Cheater's Choice

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Packaged breasts

Showcased skins

Endless legs

Merciless minis

Questioning butts

Answering thighs

Now showing for viewing pleasure

Ruining the essence of decency

Awakening urges from complacency

Endangering the purity of innocence

Conjuring waves of erotic presence

Still, responsibility is to be

The choice made by the temptee

Some see but don’t look

And thus remain safe by the book

Some look because they saw

And thus broke purity’s code and law

Ventured on a skirted quest

Ravaged breasts

Caressed skins

Tired legs

Discarded minis

Querying butts

Suffered thighs

Enraptured lust of damning interest

Explored valleys of wet sin

Scaled mountains of hard peaks

Sailing seas of forbidden ecstasy

Awoken to the moment of truth

Wallow in throes of a throbbing conscience

Been where you shouldn’t

Done what you shouldn’t

Temptation’s victory

Your shameful defeat

Infidelity claws depths of the flesh

Spirited in filth that’ll never wash

Only by redemption

Graced by salvation

For the moment

While sinfully incumbent

Stew in transgression

With self loathing aggression

All because…

Just because…

The choice to look what you saw

The choice to break the coded law

 ©Afronuts 8/7/2013

 

Naija Stories Publishing Debuts Series Beautifully on Paperback ...

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Finally, Naija Stories, (the online writer's forum where yours truly thrives) is launching out as NS publishing with paperback, audiobooks, ebooks and Apps. The first set of books are out which contain stories gathered from the website. The ventured was embarked on to bring back the reading culture that we had during the Pacesetters' series era. Check out the full info from the site:

Naija Stories is an imprint of NS Publishing Ltd, a new publishing and marketing company dedicated to developing and distributing Nigerian written content through eBooks, paperbacks, audio, websites, mobile apps and other channels. NS Publishing believes that by nurturing writers and readers, it will help develop engaged, empowered and educated Nigerians, as well as contribute to the economy through their business. 

Many people say Nigerians don’t read, but NS publishing begs to disagree based on the evidence of flagship website, naijastories.com, and the rate at which foreign fiction and non-fiction books are sold in the markets. What may be underrepresented is the production, distribution, and sales of quality Nigerian leisure books outside of what is demanded for educational purposes through school curriculums.

 

To change this aspect of Nigerian reading culture, NS Publishing has developed our special branded Naija Stories genre series, which feature romance, horror, mystery and crime, all in easily accessible language that will draw in readers who want to read for enjoyment. With relatable stories, the short length of the books and their recognizable characters will keep readers coming back for more.

 

Using home-grown authors – 100% of NS authors are Nigerian and 80% live in Nigeria – means that writing will become a profitable career for young talented Nigerians in this sector. NS Publishing intends to replicate, in the leisure books publishing sector, what Nollywood and Afropop has done in making Nigerian movies and music globally popular.

 

After being comatose for decades since the demise of the Pacesetter series, NS Publishing is kickstarting a publishing industry that will not just throw up literary stars every five years, but one that’ll support writers, graphic artists/designers/illustrators, cover models, and will produce works that can be translated to the stage or adapted to movies, or given life by voice-over talents in audio books. They see a billion naira industry in the future, and are heading there.

NS Publishing will produce great stories and books, and other literary content targeted at a broad base of emerging and established readers, and across different age groups and mid/low income communities. Their paperbacks will be pocket size and pocket friendly, and they promise never to sell a book more than N500.

 

The success of naijastories.com website has informed this current project, to bring selected Naija Stories to paperbacks, selling and marketing books – pocket-size popular fiction books – directly to Nigerians where they can be found. Some of these places include intra-state or inter-state bus stations, higher institutions, fast food locations, and more.

 

Look out for the Naija Stories books whereever you are, online and offline, and if you would like to order please contact info@naijastories.com. Check out www.ns-publishing.com for more details.

Those published paperbacks...boy, do they have beautiful cover designs. None of these ones has any of my works in them (since they contain many of the early works on the website) but I'm sure subsequent ones will.

Lovely aren't they? Makes any budding writer want to get published by all means.

Many of the writers of the short stories are online friends with cool works. Some stopped writing (maybe because some responsibilities ate up their time...but their good job is documented for all to read.

