Interview with the author of Desert Roses

We have gone through a lot books this year, but so far, there's something about Desert Roses that made us want to share more about it.

Desert roses is a novel that tells the story of a certain group of people and follows a series of events that lead to the connection of the lives of two remarkable ladies Simi and Lolade.
Simi’s life was a bed of roses and she thought she had a wonderful life already laid out for her. But after the loss of her parents, friends and fortunes, she felt she had lost everything that had guaranteed her a perfect future. As a result, her spirit was shattered and she was thrown into a life of darkness and insecurity.


It was left to Lolade, a youth corps member who found Simi in one of her darkest hours to give her the strength she needed in order to strive against all odds. Using her own experience as a guide, she was finally able to restore Simi’s confidence and regain the perfect future she once thought she had lost. Thanks to her, Simi was able to thrive like a desert rose, rustic and relentless.
 Visit the link to order your copy!

  
Meet the author
We also had the chance to meet the author, Tolani Olorunfemi, and below is our interview with her:
 

QUESTION:  Tell us everything about yourself.

My name is Tolani Olorunfemi Opeyemi, born on 13th of September 1987, a native of Ondo State in Nigeria. I am the first of three Children of my parents. My dad is a retired school principal and my mom is a school teacher. I had my primary school education at Saint Isabel Private School, Ibadan, Oyo State, and my secondary school education at All Saints' College, Oyo State. I later graduated with a B.Sc Microbiology at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. I also studied film producing and production management at PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos, Nigeria. Right now I live and work as a microbiologist in Lagos Nigeria.
I love watching movies, sight seeing and telling stories, and my passion for story telling is channeled through my music, script writing and writing books.
My experience when writing Desert Roses was a wonderful one because it was my very first book also the characters and the events of the story came together nicely to pass across an interesting, inspirational and motivational message. 

QUESTION: We are happy to have you on our blog. I have gone through your book, Desert Roses, and I must say it’s a good read. Can you tell us more about it and what inspired you to write it?

Desert Roses is not your regular book because it's not just meant to relax you but it is also meant to inspire and motivate you, though the book is a friction but the characters and events of the story come together nicely in such a way that can easily relate with it and imbibe at least one important message.

QUESTION: What inspired you to write it?

I wrote this book shortly after I graduated from the university, what inspired me was the need to relieve myself of the anxiety I was feeling  as a result of searching for a Job at that time. "Desert Roses" was actually my escape and it gave me the encouragement I needed to pull through that difficult time and since it work for me I decided to share it with the rest of the world.


QUESTION: This question is definitely for young writers out there. I know a lot of them complain of not being able to complete their book. So can you tell us how you wrote your book, what methods did you use?

It took me about a month to write this book, before then I already had the complete idea of the story on my mind then I took some hours of my day when I block off all forms of distractions and settle down to transfer the idea into black and white. My writing routine usually involves working first with my pen and paper before transferring a somewhat edited version of my notes on to my laptop. Writing a book is definitely a serious business but it doesn't mean it can't be a pleasurable experience my advice to potential writers is to discover the writing style that is most suitable for them and be really dedicated to see their project through.


QUESTION: Do you have unpublished work? Or a book you are still working on?

I definitely want to publish more books in the future although at the moment am more about promoting Desert Roses, but I  also have a particular story that i am working towards publishing next year.


QUESTION: How would sum up the reading culture in Nigeria now?

In my own opinion the reading culture in Nigeria is quite low and I think some of the factors responsible for this is the fact that many people are not interested in reading generally, the low literacy level and few numbers of libraries in Nigeria just to mention a few.


QUESTION: It was definitely nice having you. To surprise our readers, tell us one weird fact about you. Something about you that is almost unbelievable to anyone that knows you.
 
I do talk with myself a lot, I swear I am not crazy! Its  just that as a creative person that I am, I imagine a lot of scenarios which I have to act out most of the time before developing into a project.