QUESTIONS FORM DOROTHY[ TWITTER] 2022
1.What is the name of your book/genre/ brand? Christian fantasy fiction. 2.When did you start your writing career? In 1979, when I started writing poetry as an undergraduate. 3.Did you have support from family/friends/community? Yes. I have always had support from family and friends by way of encouragement, proofreading, supporting with their suggestions, writing reviews and helping me out with book launches. The community too has been very supportive as my church community bought some of my books and many dropped reviews on Goodreads as well. Recently too, Peabody featured me in the Directory book for our local community in Thamesmead. I am on page 67! 4.What is most difficult about an author’s life? For me, it is about getting enough reviews on my books and marketing them. 5. As a woman do you feel an obligation to write on women’s issues (in some form)? No obligation but some of my books have heroines as the protagonist. 6. Do you create stereotypical female characters i.e., weak, need to be saved? No but depending on the genre or era of the story, for instance, some of the women characters exhibit subservient qualities . 7. Do you try to be politically correct or stay away from politics/controversial current event as plots? I’m not by nature interested in politics and controversial issues in my prose but in my poetry, I have poems touching on racism, inequality and the consequences of bad leadership and governing of people. 8.What makes a woman a success? When she can stand on her own , achieve, enjoy economical status and produce a successful generation as a legacy. Thank you very much.
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All it takes is a mustard seed!
During the half term break, last month, I had the pleasure of hosting my cousin, Angela, in our home at Thamesmead. Being teachers, we needed to enjoy a well-deserved break. I told her we were going to have a blast of a time and that is what happened. Can you guess how? Well, let’s take it bit by bit… The very morning she came, we went to my favourite cafe and she said it was the best cafe she had ever been to! While digestion was busy in our bellies, we caught up on heart to heart chats had hearty laughs and took lovely pictures. My home is a walking distance to the popular historical Lesnes Abbey Ruins and a very lively beautiful lakeside. During the days that followed, we enjoyed long walks around the area, watched movies and played indoor games. She was treated to a sumptuous meal at our favourite African restaurant - The Whitehart at Erith. For her, it was a very memorable experience! On Sunday, she worshipped with me at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Thamesmead. She was so blessed… Angela resides in a beautiful home in Dartford, where I was treated to a taste of royal experience during the half term break in February. Starting from the cosy, well decorated guestroom, to specially served tasty meals, the spa, sauna, and the pool at the Dartford Club, it was a real treat for my tired self! My experience was like being in a five star hotel. She filled my cup to overflowing with contentment, pleasure and delight! It was overwhelming!! So I was excited to give this sister of mine with a beautiful soul and personality, a lovely time. She mentioned her experience of a miracle, which has prompted the title of my post. I share it below for you to be blessed as I was. In October, her car’s MOT fell due and for the annual servicing, there was a list of things wrong with the car amounting to £1,000! Worse, this had to be sorted before the MOT could be done! Her faith was shaken. She hadn’t the fund. She went to the altar in her home and raising her face to God, she told Him, “all You are asking for is a mustard seed. I cannot see my way through this dilemma. I’m close to giving up and breaking down. My car is vital for my commuting and crucial to my work but I am willing to trust You and give You my mustard seed of faith’ [Showing God her pinkie]. As soon as she finished talking to God, something ministered in her spirit to take the car to a different equally popular garage and she did. She had felt nervous yet hopeful…The verdict came 45 minutes later! ‘Miss Angela…?’ She got up, walking to the reception with mixed emotions of, ‘it is done’ and ‘Thy will be done’. ‘…all done, it has passed the MOT.’ As she told me this miracle, I felt her joy and gratitude to God for His mercy and provision. All it took was a mustard seed of faith! The mustard seed is described in the gospels as the smallest of all seeds yet grows up to be the largest of all trees, giving shade, shelter and refuge to all. Other concepts of the mustard seed’s value includes: humility, humble beginning, size, hope, worth, faith, etc. As we enter the Christmas season, all it will take is faith as small as a mustard seed to enjoy ‘Christmas miracles’ with our family, in our writings, finance , health and our lives in general. Be blessed! The mustard seed in the Lord’s parable shared in the 4 gospels of the new testament is used to i A Catalogue of FIRSTS!
By the time you are reading this post, by God’s grace, I would be returning to UK after a week in Turkey - a gift from our children to celebrate our Ruby Anniversary! As I write this post from my Arnor De Luke Hotel in Antalya, Turkey, I remembered my first day in TRELLIS, our ACW poetry group. We were asked to compile a list of first times and firsts in our lives. I found that exercise so interesting and here are a couple of things I wrote down:
#ACW #encouragement #firsttimes #testimony Sophia recently published ‘POETRY MATTERS’.A collection of 100+ poems!
