Tag: swahili culture

Water, Book two in the Currents Series.

April 9th, 2015

I have finished writing and editing Water. This book took most of my time and I had to revise it so many times that I almost gave up on it- but now that it’s done, all I can do is sit back and let people read it.

It begins:

A tree does not know when it will fall. It lives to spare the one who wields the axe from the sun, rain and wind, yet he wakes up one day and swings his axe to cut short the life of the same tree that protected him.
To say that the people of Leo saw it coming would be to call a bat by its eyes.
To say that the same people hoped it would not happen is to point at a cow’s teats and declare it the source of life.
And so it was that the gods chose to strike Leo at dawn. They reached out and plucked the one charm that the two brothers looked upon. The cattle horn was heard thrice followed by five drumbeats and then one last horn.

The High Queen of Leo was dead.

You can read the first chapter for free on this preview page.

To buy the ebook, (the cover looks something like this)

you can click here and read it.
The People of Leo

February 11th, 2015
The people of Leo are as vast as soil particles, but all believe in the god, Mie, and they do their best to live peacefully with one another.

At the center of Fire, is the Royal family in Leo. While writing this book, my focus was on the Swahili culture and I used Kiswahili names for the characters and the places that are the setting of the story.

I believe that the Swahili culture is rich, not only in their sayings (methali) but also in their customs regarding marriage, social norms and respect for elders and even though I was never good in Kiswahili in school, I did look into it deeply to create the backbone of this story.

Allow me to introduce you to the first half of the characters in Fire:
- Uwezo, meaning,(Might or Ability), is the King of Leo.
- Ukweli, (Truth), is the Seer and happens to be King Uwezo’s older brother.
- Pendo, (Love), is the Queen of Leo. She is Uwezo’s wife.
- Ulioko, (Present, as in what’s present, or what’s there), is the Informer. His duty is to make the King aware of everything that is happening in the kingdom.
In Africa, most cultures and customs as diverse as they are, believed in many stages of life and it began at birth with the naming ceremony.

Children were named based on seasons, after a relative or ancestor, and in some cultures this was a festive time and it involved the whole community. It’s the basis of Fire, because the desire for a legacy begins when a young Prince is born.

Tag: swahili culture

Water, Book two in the Currents Series.

The People of Leo