Guest Author: Jacqueline Maduneme - Ada's Daughter

In my wanderings around Youtube I came across a book trailer and was captivated by the concept of the book. A lot of Nigerians do not like to discuss issues like pedophilia, incest or rape, and prefer to sweep such matters under the carpet when they occur. Ada's Daughter was handling a topic that is rarely talked about in Africa and so I found it even more intriguing when a little research showed that the author was Nigerian born. I contacted her and she agreed to give me an interview. Read on...

What inspired you to want to become a writer?

I started writing when I was about 10 years old as a way of dealing with what was going on in my world at the time – almost like keeping a diary, except that I didn’t necessarily write about things that were happening to me as much as my writings were about my emotional responses to them. Now I write because I have stories I want to share with the world and I want to take readers on these incredible journeys through my stories.

What is one book everyone should read?

I’m torn between Purple Hibiscus by Chimamandu Adichie and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. The former is a provocative exposition of the role of family in the formation of a child’s life and the latter gives a stark picture of what it means to be a woman in a culture where they are valued for distorted reasons, but both books are moving stories about the power of love and the struggle to survive. They both tugged at my heart deeply because of how each reflected in one way or another my own experiences.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

Ada’s Daughter is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking story that goes to the heart of what survival means – filled with what I can only describe as God-inspired courage and strength, and providing a path to both self acceptance and personal growth for others.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

Yes, I have two books in the works. I have a passion for books that educate and inspire at a personal level. The first book is about the journey of one woman to take control of her future and reinvent herself, and the colorful characters – some good and some bad – that she meets along the way. The current working title is Devils in the Crossroad, but that may change as the book develops. The other book is a practical guide to people in abusive relationships, drawing from my own experiences.

Live Bull Riding Event - PBR Seattle

Atala and I went to see a live bull riding event a few weeks ago after ticketmaster sent us a newsletter. None of us had ever been to anything like that and it sounded interesting. Personally, I had read loads of romance novels that had their heros as cowboys, with many of them being part of one rodeo event or the other. So for me the fascination wasn't new, just the opportunity. Seattle being on the west coast seems to have its number of ranches and the PBR - professional bull riding regularly holds events here.

What did I think? Honestly, it was an amazing event. The PBR put up a rollicking good show, from the pyrotechnics of the opening ceremony, to the final bull and the declaration of the winner. The contestants had the challenge of staying on a bucking live bull for 8 seconds each. The whole atmosphere was adrenaline charged, the cowboys were handsome! (hehehe...now I understand how the western romance authors couldn't resist) and the hosts great. The MC was hilarious, at a point the guy was actually dancing Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies", lol...

Then there was the bull fighters whose job is to scare off the bulls after the rider had fallen off, I found them really brave and good sports. Other high points of the show were the stubborn bulls who after they had bucked off the rider refused to go back into their corral. One particular animal ran around the inner arena for almost five minutes before a cowboy on a horse lassoed him. We thought that was it but the stubborn thing got loose and tried to upend the stand where the hosts were, lol. Finally, they got him and shooed him in. I caught the whole thing on camera. I also managed to video one of the contestants riding a bull.

Enjoy the video and pictures below, and have a great weekend. Mwah!

What makes a good blog?

So blogger has given me my posts back, though the comments seem gone forever. Enjoy...

It’s interesting how we all write differently and our blogs are so different from each other. I follow a lot of blogs and my typical blog round every two days or so is about 50 blogs. And on each blog, you see a different topic, a different style of writing, a different personality, a different story, a different life. And this is one thing that has kept me excited about blogging in my year plus of starting this blog. For me, it goes beyond having my own blog, posting my own stuff and expecting and replying to comments. As a writer who loves reading, I am inspired by the different voices and stories, it gets the wires in my head sparking – but in a good way :).

