I'm excited to announce that the series where I feature interviews with other authors as we chat about books and writing is back after a long hiatus.
This month I had fellow RWOWA member TM David-West on the sofa and she shares her writing journey with us. Check it out.
ON THE SOFA WITH KIRU TAYE
(Kiru Taye – KT, TM David-West – TMD)
KT: As one of our newest members, it is my honour to welcome you to the RWOWA community. Since this is our first chat about books and writing romance, could please introduce yourself to our audience.
TMD: I am Theo Uchendi David-West and I write under two pen names: TM David-West and Sophia T. Bernard. Blog at life and spices dot com, although not for a while now, and in love with anything romance.
KT: So I was looking at your backlist and you've published 20 books to date with the 21st on the way. Congratulations! How would you describe your writing journey so far? Are you where you want to be as a writer?
TMD: Thank for the congratulations. 20 books? I think I stopped counting a while back. When it comes to where I dream in my heart to be as a writer, I am not yet there, but I am happy with where I am.
Still writing today is something of a miracle. I thought many times I would stop. The urge to put away that part of my life was there for a long time. To tell the truth, I lost the fluid way I once wrote stories somewhere in 2018. It started as a build-up from 2016 I think and I’ll say I went belly-up in 2018. That’s right after the first book I published under my second pen name, Sophia T. Bernard.
Ever since I have been struggling to find myself as a writer. I created the Hilly Town Alphas Series in a bid to steep myself in the familiar world of a small town and block out everything that could stand as an obstacle to simply create. It is why I chose to make it a fictional town, so I’ll have the freedom to express myself without the pressures of delivering authenticity, or making the stories believable.
It worked!
Keeping the stories short and controlled for the first three books let lose my inspiration and placed words right there on my fingertips. By the time I finished the fourth book, I knew deep inside Theo was back as a writer.
Confident of that, I am ready to take all the next steps to go forward as an indie author, one at a time, of course.
KT: Wonderful. Your story is an inspiration. Which brings me to your two author names, TM David-West and Sophia Bernard. Can you explain the reasoning behind using two names? Also, how is that working for you? Are there challenges and advantages to using multiple pen names?
TMD: Oh, my goodness, I was born to have more than one pen name. No jokes. I’m a complex personality and I feel the most comfortable when there are more of me in my head.
As soon as I said yes to independently publishing my works I knew I wasn’t going to do it under my name and that when the time is right, I’ll have other pen names. The only mistake is that I didn’t time it rightly. Had I done that, my book Key to My Heart, a small town novella, would have been published under Sophia T. Bernard and not TM David-West.
Are there challenges? No way. I love it. I’m a little ‘anal’ about scheduling chores, so there’s always a sort of yearly vision board. Being a procrastinator, no apologies lol, I don’t sternly stick to it, but having one makes it work.
On the matter of advantages, my wicked sense of humour agrees there are some. Some people don’t quickly catch on I own both pen names and in the event they’re a little mad at TM David-West, they discover and fall in love with Sophia before it hits, “It’s her again.” Lol.
The bigger advantage, though, is separating the subgenres I write. TM David-West is more serious, more for the big-city, professional characters and almost sophisticated kind of fiction. Sophia T Bernard is almost all about small town, simple folk’s stories, and then seasonal stories like Christmas Romance and Valentine’s Day Romance.
I don’t know if it makes sense or not, I really don’t care. I like it, it works for me, and sure as there’s a tomorrow after today, there’s a third pen name coming.
KT: LOL. I agree. You have to do what works for you. Now, let’s talk about being Africans and writing African stories. Does being an African affect the way you tell your stories? Do you worry about who will read your books and what they will think?
TMD: I find it difficult writing as an African. What I mean is that I hate to think I’m an African when I’m writing. I just want to write, to create romance, or any other genre of fiction.
But it’s unavoidable because I am African and you have to tell stories that resonate with your people. With your immediate audience at the very least. So, I’m learning. It is easier with the small town stories, but although I struggle, I work at infusing some ‘Africanness’, some ‘Nigerianness’ into my other stories.
I don’t want it too Nigerian or too African to be candid, because I would like readers outside of Africa to read and easily relate to the stories. One of my major reasons for limiting the infusion of our native languages or Pidgin English into my works.