Thumbs up for Naija Stories!

8 Steps to Help You Create Mind–Blowing Fiction

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Thursday, October 10, 2013

*I tried Grammarly's plagiarism checker free of charge because it sucks if someone calls your original work a copycat!



Being an avid member of Naija Stories, the online forum for aspiring Nigerian writers, I’ve seen newbies join the forum and post their first drafts of stories, poetry or articles and over time blossom into better writers. I’m not surprised at the growth and changes that take place as the forum offers many opportunities for that.

You get to write and get reviewed; comments open your eyes to more facts or hidden glitches within your work, you learn from the criticisms. You also get to read works by others who have carved a niche on the forum by their writing prowess. Unknowingly to most writers who read the works of others, there are a number of things happening each time you post a story on the forum, get comments and critiques, and each time you read works and also comment.

You are indirectly training yourself as a writer.

This makes a good alternative to attending courses on learning to write. 

Overtime I’ve  come to pick up a variety of tips that are quite useful for every budding writer. You might want to consider these tips which I have also used when writing some of my most recent stories on Naija Stories. They are tips that work nicely and help you come out better in the nick of time. These tips may be useful for bloggers, editors and journalists as well. 





1. Don’t beat about the bush.
Too much flashbacks, back-stories, intros or long anecdotes are a waste of your reader’s time. Get to the point. In advertising the gimmick to grabbing and keeping attention is offering a lot in less info. Get to your point quickly too before your reader loses patience and moves on.

2. The first draft is for the cooler.
Normally when you write the first draft of your story, you’re so full of the story and you feel you’ve churned out a good piece. It is recommended that you write your first draft and then put it away in the ‘cooler’ to rest for a while. How long it stays away depends on you. The fact is, when you take a second look at it days later, you’ll see differently and may even re-write or edit it to be better.

By doing this you allow your mind to be refreshed and get to later look at your work from a detached and clearer perspective.
One of my stories titled ‘Love Jazz’ had three different endings. The final ending got my readers hooked. I wrote each ending on different days before deciding the final gripping one. 





3. Cut down on words.
The temptation to be spontaneous in your use of words at times can get you carried away and thus you clutter up your narrative. On a second look at your work, take time to remove the unnecessary clutter of words. It’s time to get rid of those lexical nuisances you have an emotional attachment to. 

While you’re at it, be mindful to keep it balanced. Removing too many words may end up killing the flavour of your story. 

Flash fiction offers the opportunity for this. I also recollect a periodical Naija Stories ‘Writing Prompt’ competition which served a good training ground for decluttering of words in writing.





4. Be relatable and realistic.
Have in mind that you’re writing to be read and it’s necessary for those reading you to comprehend and relate easily with you. Writing is a form of communication between a writer and his readers. When your readers don’t get you, then you’re talking to yourself. 

Being relatable makes you realistic. And don’t get it twisted – being realistic does not discredit fiction with fantasy elements. It doesn’t matter if your fiction is fantasy, Sci-fi or abstract, your story must be believable.  Even make-believe must have an appearance of truth in it.
One of the laws guiding literature is the law of verisimilitude which means fiction must be believable because that’s what helps the reader to connect to the world you created on those pages.

How human are your characters? Can we connect to them? Can we relate to what they are going through? Do they react to situations realistically? One of the best ways to achieve this is to fashion your characters or locations after an existing person or place. Its one of the best ways that aid character development.

A character called ‘Shedrach’ in one of the story ‘Strange Women’, was modelled in full description and mannerism after a colleague in my office while the femme fatales in the story were modelled after three wild ladies in the Client Service department at my workplace.





5. Don’t give a damn what others may think.
Critics will nail you; your work will get ripped to shreds by others and at the same time others will shower admiration or praise on you. Whichever the case, don’t crave for emotional feedbacks; don’t write because you want to get a kick from reactions. Rather, write because you’ve got the passion to, and keep writing – picking up useful info from all that’s being said and keep doing it the way you’re inspired to do it. You can never satisfy everyone. No matter how good your story may seem, someone, somewhere will still crap on it. 

