Romance writer and author of A Very Gidi Christmas, Tomilola Coco Adeyemo, says her debut novel was an attempt to rewrite the love stories of her loved ones: ‘In my head, I was writing a universe where the things that were wrong in real life became right.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
Growing up, my mum was an English and Literature teacher who studied English and Music for her National Certificate in Education (NCE). She had me early, and I read widely and randomly from her collection of books at a very young age. For instance, I read Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s The Black Hermit when I was eight, a summary of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (that my mum used for her final year project) before I was ten, and Yoruba plays like Akinwumi Isola’s Kòṣeégbé and Ólekú before I was a teen. I would also flip through Derek Llewellyn-Jones’s Every Woman out of curiosity. But there were also ‘age appropriate’ books like Kola Onadipe’s Sugar Girl, Cyprian Ekwensi’s An African Night’s Entertainment, Nyengi Koin’s The Second Chance (which I think was the first romance novel I ever read) and Enid Blyton’s The Wishing-Chair, which lured me so easily into a world of fantasy.
If your life so far was a series of texts, which text (fiction or non-fiction) represents you at this moment?
That will be ‘Birdsong’. It is a piece by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, published by The New Yorker in 2010, which I have read an unhealthy number of times. It does not represent me wholly, but many elements of the story epitomize the world around me at the moment.
What’s the last thing you read that changed your mind about something?
A draft of Hafsatu Bebi by Fatima Bala. It made me abandon the project I was working on then for the one I am now working on, because the story’s effortlessly beautiful and the painful love story sparked the urgent need for me to work on my current project first. Before then, it was Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Thanks to that novel, I rewrote the opening scene of my book, A Very Gidi Christmas.
Things are changing and our works are becoming more mainstream in recent times, but more romance works deserve more mainstream attention.
What is your writing process: edit as you write or draft first, then edit?
My writing process is heavily dependent on my frame of mind, how much time I have, or what I am writing.
What was your process for writing your debut romance novel, A Very Gidi Christmas?
At the risk of sounding pretentious, there wasn’t a single process. During the writing, I was working as a head writer and story editor for an eight-episode young adult show with an insanely tight deadline, while simultaneously working on social marketing content for an upcoming Netflix title for an agency I work for. So, on some days, I had the luxury to structure. On other days, I wrote either on my phone or laptop, depending on which device was closest. However, I often had music (mainly old R&B and Hip-hop, sometimes old Afropop/Afrobeats), copious amounts of coffee and soundtracks to old Nollywood romance movies (because of the novel’s nod to old Nollywood classics) to set the mood. And I had a deck that roughly visualized my plot points.
A Very Gidi Christmas is ‘a gift of resilience, ambition, and forgotten love wrapped in a sexy bow’. What motivated you to write a love story?
I grew up surrounded by many broken relationships and marriages, and love stories simply became an escape. In my head, I was writing a universe where the things that were wrong in real life became right. So, my motivation for A Very Gidi Christmas is what has always pushed me to write love stories: creating a reality where I can (re)write happily-ever-afters or happy-for-nows for the people I deeply care for, who are deeply unhappy in their real-life relationships.
What’s one thing about the reactions to the book that surprised you?
I think it was how widely it spread shortly after its release. I was briefly at the Ake Festival less than a month after its release, and a few people approached me, asking if I had written A Very Gidi Christmas. I was there, like, ‘Okay, that’s wild.’ But at the same time, I felt giddy and grateful.
What’s something simple but surprising about writing and publishing a book?
It has to be the editing process for me. The quite exhausting process was not surprising, per se, because I was not expecting a walk in the park, but it was more stressful than I had anticipated.
I grew up surrounded by many broken relationships and marriages, and love stories simply became an escape. In my head, I was writing a universe where the things that were wrong in real life became right.
What is the first love story that you read?
I don’t know if it was my first, but Koin’s The Second Chance was the first love story I read that stuck with me. I loved it to bits.
What is the greatest love story that you have ever read?
I would not describe these stories as the greatest. I like to think about them as unique in their own ways, but some have stuck with me longer than others have. For instance, I loved reading The Second Chance because the love transcended time and class and because, at the time, I had never read anything like it. I love Tia Williams’s Seven Days in June because the love was deeply passionate, sensitive, intentional, and it grew past its toxic phase into a healthy, beautiful love. This is quite controversial in some circles, but I love the love story between Obinze and Ifemelu in Adichie’s Americanah because it is very ‘meant-to-be’, very ‘you-will-always-be-home’, and the sex/intimate scenes were very realistic.
Do you wish to explore other themes or genres in the future?
I already have. I am also a screenwriter, and I have written and contributed to different genres during my decade-plus old career in Nollywood, including Nollywood’s first animated feature. In literary fiction, I would love to explore thrillers and satirical comedy in the very near future.
This is quite controversial in some circles, but I loved the love story between Obinze and Ifemelu in Adichie’s Americanah because it is very ‘meant-to-be’, very ‘you-will-always-be-home’, and the sex/intimate scenes were very realistic.
What books would you recommend for Valentine’s season?
Obviously, A Very Gidi Christmas haha! Aanu Ife by Lara T. Kareem and the Sefi Atta classic, Everything Good Will Come. I know the latter has been around for some time, but Valentine’s is about platonic love as much as romantic love and in the heart of Everything Good Will Come lies a beautiful story about friendship and sisterhood.
What is the most meaningful piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
Just write. I know it sounds banal, but it has worked for me a great deal.
And what’s the first book you read that made you think you wanted to be a writer?
I think it’s the other way around because I just always wanted to write, as cliché as that might sound. So, wanting to write compelled me to be curious enough to read a lot.
What book do you feel has not yet received the attention it deserves?
I would say contemporary romance novels. Things are changing and our works are becoming more mainstream in recent times, but more romance works deserve more mainstream attention.
What are your reading/writing goals and expectations for 2025?
I am quite superstitious about these things, so I tend not to publicly share. However, I hope to experiment a lot with writing, and I intend to read many authors that have been on my wishlist for some months now.
What is your favourite topic to write or read about these days?
Yoruba spirituality deeply fascinates me, and I keep reading, learning and writing about it. I learnt more about Ẹgbẹ́ and Òṣùmàrè recently and I can’t wait to write about them.
Valentine’s is about platonic love as much as romantic love and in the heart of Everything Good Will Come lies a beautiful story about friendship and sisterhood.
What are you currently working on?
Ah again, too superstitious to really share. But I can tease. It is romance. It is way more passionate than A Very Gidi Christmas and the main character is a boss lady who is an absolute man-eater.
Question from Lara T. Kareem: When was the first time it hit you that you were no longer an aspiring author and what was happening?
I know this is a question about the success attributed to being a published author. But I think my head space is still in a place where I am still hustling hard and pushing and striving to get better so that the people who support my work and keep rooting for me will keep being proud of me. So perhaps I am no longer aspiring to be published but I am still aspiring to certain heights in my career.
Bonus: Please suggest a question for a future author’s First Draft
What is the craziest/most unusual thing you have done/read while researching for your story?
Who should we interview next?
Fatima Bala⎈
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