By Mo on September 20, 2018

Author of the Week — Somi Ekhasomhi

An interview with Nigerian author, Somi Ekhasomhi. Read our review of Somi’s book, Always Yours here.

LE: Hello Somi, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Somi: My name is Somi Ekhasomhi and I’m addicted to books.

I was born and spent most of my youth in Benin City, Edo state as the last of three children and a proud ‘baby of the house.’ I studied Architecture at FUT, Akure and University of Lagos and moved to Lagos during my national youth service year.

LE: Is writing your full time job?

Somi: I used to work at an Architectural firm in Lagos, but now I mostly write and do freelance design work from time to time.

LE: When did you start writing and what prompted it?

Somi: I started writing when I was a pre-teen and those days, I’d write stories in any notebooks I found in the house with free pages, much to the frustration of my siblings. I still have numerous unfinished stories in my hard drive from my first computer. I once wrote a romance novel completely by hand in a notebook. I just couldn’t stop.

Lagos, even with all its difficulties was a lovely place to live as a new graduate. There were so many opportunities for romance, and except for a few old books, nobody was really telling the stories created from all those opportunities. I’m a big romance fan—in fiction and in real life. I love Bridget Jones, Pride and Prejudice makes me swoon, and I still remember the plots from some of the Mills and Boon novels I read while growing up in Benin. It just felt natural to tell the stories set in the environment with which I was familiar.

Always Yours started as a serial on my website, and a lot of people appreciated it and waited impatiently for every new episode. When the story was completed, I had it published and wrote a sequel featuring some of the characters from Always Yours, also as a serial on my website. It was a very satisfactory experience.

LE: What next in the Lagos Romance Series after Always Yours (book 1) and Hidden Currents (book 2)?

Somi: I have plans to write a few more romance novels set in Lagos. Recently, I completed the serialized story I have been publishing on my website. It’s called The Only One, and is a sweet love story about a girl torn between her manipulative ex-boyfriend and someone new.

LE: Okay, we know that story, we had to chase you around for years to finish it! Lastly, what are your hobbies?

Somi: My main hobby is reading. I read…and read—novels, mainly romance and fantasy. Brandon Sanderson is a personal favorite and I have a PhD in Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire trivia. I have a weird thing for reading the plots of famous operas on Wikipedia. I have a weakness for the impersonal rapport of Twitter. I love wine, teasing my husband, getting giddy and all swoony while watching romantic movies…and when I’m not busy with all of these, I’m chasing my toddler around.

Somi has 3 published books:

Always Yours