ArtGod

The Year of Dark and Whimsy

What a year! It is only in looking back on the year’s work (both published and works-in progress) that I realize I’ve devoted the most part of the year to crafting darkly whimsical tales. Without further ado, here are the stories I had out this year for your reading pleasure. The Tale of Jaja and Canti: This story’s journey to publication is long and winding. I first wrote it 2019, a tale which,…

I’m incredibly pleased to announce that The Goatkeeper’s Harvest is a finalist for the Nommo award in the short story category! That makes this the second major award I’ve been shortlisted for this year (the first being the British Science Fiction Association award). Not too bad for this kid from Lagos, who always dreamed of being a writer. Many, many thanks to all who read, loved, and voted…

I am a BSFA Finalist!

I am thrilled, gobsmacked, positively befuddled, and pleasantly surprised to announce that my story Isn’t Your Daughter Such a Doll is a finalist for the British Science Fiction Association awards! I can’t stress enough how wonderful this feels. When I learned the story had been longlisted, I was, of course, pleased and frankly did not expect anything to come if it. Imagine my surprise 3 weeks…

It’s that time of the year again, in which we give account of the works that came out. I had five! stories published this year (the most I’ve ever had). I’m bad at summarizing my own work, and have included reviews where I could find them.

And without further ado, here are the stories in order of publication:

Guardian of the Gods, FIYAH #14 Ashâke is an acolyte of the gods. But unlike all…

Here Sits His Ignominy

I’m pleased to announce my new story in Breathe FIYAH (an anthology of flash fiction produced in collaboration between FIYAH and Tor)

Flash fiction has been one of those categories that I’ve squinted at from afar with suspicion, because how well can you tell a good story in so few words? But when I saw the call for this anthology, and its accompanying prompt, I decided why the hell not?

I…

I Have an Agent!

Friends, I am beyond thrilled to announce that I am now represented by John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency! Whew! Typing those words has got to be one of the more surreal moments of my life. The journey has been a long one – and is nowhere near over (still gotta publish that book) but this is a significant milestone, one I’d began to doubt would even happen.

Shall I regale you with…

Flyer for Event Horizon

I took part in the wonderful Cymeral Festival where Shoreline of Infinity put the spotlight on BAME writers. I, along with some wonderful writers (Zen Cho, Asith Pallemulla, Robert Rene Galvan) read from our works. I read from my tory, publsihed in Shoreline of Infinity 18 “Isn’t Your Daughter Such a Doll”.

The entire event was streamed live, and is now available on

Here’s a brief rundown of how I wrote this story. There’s potential spoilers here, so if you haven’t read it, and don’t want to be spoiled, go here.

A question was all that really set off this story: what happens if men gained such power as to rival that of the gods? What happens if men grew so powerful that they could – gasp – kill gods? And if so, why would they do that? What followed…

Novels

1. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow If you’ve been paying attention in the book world for the past six months, then you’re probably familiar with this book. It’s everywhere! Regardless, it sat for a while on my TBR and I kept meaning to get to it. But when I saw it shortlisted for…

Writing The bulk of this month was devoted to The Novel. I queried this late last year and got a few agents to bite, but they all turned it down, save for one who gave me a detailed feedback and invited me to resubmit if I ever revised. Her notes lined up with most of the critiques I’d previously gotten so I decided to tackle them. I won’t lie it was hard. It’s still hard. Most of what I’d written…

So this year has been pretty interesting. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a writer, and have learnt more and honed my craft. The first half of this year was dedicated to writing that damned book, while in the second half I focused on short fiction.

I had 2 stories published this year, both of which I’m incredibly proud of:

Faêl published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, is a fantasy story about…

BTS #1: The Muse of Palm House

First came the house.

I’ve always been fascinated with haunted houses – the classic gothic dark vibes give me great joy, so when I set out to write this story i knew immediately it had to feature a haunted house – but with a twist. This was not going to be your typical ghost story.

Next came the haunt.

The Picture of Dorian Grayalso influenced my decision here. I thought instead of…

New Publication: The Muse of Palm House

I am so thrilled to announce the publication of The Muse of Palm House in The Dark. This is my second story to be published in this particular magazine.

It’s a horror story, with a haunted house and an artist and ancient entity (all my favourite things). The first half of this year was spent working on that damned novel (more on that later) and in the second half I decided to turn my attention…

I wrote this many years back. Probably when I was sixteen or seventeen ( I don’t quite remember) A little slice-of-life “memoirish” offering. The event itself occurred when I was much younger, probably eight or nine. You know how some memories stick out so brightly that you find yourself returning to it time and time again? This is one of them.

Here’s to remembering fiery memories. Enjoy!

The…

Hey there! I am so excited to announce the publication of my story Faêl in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

I wrote this story late last year (I’m thinking October) in the middle of writing the first draft of my novel. It helped me flesh out some necessary details, and get through that oh so dreaded writer’s block.

I’m really bad at surmarising my own stories (er, which writer’s isn’t? Hehe) but here’s a