Ruby Yayra Goka

Ruby Yayra Goka (born 15 May 1982, Accra) is a Ghanaian dentist and author. Quotes In the Middle of Nowhere (2011) In an attempt to flee her past, Dr. Elaine Grant takes up a dental post in the Upper East Region of Ghana and starts a new life. The town of Sandema becomes her home and she grows to love the landscape, its people and an enigmatic busy-haired surgeon.<p> But the past she tried so hard to forget comes back to haunt her. Will she face it or flee?<p> As the story progresses, secrets are revealed and a love that lies dormant is awakened in two kindred spirits. Don’t play innocent with me, Elaine. I already fell for that once…. I thought you were different…decent…. Turns out you’re just a cheap slut… and you had the nerve of accusing me of being in love with my dead wife. You are despicable. Part four So you can tell me more lies?… You told me Kuuku’s father was dead and like the fool I was, I believed you…. I know everything, Elaine. This was all a game to you wasn’t it? Part four “I want to empower young girls and let them know that they can be what they want to be. I want them to see themselves reflected in the pages of books.” In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I’m a dentist and a writer. I’ve lived in Ghana most of my life. My dad was a diplomat, so I spent part of my childhood in Ethiopia. I’ve loved books my entire life, so writing was a logical progression from reading for me. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I really love what I do. I have a day job (dentistry) and I call writing my night job.  My working hours are from 9am to 4pm so when I’m done with dentistry, the rest of the day is mine. I don’t have a fixed writing schedule, I just fit writing in when I can, and I don’t have strict word count goals when I write. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I began writing before I even started dentistry. When I was at medical school, I worked on the student newsletter and then I became the Editor-in-Chief. I published a number of articles and stories through that platform. So, I’ve always done writing in some form. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I am currently working on my dissertation and in scientific writing, there are so many rules to follow. You have to reference almost everything. In creative writing, you’re free to do as you like for the development of the story. That’s the best thing about creative writing. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) A lot of my writing is basically about female empowerment. I started off writing for adults, but now I am more into young adult literature. I can pretty much do what I want but I am finding that a lot of my characters end up being female. In my part of the world that is quite a big thing as I want to empower young girls and let them know that they can be whatever they want to be. I want them to see themselves reflected in the pages of books. I hope that through my books, young girls will be able to identify with my characters and will know that they can achieve more than what they’ve been led to believe is the norm. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) There are so many! For young adult fiction, one person that I love reading is Elizabeth-Irene Baitie. Both of us have won the Burt Award and I absolutely love her books. Her characters pop off the page. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) Ahhh, I don’t have children, but this is like someone asking me to pick my favourite child. I have a whole list of books that I love. The Great Ponds by Elechi Amadi is one of my favourites. I’ve gone back to it time and time again. The Jasmine Candle by Christine Botchwey was one of the first Ghanaian young adult books that I read when I was younger, and I loved it too. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) When I was growing up there wasn’t really a young adult African genre, or at least I wasn’t exposed to it, I grew up on Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, and Sweet Valley. So, my first young adult African book was The Jasmine Candle, and I was so much in awe of the author who also happens to be a dentist. It was the first time I had seen a young African girl in a book, it was the first time I saw our foods being described, so much so that you could actually taste and smell them. I realised that yeah, we can write about ourselves! In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) My sister studied Literature, so I actually ended up reading a lot of her books that she studied. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy are some of my favourites. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I think that’s on everyone’s list, as well as The Gods Are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi. Anything by Max Lucado, Francine Rivers, Jane Austen, and Tami Hoag will also make it onto the list. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) During my training, we were taught how to screen for breast cancer. After dental school, I discovered a lump in my left breast which turned out to be benign. I was in my twenties at the time and I just kept thinking, “What if it had been malignant?”. My “what ifs” evolved into a story. I wrote my very first book, Disfigured, which I gave out to my friends and family to read. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) A year later, a Christian group invited me to an outreach project in a rural community in Ghana that did not have a dentist. It was a real eye opener to me. The “what-ifs” began again. I was a newly trained dentist and I asked myself, “What if I had been posted to that community?” I didn’t think I would have accepted the posting because it was so different and so far away from anything that I knew. That whole experience was what led to me writing my second book, In the Middle of Nowhere. I sent the completed manuscript to some friends and family and also to a few publishers. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) My big break came in 2010. There was a writing competition (The Burt Award for African Literature) for stories for young adults. I thought because I had written two adult manuscripts, I could easily write a young adult book. I thought writing for a younger audience would be so much simpler, so I kept putting it off until two weeks before the deadline when I finally took some time off work and began writing.  My entire story was five pages long, but to enter the competition you had to submit 80 pages. It was then I realised how hard authors for children and young adults work. They make books for children look so simple but a lot of work goes into it. I did submit the 80-page manuscript and eventually came out third in the competition. The Mystery of the Haunted House became my first published book. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) But that is changing, and I am happy to see it change. You can now walk into a bookshop and you will be able to find books by Ghanaian authors and other African authors and that wouldn’t have happened in the past. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) Our book industry would thrive more if the government got involved and pushed for reading programmes or having supplementary reading lists in schools. These initiatives would push the publishing industry further. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I think the most important message I could give is to read the types of books that you would like to write. What was the last successful published book in that genre? Or for that age group? If you don’t know what’s out there, or what’s popular, or what is selling well then how will you be able to write something in that area? Do your research first and read, read, read. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) If I got a really good book deal, I maybe would. Actually, it’s not a maybe, I definitely would. I would love a house by the ocean where all I’d do is wake up, stare at the ocean, drink coconuts, and write. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) I think for me, it’s just that sense of belonging. Every time you travel, and being a black person, you always feel like you stand out. But when I’m back home or in another African country, I don’t have to pay attention to how I behave, or which part of town I go to, or how I speak to people. I can just be me. But when you’re outside of Ghana there is always that sense of having to be careful, not taking risks, having to always be on guard. There is always that sense of not belonging. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) Two of my young adult books are currently out. A Blast to the Past is the first book in a series involving three children and their dog. They get transported to different time eras and take part in major historical feats. The second is Girl on Fire and tells the story about a girl who persisted in the face of opposition. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) Even if I had other opportunities, I think I would still be based in Ghana. Apart from writing I have a number of projects that I work on with school children. I still want to do these types of projects and encourage younger writers. So, I would probably split my time between Ghana and another place if that opportunity ever presented itself. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) As I said earlier, when I was growing up there really wasn’t much young adult fiction. We didn’t really have much fiction of any kind. In conversation with Ruby Yayra Gokaflolondon(December 25,2020) “Officially, 11 years,” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “unofficially, all my life.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “it’s not a personal thing,” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “it makes the book better.  Looking back, I wish I’d had more of my earlier books edited.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “All the time.  Sometimes I let the story sit for a bit.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “Everyday things.  Once I can hear the characters speaking I can start writing.  Typically I develop a plot first, but then sometimes I change it.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020)   “How can I pick just one?” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “Maybe Nancy Drew.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “The first African book I read was The Jasmine Candle [by] Christine Botchway.  I absolutely loved it.” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) “Oh and The Gods are not to Blame, Ola Rotimi.  And, The Great Ponds (Elechi Amadi).  And…” Coffee and Conversation with Ghanaian author Ruby Yayra Gokacode(May 25,2020) External links In the Middle of Nowhere Category: Living people Category:1982 births Category:Authors from Ghana Category:Women from Ghana