Today's #FridayFeature author is... drum roll... a member and Ex-Co of ANA Lagos... more drum roll... myself, C. M. Okonkwo. Why me, why today? Well, because it's my birthday today :).
Let's get to know 'me' in 10 questions. See my responses below.
1/ What is your name (Pen name if different), and what does it mean?
My name is C. M. Okonkwo (CMO). C for Chioma, meaning 'Good God.' M for Mildred, which means 'Gentle Strength' or 'Mild Power.' And Okonkwo means 'Born on Nkwo day' (a day in the Igbo week). If Nkwo is a Wednesday, then I'm definitely an Okonkwo. So in summary, CMO is a powerful yet gentle child of the Good God, born on a Wednesday, lol.
2/ What books have you written (title/genre/year of publication)?
I/ The XIth Hour // Psychological Thriller/Suspense - Novel // 2013
II/ Closed Door (Angela Hunter Series #1) // Mystery/Suspense - Novella // 2013
III/ Ziora's Surprise // Thriller/Suspense - Short Story // 2013
IV/ Thirteen Suspects // Erotic-Thriller/Suspense - Novel // 2014
V/ Dim Noo Abroad (Desperate Women Series #1) // Literary/Suspense - Novel // 2014
VI/ Jammed Door (Angela Hunter Series #2) // Mystery/Suspense - Novella // 2014
VII/ Locked Door (Angela Hunter Series #3) // Mystery/Suspense - Novella // 2015
VIII/ Twenty-One Days // Literary/Suspense - Novel // 2015
IX/ Finding Love // Romance/Suspense - Short Story // 2015
X/ Black Box // Mystery/Suspense - Short Story // 2015
XI/ Blocked Door (Angela Hunter Series #4) // Mystery/Suspense - Novella // 2016
3/ What inspires your writing?
My writing is strongly inspired by the things I see, the things I hear, the dreams I dream and my ever creative and crazy imagination.
4/ What has been your most challenging work, and why?
Everything I write is a personal challenge to me because I always want to explore new ideas and themes... but I think the most challenging would be 'Twenty-One Days.' The challenge was to write something different about the NYSC than what others have written so far. It goes beyond one person's personal experience in camp or a guide to survival in camp; it's life, friendship, relationship, scandal, fun, and all, in a community, which happens to be the NYSC camp. My main goal was to make it educative and entertaining for all audiences. During this project, another challenge popped in: writing a full-length novel. I never saw myself writing a book of more than 250pages, so 500 pages in three months was a tough one.
5/ What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on two books:
I/ The Perfect Finish, a Thriller/Suspense novel I started in 2014, but put on hold for other projects. It's one of my writing goals for this year.
II/ The Presidential Affair (working title), an Erotic-Thriller/Suspense novel I've thought of writing for a while, which I have now also put as another one of my writing goals for this year.
The other books I've completed, but not yet published are "Yankee Based Wives" (Desperate Women Series #2), completed in 2014, to be published in 2016, and "Shared Door" (Angela Hunter Series #5, the finale), completed in 2016 to be published in 2017.
6/ What are your favourite types of books and who are your favourite authors?
I liked true-life stories and biographies a lot before, and now, fiction has got me. But I still read anything that piques my interests. I have started reading a lot now, so it might be too early to tell which authors are my favourite. As for my favourite types of books, anything with some good mystery, suspense, and twists & turns in it works for me.
7/ What have you had to give up for your writing?
My beautiful long and strong fingernails. I can't keep them as long as I want, unless I want to stop typing as much as I would want. I type easily, faster and better with shorter fingernails... but I LOVE longer fingernails.
8/ What is unique about you?
I actually had 8 wisdom teeth, not four. How cool is that??? Is it even cool? I don't know. But so far, 3 of the extras have been removed, 1 more to go.
9/ Where can readers get your book, and in what formats?
My novels and novellas are available online in both print (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CreateSpace) and ebook formats (Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, Okadabooks, iBooks, etc.). Twenty-One Days is currently available in print in Nigeria. All my short stories are only available online in ebook format for #FREE.
10/ How can readers get in touch with you?
I'm reachable via my website: www.cmo29.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cmo2904/
Twitter: @CMO2904
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Until next #FridayFeature.
Literarily Yours,
CMO.
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