Of course, there are the similarities too. After all, we are all human and sometimes life throws the same experiences at us. For example, a lot of our student bloggers are looking forward to exams, a couple or so are looking for jobs, a similar number just got jobs, yay!, and I can remember some of months ago when a few bloggers popped out them babies. So yeah, it can sometimes seem like you’re reading the same thing over and again, especially when it comes to memes. I know I’m the chief culprit at that, 25 Question Tag anyone? Lol…

Now to the topic of this post; what makes a good a good blog is being able to stand out. It is imperative in this milieu of different and similar voices that a blogger strikes that note of uniqueness. For those of us that love blogging, that love people reading our posts, and love those comments, the truth is that if your blog does not stand out, your visitors may not return. I know there are a few bloggers who even though their blogs are not marked private would prefer it to be as undiscoverable as possible; I’m not talking about those. I’m referring to some people that get one comment per post, and wish it were five. Or look at their 10 followers and wish it were 100. What do you do? You need a good blog, a blog that stands out.

But how do you make your blog stand out you ask? By being yourself. Yes, you can look at what other popular bloggers are doing, and try to note some things to try. But don’t try to write like them, and even worse, never copy their work! That’s plagiarism, especially if you do not attribute it. If you do not have time to write a post, leave it, it’s not that serious. If you try to post everyday because the other person is doing it, you may end up burnt out. However, if you have it in you to post three times a day, go for it, just make sure there are some ads on your blog to at least buy pure water, :)

I’ll stop here for now. This is just a preamble, I’ll be writing more blogging tips and tricks in the coming weeks. Leave a comment or question and I might mention it in the next one.

Debate Tuesday - Women and their cheating men

The wives and steady girlfriends of men who cheat. Do they know?

It's been a while since the last Debate Tuesday but recent events have given rise to this post. In the past few days, a couple of high profile men have gotten into the news headlines for cheating. First, Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and former governor of California separated from the wife, Maria Shriver, and then it came out that it was because he confessed to her about his love child. And with a woman who has lived and worked in their house for the past 20 years! Also more than 10 other women have come out since the break-up to say they've had affairs with the former governor over the years. So I ask, did she know all along? Was the love child sort of like the straw that broke the camel's back?

There's also the IMF Managing Director who was spectacularly arrested in New York after alleged imprisonment and attemped rape of a hotel maid. News reports claim that Dominique Strauss-Kahn had in the past admitted to womanizing, and so it seems that the wife did know in this case.

In October, 2008, Sinclair watched as her husband was forced to apologize and admit "a serious error of judgment" for an affair with an IMF employee in Washington, DC. The IMF board investigation concluded that Strauss-Kahn's behavior was "regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment," but found that the fling was consensual and did not involve any type of sexual harassment, favoritism or abuse of authority.

I'll leave the debate of why women remain with cheating men for another day. Let's talk my people...

The Book of M - Samuel Kolawole (Guest Author)

I met Samuel Kolawole at the Garden City Literary Festival in Port Harcourt last year. He was very articulate as he told me his plans of editing and publishing his collection of short stories. I got the chance to read some of them before the book went to press and I think he is one to watch. He is our Guest Author for the day. Enjoy the interview -

Tell us about yourself, a brief autobiography.
I like to keep it simple. I was born and raised in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria, where I live, write and hope to change the world someday.

When and why did you begin writing?
I wish I could tell you that I had developed the desire to write since I was little, and that I pored over Famous Five, and Nancy Drew but there was nothing in my childhood that suggested I would be a writer. I started writing some years ago after I was faced with a major life crisis. I became despondent and decided to turn away from the world, so I found refuge in books. I read like a man from another world. Sometimes I would bury my head for days without coming out, people became concerned for me. They thought I was losing my mind. Then one day I picked up my pen and began to write… and so my writing journey began. Now I can look back and say it was God’s providence. God used the mess of my life to create something of beauty.

What inspires you to write?
Everything. What people say, what they don’t say but mean, true stories, (some of the stories in my book were inspired by real accounts) something happening somewhere in a bus or on the streets, funny occurrences…the unusual. I find myself being drawn to things people would usually take for granted.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

The joke below is on relationships, and I got it from one of those crazy forums, :) Enjoy...

There are three women. One is dating, one is engaged, and one is married. They decide to get kinky with their men and really pull out all the stops to make it extra special. The woman who is dating says, “Okay, so I bought black leather, red lipstick, fishnet stockings, and really got crazy. He loved it so much he thinks he’s in love.” The woman who is engaged says, “I showed up to his work after hours wearing only a red coat. Let’s just say he wants to move the wedding date up!” The woman who is married says, “Okay, I really went all out. I got a sitter for the kids and bought a black mask and a whip. My husband gets home, goes straight to the fridge and grabs a beer. Then he plops down on the couch and says, ‘HEY BATMAN! WHERE THE **** IS DINNER?!?”

