Kwei Quartey's Blog, page 7

PLAYTIME IN AFRICA

Every so often, one comes across an extraordinary endeavor that must be talked about and given prominence. This one appears in my fiction, and now I want to talk about it in real life.

Mmofra Place is a rare, two-acre sanctuary in Accra, Ghana’s capital. “Mmofra” means “The Children” in Akan, the dominant indigenous language in the country. Renowned Ghanaian writer, educator and child advocate, Efua T. Sutherland, founded the Mmofra Foundation decades ago. It’s an NGO dedicated to providing children of all backgrounds a safe, green space to learn and play.

When you arrive at Mmofra, you step into a world far removed from the noise and dust of surrounding Accra. It is quiet and shaded. The atmosphere is delightful—almost joyful—with the presence of children.

A Mmofra smile

Efua’s first daughter, Esi Sutherland-Addy, and her staff are on hand to supervise the kids in their reading and play activities. They’re encouraged to express themselves through arts and crafts, music, drama, dance, and storytelling. There are vegetable and herb gardens with drought-resistant plants, all of which the children help cultivate. Energetic and talented volunteers, including professionals and students from Ghana, the United States, Europe and Latin America, have generously donated time and funds to support Mmofra.

 

It has come a long way since the first time I visited years ago. I was so impressed with it I knew I would include it in one of my novels. Near the beginning of the 4th Inspector Darko novel GOLD OF OUR FATHERS, I show Mmofra Park in the opening scene immediately following the prologue.

Every summer, Efua’s US-based daughter, Amowi Sutherland-Phillips, takes up residence in Accra for three months and joins in the stewardship of the park. In 2016, Washington-based Friends of Mmofra will join Amowi to focus on further development of Mmofra, which needs more than $10,000 in monetary and in-kind donations. Some of the targets include

Making Mmofra accessible to all children including those with special needs.
Installing hand-washing stations that rely on local water sources and operate by simple foot pedals.
Building a modern, outdoor kitchen for sanitary preparation of healthy meals.
Installing solar lighting.

Much work needs to be done for and by Mmofra, and I want to encourage individuals, companies, and organizations to join in its support, because Mmofra is a concern too impressive and valuable to ignore. Visit the website to learn more, follow @formmofra and like the Facebook page.

“GOOF” COFFEE MUG WINNERS

Last weekend was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books where I was at the Mystery Ink and Mysterious Galaxy booths for book signings.

Newly found fan at the Mystery Ink booth

Sixteen people signed up for my mailing list and a chance to win a GOLD OF OUR FATHERS (“GOOF”) coffee mug. Four of their names were drawn out of a real hat, and they’ll be receiving their gift shortly. So congratulations to J.S., T.S, J.M and K.C. You know who you are.

 

With Cara Black at the Mysterious Galaxy booth

For those who didn’t win, don’t worry, there’ll be another chance when I unveil my super new mega-contest after GOOF is released on April 26–barely a week away! And if you happen to be at any of my book signings after the release, you’ll have a chance to win a coffee mug there as well.

Now, of course, some people prefer tea and the Goofmug has no objection. After all, it’s perfectly civilized.

LA TIMES–RAIN OR SHINE

A few photos from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 9 & 10, 2016. People came, despite the rain on Saturday 4/9/16.

 

Holding Mac3P and only the bookmark for Gold Of Our Fathers, which hadn’t shown up yet; thanks to Mystery Ink for hosting us

But Mysterious Galaxy had GOOF. First time I’m seeing the hardcover! Thanks for hosting us

That’s better–well, mine at least. Now it’s Cara whose smile ain’t so great

SURPRISE!

I knew I would be signing at three different venues at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (LATFOB). What I wasn’t initially aware of was mega-giant publisher Penguin Random House will be pre-releasing my new novel GOLD OF OUR FATHERS (“GOOF”) hot off the press to LATFOB on April 9/10. That is a good two weeks before GOOF’s official pub date of April 26, 2016! Mysterious Galaxy Books (Booth 368) and Mystery Ink (Booth 376) at LATFOB will both be carrying it, hooray for them!

