I is for Interview - Paschal Obinna Ozoigbo

And today, my guest is Paschal Obinna Ozoigbo, Author of The Dust Must Settle. Enjoy...

1. Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Africans are where they are today, especially intellectually, as a result of the collective effort of the colonial administrators.

2. Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
Yes, I have one. Glittering Sword is the title. I have quite a lot of projects lined up. And I don't write just to win awards. I write to affect lives, and also to give a message from my satire. My banking job, which kept me extremely busy and therefore out of writing for close to 15 years, squeezed out all the youthfulness in me and made me sort of redundant as a writer. Nevertheless, at 39, I think I have practically nothing to lose. The late Sidney Sheldon, after all, started his writing career in his 50's, and today he is a celebrated writer, the most translated author in the whole world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.

3. What inspired you to want to become a writer?
Naturally, I am a chronicler. It is a gift from God. Unfortunately, however, I cannot tell it. I can only pass it across in black-and-white. Whenever I read a novel, I always tell myself: but, boy, I can do better.

4. Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Seeing my brainchild finally in print form, well-bound, ready to be launched to the world through Amazon, the biggest online bookstore in the whole world, and Barnes &Noble. I have attended speaking engagements in Lagos and Abuja as a result, and offers have come from Hollywood, through my publishers, to get The Dust Must Settle from book to screen. I have had a good time speaking with the Africa Regional Chairperson for the The Commonwealth Prize, Ms. Ayeboah-Afari, and also with the Commonwealth Foundation in London. The Dust Must Settle got to them late as an entry for the 2011 Commonwealth Writers Prize. Ayeboah-Afari took her time to placate me, because I was really mad with the publishers in the US for submitting my entry so late, long after the deadline given. You see, in life, on must count it all joy, even when things seem to be going haywire. These therefore constitute my most rewarding experience since being published.

5. If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world.. which would it be?
Barbara Taylor-Bradford's Voice of the Heart.

6. What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?
Cyprian Ekwensi's Jagua Nana's Daughter, which was made into a TV miniseries in the 80's or thereabouts by some Nigerian soap producer/director.

7. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Don't write with winning an award at the back of your mind, otherwise when the awards seem not to be forthcoming, you may get frustrated and may stop writing as a result. It has thought me a bitter lesson. Write, just because you want to write. And I tell you, someone out there would see your work(s), fall in love with it(them), and find you--wherever you may be.

H is for Haircut

Forgive me if there seems no rhyme and or reason to my April challenge posts, I did not win the Versatile Blogger award for nothing, lol.

Today I share with you all, for the first time, and exclusively on Myne Whitman Writes, my new haircut. Yes, it is THE BIG CHOP!

I had a hair accident in March after I removed some weaves, and this led to the worst hair tangling known to man. The only solution? Cut it all off. Well, I'm comforted knowing my hair grows quickly. With time I'll share more with you guys about the hair journey.

Have you ever had a hair accident? Is your hair shorter than mine? Do I look like a boy?

G is for Goodreads

Goodreads is that useful website where you can somehow organize your reading, network with other authors and readers, and even get cool giveaways. Both my books are on Goodreads - A Heart to Mend is HERE, and A Love Rekindled is HERE. If you're on Goodreads, you can add them to your shelf or To-be-Read Pile, and up till June, you can enter for a giveaway of the paperback of ALR.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Love Rekindled

by Myne Whitman

Giveaway ends June 24, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Thanks for visiting, and see you soon. I can't believe how awesome this challenge is turning out to be.

F is for Friendship

This is an old poem of mine, and this is a great time to share it. To friends, old and new - THANK YOU!

You were there in my time of need
Not knowing the meaning of greed

If I need it, you’ll give your last dime
Rich or poor, you gave me a good time

You did everything a friend should
And treated me the best you could

You comforted me when I was sad
And laughed with me when I was glad

I recall the times we used to share
And I want you to know I still care

I will always try to be there
Whenever, wherever you need my cheer

When you need me, I’ll be there in a hurry
When you are down, you don’t have to worry

Though some things you do may be wrong
Our friendship will ever remain strong

******************

Please feel free to share your stories of friendship. What was the best thing you did for a friend or a friend did for you? Who is your best friend?

E is for Efe Sagay

Efe is the heroine of my new novel, A Love Rekindled, and her interview is below. Tessa Conte of Tessablurb also did an interview of Efe, and you can find it HERE.

Nigeria Actress - Susan Peters

- How would you describe yourself in three ways? 
Focused, hardworking, a softie at heart.

- You lived out of Nigeria for a while - how did you find it?
I found it very organized. I went to school, I got my first degree and Master's in 5 years, I found it relatively easy to get a job, and I felt comfortable, safe and secure. But I'm glad to be back in Nigeria, closer to my family; I missed them while I was away, because I never returned to Nigeria once during my stay in America. I'm also happy to be working in the entertainment industry, contributing my knowledge and expertise towards its growth.

- It's been said that you're the quiet type. What does it take to get you talking? 
You're right - I'm not a big talker, except when I'm with friends and family, or when the conversation is about interesting topics like music and travel. Current affairs is not really my thing, though.

- We hear that you're an auditing whiz-kid. How did you get to be so good?
I've always been interested in accounting; it's what I studied in UniBen, and I've always been interested in the clues that people leave behind in their financial records. When I travelled to the States to continue my studies, I became even more interested, especially when I took a special course in Forensic Accounting that my school offered. I was lucky to join a whiz team in the Palm Beach Hilton, so I was able to continue feeding my passion and developing my abilities.

