Interview with OLAWUNMI BIRIYOK

Author of RUN THE RACE

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

African origin but British and reside in the United Kingdom (London)

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

Was in Africa sometime in 1984/5, when I decided to fast for 40 days to seek the face of the Lord concerning my life, what I was to do following the completion of my first degree in International Studies. In the early hours of the 40th day of my fast, I had an encounter with the Lord,Who clearly told me I was going to travel abroad and there He will prosper me and glorify His name. Miraculously, my family made arrangements for me to travel that night and it was at the airport just before I boarded the flight that I revealed my earlier encounter with the Lord to my mother.
To the glory of God, I studied law and graduated and began practicing. In no time, I had established my own firm, rose to charing the Sole Practioners Group of the Law Society of England and Wales; when I had yet another encounter with the Lord and this began my authorship of books inspiring virtuous character – with my debut book, ‘Walk the Walk and stop talking the talk’, followed by the ‘Manual for Righteous Living’, ‘Run the Race’and many more, – leading eventually to my Call into full time ministry.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

It wasn’t my decision to write and publish my debut book as previously mentioned. I was following the direction of the Holy Spirit. The title of the book and chapters were all inspired by the Lord. I was merely following the Holy Spirit’s lead.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

All of the books that God has led me to write, inspire virtuous character; in that you find the chapters of each book teach readers how to apply the word of God in their daily life. It encourages all readers to live righteously to experience the benefits of it, glorifying God with their lifestyle.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Everybody – believers and truth-seekers alike.
The books and topics, interestingly, are for the young and matured, not limited to a specific sect of people. You have to read it to grasp what I’m saying.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

This is a very good question. For me, the process of writing, I find, was to spiritually cleanse me and draw me closer to God Almighty. The more I write, the more I see my character flaws glaring in my face. I couldn’t hide from them nor pretend they don’t exist. So with every manuscript, I obediently learned took up the ‘how to’ and began practicing, walking and running with the chapters, if that makes any sense to you. With regards to publishing, I was pleasantly surprised to note at that stage, the promises of God to me on the last day of my 40 days of fasting many years ago. Though I had bitter experience with the publishers, I quickly realized that the presence of the Lord was with me, preserving me for better times and teaching me how to self-publish. Glory to God!

If you could, what advice would you give to past self yourself before embarking on this journey?

The advice I will give to my past self is not to permit anyone to put a label on me whilst in my temporary circumstances, or define my limit in life without knowing my destiny and or determine my future based on speculations.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

God created us all in His image, therefore, we are all His children and He wants the best for each and everyone of us; as only He can provide. In the light of this, ideally, I would like my books to reach everyone in the world.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

My biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date is getting the books out there for the readers’ attention. Marketing and proper social media communication as promised by the publishers, is lacking.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

My biggest strengths when it comes to book
a) writing is my humble ability to hear from the Lord, obey instantaneously and completely by following the lead of the Holy Spirit.
b) publishing is how quickly I learned from past unpleasant experiences with publishers, turning negative disappointments into positive achievements of self-publishing.
c) marketing, none whatsoever. I concentrate much more on the content of my books than how to market them.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

My biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing is my impatience with other issues outside of my writing. I find it difficult to multi-task thus I let writing take over all other tasks.
b) publishing before I started doing it myself, I could not bring myself to trusting any publishing company – been beaten far too many times to be comfortable with the publishing process.
c) marketing I was too quick to believe any marketing strategy would work with my books. My lack of knowledge,understanding and experience are all contributing factors.

When do you think you will you write your next book?

I’m in the process of finishing a manuscript now. It’s the second of four or maybe five miniseries.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

I am self-publish and love the process and experience of publishing.