Kenechi Udogu's Blog: Caeblogs / en-US Wed, 13 Nov 2024 01:10:08 -0800 60 Kenechi Udogu's Blog: Caeblogs / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/25256675-augmented-cover-reveal Tue, 12 Nov 2024 07:14:27 -0800 Augmented cover reveal! /author_blog_posts/25256675-augmented-cover-reveal The cover for AUGMENTED, my prize-winning debut YA eco sci-fi novel, is here! And it is absolutely stunning! I’m so grateful to the Art and Comms department at Faber, and Manzi Jackson, the cover artist, for bringing Akaego and her ability to life so perfectly. Augmented will be available on 5th June 2025, but you can pre-order a copy now from major retailers via one of the purchase links listed in my linktree

And if you were wondering what Augmented’s about...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on November, 13 ]]> /author_blog_posts/24056313-what-a-difference-a-year-makes Mon, 11 Sep 2023 05:38:41 -0700 <![CDATA[What a difference a year makes…]]> /author_blog_posts/24056313-what-a-difference-a-year-makes

In this case, eighteen months, because the last time I posted here was all the way back in March 2022 when I was still riding the high of finishing my term on the HarperCollins Author Academy. Cue shocked gasps� Okay, no one is surprised. I’ve been rubbish at updating this blog in recent years, but so much has happened, I couldn’t let 2023 pass without dropping this. All I can say is, following through by acting on Aaliyah’s lyrics (if at first you don’t succeed, dust it off and try again �



posted by Kenechi Udogu on September, 12 ]]> /author_blog_posts/22324591-if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed Fri, 11 Mar 2022 05:37:11 -0800 <![CDATA[If At First You Don’t Succeed…]]> /author_blog_posts/22324591-if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed Every time I say these words to myself, I break into song in my head and try not to bob along to a silent beat (I blame Aaliyah and Timbaland for this). But that’s not what this post is about.

Once again, I’m shocked at how long it’s been since I last shared any news on here. Ten months! Seriously, where does time go? At least I can say I have good reason for my prolonged silence this time. I’ve actually been writing � A LOT! Like, a lot, a lot. Brace yourself, this might be a long one.

Ov...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on March, 12 ]]> /author_blog_posts/21305282-the-third-good-thing-the-other-slipper-in-french Sat, 15 May 2021 04:36:02 -0700 <![CDATA[The Third Good Thing � The Other Slipper in French]]> /author_blog_posts/21305282-the-third-good-thing-the-other-slipper-in-french A month ago (gosh, it feels like even longer), when I posted about good things coming in threes, I mentioned that the exciting third thing I wanted to share with you guys was to do with another translation of one of my books. Well, I can now reveal what it is! Okay, I already gave it away in the header to this post, but I still wanted a drum roll moment. It is, of course, the third foreign language translation of The Other Slipper! And my first work translated into French. Long overdue, but bett...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on May, 16 ]]> /author_blog_posts/21202863-good-things-come-in-threes Sat, 17 Apr 2021 04:07:21 -0700 Good Things Come in Threes� /author_blog_posts/21202863-good-things-come-in-threes Alas, it feels like I’ve formed a habit of only posting on here once or twice a year, and only when there is something to share. I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really, really, going to try to work on getting more writing done here.

Anyway, remember the short story, Locked, which I posted about back in 2019 following an unsuccessful BAME competition entry? Well, as promised, I didn’t lose hope and decided to enter it into another competition, because I truly believed in it enough to give ...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on April, 18 ]]> /author_blog_posts/19404209-flash-fiction-dark-edges Sun, 02 Feb 2020 05:11:54 -0800 Flash Fiction: Dark Edges /author_blog_posts/19404209-flash-fiction-dark-edges Hi everyone, a belated happy new year to you all. Thought I’d kick off the year by posting my flash fiction contribution for a competition entry for a 200 � 300 words mystery story based on an elephant (random, but aren’t most competitions?). Mystery is not really a genre I write so this was a little challenging but figured I’d give it a go. Hope you enjoy it.

DARK EDGES

She had been holding her breath for a few seconds and knew she would pass out if she didn’t let it out soon. Dizzying...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on February, 03 ]]> /author_blog_posts/18601124-locked-bame-short-story-competition-entry Tue, 16 Jul 2019 05:59:06 -0700 <![CDATA[Locked � BAME Short Story Competition Entry]]> /author_blog_posts/18601124-locked-bame-short-story-competition-entry Back in May, a friend of mine brought the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Shorty Story Prize to my attention. The competition, which was set up in 2015, is intended to discover and promote talent from Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity backgrounds whose voices statistically tend to get overlooked by traditional publishers. In the spirit of 2019 being the year of my return to fiction writing, I decided I’d give this a go.

At first, I struggled to come up with an idea I felt I could work with but, w...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on July, 17 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17966084-the-comeback-kid-and-a-story Fri, 15 Feb 2019 04:30:59 -0800 The Comeback Kid…and a story /author_blog_posts/17966084-the-comeback-kid-and-a-story It has been nearly 18 months since I last posted on here (Oct 2017, whaaat?)! Gosh, where has the time gone? I wish I could say I have spent all this time writing an epic bestselling novel, meeting with Netflix producers over a glass or two of champagne and generally refining my writing skills but, sadly, real life got in the way and I’ve pretty much done NONE of that. A few life changes have been recently made so I hope this means I’ll be able to get back into writing with some sense of joy,...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on February, 16 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15896484-i-m-in-a-magazine Mon, 23 Oct 2017 06:12:59 -0700 I’m in a magazine! /author_blog_posts/15896484-i-m-in-a-magazine Well, sort of. I entered a short story competition for The University of Nottingham alumni magazine, Connect, all the way back in February and genuinely thought I didn’t have a chance of getting shortlisted (because I almost never do for these things). Shock of all shocks, I did! My story was picked as one of the top 6!

All entries were initially judged blind by a panel of 8 Creative writing and English students and graduates, and assigned scores for: creativity and premise, characterisation...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on October, 09 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15667914-sing-when-you-re-winning-wembley Tue, 05 Sep 2017 06:00:59 -0700 <![CDATA[Sing when you’re winning…Wembley!]]> /author_blog_posts/15667914-sing-when-you-re-winning-wembley [image error]

So, I sang at Wembley Stadium a couple of weekends ago for the rugby Challenge Cup Final. It’s weird because when I found out we would be doing the gig a few months back I was like, sure, singing at Wembley, whatever, it’s not that big of a deal. No biggie, except…oh my freaking word, I SANG AT WEMBLEY STADIUM!!!! WHAAAAAT!!!! That was pretty much my level of elation as we queued up at 9am to get our passes and go through security checks with about 200 members of my amazing non-audition comm...



posted by Kenechi Udogu on June, 28 ]]>