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Ray Anyasi was born in Lagos –oh, wait. That sounds like I’m lounging in a beach in Hawaii and have ordered my secretary to write my biography…in my dreams. Guess I should start all over again.

 

 

My name is Ray Anyasi and I was born in Lagos…sounds better.

It was April 1986 and a certain dictator with a constant deceitful boyish grin ruled the land. So my mum probably thought, “What the heck, imma gonna have me a cute little writer baby,” and BOOM! There I was.

I grew up among three brothers and a sister –all older- and I was told I started school at an early age. Speaking of going to school, it use to be fun right up until the time when the titles of my teachers graduated from the simple Mr./Mrs. to Prof and Dr. Then it got really serious.

The first time I thought about being a writer was when I realized I do best with writing than speaking. At that time I was nine. However, I remember reading from some book that writing takes a lot of concentration and discipline. So I thought, “Well, I’d pass.”

Then in 2007 I got into the university and few months later it hit me. If I can sit in hundreds of alarmingly boring lectures and manage to concentrate –though while yawning endlessly- why can’t I write? So I grabbed my pen and wiped out what was supposed to be my lecture notes on African Humanities (turned out to be my favorite course) and I began to write Poll of Vampires. Don’t be scared, it has nothing to do with real vampires.

Five semesters and three hundred sheets of papers later, I reckoned I’d had too much fun all along to want to ever stop. What I did after I left the university was I diversified my writing. I began to write poetry, articles, and web contents and eventually became a freelance copywriter. Trust me, it’s been fun all the way.

Through it all, I’ve come to learn the vital lesson of patience…every writer does at some point. Patience means everything in this business; if you can’t wait for it to happen, don’t even bother dreaming about it happening.

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If it has plenty heart-thumping moments…if it puts me and my reader on the edge of our seats…if the bad guys get shot in the end or something like that…then I’m so writing it, that’s how I roll. Basically, I’m all about writing compelling African stories with a global appeal. I believe a writer’s primary duty is to his immediate society, to tell its stories to the rest of the world.

 

For hobbies, I enjoy playing tennis. Though I’ve been told repeatedly that I suck at it terribly. I’m also a soccer fan. For the most part however, I spend my time between surfing the internet on my mobile device and asking myself plenty what if questions then taking time to put whatever comes out of them on paper. I really hope you enjoy the ones I’ve written thus far. Thanks for taking your time to read about me, now it’s time for you to go read about my characters. Bye.