A TYPICAL DAY WITH AMBASSADOR UNYIME IVY-KING.

1. Who is Ambassador Unyime Ivy King?
I am first of all a daughter of the Most High God, a wife, a mother, author/publisher and a social media campaigner for a return to those family values which upheld us as a people.

2. How was growing up like?
Growing up was a fun adventure. When I see children these days all holed up in one corner watching TV or playing computer games for hours on end, I feel sad. We played a lot as children, but also had our time to study. My dad always took us to the State Library every Saturday and we got library cards and could borrow books. I remember my childhood with fondness and each time I think of childhood, it evokes for me nostalgic feelings of warmth because it reminds me of a close knit family bond, great friendships in the neighborhood we lived, lots of play because our estate had parks and one was quite near our house. We would go there and play.

3. Did you just stumble into prose?
No I did not. I grew up in a family where many people were literary inclined. My dad worked with the House of Assembly then as Hansard Editor and he loved to write. My mum bought us lots of story books and these early influences stirred up my interest for prose because I wanted to write my own book.  I had this aunty-God rest her soul- who would come to our house intermittently whenever she was doing her sandwich program at the University of Calabar. She had a huge collection of stories from the African Writers Series and she allowed me access to her books. My goal as a child was to ensure I read all the books in the series and that was how, in primary school I got introduced to great authors like: Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Cyprian Ekwensi, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, and a host of African writers.

 

.4.What ignited your interest in prose?

 I remember reading Alex Harley's Roots then and a family friend who came to visit, was amazed to see me reading such a huge volume and she exclaimed, "this child is a bookworm!" She worked in the University either as a lecturer or non-academic staff- I can't really remember. Those were the early influences that started me on the prose path and ignited my interest.

5. Do you have any publish work apart from "burning hurt?"
Asides articles that I've had published in magazines and newspapers, Burning Hurt is my first published novel, but I have 3 other books which I'm planning to release soon. I believe I tested the market and experimented with Burning Hurt. I have learnt now.

6. When are you set to release your second work?
You mean my 2nd, 3rd or 4th works? Hahahahahaha- this year-2016. I will announce dates shortly.

7. How did you meet Mr. King?
We met in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. We both served together in a church ministry in Uyo in the Security/protocol unit. We share almost 14years of marriage, come September 13th 2016 and 19years of friendship.

8. Do you have any advice for the youths?
I would say, whatever you do today when you are still young and strong, do not forget tomorrow. Whatever you sow today, you will reap tomorrow and every action has repercussions or consequences. Never forget that and do not let anyone despise you because you are young. If you expose your minds to positive things you will act in positive ways.

9. Do you think we have another Wole Soyinka among our youths?
I must say that Nigerian youths are doing incredible things in various fields and I firmly believe that we have many potential Wole Soyinkas about to happen on the scene.

10. What is your typical day like?
Well a typical day for me would be waking up and praying with my children before they leave for school in the morning. I run my own business so I'm not usually in a hurry to leave home unless I have an urgent matter to deal with or an appointment. But I must say that whether I go to the office or not, my work day already starts from home because I do not have to be in the office to do the things I need to do. When I get to the office and do what needs to be done, I do my best to ensure that if I haven't travelled, I am there for my children as much as possible. I leave the office at 5pm and head straight home and I engage the children to find out how their day has been and I also prepare to welcome my hubby back home. He usually comes in later than I do, except on Fridays when we go out together after work on a date. Fridays are date nights if we are both in town and we always find fun things to do together. It also helps that we work together in our own business so it makes it easy for us to do more together.