When a parent is a nonfiction writer, getting into the writing world isn’t as hard as it would be if you were the first writer in the family. For Emmanuella, having her mom as a writer meant that she had a beta-reader, editor and her biggest supporter all in one person.
In this Litverse, Emmanuella talks about what it means to write for work and passion and the part her mother’s writing plays in hers.
First of all, who is Emmanuella Omonigho?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Emmanuella Omonigho is a dreamer basically, dreaming of stories to be told and men to admire. She’s interested in telling African stories, in writing and moving & still pictures, stories that aren’t just about our struggle with traumatic experiences but are true to who we are as people of this continent here, and anywhere we find ourselves. Stories with fine men also.
The last line is so real. A couple of years ago, you were Frostyella, now you’re going by your first name, what changed?
Emmanuella Omonigho: The respect and love for my traditional name. Growing up, classmates made fun of Omonigho when I told them it was part of my name. They called me “omo onigo” (bottle seller), and I just didn’t have any love for the name. I didn’t like Emmanuella too, sounded like Emmanuel, then the comedian Emmanuella appeared and it became worse.
Frostyella was like a cool personality, an ice queen with a touch of vintage aesthetics, plus I was really in love with Jack Frost, so I imagined myself as his queen. In 2017, I wrote a Wattpad book titled Omonigho, and I think that was the beginning of my love for the name. It took another couple of years to finally accept that Emmanuella Omonigho could be my name instead Frostyella. I’ll always love Frostyella though.
Evolution, love it. as you evolved, did your writing style evolve too?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Certainly, and there have been several stages of this evolution. My first set of stories from secondary school was telling stories with white characters, my personal favourite was ‘A Magical Experience’. It was a teen urban fantasy story that I thought could make it in the Wattpad space because all my classmates encouraged me that it was good. RIP my self-confidence when the first comment I got was telling me, how flat my self-confidence was.
The next was trying to tell stories from my Nigerian roots, introducing the book, Omonigho. I got a good response for it, having over 50k reads before I took it down because it was bad writing.
And then the phase I’m in, trying to tell the Nigerian version of stories of films I’ve seen and books I’ve read that inspire me. As well as stories of my culture, that I’m actively trying to learn about.
That’s so nice. Great that you mentioned your culture though, you’ve written a sci-fi based on Benin myths haven’t you?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Started writing, actually but I’ve put it to the side because writing SciFi with little knowledge is crazy and writing about a culture you’re just starting to learn better about is also crazy, putting the two together is like going up against an army of gods.
Someday, when I get things right, I’ll open up the document again and make it work. For now, I’m focusing on writing an urban fantasy.
What about urban fantasy?
Emmanuella Omonigho: It’s summarized as ‘if Percy Jackson was an Edo boy and the “Benin deities were real” story.
I have only written four chapters because it’s fighting with me, and I am fighting with it. I’m not a perfectionist, but with this story I feel like I have to make it as perfect as I can, by putting in folktales and myths of the Edo people, writing about a culture that people have found hard to write about because there are no proper documentations like the other part of the world. I think Suyi Okungbowa-Davies once commented on the fact that Edo history isn’t so easy to come about, which is why he mixes his fantasies with inspiration from other parts of Nigeria. I could be wrong anyway.
Rick Riordan out here inspiring whole generations. How did you get into writing anyways?
Emmanuella Omonigho: My mum is a writer, so it was definitely genetically passed down to me since I didn’t get the dimples that my sister got.
She was basically the one who pushed me to imagine myself as an author. My first completed story ready for publication was written in 2011-2012, but I got discouraged by some adults, so that died down.
I remember the writing process; I really did not look forward to it. After I returned from school, she would sit me in front of the computer and tell me to write. I wanted to just play, but no way. I look back and am grateful I got that experience, I knew writing was a painful and beautiful process, and maybe that’s what kept me longer. Maybe I would have fled by now.
Real. Me I don flee sha. So, your mom is a writer, is that extra pressure on you?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Better come back. Not exactly. The only pressure is that she might not see the importance of some stories I write, like anything with magic.
She’s a non-fiction writer whose centre of interest is women’s rights activism, so anything that doesn’t show reality is not that interesting to her.
The pressure was when I wasn’t published. She always said that I was always writing but didn’t have anything to show for it, at least now her mind is settled. I’m no longer the audio writer.
Nice that you’re on a different spectrum than your mother. How’s it like being self-published?
