Wake Me Up When Love is Enough
Mariam Sule-Izuagbe, on writing their story for Feel Good
What inspired your story?
I interviewed a couple for Zikoko Mag. Ezinne, in the story, had an interesting story on her own. Somehow I imagined an alternative world for her and this story was born.
How did you approach developing your story's main character?
I wanted Ify to be relatable and it was easy because I already had an idea of what she looked and sounded like. As I wrote the first 500 words, things began falling in shape.
What's your favorite moment from the story?
When Ify found out her dad had always known she was gay.
What challenges did you face while writing this story?
Believe it or not, finding a feel-good angle to the piece. When I got the pitch for this, I was really excited and convinced that writing a story where queer characters are happy was easy peasy but every attempt to start a story turned out to be a sad story. I ended up sending in two stories because I was torn. The editor, Timehin, helped me workshop the story and we came up with an ending that warms my heart.
What do you hope that readers take away from this story?
That endings suck really hard but they haven't met all the people that will love them.
Mariam Sule is a writer and communications strategist. Her prose has appeared in USAToday, Aljazeera, Sahelien, and Autostraddle, amongst others. She enjoys long walks with greenery and holds to her love for a good book despite capitalism’s hold on her neck.
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