Don’t listen too much to your critics; otherwise they’ll end up cramping your style and killing your inspiration. There’ll always be critics since it’s usually easier to talk about someone’s work than to write your own.

6. Meet your own expectations, not theirs.
This has to do with being unpredictable in fiction. Never let your readers imagine the end of your story before its ends. Throw them off board; piss them off with what they least expect. The fact is, even if it’s not what they expected, you’ve shocked them and gotten their attention. This is why a number of Stephen King’s fiction is uniquely infamous for catching readers off balance with shocking endings.
Sometimes readers would desire a certain kind of ending. Don’t fall for it. Give them what they don’t expect and watch the residue of the story’s imagery remain stuck on their minds and provoke their thoughts.






7. Read, read, read!
Just in the same way we are adept to picking up tunes and unconsciously storing them in our subconscious memory, the same goes for when we read – we end up picking up stuff that hides somewhere in our subconscious mind. 

Also, you get ideas and learn how to do things as well as how not to do things. You also get to broaden your creative horizon. Many times I read someone else’s work and I’m fascinated by the style employed or the dexterity of the descriptive power. It eventually inspires me to want to attempt something new and differentiate a bit in my writing.

When I first read Ayi Kwei Armah’s ‘The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born’ in Secondary School, I was stupefied by the writer’s descriptive power. I found myself modelling my descriptive ability after the Ghanaian author.
Also let’s not forget that information is power...the power to write most notably.





8. Write, write, write!
This is why it makes sense to own a blog if you’re a writer because you actually become good at writing by actually writing! In fact, to succinctly put it, anytime you feel like writing, just get a computer or paper and pen or typewriter and get to work. There may be something big waiting to drop from you that moment.

When I started this write up, I had a direction in mind but as I wrote it the direction changed, simply because I decided to write. Don’t ever procrastinate on any opportunity to write. 
The aim is to ensure you write much more and thus become a better writer. Never pass off the opportunity to write. A blog helps since you are kind of obligated to keep updating.
I always make sure that I keep writing. When I’m not inspired to write a story, I do a poem, when the poetry muse isn’t kicking inspiration, I then do articles – like this one.

(Bonus) Use Grammarly’s Grammar Checker

For those times when your word processor’s autocorrect is not enough and you can’t be very sure, Grammarly is a site that offers automated proofreading and also functions as your personal grammar coach. It helps you improve on word choice and vocabulary suggestions depending on the context of your work.

Check out the site here.

*Inspired by: 'Stephen King’s Top 7 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer' by Henrik Edberg

Images courtesy:
www.jkathleencheney.wordpress.com
www.a3bcfrontrow.wordpress.com
www.susancushman.com
www.napkindad.com
www.colourbox.com
www.jasonlove.com
www.changingpaces.com

Between Religion & Jesus - Spoken Word

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Friday, June 14, 2013

Here's a powerful spoken word rendition that never fails to inspire me.

Enjoy.

Deep. 

Did you feel it?

Have an aweesome weekend.

LOOSING MY MIND

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Its a bad situation to be in and I don't wish it for anybody. It's that moment that many decided to pick suicide as an option. It takes a great deal strenght to hold on. It's one of the things that has attacked men and made them extinct. Today, the ratio of women to men is 5 to 1. Men are going out of circulation. Where is a friend when you need one? Should worries accelerate our mortality rate?

I worry...therefore I write...

Stuck
I’m trying to get out
I need the breath of freedom
Where are my friends?
Nowhere at all near
Its times like this
You know who’s true
Its times like this
You see through the blue
But I gotta move on
It’s not yet time to die
‘Cause I’m living for a reason
It’s my reason to keep living


My head grows heavy
My breath is palpitated
My eyes heated in misery
The solution, nothing but a mystery
Where’s your hand O Lord?
Where did I miss it dear God?
I’m hanging on the precipice
My mind is turning blind
And I’m fighting for foresight
Holding tight to my hindsight
I’m living for a reason
It’s my reason to keep living


Been here, staying strong
Been hounded too long
I long to see the light
Reach the tunnels end where it’s bright
I need a free conscience
To let go and save my senses
Where there’s His will
There’ll be a way
That’s really why
Another thing I’ll try
‘Cause I’m living for a reason
It’s my reason to keep living