A Widow's Silhouette by Basil Opurum

Spanning more than three decades, A Widow’s Silhouette successfully merges a wartime love story with realistic glimpses of daily life during the Biafran-Nigerian civil war and the reconstruction period afterward. When Jane’s parents’ finances begin to dwindle, her education abruptly ends. She relocates to live with her uncle Bryan and work as his secretary and an attendant at his gas station. One day she meets Bryan’s friend John, who falls deeply in love with her but is already married. John is torn between his late father’s wish for his marriage and his love for Jane. Is divorce an option? Set against a turbulent background of riots, civil war, and bloodshed, this tour de force follows not only the powerful story of Jane, but also the trials of her brother Michael and the beautiful Ugonma, whose lover, Ndubueze, deceives her and forces her into a life of prostitution. An eloquent and evocative work of historical fiction, this novel’s haunting voice and lush scenes will leave you breathless.

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MARGARET FIELAND INTERVIEW (guest blogger)

When did you first know you were destined to be a writer? LOL, I never realized I was destined to be a writer -- I fell into it. I'd written poetry for years, collecting it in notebooks stacked in my attic when I wrote one I wanted to keep. This led me to several online sites and ultimately to discovering the Muse Online Writers Conference where I hooked up with Linda Barnett Johnson and joined her writers forums. She required everyone to write both fiction and poetry, so, with much trepidation, I started writing fiction. Then I got hooked on it, wrote a chapter book, took the ICL course and actually learned how to write it. Then in 2010, I was seized by a desire to write a sci fi novel, so I spent six weeks or so on world building, mostly, with a bit of plotting thrown in for good measure. Who would you cite as your influences? I'm a way-back sci-fi fan, and Robert A. Heinlein influenced me heavily. I took a lot away from his writing, notably the value of surpris

A Tip for Authors: What to Put on the Back Cover of a Book

If you have accomplished the arduous task of writing a book, you may not embrace the job of choosing what to put on your book's back cover. Maybe you think that a short biography, along with a few endorsements should suffice. Actually the material on the back cover can carry out its intended job, without the presence of a two or three line bio. It does pay to highlight any endorsements you have received from experts within the industry, or from recognized members of government or society. Still, you may not have on file an endorsement that can stir up the emotions in a potential reader. Yet you have little reason to hope that the reader of the rear covering piece will elect to look at the pages between the covers, if you fail to trigger that same person's emotions. With that fact in mind, you must consider what emotions might push a book lover to purchase the publication that bears your name. Maybe that potential reader feels challeng

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