Seems like I've been away forever. What a year this is going to be. It's going to be great.

I'm working on my book Eyo. It's about a 10 year old Nigerian girl who's been sold into sexual slavery by her father. I've got boxes and boxes of papers, tons of web links and everything else that I thought would help my research. This book is like 3 years in the making, and with God's help, it will see the light of day.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she couldn't wait to get off the phone. I guess I seemed distant, short-tempered and even moody. Actually, I wasn't. It's just that once I've started working on a novel, everything, and I mean everything pales into insignificance. I get into a zone, a parallel world in which nothing matters but the story I'm working on and my characters. I really can't bear to away from my book. It sounds very sad, I know.

The bit I'm at. Eyo, the main character, has just left Nigeria and she's landed in Accra, Ghana en route to London. I'm trying to see the world through her eyes. I have a 9 year old niece and being with her is one of the most fulfilling things ever. Looking at the world through children's eyes gives me a perspective on the way God sees us.

This book is unlike anything I've ever done before. My writing style and technique is very different and above all, I'm being stretched as a writer. It's terrifying. Exhilirating. And exciting. I pray this book will change people. Child trafficking is just another word for slavery and it must stop. Children are a gift from God and should be treated thus. If this book (when it's eventually published) causes one trafficker to think about what they're doing, then I would've done my job.