Tuesday 8 March 2016

A Tango with Satans and Shaitans: The Blog Tour welcomes you.

Welcome guys! 
We're glad to have you join us for the Satans and Shaitans blog tour and online reading.
Today, Praxis magazine and I co-host the blog tour. We receive the baton from Creativewritingnews who took the first leg. 

For starters, here's a little info about the book:


Set in Nigeria, Satans and Shaitans is a Crime fiction thriller, that tells the story of Chief Donald Amechi, Evangelist Chris Chuba, and other members of an international secret fraternity- The Sacred Order. They co-opt the indirect services of an Islamic terrorist organization to achieve their aims. The Islamists start a Jihad, in the guise of serving the ambitions of the Order, but later they outgrow the control of their benefactors.

As it happens, a clandestine love grows between the children of the two Southern power brokers- Adeline Chuiba and Donaldo Amechi. This love is destined to hit the rocks; the sacred order asks for girl's head in order to assure Evang Chuba's continued rise. However, even though the assassins detailed to the dirty assignment die in a car crash before they can carry it out, Adeline Chuba goes missing, and eventually turns up dead. 
Now there is a big question haunting the Chief and the preacher. Someone has stuck their hands in this pie. Who is it? 

You can click here to listen to a short reading from page 114 of the book, by the author Obinna Udenwe on Soundcloud

I asked the author a few questions about his writing. Guess what? Obinna gives us an exclusive scoop on what his next novel is about, so do read with a keen eye! Let's read his responses:

Q - You are a Catholic, please tell us how you got so many insights into Islam as well as infuse so many quotes from the Quran? (Rumour has it that you became a Muslim for a short while).


I think that as a writer, I can be anything I want to be, at any point in time. I can travel to wherever I want to, in my mind the most powerful tool in the world is the mind the power of the imagination. It is so powerful and robust and if well used can do so much. It is the root of all worlds arts and inventions; be it science or humanities. So to produce a work of art, the artist must employ the gods of the mind and become himself god. He must take the omniscient powers and allow his mind mould him to become the work of art he strives to create so in the case of Satans and Shaitans, I knew that for me to write about terrorism I must write about jihad, since most terrorists claim to be jihadists.

And to write about jihad, I must study jihad and Islam, the root of jihad in Islam, the concept of Jihad and the tenet of Islam. So I researched on all of these. And one cant produce a great work of art, be it painting or writing on Islam and Islamic life without having read the Holy Quran and the Hadith. Like I always say, these two books are the reference points for all researches and studies on Islam.

Q - What part of the novel was the most difficult to write?

The part about the investigation on the whereabouts of Adeline – it was very difficult trying to help the investigators look for her. You see there are lots of investigative stories out there that are not plausible. I didn’t want to write a story that readers would read and feel I had mocked their intelligence. I am delighted readers and reviewers love the plotline. 

Mostly, some readers see me or hook up with me on social media and get angry with me- not for the plot but for killing a particular character (laughs!). And it is a good thing. A girlfriend who works in the bank bought the book, read it and saw me few days back and was openly annoyed with me, she nearly screamed, asking why I had to kill that character. Now we have a strained relationship (laughs!).

Before we take the last question, let us take another reading from page 143 of the book, click Here to listen.

And here's the last Question:
Q - Finally, does it bother you that some people categorize you a crime fiction writer, while others categorise you as a writer of erotica? What would you rather be classified as?


Satans and Shaitans is crime fiction. For some time I was called a crime fiction writer, then sometime last year, when the brouhaha with Chigozie Obioma was ongoing, some journalist while reporting the story called me the Nigerian writer of erotic fiction. It took me by surprise and that was when it dawned on me that the erotic series Holy Sex had travelled far and most people were associating the series with me, much more than they associated Satans and Shaitans with me at that time. And I didnt help matters because I began to write other erotic stories- due to popular demand. Reviews and magazines contacted me, after reading Holy Sex asking that I do erotica for them to publish. And now half of my readers refer to me as the writer of erotica and others call me writer of crime fiction

But good news is my next novel Viaticum is a mixture of erotica and crime. But to answer your question I do not want to be known as the crime writer or the erotic writer or fantasy or romance writer. I want to be called a writer. When you want to introduce yourself as an engineer you dont say I am a structural engineer or a water engineer or highway engineer  you are just The Engineer. Same in Medicine and so on. So I would love to be known as just The Writer because I am not done exploring genres. I will be delving into other genres, epic fiction, fantasy etc., etc.

