Most of you know that my blog http://www.mynewhitmanwrites.com was nominated and won several awards at the just finished Group A of the Nigerian Blog Awards. I won the categories of Best Writing Blog, Best Group Blog, Best use of Social Media and NIGERIAN BLOG OF THE YEAR.

Now my novel, A Heart to Mend, has been nominated on GoodReads for their July read. The Next Best Book Club is the second largest group on that site with almost 7,000 members. I'm very grateful to be nominated but I need your votes to win. You can sign in through your Facebook, Twitter or google blog accounts after you click on that link below. Thank you very much!

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/35499-which-book-would-you-like-to-see-become-july-s-group-read-for-reg-fic-no

Hmmm. . .my vote is for sale. How much you go pay?

By the way, congrats on your previous awards.

Congratulations Myne White.

I will do as you have requested.

congrats Myne, i've already voted. will get my hands on that book of yours one of these days

Thank you all very much!

@Semid, lol. Nurrin for you o! How you dey?

Orikinla, I appreciate

Dom, tell me what you think when you're done. Take care.

i signed in after voting closed
hope there's a next time

I hope so, by God's grace this is just the beginning. There is another one coming up next week for my blog. I will announce it here

dominique:

i signed in after voting closed
hope there's a next time

Good luck and hope u get just da ryt amount of votes 2 win 

chi-baby:

Good luck and hope u get just da ryt amount of votes 2 win 

Thank you very much Chi.

I read about the healing power of love in a review of your novel on page 39 of the Daily Sun of Thursday July 8, 2010.

Agibecky:

I read about the healing power of love in a review of your novel on page 39 of the Daily Sun of Thursday July 8, 2010.

Agibecky, thank you so much, I have not seen it myself but others have told me about it. This is the one in the THISDAY Newspaper yesterday July 9

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=177849

Her novel, she said is like her typical romance novel but this time, it is coached in a subplot that makes the novel a suspense.
What situations informed her to write “A Heart to Mend? “From when I was young, I have always wanted to write an engrossing story. I also felt that there were not enough romance novels set in contemporary Nigeria, and that I could do something to address that.

Her book, Whitman said stands out, for several reasons, from romantic fictional work that comes from different parts of Nigeria, Africa or the world, on the grounds that her style of writing is very simple and direct. “There isn't a lot of beating around the bush - you see the plot taking place and you are able to follow the characters, get in tune with the characters and you start to feel as though you know them personally as you identify with them”, she said.

Whitman, who has been writing for a very long time, has written mostly fiction even though she has done some poetry too along the line. “I believe we are all living the real life, so fiction takes you away from the day to day grind of life. So you are able to see life through another person's eyes, you are able to visit another country, another period of time, you can do anything with fiction and your imagination.”

Nigerians tend to escape reality a little bit too easily and by working within this genre, one would assume that Whitman is actually supporting some form of escapism in Nigerian. “I do not necessarily agree. You can tell fictional stories and pass a very deep message through your fiction. My novel passes several messages through the themes it handles. It deals with themes of legitimacy, social class, improper marriages where women are treated like chattel and controlled by a domineering husband. These are issues that I feel that are topics within the Nigerian culture,” she noted.

The romantic author who said it took her roughly a year to write her “A Heart to Mend”, revealed further that she had already had a short story of about a thousand words before she decided to make it a full-length novel. “I already had the story but what took a year was making it a full length novel and polishing it up,” she said.

Whitman, as she chose to be addressed, started writing when she was still in primary school. “I started reading a lot around that time too, so one could say it was a natural progression. I wrote children's adventures because I read more books like that. In my secondary school, I stopped writing, but during my years in the university, I restarted writing and got people to read my books and they loved it.”

Whitman's “A Heart to Mend”, she said has characters that are all fictional. “None of my characters is based on myself or any one I know but on a cumulative of my world view and experience. Other than that, they're just people of my imaginings and therefore may seem free from some of the usual constraints we real persons face. However, since I try to make my stories as real as possible, they also share our fears and hopes, our victories and our pain. If you look closely, you may even recognise one or more of them.”

One of the ideas that is found very interesting in her book is the intercultural relationship that took place between the main characters, Edward and Gladys. And Whitman thinks intercultural relationship is still a big deal in today's Nigeria.
“I think it is still a big deal and that was why I explored this theme, it's still the source of tension and conflict, and these are important elements of an engaging story. The relationship between Edward and Gladys' stand out because of the obstacles they face and of course, it challenges the norms of the Nigerian society; especially where cross-cultural relationships are concerned. That was an element of Nigerian society and the world at large that I wanted to question. I also think that cross-cultural relationships will continue to be a source of drama as long as human beings feel more comfortable associating with people of the same culture and social class”, she explained.

Her book, Whitman revealed is self-published. “I started sending out queries to a few literary agents and publishers when I had the chapter one to three ready and continued doing this up till chapter ten. At the same time, I was reading other authors' comments and ideas on other ways of publishing and in the end I decided to try the self-publishing route. AuthorHouse is seen as one of the best in the market and they have not disappointed me in any way”, the author said.

A Heart to Mend will bring tears to the eyes and cheers at the end especially for those who have experienced the search for a career or tumultuous family and emotional relationships. Readers will be pleasantly surprised by the description of Lagos, the Nigerian stock market, and other business intrigues.
Her book, Whitman said is to portray the message that our past should not dictate our present or our future, but that we should open up ourselves to other people and let them try to be with us. “People should really work on their relationship to have a happy balance”, she stressed.

This is the scan.

myne white keep the flag flying

Thank you Aslam. I'm waiting for your book o, lol.