MINISODE: Faith, Diaspora & the Romance You Didn't Know You Needed ft. Unoma Nwankwor

[00:00:01] This is the Mahogany Books Podcast Network. What's good, family? I'm Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of Black & Published Podcast and the author of the forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860.

[00:00:27] The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27, 2026, but is available for pre-order now. So if you can, please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. Your Ancestor's story is proof that strength and dignity endure even when everything else is taken away. When it comes to honoring that legacy, your privacy should never be in question.

[00:00:53] At AfricanAncestry.com, your story and your information belong to you. We destroy every DNA sample and never sell or share your data with anyone. Discover where in Africa your story began accurately and safely with AfricanAncestry.com. I need everyone to pay attention because this woman right here sitting next to me is doing something intentional and very certain in the romance space.

[00:01:22] And we have to talk about it. Unoma, welcome to the pod. Thank you for having me. Of course. For everyone who hasn't met you and doesn't know your work, can you just tell a little bit about what it is? Sure. So in a nutshell, I write black romance with faith as its backbone. My characters are always Africans in the diaspora or back home. So you can get a trip because there's cultural depth in it. Yes. Faith in it, healing, redemption, swooning, flights, all the things. And you can get all that in just one book. I love that.

[00:01:51] You don't have to travel. I got everything in it. You got it in it for you. You got the passport to our desires. I got the passport to your desires. Whatever country you want to go, it's in one of my books. We going with you? We going with you? You go with me. Period. I'll give you a personal tour. I love it. I love a personal tour. And I have been to Nigeria. It's been a month there and my wedding will be in South Africa. So. Yes. So we're going to be on that tour together. And so y'all can be on the tour with us. So your books are described as faith, the romance with African spice. Yes.

[00:02:20] And I love that framing because it tells me exactly what I'm getting before I even jump in. But I want to know, what's the thing about your stories that readers never expect until they're already like three chapters in? Okay. So my readers are not looking for Christ. They're not looking for God. They know Him. They know what He can do. Right. But along the way, life has led them in different directions where they think He's not talking anymore.

[00:02:45] So my books are not about converting you. It's about giving you hope and faith and having that desire to keep going forward. They are filled, closed door. However, they're not cheesy. They're unhinged African men. Not too much of our brothers in Christ now, but I know. Well, you have them. You have them. You have the Sassy Sisters who have agency. All of them have agency in and about their business. Nobody's looking to be saved. Only Christ saves them at the end.

[00:03:14] But along the way, they have this journey. Yeah. Typical journey. The only thing you don't have is that kind of page. That's it. Hmm. I love that. So you're a first-gen Nigerian American. Yes. And you talked about challenging the idea that African stories are only about struggle and trauma. Yes. That feels like a mission statement in itself and it seems like what guides your work. How intentional is that in how you construct love and joy on the page?

[00:03:39] It's in there. I need readers to know that African, what we see on TV is not what it is. Yeah. So I was born in Africa, Ohio. At about eight years old, my parents took me and my brothers because we're all born here. They came here to go to school. So they took us back home. Yeah. They want to know where you came from. Right. So I grew up there. So most of my adults were. So what I saw on TV here as a eight-year-old was far different from what I saw when I went back home. Correct.

[00:04:05] We have cities. We have culture. We have vibes. I mean, everybody goes to Nigeria in December. So that should tell you something already. Listen, 30 December, I had a good old time and I saw Black Coffee for the first time at Moist. He is phenomenal. Yes. I did not know he was paralyzed with his arm. He DJs with one arm. I didn't know he did the one arm and he is fantastic. Fantastic.

[00:04:27] Yes, he is. And so we have that vibrancy that I want others to know about. And then when I went home and I lived at home, I saw an America that was like, oh my God. But when I came back, it's not all, oh my God. Yeah. Every country has struggle. Every country has things that are bad and good. Right. I just want people to understand, do my work. And I channel a little bit of my being a part of two dominant cultures. Yes. Because I grew up here. Yeah. I didn't grow up here, but I'm from here. Yeah.

