₦airaland Forum

onyinye2:
LMAO!!!! I absolutely LOVED IT!!!

You know, i just love it when people go 'gaga' over one of my stories. Merci, ma cheri, you made my evening. _{About those friends, any of them by any luck called 'kay9'?}

jummiee:
enjoyed your story, lets have more of your childhood adventures

NSNA:
interesting story

Sisikill:
https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/41.gif https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/41.gif https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/41.gif

stillwater:
Awwwwwww Nice

Oww, if I'd known that my childhood willies would be received with so much applause, I'd have emptied my diary!
Seriously now, it's just a story - I never really swallowed a fish bone - that was my kid brother, and his bone-choking episode was no where as evently as I painted it in the here. _{But it does say something about my writing skills, donit?}

@ aslan333: You write nice. Your best plus, I think, is the ease with which you moved from that meeting years ago to the present time. Your ability to convey your thoughts and feelings so smoothly and sincerely makes good reading, too. It's all "sissy-sissy" stuff, of course (no offence meant ) but its been quite a while since I read a nicely written sissy-sissy story. You've got skill, friend; hope to see more posts from you.

Good for you.

@ Sisikill: Too bad about the sand; you shoulda listened to your mama.  I'm ok; just trying to get used to my 8-5 job all over again. . .  you know, after that extended vacation in sub-space nine i told you about . By the way, i've remembered some more "legends":

- If you sneeze more than twice over and over again, then someone is calling your name somewhere.

- If your eyes keeps twitching involuntarily, then something unpleasant is about to happen to you (like losing your job! ).

- Whenever you hear chickens cackling like crazy (or dogs barking/howling at the air), you know a spirit is lurking around. _{I even used this one in one of my books}

Benniela:
I write quote,

Do you mean like inspirational/motivativating maxims and adages - like the type John Mason writes? If you really want to get your work on the stands, then you better not expect others to do the job for you - cos they can't. You have to get down on hands and knees, and find a find a very good publisher for yourself - one who will carefully edit your work - and not charge you too much. One who'll help you market the work when it's ready - and not gype you out in the bargain. And most of all, one who won't leave you hanging in the lurch if your work flops.

I don't know such a publisher yet. My last book, which came through Lulu.com, was a mistake. They did a fine work on the cover, I admit, but I had to do everything else myself. Then to cap it all, they had a policy of not shipping books to West Africa - to Nigeria, in particular (which they neglected to tell me at first) - so I had to send my first copies (which I paid for) to a relative in the US, and have him mail them down here to me. A hell of a way to have your work published.

So, my dear, put your nose to the ground. If you are in Lagos, you can call this number: 08024917294; the name is Jumoke. Tell her you got her number from a friend on nairaland.com. She might give you some helpful advice.

Luck!

Don't sleep face-up - or you'll have nightmares. (Not to sound spooky or anything, but this one IS true - at least, around my 'hood  ).

Don't sing in the wee-morning hours - or you'll attract an evil spirit.

Don't fool around banana or plantain trees at night - witches hang out there, too!

Don't greet strangers at night - one of 'em might be a ghost.

And the coupe de' grace: NEVER bend over to look under your legs in a market-place - you'll be SURE to see a spirit (their legs aren't supposed to touch the ground), and those fellas can be real mean if they discover you've blown their cover!

_{What's up Sis?}

@ lamidebaby: No, she didn't become paraplegic. The "fall" was metaphorical - but i guess you know that already.

@ ira: I got 2 things to tell you: one - you got skill with words, but you neglected to tell people what your story was actually about. So I'm going to give you the same advice SMC gave me almost a year ago: try short stories. They are a wonderful way of sharpening your skills without having to work too long on one work. And you can give them away - post in a place like here - and get feed-back from people.
Two - trying to get your work sold by posting short snippets like this won't work at all. People want to know how good you, and that short write-up you posted definitely doesn't do you justice. And besides, you are just starting, a budding author; telling folks to go to your webpage to view the rest of the book is tantamount to telling them to leave you alone. I have published on Lulu, too, but I posted both the prologue and the first chapter here - and got zero sales.
So here's my advice: post at least one chapter, then go back and hone your skills. They may kill a million dollars some day, but that day is still in the future.

Do you have a website, bakenda? I'll like to see what exactly what you guys do, and how you do it - no slight meant, of course. Or would you rather post the info here on Lit-Nrlnd?

Good 'un, Sis. Do you have links to more screenwriting competitions? Some folks might wanna have 'em

You're welcome, amigos. _{Now, how much r u going to pay for that resounding commendation?.}

Who'll handle the e-advertising and e-publicity? I'm talking about placing ad's in popular book sites like Amazon and B'n'H; people can't buy your book unless they know about it, you know.

