learned from it with other people.
Thank you so much for answering my questions Dora.
That wraps up the round of interviews from the EA Friday Feature writers. Look forward to the September and October Issues. Keep writing folks! And if you read it and love it, review it too.
The EA Friday Feature is a circle of five writers who write 1,000 word flash fiction stories every Friday and post them on their blogs. This week, we feature these authors, as we get to know them better, and learn what inspires them to write their stories.
He writes stories of crime and vice, meant to leave you sleeping with the lights on, or just wondering at human nature and the decisions we make. Vincent has written several books of poetry, and has recently published a book named TWISTED TIMES: Son of Man. Here’s a short excerpt:
The fallen children of darkness, that’s what we were. Vampires. Ghosts only heard in the darkness of the night whistling by the unlucky few.
At night we would go to rob the dead of their last signs of love and affection from their families, their last possessions in their transience. It was almost a year now since I joined the Mavis gang and I was changed. The inborn human fear of the places we visited at night to steal coffins was long gone. To us it was a waste of resources for caskets costing hundreds of thousands going to waste in the polluted soils of this world…
It is much harder for a poor coward fool to enter the kingdom of money and riches than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle…
Vincent de Paul is a freelance writer, blogger, poet & author. He studied Comprehensive Creative Writing at the Writers Bureau, Manchester, UK. He is an Indie author with collections of poetry and short stories. In his words:
Thirty years ago I was born. I had a life I can’t talk about, yet. Went to school barefoot like any other ‘90s village kid. Had all the mischief. Made it through what life presented. And then became a writer.
Elly in Nairobi:You have recently published a book: Twisted Times. Tell us what the book is about.
Vincent: The book is about self-independence from parental control, choices and consequences of the decisions we make. A story of love, betrayal, and vengeance. A twisted society where corruption is the order of the day, murder is like a ritual, and religion is the haven for the devil incarnate. In the end, victim or perpetrator life is a twisty bastard.
Elly in Nairobi:You write both poetry and fiction. What is your favorite to write? Short stories or fiction?
Vincent: Both are my favourite, but poetry carries the day. Poetry evokes emotions, feelings, that fiction doesn’t, and I connect more with my poems than fiction.
Elly in Nairobi:Have you always written? If so, do you remember what first inspired you to put pen to paper and write? Vincent: In primary school I hated writing compositions. Things changed in high school. It was a national competition that made me write and let my work out there.
Elly in Nairobi: How do you juggle your day job, and writing? Does it affect your writing process, and how do you handle it? Vincent: Mostly during the day I work, unless I’m having some me time when I write. Writing is at the witch hours of the night.
Elly in Nairobi:You have Mystery Publishers running, tell us a bit about this company, and what your vision is for fiction in Kenya. Vincent: Mystery Publishers is an online Indie author-focused self-publishing company devoted to publishing genre fiction with contemporary settings, story lines and characters; thrilling, fast-paced African stories about everyday life purely for entertainment. We publish eBooks via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and Print-on-Demand paperbacks on CreateSpace for those who don’t have the time to do it for themselves, don’t know how to, or they want a company that will publish their stories. My vision is to introduce pop literature books in the Kenyan book market which is populated with educational and school text materials. Not that pop literature books are not there, they are, but the readership is low compared to literary works which are mostly done in school. The students leave the books immediately they are done with the exams. They prefer to watch movies, play video games, read western novels, or engage in idle talk and gossip. I want to produce books that read like a movie, a video game, like the western novels, and bring the idle talk and gossip to the reader; books the examination council won’t recommend for schools but would be unputdownable. I am looking for the writers who would write that kind of stories.
Elly in Nairobi:Do you have another hobby other than writing? Vincent: Yes. Swimming, cycling, hiking.
Elly in Nairobi:A short statement on what you’d like the readers to know about your writing and your stories. Vincent: I will not always write what everyone likes, but I will try as much as possible not to bore. My stories are not parables, or sermons, so cut me some slack.
The EA Friday Feature is a circle of five writers who write 1,000 word flash fiction stories every Friday and post them on their blogs. This week, we feature these authors, as we get to know them better, and learn what inspires them to write their stories.