- Tell us about your taste in music. Which songs do you really like?
Back in UniBen, I liked soft tunes, R'n'B and easy listening music; I used to follow the UK Top 40, and collected favourites like R Kelly, Mariah Carey, Eternal and Celine Dion. But since I returned to Nigeria, I've been getting into the local popular music scene with D'Banj, Banky W, Asa and Omawumi.

__________

So what do you think of Efe? If you've read the book, do you recognize her? Do you knew a person like her in real life?

D is for Dream Cast

The "Dream Cast" are the people, usually well known, that writers visualize, either as they write or when their book is finished. For me, they're more like the people I could see acting the roles in the book if it ever makes it to the screen. The original idea for a book trailer was to use a variety of actors, and then I came across a picture from the photoshoot done by E4PR, a management company, and it was fixed. They were happy to let me use their pictures, and you'll be seeing more in the course of this month, as I introduce the cast, and my characters individually.

Enjoy the full cast video -

C is for Congrats to the Winners!

As promised, I'm announcing the winners of the Lost and Found BlogFest today April 3. And what do you know, I made a title starting with C too, lol...

The giveaway was to celebrate my 500 followers, and now I have over 550 followers. You're all welcome. The theme for the blogfest was from my new book, A Love Rekindled, which is a love story of college sweethearts. They lost each other along the way and when they found each other again after a decade, love is rekindled. So I asked bloggers to tell me about anything you've ever lost and found, an object, a person, an idea, anything! And they did.

After doing the rounds, these are the winners -

1. Lost and Found Blog Post $25 cash - Trisha @ Word + STUFF. I loved her story, and was impressed that a wallet lost in the USA was found in Ausralia. Please send an email on how to receive your money via paypal.

2. Random from Comments Autographed ALR - Ayokunle Falomo @ Fellow Writer. Please send an email with your postal address to receive the book.

3. Random from People who signed up for the Blogfest another autographed copy - F @ Half and Half. Also send an email with your postal address. Cheers.

4. Sharing the blogfest button on your sidebar wins $10 Amazon giftcard - BBB of Who Am I?? Please send me an email to receive details of your prize.

5. Tweeting about the blogfest wins a free eBook of ALR - Vyvyka @StrategicChic. Send me an email to get your eBook.

6. Five random followers of my blog win free eBooks - PK Hrezo, Teralyn Rose Pilgrim, Nonye Anike @Life and me Unedited, Darbie @Beads and Jeweleries, and Bimbo @Passions, Dreams and Life.

7. A blogger and FB follower also wins eBook - Remi Roy of Royspace followed and left a comment too. Please send an email to receive your prize.

Thanks to everyone that took part. For the winners, my email is myne@ mynewhitman .com

Have a great week, and the A - Z challenge continues.

Is an Engagement Ring Compulsory?

Before we discuss, do check out a couple of reviews I got for A Love Rekindled. Both were good, and different at the same time. For JEFritz of Still Writing, the style I employed in switching from the past to the present was the best part of the book for her, while Tracy at Tracy's Place didn't really care for it. I am pleased at both reviews, and grateful to the bloggers for their support.

Now to today's topic...

... must  a man buy an engagement ring for the lady he wants to ask to marry him?

To be honest, I got a ring, and those few minutes of the proposal will never be forgotten. However, would I have said NO if a ring was not part of the process? I doubt it.

What I am saying is that I personally don't think rings are compulsory for engagement. The man may decide to use a necklace, bracelet, or any other jewelry, he could also go ahead and ask without using anything at all.

What say you?

B is for Blogger gets a Makeover!

Someone asked someday if I would move to another blogging platform as my blog grows bigger. I was insistent that blogger met most of my needs. Seeing this video makes me even surer that I won't be going anywhere, not unless there's no more blogger anyway. What with last years Template Designer upgrade, where I don't have to do anything HTML to get my blog looking the way I want, and the Comments and Stats inclusion as well.

The only thing left now is to overhaul their comment system so I can reply to individual comments, or easily reply via email. I was thinking of installing an outside app like Intense Debate or Disqus, but maybe that won't be necessary. Do watch the video and tell me what you think.



Sarah Gooding in her post at WPMU helpfully lists some of the new features mentioned in the video.

The ability to easily customize templates without any CSS knowledge
Access to real-time stats
Improved spam filtering
Continued stability (The Blogger service has had zero downtime, according to Pingdom)
Inclusion of web fonts
A sleek mobile experience of the platform
Smart content discovery
Integration of the Google Web Toolkit

Virginia Debolt in her post on BlogHer puts up some cool pictures about the coming changes in look and feel. I think a Blogger staff also commented on the post that they're doing something about the comments. Yippee!

To wrap up the post, allow me to show off with blogger. CLICK HERE. You can get the same effect by typing your own blog address in a browser and adding /view.

A is for Apple

... And A is also for April and the A-Z challenge where, throughout April I will bring you 26 blog posts, with each title starting with the relevant letter of the alphabet. I will be posting each day, and will have Sundays off for good behavior. This is a blogfest, and there are more than 700 bloggers who are taking part in the challenge. I have about half of the posts already scheduled, let's see how well I do.

For Today, enjoy the official A Love Rekindled book trailer...