When I was eleven years old, I choked on a fish bone. My mum used to make iced-fish stew for dinner every Sunday then, and my favorite part of the fish was the head. Only God in heaven knows why l liked it – I certainly don’t remember – but after that episode with the bone, my love for it diminished considerably.
We were having supper that night – mum, dad, myself, and my three elder brothers. As usual, I was playing with my fish, dissecting it like a surgeon performing an operation. Now, there is this bone that no little boy who ever ate a fish head misses. It looks like a sword. When I got to it, I carefully extricated it and waved it at my brothers.
“The fish sword!” I proclaimed happily.
Chidi and Ifenna, my eldest brothers, ignored me, but Emeka got interested at once. He hadn’t quite lost his fascination with fish heads.
Dad sighed from across the table. “It beats me what you boys find exciting about a fish head,” he said.
“Stop playing with your fish,” mum chided.
“It’s a sword, mum. A fish sword!” I told her.
“You’ll soon choke on it,” she replied, looking away.
Thinking how dense mum was, I plopped the bone into my mouth, chewed slightly, and swallowed. Seconds later, I choked on the bone.
“Get a cup of water!” mum cried, rushing quickly to my side. I was gagging and coughing and holding my neck, trying effortlessly to dislodge the bone. Ifenna suddenly appeared beside me with a cup of water. “Drink!” he screamed.
I drained half of the cup in an instant, and then stopped to check if the bone was gone. It wasn’t.
“It’s still there!” I cried.
“Finish the water!” mum told me. “Swallow it forcefully!”
I upturned the cup into my mouth, swallowing hard.
“Is it still there?” mum asked, visibly worried. “Is it still there?”
I felt my throat. Yes. Yes, it’s gone… no! “No, it’s still there!” I shrieked, getting scared now. “Mummy, it’s still there!”
“More water!” she cried, and my brothers scrambled to get it.
“Easy!” dad said with his deep voice, getting up from his seat. “No need to get hysteric.” We all looked at him, hoping he knew something we didn’t. Dad picked up an unfinished plate of rice, scoped up some with a big spoon, and asked me to open my mouth. I did. He upended the spoon’s load into my mouth.
“Chew the rice a little and swallow hard,” he advised me. “It should force the bone down.”
I did as told and swallowed.
“Now drink some water.”
I did.
“Is it gone?” dad asked, looking expectant. “It’s gone, right?”
I started to nod my head, but a sharp pinch in my throat stopped the motion. Everyone was on tenter-hooks, looking at me eagerly. A whimper of pain escaped from my lips – and they all started scrambling around again.
A bout of coughing seized me and I doubled over, holding my neck and chest. Dad suddenly grabbed me and smacked me hard on the back. Instantly, something gave in my throat, flew out through my open mouth and hit a glass cup on the dining table. And I stopped coughing.
Everyone was silent for a while. Then, Chidi picked up the glass cup and pried the thing that had flown out of my mouth off it. It was the fish sword.
“Still want this?” he asked me solemnly.
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. Emeka giggled nervously, and soon everyone was laughing.

hollerb:
Dear, i would have loved to use because to begin a sentence, but because, because cannot be used to start a sentence, i refuse to.

Not bad. And the sentense makes sense, too. Atta-boy, hollerb; I think I'll talk to Sisikill . . . .

You can try these:
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/03/05/nigeria-first-online-bookstore/
http://www.sardonyxbooks.com/
http://www.booksng.com/

Cheers.

See, I don't mind love poems much, alright? But I think your poem is tight.

StephenP:
I see visions of us,
Closer in mind than in body,
We sync intellectually,

https://fc04.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2007/327/b/2/rainbow_eye_by_Noodlez222.png

StephenP:
And we,
Old and gray,
Still find beauty in each other,
We stay hand in hand,
Heart in heart,
With a clear vision of everlasting.

https://fc04.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2007/327/b/2/rainbow_eye_by_Noodlez222.png

Not bad. Not bad at all.

@Seun: I'll only conceed to your argument if, by "prolific", you mean that writers abroad produce better works; that may be true, seeing that they are more exposed, have more opportunities, and are down-right better educated - yes, it pinches my pride but I gotta admit it all the same. BUT if, by "prolific", you mean that they turn out more works than their home-grown counter-parts, then I must say you have your facts twisted. Until recently - in fact, until guys like SeanT21 and ariblaze and Sisikill showed up - almost half of the threads here in Lit-Nrlnd used to read something like "Please read this", or "Chapter 1 of my book". Heck, I even posted some myself. And almost all of them were by home-grown writers. Mind, I'm not talking of the quality of the works, I'm only arguing the quantity. And don't forget that most "home-based" folks write with the good, old paper and pen - they can't even afford to type it. So, if you want to even the playing field, just ask for hand-written copies. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway, all this is about whether or not to start a new scriptwriter's subforum, right? I'm sure creating it will resolve all the bickering; trust me, Seun, you'll get so many posts, you'll start wondering if some people sleep beside their PC's. Just do me one favour - make a sub-subforum - like "Poems".

@Seun: Scriptwriting isn't really a branch of literature (the branches are drama, poetry, and prose - and prose is further divided into fiction and non-fiction). But since the majority of us here are budding writers - and thus, [i]script[/i]writers by extension (I mean, who wouldn't want a movie done on his book? ), I guess making scriptwriting a part of the literature section isn't a bad idea. But you'd have to make it a subsection, just like you did with "Poems". Otherwise, this section will be buried under a mountain of film-scripts within a week!

Sometimes i call people "widgit"; means 'a wicked idiot.' Kinda dumb, huh?

sistawoman:
Thank you. I really appreciate that.

,

You are welcomed, dear. Just tell your hobby that he should start appreciating what he has. . .  before he loses it. Love can only take so much knocks, you know. Tell him "KAY9" said so! 

@Sisikill: Thanks for keeping the section alive.

@ Sistawomsn: I think you are a good mother and wife; trust me, very, very few women still act like that in Nigeria here. Thing is, I never really believed there are still women like you in the West - what with all the liberalism there (which isn't exactly bad, its just that folks there sometimes stretch it to a ridiculous extent).

I'm waiting, Sisi. Do continue, please. . .

What if you don't win?

Oh, sure baby, you are reaching!

Just kidding, though. I really don't know much of horror writers to have an educated view - only know King, Rice and Stoker. But then, common sense (and almighty Statistics!) dictates that all those occurences you mentioned were more or less natural - you know, expected. Oh, and besides, they're all Americans (right?) - that's synonymous with a dysfunctunal life. That's my own view, of course!