A Name in History

Today, I want to share something truly special with you all. Have you ever come across a book that not only transports you to another time and place but also leaves you utterly spellbound? Prepare to add a new favourite to your collection: “A Name in History” by Hillery Baptiste.

This captivating historical fiction is like no other. Set in the heart of London, it follows the journey of Ella, whose life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers a seemingly ordinary shell fragment hidden among her late uncle’s belongings. Little does she know, this discovery will lead her on a whirlwind adventure, unravelling family secrets and uncovering a history deeply intertwined with the scars of slavery.

What makes “A Name in History” truly special is its ability to weave together the past and present, taking readers on a poignant journey of self-discovery and resilience. Through Ella’s eyes, we are transported from the vibrant streets of London to the sun-drenched shores of the Caribbean as she delves deep into her family’s history, challenging everything she thought she knew about herself.

But this isn’t just any historical fiction novel; it’s a powerful reminder of the importance of understanding our past. History isn’t just about dates and events; it’s about people, their stories, and the legacies they leave behind. “A Name in History” beautifully captures this essence, reminding us of the indomitable spirit of those who came before us and the strength we inherited from our ancestors.

So, this spring, if you’re looking for a book that will transport you to another time and leave you pondering long after turning the last page, look no further than “A Name in History” by Hillery Baptiste. Trust me; you won’t want to miss out on this incredible journey.

Let me quickly add that I know Hillery personally, and I am so blessed to have edited this novel. You can find “A Name in History” at your local bookstore, online retailers or at Arrow Gate Bookstore here. Let’s learn from history and not repeat the mistakes of the past!

Happy spring reading and much love, always! 📚✨

Tales of Five Lies Reimagined

Jan19

I am back in the fray! After a 12-year hiatus, I have decided to start writing again. I have several abandoned manuscripts on the back burner that I’ve neglected, although I love my job of working in a publishing house, reading manuscripts, and discovering new voices. In the process, I have neglected my own voice. And I then realise I can combine both, manage a publishing house, and write whatever I want.

So, here it is. The second edition of my short story turned novella was published last year September by Arrow Gate Publishing. You can order from Amazon or at Arrow Gate’s Bookstore here. You can the book trailer here.

The plot is an explosive, enthralling thriller that peels back the layers of a seemingly perfect life. Christine White is a woman of privilege and beauty, living a life of opulence. Her existence is shattered on a cloudy night when she becomes an unwitting witness to a chilling crime. As she grapples with the horrors she’s witnessed, a ruthless killer remains on the loose, ready to strike again. In this heart-pounding tale, Christine’s quest for truth reveals that her perfect life is built on a foundation of lies. As she navigates a web of secrets and confronts her darkest fears, the ticking clock adds urgency to her mission, but the price of the truth may be too high to bear. If you’re a fan of thrillers and suspense, “Tales of Five Lies” is a must-read.

“Tales of Five Lies” is a gripping narrative woven with suspense, deceit, and a relentless pursuit of answers. The title is available in paperback and ebook formats. I hope you’ll all enjoy reading it.

Wishing you all a happy and relaxing weekend, my friends! 🙂

Examining Marga Jann’s “The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces” and its Exploration of Prayer and Spiritual Warfare.

Jul19

In the gripping semi-autobiographical novel, “The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces,” Marga Jann, a talented architect and professor, takes readers on an extraordinary journey that combines the realms of international intrigue, intense spiritual warfare, and the power of prayer. Jann’s unique blend of personal experiences, contemporary socio-cultural insights, and geopolitical dynamics create a thought-provoking narrative that unveils the hidden battles that surround us, both in the physical and spiritual realms.

A Multifaceted Perspective:

As an accomplished author, artist, parent, and professor, Marga Jann brings a wealth of knowledge and a diverse set of skills to her semi-autobiographical novel. Drawing from her expertise as a licensed architect and chair of Architectural Engineering at The American University of Kurdistan, Jann paints a vivid picture of the academic world and seamlessly weaves it into a dangerous and diplomatically-sensitive battle between intelligence operatives from MI6, CIA, and Saudi Intelligence.

The Power of Prayer:

One of the central themes of “The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces” is the transformative power of prayer. Jann skilfully illustrates how prayer becomes a powerful tool in the protagonist’s journey to expose and conquer the workings of darkness. Through her personal experiences, Marga Jann emphasises the importance of spiritual awareness and the ability to discern the interconnected real and spiritual wars that surround us, even in seemingly random everyday battles.

Geopolitical Insights:

Beyond the enthralling narrative, Marga Jann delivers important contemporary socio-cultural and geopolitical insights that are often overlooked by mainstream media. Jann’s experiences as a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge lend authenticity to the geopolitical dynamics portrayed in the novel. By intertwining the intricate threads of international intrigue, she provides readers with a deeper understanding of the complex forces at play in our interconnected world.

