Kindle e-pub

The novels NOT ON MY SKIN, THE CHOIRMASTER, and SINS OF OUR HEARTS are available in Amazon Kindle Books. Check it out! http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-R.-Alila/e/B002QD5TDM

 

MAYA (A Novel)

In MAYA, Joseph R Alila, author of “Birthright (a Luo Tragedy),” brings yet another narrative about the lives of ordinary people with human flaws, from which each of them can only run away, or ignore, at his or her own peril.

Maya Boone faces a legal quandary over a death she has witnessed from her hideout on Eagle Street, Harmony, New York. First, she watches Raul, the troublesome husband from whom she is hiding, kill a bulldog. When Maya crosses Eagle Streetto enquire whether the dog’s owner (Mike) is suing Raul, she instead falls in love with the heartbroken man, lures him to her bed, and even contemplates witnessing against Raul. The brief affair ends quickly because Mike becomes a victim to an enraged boyfriend’s arrow of passion. Wounded and helpless, Mike falls into the hands of a moonlighting evangelist named Booker who has a score to settle with him. There is no mercy for Mike, only a slow death, because Booker wishes to maintain his cover while moonlighting at Bar Delirium.

With Mike dead, Maya’s distant past soon confronts her because, also witnessing the events leading to the murder on Eagle Street is Officer Jimmy Depuy—a child Maya abandoned at birth forty years before. Neither Raul nor Maya nor Officer Depuy knows about their shared bond. Then one Detective John unearths the blood knot linking Jimmy Depuy to the Rauls, and soon District Attorney Hess is advancing criminal motives against the trio.

 In MAYA, JR Alila weaves yet another intricate narrative that should appeal to those readers who seek to understand, in human character, matters beyond the mundane of daily life.

 

Writing Tips

Have you been a victim of Autocorrect feature in you wordprocessing software? Switch it off when writing about a serious matter. Otherwise risk “Moan” appearing as “Mourn”
“From as”Form”
“Her” as “He”

 

MAYA (A Novel): Coming Soon.

Maya (Synopsis)

MAYA, a novel, is a narrative about ordinary people, with human flaws, caught up in the constant glare of life. They discover they only can cheat about, run or hide from, or ignore the flaws at their own peril.
Maya Boone faces a legal quandary over a death she has witnessed from her hideout on Eagle Street, Harmony, New York. First, she watches Raul, the troublesome husband from whom she is hiding, kill a bulldog. She then crosses Eagle Street to enquire whether the dog’s owner (Mike) is suing Raul, but she instead falls in love with the heartbroken man, lures him to her bed, and even contemplates witnessing against Raul. The brief affair ends quickly as Mike falls victim to an enraged boyfriend’s arrow of passion. Wounded and helpless, Mike is at the mercy of a stalker named Booker, a moonlighting evangelist he, Mike, previously unmasked while the preacher waited tables at Bar Delirium. No mercy for Maya, only a slow death.
Maya soon confronts her past. Also witnessing the murder is Officer Jimmy Depuy–a child from Maya’s selfish past. Neither Raul nor Maya nor Officer Depuy knows this. Then Detective John unearths the blood knot, and soon District Attorney Hess is advancing criminal motives against the Rauls and Officer Depuy.
Harmony streets already sing a disharmonious tune from economically depressed youths and the elderly, and Captain Depuy and his officers are edgy. Now, Captain Depuy has a personal battle to fight, for the line between suspect and witness to a murder has become blurry.
Maya fits the murder-mystery-thriller genre, but like recent novels penned by this author, it has a strong literary fiction aspect to it. MAYA should appeal to those readers who seek to understand, in human character, matters beyond the mundane of life.

 

Author JR Alila

Author Joseph R Alila was born in in 1956 in Ndhiwa, Kenya, among the Luo people of Nyanza region. A graduate of Education, Social Sciences and Chemistry, Dr. Alila has written several anthropological novels about the Luo marriage experience, visiting current themes such as polygamy and diseases epidemics (“Sunset on Polygamy”), widow inheritance and diseases epidemics (“The Thirteenth Widow”), widow inheritance and clan stability and growth (“Whisper to My Aching Heart”). JR Alila’s other works reflect on his world spiritual journey (“The Milayi Curse;” “The Choirmaster;” “Sins of Our Hearts“). In some of his writings, JR Alila has struggled with the politics of ethnicity and spirituality in Kenya (“The Wise One of Ramogiland;” “Rateng’ and Bride”). Finally, a number of novels and one poem capture JR Alila’s world journey as “a Diaspora man and world citizen” caught in the thrill of Obamaism (“Not on My Skin;” “Thirteen Curses on Mother Africa [epic poem];” “The American Polygamist;” “The Luo Dreamers’ Odyssey: From the Sudan to American Power”). In the new novel, BITHRIGHT, JR Alila looks at ‘Luo birthright’ as an imperfect spiritual vehicle to power and privilege in a polygamous Luo home.