Author and former business and marketing executive Sade Adeniran turned her initial quest to avenge an unpleasant ex-boss in fiction into a tale of surviving the odds based on her childhood in Nigeria.

September 2007

Sade Adeniran

I started writing my book Imagine This in 1998 when I’d been made redundant from my job as a Marketing Executive for a Telecoms company. As a result, I was full of angst and hated my ex-boss. So I started to write a story about how an employee exacts revenge on her iniquitous employer. I had my scenes mapped out: the big finale was going to be Boss Man experiencing a misfortune of unimaginable proportions.

However, as soon as I put pen to paper, the plot that I’d meticulously mapped out disappeared as I started to build the main character Lola’s back-story. One of the reasons for this was that her history was more intriguing than her revenge quest. Around that time I also got a call from someone I went to school with. I couldn’t remember who he was. After I dropped the phone I realised that over the years, I’d excised most of my childhood memories.

Probably because what I remembered most about growing up was the feeling of helplessness and not having a voice in determining my own fate (the same feeling I got when I was made redundant). From these musings, the foundation of Imagine This was born. One of the African proverbs in the book says: ‘The spirit that keeps one going when one has no choice of what else to do must not be mistaken for valour.’

Imagine This is a story about surviving the odds. It’s about finding the inner strength to hold on when there is no hope, when all you can see ahead is a bleak landscape. It’s also about cultural identity, understanding and acceptance.

I keep getting asked the same question about the book - ‘Is the story autobiographical?’ The honest answer is not really. However, like many British-born Nigerians, I was sent back to Nigeria to live. I spent my formative years in a village that had no electricity, running water or the basic necessities I was used to. Add to that the fact that I couldn’t speak the language and you have the recipe for Imagine This. But like any good chef, to make a signature dish stand out from the crowd, you add your own secret ingredient. So although Imagine This is based on my experience of growing up in Nigeria, it is truly Lola’s story.

I had a busy career as a Business Change Consultant, so Imagine This took five years to write. Like most writers who dream of seeing their book in print, I went down the traditional route of sending my manuscript to publishers and agents. Needless to say the responses I got back were not positive. According to the replies I received, there didn’t seem to be room in the marketplace for a story of a young girl growing up in rural Nigeria.

I put the manuscript under my bed and tried to squash my disappointment. After years of trying to repress my dream of becoming a published author, I finally plucked up the courage to do something. I realised that if I didn’t believe in myself, no one else would. So I quit my job and decided to walk down the lonely road of self-publishing.

It’s not a route for the faint-hearted and I would say my biggest lesson was realising that writing the book was the easy part. Publishing is a business. If you want to sell copies to more than just your friends and family, then like any other start-up you need a business and marketing plan, a distribution network and so much more.

Would I self-publish my next book? If I can’t get a publishing deal with a mainstream publisher, then absolutely I would. Would I do things differently? Definitely! I write because I have something to say and I want to share it with as many people as I can. It is little by little that a bird builds its nest.

To read an extract from Imagine This, click here.

Biography

Sade was born in London and moved to Nigeria where she spent her formative years before coming back to the UK.  A graduate of the University of Plymouth, she has also spent time as an exchange student at the University of Massachusetts, USA. Her foray into writing started with a radio play – Memories of a Distant Past – which was her final year project while at university. She sent the play to the BBC on a whim and it was subsequently produced as part of BBC Radio 4’s First Bite Festival.

Sade has also written various pieces for the theatre, and has had her work performed at the Lyric, Bush Theatre and Riverside Studios.  Sade works and lives in London. Imagine This is her first novel.

Sade will be giving a number of live readings throughout October as part of Black History month. To find out more visit her website: www.ImagineThisTheNovel.com

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