"Laughter is the Best Medicine" blogfest is courtesy of Leigh at That's Write!

Here's how it works. On May 16, do the following: Post your favorite writer joke. If you don't have a writer joke (are there any?), post your favorite job-related joke. And if you don't have one of those (either writer- or work-related joke), post your favorite joke (or funny story).

Americans love the British Accent

Yesterday, Youtube was offering these new and free apps to make animated videos. In a moment of procrastination, I logged on and whiled away about thirty minutes to make the one below. Who else has noticed how much Americans love the British accent?



For the video, you get to choose your set, the actors, and most importantly your script (screen play and story). It was fun making it. I had like four takes before I got this version that I was happy with.

What do you think?

Blogger lost my post!

Sorry if you commented on a different post. That wasn't ready for the spotlight yet.

I noticed that blogger has been having problems since yesterday when I couldn't do my blog rounds or post comments on my own blog. When I got email notifications of comments here, I clicked over and noticed that blogger has mixed up everything. They lost my post, and put up a draft. Even half of the comments on the last two posts are gone!

My apologies while I try to get back my post. I composed it all on blogger here so it's not on my system. Remind me never to do that again. Any idea anyone on how to recover it?

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UPDATE - From Bloggers Blog

Crying at Weddings - Jumping the Broom (Movie)

People, I don't know what's happening to me these days o. I've always been a romantic but I viewed weddings with a more practical eye. After all, they're just one day in a couple's life and is usually a fiesta to satisfy society and make their families proud. But recently, I've found my heart melting at pictures of weddings, and after I almost shed tears this weekend at the cinema for Jumping the broom, I had to write about it.

Of course I love and devour Mills&Boons, and oh and ah over those epilogues where they have a beautiful wedding, same as in the romantic comedies. But never to the extent of crying! It all started with the wedding websites, and then the Bellanaija wedding features, and then guess what? I saw a clip of Prince William and Kate exchanging their wedding vows and almost teared up. It reminded me so much of my own wedding, it was such a typical Anglican wedding (well, except that the Prince did not want a ring). Since then, I've been watching myself, and waiting to see if it was a one off. Turns out it wasn't.

Frequently Asked Questions - Authorhouse Publishing

So I have a contact me link on both this blog and on my website too, and often I receive emails from various people. Some of the mails are just to say congrats, ask where they can get my books, and so on. But a lot of the emails are usually asking about blogging or self-publishing, and I have decided to start a series here and share some of these information. While removing any personal identifiers, I believe that some of the questions and answers will be of use to a wider audience than just the person asking.

To start off, I'll be answering questions on Authorhouse. Read on and I'll answer any follow-on questions if you leave them in the comments...
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Hi Myne, (I like this name)

My sis recommended your book, i am yet to read the book but i just wanted to congratulate you on actually finishing and publishing the books. I write childrens' books as well, i have been writing them for about two years now and i am still unpublished; due to the fact that i just don't "get" self publishing; don't laugh :-) I see you have published through Lulu and Authorhouse; may i please pick your brain on which of these two is the better option for a first time publisher? I have approached Authorhouse and they are willing to publish my books even before reading it you see, that is part of why i don't get it. I am confident that (by the Grace Of God) my books will sell, i just thought that they should at least read them first. Am i being old fashioned? Do tell me what you think please, i most definitly will appreciate your advise a great deal. Thanks for your time. See, just like you, i don't know how to talk small, please pardon the long letter ;-) Regards,

Dear XXX,

Thank you for visiting my website and for your email.

Self publishing is really hard work and I'm not even talking of recouping my investment yet. I prefer Authorhouse to Lulu because they're more experienced and with wider reach. So they're responsible for making the book available to online retailers, mine is to promote and keep it out there. I'm trying my best but it's easier that I don't have a full time job.

Authorhouse publishes children's books too and you are the one who pays for it. That is why they're not bothered to read it before accepting to go ahead. They do not pay you, you make money when you sell the books. When you are ready, you send them the electronic copy, that is what they work with. And it has to be the complete manuscript.

I hope that helps and all the best in your writing efforts. Let mem know if you have any more questions.

Best Regards,

Myne Whitman