Haven't read Satans and Shaitans? You can read my full review of the book HERE

Well, do you have any other questions for Obinna Udenwe? Pls leave your questions in the comments section. Don’t forget to write your name at the end of the comment. There will be a draw at the end of all the tours. And free books will be given to tour participants. 

Want to increase your chances of winning an autographed copy? Don't just ask questions.  Place an order via the buy links. Mention @Amabbooks on twitter or send an email to amabbooks@gmail.com. 
Book orders automatically give you three spots in the Rafflecopter draw.



I hope you had a great time. Don't forget to share and attend the other tours on all six other websites. There will be more readings and more fun.




About The Author
Satans & Shaitans was a joint winner of the ANA Prose Prize in 2015. 
Also in 2015, the rather controversial Obinna Udenwe eroticised the Nigerian church in fiction in a series titled Holy Sex, published to wide readership and criticism.

In 2015 he established the ‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’ writing project. His works have appeared in Fiction365, Ehanom Review, Brittle Paper, Tribe, Kalahari Review, Alariwo, African Writer, Outside-In Magazine etc., and anthologised in African Roar, Dreams at Dawn, ANA Review, and the Short Story is Dead Long Live the Short Story. 
In 2014 he was honoured with the award of the ‘State Literary Icon’ by the Government of Ebonyi State. 
ObinnaUdenwe is a farmer and a democracy enthusiast.

7 comments:

  1. Nice one here... My issue is that there are spoilers in the interview. Doesn't help me knowing about the deaths of some important characters... But we will still find our way to reading as time permits. Well done Obinna! Good one Iquo. Well done.

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  2. Hi folks, my name is Obinna Udenwe. It is a pleasure to be here today, to discuss my book Satans and Shaitans. I am delighted to have you with me on this tour. I will be here all day, ready to interact with you on the plot of the book, on writing generally and on politics in Nigeria, terrorism and how insurgency affects our society.
    Thank you.

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  4. Great job Iquo.

    I just listened to the live readings. Something struck a chord within me. The phrase 'war os deception '. I was wondering if Obinna found it difficult to write from the point of view of a terrorist. He did such a terrific job. And I'm wondering how he was able to do that.

    Again, Obinna were you ever scared that you'd be misunderstood? And how did you conquer this fear?

    Thanks for hosting this tour . I like the layout.

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  5. Thanks Ms Chioma, I found it difficult writing from the point of view of the terrorists because to be able to do it well i needed to get into their mind,so I read books and saw movies on terrorism and crime. The research on modern jihad and Islam helped a lot too.
    I was never scared that I would be misunderstood because I haven't written a single insulting sentence or paragraph in Satans & Shaitans. The great thing is that since the Nigerian edition came out, Muslims - Imams and Sheikhs who have read the book have expressed their respect and delight.

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  6. Thanks Ms Chioma, I found it difficult writing from the point of view of the terrorists because to be able to do it well i needed to get into their mind,so I read books and saw movies on terrorism and crime. The research on modern jihad and Islam helped a lot too.
    I was never scared that I would be misunderstood because I haven't written a single insulting sentence or paragraph in Satans & Shaitans. The great thing is that since the Nigerian edition came out, Muslims - Imams and Sheikhs who have read the book have expressed their respect and delight.

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  7. Thanks for your comments Su'eddie, Chioma and Obinna.
    really amazing to hear that Imams have read Satans and Shaitans, and that they are pleased with it!

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