Hi guys! It's your girl, Pec—
*Mic feedback screeches
**Adjusts mic; clears throat
Um, sorry about that technical glitch, but it's been resolved now, I hope.
Anyway, PeculiarPraise is here once again. I bet you guys thought I have gone on one of my notorious hiatuses again. Honestly, it's beginning to look like that, especially since I'm back to school. But, nevermind, at least I'm here now.
Today, we're bringing something special to the table. A first-of-its-kind phenomenon on this space.
We have in the house a lady of virtue whose hands God has used to script stories that are outstanding. She has authored two wonderful books, Love’s Direction and Love's Beacon, both of which are Nigerian Christian romance fiction.
She is none other than IyanuOluwa Olorode.
*Cue the standing ovation.
PeculiarPraise: Hello, IyanuOluwa! Tell us some interesting things about yourself.
IyanuOluwa: Hi Praise! Interesting things? Well, I'm an author. I'm a daughter of God. I'm a first-born, a sister and a daughter as well.
I'm a lawyer from 8 to 5 and a writer, editor, and author assistant from 5 to 8. I'm an INFP and a foodie.
PeculiarPraise: Yay, co-firstborn tinz. Cheers to all the female first borns who are also authors.
Also, for those who don't know, INFP stands for 'introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving', a personality type in the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
So, IyanuOluwa, asides writing, what other hobbies do you indulge in?
IyanuOluwa: I love music a whole lot. I'm almost always listening to music. I'll listen to any song in any language, so long as the melody moves me.
I love watching videos of people cooking, hoping to recreate their recipes, but money and time has not permitted me, but one day sha.
I read too when time permits me, and I indulge in watching movies at time when I should be writing.
PeculiarPraise: Yay! So you guys know who to go to for music recommendations, ‘cause Iyanu is a guru when it comes to that.
What inspired you to dive into the world of Christian fiction, especially with that uniquely Nigerian touch?
IyanuOluwa: I started out writing secular romance, and I used it as a crutch when I went through a major disappointment in my life. At the time, I was angry with God, so while I was still a Christian and going to church, writing was my god.
But trying to use something as small as writing to fill the void only God can fill could only last for so long. By October 2020, I was so depressed, longing for something yet not knowing what it was. I had suicidal thoughts. I couldn't kill myself, so I went to church one Sunday in October and asked God to kill me, because I was fed up with life. God didn't (obviously), rather He embraced me with His loving arms and told me He loved me.
After that encounter, I knew I couldn't go back to writing secular romance, but I didn't know what else to write. That was all I had ever written. I was facing a conundrum. Luckily, I had the opportunity to talk to Tope Omotosho. She gave me two books to read—her book, Once Upon A First Love and Joyce Meyer's How to Hear From God (I'm not sure if this is the exact title). Anyway, these books opened my eyes to see that God is my first love and that He wanted me to write Christian fiction. It wasn't until February 2021 the Lord laid the idea for Love's Beacon in my mind again.
Writing Christian fiction with a uniquely Nigerian touch, I'd say is my writing style. My characters are Nigerian(well, most are). They should sound like Nigerians and face problems normal Nigerians face. I want anyone to be able to say something about Nigeria, famz Nigeria after reading my books.
PeculiarPraise: Hmmm. That testimony is so deep. Thank God for encounters and growth.
Do you have any ‘writer quirks’ or habits that fuel your writing routine? (We’re talking random rituals, odd writing hours, or a serious snack obsession.)
IyanuOluwa: Hmm. I don't know if this is a quirk, but most of the time, I need to have a playlist that's at least an hour long before I start writing a book. Music helps me know the characters and get inspiration for the plot, so I need to have enough ammo to start a writing project. The playlists for Love's Beacon and Love's Direction were compiled as far back as 2021. And most of the songs in the playlist for the rest of the books in the series were compiled in 2022 and 2023. I've even started compiling playlists for future releases, God sparing us.
I also have Pinterest boards for each character or main character and significant side character. I also have YouVersion bookmarks for certain scenarios in my books. Sometimes, while reading the Bible, certain verses leap at me, seeming applicable to certain things my characters might go through or counsel that is relevant to them, I bookmark those verses and refer to them later while drafting.
PeculiarPraise: Nice! I also love having instrumental music playing as I write. I should try the Pinterest thing for my future writing projects.
