C.M. Okonkwo's Blog: Everything Literature, page 8

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear all.
#February14 #DayOfLove #DayOfGiving
I gifted a free preview of my upcoming book titled ‘When It’s Murder’ to my website subscribers.  
Subscribe to my mailing list and never miss a moment: https://www.cmokonkwo.com/subscribe

#KeepSafe #Enjoy #Share #ThankYou
Literarily Yours,
CMO.

Coming Back Soon: When It's Murder

Dear all,

#ComingBack #14March
Remember “When It’s Murder?”
It was first published in March 2019 for a year, and it’s coming back this March!
Subscribe to my mailing list to find out more and stand a chance of winning an autographed ecopy before the release date: https://www.cmokonkwo.com/subscribe


#KeepSafe #Enjoy #Share #ThankYou
Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Course Alert: Learn to Write, Format and Publish for ebook

Dear all,

#Course #Write #Format #Publish
For those who asked... this is for you!
For those who didn’t ask... this can also be for you!
For those who know someone who might be interested... this is definitely for you!
Join me, let’s achieve our 2021 writing goals.
#KeepSafe #Share #ThankYou

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Anthology Alert: A Christmas Package

Dear all,

#NewYear #NewAnthology
I’m so proud of myself.
I completed my #anthology last night. It was a tough challenge writing 12 different genres, but I did it.
You can check the stories out on Wattpad @CMOkonkwo or click HERE. 
And by the way... Happy New Year everyone!!!


#KeepSafe #Enjoy #Share #ThankYou
Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Book Alert: My Celeb Husband

Dear all,
#MerryChristmas #NewBook #NewAnthology
#MyCelebHusband is here!!!
Go check it out on all platforms guys 🙏.
Thanks to #Wattpad 12 Days of Writing Contest, I have an #anthology of short stories coming 31st December 2020 titled #AChristmasPackage.

12 stories, 12 different genres, 1 theme: #Christmas.

#KeepSafe #Enjoy #Share #ThankYou




Literarily Yours,
CMO.

Book Review: Payback

Book description:

Like other young Muslim girls of 18, Halima has moved with her family to London and her horizons are beginning to expand. Then, just as she is about to start university, she discovers her father’s plan: to marry her to the son of a distant relation in Pakistan who once did him a favour. Halima is to be the repayment of the debt. And it's payback time...
***

I got this book at a fundraising bazaar organized by an erstwhile chairman of ANA Lagos, and I’m glad I picked this one amongst so many choices. I was intrigued by the title and the tagline, initially thinking it was a crime/thriller novel, but the description said otherwise.
A young Pakistani girl, Halima is promised to a man in her village many years back for helping her father out of a difficult situation, an arrangement she knows nothing about, until years later after she’s moved to England with her sister and mother to join her father and brothers and finds a Pakistani guy she likes.

Brought up in a setting where matchmaking and fixed marriages are a norm, Halima doesn’t contest it, though she begins to have some doubts after she gets exposure in the western world. However, after her sister is married off to a suitable man who she agreed to, Halima has some hope. She believes she can accept or refuse a man proposed by her father, then she meets a cousin of her sister’s husband and suggests him as a husband. No one pays her any attention until her sister finally lets her in on the full story. Her father promised her to a man and must keep to his word.
Halima understands the importance of family and honour, not just to her family but to the family of the man she’s promised to. And given her exposure to the western world and their different ways of thinking, she is caught between making her own choices and respecting her family. Her immediate older brother, the model child of the family had quit school and run away, and in return, he got cut off from the family and was disowned. Halima doesn’t want this but has no choice.
With the help of two trusted women, she makes a choice.
I felt sorry for her most of the time, caught between an overbearing father and a submissive mother. As a Pakistani girl, she’s not supposed to have a voice. Her good education means nothing if her chosen husband says so. I liked how she got a connection with her brother-in-law’s cousin, but who she was advised to cut all ties with since she was promised to another, a debt of honour.
I smiled when she spoke to her runaway brother and he mentioned that he had seen her friend. She asked “Which friend...” when her brother mentioned the name, I was ecstatic, and so was Halima. The rest they say is history, but the action that happened thereafter literally kept me on my feet until I finished to book. Halima finds out that breaking such a promise has dangerous life-threatening consequences. She gets in a lot of trouble because of her decision, but the bravery of her friends sees her through.
It was a truly enjoyable book and I learnt a little about Pakistani culture in the process. The book swung between various POV, which I don’t really fancy, but this one was done in the right doses and at the right time. I also loved how the book cover looked weird but made absolute sense as the reading journey came to an end.
The book felt so real, so it gave me some satisfaction to know that it was based on the real-life experiences of a young, brave Muslim woman.
I always have a favourite line in every book. Though there were way too many funny parts, my best was when Halima overheard her runaway brother (before he ran away) and her father yelling at each other. The boy, Imran was the model son, but his father kept putting him under pressure to study more, even more than his older brother. They argued until Imran said to his controlling dad, “Get stuffed. You’re doing my head in, going on at me all the time. What if I don’t want to be a bloody lawyer or accountant, eh?” You can only imagine how that scenario eventually turned out.
5 STARS

Literary Yours,
CMO.

Virtual Book Club: Coming 2021

Dear all,
#ComingSoon #January2021 #VirtualBookClub
This is to formally introduce the Literarily Yours Virtual Book Club... because there are a lot of books out there to discover!
To the readers and authors... this one is for you.
Contact liteyours at gmail dot com for more information.
PS: Know someone who might be interested? Please #share with them.
#KeepSafe
Literarily Yours,
CMO.

You can still write a book in 2020!

Dear all,

#MondayMotivation #GoodByeNovember2020 #1MonthToGo

There's still enough time to start and finish your fantastic book before the end of 2020 without compromising on quality.
The process is in my writing guide. Get it at half the price from the 1st to the 14th of December 2020.
Email author.cmokonkwo@gmail.com for more information.

PS: Know someone who might need this guide? Make their dreams come true too.

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Book: My Celeb Husband (Desperate Women Series, #3)

 Dear all,

#Friday #TGIF

The Desperate Women are back!
After several failed attempts to find husbands living abroad or one who would take them to America, the women change their strategy and decide to go for celebrity husbands.
This Christmas, join Miracle, Stella, Caro, Tessy, Amara, Oluchi, Glory, Dumebi, Kemi, and Halleluiah as they try to fulfil their overseas destiny.


Literarily Yours,
CMO.

News: C. M. Okonkwo, elected as Secretary, ANA Lagos

Dear all,

#Monday #Motivation

Over the weekend, ANA Lagos held its State Convention and elections into the various Executive Council offices.

I joined ANA Lagos on 8/8/2015, and on 8/8/2020, exactly five years later, I was elected Secretary to serve for two years.

It was nice seeing fellow authors again after five long months.

If you’re an author in Lagos, you should join us, let’s continue to make Lagos Literarily Great! 

#KeepSafe

***

Literarily Yours,
CMO.