Emem Uko's Blog - Posts Tagged "writer"
Project Update
How are you all doing? As some of you know, I am writing two books right now. One is the sequel to my first-ever published young adult novel, Facade. The second book is going to be my first thriller and suspense novel, Hers to Tell (HTT). I'll share lines from HTT, but first, it would be nice to know something about a character, don't you think?
Like Facade, HTT's protagonist is a girl and the book is going to be from her point of view. Her name is Cara. She's from a large family of seven, including her parents. She ventures out to a new city, very different from where she grew up. She's a Utah girl and she moves to Florida...I know.
Anyway, she's a novelist with a part time job at a magazine company. It happens that her first book became popular because a cop read it and got an idea from it that helped him detain a wanted criminal.
Cara has OCA1b, a mild form of albinism, which makes me wonder why she chose to move to Florida of all places. Well, here are some (unedited) HTT lines for you all. Enjoy!
“Oh men!”
“What?” Jet asked.
I pointed at a powder blue crushed vehicle that looked like it was once a decent jeep. “I like that color and I’m sure that car must have been awesome in its hay day.”
He grinned. “You have no idea how I feel when I come in here. Especially when I see some battered Escalades or Jaguars. Good thing is Paco knows how to salvage the vehicles so they don’t go to waste.”
“Paco?”
“Yes, the head supervisor here.”
“Oh okay.”
He pointed at a messier looking part of the junk yard. These piles had the innards of cars and looked like engine stuff to me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’d be surprised that that’s where people find some treasures. Car treasures, I mean.”
I looked at the pile again. Wrinkling my face in distaste, “I don’t think so. It looks like a pile that no one should go rummaging. Sharp and gooey things can’t have treasures in them.”
“What’s that phrase? Don’t judge a book by its cover. Trust me, I’ve found some useful car parts in that.”
“Uhuh.”
He shook his head, smiling. Then he slipped an arm around my waist, looked down at me and kissed my forehead.
I was taken aback by this gesture. I’m still off and on about what I supposedly have with Jet but it’s something as little as this that makes me let go of whatever is holding me back. I exhaled shakily and secretly prayed that my heart’s erratic rhythm would stop betraying my emotions. It’s no secret by now that I liked Jet but I didn’t want him to know just how much I liked him.
We started to walk and Jet said that he was going to show me something cool.
“So there are more cool things here, yay!” I said sarcastically.
“Have faith, Cara, you might find inspiration here for your book. Maybe plot a murder scene, you know, bodies hidden in the junk yard.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s so unoriginal.”
Then he stopped abruptly. We had rounded the corner of one of the piled stashes of scrunched vehicles and I wasn’t sure what was out of the ordinary that made him halt. The path looked as rugged as the others we just passed but as I looked at his face, I realized that whatever made him stop had danger written all over it. Goosebumps crept on my hands and I held his hands tighter.
“Jet,” I whispered in fear.
He didn’t answer but put his finger on his lips to shush me. He just slanted his head a little, listening.
I also tried to listen intently and then I heard laughter from two men coming toward us.
“Oh,” I exclaimed, feeling relieved.
But he shushed me again and without a word, pulled me forcefully and started walking back quickly from where we had come.
“What’s going on? You’re scaring me,” I said, as I struggled to keep up with his pace.
He didn’t say anything and made a turn too quickly as my dress stuck on a protruding metal rod. I heard the dress rip before I could say anything but Jet just kept on going...
There you go. You can read more of this on my website. www.ememuko.com.
Like Facade, HTT's protagonist is a girl and the book is going to be from her point of view. Her name is Cara. She's from a large family of seven, including her parents. She ventures out to a new city, very different from where she grew up. She's a Utah girl and she moves to Florida...I know.
Anyway, she's a novelist with a part time job at a magazine company. It happens that her first book became popular because a cop read it and got an idea from it that helped him detain a wanted criminal.
Cara has OCA1b, a mild form of albinism, which makes me wonder why she chose to move to Florida of all places. Well, here are some (unedited) HTT lines for you all. Enjoy!
“Oh men!”
“What?” Jet asked.
I pointed at a powder blue crushed vehicle that looked like it was once a decent jeep. “I like that color and I’m sure that car must have been awesome in its hay day.”
