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| My "Howard" Nigeria-fied |
And where was I when this awesome news was announced? In a maximum security jail in Chicago visiting one of my students who'd gotten into some trouble. I needed to make sure he was ok. He was. As much as he could be. He’s maintaining.
It was good to see him. He said he was enjoying the latest book I’d sent him- a copy of His Dark Materials. Regardless, seeing him there made my heart ache and eyes burn (as it did back in April). He’s a brilliant young man.
I came out of there fighting sadness. Got into my car and looked at my cell phone (you can't bring your cell phone into the jail). Even as I picked it up, it buzzed as it received another text. When I flipped it open, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. For several minutes I was in a sort of mental turmoil as my sadness battled my extreme happiness. I drove to my mother's house in a sort of shock (had to pick up Anyaugo).
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| Happy Flower by Anyaugo Okorafor |
But when I got there, my family had already heard the news from my editor and I could do nothing but give in to the happy dancing and confetti throwing. Now, only an hour later, I sit here smiling.
I am really proud of this novel. I worked so hard on it. It worked so hard on me. This is beautiful.