Unconventional Storytelling:

“The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces” stands out for its unconventional storytelling style. Jann’s approach, which combines a quartet of academic assignments with intense spiritual warfare, creates a seat-gripping and thought-provoking reading experience. This blending of elements from academia, espionage, and the spiritual realm challenges readers to explore the interconnectedness of seemingly disparate aspects of life.

Marga Jann’s “The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces” is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that skilfully combines personal experiences, academic insights, and spiritual warfare. Through her multifaceted perspective as an architect, professor, and parent, Jann explores the transformative power of prayer and sheds light on the hidden battles that surround us. This engrossing semi-autobiographical narrative not only captivates readers with its intrigue but also encourages them to reflect on the broader socio-cultural and geopolitical dimensions of our world. “The Architect: Four Countries Four Faces” is a must-read for those seeking a unique blend of entertainment, spiritual enlightenment, and geopolitical awareness.

I had a wonderful time editing and working on this incredible book, which boasts a concise 190 pages, making it a perfect quick read that can easily fit snugly into your luggage if you’re heading on a holiday.

“The Architect” is available worldwide, wherever books are sold.

Much love, always! 🙂

Patience

Sep8

(Photo credit: Lizabee. The beginning )

(Photo credit: Lizabee – The end. The artist spent hours working on this stunning image.)

Life is in stages.

Just like an artist drawing a picture, the images always come in a sequence of thoughts, and then the sketching takes place followed by shading the lines to bring the perfect vision to life.

Books are the same. A writer has an idea and as the story takes shape, unfolds, and the plots unravel, we see the overarching purpose of the book. But by the time we come to the climax of the story, we can then exclaim with signs of relief. In some unresolved cases, it may cause pangs of disappointment.

Creative people, especially writers, are always keen to share their experiences through words using different genres to reach their audiences. Artists, writers, filmmakers, poets and everyone working in the creative industries all have a singularity of purpose; to reach audiences who would read, enjoy, and maybe critique their works.

But it all starts in stages.

Let’s learn from creators by not being in a hurry to reach our destination. Every experience in our lives has a purpose, to either break us down and make us better, or to build us up, and strengthen us, then we can be kinder to people in a weaker or similar state.

There are several reasons writers create, some write for themselves, but others write to teach us patience. Unfortunately, we live in the ‘now’ generation where we always want a quick-fix to everything.

If it were possible to get pregnant and the child will get to the stage of babyhood, then adulthood and leave our home before nightfall, some people would prefer that experience.

We should learn to find the reason things work, and the reasons some things don’t. And that takes patience and a lot of learning. Some school of thought might argue that some things are best when they happen at once, but where is the joy in savouring a tasty meal when you swallow it whole? Books could change our lives, and if it does, we should not forget the core themes in the narrative and the patience it took to write it.

A book that ends with the beginning, the middle, the end, teaches nothing. However, some people might still argue that it does.

Don’t be in a hurry. Patience is an important virtue we should all learn.

Much love, always! 🙂

Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in your mind.” David G. Allen
David G. Allen

Notoriety And The Human Psyche

Mar19

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”The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” Sigmund Freund.

Sigmund Freund was one of the greatest influencers of the twentieth century. He postulated the fact that our minds are like icebergs, what is seen is much different from the unseen. His quote reminded me of the story of an Australian woman, Noela Rukundo, whose husband hired assassins to kill her on a visit to Burundi for the burial of a relative. In a nutshell, the situation boomerang and he got nine years for inciting murder. It must have been a shock to Noela. Her husband certainly didn’t belie the fact he was planning her murder, this was a classic case of notoriety and the human psyche.

According to ask.com, ”The human psyche is the mind or soul. It is the center of an individual’s response to his environment.” While Cambridge Dictionary Online described Notoriety as ” the state of being famous for something bad.

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Love is the easiest emotion in the world, yet it could be costly and it needn’t be, love should be the backbone of our world, however, is it? I doubt it, because if it is, we wouldn’t be so divided with our different views. Some may argue that we need to exercise our freedom of expression hence the need for some people to be free to hate. Hatred would certainly make some people notorious and there are people who crave that kind of attention.

I believe love shouldn’t be all about our families and people close to us. We get suspicious of people who look and dress differently to us, we love our little space in the universe and aren’t too keen to share. We moan incessantly about the weather, the Tube (if you’re a Londoner), the government, whether we should leave or stay in the EU, (the UK again). We snort our noses at immigrants, we’re quick to judge but are slow to proffer solutions. For millennia, there are have been wars, unrest, hatred, disaffection and all sorts. Unfortunately, that is the world, it’s not perfect, that’s why we really have to raise the bar of our love level.

