The REAL Life of a Writer!!! January 12, 2012
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You know as I sit here blogging and alternating, adding things to the Tunde books, or my new memoir, or adding stitches to my new knitted fingerless yellow gloves and
eating, I think, writing is not what people think.
I’m sure I used to think, the life of a writer was sitting all day writing. But now years into it, no way is it that way. Carol just passed by and asked “how’s the writing?” and I innocently said “good”, when I thought how I used to think how that looks.
Now for some writers it might look different. Some say they get up at 5 and sit down to write at 8 and write until 4 and return to edit at 8. Boy oh boy! how dreary. More power to them. I instead, go with the flow. (as you can see from all the pictures I’ve taken of myself with my laptop webcam). Oh how anal and orderly folks hate that! The key for me is listening to the voice of God and making sure that I’m doing what my Father in Heaven is doing.
If I’m in sync with SOLG (Spirit of the Living God) all day I’ll be O.K. It’s when I think I’ll follow Stephen Covey’s plan for the work day or veer off into work mode like at Cable & Wireless or DoD or PrincessAyo.com days. Why my having my hair on top of my head today helps me feel more free I don’t know, but as the new year came in I began to feel more free and energized and like nothing can stop me from wallowing in the Presence of the King and being one with my Father God.
The real life of a writer (like me) is to be in the Now. Remain in the present and in the Presence.
Boy, I’m feeling dangerous and frisky and ready to dive off a cliff. I hope it shows up in my work, because I’m not moving from this day bed. LOL
Ayele, the Little Lost Girl June 10, 2010
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AYELE, THE LITTLE LOST GIRL
Ayele was a little 6-year old girl who lived in a village with her mother, her father, her brothers and sisters and all her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. This is the way many children live in Africa, surrounded by lots of family and friends, who may have to come to stay. So Ayele had a lot of people around to take care of her. She had a lot of people to play with too. Lots of cousins and brothers and sisters and friends.
She loved to go with her best girlfriends into the woods and hills. They would watch the monkeys play, listen to the birds, swim in the river, mimic the frogs and catch silver fish with their bare hands. It was a fun life, and it was summer all the time. It’s like that in a lot of African countries.
Ayele’s favorite thing to do was to climb the hills around her village and pick flowers. There were all kinds of flowers of all kinds of colors. Sometimes lovely white sticky sap would run out of them when she plucked them, and run down her fingers. But she would wipe her hands on the lush green grass, and go on.
One day when Ayele was out playing with her friends they all decided to go to a particular hill that had beautiful flowers. Ayele remembered that her parents had told her to always tell them where she was going. One of Ayele friends said, “Let’s go tell our mommies.” But Ayele thought that if she told her mother that she was going to the hills, she would say Ayele shouldn’t go because the sun was going down. So, Ayele quickly said, “No, let’s just go quickly and come right back, and surprise them with the beautiful flowers.” She started skipping off to the hill, and the other little girls followed, laughing, and cartwheeling all the way.
They got to the top of the hill, panting and breathless, and found the most gorgeous patch of flowers. They started picking the flowers as fast as they could and made a game of picking the most flowers. In their excitement and joy they did not notice that the sun was going down faster and faster or that the flowers were beginning to close up for the night, curling their petals.
In the meantime in Ayele’s village, mothers were busy shouting for daughters to come and help with dinner. “Ayele”! “Ayele”! Ayele’s mother shouted, “Come in here, you know it’s time to prepare dinner!” Ayele’s mother, like all the other moms, wasn’t getting any answers. One mom would shout over to another’s house to see if her little girl was over there. Another would shout to her friend. Very soon, all the mothers knew that none of their little girls could be found. They met in the village square. Fathers were close behind them. Dinner was forgotten. “Where could those little ones be!” they thought, and the sun was about to disappear over the hills. When that happened there would be no light at all. Ayele’s little village didn’t have electricity yet.
