By Nora Vasconcelos and Obinna Udenwe
Two writers, Nora Vasconcelos, from Mexico, and Obinna Udenwe, from Nigeria, have teamed up in a potentially huge and courageous short story project titled ‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’. The Project will have the two writers daring to bridge the gap between lives in two continents.
For a short period of time, they will produce a total of ten short stories chronicling lives in both Nigeria and Mexico. Each short story of 3,000 words will have each of them contributing 1,500 words each. One of them will start a story and write it up to 1500 words long, then the other picks it up and adds another 1500 words.
In total ‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’ will have each writer (Obinna and Nora) starting five stories each, and the other completing it, to bring the total number of stories in the project to ten.
Nigeria and Mexico share a lot in common – both face several problems and challenges, at the same time, these two countries have people who fall in love, who are patriots, who want to see their country grow and shine.
The two writers were connected in 2014 in a blog tour, invited by Trish Nicholson (@trishanicholson). The blog tour fostered a friendship that has defied distance, and made them believe that the world has been ensconced in a shell by the internet, making everything possible.
‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’ will talk about current issues such as migration, politics, the way we live, family, difficult decisions, love, and much more.
Each story will be uploaded in their blogs (www.obinnaudenwe.blogspot.com, & https://thetravelingbookclub.wordpress.com/). Then the links will be shared on social media.
When they have completed and published online the ten stories, they will try looking for a suitable home for it, getting ‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’ published in a print book form. (Interested publishers are welcomed for negotiations right away.)
Obinna Udenwe’s Comment:
Nora Vasconcelos and I became friends in 2014 after a blog tour that brought us together with Trish Nicholson (@trishanicholson) and Andrew Hill (@jazprose). Then in 2015, we decided that having experienced what the internet could do in bridging hundreds of miles, we could embark on a daring, adventurous, fun and witty short story project. Each story will be started by either Nora or myself and completed by the other. So imagine completing a story started by another writer, without knowing firsthand how the other had wanted the story to end, wouldn’t that be hilarious?
Nora Vasconcelos’ Comment:
I’ve always been amazed by the closeness that internet creates, no matter how far away people are, a simple click can bring them together. It’s technology as well which makes this project a reality, allowing two writers, living in two continents, to complete each other’s stories with no more than a great deal of imagination. The same as Obinna, I want to akwnowledge the constant support of our friends, Trish and Andrew.
Our Bios
Obinna Udenwe is the author of a debut political, conspiracy, crime thriller, ‘Satans & Shaitans’ set in Nigeria against the backdrop of the ongoing tensions. His short stories have appeared in the Kalahari Review, African Roar, Brittle Paper, Tribe, Alariwo, ANA Review, Fiction365 and many more.
Nora Vasconcelos is the author of the children’s book ‘Pequeñas Fantasias’, published in Spanish, along with several news stories and news features written for different nationwide Mexican media. She has been a blogger since 2011, writing stories in English about books, travel and food.