But where they exist, I would hope non-African readers would get some pleasure from reading about a different kind of life and culture, even language. After all, we read books that feature French, Irish, Italian languages, cuisine etc. and enjoy them.
KT: You make very valid points. It’s all about finding the right balance between authenticity and appealing to a wide audience. Somewhere in between is your tribe of readers.
So, let's talk about your upcoming book, Her Rainbow. Can I just say, I love the cover. I love that you’re not ashamed to put man-chest on the cover of your books. When I pick up those books, I know exactly what I’m going to get and your books deliver the promise on the covers, unlike some other books. Hahaha. Now, that I got that rant off my chest, please tell us about your story and the inspiration for it.
TMD: You can never know how much it means to me hearing you talk about your love for the Hilly Town Alphas stories. Never ceases to make my day.
For the covers, heck yeah, I wanted gorgeous men who were bare-chested and nothing was going to stop me from getting them. The cover for Her Rainbow is steaming hot and I screamed a “hell yeah” in my head when I saw it. Lol.
What is Her Rainbow all about? It tells the story of Ginika, a prostitute who decides it is time to get off the streets after gang (cult) members killed her baby sister, who also was a prostitute. The night she makes that decision she meets Ebube, our hot Male MC, and catches his eye without knowing it. Ebube won’t have anything to do with a sex worker, so when they meet again in Hilly Town he has to fight through his resistance, know her for the strong and brave woman she is, and stand with her as she faces the humiliation of being exposed as a former street girl.
What inspired the story? For the most part, the lifestyle of a neighbour, who while not a prostitute has led something of a licentious life and struggles with people’s continued perception of her as a loose woman. In writing this story, I sort of wish her a happy ending. Whatever else is in there story is pure imagination. The more the drama, the more readers are taken with it, I keep discovering every day.
KT: LOL. We’re Africans. We love drama. As such, I’m looking forward to reading Her Rainbow and other stories you have in store for readers. What do you have in the pipeline? When can we expect the next book to come out?
TMD: The very next book after Her Rainbow is Her Groom. This no. 6 book will close the chapter on the Hilly Town Alphas Series and open the door for the Hilly Town Queen where the ladies take over saving their men. Not only men are knights in shining armours, we know the truth of that in real life.
As for the rest of 2024, I am planning TM David-West’s comeback with the book, Can’t Be Too Late, and after that I’ll likely close the year with the story, Sister’s Man for Christmas by Sophia T. Bernard.
KT: Exciting stuff. Rubs hands together in glee 😊 I’ve been inducted into the Sophia Bernard fan club. However, if someone has never read any of your books, which book do you recommend they read first?
TMD: Ha-ha-ha. What do I say now?
All right, I’ll recommend starting with Unconventional Proposal if you’re picking up a TM David-West and Pretend Engagement if it’s a Sophia T. Bernard. If overall, go with either one.
KT: Thank you so much for your time. I loved chatting with you and finding out more about you. But before you go let’s do some fun stuff.
I know you love reading. So, tell us what is the next book on your To Read Pile that you are dying to jump into?
TMD: It has to be Akwaugo by Rosemary Okafor. I’ve had that book on my e-bookshelf for months. I’ll clear the cobwebs burying my romance reader closet with it and dive into others.
KT: Yes, that is a good book. I hope you enjoy it. One more quick fun quiz
Which do you prefer?
Books or Movies >>> Book
Reading or Sleeping >>> READING until I fall asleep. lol
Sweet or Spicy foods >>> both.
Safari or Beach holidays >>> Beach, please
eBooks or Paperbacks >>> EBOOKS these days but I’m starting to miss paperbacks
Soup or Stew >>> if that’s like how we mean it in Nigeria, definitely soup
ABOUT TM DAVID-WEST
Theo Uchendi David-West is the author behind the pen names, TM David-West and Sophia T. Bernard. She is a romance fiction writer who likes to delve into other genres such as Fantasy and Mystery.
When not writing stories, she tinkers with book cover designs, blogs at life and spices dot com, and lives a life that involves a lot of romance novels, movies, K-Drama, Telenovelas, and other homo sapiens.
LINKS
Theo David-West: https://msha.ke/theodavidwest
TM David-West on Selar: https://selar.co/m/tm-david-west1
TM David-West on Amazon Kindle: https://amazon.com/author/tmdavidwest
Sophia T. Bernard on Selar: https://selar.co/m/theodora-david-west1
Comments