The phrase "defying the odds" is commonly used to indicate doing something seemingly impossible or succeeding in a situation when others expected you to fail.
Whenever you published writers give advice on writing, it almost always includes this: Start to Finish. What they mean is, don’t just start a bunch of writing projects and never finish them.
Biafra cannot be swept under the carpet of politics and faux unity. It is like a bee on the scrotum. Kill it, you injure yourself. Leave it, you get stung.