Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Kenyan living in the UK, and nearly all my books are influenced by that fact! I’ve written three books, two of them are published, and there are two more being written as we speak (as well as all those plans tempting me…)
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Forest Hotel is the book I always promised myself I would write. I read all these adventure stories about children in England and America, and never saw places like the ones I knew in the media – I decided as a girl about my protagonist’s age that I wanted to change that!
The book is about a dysfunctional family in the south coast of Kenya, and so much of it is a love letter to the place I grew up. If you look at that place from one angle, it’s a utopia, but like all the most interesting paradises, there’s a dark undercurrent of social inequality and many things a young girl growing into an idealistic woman would want to change.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how unusual it is, but I usually write my first draft by hand! This forces me to finish that all important first draft, because I can’t really go back and change anything, there’s no room on narrow ruled paper. Then when I come to do a second draft, it forces me to really pay attention to what I’ve written, because I’m writing it all over again. I tend to add a lot of new chapters at this stage…
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love everything about Alice Oseman’s books, and particularly their diverse cast, but I only recently discovered her. Dorothy Koomson’s stories, her characters, and the relationships she shows are all so captivating, I’ve always wanted to write like her. And although her writing style and genres are pretty different to mine, Kate Atkinson is another favourite author. I love how she makes the arcane and obscure seem so real, and the mundane so darkly magical.
What are you working on now?
I’m editing a young adult novel called Zero Degrees, about a girl (another Kenyan) getting tangled up in a war between the god of winter and the god of spring. All she wanted was to date the winter god’s son! I would love to say I’m aiming to get that out for the winter solstice, but real life may well get in the way…
I’m also working on the first draft of a story about a teenage boy who can bring people back to life, but only if there’s someone willing to take their place. It’s quiet a dark story, though the protagonists are teenagers, and it’s one of those stories that’s so alive in my mind that I’ve known from the very beginning how the plot works to the very end.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am terrible at this… promotion is not my forte! But I think Tumblr might be my best method, and that’s really because I also write fanfiction. People sometimes find they like my writing style, so they look into my blog and find that I write original stuff as well. So in a way, my best promotion method is word of mouth!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you write the story you want to read, you’re guaranteed an audience of one!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you want to be a writer, you must write. That means journals, notes, and actual books – any writing is good writing.
The author who told me this, Michael Asher, gave a talk in my school. When he asked if anyone wanted to be an author, I was the only one who rose my hand, and got teased about it afterwards, because in that very specific cultural environment, who’s actually going to be an author? Get a real job, be a doctor or a businessman or a teacher. But he didn’t show any sort of doubt. He believed that I could become an author if I wanted, and he told me to write. So I write.
What are you reading now?
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – I’m not very far into it so I can’t say much about it, other than that’s a hell of a prologue! I was also reading Children of Blood and Bone (it’s a magic system set in Nigeria! Where was this when I was a kid?!) but it stressed me out too much, I was so worried for Zelie and Amari, I had to put it to one side and return when I feel like I can battle to save the world…
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing! I have so many books planned out it’s not even funny. I go through extremely creative phases where I’m planning two or three books in a month, but I restrict myself to just planning them until I’ve finished the first draft I’m already working on. I’m planning to write a book about gender roles, love and pregnancy for NaNoWriMo, publish Zero Degrees soon, hopefully (once I learn how to make the perfect cover for it) and maybe write a historical gay romance about colonial Kenyans, just to annoy my family!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Practically, probably something like ‘How to Survive on a Desert Island’?! Or a really big dictionary with a satellite radio hidden in the hollowed out pages so I can call for help!
Metaphorically, Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, the Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, and something by Terry Pratchett, probably Jingo for the irony. I could read all of those multiple times.
Author Websites and Profiles
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