By Damiete Braide
two years after Onose Callima-Inino, a medical doctor, launched her debut novel, The Third Day, she has launched two new books, A Miracle at Christmas (two novellas) and Shadow of His Wings, in Lagos.
The books are products of her romantic tale of sweet-beautiful-selfless love, passion, trust, faith, hope and victory that God gives all who trust completely in Him. Callima-Inino said she was into Christian fiction, because “we don’t have enough folks telling our stories” and “Christians also fall in love and go through all the attendant ups and downs.”
Again, “Having God by your side makes all the difference through these times. That said, everyone can read and identify with my stories. They will warm your heart; make you smile; make you cry sometimes; keep you up all night and, finally, make you happy and hopeful.”
The first book, A Miracle this Christmas (Meant to Be) is a Christmas romance story that speaks on love, forgiveness and so much! The second book, Shadow of His Wings (SOHW) “is about the things that happened last year, and we’ve come to trust God more through it all. SOHW depicts same. I want to bring hope and happiness in a time of so many uncertainties,” she said.
In his address of welcome, Pastor Tony Okeke, RCCG, Grace Sanctuary, said the wealth of a man had to do with the number of lives that he/she had touched positively, and one way of reaching out to people was through writing.
“The gift of God makes room for people to touch lives positively, and this the author has done through her writing. We are proud of you. You rolled out a book barely two years ago and now she has written two books and we expect her to write more books very soon,” said Smart Oni.
ArchBishop of Niger Delta Church, Anglican Communion, Nigeria, Tunde Adeleye, thanked God for another landmark creation by the author, “a title like this in this country where there is pain, agony, regret, hunger.
“At a time like this, where there are sicknesses, people are being shocked; they live in real agony and pain in the land. The author is out with two books that will drag you out of painful and unfortunate experiences.”
In her review, Kehinde Osonsanya, said: “From the very beginning, there’s a lingering sense of calm that envelopes the reader, offering some mental respite. The lead character is generous enough to let us in her thoughts, representing every young individual in our present society doing 400 leaps a second to build a dream and sustain it, regardless.”
He added: “The theme of class conflict, which is very common in our society today, resonates in this piece; we see the typical Nigerian lady building an empire from scratch not just for self-satisfaction, but also for society; to fit in and have a say in the face of intending oppressors with obvious privileges which in this case is Tomiwa’s mum.”
According to him, “The subjects of love, peace, religion, anger and resentment, emotional struggles and forgiveness handed to readers in this piece all come together in communal solidarity to make this piece really beautiful. It gets readers smiling all through, even in the face of each character’s challenges.”