Adeola Adejokun, a banker and an author, is a young man full of vigour and ideas, a bundle of talents, a great sense of humour which reflects in his writings. Artistic, with a good and insightful imagination that makes his books rich in creativity and humour. He has this unique way of writing where he treats issues in a Tête-à-tête style. Do you want to enjoy his articles, then click on the page, Tête-à-tête?
1. Tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Adeola, I was born into a small Catholic family in the heart of Ibadan. I attended Saint Williams Catholic Primary School, Eyinni High School, Offa Polytechnic and The Polytechnic Ibadan where I got HND in Electrical Engineering. I am happily married with children.
2. When did you write and when did you finish your first book?
I wrote my first book in 1989 and my first self-published book titled VISION in 1999. It was an e-book published by Fairgo Books, Australia.
3. How did you choose the genre you write in?
I just think about stories and write; it is difficult to classify the genre few of my books fall under. Most of my books revolve around romance.
4. Where do you get your ideas?
From discussions. I am an excellent conversationalist, so; it is always easy for me to get ideas from people consciously and unconsciously. These days I am in many Whatsapp groups, I am active in a few and dormant in many I always take time after work to read messages on all Whatsapp group. They are usually very enlightening.
5. Do you experience writer’s block?
Yes. It is natural, it is part of life.
6. Is there any author or book that influenced you either growing up or as an adult?
Yes, Philosophical Essays by Prof. Tam David West really shaped my view about life. I read the book several times with ‘Question Young People Ask’, a Jehovah Witness publication.
7. Tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?
I had a serious challenge with getting a good editor and when I eventually got one; it was very expensive, but she made it easier just to encourage me to write more and recommended the book DIRTY HOUSE to her students. After crossing that hurdle, the printer that published the book did not do a good job, the layout was terrible and almost over 400 copies were wasted. I paid for new plates and we started printing again because I don’t want to disappoint the school and lecturer that recommended the book to the students.
There was a time a lecturer needed about 300 copies of UNBORN CHILDREN, He recommended it to the students and this put me in a tight corner. I was happy to have 300 students but the remaining 700 copies will be a waste or kept in the house. I brainstormed for days and eventually discovered an alternative way of printing my books without going through conventional printers.
8. How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
By convincing lecturers first, confirm the number of students and publish.
9. Tell us about your upcoming book?
My upcoming book is a work I abandoned for over four years now. The title is Sango; it is about the life of Sangowanwa, an adherent of Sango who left Oyo for Europe after praying to Eledumare to give a sense of mission and impact in life.
10. Is anything in your books based on real-life experiences or purely all imagination?
They are all fictions, though shaped by reading and experiences in life.
11. What do you consider your best accomplishment as a writer?
From my experiences, once you are a writer, especially when people can feel hard copies of your work in their hands. It is easy for people to conclude you are a responsible person. When I noticed this, I meticulously blend my banking career with writing, and it has helped me in a lot of ways. I have won no award as a writer and author I have met many influential people because I am a writer.
12. How did you come up with your titles?
From the contents. The titles can change, especially when the story changed direction during writing.
13. You have a day job as well? How do you combine working and writing?
14. How many books have you written? Any favourite and why?
Nineteen books. Stupid Affairs. Because it is a product of real-life experience, a huge crush on an older sister and my imagination on what could happen in the relationship.
15. What are the challenges of being a writer in Nigeria?
No publishers to publish books and people are not reading because attention has shifted to films and social media effects. Because of this, writers are gradually changing from novels to scriptwriting. The patience to read is no more there among the youth.
16. What measures are you taking to promote your books and are they yielding fruits?
I don’t have any measure for now. I will look into that this year
17. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say about your writing?
When I first published DIRTY HOUSE, I had a BBM group where I interacted with students; they asked questions and expressed their views. I also formed a WhatsApp group in other to interact with students. Apart from that, other readers were people around me.
Responses to DIRTY HOUSE and UNBORN CHILDREN were fantastic, both of them are unusual concepts, especially UNBORN CHILDREN. A student was scared, she said she was seeing unborn children in her dreams; she went to the HOD and she (HOD) took time to educate her. She told her it was just the writer’s imagination, there was nothing like that.
18. Where is the best way to reach you and learn more about your books?
The best way to reach me is via adejokson@gmail.com
My books are on lulu books, Amazon and Okada Books.
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