Regret, Resentment, Pride or Nostalgia? It is interesting what kind of bizarre thoughts come in to one’s mind. Such filtered through my mind, reeling through scores of years ago, the way a random kite is sometimes seen in the sky, as I watched the coronation of Charles 111. Thoughts about other countries who had deposed of their own monarchies might feel or think. Regret? Resentment? Or nostalgia. Whatever! The ceremony birthed a fable told in black communities about the dog and his mother. This is my embellished version from my creative pot. A long time ago, there was a very severe famine in the land of the animals. They decided to have a meeting to find a solution to the food scarcity. Leaving their mothers to look after their families, they gathered in a big open space pondering for hours without a solution. Then the tortoise came up with the solution… All the animals hastened back home to carry out the tortoise’s ‘brilliant’ plan but the dog thought differently. So he went home and prayed to God about his predicament. God heard his prayer and gave him a solution. The dog took his mother to a designated spot. A basket was let down from the sky, on a rope. The dog received some food from the basket and his mother was taken up to the sky. After all the animals had killed and eaten their mothers, the famine ceased and the dog’s mother returned to be reunited with her family! I can imagine the regret, pain, guilt and anger those animals felt when the famine was over because they had killed their mothers! I know how I feel when I think of my diaries ranging from 1968 to 1988 which I burned because I thought I had shared too much ‘intimate’ information in them. Do you also have regret for writings you have destroyed or do you have thoughts from long ago that fleet through your memory? It’s never too late to recapture the past in our writings. We all know the story of how Israel moaned to God about wanting to be like other nations who had kings ruling them. God told Israel the disadvantages of a monarchy through Prophet Samuel but they insisted on their wish. How did Israel feel about the monarchy under the reigns of the likes of King Ahab, Rehoboam, etc? Israel did not want God to rule over them any longer!!! Let us like the dog always turn to God in our challenges of life. The scripture says, ‘He will take your best fields and vineyards… He will take a tenth of your corn… When that time comes, you will complain bitterly… but the Lord will not listen to your complaints.’ 1 Samuel 8: 14 -18 So it was not surprising to see some people protesting against the UK’s monarchy - Fodder for historical fiction writers amongst us! I pray that God’s will for the UK continues and that Christian writers of whatever genre will continue to be inspired on Earth as it is in Heaven. AMEN. #fable #historical fiction #ACW #monarchy #amwriting #kingCharles111 #Coronation #memories #inspiration Sophia Anyanwu lives in SE London. She’s an educationist, encourager reviewer, author and poet. She is a member of the Association of Christian Writers, UK and has published 14 books which are available on her website: www.olusolasophiaanyanwuauthor.com and Amazon. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel here: https://bit.ly/3j0oPuy and follow her on all social media here: https://bit.ly/3UG36Kx SHARPEN YOUR AXE
If anyone needs to hear this, it is me. I also hope that this post will speak to your inner man and bless you.
Hebrews 12:11 – No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained in it. May this be our portion. Amen. That summarises it all! The beauty of Midrash
Eve was awake. She was just 2 weeks old in the heavenly realms but it never ceased to amaze her how each day held something new, exciting, exhilarating and even intriguing! The previous day, she had met Mr Serpent again. She had consciously fought dwelling on his appealing and magnetic personality even as she flashed back on the incidence. Was he stalking her? Adam didn’t think so. ‘Hello, beautiful’. She had ignored him but he continued speaking. ‘ I particularly like the way your breasts have been created. They are sexually attractive compared to Mrs Apes’,’ he blurted. ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘I can see what you can’t see because I have eaten that apple! ‘If you are here to try and tempt me again, go away! You are not a friend of Abba. I won’t touch it!’ Clicking her tongue, she had walked off in search of Adam. ‘But before you go away, have you never wondered why I’m still alive? Yet, I have tasted it…’ ‘Adam?’ she called quietly. ‘Are you awake?’ To her surprise he whispered back… END OF EXTRACT I got thinking. When the saints of God gathered, the devil gathered with them. We hear him talking to God about Job! Guess what? He whispers that my writing is rubbish! Dear writers, my advice is: let us continue to ‘resist the devil and he will flee from us’. [James 4:7b] From the extract above, I used Midrash. I love using it in my biblical fantasy writing. In the extract above, am I ‘showing or telling’? What is the difference? I will appreciate your feed backs below! Thanks. Blessings. THE WRITER’S CALENDAR OF MONTHS