He grinned. “You have no idea how I feel when I come in here. Especially when I see some battered Escalades or Jaguars. Good thing is Paco knows how to salvage the vehicles so they don’t go to waste.”
“Paco?”
“Yes, the head supervisor here.”
“Oh okay.”
He pointed at a messier looking part of the junk yard. These piles had the innards of cars and looked like engine stuff to me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’d be surprised that that’s where people find some treasures. Car treasures, I mean.”
I looked at the pile again. Wrinkling my face in distaste, “I don’t think so. It looks like a pile that no one should go rummaging. Sharp and gooey things can’t have treasures in them.”
“What’s that phrase? Don’t judge a book by its cover. Trust me, I’ve found some useful car parts in that.”
“Uhuh.”
He shook his head, smiling. Then he slipped an arm around my waist, looked down at me and kissed my forehead.
I was taken aback by this gesture. I’m still off and on about what I supposedly have with Jet but it’s something as little as this that makes me let go of whatever is holding me back. I exhaled shakily and secretly prayed that my heart’s erratic rhythm would stop betraying my emotions. It’s no secret by now that I liked Jet but I didn’t want him to know just how much I liked him.
We started to walk and Jet said that he was going to show me something cool.
“So there are more cool things here, yay!” I said sarcastically.
“Have faith, Cara, you might find inspiration here for your book. Maybe plot a murder scene, you know, bodies hidden in the junk yard.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s so unoriginal.”
Then he stopped abruptly. We had rounded the corner of one of the piled stashes of scrunched vehicles and I wasn’t sure what was out of the ordinary that made him halt. The path looked as rugged as the others we just passed but as I looked at his face, I realized that whatever made him stop had danger written all over it. Goosebumps crept on my hands and I held his hands tighter.
“Jet,” I whispered in fear.
He didn’t answer but put his finger on his lips to shush me. He just slanted his head a little, listening.
I also tried to listen intently and then I heard laughter from two men coming toward us.
“Oh,” I exclaimed, feeling relieved.
But he shushed me again and without a word, pulled me forcefully and started walking back quickly from where we had come.
“What’s going on? You’re scaring me,” I said, as I struggled to keep up with his pace.
He didn’t say anything and made a turn too quickly as my dress stuck on a protruding metal rod. I heard the dress rip before I could say anything but Jet just kept on going...
There you go. You can read more of this on my website. www.ememuko.com.
Chill with Hers to Tell
Winter is coming! and there are free days in the season to chill with a hot book...see what I did here? Okay, so I don't have enough outlets and connections to spread the word about Hers to Tell but I have Z and S, my fun blog. I know this is barely a popular medium that gets traffic but I trust that anyone who sees this post will share it. Thank you in advance.
I started writing a while ago, just for fun. I still don't think I'm a great writer but I do know how to tell a good story. Writing books preserve the stories and get them in the hands of more people. My first published work, Facade, was not planned. But its wonderful reception lessened my fear of writing and I have continued to do so since then.
Now, I am shamelessly promoting my suspense novel, Hers to Tell because I want to share this book with everyone. It is a good book and I'm only saying this because of the positive comments I've gotten about it. If it is that good, why isn't it on the best lists out there? It will be, one day. But to get it there, I need you to pick it up, share it, and talk about it. There are good writers out there who already have the right connections to spread the word about their books even before they're published. They can get their books buzzing with a snap of the finger. There are also good writers who don't have the connections but have the support of readers who can change the game. I know I fall into this category and am grateful for that because I know the power of word of mouth.
Hers to Tell has gotten some buzz, but it needs to continue in order to get it to where it should be. Where do I want it to be? At the top of lists that appreciate a good book. I am busy writing other books at the moment but I know that I should never stop promoting my past works, especially if I like them. So please bear with me for doing this. I was told that I wasn't doing enough.
Here are some reviews and feedback of Hers to Tell.
Bella Naija weighs in on Hers to Tell
Amazon Reviews of Hers to Tell
Please Re-post and Share this.
Thank you!
With gratitude,
Emem Uko
Author
P.S. Below are links to the first three chapters of Hers to Tell and where to purchase the book.
First Three Chapters
Amazon
OkadaBooks
Barnes and Noble
EmemUko.com
