Book: The Royal Visit
Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
My name is Ranti Akintobi. I am Nigerian but I’m currently based in the Netherlands. I work full time as a Finance Manager. I was born in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. As an adult, I have lived in three continents (North America, Europe, and Africa) in London, Chicago, New Jersey, Lagos, and Ibadan. I have found all these different cultures very interesting.
I won’t describe myself as a creative as I’ve always been a numbers person, but I am very passionate about bringing awareness to the various rich African cultures. Most especially embracing our culture.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘The Royal Visit’ book?
One of my challenges was having a full time job and only having some weekends and some evenings to work on the book. But the greatest challenge (I guess you can call it that) was self-doubt. I doubted myself/ my capabilities of writing something even good enough to read as I’m not naturally a writer.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I have to admit that I intentionally didn’t read children’s books written based on African children characters so as not to be tempted to deviate from my idea of my children’s book series (T&T Nubian Adventures). I am still learning how to write, and my editor has been great at guiding me.
However, one book I did read about African folk tales was The Girl Who Married a Lion by Alexander McCall Smith. It has fantastic compilation of African tales which I feel should brought to the whole world.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
My home in Ibadan. It’s special to me because it’s a house I built from scratch and with my hard earned income. I own it out-right.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?
I have a lot of storyline ideas written down and I have my 2nd and 3rd book written already. The story outline for the 4th book is ready but still needs to be developed. But as mentioned, having a full time job does not help create enough time to focus on my writing. Once I come up with idea of a storyline – I write it down.
Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘The Royal Visit’ book?
I can’t remember precisely but definitely a good part of 2019, and I still made changes to it in 2020 and early 2021.
Q7. On what all platforms readers can find ‘The Royal Visit’ book to buy?
Amazon and Okadabooks.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Royal Visit’?
I wanted something that was colourful and be attractive to kids – with that in mind, it made it easy for easy to choose on featuring the animals at the zoo.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I try to end the books with a suspense for the kids.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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