So, Iyanu, you've published two books in The Way Home Series, Love's Beacon and Love's Direction. Could you give us a hint about the inspiration behind both books?
IyanuOluwa: The major premise for both books came from church. With Love's Direction, during Sunday School, the teacher made a joke, asking if a man who had two wives before he was born again would divorce one when he became born again. And for Love's Beacon, a certain couple got married at church and everyone said the wife wasn't as spiritual or right for the husband. In my head, I wondered if theirs was a Hosea and Homer story, and I decided to tell a contemporary retelling.
PeculiarPraise: If your books were to be adapted into Nigerian movies, who would you want to play your main characters? (Feel free to cast your dream Nollywood lineup!)
IyanuOluwa: Omo! This question… Well, I'm only choosing based on the vibes I get from the actors and not based on their resemblance to the characters or their ethnicity or their religion/lifestyle.
For Love's Direction
Sophia - Ireti Doyle
Derin - Eso Dike
Julia - Genoveva Umeh
Helen - Temitope Olowoniyan
For Love's Beacon
Regina - Elma Mbadiwe-Aluko/Efe Irele
Dapo - Kenneth Okolie/Bobby Ekpe
Tomini - Ini Dima-Okojie/Zainab Balogun
Dan - Ibrahim Suleiman
PeculiarPraise: I'll just pretend I am not downright clueless about all these actors and actresses and just wow, what a perfect cast choice. Don't blame me. Nollywood and I aren't particularly friends. He he...
IyanuOluwa, be a darling and tell us a bit about your accomplishments in the literary space.
IyanuOluwa: Accomplishments kwa? Have I accomplished anything? I don't know o.
PeculiarPraise: Hmmm. Brethren, be not deceived. That's what ‘they’ say. Humility pro max. I comment my reserve. I'll not expose you, sis.
Off that topic, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever had to Google for the sake of your story? (Be honest – we won’t judge!)
IyanuOluwa: Hmmmm. Weirdest? Does the etymology of situationship count as weird?
PeculiarPraise: Which one is etymology of situationship for goodness sake?
Okay o. What’s the funniest or most surprising reaction you’ve gotten from a reader about your book?
IyanuOluwa: Well, this particular reader sent me her Kindle highlights and the comments she made in Love's Beacon while reading and they were hilarious.
It was a delight to read all her comments.
PeculiarPraise: Awww… I understand. It's the same feeling I get when readers make inline comments to my books on Wattpad.
Was there a character in your book who refused to do what you wanted? (We know they sometimes have minds of their own!)
IyanuOluwa: Hmmm. For me, it was Dan. He just wanted to be a perfect boyfriend and I struggled to find a reason for him to break up with You Know Who, but his perfectionism ended up being his Achilles heel. If you know what I mean.
PeculiarPraise: Me sef, I was wondering, because that Dan guy was just too perfect to be real. But I was wary about him because of Dapo. IYKYK.
Iyanu, you know this axiom in the writing space: 'write what you know.' Which part of your story is based on real-life experiences—something readers would never guess?
IyanuOluwa: Ahh. I write a bit of myself into each of my characters, so a lot of my real life experiences are in my books. A lot. But one a reader would never guess is that I used to work in an organization in Banana Island. Funny how I drafted Love's Direction before I even left school. It would seem like God orchestrated Julia to live in Banana Island.
PeculiarPraise: It's plenty! Banana Island ajebos!
Any work in progress we should look forward to?
IyanuOluwa: Yes! By the grace of God, I'm currently working on the next two books in The Way Home Series. One is a continuation of Love's Direction. The other features Danlami and his new love interest. I'm looking at release dates in Q4 2025 and Q3 2026 respectively, but nothing is certain yet. If you want to know more about this, you should follow me on Instagram. I'm @_abikewrites .
PeculiarPraise: Whooooo! I'm so pumped up about this news. I can't seriously wait for their release. I guess I have to. Sigh…
In your books, you used footnotes, which isn't really conventional in the fiction genre. Can you explain the reason behind that?
IyanuOluwa: I read a Nigerian book—Dazzling Mirage, if my memory serves me right—that employed footnotes, and I found it so much easier and better than a glossary at the end of the book. As a reader, especially when reading books with languages I'm not familiar with, I'm inconvenienced when I have to go all the way to the ending to find out what something on page 36 means. And I find it a bit too convenient and unreal when the translation is included in the dialogue. Nigerians do not speak and translate in the same sentence (at least, most of the time).
