In The Lime Light – Author O’jay Dimbuh

Happy Saturday 🙂 Its time to meet another Author/Poet/Photographer/or Artist who has stopped by to share a bit about himself and enjoy The Lime Light 🙂 I hope you enjoy it as well while meeting O’jay Dimbuh. O’Jay was born and raised in the Nigerian south-eastern city of Enugu. He is a graduate of Visual Arts from the University of Port Harcourt, majoring in sculpture; he is also a painter.

He has great drive and ambition for his writing, and hopes to become one of the great storytellers of our time. He loves music, drama, and the computer. He has written several published articles, poems, drama, and movie scripts. He is an entrepreneur, masseur, sports & fitness enthusiast, a martial artist, a voracious reader, and a thinker. He is inspired in life by the outstanding characters of the Bible, and great thinkers, both ancient and modern. For him, writing is a means of unburdening his spirit, expressing his values, beliefs and concerns for the future – a relief-inducing exercise. LION-HEART ODYSSEY – his first prose – epitomizes all these. It is a story through which he has expressed his affinity with his roots. He lives in Abuja, Nigeria, where he runs his advertising agency.

So lets get right to the Heart –or the LION-HEART of the matter 🙂

Tell us about your Blog.
O’JAY DIMBUH: I have two blogs; and they’re both new. The first one is at http://ojaydimbuh.blogspot.com and the second one, attached to my author website, is at http://ojaydimbuh.wordpress.com.
For me, my blog serves the same purpose my writing does – a means of expressing myself. It is about expressing my interests, my values, my fears and my concerns, both for the moment and for the future.

What Inspires and stirs your creativity?
O’JAY DIMBUH: Various things inspire my varying means of creative expression, because I’m also a painter, sculptor, poet and playwright. I’ll say, though, that life itself is my main means of inspiration. Things that happen to me, pictures I see, movies I watch, things I read about, the stories I was told about the events of the past, stories shared among friends, and even stories from Bible all have inspired my creativity.
For example, inspiration for my book, ODYSSEY OF THE LION-HEART, came from stories I was told about my maternal great grandfather and grandfather. Then Chinua Achebe’s THINGS FALL APART, plus countless little anecdotes told by my paternal grandmother and her co-wife.

What Message, if any, do you hope to Share through your blog/posts?
O’JAY DIMBUH: I hope to inspire people to choose the right path in life, and to have hope in the future of mankind. My reasons for wanting to share these values are not just because of their benefits today, but also because of the wonderful future God is preparing for mankind. It’s beautiful to see the efforts people make to better their lot and those of others, but in reality, human efforts can only go so far. Only the Creator can solve ALL of mankind’s problems, and it’s truly wonderful that He has promised to do so in due time. So no matter what your situation is in life, it’s better to do the right thing and be hopeful, because the future will bring a perfect life for those who do their best to follow the right path.

What are your Dreams for the Future in regards to your Blog and your work?
O’JAY DIMBUH: MY hope is that more and more people will appreciate and embrace the message I pass through my blog. As for my writing, I hope to become one of the great story-tellers of our time. I’m very ambitious about, and committed to my writing. I have a very virile imagination that has spurn tens of story ideas I’m eager to develop and write. So despite time limitations placed on me by work and business obligations, I’m still working hard to realize my dreams.

About Your Book(s):
O’JAY DIMBUH: I have one published novel, ODYSSEY OF THE LION-HEART. It is a historical epic tale of Action Adventure, Steamy Passion, Romance, Betrayal and Rebellion… an intriguing tale of torrid sex, volatile colonial tensions, supernatural mystique, and fearless courage; it is the compelling and evocative story of a man’s compulsive and dangerous quest to follow his heart….

What genre do you prefer to write or are you truly eclectic?
O’JAY DIMBUH: I don’t know if I might be called eclectic, but I don’t think my writing falls into a particular genre. My first prose is a historical Action Adventure, but its sequel will be a more contemporary story. I’m currently working on a much more contemporary story than ODESSEY OF THE LION-HEART, and its proposed sequel. Various story ideas come to me, but they all have a bit of adventure, action, raunchiness and strong moral lessons.

