Empi Baryeh's Blog, page 34
January 19, 2013
Guest Author: Stella Eromonsere-Ajanaku
Remember how my last guest blogger talked about romance in real life vs. romance in novels. Guess what! I have another West African writer, the feisty Stella Eromonsere-Ajanaku, giving us her perspective on the same topic. I won’t lie; I was so excited when she also wanted to do this topic cos I thought, we had a man’s opinion, let’s hear a woman’s. Now, I have no idea whether they will say the same things, but the prospects are exciting all the same – to me, anyway.
Over to you, Stella.
STORY BOOK ROMANCE VS REAL LIFE ROMANCE
I started reading story book romance aka Mills and Boon in my teens in my home town. I traveled with the characters all over the world. I saw every town and city through the eyes of the heroine and the clarity of the author’s writing style. The journey through the beautiful places left me impressed, stimulated my mind and made me dream of trips to Europe and America.
The sizzling tension and romance in the novels surely created a desire in me to find and snug my own real life hero. Thank God, I married a gorgeous dude who treats me like a fairy tale princess. My dream did come true in many ways. I now live in the UK and I write the kind of books I love to read. When I first came here, I visited many places mentioned in the M & B novels.
Romance novels reveal to me in details how men view women, what makes men tick, how men decide on which women they prefer and why. Men are definitely wired differently from women. Love novels that spell out the hero’s point of view are a hit with me, because the insight gained helps me in my relationship.
In real life, while the start of the romance is fairly heart fluttering, sweet and lightly intense, the end is never certain.
While some relationships stall at the start, going nowhere, others could go awfully wrong after several years together, leaving shattered hearts on its trail. Many others walk hand in hand down the aisle, staying together through the good and bad times. Yet others falter, going their separate ways when the tough times last too long.
Still, some relationships end on a good note, with the once united couple remaining friends. Many end tragically as a result of accidents, disease, war and so on.
The couple I understand the least are the ones who stay together, declare their undying love, have children but never tie the knot! Are they from another planet? Seriously, they have to confidently plaster the cake with delicious icing – get married!
Better still, romance novels ALWAYS end on a jolly note, which I absolutely look forward to. As an incurable romantic, I waffle with the characters through their conflicts and intrigues. I cry with them, hope and laugh with them.
But through it all, I know they’re going to sing the same song in the end, sealing their love with an unbroken kiss. That revelation at the end of every love novel puts a sparkle in my heart and a lovely smile on my face on the bus, on the train or on the escalator.
When you look around you, the outcome of real life relationships can be too painful to understand. So, its just perfect we have amazing authors all over the world who create characters that mimic real life love affairs but steer the drama to a happy end. I don’t want it any other way.
It would be inspiring to read what comparisons lie between story book and real life romance from readers.
AUTHOR BIO
I love writing romance novels that are as intriguing and flirty as they are entertaining. My dream only came true in August 2008, when I told a colleague, ‘I’d like to get published’. With my husband’s enthusiastic support and an unending inspiration from God, my dreams of writing about larger-than-life, feisty characters, detailed story lines and heart-stopping romantic twists came alive.
In 2010, I created Flirty & Feisty Romance Novel. I have five contemporary romance novels; LOITERING SHADOWS, STORMY DEFENSE, BEYOND the LADY, the National Novel Writing Month 2010 winning novel, THE GARDENER’s ICE MAIDEN and SPARKLING DAWN.
At the moment, I’m working on two novels; a historical romance and an interracial contemporary romance novel.
My job is taking care of my gorgeous, life-size hero of a husband and two vibrant and loving ‘near teenagers’. I’m a Quality Assurance and Food Safety Professional with sixteen years food industry experience.
I’m second in a family of six, born in the ancient city of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. I have a B.Sc in Microbiology and an MBA. I love to read romance novels, swim and watch TV shows.
Contact me by e-mail: flirty.feisty@gmail.com
FIND STELLA ONLINE
Website | Blog | Facebook | Amazon Author Page
A SNEAK PEEK INTO ‘SPARKLING DAWN ‘
(Book #5 in the Flirty & Feisty Romance Stable)
Dark Secrets…Waiting to Explode
Flirty & Feisty Romance…wild & windy
Blurb
It was all a secret and tender crush…that deepened into a severe ache and longing…that eventually evolved into a catastrophic incident. Never again would Chloe trudge that route. She believed she’d been setup…made a ridicule of and abandoned.
To preserve family ties, she’d kept the humiliating episode and her subsequent actions from everyone… That was years ago.
