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Author's Notes
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i t is not easy to take a book right to the end when you are still trying your hand at writing, and that is why I abandoned The Earth in Peril half way. To be honest with you, it was not easy. Actually, I had always wondered how chaps like Chinua Achebe managed to sit down and come out with very entertaining pieces of literature. My first attempt to write anything had been far from successful. After scribbling a few words, I was fogged. It did not flow the way I thought it would. I had given up and made up my mind to remain a reader, rather than struggling to become a writer. I was therefore compelled to enjoy what other blokes had succeeded in putting in writing. All the same, apart from Bernard Shaw, Giovani Guereski, Tom Sharpe and Wodehouse, I could not come to enjoy much else. It was not until I started developing insomnia that I discovered that I could use that period of sleeplessness to make another attempt at becoming an author, and be listed among the famous writers. When I had mentioned this to my dear wife, Gladys, she had laughed derisively and asked, “What are you going to write about, politics or your uneventful biography?” “None of that” I had replied. “You know I have never been a serious man, so I cannot write anything serious. I will think of the beginning of a story and write anything that comes to my mind.” Gladys had laughed a little more and said, “I only hope you will not become the laughing stock of the year.” I would have given up if I had not been a tough egg. Brutus accused Caesar of being very ambitious, when he was groping for a plausible reason for having murdered the emperor. I think I can safely say in this case that I am a lot more ambitious. I therefore went ahead to put pen to paper I ii every time I had insomnia, and succeeded in coming up with The Earth in Peril. I hope you enjoyed it the way Gladys Diyen did when she finally decided to read it. What had finally convinced me however, that my book was worth reading were the positive remarks from a very concerned sister, Marceline Sangle Abonga, who said she was always confident that I could work wonders. Maybe I would have stopped there but for the fact that Bertrand, Kini Maya, Nange and Momjang, my wonderful bambinos whom I had employed as my proof readers because they were cheaper and more efficient, declared that they would not see me abandon a good book midway. They even went ahead to give me very useful hints that enabled me come out with The Earth Fights Back I hope you will find it equally interesting, that is if you found The Earth in Peril interesting. I must admit the great role of Kola coffee. Never allow yourself to be defeated by sleep or tiredness when there is Kola coffee to boost you up, especially when it is brewed and served by a very concerned sister. Yes, Martha Naya Genevieve Ndam made sure my coffee was always there to dissuade me from shirking work on this novel under the lazy excuse that I was tired or sleepy. Aah, Kola coffee! Gladys is now aware that she did not marry a lazy bum but a Master, who could successfully run the Daily Show over CNN. The memory of Isidore Irvine Diyen will always inspire me and I will never fail him. ...