I love her stories because they always touch on the paranormal, the other world, or just plain fun. Her wit makes me laugh, and let’s not forget the love of Sam and Dean in Supernatural. This October, she’s worked on her story about a man named Bulitia. He’s a man taken from his home and thrust into a new world, this story reminds me a bit of Amistad. Annemarie has also published a book this October.
Child of Destiny is her third book out…here’s a short glimpse.
….“Where’s your grandmother?” he asked, in a tone that strove for light curiosity but ended up sounding merely exasperated.
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously; he noticed that they became almost black.
“Why?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve been here three times and haven’t really seen her. I just wondered…” he replied, managing this time to sound casual about it.
She seemed to think about his answer like she was searching for loopholes or hidden implications.
“She went to New Orleans,” she replied finally,“for the festival.”
“Festival?” he asked, intrigued.
He put down his brush and sat on the floor facing her.
“The Feast of the Dead,” she replied.
“The feast…of the dead?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes,” she replied without embellishment.
“You mean like Toussaint?” he asked, accenting it correctly in French.
“Yes,” she said in surprise that he knew that name.
“But…isn’t that like, on Halloween?” he asked, trying to get her to speak in more than one syllable.
“It is.” She replied.
He raised his eyebrows at her, and kept silence so she would be forced to fill it.
After a minute of staring, she sighed and said, “My grandpa George is buried in the family crypt in New Orleans. Every year, my grandmother and…other friends gather to celebrate the day of his death which was 17th of August, 1980. They prepare immortelles for his grave, burn candles and tell stories to remember him. It is a ceremony that starts on the day of his death and concludes on Toussaint or the All Saints Day as the Christians call it. This year is special because it’s the ten year anniversary of his death.”
This little speech brought up so many questions for him; he didn’t know where to start…
“By friends, you mean other witches?” he asked her, wondering if she would answer.
She did not generally talk about her witchyness. If it hadn’t been for The Charlotte Incident, he probably wouldn’t have believed the stories.
“Witches, warlocks, other family members…” she replied with a shrug…”
Annemarie Musawale is a free spirited single mom with a passion for reading and writing stories. She’s lived in Nairobi, Kenya for most of her life but considers herself to be a citizen of the world. She is a very cerebral person, able to exist mostly in her head which is very advantageous because the life of a writer is rather solitary. Her first story was written at some point in nursery school and her mother said, “Very Good, keep going”, so she did. But somehow she did not consider it as a career choice. She assumed writing stories is just what people do…like in their spare time. However when her son was about nine, he got a serious respiratory infection that required him to be admitted to hospital. Her job working as a pharm tech for a chemist meant she could not get any leave time to go be with her son in his time of need. That was when she considered a career change which would give her greater flexibility. Enter Academic Writing…which lead to other types of writing for money. Somehow, through that process, her first book, Child of Destiny was written and submitted to the Kwani Manuscript Project. The rest is kind of history.
Elly in Nairobi: You have recently published a book, Child of Destiny, tell us a bit about this book. Annemarie: Child of Destiny is the first book I wrote in this series (Child of Destiny series), yet it’s the last to be published. It’s about the power of love to overcome and what the magic of love can produce if you let it. It’s totally not a romantic story though. It serves too much realness for that. But because of its realness, it seems to me to be likely to happen sometime somewhere. That’s what I try to do with all my stories however outlandish; make them likely. I really enjoyed writing this one; I didn’t hold back in any area and people might go from fanning themselves in arousal to embarrassment. Hopefully it starts some conversations going. Mostly I just really want people to enjoy it.
Elly in Nairobi:What inspires you to write fiction? What is your favorite thing about writing fiction? Annemarie: The thing I love about fiction is the creation of worlds and universes that both the reader and the writer can escape into when reality gets too harsh. Its also just another form of being a creative being that
God made us to be. Everyone has the gift of creation;mine is stories.
Elly in Nairobi:What is your day like? Annemarie: My day begins with checking my mail and then my social media. After that, I set up my ‘office’ either on my verandah or my living room depending on the weather and my mood. Have some breakfast and get to
work. Sometimes I exercise before starting on my workday, other times I don’t. Depends on my energy levels. I write most of the day sometimes until past midnight with one or two stops for meals and lots of tea.