[00:04:56] I was born here. I've been in here for like 25 years now. And African culture is where I actually grew up. Those are my adolescent years. So I knew how to vibe the two together. I like to see potato power one day, but I like my plantain and fufu the next. Listen, me and Ogoosey, we go hell with good. I love my fufu and my baby.

[00:05:17] So in the pages, and you get to see culture as not the watered down culture that you're taught on TV with people with fake accents. You get to see actual what happens. Yes. Mother-son dynamic, first child dynamic. Yes. People that have been hurt and trying to find their way back to grab some straws. You find all that in the book. And we're so connected because we all come from the same place.

[00:05:42] We all do. We all do because isn't it funny how my mama, rest her soul, she can look at you and a black American mother too can look at you and this ain't the same thing without opening their mouths. And they don't know each other. Yes. It amazes me how much you have in common. So much. And I always tell people that these Diaspora Awards, they're just online. Yes. Because if you come, you've been home. Yes, I have been home. And it's amazing. It's amazing. You're welcome.

[00:06:09] They say welcome back sister. You are even welcome more than me. Because they look at me like, yeah, you move on. Because at the time my husband did a movie and so we took all the actors back home. Mm-hmm. They got to see places that they really were now, they've never seen before. Mm-hmm. And they enjoyed the experience. They enjoyed the, they enjoyed the beaches. Oh my God, we had so much fun. They enjoyed the experience. It was the best experience. That's my try. When people tell me, you know, I went to Kenya and I saw Kenya through your book, I'm happy.

[00:06:38] Mm-hmm. You don't have to tell me nothing else. As far as I could take you into an immersive experience through my work, I'm good. Oh, don't worry. And then you catch Jesus along the way. Listen, our second home will be in Kenya. So we looking, we looking. So went to Bay, gets fake dating, diaspora attention, Nigerian wedding energy, which I love a Nigerian wedding, okay?

[00:07:00] There's a part of the book where the hero, heroine's friend tells her, look, if you mess up my chance of attending a Nigerian wedding, I won't forgive you. I tell her you have to put it on your bucket list. It's an amazing end of an affair. Yes. Because when I got married, I lived here. My husband lived at home. Yes. So when I came back and it was all stuff, I'm like, Ma, do we have to go? Oh, we've been in so many weddings. My fiance is always a part of the groom's party. Then I end up in the bride's party and I love it. You need to be there.

[00:07:30] You do need to be there. It's an event. Oh yeah. I have at least three custom Nigerian dresses. Yeah, we have three weddings. Exactly. Yeah. But we have three weddings. Yes. You do the law, right? Right. Then you do the traditional wedding. And then you do your wife's wedding. Listen, I'm here for it. So we start as soon as delivered. Yes. So it has a whole situationship to happily ever after party. Exactly. What draws you to tropes like that? And how do you make sure the cultural backdrop is full character in the story, not just dressing?

[00:08:00] And I think that comes from my own lived experience, right? So I write for opportunities of authenticity. Because I could understand the reason. I have so many Nigerian friends. Yes. Thank you. My parents didn't do this. But I have so many Nigerian friends that once you're 30, it's so funny how you're in college, read your books, read your books. But when you get out, they're like, okay, so where is the husband? I'm like, what? You told me. So where am I supposed to get up from? Right. From the sky? The store? Exactly. So Rent-O-Bay, how did that come to me? It was a fake.

[00:08:30] I think I watched something on TV, but it was the reverse. Yeah. It was the girl's parents finding them. I'm like, hmm. How will cousins relate to this? Yes. So I have three Nigerian-American cousins who live in Atlanta. And of course, Areza is minding his business as an actor. And all of a sudden, his cousin back home says, well, video. Do you know grandma's auditioning people to be your wife? When you come for your sister's wedding, don't be prepared. And he's like, oh, heck nah. Yeah.

