Please make her feel welcome and leave a comment. She's giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter. The winner will be announced next Monday.
Last week's winner of Altered Frequency by Joya Fields is Debbie Christiana. Congratulation! Contact me for your copy.
Now on to this week's interview...
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself
I write under the name erotica under the name
‘Nnenna Marcia’ (http://www.nnennamarcia.com) which
is a pseudonym – my romance novel is published under ‘Nnenna Emm’ to
distinguish it a bit. I grew up in Nigeria as one of six children and I think
that even though you have great fun in such a huge family, it’s also essential
to break away from the group a bit and form your own identity. Writing was
always that identity for me.
Q2) I certainly understand about large families and wanting to break away. I'm 1 of 5 and my husband is 1 of 8. LOL. So have you always wanted to be an author?
Oh, yes! My mother showed me a two-line story
recently – illustrated as well! – that I wrote when I was about five.
Q3) Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?
I don’t know that I could list any one
writer; it’s sort of like being asked to choose between your children isn’t it?
Especially as I enjoy different genres. But to give you a few names; I do love
George RR Martin at the moment, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Marina Lewycka,
Toni Morrison, Maeve Binchy, Edgar Allen Poe, Chuck Palahnuik, Junot Diaz. I
also read a book called ‘His Treasure’ recently which I liked and kinda wished
I wrote. This list changes though, I think to reflect the people I have just
read. You would get a shorter list if you asked me for authors I DO NOT like.
Q4) LOL. Spoken like a true bibliophile. And
that's one of the best compliments I've ever had. Thank you. J
Tell us, what a typical writing day for you is like?
I write when I can really. I learned very
early on in the child-rearing process to snatch hours between routines. So I
wake up before everyone in my house, write a bit. They wake up, have a wash and
breakfast, school/work, I write. Lunch/naptime, I write. Then again after
dinner. Sometimes I do huge amounts in one sitting but at other times when the
work’s not flowing, those little bits add up!
Q5) I totally understand about snatching precious brief moments to write especially with a young family. So let’s talk about your new book. Can you tell us a little about it?
Gladly. So this book came to me when my child
was just a few weeks old, but I put off writing it until he was a few months
old. It is the story of sassy, driven Anata who is a personal trainer, working
towards a goal to own her own gym in Nigeria. She meets the cool Afam, a banker
during a health drive organized by her gym and they hit it off instantly. But
Afam has an ex Linda who isn’t quite going away and the next step in Anata’s
big dream will take her out of her town and into the bright lights of the city.
It’s very much a will they, won’t they, but every time you think they are
getting together, one or both of them sabotage it because really, don’t we all
have issues?
Q6) How did you come up with the idea for this story?
Hmmm…I’m not sure. I liked the name of the
protagonist so much, she just came into being. I like to think that she already
exists somewhere and she was just letting me know her story. I really enjoyed
writing the book – in fact I was offered a contract to eroticise the story but
I refused because it just didn’t seem like her, you know? There is some heat to
it because hey, it’s me, but it’s very much a romance story.
Q7) Yeah, it'll be interesting to read a non-erotic story from you. I'm looking forward to reading it. What is up next for you?
I have got a collection of short stories out
in a few weeks! It is published by Erotic Review Books (https://erbooks.com/) who
‘discovered’ me in 2006 – I used to write short stories for the Erotic Review
magazine. The collection is called ‘Africa
Hot: West African Stories of Sex and Love’. Now that does exactly what it
says on the tin; ay caramba, it’s spicy! The collection contains one novella as
well so there is a lot to choose from.
Q8) We love spicy over here. LOL. What is the best piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Write. Write always and often. Read then
write. Write then read and write some more. I think when you are someone who
has passion and talent like a lot of would-be writers are, it is very easy to
think that is enough, but DISCIPLINE is important. I did the National Novel
Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) a few years ago where the aim was to write 1667 words
a day for 30 days. I think that having a reachable goal like this means that
it’s not such a daunting task if you’re tired from work. And yes, blog posts
count.
Q9) Great advice. NaNoWriMo is great. Obviously you love reading. What is the next book on your To Read Pile that you are dying to jump into?
I have about thirteen books in a huge pile at
the foot of my bed which I am yet to read (I keep adding to the pile as I go). I
just finished ‘The Hobbit’. The next one up is Taiye Selasi’s ‘Ghana Must Go’.
It was a gift. I am looking forward starting it – I never read reviews before I
read books so I have no idea what to expect.
Q10) Is there anything else you would like to add?
Yeah, sure! Buy books, read books and review
books as much as you can. A one-line review is enough and it doesn’t even have
to be a long line. All authors need it, especially us indies. Writing is a job
as well as a vocation for a lot of us. And we’ve got bills!
Favorite Quiz
Favorite city: Again don’t have one, but
there is nothing wrong with London. She has a way of surprising you when you
think you have her figured out. I like the idea of Colorado as well. Vegas. Bangkok.
New Zealand...This is torture! I can’t choose.
Favorite beverage:
Errr…I like tea. Tea is great! Boring?
Ah, well. I guess I’m becoming British.
Favorite place you’d like to visit:
Now this is easy-ish. Nevada. Morocco.
Argentina. Some village that nobody speaks English or wears clothes.
Favorite place to write:
On my usual chair in the usual corner of
my house.
Favorite hobby:
I will take the plural again, God I am a
nightmare aren’t I? Writing. Reading. Cooking. Gardening. Dirtbike racing.
Favorite movie:
I don’t have one.
Favorite book:
I don’t have one either. Gah! Too many,
too many to list.
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