The mothers and fathers lit their hurricane lamps and began to search everywhere. They searched the woods, down by the river, in the farms…no one.
In the meantime high up on the hill the little girls suddenly realized that they could hardly see the flowers, so they began to walk back to the village. That’s when they found out they weren’t sure which way they had come. They tried first one way and then another. AND THEN DARKNESS FELL. It was really scary. The only thing they could do was sit. Ayele began to cry. She remembered stories her big brother had told her about leopards and night snakes. She just wanted to be home having dinner. The other little girls told Ayele to stop crying like a baby, someone would come for them. But she couldn’t stop crying, so they made up a song about her:
“Ayele lost her mommy,
Ayele lost her mommy,
Poor Ayele, poor Ayele,
Ayele lost her mommy.”
The song made Ayele laugh, and it made them all feel better, so they sang together, louder and louder.
By this time the mommies had reached the hill. They searched and searched under every bush. As they came up the hill, one of them said, “Wait, listen, I hear something.” And sure enough it was the little girls singing:
“Ayele lost her mommy,
Ayele lost her mommy,
Poor Ayele, poor Ayele,
Ayele lost her mommy.”
The mommies shouted to the daddies that they had found them, and ran up the hill, hurricane lamps swinging madly. They followed the sound of singing and just over the top of the hill… there they were!!! Their little girls. The mommies were breathless, worried and angry, but when they saw their daughters they just couldn’t scold them. Mommies ran to little girls and little girls ran toward hurricane lamp lights and finally into mommies arms. They were glad to be found and excited to be going home. They showed off their flowers and all the way home sang the song together:
“Ayele lost her mommy,
Ayele lost her mommy,
Poor Ayele, poor Ayele,
Ayele lost her mommy”.
copyright © 1997 Carroll Ayo Durodola
To see this story where it was featured in Yoruba Alliance magazine, click on this link. http://www.yorubaalliance.org/Newsletter/newsletter35.htm On the page scroll down and click NEXT to see some great pictures from the festivals.
Here’s where you download your copy of Tunde, the Little Nigerian Prince and the Soldier Ants May 9, 2010
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This is the second book in the Tunde series of children’s books about Tunde, the Little Nigerian Prince. In this one, Tunde gets into trouble with some ants when his mother sends him on an errand. They are not just any ants though, they are soldier ants and they bite hard!
This book is in e-book form, which means it can be downloaded to your computer and printed off by you. You can print as many copies as you want. You can print it on any kind of paper you want. It’s all yours. Click on this link. Tunde, the Little Nigerian Prince
Enjoy!
Princess Ayo
The Children’s Writer April 5, 2010
Posted by childrenswriter100 in Uncategorized.Tags: children, fantasy, gooky, laughing, writer
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Are you are children’s writer? What are some of the frustrations you going through? We are a different kinda group. I can’t help but think that we’re a little gooky. We live in a world that is different from our adult world. So in a way we live in a fantasy, whether we are are writing about goslings or children with disabilities.
Some of us never smile and people crack up laughing when we say “I’m a children’s writer”, others of us wear huge tall African head ties or elaborate fabrics; still others of us wear costumes like my friend on www.JacketFlap.com, Glee.
Here’s one of the crazy things we are apt to do. Write a children’s book and then sell it for Free! Yes, I did! Here it is – “Tunde, the Little Nigerian Prince and the Soldier Ants” and you can contact me to get your downloadable e-book. It’s the second in the Tunde series of books for children ages 4-8. In this story Tunde gets into trouble with some ants when his mother sends him on an errand. They are not just any ants though, they are soldier ants and they bite hard! Check out www.KidsStoriesOnline.com where it is also downloadable. Thank you Karen for putting me out there!!!
The blizzard! Oh my! February 10, 2010
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Washington D.C. On The Mall, I think facing the Capital Building.
