WE ARE STILL HERE!

Now, this is the interview of all interviews, The most important interview in the season. It's an Interview with Our Queen, the Winner of Project Pen Season 1.

Are you ready to meet her?

With no further ado, let's welcome Her Royal Highness, The Gbà Gbà of all Gba Gbas, The Gbọ Gbọ of all Gbọ Gbọs, Her Majesty, The Queen of Project Pen Season 1...

AYINKUS!!

PEN NAME: AYINKUS
SERIAL NO: 001
USERNAME: yompous

M: Greetings to you, Project Pen Queen. First of all, I'd like to congratulate you for coming this far. It's been a thrill reading you!

C: 😂👀Reading me? Well, wow! And hyy!

M: Yes, I read your works too! How are you doing?

C: Awwn❤️. Thank you, that means a lot and I'm great.

M: So tell us your pen name and your serial number?

C: I'm Ayinkus with the serial no. 1

M: Your serial number reflected in your overall position in the competition. That's amazing!

C: 😂Real crazy stuff. I will say it's serendipity.

M: 💯✨. So introduce yourself, what's your real name and your Wattpad username?

C: Alright, I'm Funmbi Ololade and my Wattpad username is Yompous.

M: That's nice and how old is Funmbi?

C: A decade and seven years.

M: That's a unique way of saying your age. And how many years have you been writing?

C: It clocked one year on the 21st of November.

M: That's amazing.

C: It still surprises me sometimes.

M: So tell us why you joined project pen?

C: Oooh. Why I joined project pen. I've always said this in all my interviews. I have no big, glorious reason for joining Project pen. But if I'm to just put it simply, I joined for the experience and to be honest, when I saw that you'll get recognition it gingered me.

M: Aww that's nice! Ensure to make good use of the recognition, you worked hard for it. ❤️

C: ✨🤲🏽By His grace, I will.

M: And how was the experience for you?

C: The experience has been crazy! I mean at first, I was so excited. Eventually, the excitement dwindled and I started feeling belittled.

My work wasn't talked about in the GC, I wasn't paid much attention to and all so I withdrew into the background. 🤧Those were the worst moments of the competition.

As time passed and I kept on moving up, especially when I made it to top ten, I began opening up back and participating in conversations. That's why I don't have any word to sum up my experience except it's been crazy.

M: Such a lengthy answer! I like your honesty and I want to draw something to your attention.

I think the fact that you felt belittled at first worked in your favour. Do you know why? It made you put in more effort and see what happened? You came first!

C: 😂🔥🔥Another angle.

M: Did the competition meet your expectations?

C: Yes, it did. The only thing that I and some of my other contestants had a slight issue with is the length between the review results and the eviction night. Mostly because the longer it took, the more our anxiety grew.

M: Okay, we'll take this into consideration next year! What's one thing you learnt while you were still in the house?

C: I've learned three things in the house. While two things have made their way into my page of 'Never try!'.

Firstly, when writing a Nigeria-themed book, low down the Nigeria slang volume, especially when your work might reach different types of people and you might not have the chance to be able to translate.

Secondly, never and I mean never push something to the last moment. Procrastination is sweet until it costs you something.
The third will be to always thoroughly go through your work before submitting it.

M: Thank you! These are nice tips.

C: Aww, you complimented me. 😊

M: Yes. Those are great tips, I'll implement them too. What was the hardest stage for you throughout the competition?

C: Mystery stage. I don't even need to think twice. It was hard setting the tone. I was way over the word count and it was seven minutes to the deadline when I began editing. 🤧 It wasn't a nice one at all.

M: And how did you feel when you saw that you made it to the next stage?

C: I screamed when I read that I made it to the green line. The Judge's review left me feeling a bit scared, especially when I compared it to the others. I was honestly very grateful to God that I made it. I felt lucky.

M: I can imagine the excitement! What was the easiest stage for you?

C: Honestly, no stage was easy. The one that I enjoyed, even though the pressure was heavy on my shoulders, was the plot twist stage.

M: And based on the judges' reviews, do you think you delivered well?

C: 😂The reviews made me laugh honestly. Especially, the part when one judge said I should clap for myself. Even after this, I still had doubts about winning.

M: Could you shed more light on why you still had doubts?

C: Yes. Judge black, if I recall correctly, said the build-up wasn't that impactful for the twist I used. It didn't hit him. Not to mention the fact that my opponent's review had more compliments😂.🫠

Be in my shoes. You already have doubts about winning, a review says your twist wasn't twisting, and another review on your opponent's work is that you're a very good writer in and out of the competition. There's no way, especially if you're a human being, that you won't shake small.