Emmanuella Omonigho: She’d like me to be on the same as her sha. I’m not self-published, but it does feel like it. Pabpub is my publisher. 😅
And has that caused friction between you people? Being a different kind of writer than she is?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Not at all. Weirdly, she’s a big supporter of everything I write, and she exaggerates it quite a lot to her friends. In the house, however, she can be a lot sterner throwing questions as to what was the purpose of my writing and all that.
You’re on a traditional publishing contract?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Yes. But since it’s an up-and-coming publisher I don’t expect too much, except when my imposter syndrome shows up and I wonder if I should.
That’s actually nice. You write both romance and mythology, are there like different parts of yourself that you tap into to write different genres?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Yes. For romance, I have to connect to the hopeless romantic in me, call her out to show me things I’d like to experience, and moments that would feel believable to readers who are like me. I let my characters do all of the things I’d want to do for myself.
For mythological fantasy, I have to tap into my deep imaginations—and I do that quite a lot, even when I’m not writing. In fact, mostly when I’m not writing. I have to imagine how these characters would act, and think. So, I do more imagination when choosing to write mythology than I do for romance stories. I think I should try merging the two and see where the characters take me in a mythological romance fantasy.
I want to read a romance mythological fantasy. As someone who writes for work, how do you separate writing for work and pleasure?
Emmanuella Omonigho: I think work automatically separates the two on its own. There is a joy in writing your own personal project that can never find its way to writing when you have a deadline, and your boss doesn’t seem to see the idea in your ideas. I would not trade the experience of doing what I like and what I’m good at for another thing, but I need to be paid to write my own stories when I want to. That’s the goal right now.
I see. Do you face any pressure? Does it affect your personal projects?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Yes, it does. Since I don’t know how to balance things properly, I make plans to make time for different things I’m doing, but end up not achieving any of my personal projects because I’m spending all my mental strength on work.
Two weeks ago, I had to round up a project and I spent every waking hour thinking and working on it to complete it before the deadline. I couldn’t touch my stories or videos. And when I finally got free time, I chose to watch a movie instead.
Do you hold your personal projects to the same standard you hold your work to?
Emmanuella Omonigho: I will say not really, because I put more effort into my work, trying to ensure it’s the best I’m giving at all times, even when I lack inspiration.
For my personal projects, the inspiration has to linger somewhere for me to be able to put in my best. I must feel what I’m writing to know this makes sense.
So, your work is more logical and your personal projects are more emotional?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Yes. In simpler terms🤣
Mental health was a huge theme in your book “Stars in a Beautiful Night”, and your approach to it was interesting. How did you get there?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Depression is a big motivator, lol. I don’t like telling people that I had some form of depression from 2019-2021, because I wasn’t diagnosed, and I didn’t want it to seem like I was prophesying onto myself, but the truth is that I struggled with it. But that’s a story for another day. I wrote the book during the period when there were lots of news about young people and suicides, right after watching and reading All the Bright Places.
I wanted to also show people that those who chose suicide weren’t doing so because they were weak. My two main characters met at the point of that choice. There are so many things about mental health that everyone, parents, friends, and all need to take note of, and not shun. Especially parents.
So real. How has the reception to your work been?
Emmanuella Omonigho: In my dreams, it is sitting on the New York Best Seller list, in reality, it’s not so bad. My dreams are big, but I have to take them one at a time.
The people who’ve read it really enjoyed it, and some felt some connection to the characters and that is what I pray for as an author. Some did go as far as to ask me out of concern if anything I wrote happened to me, I had to reassure them that most are just my imagination.
I’d love more people to experience Kiishi and Fumnanya as I did though, I love them.
What do you have to say about the Nigerian literary space?
Emmanuella Omonigho: It’s a growing part of the Nigerian Industry, (is it an industry?). Perhaps it’s going to take longer to get to where the music and film have gotten to, but I like the fact that it’s wiggling its way from dying to developing.
We’re learning to create literature that is different from that of Wole Soyinka and Achebe, learning to embrace the fact that we can tell cheesy Romcom, or strange lands in our land, courtesy of Michael Nwanolue and his verses. Learning to see the variety of genres in our neighbourhood, thanks to Masobe and the other publishers that are choosing to defy publishing what Nigerian writing used to be, and stick with the beauty in creating things we can escape to.
The Nigerian Literature Space is blooming, and I’m here for it. That is a joy. I need to break into it better, and everyone should start learning how to pronounce my name better because I’m here to stay. 👍🏽
Where should we expect Emmanuella Omonigho to be in the next five years?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Working on Book adaptations hopefully, after properly learning film and Cinema.
Anything you have to say to your fans?
Emmanuella Omonigho: Thank you for choosing to support me, and look forward to several stories that depict where I come from, and possibly who I keep growing to be. Or something along that line.