Drop by one of my book signing sessions and you can sign up with me for a drawing to win this midnight blue ceramic coffee mug emblazoned with the GOOF jacket design [purchase of my novel(s) not necessary to win]:

(Image: CustomInk.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember, you have to sign up with me while I’m at the booth for my session. I’ve posted the schedule below.

Of course, not everyone is going to be able to make it to the LATFOB, but please do if you can! If not, there’s another way you can get your hands on this coffee mug. Yes, you guessed it. Another contest is coming up! To win this one, you have to read GOOF. The answer is within the pages. Again, like the previous contests, winners will be awarded by order of arrival of the answers to my inbox.

However a few people won GOOF advance reading copies in prior contests, and others might pick up one of the early-release GOOFs at LATFOB on April 9/10. So if I were to launch the contest now, they would have an unfair advantage over those who won’t get a hold of GOOF until April 26 or later. Therefore, I will wait a couple of weeks after pub date (4/26/16) to launch the contest. That should give everyone a chance to get the book and read it through.

Again, no purchase necessary to win! You can always borrow the book from the library, now there’s an idea! Alternatively from your best friend. Just warn him/her that s/he might not get the book back. They never do.

Again, my signing times at LATFOB are:

Saturday | 4/9/2016 | 4:00 – 5:00 PM

Signing at the Mystery Ink Booth #376

 

Sunday | 4/10/2016 | 11:30 AM

Panel discussion (11:30 – 12:15)

Panelists

Kwei Quartey, Cara Black, and Naomi Hirahara

Andrus Gerontology Center, USC, 3715 McClintock Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90089 USC

Topic: Crime Fiction: Cities in Suspense

Moderator/Interviewer: Miles Corwin

Signing after panel (12:30 – 13:00)

 

Sunday | 4/10/2016 | 3:00 – 4:00 PM

Signing at Mysterious Galaxy, Booth #368

“GOOF” (no reflection on author or publisher)

 

Bookmarks available!

TOUR SEASON–1

(“GOOF”)

The next Chief Inspector Darko novel GOLD OF OUR FATHERS hits stores April 26, 2016. Starting about now through the end of the year there’ll be events associated  with it–book signings, festivals, and so on. Everything should be listed under Events & Engagements on the home page of the website (under “About Kwei Quartey), but I’ll send out a quick newsletter like this before events, so readers can keep track.

I’m looking forward to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 9th and 10th (Saturday and Sunday).

On the 9th, I’ll be at the Mystery Ink Books  Booth 376  signing books from 4- 5 PM. Stop by, pick up a few books and some cool GOOF bizz cards and bookmarks, and also learn how you can win a very cool prize.

Mark where you left off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the 10th, I will be on a panel with two women writers who have made their literary mark with culturally significant mystery series and among the hardest working in the business, Cara Black and Naomi Hirahara . We’ll be moderated by superb thriller writer Miles Corwin in a discussion:

Crime Fiction: Cities in Suspense

Sunday | 4/10/2016 | 11:30 AM  in Andrus Gerontology Center

We’d love you to join us!

WEEK IN REVIEW

February 28 – March 6

The week started Sunday with the #OscarSoWhite, which I boycotted on principle (not that I ever watch a complete Oscar–they go on forever.) I heard the show was mostly bad and Chris Rock had an uneven performance.

 

The lack of black nominees at the Oscars is, of course, a disgrace. Fingers crossed it will be corrected this year with a bunch of excellent movies with high-quality black actors like

David O

David Oyelowo,

Lupita Nyong’o,

Chiwetel (Photo/Matt Sayles)

Chiwetel Ejiofor, and

Idris E

Idris Elba, all of whom are very busy this year with multiple movie roles.

Lupita N

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of black, fair-skinned Zoe Saldana was cast in blackface (and body) as dark-skinned Nina Simone.