Now, hot and sweltering freelance fashion journalist, Chloe Anderson planned on living her jet-set life to the full. Having exhausted her emotion on a fourteen-year wait for Warren, she plunged herself into globe-trotting across the continent.
After the disappointing near break-up of Warren’s parents’ marriage that he duly blamed on his mother’s high mobility journalistic job, Warren swore not to give his heart so easily to any woman.
As a successful, high profile New York lawyer, his criteria for a wife is simple. An available woman with a stable career, perhaps a teacher will meet his needs. Chloe clearly didn’t fit!
When he insisted on co-habiting with Chloe, she was delighted at being handed her payback opportunity. Is there a way out of the swamp she’d sunk into?
A wild & windy expressive saga, laced with mind-boggling intrigues…
Excerpt
What on God’s earth was he doing here? Chloe’s hands were clammy and her knees shook with the waves of mind numbing sensations flying through her spinal column. ‘Michael, I’m sorry. My stomach feels queasy,’ she lied smoothly to get him off her back.
‘What…?’ he whipped his head sideways, an incredulous expression on his face. ‘That’s quite sudden…?’ he sneered unsympathetically as he swiftly turned his attention to the performers on stage.
After half an hour of ignoring each other, Michael made an appeal through gritted teeth. ‘Please, make an effort for my sake. Just for tonight. I might be receiving an award and it will be nice to see that you’re excited to be here with me.’
What an arrogant man!
So he thought her presence by his side at this year’s event was to grace his flank when he collected his gong? Before he came into her life, she’d being attending this event for Pete’s sake! ‘Are you forgetting that I’m also a nominee?’ she asked, her voice petulant.
He made no comment.
Appearances were all Michael cared about. Pretence was his cloak. She remained silent as her eyes discreetly searched for the fairly tanned skinned, strong jawed, full eyebrow man seated many rows in front of her.
At the moment, Chloe was murmuring the appropriate, ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Ohm…’, every now and again at Genevieve’s frivolous remarks. ‘Chloe, I meant to tell you the other day, but it slipped my mind. Did you read the story about the aging billionaire who just found out he had two pregnant ex-mistresses…?’
Worthless gossip was all Genevieve cared about. Her nose could snip gossip a thousand miles away. ‘I heard about it Gene…’ she muttered uninterestedly, hoping she would get the hint.
At once, Chloe felt the tiny, sleepy hair on her neck rising majestically as the tall, suavely dressed, familiar, broad shouldered man stood up to make way for an award winner shuffling his way to the podium. He placed a pink, cashmere shawl on the shoulders of the petite woman seated beside him. The elfin brunette was preening herself like a courting rooster. Who could blame her? She was accompanying the best-looking man of the night.
‘It will be nice if you could at least pay me a tenth of the attention you’re dishing out to that total stranger on the front row.’ Michael snarled at his partner for the night.
Chloe was shaken out of her riveting reverie. ‘Michael, I’m sorry. I need to use the bathroom. I don’t feel well.’ Her stomach felt like it was falling apart anyway. A stinging storm has just kicked up in her near perfect life.
Get your copy:
E-book: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Smashwords | EroticEscapeEbooks
Paperback: Createspace
January 16, 2013
Guest Author: Seun Odukoya
Hello friend and fans. Today, I’m happy to introduce you to a fellow West African writer, Seun Odukoya, who’s going to give us his perspective on romance in real life and romance in novels (yes, I *did* mean ‘his’). I’ll admit to being a little jealous – I wish I were writing on this topic. But I’ll hold my horses and let him say his piece.
ROMANCE VS ROMANCE
Just before I started writing this piece, I searched for the definition of romance on WordWeb. And of all the responses I got, this one most captured my thoughts on the issue:
“Romance: a novel dealing with – events remote from everyday life.”
Now if you were like me, you grew up reading a lot of romance books and literature. If you were like me, you probably quickly put those books aside and moved onto more ‘serious’ readings like John Grisham, Tom Clancy and so on. If you were not like me however, especially on that last point…
Up till today (it’s 2013) I know, there are still young adults who have issues accepting the fact that the romantic nonsense they read in all those Mills & Boons back then were just exactly that; romantic nonsense. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a guy that has a shitload of money plus a six pack (and I mean in real life)?
In other news, I have a six pack. The money’s coming.
I think that; of all the fictional genres chock-full of clichés, romance takes the cake. Especially with those Mills & Boons, Harlequin Romance, Silhouette and whatnot’s – once you’ve read one you’ve read them all.
You ask; so why are romance dime novels so successful?
