First time author, Bianca Beck is flying high after seeing the words that she penned over a period of eight years come to life in her recently released book entitled Crossroads.
“I remember how surreal it felt after receiving my load of books and seeing my words on paper. I can’t even begin to describe how exhilarating it was to hold my book in my hands. It was the most exciting and scariest experience that I have ever had,” said Beck.
Crossroads took Beck eight years to complete. The romance novel drew from her experiences while growing up. The love story follows the challenges of the main characters, Kyle and Lia, as their relationship is tested by the lies and actions of the people closest to them.
“It was too long to be a short story and too short to be a novel. Life happened and I stopped writing for a while but I had time during Covid-19, so I started again. A friend pushed me saying ‘it is now or never’ to have it published. So, I pulled it out again in January of last year and finished most of it by June. Then it was down to fine-tuning and editing which took me another few months,” said the author.
Educated at Glenashley Preparatory and then Danville Park Girls High School, Beck said it was as good as inevitable that she would, one day, write books. She was good at English at school and has always enjoyed writing, especially short stories.
She said Crossroads was inspired by the friends and people that she met during her early working years in restaurants and bars, dotted around her home city.
“Each character is a blend of people I knew and people I have loved. Some of the characters are those who I have lost, I took their personalities into my characters. When I went through each character, I wrote down their name, surname, hair colour, eye colour, personality traits and where they fitted into the story. The more I wrote, the more the characters came alive,” said Beck.
She added that even though it is still early days, she has had a lot of positive feedback from readers describing her book as a great way to relive their memories of yesteryear in Durban. Many confessed that they had quickly become immersed in the story and its highly believable characters and didn’t want to stop reading.
“Friendship is important. Your group of friends becomes who you are. They shape you. It is always good to be around people who positively reinforce you and to quickly identify people who are negative and bad influences. Rather stick with those who are good for you. Also, love comes when you least expect it, so always be open to possibilities,” she said, describing the message of the book.
Crossroads is available in print through Takealot and Bianca’s website at https://crossroadsoftheheart.online. It is also for sale at Home Baked in Durban North.
