I learnt that it is easy to write if you are honest with your feelings, at the same time it could be scary because it makes you feel vulnerable.
Feyisayo Anjorin – 17 February 2020
The Back Flap
Tolu’s lover is a treasure in his heart, so the purity of his feelings flows.
Bola has lived her life like a sweet dream sometimes in the past, and she is satisfied with her lover, but she fears for the familiar comforts of their relationship; so she throws her lover a seemingly minor challenge.
Love Like Us, a popular romance game show on national TV, could work as a gift or a curse for lovers, due to its potential to unravel intimacy or lack of it.
When Tolu and Bola, following Tolu’s initiative, decide to appear on the show in order to give their relationship a brighter spark, they have to face deep-seated fears and irritating discoveries from the ruins of their past disappointments as they chart a new course for their union.
About the book
What is the book about?
It is about a woman who has once lived a dream love life and gets a second chance to have the stuff of love songs with a man who is equally looking for something real.
When did you start writing the book?
I started writing it in November 2019 when my wife and my daughter went on a holiday and I had a quiet house to myself.
How long did it take you to write it?
It took me about three weeks of seclusion.
Where did you get the idea from?
My favourite songs when I was a teen were love songs, so I have always imagined falling in love with a woman and living in a love-high like in the love songs. I decided to write this romance fiction about a couple who went on a game show as a team.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
No. It was the easiest book for me to write.
What came easily?
The part where the protagonist, Tolu, asked Bola to be his lover. I could relate with the lovers because it was quite close to my experience. I didn’t know my wife well enough before I was sure she was the one. It was crazy, but I was so sure.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
A bit from personal experience, a bit from people I know, a bit from imagination.
Do you have a target reader for this book?
My target reader is that believer in love and life-long love relationships.
How was writing this book different from what you’d experienced writing previous books?
It was my first time writing romance fiction, so I had to dig deep into my experiences as a teenager and the way I felt when I listened to the love songs of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. I had to glean a bit from personal experience too, so unlike how it was when I wrote the previous works, I had to ask myself, “Do I want to get this out there?”
What new things did you learn about writing, publishing, and/or yourself while writing and preparing this book for publication?
I learnt that it is easy to write if you are honest with your feelings, at the same time it could be scary because it makes you feel vulnerable. This book confirmed what I have always suspected about myself: that I am a hopeful romantic at heart.
End of Interview:
Get your copy of The Stuff of Love Songs from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
