Ray Anyasi on Writer's Focus

In this chat with Ray Anyasi, Amazon Bestselling Author of Crime/Adventure fiction on Writer's Focus, he shares his hope for the writing industry and his journey so far. (Interview by Francisca Ogechi Okwulehie)

FOO: Tell us about yourself.( Name, Schools attended, Family etc)

RA: I am Ray Anyasi, author, poet and publisher. I am the founder and MD of Naphtali Books and Founder and President of Book House Nigeria. In 2010, I graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and published my first book three months after. I live in Lagos with my wife and daughter.

FOO: How did you get into Writing?

RA: In the build up to the 2007 general elections in Nigeria, you will recall there were multiple political motivated assassinations. From Bola Ige to Funsho Williams. I followed those incidents and the udates quite closely. Somehow, I was motivated to create a fictitious world of mine where these homicides were actually solved by the Nigerian police plus too muh detective books and films in my head, I began to write A Poll of Vampires. It was published in the UK four years later.

FOO: Who are your favourite Authors?

RA: Flora Nwakpa remains my favourite anytime any day. Her book Efuru and Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine were my sweet introduction to reading and I loved them. Other authors I love are Lawrence Sanders, Clive Cussler and Robert Ludlum.

FOO: Do you have published work(s)/ articles? ( Where can they be found?)

RA: I have over 20 titles of mostly fiction, but also non-fiction like How to Terrorize Terrorism and poetry collection like Lines of Thoughts. My most popular titles are Ujasiri, To Live again, Broken Cloud, This Town: a postcard of terror, and my latest Africaan epic fantasy series, Sorrows of Udi. They all can be found on Amazon, iBooks, Okadabooks, Bambooks, Barnes & Nobles, Kobo and Jumia and practically everywhere books are sold globally.

FOO: What is the most fascinating thing about Writing?

RA: You set out writing and overwhelmed by the realization that you are creating an entire world and making characters who for all you care are as real as your neighbors. You are god to these characters. You kill them when you want to, throw them into a ditch when you want to or even  make their colleague kidnap their cat or buy them lunch, depending on your mood. But this all becomes a thousand times more exciting when you get to a point in writing the story, where these character you once own get out of hand and begin to act and react their own way and you have nothing to do about it than to follow and tell their stories the exact way they want it told. At this point, the pride is overwhelming, this is when you have truly created something. At this point you can’t leave this book unfinished, it must be read by the world and even you can’t wait to discover what happens next in the story.

FOO: Do you have writing Mentors?

RA: Not particularly by way of mentors, but I have admired a number of writers whom I have wished I could get close to and learn from them. What I often do is get a hold of as many of their books as I can and read them all. Some of them are Lawrence Sanders and Stephen King. Lawrence for his pacing style and how he infuses humour to an otherwise serious plot and Stephen for the confidence you can practically see driping from his pages.

FOO: Is there anything you think the Writing Industry can do to get better?

RA: Yes, I think aside from the efforts of publishers and book distributors, authors need to promote their books more, they need to talk about their crafts to the world more aggressively especially on social media. As a publisher, each time I get a mail from a writer seeking a publishing deal, I first check them out on social media. If from a first glance at their profiles I cant tell they are writers then I don’t take them seriously. If you are a writer, then let everyone who know your first name know you write also. If I google your name, will I find any link or information that tells me you are a writer? I think this is what the industry needs to get from the writers to move forward because the more of us out there bringing awareness of writing to the general public, the easier it will be to get people reading our books.

FOO: What is your fashion sense, on a scale of 1-10 ?

RA: 6, I’m more bothered about what is convenient and comfortable than what is fashionable.

FOO: Do you have a specific time for writing?

RA:  No, I write when I want.

FOO: What sort/ genre of books do you read?

RA: Thriller, fantasy with good suspense, espionage, and mystery.

FOO: If you were to go on a date with an Author or Writer, who would that be and why?

RA: Chibundu Onuzo, I have a few questions for her.

FOO: Do you think Writers should depend on the profits of their writing alone?( What's your opinion on Writer's having a side hustle?)

RA: Actually because of the current state of the local writing scene, I think writing should be your side hustle until you have gotten a number of titles out and gathered well enough audience that sales can sustain your livehood.

FOO: If you were to go on a vacation, what will be the five things you take along as a Writer?

RA: My laptop, coffee, smart phone, a copy of my previous books if I’m in the first draft stage of writing or a copy of another author’s book if I’m beyond the first draft, and my wife.

FOO: Drop your social media handles so your readers can get in touch with you.

RA: Facebook: Ray Anyasi, Instagram: @author_ray. Twitter: @rayanyasi