Elly in Nairobi:The quirkiest thing you’ve done lately. Annemarie: The quirkiest thing I’ve done lately is DM Rihanna on twitter a link to my book I guess.
Elly in Nairobi:What is it like for you writing the EA Friday Feature? Annemarie: I enjoy the camaraderie of having five other writers collaborating with me. It’s a window to other worlds and teaches me something about how other writers are doing things. It also gives me feedback on my writing which is wonderful. I love honest feedback.
Elly in Nairobi: Anything you’d like to tell your readers, and new fans. Annemarie: I’d like to tell my readers that I have created the Child of Destiny universe for their enjoyment and maybe also they learn something new they didn’t know. I try to base my legends and all in actual historical fact as much as possible though I don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thank you Annemarie for taking the time for this short interview. I look forward to reading more stories from your blog. Look forward to an interview from Vincent of Flashes of Vice
The EA Friday Feature is a circle of five writers who write 1,000 word flash fiction stories every Friday and post them on their blogs. This week, we feature these authors, as we get to know them better, and learn what inspires them to write their stories.
Maureen joined the EA Friday Feature group in September, and she’s added a great new set of stories to our little circle. I have especially enjoyed reading her story, Some Kind of Love. Here’s a short glimpse:
“….As for technology, the villagers were a simple folk. They were used to relying on what they could see with their own eyes.
Last year, Waiguru, a daughter of the tribe, had gone out to the world in search of education and come back with many new things, including a mobile phone. As was customary, she had presented it to her father as a gift and showed him how to use it to call his brother who lived in another country. The whole village had gathered to witness this strange phenomenon.
When the brother’s voice came over the speaker, Mzee Ayubu having not known what to expect, had reacted with fear. He had declared that, as the spiritual leader of the community, Ngai had told him that they were evil spirits. He also declared that the devil had decided to pitch tent in his daughter and therefore, the only way to get him out was to beat the hell out of her. That said, the next hour was spent publicly flogging his daughter while the other villagers simultaneously prayed for their souls and encouraged him to beat her harder. To get out the devil, of course. As if that wasn’t enough she had to watch as her precious phone was thrown into the communal fire and burnt to a crisp. Henceforth, she was known as the girl who had brought the devil to the village to feast on everyone’s souls ( the gossipers had exaggerated the story a little bit to make it more interesting). It was no wonder that when she next left the village she did not return. Neither did development….”
I am Maureen Wambui, God fearing, intelligent and an observer of
people. I love cars, heights and sarcasm. I can be loud, opinionated
and stubborn, but you’ll love me anyway. I am a lover of words and
nothing gives me greater pleasure than being able to use those words
in my story. I have two blogs, and I also write for the Storymoja blog using the name Maureen Wakarindi. Please feel free to stalk my work,
and tell me what you think.
1. What has it been like to write for the EA Friday Feature?
Writing for the EA Friday Feature has been a great experience. Apart from meeting and knowing other amazing writers, it has really pushed me to write something that my readers will love and can relate to.
2. What inspires you to write fiction? Have you always written? Do you share your work elsewhere?
I have always written fiction. I find it easier to bring out my thoughts and feelings when it’s in a hypothetical situation. I share my work on my personal blog, wakarindimaureen.wordpress.com.
3. What type of characters inspire you? When you read books, what kind of stories leave you feeling like you’ve really changed, or been inspired?
I love characters that are real,characters that have a certain human flaw or are endearing in their very nature.When I read a book, I am drawn to the stories within the story. That is why I mostly look for series.
4. Tell us what fun thing have you done this year? Do you think you’ll do it again?
I was an intern and blogger at Storymoja Festival this year. It gave me the opportunity to learn from and interact with many well known literary personalities and they really helped me to be better. Given a chance I would definitely do it again.
From Maureen:
When I write I use my words to paint a picture of what I want to say. My only wish is that the reader feels and can relate to the emotion I portray.
Thank you, Maureen for agreeing to do this short interview. Look forward to the next interview from the Super Annemarie of Child of Destiny
Stories and Book Talk 