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.

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 the ebook 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.

Book Review: Dear Alaere

Book description:

Alaere Benson is your typical modern, professional woman in search of that elusive work-life balance and societal acceptance in Lagos. When she gets a job at Criole, she is excited to be working for a multinational company, but it does not take long for her to see that Criole is dysfunctional and bears an eerie similarity to Nigeria. As she struggles to find her footing in her new role, she witnesses a never-ending theatre of murder, sexual harassment and mysticism.

At home, she is happily married to ‘Laja, but they begin to have problems when they experience difficulties having children and their situation is compounded by extended family interference.

With things spiralling out of control, she is forced to reassess how she feels about the chaos around her and takes charge of her life with her often humorous, frank diary entries. As she confronts and grapples with her experiences, she finds peace and healing through the catharsis of writing.

***

Interesting writing and description, but unfortunately, almost at the end of the book, I don’t know what the book is about. There are a few themes, events, and scenes with little or no development. We are following the main character, Alaere as she literally breezes through life. Before we enter the office with her and attempt to fully grasp how her day unfolds, she’s already back home and 9 months pregnant.

There’s no sense of time, so it’s difficult for someone like me who pays a lot of attention to timelines.

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.

ANA Lagos - State Convention and Executive Council Elections

 A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE LAGOS STATE CHAPTER CONVENTION AND ELECTIONS

Date: August 9 2020

Preamble

The General Assembly of the Lagos State chapter, during its State Convention on August 8, 2020, dissolved its five-man Caretaker Committee that had been set up on January 11, 2020 and voted in a new Executive Council to run the affairs of the chapter for the next two years until August 7, 2022.

The Executive Council

The following members were voted into the offices of the Exco, with the exception of the Treasurer, who was co-opted by the Exco and accepted by the General Assembly.

Ifeanyichukwu Avajah, Chairman

Brenda Nwafor, Vice Chairman

C. M. Okonkwo, Secretary

Solape Adeyemi, Treasurer

Olusanya Anjorin, Financial Secretary

Funke Awodiya, Publicity Secretary

Yemi Adebiyi, Ex-Officio 1

Linda Edem-Davies, Ex-Officio 2

The new Executive Council members met shortly after the ANA Lagos State Convention to draw up a strategic plan to manage the affairs of the chapter for the next two years and to also set up various committees for the chapter.

***

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Book: On Keeping It... a book of quotes

Dear all,

#Monday #Motivation

Over the weekend, I finally gave in to the idea of writing a book of quotes on different themes, but related to the current pandemic and how it affects every one of us.

The quotes will not be a copy and paste of existing ones, but will be created from scratch by me... and you.

You can contribute and feature in the book by dropping a pandemic related theme and your full name on any of my social media pages. I'm at @cmokonkwo

I can do 100 or 200 quotes, or even more, but we’ll see.

Description:

Writing Guide - Learn To Write A Book In Under Two Weeks

Hello readers,

I hope you all are doing well.

It's the weekend and it's also the best time to learn a new skill
Learn a new process
Learn the basic elements of writing
Learn to create templates
Learn to start and finish your book in good time without compromising quality

Learn those and lots more from my guide.

Start now!

#KeepSafe #Friday #TGIF #Weekend

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

New Novel: Reality TV Pals

Dear all,

#Monday #Motivation #Isolation

This has been long overdue, but I would like to introduce you to my pandemic hat trick, my third work during this period titled “Reality TV Pals” inspired by the lockdown.

Description:

New Short Story Collection: Voices Inside Your Head

Dear all,

#Monday #Motivation #Isolation

This wasn't done while you were sleeping, but here's my pandemic inspired brace "Voices Inside Your Head."

It started as just one very short story, then transformed into a collection of short voices, I mean stories from the lives inside the head.

Description:

New Novella: Eight Days To Live

Dear all,

#Monday #Motivation #Isolation

While you were all sleeping, I and someone were looking for a cure to the deadly coronavirus.

Wondering who the someone is? She’s a character in my new novella titled “Eight Days To Live” and written in a record 2 days while battling malaria.

It’s fiction, but also a story of hope.

Here’s the description:

Desperate Women Series: Three Down, Two To Go

Dear all,

#Friday #HappyValentinesDay #Love

So I finally finished writing my book "My Celeb Husband," which I started last November, as part of the #NaNoWriMo challenge, but couldn't finish because of some technical issues.

After staying off the book for more than a week, I abandoned it for other activities (editing, reviews, short stories, and reread of Twenty-One Days for the quiz I created).

Anyway, this year, I dedicated three weekends to the book, and last Sunday, I typed the final word. Yay!

Description:

Achieve Your Writing Goals: Learn To Write

Dear all,

#Friday #GoodByeJanuary2020 #11MonthsToGo

I’m constantly winning contests and getting shortlisted for prizes... this could also be you, but the problem is that you have not yet written your story.

What are you waiting for?

How to plot? How to start writing? Where to get ideas from? How to develop your ideas? How to finish your book? How to make it all make sense?

Good news: We won again... twice!

Dear all,

#ShortStory #Contest #GoodNews

So I also participated in the November 2019 editions of the #Wattpad Short Story Contest series, and my entries titled #SHE and #Gabriel won third place, respectively.

Communique: ANA, Lagos

A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE CARETAKER COMMITTEE OF ANA LAGOS

Date: 15th January 2020

Preamble
The Executive Council of ANA Lagos State Chapter, led by Mr. Yemi Adebiyi was dissolved on Saturday 11th January 2020 by the General Assembly, in line with the provisions of Article 9.5 of the Constitution. The tenure of the Adebiyi-led executive had elapsed by October 2019, but the Chapter had been unable to conduct elections before the 2019 National Convention in Enugu, as the former National Executive Council had asked that the Chapter election be suspended, because the national Exco was unable to send a delegation to witness the said election.

To run the affairs of the Chapter in the interim, a five-person Caretaker Committee was set up by the state assembly – with a three-month tenure, on the same day, 11th January 2020.

Which 'Twenty-One Days' Character Are you?

Dear all,

#HappyNewYear #GoodNews

It’s been five years...

I wrote and published “Twenty-One Days” in 2015, and it still feels so fresh in memory... the extreme backache, the hospital visit and the hallucinations, just because I couldn’t stop writing. 350 pages later, I finally stopped. I had to. Editing was hectic, deadline way too short, but I did it. Three months of sleepless weekends to write, edit and print. My NYSC service year challenge / project.