I was overjoyed as the biblical shepherd who found his lost sheep when I found my notes on Paul Karensa’s ‘Calendar pattern’. It’s designed to plan a story plot by fitting in characters, locations, conflict, climax and resolution around the 12 months. It gave me the idea to imagine what each month offered Christian writers like us. A kind of best fit. So here we go!! January: The month of New Year/ new beginning. You see yourself in a new light; You mentally make new resolutions with God; Life happens but, ‘The One who calls you is faithful’ gives you resilience; Time to declutter stuff ; You begin to think of your new/existing writing projects; Put in sight your writing paraphernalia… February: The month of Valentine. You share love and prayers to loved ones; You do your writer duties around social media, ACW, work, family, etc; You give off time to be you but Life happens; ‘The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue’ and strengthens you; You plan to start goals not achieved in January; You write ideas … March: The month of the year’s first quarter; You reassess yourself ; You feel imposter syndrome; The season of Spring offers a fresh start and inspiration; You work on edits, blogs, reviews, newsletters, book launches etc; Word counts begin to swell; Life happens but ‘your soul rises and praises the Lord’… April: The month ushers Easter; You self-rebirth ; You are inspired from the bloom of new life in nature; You introduce humour in your writing ; You write to commemorate the Easter season; Life happens in the midst of your family, work and personal stuff committments; You are reminded ‘to be of good cheer’… May: The month brings warmer days; Your chapters may have started or increased; Your word count may look healthy or still discouraging; You encourage yourself in the Lord for feelings of discouragement, writers block or not being on the writing board; It is proper spring; You may spring to a big or little action; ‘Peace be within you’… June: The month that is half year; You are jolted by the Holy Spirit; ‘You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you’; You are inspired to make huge strides of progress in your writing career; You update your blogs, Get active on marketing, ACW posts, decrease your ‘to be read pile’; You enjoy success/ good news on publishing/review July: The month of vacations, sunshine and school holidays; You are inspired to write a romance, historical, adventure or a thriller; Your word count is healthy. You go on holidays; You are refreshed to engage in career exploits, podcasts, audio books, author interviews; You share your author skills on social media; You taste the Lord and He is sweet… August: The month of the long hot summer; Your energy is breathing hot sparks which you pour into your writing; You call on Him and He tells you hidden things; You may consider professional service / publishing routes; You may revisit social media /writing classes; You may go on a retreat or make a start on your writing and finally crucify procrastinations… September: The month of the last quarter; You have been busy with life and writing; You write despite when life happens; ‘In this world you have tribulations’; You fall seven times but rise to write;’ Those who will rebuild you are coming soon’; You have reached an impressive word count; You are encouraged… October: The month of perfection is true for you; You ‘encourage yourself in the Lord’; You acknowledge God called you to write; You overcome writer’s block and imposter syndrome; You finish your draft; You begin to slow down and think of Christmas, family and life outside being a writer… November: The month of winter; You are inspired to write for advent; You make publishing decisions; Your writing goes on a low key; You do a cover reveal; Life happens and you say, ‘Father take this cup from me’; He says He has ‘armed you with strength for every battle’. You experience some writing miracles… December: The month of Christmas and the year’s end; You wonder where time went; You join in the yuletide celebrations; You deserve a break; Your birthing a book[s] intoxicates you; You spoil yourself; Or was the birth wishful thinking all along? You ‘encourage yourself in the Lord’ for the new year… THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
Various MTW posts have triggered the title of my post for this month. When King Belshazzar, the son of King Nebuchadnezzar, saw the handwriting on the wall, during a feast, he was troubled. Fortunately, Daniel got him out of his misery and gave the interpretation. Here in ACW, God is talking to us to through many ‘Daniels’ just like there was a Daniel for the king at his point of need. There is a popular saying, ‘What you are looking for very far away is right there where you are!’ I feel great about myself when I consider what I have achieved since joining ACW, in uly 2020. I learned the value of editing and finally mustered up to having my current works edited. I have plans for past published works. I have learnt to upload my stuff to KDP. I learnt to veer into social media and truly enjoying it. I dropped layers of timidity and boosted my confidence by joining a variety of ACW groups. As for my writing skills, reviewing, supporting others in various ways, God has given me the grace! I make it a point of duty to try to read every MTW post. I have purposed it in my mind. It might be any time of the day and sometimes a day or two after but I ensure I read each one. I consider it ‘ the handwriting on the wall’ and thank God for His Holy Spirit in us. It is like ‘a Daniel’ helping interpret the handwriting on the wall’! There is so much to be garnished from the nuggets of wisdom shared. It could be gaining ideas in our crafts, genres, skills, wisdom, support, encouragement, knowledge, you name it! This post aims to encourage us all to read ‘the handwriting on the wall’ through the daily MTW posts. The writers may not write your kind of genre, or be your chum, but we are all one in Christ and united through ACW. MTW posts writers have taken the pains and sacrifice to research, prepare what God has laid in their hearts to share. Many members are going through needless stress by not making time to read MTW posts. Iron sharpeneth iron. Our people perish in ignorance for lack of wisdom! What a great way to show support, to give encouragement, to hone our crafts, to bless God, to motivate the writers of MTW posts and gain wisdom through feedback. Writers of MTW posts need to read people’s comments, feedbacks and suggestions to their posts. The hand writing on the wall is a 2 way communication process, for both the writer and the reader! Tell the Holy Spirit there, within you to guide you in ALL truths to understand and reap the benefits from the handwriting on the wall. You don’t need to go far to search for Truth! May you be blessed! THE SHEPHERD KING [1 Samuel 16:6 -7; 10 – 12] ICB
