Hi guys!
Check out my short story ‘Soup,’ out today in One Throne Magazine.
Here’s how it happened.
One of the editors, George Filipovic, contacted me on Facebook after ‘Candy Girl’ came out, to ask if I would consider writing for them. I agreed (as you do) and after telling him it would probably be a while (since I can be such a pernickety writer), promptly shelved the matter under ‘sometime in the near or more likely distant future’.
No such luck. I got an email about a month later. A “Hey, we’re still thinking about you and glad you’re going to work with us,” kind of thing, to which my reply was, “Dude, I got nothing,” followed by such hand-wringing, that my fingers were left twisted afterwards.
Then another email a few weeks later: “Hey, so…”
‘But my hands!’ I thought. ‘They is all twisted, like.’ I started to get jittery, so I sent a story in.
“Err…no. What else you got?”
Eh?!
Another email. “We hope you’re not annoyed but we really do want to work with you.”
Then another.
I sweated over something else and sent that.
“We like it. It’s sexy but here’s why it doesn’t work for us. What else you got?”
*@%&!!!!!
I shut down.
Recently I read an article in which an editor spoke about how men resubmit within the first month of a standard ‘We’d like to see more’ rejection letter, while women take six to 12 months and sometimes, do not resubmit at at all. Let me tell you now, it is totally true for me. I thought, ‘I knew it! They only liked Candy Girl and not my work. I’m going to put the request on ice and get back to it. Sometime.’
My subconscious mind started its usual whispering: Or never. They probably hate me. I bet they regret asking me now. It would be better for all of us if I just went away because I’m sure they’re thinking of a way to back out of my train-wreck of a life as well.
With trepidation, I submitted ‘Soup’.
I think the editors over at One Throne are ruddy marvellous. They take their title seeeeeriously, immersing themselves completely in the work. I had to slip into a pair of big girl pants (and cry on the inside, like a winner) because in the editing process, oy, they had me justify every single word and its position. The end product is a story which I’m proud to call my own.
Its accompanying illustration is amazing. It’s by an artist called Erin Lindeke and what she drew is so inspired, I fell in love, IMMEDIATELY. You see these Edogo artist-types eh, they just have one leg in the spirit world. Check it out:
Don’t you think it resembles ukara?
There is also a similarity to ‘Mkpuru Oka’ cloth in her hair. Beautiful, beautiful work. It’s now my screensaver and I think it would make a wonderful tapestry.
Read the magazine, share the story, and help keep One Throne going!
Have a lovely weekend.
How to love Igbo things (or what you will). 