M: That's understandable, in hindsight, is there anyway you think you could have made your story better?

C: 😂My friend told me I could have made the Female lead a killer. Then I counteracted with why she would want to kill her brother, and she argued with me saying since he's the cause of her problem and I reminded her it was 1200 words. 😂

Suffice it to say, conversation ended. So nope. There is no way I could have made it better, at least with me being limited by some factors.

M: Oh alright, I get it. Regardless of your doubts, you emerged the winner and how did that make you feel?

C: 😭😭😭omo! I was like is this joking? I didn't know whether to scream or cry or laugh, so I did all three🤧.

M: So emotional. 😩😩

C: 🤧🤧❤️

M: So who was your favorite judge?

C: This is a tricky question. As at a point, only one judge was reviewing a person's work but if I'm to choose, I'll say it's Judge purple and Judge blue.

M: What's one memorable moment you had while you were in the project pen house?

C: It had to be the beginning. When we had all gotten our anonymous names and were getting to know each other 🫠. It was rippling with excitement of what the future will hold for us and happiness that we all made it.

M: Aww that's nice. Amongst these contestants you met, who would you like to give a shout-out to?

C: My first shout out goes out to Netsuke_Writes for being the first person to support me openly and give me a shout out! ✨🔥My second goes to JagunJagun for being a vibe in the group and a good writer. While my last goes out to Cy 🥳💯. I got to know her personally and boy is she full of surprises.✨🔥

M: Awww. Is there any other thing you'd like to say? We're almost done with your interview.

C:Yes! A whole plenty lot. Is that English? Not English? Sha anyway 😂. Leggo! I'm beyond honoured and happy to have been chosen as a winner of a competition I entered without much hope.

It's been a crazy ride, throughout all the stages, reviews, and verdicts. Many dropped down along the way because of one unforeseen circumstance or the other, and others couldn't make it. Finishing on its own is something to be grateful for, talk more of winning. I'm honoured! I'm gratified! I'm happy and I thank everybody who made this happen💞.

There are special human beings that without them I won't have made it this far or even accept the fact that I'm actually the winner. That being said, I would like to thank my sister, for always being there to support me and read my review when I just couldn't bear to open it.

I want to give a fantastic shoutout to two incredible friends that kept encouraging me, taking time out of their schedule to stand by me, and listening to my rants when I felt like I couldn't go further. May and Prevail, thank you for everything! I love you guys and the friendship you have formed with me. I've never met you but I hold you dear in my heart.

Not to forget the moderators who both answered all my questions, and listened to my rant. I do rant a lot. You both are nice, patient, wonderful people and I pray God will bless you.

To all the other contestants, cheers to y'all🥂✨. It was nice getting to know you all through the duration of time we all spent together.

Words won't express how I feel completely, it will fail me as I can't pour all my excitement or feeling of gratitude into it.

Thank you judges for seeing a writer in me. Sometimes, I'm still shocked I entered the writing world. This is a thank you note from the girl who didn't expect anything entering this competition but got more than she ever dreamt of or imagined.

Before I go, I want y'all to know it always seems impossible till it is done💯.

Appreciate everyone around you. You never know if you're talking to the next president or a Grammy-winning award Musician.  Yes. Anything can happen!

Thank you💞✨.

M: Aww, thank you so much for your kind words. We've come to the end of this interview and I must say, I had an amazing time with you. I wish you all the best and keep soaring higher. Once again, congrats on winning! ❤️

OUR PRIZES TO AYINKUS AS THE WINNER OF PROJECT PEN:

★Crowned the King or Queen of Project Pen.

★TWO FREE COVERS

★Interview/ Engagement /Shoutouts

★Project Pen Winner Sticker.

★A follow from our main accounts and PP Judges.

★Stand a chance of getting crazy publicity.

(A Glimpse of The Sticker)

Ayinkus should honestly be a motivation speaker because her words are so motivational, just like her stories 🥺❤️. That's an amazing writer right there. Project Pen is so lucky to have been graced with your presence, Your Highness🙇🏾‍♀️.

Let's give Ayinkus all the support she needs and rightful deserves. She is the Queen and she should feel the love from us❤️.

We have come to the end of Our Interview and Partially... The End of Project Pen Season 1! But again, no Vote of Thanks yet. Let's still hang around for that.

See You Soon.

Signed, Project Pen 🖋️✨.