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab. Samuel thought, “Surely the Lord has appointed this person standing here before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t look at how handsome Eliab is. Don’t look at how tall he is. I have not chosen him. God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass by Samuel. But Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Then he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse answered, “I still have the youngest son. He is out taking care of the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him. We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” 12 So Jesse sent and had his youngest son brought in. He was a fine boy, tanned and handsome. The Lord said to Samuel, “Go! Appoint him. He is the one.” In [vs 6 -10] God sent Prophet Samuel to Jesse’s family, to anoint a king for Israel from amongst his eight sons, but Jesse presented seven! He hoped that God would choose one of them. They were tall, handsome and brave warriors in the king’s army, unlike his eighth son, David, who was a mere shepherd. Samuel picked the first born, Eliab, and like Jesse, was disappointed, when God said, ‘No’, to all seven brothers! God told Prophet Samuel not to get carried away by outward appearances [looks, strength, status, wealth, skills etc]. David with no military training, armour or spear faced Israel’s worst enemy, Goliath, a giant, who was heavily armoured and holding a spear! Yet, David trusting God, put his life in danger for Israel, and killed the giant! [1 Samuel 17: 34 – 52 ICB] As a shepherd, he had learnt to trust God fighting off lions and bears from attacking his sheep. This prepared him for defeating Goliath. Similarly, Lord Jesus defeated the world’s greatest enemy, Satan, the devil, when He arose from the dead, three days after being killed! His victory over death gives believers Eternal Life [John 3:16]. Satan tried to prevent this. Lord Jesus trusted God the Father [John 10:17 – 18 ICB]. Also, Bethlehem, the city, where Lord Jesus, the messiah, and David were born was the smallest in Israel! [Micah 5:2] In [vs11 - 12] David, like Jesus, was a shepherd and God saw his caring and good shepherd heart. Lord Jesus gave His life for us, His sheep. [John 10:11, 17 -18] David, like Lord Jesus, was not valued by his family, yet anointed king of Israel. ‘He is the one’. Likewise, Lord Jesus rejected by the Jews became our king! ‘This is my son… I am pleased with Him.’ [Matthew 3:17] The WAITING ROOM by Sophia Anyanwu
Have you ever had the experience of waiting in anxiety for a promotion, an interview, an exam result or even waiting for the blessing of the womb or a spouse for ourselves or for family members? You will agree with me that it is a place of unsettlement within our spirit. As Christians, we know that waiting for answers to prayers is a place that tests our faith. It is easy to weave in between doubt and our trust in God. I was blessed by a message on the theme of waiting on the Lord’s hope. The biblical examples of Zechariah and Elizabeth from the New Testament and Abraham and Sarah from the Old Testament were cited as having waited for so long in agony for their children. The traumatised waiting of the Jews for so many years for a deliverer from slavery in Egypt was based on a hope that never deemed. I was conscious of the irony in celebrating the anniversary of the coming of the Lord Jesus in festivity with that of the Jews waiting in despair and anguish for their freedom. We are all in the waiting room awaiting the New Year 2024 in hope knowing that as we commit our work to the Lord, all our plans will be established. [Proverbs 16:3] For many of us, this past year has been challenging in terms of our expectations on our health, our age, our family, our writing and other issues but we will continue to wait on the Lord. Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess because we can trust God to keep His promise [Hebrews 10:23]. No matter how long we wait in the waiting room, we wait in hope and assurance. As we hope to birth new books, gain breakthroughs in our finance and in our careers as writers in the coming New Year, we trust that our God will bring everything together at the right time. 2024 is pregnant and we are all in the waiting room to see what the new arrival will bring us all. May God richly bless you with your heart’s desires in 2024. May He reward you double for all the unfair things that happened to you in 2023. Amen. Finally, as we step out of the waiting room to see what is in store for us, let us go with God’s prophecy in Isaiah 3:10: The righteous will be happy and things will go well for them. They will be able to enjoy what they have worked for. I wish you all a very blessed 2024 in your writing. Be encouraged. Remember that ‘this hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out His love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us. Amen. [Romans 5:5] #NewYear #Hope #Waiting #ACW #Encouragement #Faith |
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