Yo! Yo!

Hey! Hey!

Hiiii!

Welcome to the first ever interview on this channel!!!😂😂 (Yeah, I know I'm being dramatic but that's how we'll be rolling, okay? Now, join me to pretend you're watching this on TV!😂😂)

I'm your host, Ife and this first interview will be with a very talented Nigerian writer, Rihanna_Adedeji...😁😁 The writer of Behind The Gates Of Lakeview and the just concluded, Perfectly Imperfect.

CODE:
Q= Question
A= Answer
C= Comment

Are y'all ready??

Leggo!👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

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Q: What's your full name?

A: Adedeji Rihanna Oluwabukola

Q: Nickname/pen name/pseudonym

A: RiriWrites

Q: Birthdate

A: July 30

Q: Nationality and State of Origin.

A: Nigerian - Oyo State.

Q: Where do you stay?

A: Oyo Town

Q: Okay...so when did you start writing, like in general?

A: Hmmm, I started writing around the age of 9-10

Q: Wow... that's pretty early! My next question is -: Why do you write...or what made you start writing?

A: Honestly, I don't think I have an answer to this. Lol, I write because of so many things that I can never be able to properly articulate. Like wanting to tell the thousands of stories in my head, like wanting to create fictional characters that people will see themselves in, like wanting to write about the ills of our society through fictional stories. . .but majorly, I write to live because writing to me, is a necessity for me to survive. It's not a hobby or an escape for me, it's deeper than that. It's like, my lifeline.

(Omoooo, it's that last statement for me oh🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Very Deep mehn!)

Q: Okay. Next question: When did you start writing on wattpad?

A: I started writing on Wattpad on November 19, 2019.

Q: So what's the title of your first ever story when you started writing and your first ever story on wattpad? How many books have you published on wattpad?

A: I can't remember the title of my first story but I remember that it was a historical fiction about a teenage girl nursing her ailing grandfather.

My first ever published story on Wattpad was Behind The Gates Of Lakeview and I currently have 2 books on wattpad. My third book is coming soon.

(I'm sure we all know the second book - I mentioned it earlier - and I'm so excited for the release of the next book! Eiiii!!)

Q: Awwww okay. So you basically started with historical fiction...was it Nigerian or medieval times or what period exactly?

A: Definitely Nigerian, yoruba historical fiction to be precise.

Q: Wow! So. . .Next question: Out of your two books on wattpad, which is your favorite and why? And what inspired each story?

A: Okay 😂😂😂😂 I love both of them because well, I created them both and they both mean different things to me but Perfectly Imperfect is my favorite. Perfectly Imperfect is much broader, deeper, and more impactful than BTGOL and the book made me feel like I've done something so powerful and big.

For BTGOL, it was my secondary school days, I wanted people to read the book and feel so nostalgic about their secondary school days.

And for Perfectly Imperfect, a lot of things inspired the book, I wanted to write a story that mirrors teenagers' struggles but most importantly, I wanted plus-size people, to read the book and feel represented and know that they don't have to lose weight to live their lives however way they wanted.

Q: Next question: Your favorite character in any of your books and which of them do you love the most? Who can you relate with most?

A: I don't grab this question. It's three questions, right? Can you please break them down?

Q: Okay😊

1.)Your favorite character (s) in your two books.
2.)Which of them can you relate with the most?

Okay it's just two questions😂

A: In BTGOL, Akin and Jadeshola are my favorite characters.

In Perfectly Imperfect, this is a very tough question, lol, but my favorite characters would be Aminah, Sophia, and Ezekiel.

And I can relate to Sophia the most.

Q: Sophia?? Wow! Would you mind sharing why?

A: Lolll, why are you so surprised? I left a bit of myself in all of my characters but Aminah and Sophia take the lead, especially Sophia! For starters, I love all of my friends exactly the way Sophia loves her friends and I'm always ready to prioritize them which I've learned, through writing about Sophia, that it can either be a bad or good thing. It's mostly a bad thing.

And, the book was supposed to dwell more on Sophia and her relationship with her sister, Stephanie because I've also had an ailing sister for years and I wanted to use their relationship and how her sister's sickness affected her to kind of write about my own experience but then, I couldn't go on with it so I had to remove that whole subplot from Perfectly Imperfect which kind of affected the whole plot but I was able to do patch patch 😂

And, heyyy 😂😂😂😂 I'm weird asf! Honestly, 60% of what Sophia did in the book were things I've done before 😂😂😂😂 only my friends know how weird and senseless I can get, tbh.