I felt footnotes would be a great way to carry everyone along.
PeculiarPraise: Nice choice. And a very thoughtful one at that, especially for an international audience.
I think it's safe at this point for me to make a little confession. So, I signed up to be one of Iyanu’s ARC reader for both books much earlier this year. But the thing was, school work was choking me then. But I have this app called ReadEra that I use to convert text to audio and read on the go, while doing chores, strolling and stuff. However, the footnotes on each page really broke the flow of the narration and so I dropped the books before even finishing the first chapter chapter. It was when I got a break and sat down with the books that I realised what I'd missed all this while. The footnotes are an absolute gem.
Another thing I noticed was that your book covers are super cool. We'd like to hear the inspiration behind them.
IyanuOluwa: Thank you!
My book covers and titles were inspired by song lyrics. For Love's Direction, the title and the cover were inspired by Phil Wickham's It's Always Been You, particularly the line that says, "My northern star, your love will be the compass of my heart…" For Love's Beacon, the title and cover were inspired by Steffany Gretzinger's Out of Hiding, particularly the line that says, "I'll be your lighthouse when you're lost at sea…"
PeculiarPraise: Awww… See that music thing again, guys?
Are your books available in hardcopy? If yes, where can we get them?
IyanuOluwa: My books are available in paperback on Amazon. Love's Direction is available in paperback on PabPub for now. I'm working on getting both books printed and in different stores.
PeculiarPraise: If you could give young Christian writers in Nigeria one piece of advice, what would it be?
IyanuOluwa: Trust God!
If He has placed a story in your heart, trust that He will give you all to birth the story. When I say all, I mean all. Wait on Him and trust Him.
The publication of Love's Beacon and Love's Direction is a testimony to this. I tried to run faster than God, but it didn't work. When it was His time, He did everything perfectly.
PeculiarPraise: Indeed God's timing is the best.
What’s your best Nigerian dish? Bonus point if you can prepare it.
IyanuOluwa: Are you challenging me?
Jokes apart, this is very hard to choose o. But my favourite food of all time is dodo (fried plantains) and fried eggs. Fit fam people should look away, abeg.
And yes, I can make it.
PeculiarPraise: Yay! So when I come visiting, I should expect dodo and eggs. ‘Cause I love them too.
If not writing, then what?
IyanuOluwa: I'll become a chef or a baker. I still fantasize about going to culinary school. Let's see what God does, sha.
PeculiarPraise: Let's goooo! Meaning the dodo and fried eggs will not be ordinary. I'm already salivating.
Share your best Bible verse with us. (We'll appreciate your insight too)
IyanuOluwa: HEBREWS 13:5B!!!
"...For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee".
God has proved this verse in my life over and over. E no dey go leave or transfer! He is the God who stays even when it doesn't look like it to you. Pardon my words, but God is like a stubborn goat. Even if you chase Him away, He comes back for you over and over again. He can be trusted, abeg.
That's on periodt!
PeculiarPraise: Oh, wonderful choice and insight.
Finally, give a quick shout out to your potential readers. Convince us to buy your book in your own way!
IyanuOluwa: Ahhh! You want me to market my books. I'm not a copywriter but here goes…
My books are Christian fiction, but Christian fiction for a specific set of people. Christian Fiction for those who feel broken in one way or the other and need a reminder that no matter where they are, God loves them. My books tell the tales of broken people and the God who loves them. If you feel you're imperfect, there is a character in my book you will surely be able to relate to. My books aren't always fluffy. They explore dark themes that plague many Christians, things we are not proud to talk about. But there is hope even in the darkness. My books will also make you laugh and fall in love because I love a good laugh and I love love. If you're Nigerian, you'll be able to relate to my books. If you're not Nigerian, you'll be able to learn or experience Nigerian culture.
So, what am I guaranteeing?
Hope-filled stories
Stories that showcase the love of God in a broken world
Flawed characters you can relate to
Laughter, tears, goosebumps, squeals, and swoons
Beauty of Nigerian culture and life
If you love these, you can find my books here: linktr.ee/iyanuoluwaolorode
Thanks for having me Praise. It's an honour.
PeculiarPraise: I should thank you for honouring my humble invitation, sis. I must add that you inspire me. Keep writing for God's glory.
And there you have it, guys! Doing this was so much fun!