Whose boneheaded idea was that? I think it’s insulting.

Nina S

Casting could honestly not come up with a darker skinned actress that wouldn’t have to be painted black? What about Viola Davis? She would have hit that role out of the park.

Viola D

Zoe S

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downton Abbey cast

It was the end of an era for Downton Abbey after its six-year run (I’ll miss it a lot) and the beginning of a new season for our favorite evil couple the Underwoods

Claire and Frank Underwood

in House of Cards, which has already kept me up late for two nights in a row with its riveting episodes.

 

 

Donald The Orange

 

In politics, we saw the rise of The Donald and some Republicans scrambling to tear him down. Sorry, Repubs, you can’t cherry pick in democracy. He’s your frontrunner, so quit whining and own it. What hypocrites. Trump is only expressing in a vulgar way what many (most?) of you secretly think anyway.

 

And please check out my new paper, Doctor-Writer, Inc., which made its debut this week.

Don’t forget GOLD OF THE FATHERS comes out April 26. Mark the date!

GOOF in hardcover

 

 

CONTEST WINNERS

My apologies for the long silence after launching the latest contest. My Mac went out of commission for more than a week, and blogging on a tablet is too cumbersome to be worth the try. At any rate, laptop restored, we can now talk about the contest and who won! The challenge was as follows:

The initials of one or more American institutions of higher learning spell out a district of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. What initials, and the institutions to which they belong, are these?

The answer I had in mind was OSU, which could stand for Ohio, Oklahoma and Oregon State Universities. Osu is also a district in Accra, the capital of Ghana. I thought this challenge would have readers flummoxed, and although it did some, others were fast and furious in sending in the answers. Order of arrival of the correct response in my inbox was the criterion for gold and silver medals.  Wendy T. in the USA took silver, correctly naming all three universities that make the initials O-S-U. She wins a copy of the new novel GOLD OF OUR FATHERS when it comes out in a couple of months on April 26. Erik E. of Germany came in first, winning the gold with a particularly creative response: Tudu, for TU, Tulsa University, and DU, University of Denver. He wins the novel and a Ghanaian abstract wood carving.

GOOF in hardcover

Figure Reading (13″ x 11″)
Photo: Kwei Quartey

Tudu is indeed a district in central Accra, and it happens that I have a pair of pictures of Tudu Road from a blog of 2011. As Erik commented, it’s a busy, industrial area. It also features prominently in the second Darko novel, CHILDREN OF THE STREET.

So, well done to the winners. For those who missed it, not to worry, there’ll be lots of contests coming up in the future!

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Brand new contest!

This weekend marks 80 days until the worldwide release of the 4th Darko Dawson novel, GOLD OF OUR FATHERS (“GOOF”), and in about 80 days you can win a free copy–no, dear readers, a signed copy–of the novel in glorious hardcover, that is if you come in first or second in the contest I’m launching today.

GOOF in hardcover (Image: Soho Press)

 

But wait, there’s more! Second place gets a signed copy, but first place comes along with a bonus that will blow you away. It’s an abstract Ghanaian sculpture of a figure reading a book, carved by local artisans from one of Ghana’s most famous woods, mahogany. This is from my personal collection and it’s a dear favorite, so if you win it, you will be prying it from my live, hot hands.

 

Man With Book (13″ x 11″)
(Photo: Kwei Quartey)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, let’s review:

Second place: A signed copy of GOOF

First place: a signed copy of GOOF plus this unique Ghanaian sculpture.

Okay, now on to the contest, which will be open for two weeks starting today, February 7, 2016, to February 21, 2016.

The initials of one or more American institutions of higher learning spell out a district of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. What initials, and the institutions to which they belong, are these?

Three . . . two . . . one . . . go!

REALITY BITES IN THE DARK

I wrote about the on-off cycle of electricity in Ghana in my last post. After arriving in Ghana on Jan 6, the lights in my area stayed on continuously and mercifully for a full 5 or 6 days. Then the first blackout since I had arrived went into effect, which meant bringing the monster generator into service.