C: 😂😂😂😂😂 OMG!! Oh, wow! This is really intriguing! Wow...I honestly didn't think it would be Sophia...honest😂😂
I actually expected a lot of Gab, as in, her behavior, before she really turned crazy...lol and maybe a little bit of Aminah...honest.

But wow, I'm surprised😂

C: Lol. I know 😂😂😂 Gab? 😂😂😂😂 I'm far from being a nerd. I hate school books but I love reading fictions, like a lot.

C: Okay then...I think I can really relate to/with this🤝🏽🤝🏽🤝🏽🤝🏽😂

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Q: So...next question: What inspires you to write?

A: Hmm, a lot of things inspire me to write, a whole lot of things like friendship, love, family, death, injustice, good things, bad things, in short, almost everything inspires me to write. There are millions of stories out there, waiting to be told and I see stories everywhere, in a single quote I see online, a picture I stumble upon on Pinterest, a childhood memory, a broken friendship, the smile on people's faces. It might sound bizarre but a snail can be an inspiration for me to write. Lol, but my major inspiration is that I need to write.

I write because I need to.

C: Hmmmm...wow.

"The need to write, inspires you to write"

Omo,. I'm making this a quote🌚

Just so you know that this statement is really deep😌😌🙌🏽

C: Awwwnn 😂😂😂❤️❤️ Thank you ❤️❤️🤗

Q: So...next question: What do you hope to achieve through your writing?

A: Hmm, *thinks deeply* I want to achieve a lot of things through my writing and I think the number one on that list is to break stereotypes. I want to show people through my writing, the dangers of a single story. I want my writing to mirror the real-life experiences of people that are rarely represented in books and movies and the media. I want people less talked about, to pick up my books and feel represented, feel seen and feel known. I want them to feel and know that their feelings are valid, their emotions, their experiences are all valid.

That being said, I want to achieve through my writing, real representation of diverse people. I just want to achieve diversity.

(Sooo inspiring 😩😩😩😩)

Q: Which of your wattpad books would like to see first on paper or in a movie?

A: On paper, definitely BTGOL and as a TV series, Perfectly Imperfect Insha Allah.

C: Okay...I will buy the paperback of BTGOL and def watch the movie of Perfectly Imperfect when it comes out and it will come out.😌 😂

C: Awwwnn 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️❤️

Q: Do you have any favorite Writers on wattpad and non-wattpad writers? Why'd you like them?

A: I have lots of favorite writers on Wattpad and I love them because of their originality and diversity and amazing plots and characters and everything. I love everything about them. 2020 was the year I stumbled upon brilliant Nigerian writers on Wattpad and they just blow my mind with their books.

Non-Wattpad writers would be Chimamanda Adichie, Ayobami Adebayo, Colleen Hoover, Khalid Hussain, Taherer Mafi, Etaf Rum, Karen, and a never-ending list of extremely brilliant writers. I love them because their writings will bring you to your knees. Honestly, these people are insanely talented when it comes to writing.

C: Wow. Nigerian Writers on wattpad really stunned me last year too!

Especially when I happened to come across your books and Tori's books too! Omooo I was like, "whaaaat?"

So brilliant!

C: Awwwnn ❤️❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗

Tori's books are really spectacular ✨✨✨

C: Honestly so many talented Writers out there!

C: Tbh.

Q: Any favorite wattpad books and non-wattpad books?

A: For my favorite wattpad books, you want a never ending list of books 😂 I LOVE all the books on my reading list and I'm not even joking.

Off wattpad, A woman is no man, half of a yellow sun and the kite runner takes the lead of like a thousand brilliant books that I'm obsessed with.

Q: How do you cope with writer's block?

A: I don't even know how I deal with writer's block 😭😭 I'm always gingered to write but there are times when I feel too down to write and that's mostly because my mood would affect my writing so I listen to music or read to get out of those moods.

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C: Okayyy! Sooo I'm about to ask the last Questions which are mostly random. Here we go:

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Q:Where do/did you school and what course are/did you currently studying/study?

A: I studied Linguistics at the University of Ilorin.

C: Another shock for me is that you actually studied linguistics. I thought you'd have studied psychology or something sha.