HRH Princess Carroll Ayo Durodola
Author, Storyteller & Education Consultant
http://childrenswriter100.wordpress.com
http://princessayo.blogspot.com/
http://tundethelittlenigerianprince.blogspot.com
Now ready to be ordered, my e-movie book:
TUNDE, THE LITTLE NIGERIAN PRINCE from me at this address.
‘Tunde is the son of a Nigerian King. He is a very
bright boy and catches the eye of an American
missionary. The missionary wants ‘Tunde to
attend sunday school, but his father, the King,
says “No”. The missionary is persistent and eventually
‘Tunde gets to go to sunday school and then
real school. He grows up to become a doctor and my dad.
More fun with senior citizens February 9, 2010
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Storytelling with Seniors February 8, 2010
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As I move forward as a storyteller I have fond memories of these dear folks at Crescent Ridge Adult Day Care in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It’s such a joy to do this with them and they are so receptive.
Blue Jay Dance December 30, 2009
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The bright, extravagant dandy-looking blue jay danced around his find. He found more knick knacks, colorful things from homes, yards and rubbish heaps that were shining, colorful and odd. He piled them up in the grass and delicately arranged them with his beak. He rearranged them again. They were things that would interest a female blue jay. He looked up. Checked his finds once more.
“She should love this” he thought and flew up to the lowest bough of a bush nearby and let out his mating cry.
Where was she? He heard her at a distance and flew off, his arrangement of love abandoned. He calls to her and she notices him but is not impressed. He begins to gather new objects of interest and arranges them in the tall grass. Once his second heap is perfectly arranged, he sees her fly off, “Oh my favorite berries” she squawks.
Not giving up for any reason he flies off after her. Immediately she settles in a bush of berries, he starts gathering some more pretty objects in front of her. He lets out his mating cry, “How do you like it,” he cries out.
Finally she pays attention to his third heap of Love. “It’s nice. You did a good job.”
“I’ve got 2 others like it, if you’d like to judge the best.”
With a glint in his eye the gorgeous extravagant adorned blue jay, said “Come closer and look.”
She did. And the mating began.
That’s how the Holy Spirit gets us. He gathers some wonderful miracles. A great job, beautiful wife, fun vacation. Even a peaceful, helpful mother-in-law. He keeps arranging beautiful situations that He hopes will cause us to praise Him. Somewhere in the Bible God says of us, “I will prosper him and then he will praise Me”. Finally, when we stop long enough to realize it’s Him, He gets us to change position and come to His side and there!…the intimate relation with the Holy Spirit begins.
Copyright © 2008 Carroll Ayo Durodola
Take this all writers. God’s giving you some comfort October 13, 2009
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“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” — Jesus’ invitation to you in Matthew 11:28-30, The Message.
A Children’s Writer October 1, 2009
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O.K. I know what Quick Press means on WordPress. Just a quick way to post. As a children’s writer I am finding my way in this blogosphere and wondering where I’m going to end up and how it’s going to help my writing and freelancing.
Oh well, God, who sent me here, knows. I guess since this blog is called Childrenswriter100, I’d better say something about my book, “Tunde, the Little Nigerian Prince”. 
‘Tunde is the son of a Nigerian King. He is a very bright boy and catches the eye of an American missionary. The missionary wants ‘Tunde to attend school, but his father, the King, is initially against it. But the missionary is persistent and eventually ‘Tunde gets to go to school. He grows up to become a doctor and my dad. Isn’t that fun!
Children will love reading about Tunde, as he grows up in his village of Egbe, Nigeria, West Africa (which is now a bustling town), having fun, playing with his friends and learning how to behave properly in his culture.
This book, the first of seven in a series, was written for my two children, who needed a story about grandpa. We lived in America and my dad, their grandpa, lived far away in Nigeria. They are now 30 and 26 years old, but my two grandchildren now have the book to enjoy. They are 10 and 6.
In my travels across America since 1991, when I sold it under my own label, it always sold out and children loved to hear it read to them. I hope you enjoy it just as much as everyone else.
