To be a Woman…

Today is International Women’s Day, and I am proud to be a woman. I am not apologising for being a woman. I love being one. Although growing up in a patriarchal society in the early eighties and nineties, I wasn’t too keen on being a woman. I observed women treated badly, abused, assaulted, and sometimes murdered wilfully. It was scary.

Even today, women are still maligned and ridiculed. Speaking up for yourself as a woman can open you up to criticism, coupled with the growth of a hydra, nasty social media where abusers could hide behind the screen and spurt hatred with relish.

We may also face gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination. Afraid of walking alone at night, feeling uncomfortable in certain situations, and being subject to sexist remarks or attitudes. In some countries, women fight off killers daily. It’s never ending.

However, on days like these, we can let our hair down and celebrate being a woman, a mother, and a human being. We have shown resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity and have made significant contributions to society in various fields, from science and technology to politics and art. We are a source of pride and strength.

Being a woman means having a unique perspective on the world, shaped by experiences and challenges specific to the female experience. It means standing up for oneself and others, pushing boundaries and breaking down barriers, and celebrating the diversity and strength of women everywhere.

I love being a woman.

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

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

Are Writers Seers Or Plain Old Liars?

May30

It’s strange really, but I do tend to write stories that has a poignantly close resemblance to reality. When I wrote ‘The Feet Of Darkness,’ I wasn’t setting out to save the world but just believed that love can truly work its magic on a vengeful heart. But how some events has played recently, got me thinking – some people would not respond, even if you heap a universe load of love on them.

Someone once called me a liar, in his words,

‘Writers believed they have a complete knowledge of the human psyche, how people behave, what they might do, how they might react, but writers are plain old liars.’

I asked him to expatiate but he scoffed and left me staring hard at his retreating back. I didn’t know what to make of his assertion and I didn’t bother to try. Two days later, I was having my lunch break when my friend wobbled to my side and snatched my sandwich, I was furious.

‘Hey,’ I yelled, ‘bring that back!’

Nope,’ he refused, daring me to charge after him, after weighing my options, I declined and watched open-mouthed as he gobbled it down, belched, and patted his stomach, then left.

When I got home, I wrote a very good story, based on my experience, I didn’t tell my friend that he was the source of my inspiration but his behaviour helped my creative quest. I simply conjure up a character that bore a close resemblance to him. Now, did I lie? No! Spice it up a bit? Oh, I sure did.

My upcoming novel, Cydonia, Rise Of The Fallen was written about four years ago. I just dumped it in my library when I couldn’t get a publisher. That’s all ancient history now, but the events in that book was played out in the Vatican a few months ago. And believe me, I was shocked. When People read ‘Cydonia,’ I’m sure there would be lots of comments about the story line and plot.

In my opinion, I don’t think writers are liars, we just write from deep within, our writings may be significant, or not, but we can’t seem to do any thing else. It’s my pleasure writing this post.

Thanks for reading.

Much love, always!

🙂 🙂

A Word War?

Oct30

English: Monument of Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish Nobel Prize-winning novelist and journalist, Okrzeja, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Village seen on the left side is Wola Okrzejska — writer’s place of birth. Polski: Pomnik Henryka Sienkiewicza na szczycie kopca jego imienia w Okrzei. Po lewej stronie widoczna jest rodzinna wieś pisarza — Wola Okrzejska. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have declared a war of words on the State of Noveliar (that is a new word I just coined right now!) I am going into battle from the first of November. The melee actually began last week when an email was sent to me about the National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWrimo)

I decided to join and write a fifty thousand word novel in November even though my hand is full with projects. It’s strange but I find out I write more when I am under duress or let me rephrase… When I’ve set a deadline or a target for a particular project, it doesn’t have to be about writing alone.

Because I am currently reviewing a novel, and I have a lot of writing projects slated for the end of November, I wondered if I have bitten more than I could chew? After thinking for a couple of minutes, I looked at myself in the mirror and said out loud,

”Seyi, (I love talking some sense to myself sometimes, it does keep me sane ) who on earth are you kidding? Can you actually pull this off?”

After some deliberation with my muse (inner self) I decided to proceed with the challenge of Kill A Word Month! (my own interpretation of the literary month) I am sure I can nail it!

I don’t know if any other human being is like me but I would really love to find out because I seem to enjoy working under tight deadlines, and I also set too high a standard sometimes. All the same, I am in this for the long haul and I am going to enjoy myself thoroughly.

I have got three strategy which I believe if properly applied, I should be able to pull this off brilliantly, and here it goes;

* Tell everyone who cares to listen that I am writing a 50,000,00 word novel in November (so they can wish me well and won’t be mad when I don’t their pick calls)

* Talk less on the phone.

* Plan every infinitesimal details of my life starting from November 1st so there won’t be any distractions.

(I would still be blogging by the way, it’s like my way of life!)

If anyone has other ideas do drop a line but I am really, really excited!

A Writer’s Feud

Oct18

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, by Henry William Pickersgill (died 1875). See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have argued ceaselessly with some of my friends who aren’t writers that the phrase ‘Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword‘ which was coined by an English author, Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his play ‘The Conspiracy’ doesn’t imply that writers/ journalists/reporters etcetera are villains or mischief makers.

When Mr Lytton was coining the phrase in 1839 (according to Wikipedia) I am sure he won’t believe how undying or relevant it would still be over hundred years later.

Journalists have a penchant for news after all that is their job and believe me, the world would be a boring place if there was no print or electronic media.

Just imagine Obama and Romney battling it out in a Roman-like stadium, it wouldn’t have the same effect it does now, because I can confidently sit on the couch in my living room making my own comments about who won the first or second round.

I can tweet about it, make a comment on Facebook or blog the living daylights out of it, like I am doing now.

Writers (I should say journalists or reporters but we are in the same boat aren’t we?)are powerful, I agree, but we are not going to cause world war three, in actual fact we would prevent it!

We would inform America about Iran‘s plans to bomb Israel out of existence, we even sniffed out Gaddafi’s position to the rebels who silenced him like a cockroach. (Imagine calling your people rats and cockroaches! arrant nonsense)

We would tell UN about Russia’s supply of arms to this despotic Syrian dictator…oh! I’d forgotten his name… yes! Assad something, and we are going to scream blue murder when a young girl was attacked for standing up for common sense!

I rest my case…