Tomi Adeyemi Tells UNT Students How She Became a New York Times

Bestselling Author 

Young Adult fiction author, Tomi Adeyemi, dazzled students on Nov. 18 when she talked about her journey to becoming a New York Times bestseller in the Union Lyceum. 

Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American author who wrote Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance. Before beginning her speech, she listened to people talk about their lives before and after the pandemic. Then she shifted into speaking about her life as a writer and the journey she had to undergo to get her book published. 

“It may seem from the outside looking in that my path was destined but it certainly didn’t feel that way for me and it certainly never looked that way,” Adeyemi said. 

She spoke honestly about the struggles she went through when pursuing her dreams. 

“At Harvard, I was rejected from that creative thesis that I had chosen my major and worked three years that I spent planning and preparing for,” Adeyemi said. “I was rejected from a fiction writing class five semesters in a row because the professor believed I didn’t have any talent.” 

When Adeyemi finally started writing Children of Blood and Bone she “worked herself to the bone” making a novel she was proud of and thought others would enjoy. After years of writing and editing Children of Blood and Bone, she finally published it and was ecstatic to see how many people loved it. 

“If 2020 was my last year on earth, living out my dream had given me enough in this life to actually be okay with that,” Adeyemi said. 

The speech lasted 30 minutes and afterward, the audience gave enthusiastic feedback for a reading, so Adeyemi read a passage from Children of Blood and Bone. Then people lined up at two microphones on either side of the auditorium to ask her questions. 

Aspiring writers asked for advice on publishing and creating novels. 

“Approach every book like it’s the book that will break through,” Adeyemi said. “If you shift from ‘I want this’ to ‘I’m going to do this’ then you become the protagonist in your own story.”   

After the Q&A, those who attended formed a long line to get their books signed. The students mingled and shared their thoughts on Adeyemi’s speech. 

“The event lit a fire under my butt,” Media Arts junior Sydney Applegate said. “It was really inspiring.” 

Adeyemi had revealed the tedious process of writing and publishing a novel, and students were shocked by it.

“It didn’t come as easy for her as I thought it did,” Journalism junior Ratorrice Moore said. “Writing a book is a lot of work.” 

Students were inspired by her speech to pursue their own goals. 

“I need to make time to write and prioritize what I love,” higher education graduate Alexandria Abrat said. 

Adeyemi revealed her determination and never-give-up attitude that spoke to the students attending the event. Her final advice sparked something in those that attended to pursue their personal goals in life.

“The thing you were doing at 7-years-old is the thing you should be doing for the rest of your life,” Adeyemi said. “The life that you dream of living and the things that you dream of doing are possible.”