Ibe Darlington Ifeanyi is an engineer, author, poet and scientist. The Mechanical Engineering graduate from University of Nigeria, Nsukka turned author has worked with a telecommunications company for years and rose to the position of Operations Manager and Regional Manager in Nigeria and Ghana respectively.
But because of his innate passion for writing, the Dikenafai, Imo State born engineer who writes with the pen name Ibe Ifeanyi, quit his job and went into full time writing. In this interview, he explains why he quit his job for writing, how he has fared in the literary profession, the challenges and other issues.
Ibe Darlington Ifeanyi
Excerpts from Interview with Ibe Darlington
How do you reconcile writing and Engineering?
Writing has always been a part of me. It is something that comes naturally to me. Over the years I found out that I have the gift of story telling and I continued to horn my skill in the art of storytelling. I realized I had it in me and needed no one to remind me that I should put something out there.
The rest was history when I eventually did it. What kind of books do you write? My stories are predominantly fiction. I write stories that hold my readers captive. The kind of things people can relate to. It is my way to educate and of course challenge existing norms.
What can you say about your latest work?
The Urashi Conquest is about a certain Sylvester Ike whose inordinate ambition pushed him to commit a heinous crime that would forever haunt him. In his quest for a meteoric political ascendancy, he got himself into a huge mess that derailed and truncated his future.
Ibe Darlington Ifeanyi How many novels have you written? I have written eight novels but have published two .”The Daylight Pestilence” is my first and “The Urashi Conquest” is the second. I can finish a full-length book in two months. What I need is the right support to promote my works and market my books across the country and around the world.
Tell us about your books.
The Daylight Pestilence is about a young man, Mark Elemuo, who went to Lagos to learn a trade but never knew that he had been billed to be used for a ritual sacrifice by Cyriacus and ‘the Brotherhood.’ Luckily for Mark, he escaped by the whiskers and had to survive a topsy-turvy life in Lagos.
And the second book, Urashi Conquest, everyone wants to read. I released it on Easter Day and it has been one hell of a mad rush. Fact is, I can’t do it alone. I need distributors. I need bookshops. Running around is taking its toll on me. Self publishing is hell.
CREDIT: Vanguard