This beast can power all lights and appliances, including the air conditioners (Photo: Kwei Quartey)

MaxMart: lit up like a Christmas tree (Photo: Kwei Quartey)

Generators are what all large businesses have now, and they invariably have an automatic switching device for a quick changeover to the generator when power from the grid is lost. The way some businesses are lit up in Accra, you’d think there was no electricity crisis at all. This MaxMart supermarket is pretty much like its equivalent in the US, with everything from produce to meat to stationery to toys, and it also has a pharmacy. It’s a pretty good one-stop shop.

Using electricity from the grid is now very expensive in Ghana, especially if you’re running power-hungry appliances like the a/c. The Electricity Corp of Ghana (ECG) has heavily increased the tariff on electricity. Apparently, in just 2 weeks, I had an electricity consumption in the amount of the equivalent of $52. If I received a $104 electricity bill every month in the States, I would have a conniption, particularly because I have solar, but in Ghana, this sum of money amounts to highway robbery. People are stunned by their recent bills from the ECG, and there’s a pervasive feeling that the ECG (government owned, of course) is up to some nefarious gouging scheme.

But electricity is not the only thing noticeably more expensive in Ghana than just a year ago. Food, clothing, household supplies, building supplies, fuel, transportation, schooling, and professional services, have skyrocketed in price. The economy is profoundly depressed across the board, with commodity prices down and staying there.  The good old days in Ghana, if they ever existed, are gone.

 

Travels To The “Dark Country”

The term “Dark Continent” is an antiquated (and to many, offensive) euphemism for Africa that once got veteran NPR broadcaster Jean Cochran into trouble when she used it on air. Now I’m taking the liberty of coining the phrase “dark country” to refer to Ghana, with its now legendary rolling blackouts, or “load shedding,” as it’s often called.

Popularly known as “dumsor,” or more correctly “dumsɔ” from the Twi, meaning “off-on,” the pattern of outages in Ghana’s capital Accra, where I’ll be for the next 3 weeks, is pervasive, disruptive, and inequitably distributed. A Citi FM article finds that some neighborhoods–read, “affluent”–get more constant and reliable electrical power than others–read, “poor”. But an industry expert points out that the Electricity Corporation of Ghana (ECG) schedules according to where it “thinks it will get paid.” Places like Nima, a densely populated, working class section of Accra, would not be an example of a “payor.” Stories abound of its residents siphoning off electricity from the street lines to power their air conditioners, refrigerators and microwave ovens. In Children Of The Street four years ago when Darko was digging around in the Nima’s maze of passages, he noted with a sense of irony that even the most miserable of hovels had a TV satellite dish.

Homework by candlelight

Apart from being utterly maddening, an erratic electrical supply takes a terrible toll on Ghana’s local and national economy. An estimate quoted from the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), a Ghanaian based think-tank, is that the country has lost at least 24 billion dollars since 2010 as a result of the energy crisis.

The effect on industry, employment and the basic functioning of the country has been devastating. Small businesses have had to layoff workers because an inconstant supply of electricity has ground work to a halt. I was once at a local auto mechanics shop in Accra when the electrical power went out. The story was they did have an old generator, but guess what? It was out of order. So what followed was a lot of standing (or sitting) around because many machines in the shop, even small-scale as it was, needed electricity to function. That’s an awful lot of lost revenue. Blue Skies, an Accra company that produces sumptuously fresh tropical fruit drinks, suffered badly in 2015 from the energy crisis and other adverse factors. Dumsor is such a pervasive part of life in Ghana that it appears frequently in the upcoming Darko Dawson novel, Gold Of Our Fathers, and the one after that in 2017, Death By His Grace.

As I head to Accra, I’ve been told that dumsor is “worse.” If that’s the case, I should see and experience it for myself in the next three weeks.