C:Awwwwwnn 😂😂😂 I get this a lot.

Q:Would you rather have tea or coffee?

A: I'd rather have tea.

Q: Favorite food.

A: I'm an everything-goes person😂 but I have a soft spot for spaghetti.

Q: Favorite Song(s) and Musician(s)

A: I love a lot of songs oo but Scars to your beautiful by Alessia Cara, Fake love by BTS, Fireworks by Katy Perry, Try me by Tems, and most recently, Bloody Samaritan by Ayra Starr has very beautiful lyrics and deep meaning.

My favorite musicians are Wizkid( I really really love him), Ariana, Rihana, Omah Lay, BTS, Tori, Beak Ji Yong, and like a million others.

C: I like songs too! And it's because of you I actually listened to and learned Scars to your beautiful by Alessia Cara.😁🤗🤗

C:🥺🥺🥺 the song has really powerful lyrics

C: Very powerful! 😩

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Q: Other Hobbies?

A: I love watching films a lot. I'm a movie addict and reading novels is something I obsess over.

Q: If you had the power to change one thing about the world right now, what would it be?

A: If I could change something about the world, it'd be to change the rotten system, unfairness, and injustice that has eaten deep into our society. I'd love the world to become a very beautiful place to be because right now, the world is a very ugly place. Millions of unspeakable things are being done to people all over the world, unspeakable things that no human should be capable of doing to others but sadly, that's fast becoming the order of the day.

I'd love a world where all humans are humane.

Q: What do you have to say to upcoming writers out there?

A: To upcoming writers out there, I'll like to say, stay true to yourself. Originality is the most important thing for any creative work. Don't copy, don't try to be like someone else. The fact that you see a story trending or making waves does not mean you have to copy that story for yours to make waves too. Nah, be original, write the story after your own heart and trust me, your story will make even more waves.

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C: I think I've mentioned before that you are a very big inspiration to me, especially this year.

You mentioned something about reading novels a lot in one of your books, I think BTGOL and that was when I decided to be an avid reader (not that I didn't always read before but I wasn't exactly serious with it...XD) and this year, I've officially become a Bibliophile and I've read so many books.

All thanks to you.

C: Ohhh wow, maddest! 😂😂😂 I didn't see this coming, I'm really really glad I was able to help you become a better reader❤️❤️❤️

C: And also, through your book, Perfectly Imperfect, I learned a lot about the importance of one's mental health. It made me to research stuffs I've never known about before.🌚 And it gave me a different view on plus-size people.

C: ❤️

C: Which brings me to my final question, I think?😂

Now I know that dieting can be really harmful but what about those who actually have unhealthy fat? Like Obesity? What if the fat is actually unhealthy? Should they go ahead and diet or...?

C: Well, the thing is dieting doesn't work, except you stick to a diet plan for the rest of your life, and that is a form of eating disorder and now, we all know how deadly eating disorders can be.

Obesity is unhealthy, we all know that, and it has a lot of health complications but do people know that being underweight has more health complications than obesity? Nah and that's because we glorify thinness.

I don't have an answer to this question because I'm not a medical practitioner but I'm sure dieting can't get rid of obesity because to the best of my knowledge, dieting doesn't work. So we'll have to leave this question to the medical practitioners that are trained in this field.

C: Okay then. 😁😁😊😊 Thank you. Thank you so much for taking this interview, I'm really glad I got to know all these, really glad you answered my questions.

Again, thank you so much for your time!

C: You're welcome ❤️❤️

                                         • • •

Riri is a writer with depth and passion, shown in every piece of her work. She never leaves out the fact that she values and treasures her culture. Through her writing, she brings out facts, real facts; exposes the world for what it really is and still hopes to help us learn that we don't have to be like the world and that the streotypes the world has created are mostly false.

She has a lot to offer the world and I'm so looking forward to many more of her works, not just as E-books but on paper and in movies! I'm sure y'all wanna see that too!

I turned some things she said into quotes and I'll post them here, just after I conclude. I'm gonna do a review of her book, Perfectly Imperfect and it might be in the next chapter or I might post it on my blog or just do both🌚

With that being said, Thank y'all for watching...yes watching lmaoooo😂😂😂

I hope this inspired you. So...get ready for the next Interview with another wonderful writer, coming up soon☺️☺️☺️

I love you guys❣️

~Ife.😇💞❣️