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Why do humans commit murder and relish mayhem? I believe the response of people to different situations differs which may ultimately be the catalyst for many destructive reactions. It’s nothing new that notoriety springs from the mind. ‘For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him?’ 1 Cor: 2:11. This scripture is spot on! The mind is so complex that throughout millennia, people have tried to decipher its secrets.

The human psyche is as complex as the millions of electricity that pulsate through our brains, little wonder detectives bring complex cases to their behavioural psychoanalysis unit. People have recurrent patterns to their lives, following sets of rules which when pointed out to them, they are always surprised at the patterns of their behaviours.

Forgive me if my post is a bit based on psychoanalysis, it’s got to do with the books I’m working on. Lately, I’ve conducted loads of research on human minds and behaviours, when my new books are released, I guess you’ll all understand more.

I’ve been offline for the past few weeks, my sincere apologies. I’ll be visiting as many blogs as time permits. In the meantime, have fun and stay blessed! :):)

(Photo Credit: Flickr)

Much love, always. 🙂

Failure Is Not Terminal!

Jun23

(Photo credit: Flickr)

“I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.” Nikki Giovanni

“No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.” Napoleon Hill

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” Theodore Roosevelt

When we have peace within ourselves, we can think clearly. I stared at this picture for ages and it gvae such tremendius joy!

Just like this amazing creature, let’s pause and gather our strength, we can succeed!

I love these three quotes on what I’ll call ‘the near success syndrome’ a.k.a failure. Life is so dynamic yet mysterious and sometimes, what we call failure could well be delay. My dad used to say that the fear of failure mostly propelled him to succeed. He did failed miserably in some aspects of his life, but he succeeded in several as well. To ignore failure or looming failure, we must have courage. Courage is also borne out of the ability to build on one’s failure and squeeze success out of it, Abraham Lincoln failed continuously before he became the celebrated figure most people adore today.

I also believe that dreams have a way of taunting us if we don’t do much about it, I don’t think losing or failing should discourage or cut our enthusiasm short. Succinctly put, don’t give up! There’s more to learn from failing than not attempting something in the first place. I also believe that success derived from failure is the sweetest of all.

I don’t why I’m writing this, but if it touches someone to continue living and not give up on their dreams, then I’m happy.

NP: I’m still hard at work writing my books, it’s not as fast I would have loved but it’s still worth it. I’ll still ensure I visit all your blogs as time permits. I appreciate your friendship and visits guys, thank you!

I hope everyone would enjoy the rest of this great week!!

Much love, always. 🙂

Dilemma!

Jan15

It’s kind of crazy but I’m in a creative dilemma. I’ve got two abandoned projects (two books with different story plots) that I want to reopen and I’m feeling very ambitious. Should I work on the two books simultaneously? Or, finish one before embarking on the other one?

I’m kind of between the devil and the deep blue sea on this one. I could defeat the devil and get a boat to cross the sea, can’t I? 🙂

What do you think guys?

I really need your advise!

Much love, always! 🙂

To Begin Again!

Nov14

Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder!

(Photo Credit: Flickr)

”Let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you might sometimes feel, and as unaccomplished as you think you are. To believe that you must hide all the parts that are broken, out of fear that someone else is incapable of loving what is less than perfect, is to believe that sunlight is incapable of entering a broken window and illuminating a dark room.” Marc Hack

We all have our moments of doubts in life, times when we believe we could have done better. Times when we feel less beautiful, less talented, or just plain stupid. I felt like that yesterday when my laptop slipped through my laps and fell to the floor. Silly me, I didn’t have any backup files, and to make things worse, I have several work files on it as well. I’m not looking forward to work on Monday but I guess we all make mistakes, the only problem is, some mistakes are simply avoidable.

My laptop is now working fine, I was able to repair it but in the process, it wiped off years of hard work. More than twenty manuscripts are gone, five of them mine, two short stories kaput! Files upon files!! I was mad with myself, but I guess I would have to start all over again, just the thought of putting the pieces together is daunting. However, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s admitting I’m wrong and making amends.

When I saw the quote above, it spoke to me. And if there’s anyone reading this and feeling like I do, don’t beat yourself up too much. Just pick up the pieces and deal with it.

I hope you’ll have a wonderful weekend, I intend to! 🙂

Much love. Always. 🙂

Unknown

Aug19

”It is said that in 1923, seven of the world’s most successful men met at a Chicago hotel: the president of the largest independent steel company, the president of the largest utility company, the greatest wheat speculator, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the President’s Cabinet, the president of the Bank of International Settlements and the president of the world’s greatest monopoly. Collectively these tycoons controlled more money than there was in the United States’ Treasury.

