How did you come up with the title for your book?
In 2012, I got talking to a lady, and in a few weeks, I found that I had become attracted to her rather quickly. However, she had these severe mood swings, we would argue a lot, and trying to figure her out was like navigating a maze. One evening, we were having a heated conversation (per usual), and in exasperation I typed “I dream of ways to understand why you act like this” from my Blackberry Curve 2.
For some reason, that line stuck, and when I began to piece my stories together in 2019, I felt that I wanted a title that would capture the overarching themes that played out in the book: self-discovery, disillusionment, yearning, mental health, and wandering in search of a sense of belonging.
There’s another theory that suggests the title is drawn from a lyric in John Mayer’s 2009 song “Heartbreak Warfare” which goes “lightning strikes inside my chest to keep me up at night/dream of ways to make you understand my pain”, but I promise that it’s pure coincidence.
What characters in your book are most similar to you or to people you know?
The character of James in the story “It’s All Just Periwinkles, Really” fairly captures the state of mind I was in when I wrote the first draft in 2016. James is an artsy lothario with a huge sense of curiosity, as well as a fear of commitment (at least, with regard to the dating scene in Lagos).
I also have a strong connection to the unnamed protagonist in the story “What Am I Supposed To Say To You?” which, in actual fact, was inspired by true events. The story is rendered in first-person narrative, with the main character inadvertently becoming a third wheel in an abusive relationship and struggling with a saviour complex.
How long did it take you to write this book?
Two of the stories in the collection had their first drafts written in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2016 that I nursed a concrete intention to create a compelling body of work. Sometimes you find this situation with musicians: they probably have some lovely demos “lying around”, but they are not quite sure of what to do with those recordings until the idea of making a full album comes to them. Cumulatively, I would say it took three years to put this manuscript together; the final story was written in 2019.
What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?
I had a tough time writing the story “Memories Floating In A Glass Of Whiskey”, not necessarily because of skill, but because of the delicate nature of the emotions that run through it. The story is heavy and fragile all at once. I wanted to depict the layers of physical and sexual abuse that goes unreported in single-gender schools, but I also had to be careful not to conflate predatory behaviour with sexuality. It’s told in second-person, and some parts of it are a tad graphic, but having it any other way would be less authentic and less honest.
Do you play music while you write — and, if so, what’s your favourite?
Music for me is just as spiritual as it is an art form. The earliest memories of my life are intertwined with certain songs, so music has a major bearing on my craft.
When it comes to creating work, I interact with music in the way that writers interact with other books. I hear that some of the lyricality seeps into my writing, and I consider that opinion a huge compliment.
While writing my first manuscript, The Colours In These Leaves (2017), I listened to music from Mumford and Sons, The Fray and Dave Matthews Band. The influence of alternative Nigerian acts like Odunsi the Engine and Nonso Amadi weighs heavily on my poetry chapbook Notes for Nnedimma (2019). For this collection (Dreaming), I immersed myself in an eclectic mix that featured indie rock, 1990s RnB, hip-hop and Afrobeats. I curated a playlist as well that could pass for the book’s “OST.”
How do you use social media as an author?
As a creative, and specifically as an author, it’s important to master the use of social media – for publicity and promotion, for engagement, for pushing conversations. People have an incredibly short attention span these days – to be fair, there is a lot of distraction out there – so you need to be intentional about striving to remain top-of-mind. Preserving engagement doesn’t necessarily have to involve anything outlandish; it could be as “simple” as reposting a review, jumping on an Instagram Live session, or replying to a Facebook comment.
I always try my best to reshare reviews of my book (when I see them, that is), leave links to my work on my bio, and study the algorithm as well. It’s not always fun, but I understand that I have to push out my craft if I don’t want copies of my book to accumulate dust on my shelf.
We are in an era where it’s no longer enough for your work to speak for you. Fifty percent of publishing these days involves a great deal of marketing, and that (obviously) includes social media. There’s a reason why the terms “Bookstagram” and “BookTok” exist: there are titles that have exploded as a result of social media recommendations. The quality of those titles is debatable, but you can never undermine marketing genius.
Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
The way the world works now is that people no longer have to wait for the year’s edition of an annual book festival to meet their favourite author(s). Social media has made it possible for readers to feel a lot closer to the writers whose words speak to them, take them on journeys, treat them to adventures. The novelist whose work you admire so much is now one X (formerly) Twitter mention away.
Every now and then, I stumble upon reviews of my book on the internet. I am grateful that as far as critical reception of my book goes, positive outweighs negative at a ratio of 70:30. For every one person calling for my book “to be burnt”, there are four people who loved the stories and connected to the characters.
I have also received the odd Instagram message from literary enthusiasts, thanking me for showing them that they “are not alone” through an old story or essay I wrote years ago, and asking when I would release the next manuscript. I wish I had concrete answers for that question, but I don’t take my readers for granted, and over the past half-decade I have seen friendships (at varying levels of depth) that sprung from engagement with my readership.
What books did you grow up reading?
Growing up in Warri in the early 1990s, my background could be categorised as middle-class; we didn’t have so much, but we were comfortable, and all needs (as well as some wants) were met. My father couldn’t take us on trips abroad every long holiday, but he invested heavily in literacy, and buying books was easy for him to do.
My early childhood had me reading books like H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines and Allan Quatermain, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and the crime novels authored by James Hadley Chase. I also got around to consuming some Nigerian literature by way of Cyprian Ekwensi’s Juju Rock and Burning Grass, Zulu Sofola’s Wedlock of the Gods, Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, and S. M. O Aka’s Midday Darkness.
Name an underappreciated novel that you love.
For me, that would be Mine Boy, a novel written in 1946 by South African author Peter Abrahams. Set in pre-apartheid South Africa, it explores the racial discrimination that already existed in the country at the time, and it also dwells on mental health. I think the book is not as lauded when it comes to conversations surrounding African literature, and I think it deserves the same volume of flowers accorded to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?
I’d say, “don’t overthink.” Trust your gut, and focus on putting yourself out there, rather than what people will say about the work. Sure enough, no creative can be indifferent about the way their craft is received, but if you keep stalling and biting your nails in fear of public opinion, there’s a chance that your manuscript will not travel anywhere beyond your laptop. Send the dove out of the world, and if it comes back battered, you would have learnt a thing or two. Of course, pour your soul into the drafts and get as many edits done as possible, let the work pass through the eyes of a beta reader if you get the chance, but remember to have enough faith in your product to withstand whatever doubts you have about your ability.
Personal Social Media
Twitter: https://x.com/J_Chiemeke
Instagram: https://instagram.com/j_chiemeke
Links to Order “Dreaming Of Ways To Understand You”
Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreaming-Ways-Understand-Jerry-Chiemeke/dp/B0CLWKSQ2F
Selar – https://selar.co/ci1k
Bambooks – https://bambooks.io/book/13023/dreaming-of-ways-to-understand-you Roving Heights (Nigeria) – https://rhbooks.com.ng/product/dreaming-of-ways-to-understand-you/