Hey guys, good afternoon.

So I am having a really hard time deciding a lighthearted title for my upcoming Novella.

I shared an excerpt here last week, if you remember, and mentioned thinking of something better than ‘From The Grave’

To refresh your memories, the story is about a dead guy who is hell bent on confirming his wife killed him. It takes a lighthearted angle to the whole life after death thing.

You already know, I don’t write anything without a little love story thrown in there. Romance is my favorite thing to write, so somewhere in this story lies a steamy love story 😉

And, since you guys will be parting with your money when it’s time to purchase, it is only fair you’re part of the creating process especially when I am stuck.

So here are the few titles I am playing with

  • Heavenly Stalker
  • Underground Husband
  • With love… From The Grave.

Help me decide abeg

Please feel free to suggest other titles you think would work.

Meanwhile, here’s another excerpt to help you decide which title works best…

Eloho Garuba sat in the bedroom she once shared with her husband, Mahmood. Clad in a silk black maxi dress – one her mother had said was too scandalous for mourning – she eyed the box of tissues sitting on the floral lilac bedsheet near her.

She was dry-eyed and she was going to be until the whole stupid investigation was over.

Mahmood was dead and he deserved to be dead.

He got what was coming to him and she did not see why she had to mourn his cheating ass.

She’d met him during her NYSC year. At the time, she was in Camp and she had paid a visit to the Mammy market to buy a few things she was going to need for the Miss NYSC night when she spotted him.

Slim, tall with a glowing fair skin, Mahmood had stood out in a maroon colored shirt where he was surrounded by overly excited female corp members.

She remembered they had held each other’s gazes for a long time, each unable to look away… or blink, as if worried the other would disappear if they did. Her heart had increased its pace and her pulse had quickened where she stood.

Suddenly, she felt like she was Beyoncé on a stage, her hair gently lifted by a sudden breeze, while a few strands played around her face. She felt like the only girl in the world and she knew it had to do with the way he watched her when everyone else watched him.

He was the Star in the world of the girls who watched him with admiration in their eyes but she was the Star in his own world.

She’d known she wanted him from that very moment. She’d known she was going to be his if he asked.

And like a scene out of a Telenovella, he ignored the ladies who swarmed around him like bees and walked up to her.

“You’re beautiful” he said, took her hand in his and kissed it gently. “And I want to marry you”

She had chuckled, lowered her eyelids shyly and replied, “You want to marry me because I am beautiful”

“Because I will be stupid if I let you go” he said, “I won’t let any of these NYSC guys beat me to it”

He was her handsome Prince and she was his beautiful Princess. Theirs was a whirlwind romance; it captured them suddenly, took their feet off the ground and left them overwhelmed by each other’s charm.

Eloho had been certain they were meant to live happily ever after. And so, when he asked for her to be his forever on a starry night while they were at his company’s third anniversary party, she had not hesitated to say yes.

The corners of his mouth creased into the happiest smile ever as the crowd cheered them on and his best friend, Tade gave a toast.

Putting his hands around her waist, he pulled her to him and kissed her like her lips were his only lifeline.

She was his and he wanted the world to know, it seemed.

And as fireworks went up in the sky, even Eloho’s sparkling sequined dress and the sparks in the sky had nothing on how brightly her love shone for him.

He’d owned her heart forever.

But just like he’d loved her, he had hated her.

“Our spark is gone” he told her one morning, the insensitivity in his voice driving a knife into her heart faster than the words he spoke.

“Mahmood, babe, that is normal. We can work on it”

“I hate to force chemistry”

She’d suspected he was cheating way before she caught him but it had also hurt to know he was cheating with someone so close to home.

Her old friend’s younger sister, Adanna.

He had never met Adanna and he did not know but she suspected Adanna knew and it hurt badly that he wanted to move on with her without thinking twice.

What was to happen to their son? What was to happen to her, the woman he had hurt so badly?

She was a sore loser and there was no way she could have been mature about it. She had to do what she had to do.

The door to the room opened and her eyes looked up in time to see Tade’s tall frame stroll in. He had in his hands the Champagne bottle she’d asked for and a champagne flute for her to drink in.

“What took you so long, Tade?” she asked, marching towards him quickly. Snatching the drink from him, she swiftly poured herself a glass.

“His family members are waiting for you outside”

“Fuck them”

“They think you killed him, Eloho. You cannot act like this” his voice was a desperate plea even though he spoke the words softly. Eloho had always thought Tade was the warmer version of Mahmood. Best friends that they were, Tade was almost nothing like Mahmood.

Where Mahmood shouted, Tade simply spoke softly. Where Mahmood got angry, Tade acted calm. And where Mahmood got instant female attention, Tade was only lucky to get a girl in the room to look his way.

However, what was interesting to note was, Tade was smarter and more intelligent than Mahmood. He was not as handsome but he was also definitely good to look at.

But he still always took the backseat wherever Mahmood was concerned; something he seemed unperturbed about… if he knew that was.

She gulped the entire glass and made to pour another one. Tade snatched the bottle from her.

“Eloho! Listen to me!” he snapped, his hand holding her shoulder tightly.

“So what if I did?” she snarled.

Tade looked at her in shock. Whirling around, she marched towards the window and stared into the clean compound.

Her favorite chaise lounge caught her eye and so did the woman who now strolled into view.

Anger surged through her like bad electricity, turning around, she looked Tade in the eye. “What is she doing here?” she couldn’t even ask without a loud voice. She was livid.

“He told them about her before he died”

The words jolted her and she almost lost her balance. Racing to her side, Tade gripped her.

Her voice was broken when she spoke next. “Did you also know about them, Tade?”

The silence before his response confirmed what she’d feared all along.

“How dare you?” she shoved him away and made to walk past him.

“I knew it would hurt you, you cannot blame me for not telling”

She gasped, “You swore that you loved me!”

“And I did. I still do.”

“And you lied to me?”

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t say the truth”

Nodding slowly, she released herself from his hold and strolled towards the door.

“Since you all hate me, I would just go ahead and tell them the truth they want to hear”

Tade dashed after her. “Eloho!”

But it was too late, she already opened the door and was on her way to the sitting room where her late husband’s family sat, waiting for her.

PS: Someone asked me on the last post why I seem to like the name ‘Mahmood’. I have never used this name in any of my stories. I have blogged almost ten fiction series and never have I used Mahmood. I try not to repeat names, which is why for a long time, all the male lead in my stories were guys I had been romantically involved with before or that I crushed on. However, Sally does have a Mahmood (a xter I loved by the way) in her hit series, Novocaine Knights. So no, the name Mahmood is nice but I don’t repeat the names of major xters. It’s utterly confusing coming from the same Writer, you’d agree.

That said, guys, PLEASE sound off in the comment section and help a Sister.

PPS: I paused the SDC Marathon last week because I was waiting for people to catch up. The comment sections weren’t encouraging and only had the regular top commenters (whom I sincerely apologize to cos they’re like my “superfans”) dropping comments. I realized that people had just started catching up on episodes from the week before and so I chilled and then totally lost my writing mojo, thanks to the almighty PMS. Girl problems.

Anyway, you should get the remaining two episodes today. Working on it. While we wait, help me out on the new book. Gracias.

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