Now, fast forward 25 years and let’s see what happened to them. Charles Schwab, president of the largest independent steel company, lived the last five years of his life on borrowed money and died a pauper. Arthur Cooger, the greatest wheat speculator, shot himself. Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange, spent three years in prison. Albert Fall, a member of the President’s cabinet, went to prison for bribery. Leon Fraser, president of the U.S. Bank of International Settlements, shot himself. Ivan Kreuger, head of one of the world’s largest monopolies, also committed suicide. If the recent economic upheaval has taught us anything, it’s that money brings neither security nor happiness.”

I agree with the writer of the above stories that we ought to use our money to reach a hurting world with love because that’s the essence of life, the only way we could truly live. I read this a few weeks back and it had a profound effect on me and I thought, why not throw this open and find out what others think?

Now I’ve got a question for you guys! Where do you think you’ll be in 25 years? I get to choose the best answer and whosoever got this right and I’m sure many would. 🙂 would enter my world of creation, which means that I’ll use the best answer to write a short story based on the commenter’s vision of the kind of life he or she would be living in 25 years’ time.

In the meantime, you can all listen to these awesome guys, their song is truly refreshing! You can achieve a lot if you put your mind to it! And in 25 years, you could be on top of the world…

I know I’m creature of impulse but I just feel like doing this! 🙂

So where do I think I’ll be 25 years time? Hmmmnn, I wonder…

Love you always guys! 🙂

In The Beginning… There Was Nothing…

May28

That was how it was.

The Beginning of time. Time is predominately the controller of our destiny, but then, I believe that in life, time would not have meaning without proper documentation. Therein lies the work of a writer. I’d always told all who cared to listen that I would die a writer, and I mean it. If I become the Prime Minister today, I won’t feel fulfilled if I stopped writing. It’s like the air I breathe. Almost all my friends knew of the recent event in my life, and that really crippled me somewhat because I sort of lost that desire to write… I simply lost interest but now, I’m back and it’s as if I’ve never taken a hiatus, I guess I simply needed to rest.

With that out of the way. I’ve been graciously invited by Sherri Matthews of www.sherrimatthewsblog.com to join in a blog hop, she splashed my shy face on her blog a few weeks ago and today, she’s my muse! 🙂

Here’s the lovely Sherri!

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Sherri has worked in both the legal and medical fields but her defining and most fulfilling career was that of full-time mum for many years to her three, now grown children. Widowed young, remarried twice more, Sherri has faced many challenges, both in her home country of England and in California, where she lived and raised her family for almost 20 years.

The call of the pen beckoned throughout but it wasn’t until 2011 when Sherri lost her job due to office closure and her daughter was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome that she began to pursue her writing dream.

Now, while writing her first book*, Sherri writes articles, poetry, short-stories and flash fiction, some of which have been published in national UK magazines (Prima and Your Cat), as well as writing on her blog, ‘A View From My Summerhouse’. She also guest blogs for a variety of websites.

Today, Sherri lives, writes, walks, gardens and takes endless photographs in the West Country of England, happily with her husband, daughter, two cats and a corn-snake called Charlie (her daughter’s, acquired after many years of persuasion).

In Sherri’s words, she passionately describes her writing career as progressive: Read that here:

”I can best define my writing process in a few short words: I fly by the seat of my pants. I struggle to rein in my writing discipline and have yet to attain a working balance, even though on an ideal day I get all my off-blog writing completed first thing in the morning before I dare check my emails.

However, ideal days don’t happen very often. So many writing projects vie for my attention and I know this is all-too common for many writers. I am learning, I hope, to listen to the writing voice that yells the loudest!

The problem is that I could write all day (on my book) and nothing else would get done. When I decide to take a ‘quick look’ on my blog, the day is lost. Certainly, I write every day. Just not on my book.

This is something I am working on changing and hope to achieve in the very near future. A cottage by the sea for six months without any internet would be very nice…maybe!

Still, I am making progress, albeit slowly! As I press on with my book, I am soon to have a poem and a ‘slice of life’ story published in two anthologies. I am also pursing ideas for putting together some of my poems, photographs and musings borne out of my private struggles (in pain and joy) while helping my beautiful ‘Aspie’ daughter navigate through life.

It is only recently that I dared to call myself a ‘Writer’. Ultimately, I pursue the holy grail of writing so that I might, one day, be able to say that I am a ‘Published Author’.”

You can find a lot about Sherri on this awesome sites:

*Memoir Book Blurb: http://sherrimatthewsblog.com/memoir-book-blurb/

Blog: www.sherrimatthewsblog.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/aviewfrommysummerhouse

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sherri-matthews/60/798/aa3

Sherri is a fantastic friend and a precocious writer. I can’t wait to devour her book when it’s out, hope you would too. Do me a favour and stop by her site to see what I’ve raved about! 🙂

It’s good to be back blogging fully. I would still be stopping by your blogs as soon as I could! Much love to you my friends and do enjoy the rest of this rainy week (at least in London!)

Peace! 🙂

Seyi David