Before we go, let me give a quick sneak peek into IyanuOluwa’s two books and my brief reviews for both.
LOVE'S DIRECTION: THE WAY HOME SERIES BOOK 1
BLURB
Stone hard. Armour tank thick.
Julia Onoja has developed a skin so tough nothing ever hurts her. Not her boyfriend getting his co-star pregnant, and not her best friend cutting her out of her life.
She couldn’t care less.
When her father passes on, it’s just another death and just another funeral.
Except it’s not.
Not when she sees Derin again.
Aderinsola Cole has only loved one woman his entire life. Back then, she wasn’t the tough, rigid and depraved woman she is now. No, the Julia he fell in love with was sweet, kind and had a smile for everyone. When he’s invited to her father’s wake, he expects to find a way to make amends for the hurts he caused her, and maybe, he can show her the path to the God who saved him.
The problem is God and Derin aren’t exactly Julia’s favourite people. And she’s not ready to forgive either.
MY REVIEW
There are no sufficient words to describe the immersive experience I enjoyed while reading through this book.
All I can say is Wow! Regina, a character in this novel, aptly described it: It sounds like Telemundo Drama stuff!
Like, I could relate even more closely to the vibe of the book, being a Nigerian myself. And boy, did I learn quite a lot from the footnotes (First time I'm seeing this applied in a fictional book, but it was so well done that anyone from around the world would have no trouble understanding the colloquial slangs and whatnots that spiced this book).
Most importantly, I loved the way the author weaved the powerful themes of God's unconditional love and redemption. Indeed there is no one who is past God's mercy.
I have a lot to comment about each of the characters, especially Julia, who was a diva with drama, but I don't want to give spoilers, so...
Take your flowers, Iyanu! Please keep writing. I can't wait to read more published works from you. God bless you for all you do.
LOVE'S BEACON: THE WAY HOME SERIES BOOK 2
BLURB
Goal/Wish List Mini Cooper that I didn’t buy with my own money. Check.
MSc from London College of Fashion. Check.
Become a millionaire, not just because of dad’s money. Check.
Have at least five thriving businesses. Check.
Get married to the love of my life. FUTURE IMPOSSIBLE TENSE!
Regina has everything she possibly wants. At least almost everything. Two things elude her.
One. Dapo.
Dapo is all shades wrong and not hers. He’s her sister’s man, yet her heart can’t stop beating for him.
Why? Maybe because he has the other one thing she knows she can never have—a relationship with God.
Something she once had but foolishly threw away.
Rachel is wife material. Not just any wife material. Pastor’s wife material. She’s godly, calm, and reserved.
She loves the Lord, and she’s pretty enough that they’d both look good on a church poster. Dapo’s plan to become the youngest youth pastor at Solid Rock Assembly is set in motion and meets an abrupt end when his fiancée marries Brother Bisola instead.
Enraged and heartbroken, Dapo finds himself nursing a heartbreak and feelings towards his best friend’s baby sister, Regina.
Regina is all shades wrong. She’s loud, impulsive, has close to zero interest in the things of the Lord, wears skimpy clothes, and is too beautiful for her own good. Despite all the red flags, he can’t stop himself from loving her. And three words ring loud and clear: RECIPE FOR DISASTER.
Regina believes in fate. Could it be fate bringing them together? Or is there something else, something more powerful intent on weaving something marvellous out of that disaster?
Love’s Beacon is a Nigerian contemporary loose retelling of the Hosea and Gomer story.
MY REVIEW
Love's Beacon had me swooning and squealing too many times to count.
The love story between Regina and Dapo was too relatable on so many levels. The doubt, the emotional turmoil, learning to forgive and let go...
I laughed at many instances in this story. The Nigerian banter between the besties in this story had me rolling multiple times.
One thing I appreciated was the way the author beautifully described the outfits of the characters. It helped with my mind's visualisation and also helped to make a statement about the personality of each character.
And the scenery and food descriptions were also so detailed.
Thumbs up for the bidding scene for the architecture project that Yagazie did. As an architecture student, I must say that scene was spot on.
But, most especially, I really appreciate the depth of the message of God's unending love to us. Just like Hosea and Gomer, God loves us relentlessly despite our flaws.
This story definitely earned a five star rating. I can't wait for the release of the next book in The Way Home Series.
Alright, guys! Thanks for sticking with us till the end. Till the next author interview, toodles!
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