I have featured Nkem Ivara, previously on this blog, where she shared her own
love story. She is the blogger behind
The Wordsmythe, and back then I described her as also a writer, and aspiring author. Today, her first book, Closer than a Brother, has just been published by Whispers Press. Talking about the road to publishing this book, Nkem says;
"I'm a hopeless romantic, I love happy endings. I grew up reading lots of romance novels whose heroes and heroines were predominantly white. I wanted to read stories about black characters falling in love but there were none. This has changed considerably since my youth, there's now a representation of the black community in the romance genre. I wanted to write a story that explored the transition of best friends from friendship to falling in love."
She adds that the Internet has been a powerful tool in helping her not only to write but to network, collaborate and share with and among fellow writers. Just like in my own experience, the internet and social media made it easy for Nkem to reach a wide audience and get instant feedback. We are both members of the
Romance Writers of West Africa, and it was a pleasure to engage Nkem in this informative interview.