Spotlight Profiles: 2023
How to Marrie A Rich Man.
Linda Temienor-Vincent
“After escaping from Sapele to Lagos in search of her elusive father, Miracle finds out he is married. He throws her out, and the bustling, unforgiving, chaotic city overwhelms her. In her determination to survive, she starts a janitorial business cleaning at a bank. When a Mercedes car pulls up outside, and suave, handsome Bambam steps out, Miracle sets her sights on him, but will her illiteracy become an obstacle?”
Linda Temienor-Vincent was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She holds a B. A. in English and Literature Education from the University of Benin and an MA in International Relations from the University of Lagos. In 2019, she received a diploma in Screenwriting from the New York Film Academy. In 2021, she won a Global Voices Scholarship for Prose Fiction and completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 2022. She divides her time between Norwich and Lagos.
Linda’s first page
Overview
How to Marrie A Rich Man plunges us straight into the world of Miracle, a young Nigerian woman, who travels to Lagos in search of her father. After being rejected by him, she struggles to survive but step by step she succeeds against all the odds, becoming the owner of her own company and meeting the man of her dreams.
This is a classic rags to riches story, as Miracle, a naive and uneducated girl gradually builds a life she can be proud of. Written in Miracle’s own unique voice, the novel paints a vivid picture of the hard scrabble life in the city. The backdrop of familial conflict and tradition adds a further layer to a story. In a fast moving world, the combination of classic tropes with local detail gives the novel immediacy and the potential for broad commercial appeal.
In the mentoring process, the first thing we looked at was voice and the range of options available within a first person narrative. (From quite close subjective to more widescreen impartial.) We also looked at genre, and how the various elements, romantic and familial, could be further entwined and interlinked. The third key element was narrative development and the strategic use of grounding detail to add poignancy and bring Miracle’s world even more evocatively to life.
Linda’s mentor was Marion Urch.
Linda’s Feedback
‘On this website, there is a quote: “The obvious often isn’t until someone perceptive and experienced points it out.” Every bit of that statement is valid. That was my experience with Marion during the mentoring process. The protagonist’s manner of speaking was challenging for me, even as the writer, so you can imagine my surprise when Marion immersed herself in the protagonist’s journey but could still identify any issues and strengths in the manuscript.
Marion demonstrated patience and expertise and provided constructive criticism to improve the manuscript. It was not all fun and games. On my part, there were tears, frustrations and some rethinking. But isn’t that what mentoring is about? To tackle the elements that aren’t working, strengthen what is working and use the tools offered to pull out the manuscript’s full potential.
Thank you, Marion. It was indeed an honour.’
