Mars Ezechukwu

My first introduction to Mars Ezechukwu was through his book The Heart Repair Shop. It is not only a great title, but is a very well-written and helpful book. I was surprised to find out that the young man who wrote the book was from Nigeria … so I wanted to find out more!

Melanie Rockett: Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.

Mars Ezechukwu: Ah, where do I start? Well, I was born in Imo State, Nigeria. I’m 21 years old. I started writing at a very young age, used to win a lot of writing competitions back then so I always knew I would end up a writer. I grew up reading the books of Elechi Amadi, Chinua Achebe, the usual suspects for a Nigerian child. My mother is a teacher, so she started buying me books from a very young age. I think two of my favorite books from that era are “Chike and The River” by Chinua Achebe and “An African Night’s Entertainment” by Cyprian Ekwensi. Ah, I love those books.

Melanie Rockett: How did you come to be a writer?

Mars Ezechukwu: I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to become anything else in my life.

Melanie Rockett: You’ve written one non-fiction book and are about to publish a book of short stories. What else have you done?

Mars Ezechukwu: I’m versatile; I own a food delivery service called Taker’s, for example. I also run TheJollof.com, which is an online newsmagazine for young people. I’m studying Pharmacy right now at the University of Nigeria. So many things, but at the center of it all, you have my writing career.

Melanie Rockett: What is your non-fiction book The Heart Repair Shop about?

Mars Ezechukwu: Actually the full title is The Heart Repair Shop: How To Get Over A Breakup in 8 Easy Steps. It’s a non-fiction book about how to get over a breakup. It’s very simple and straightforward, around 75 pages. I released it early this year because I had so many things written up that I needed to let go of, and I had to let go of something, you know, show it to the world. My perfectionism wouldn’t let me release anything. I fuss excessively over the little things. So I released it. No promotion, no buzz. People have been messaging me and telling me the book helped them. And that’s enough reward for me.

Melanie Rockett: You are about to publish a compilation of your short stories. The book is titled, Of Ghosts And Apparitions Can you tell us a bit about it?

Mars Ezechukwu: It’s a collection of stories, all themed on love. It’s basically a romantic book, from a man’s perspective. Women write a lot of the romantic books in print, and I find those books too sappy. So Of Ghosts And Apparitions will be romantic book that won’t be unnecessarily mushy. There’ll be stories about love, lust, loss, betrayal, bliss, tragedy, the whole works. The title is tentative, though. My publisher is already buzzing that we may need to change the name of the book for marketing reasons. I don’t mind, really, as long as the new name showcases the theme I have for book.

Melanie Rockett: I suspect you probably have other projects you are working on? Any other new books or stories we can look forward to?

Mars Ezechukwu: I’m dropping a full-length novel after this one. Then after that I’m releasing a poetry collection. In-between I may get “The Heart Repair Shop” a physical publication. You know it’s only available as a digital format on Amazon Kindle and Gumroad. I have been toying with the idea of a major re-release of the book. And then I’m going to put out monthly issues of my digital magazine, The Jollof. We’ll see.

Check out The Heart Repair Shop: How To Get Over A Breakup In 8 Easy Steps and The Jollof an online magazine.

CLICK HERE if you would prefer a PDF edition of The Heart Repair Shop.