I answer; it’s because it gives people something to aspire to, albeit unrealistically. It’s just like one of those self-help books. Apart from the fact that many people would read them, take notes and promptly forget what they read, only a few would actually try out what they read. Add that to fact that only a few of the ideas and suggestions are actually reasonable and practical in a place like Nigeria, and you find a huge dissonance between the book and the reader.
So why do people buy these books?
It’s simple; because the common man aspires to be more – he prefers the ideal over the real. He likes to have a place he escapes to, a place secure from all his daily hassle and wahala. Romance offers him that. But we all know; don’t we, that romance in real life is a lot more complicated than that right?
If the only problem we had in real life relationships was differences in degree of feeling, I’m sure a lot of us would be living ‘happily ever after’ lives right now. I mean, if all we had to consider was how we felt around that person or how they made us feel, relationships and romance would generally be a lot easier all round; no?
Which reminds me, what exactly is ‘happily ever after’?
I think the thing about storybook romance is that it hardly gets down to the nitty-gritty – the barebones of the characters involved. I think they spend too much time on how good the characters are together, how amazing the sex is, how they ‘look into each other’s eyes from across the room’ and don’t really examine the validity of such feelings. They spend too much time on the physical.
I know I’m being general and I have come across some other romance books that are as honest as possible, but the bulk of what is out there deals with romance as some sort of ethereal ‘makes-everything-alright’ feeling. No it’s not.
Don’t get it twisted; physical attraction is important in a romantic relationship. Very important.
But it becomes something else when that’s all the relationship is based on.
Still, I’m thankful that there’s such a genre as romance. Because no matter how ‘chockfull-of-clichés’ it is, it still offers another look at life from various eyes – even though those eyes have more in common than they would care to admit.
I can live with that.
About the Author
Seun Odukoya is the award-winning author of For Days and A Night, a collection of short stories, a poem and some candid personal opinions – basically his perspective on some general issues. It is his first published book. Seun blogs at http://www.seunodukoya.wordpress.com and can be found on twitter @seunodukoya.
EXCERPTS FROM FOR DAYS AND A NIGHT
Pause
When he called that evening like he usually did, she sounded quiet and gentle – more so than was usual for her. He asked her what was wrong and she answered nothing; and then she told him she had broken up with her boyfriend.
He was struck speechless at first, and then it occurred to him that she might have done it because of him. The rising hope in his chest became an overwhelming feeling of guilt and he hung up on her, hating himself for putting her in the situation. In his bloated sense of self righteousness it did not occur to him that she might love him; and had decided to end things with some other guy whose kisses had begun to taste like sawdust. No; it did not occur to him at all – after all he was the one who knew what was best for everyone except himself.
His & Hers
Click on image to enlarge
To download ‘For Days and A Night’ click here: It’s free!
December 31, 2012
2012 in Review; 2013 in View
One of my very good friends made a remark about how much I’d achieved in 2012. To be honest (and at the risk of sounding ungrateful) I hadn’t actually thought about it – not because I haven’t appreciated all the wonderful things that have happened to me in 2012, but I’d attributed certain things to 2011. e.g. I published two novels this year, both of which I sold in the latter part of last year. I guess it’s like football (soccer, to you Americans); you know, when someone passes the ball to another and the other scores. Usually, you only hear the name of the goal scorer, but the role of the facilitator, I think, is vital.
That said, I am extremely thankful for all the blessings that have come my way in 2012: first, I published two novels this year; I got married this year (to a man I met in 2011) and we are expecting a bundle of joy. On top of all that I have been in good health all year and that’s not something everyone can say.
I thank God for all of these blessings and pray that 2013 would be an even better year for me and my loved ones. I pray that same for you, friends and fans, who have supported me through it all.
As for 2013…well, I usually don’t make resolutions, but I’ll think on it as I head to bed. I just might change my mind (we’ll see)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Another Winner announced
I made a mistake. I realised (after announcing the winner of the Evernight Holiday Blog Hop) that there were 11 comments I hadn’t ok’ed (gasp). I know. I felt really bad about that, so to make up for it, I decided to do a new draw and pic a second winner. I used random(dot)com, and was very pleased to see a winner come from one of the eleven commenters who hadn’t been approved before the first draw.
The second winner of a $5 gift certificate is…
Sherry Strode (aka. Sherry1969)
Congratulations and Happy New Year!
December 23, 2012
Winner of Evernight Holiday Blog Hop!
I know most (if not all other) authors in the Holiday Blog Hop have announced winners. And to those who’ve been sneaking in to find out who won, I apologise. These past couple of weeks have been hectic as there was a major event going with me (shhhh).
