Author Rita Akoto Coker Shares Romantic Escapades of Her Great Grandmother in Fiction

My guest author, Rita Akoto Coker started writing in 1980 in Toledo, Ohio where her husband was pursuing his Masters degree in Engineering. She had not started work after graduation from college was bored sitting at home and watching soap operas.

Since then, Rita Coker has written three romance books with a fourth, which is the last part of a trilogy still being reviewed by the publishers. She ascribes her inspiration to her great grandmother who was the Queen in their home town who regaled her family with romantic escapades of the royal court when they were growing up. It still brings back memories. Rita also desires to educate readers about African history and the way our ancestors used to live before European colonization.

I have read two of Rita Coker's novels, The Lost Princess and Fate's Promise, and I can say that this desire is captured by her works. The stories take you back to the 17th century in Ghana, and look behind the curtain of the monarchy and the matriarchal system that places women on a solid footing for leadership and personal independence.

Read on to hear directly from Rita on her books, awards, writing style and other authors she likes to read. You can buy Rita's books from Amazon HERE. Enjoy!

I have written and published five books with two new ones being considered still at the publishers. I have two manuscripts I’m working on now.

My books Serwah, The Lost Princess and Fate’s Promise have been approved as supplementary readers for Ghanaian schools by the Ghana Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service this year. Boarding Time was also approved as a supplementary reader when it came out in 2002.


I suppose I considered myself as a writer when I was in middle boarding school and received various awards for writing and compositions. I went to boarding school early at age 10. I couldn’t sleep during siesta time so my mom bought me a lot of books by Enid Blyton and the Nancy Drew mysteries and later on romance books by Barbara Cartland. I loved the feeling of being in another world every time I read books and this actually activated my imagination.



I don’t have any specific style of writing. People have made comments that I write in a simple way which is easy to read. Writing has always been a hobby for me. More so now. I suppose the need for me to escape from current daily worldly disappointing news. So it’s an escape for me.



I don’t have much commitment on maintaining an online presence mainly because I have still not understood how to do that even though I have three websites: http://success-mamarit.blogspot.com; http://quadruple-t.blogspot.com; http://tripletee1.blogspot.com

Now that I have retired, I write whenever I am moved. I do most of my writings early in the morning when my mind is fresh. I’m usually in a hurry to write when I receive inspirations or new insights into what I’m writing during the night. I always review my writings of the day before and add or subtract from what is already written.



I can’t say I find anything challenging in my writings but I can say that I would have written more if publishers were quick to publish books.

The historical romance books of Barbara Cartland and Bertha M. Clay have especially influenced my writings. One of my current favorite writers is Philipa Gregory.

I have many other favorite authors since I’m a voracious reader but those that stand out apart from Barbara Cartland and Agatha Christie are Efua Sutherland and Amma Ataa Aidoo both from Ghana and the Bronte sisters Emily and Charlotte. But the book of Bertha M. Clay “A Woman’s Temptation” struck such a chord in my young heart while in secondary school that I have never ever forgotten.

What strikes me about their work is how they are able to vividly bring their characters to life and the kind of nostalgia it gives me; the kind like a déjà vu experience .