Do you painstakingly plot out your story; are you a discovery writer or a bit of both? Why?
O’JAY DIMBUH: I’ll say that I painstakingly plot out my stories, though as every writer knows, there are usually on the moment flashes of inspiration that colors your story too. Usually, my stories have a kind of gestation period, during which they seem to marinate in my mind, before I start writing down it’s outline and mapping out its plot.

Share an insight or secret about your book(s).
O’JAY DIMBUH: I don’t think there are any secrets to my writing. I’m not exactly crazy about the word ‘secret’. Lol. I’ll say, though, that my book was written over a period of about ten months, during which I was really driven to get it done, forsaking all but very essential activities in my obsession to tell my story. It was originally hand-written on 882 pages of foolscap paper.

Who is your favourite/least favourite character & why?
O’JAY DIMBUH: My favourite character is obviously the lead, Chidebem, the story’s protagonist. The why will be very easy for any reader of the book to see, because he was truly an exceptional person, through whom I had expressed some of my profound values and philosophies of life. He’s also a very likeable, enigmatic and heroic character. Though I created it, my least favourite character is Ez’ibe, the evil-hearted antagonist.

What do you feel is your best advice to share with other aspiring authors?
O’JAY DIMBUH: Well, writing is an art form, and like all artistic endeavours, is mostly about self expression. So there are really no guarantees about success or failure, especially since there are many determinant factors influencing those. My advice is for authors to write for themselves, be original, and truly express themselves while writing. They should also persevere. Recognition and success might be achieved via a long bumpy road, since there are many authors seeking the same things.

About YOU:
O’JAY DIMBUH: I’m a Nigerian male. I’m an artist, a masseur, sports and fitness enthusiast, nature and music lover, and an entrepreneur involved in the advertising business.

Describe yourself in Five Words.
O’JAY DIMBUH: Frank, Liberal-minded, determined, compassionate and driven.

If you could meet one person from the past, who might it be and why?
O’JAY DIMBUH: If I could, I would have loved to listen to Jesus Christ speak, and watch him perform his incredible miracles! Reason: he was absolutely, undoubtedly, the greatest man to walk the earth. But since that can’t happen, I’ll settle for asking Moses questions about his leadership of the difficult Israelites. Lol. Moses is one of my favourite Bible characters, and by God’s grace, I might see him one day… But besides the extraordinary characters of the Bible, Bob Marley, the great Jamaican Reggae maestro is someone I would love to have met. I truly admire his concern for mankind, and his extraordinary ability to express himself through musical lyrics and melody…

When you are not writing/taking pictures, what is your favourite pastime?
O’JAY DIMBUH: My favourite pastime is reading. I love music, but books that tell stories really suck me in…

Describe Your Perfect Day . What makes it Perfect and Why?
O’JAY DIMBUH: I don’t think there’s any perfection in our world, but some things and some days are much better than others. Lol. I love to work, so I’m usually happiest on days I accomplish the tasks I set out to do satisfactorily.

What makes Life Worth Living?
O’JAY DIMBUH: Good health, happiness, contentment, and seeing people happy are part of what makes life worthwhile to me. But I know that life can be far better for mankind than it is now. So doing things that pleases God, which ensures our place in the wonderful future He has planned for mankind, also makes our difficult existence worthwhile.

I want to Thank You O’Jay for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by and have a natter 🙂 I might also say Thank You for your patience, as the Line for the Lime Light got Really Long and I know you were in waiting about in the queue for a while! Well worth the wait though, as I enjoyed chatting and, I hope, my readers have enjoyed learning more about YOUR Lion-Heart 🙂

Connect with and Find O’Jay through his Social Media as listed below:
AUTHOR’S ONLINE CONNECTIONS:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ojaydimbuh15 (Search O’jay Dimbuh)
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/DimbuhOjay (Search @DimbuhOjay)
Google+: https://plus.google.com/105892400047279332388
Blogs: https://ojaydimbuh.blogspot.com ; https://ojaydimbuh.wordpress.com
Website: https://ojaydimbuh.wordpress.com
AMAZON Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/ojaydimbuh

~Morgan~