[00:08:57] So he begins, his cousin tells him, you know what? I know this agency that can rent your bay. There we go. There we go. There's some fake things. So he's this. And they met before. Yeah. So it's like a second chance to, because he ghosted her. And so they meet and then she agrees. And then, you know, she goes to Nigeria, experiences it. The grandma who says, you better know how to cook. If you're going to marry my grandma. You know. Yeah, we know. So she goes through everything. Yes. As a black American.

[00:09:27] Yes. Because he's Nigerian, she's black American. And then at the end of the day, she has a happily ever after. I love that. They get it together somewhere, somehow. And then we go into the second book, which is the second cousin. Right. And the girl was mistakenly in his room. Mm-hmm. And he was coming out of the shower. She was FaceTiming and she's a Christian. So she has this naked man and all her viewers. Because she's going to lie. Right. See her. And him. So of course, something has to happen for her image. And his image.

[00:09:56] Because he's a bad boy. Yes. You need to clean this up. So the fake engagement. Listen, not him being a city boy. I always ask this because I believe books find us when we need them. Mm-hmm. Who is the reader that needs your book right now? Like what are they going through and what are they going to walk away feeling? Okay. The reader, my ideal reader and who I kind of channel when I write these stories, are readers who have lost hope. Hmm. Readers who know that God can do what he can do. Right.

[00:10:26] But he did it and he didn't do it properly according to my thinking. Right. So they kind of like put him in the box inside and they're trying to do life without him. Mm-hmm. And waiting on this guy that didn't know can do something but he ain't doing it the right way a long time ago. Yeah. And they're getting back to him.

[00:10:55] So those are the kind of readers that I want to give hope to. I love that. And they come back feeling all cheekily. Okay. Before I let you go, what are you working on? What should we be looking for and where can people find you? Okay. You can find me on all social media. I'm making it easy. Yes. And my first initial view and my last name. Mm-hmm. Every social media is the same. Okay. So that's where they can find me on all socials. You can go to my website, my first name, last name dot com. I make it so easy. Easy. It's called Sins of the Father.

[00:11:25] And I'm talking about it first here. Oh. We're getting an exclusive. Yes. I'm talking about it first here. And Sins of the Father follows three brothers who are paying or will pay. Okay. So in one way or the other, they all have the things that they have to go through, not of their own doing. Right. And I get this from Exodus where it says that children will pay for the father's sin and for the generations. Yes. And so some were the other.

[00:11:52] So that's why you always have to watch the karma you have around you. I agree. Because if you don't pay for it, your lineage will pay for it. And that's what I'm working on right now. So I'm planning, I have a prequel already out. So I'm planning to the three book series. All I like writing series. Series is my sweet spot. That's your sweet spot? They're all interconnected. So you can read them individually if you want to. But my sweet spot is a series because I guess I come from family. I'm the only girl and five brothers, four brothers. Oh. So I'm the first.

[00:12:22] Oh, I understand. I'm the only granddaughter on both sides. Yes. Your ancestor's story is proof that strength and dignity endure even when everything else is taken away. When it comes to honoring that legacy, your privacy should never be in question. At AfricanAncestry.com, your story and your information belong to you. We destroy every DNA sample and never sell or share your data with anyone.

[00:12:50] Discover where in Africa your story began accurately and safely with AfricanAncestry.com. What's going on, family? This is Derek Young. And Ramonda Young. Owners of both Mahogany Books and the Mahogany Books Podcast Network. We really want to thank each and every one of you for listening to this episode. And if you enjoyed what you just heard, drop us a review and rate us on whatever platform you download podcasts on.

[00:13:16] We truly appreciate each and every one of you for supporting us and making us your go-to for black books. And we look forward to connecting with you all sometime in the future. Thank you again, fam. And always remember, black books matter. Seasonal médiuns are present when the enhancing the absorbent energy cover and helps the producer. Stay tuned to your team all deer Moh equals helicopter caught each other with India собственно creation. Thank you. Stay tuned for singing Almighty prayer. Who is greater or not willing to give out the변을 or more.