Why I’m fascinated with romance genre – Amaka Azie

Amaka Azie is a UK-based Nigerian romance novelist. Her novels include ‘Melodies of Love’, ‘Thorns and Roses’, ‘Starting Over Again’, and ‘The Senator’s Daughter’. Here, she talks about the romance genre, winning awards and more.   Bookshelf: Last year you were named one of the top hundred influential Nigerian writers under forty by Nigerian Writers […]

Amaka Azie is a UK-based Nigerian romance novelist. Her novels include ‘Melodies of Love’, ‘Thorns and Roses’, ‘Starting Over Again’, and ‘The Senator’s Daughter’. Here, she talks about the romance genre, winning awards and more.

 

Bookshelf: Last year you were named one of the top hundred influential Nigerian writers under forty by Nigerian Writers Awards (NWA). How would you say that has influenced the way you approach writing?

Amaka Azie: I was surprised and grateful for the honour. However, I don’t write to receive accolades. I write because I have a story burning in my heart to share. Of course, my writing has improved. I think the more any author writes, the more confidence the author attains. That’s growth, and practice promotes growth. So, I won’t say the award has influenced my approach to writing, but practice and reading as many books, has.

Bookshelf: You are mainly a romance author. Why did you decide to stick to that genre?

Azie: I have always been fascinated by the idea of love and relationships. The fact that no matter how terrible the previous experience with romantic relationships have been, people keep searching for love, for acceptance. Most of the conversations in my adult life with friends and family are dominated by relationship drama. It is no wonder my fascination with romance.

As a teenager, I searched actively for romance novels with African main characters that I could identify with but found very few. Instead, our bookshops and libraries were populated with romance novels, Mills and Boons with non-African characters. This always disappointed me. 

So, when I came across Helen Ovbiagele’s romance novels from Pacesetters, African publishers popular in the nineties, I went wild. I used my pocket money to purchase all her books. I carry them around with me everywhere I move to.

I want to be a part of brave authors showcasing that romance occurs in Africa too. The continent is not only riddled with poverty, wars and political instability. Africans fall in love too.

Bookshelf: There’s this cliché about romance novels, where two people who love each other always end up together. This has influenced negative opinions people have about the genre. What do you have to say about this?

Azie: Of course, some romance novels are shallow and predictable, and it’s okay to enjoy such books. Sometimes, reading is a form of escapism. Not every book should be full of terror, murder and suspense. Some books are there to make one feel good about themselves, forget their problems and have a good laugh. Just like movies. I sometimes go to the cinema to watch movies that are ridiculous but extremely funny, just to take my mind off reality.

However, there are romance novels with suspense, and some have real life situations interwoven into them. For example, in my novel, ‘Starting Over Again’, one of the characters has sickle cell disease. That’s a real life serious medical condition. I wanted to show that people with Sickle Cell Anaemia are also entitled to love.

My novel, ‘The Senator’s Daughter’ also tackles issues with mental health and political corruption. There is also a bit of suspense interwoven in the novel. 

Many other romance authors out there, use romance as a baseline story for thriller and suspense novels. So, my response to this is, romance genre has evolved from the simple Mills and Boons predictable love stories, to complex and exciting ones.

Bookshelf: How did creative writing begin for you, generally?

Azie: It all started for me when I was made the press club president of my secondary school, Federal Government College, Onitsha. I was responsible for putting interesting articles together to read during assembly every week. The entire process excited me because I enjoy reading. I learnt how to express my thoughts with words adequate enough to convey them. 

I also wrote many short stories which I passed amongst my classmates in secondary school. They were so popular that there were queues for them. I remember vividly how a teacher seized one of my handwritten novels because a classmate of mine was reading it during English class. I was so anxious when she called me to the staffroom the next day, thinking she would tell me off for the kissing scene I had written, but she smiled and told me she enjoyed the story and I should consider writing as a career option.

I self-published my first book, Melodies of Love under the guidance of Accomplish Press in 2016. The response and reviews have been very encouraging. 

Bookshelf: Do you intend to explore other genres, aside romance, in the future?

Azie: For now, I only enjoy writing romance. I have thought about writing a satirical novel about my experience growing up with a religious mother, if only she would let me. I’m still trying to butter her up. 

Bookshelf: How do you view the development of the romance genre in Nigeria? 

Azie: I definitely want more romance authors in Nigeria. I hope in the future, the typical picture of our Nigerian bookstores would include romance novels with African main characters that are brave, exciting, and defy the stereotypical representation of black love. 

There are already some romance authors that are engaging; Ankara press is definitely a pioneer in that aspect. But I want more African/Nigerian romance novels out there with attractive book covers, exciting storylines, adventurous and brave heroes and heroines. 

Bookshelf: Nigeria is said to be a very religious country, and so romance writers may not be having it easy being forthright with their content. How have you handled this? What negative criticism have you had about your work in that light, if any, and how did you respond?

Azie: I am not aware of any religion that forbids romance, love or sex. In fact, with my Christian background, I know there is a part of the Bible called Songs of Solomon that includes a vivid description of romantic love. The common content of most religions is love. So, romance is a part of religion. 

I believe that any author who restricts their expression of artistic inspiration, isn’t ready to grow. If opinions matter more than art, there would be no beauty in the world. One thing I have learnt in my few years publishing novels is that everyone has an opinion and they can differ dramatically. So, an author should write until they are satisfied with their content. 

Of course, I have received criticism, mostly about the sexual content of my novels. My response is that I write romance, and sex is a very important aspect of love and relationships. Just as a reader who loves thrillers shouldn’t expect the author to skip a gruesome murder scene, a romance author shouldn’t be expected to leave out a well-written sex scene. 

In fact, I hate reading a romance novel where the author has so skilfully created sexual tension between the characters but failed to demonstrate how it resolves. To me, it’s like having a lovely meal without desert. 

I think a sex scene should be engaging and descriptive if included in a romance novel, and not glossed over as though the author is afraid of expressing themselves. Sex is a natural and vital aspect of adult life. The more we talk about it, the less of a taboo it becomes and the more people engage in healthier sexual relationships.

Bookshelf: What are you working on at the moment?

Azie: I am currently working on a novel set in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, about a lady who leaves her first love to marry a rich politician for money. She soon discovers that all that glitters isn’t gold. Lots of drama, twists and turns, occurs in-between before she reunites with her first love. The tentative title is ‘The Governor’s Wife’, although it may change.