Anyway, I won’t talk too much. The winner of my $5 gift certificate is…
angadair
Congratulations! Your prize should hit your in-box shortly.
I want to say a big thank you to all who participated in the hop. Merry Christmas!
December 10, 2012
Evernight Holiday Blog Hop!
Welcome to the Evernight Holiday Blog Hop!
We love the holidays, we love making our readers happy and we love giving away swag. What better way to do that than to hold a blog hop?
Here’s how it works… the more blogs you hop to (shown below) the more chance you have of winning prizes. Each site on the hop is offering a prize and Evernight is offering an iPad 2 as the grand prize! To be inwith a chance of winning the site prize simply follow the blog you’re visiting and leave a comment which includes your email address. Each entry on each blog is then counted towards the grand prize draw. The more entries you have, the better your chance of winning that iPad 2! You also get extra points for liking the Evernight Facebook page. Just make sure you let us know in the comments that you’ve done so.
Happy hopping!
While hopping and shopping, please check out my Evernight title Most Eligible Bachelor:
Blurb:
Magazine columnist Chantelle Sah doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day—not since her fiancé’s betrayal three years ago—and after botching her first assignment as a feature writer, she’s more than willing to put in a hard day’s work this Valentine’s Day; even if it means going on a date with gorgeous construction Tycoon, Lord McKenzie, and opening herself to an onslaught of all things love.
When Lord—his given name, not a title—sets his sights on Chantelle, it isn’t just work he has on his mind. But even he couldn’t have predicted the magnetic attraction between them when they meet, nor the evening ending with more than an interview. Now he has to convince Chantelle that their one-night stand wasn’t a mistake. Can he win her love without revealing a secret from their night of passion, which could prove fatal for both their hearts?
Oh, before I forget, I will be giving away a $5 gift certificate at the end of this blog hop to one lucky commenter. It would be nice if you follow my blog as well
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Click here to view the full list of authors in this blog hop…
December 7, 2012
Win a free book!
Awesome news! There is a copy of Most Eligible Bachelor up for grabs between now and 18th December – just in time for Christmas (sort of). My friend and soon-to-be-published author, Nana Prah, is celebrating 1000 views of her blog this week. ( I promise I didn’t put her up to it, but…) I’m so chuffed that she decided to use my book as the prize, so pleeeeaaaaase hop over to her blog, check out the post and leave a comment on the post for a chance to win.
She didn’t ask for this (and it is definitely not a condition for entering the contest), but if you could also follow her blog, it would really be great. I’m following the blog and feeling very lonely at the moment, so please join me over there…
Have a blessed weekend!
November 28, 2012
We have a winner!
Remember my last post? Well, the contest is over now, cos I got an email this morning from The TBR Pile with the name of the winner of a free e-copy of Chancing Faith. And the winner is….
ROSEMARY!!!
View list of winners.
Congratulations, Rosemary. I hope you find Chancing Faith un-put-downable
November 21, 2012
5 Star Review for Chancing Faith plus give-away contest
This morning I work up to some good news. A 5-star review for Chancing Faith from The TBR Pile. Here’s a snippet:
Talk about adventures in a new land! … From the minute I stepped off the plane into Ghana with our hero, business mogul, Thane, I was immersed in the detail rich world. The author weaved with the great skill of a writer who’s been honing their abilities for years. Seeing as how this was her debut book, I was very impressed. The sex is sensual and … (read full review)
The good news for those who haven’t read the book is that, there’s a giveaway contest with the review at the TBR Pile. All you have to do is leave a comment below their review for a chance to win that free e-copy. So get commenting!
October 15, 2012
And the Winner is…
First off, I want to say a big thank you–again–to all who participated in the Evernight Publishing Birthday Bash Blog Hop (whew, that’s a mouthful). I’d hoped to announce the winner of my prize yesterday, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
I did my ballot this morning – yes, I actually put down the names on little pieces of paper and tossed them up a few times and picked one.
So without further ado, the winner of my prize, a $5.00 Evernight gift certificate is…(drumroll)
LJay (toonsgirl1@…)
Congratulations, LJay. Your prize should already be lounging in your in-box.
Also, stay tuned for the announcement of winners of the grand prizes from Evernight Publishing. In case you need a reminder, the grand prizes are:
a Kindle
a $100 Amazon gift certificate
2 Evernight swag bags (which includes a tote, a tee, vouchers, a mug and other coolness) and
a personalized Facebook banner.
Good luck to all who participated. I hope at least one winner comes from my blog
That’s all for now, folks. I wish you a blessed day!
