Debut Novel Announcement

Dear Readers,

When I abandoned my motherland, South Africa, at age 23, I knew that I was destined to write a novel about the place and events that would haunt me long after I left. Cape of Storms is that novel, and, when it is published, on 29 November 2019 by Auteur Books, it will have travelled an epic 21 year journey from concept to publication.

Auteur Books

Post-school and pre-motherhood I studied for a total of 6.5 years and worked in a variety of industries and roles for 16 years. Post-motherhood I couldn’t get a job (entry level or otherwise) so I went solo and offered a service writing resumes and optimising LinkedIn profiles. I won some great clients and made a bit of money, but I didn’t love it, and the longer I delayed my writing dream, the more disappointed I felt for not living up to my potential. So, with no paid employment to sacrifice, I created a blog and dedicated myself 100% to writing.

Six years on, I have established my own poetry imprint, Paperfields Press, and published 5 full-length poetry books. I have also written 2 novels, a short story, and a novella, but refrained from publishing due to my equivocation over which publishing path to take — indie or traditional.

The truth is that indie has always been the better option—philosophically and practically—but the stigma associated with indie authors has given me years of pause and resulted in me chasing my tail and stalling my creative work like a queue of planes waiting on landing permission.

In retrospect, I can see that I’ve wasted so much time worrying about appearances and external validation instead of celebrating the fact that I took a risk and succeeded.

Since 2013, I have learnt to typeset and design my own book interiors and covers with Adobe InDesign, and now I’m progressing to Photoshop so that I can combine my words with graphic art and start selling merchandise. After six years of financial sacrifice and plenty of learning through trial error, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and I’ve earned the right to be an authority on what I write and how I choose to publish. 

Beyond the dream of writing, my true desire has been to do what I love on my terms, and that’s exactly where I’m at now.

Auteur Books is an imprint of Paperfields Press, and it is my label for any and all fiction and non-fiction that I write and publish in the future. You can read a more detailed account at www.auteurbooks.com

In the meantime, if people choose to measure indie authors against the yardstick of traditional publishing, then that is their right, but, as my all-time-favourite quote goes….

“It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.” ~ W.C. Fields

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I can’t wait to share my book with you later in the year! Until then, here’s what to expect.

Title: CAPE of STORMS
Author: BIANCA BOWERS
Genre: COMING-OF-AGE
Publisher: AUTEUR BOOKS
Page Count: 406
Print ISBN 13: 978-0-6484426-4-6
epub ISBN 13: 978-0-6484426-5-3
Publication Date: 29 November 2019

Eight year old Rosalinde lives in an idyllic version of Africa — vervet monkeys outside her bedroom window in the umbrella thorn tree, the umhlanga lighthouse that fills her window with light every twenty seconds, and Mohini, her mystical Hindu maid who is more maternal than her own mother. Until a moment in 1982, when Rosalinde collides with apartheid and her entire belief system is thrown into chaos.

Mainly set on Durban’s breathtaking North Coast, the story moves between atmospheric locations such as the Karoo, Cape Point, KwaMashu, Skeleton Coast, and Sun City, and contains a host of vivid characters, including the charismatic Paris and his radical cousin Maleven; Mark, the ex-soldier; and Rosalinde’s predatory, racist Uncle Léon.

As gripping events unfold over two decades, and Rosalinde comes of age amidst South Africa’s most dramatic, and violent, period in history, she learns that the human condition of her motherland is far more complex than she ever imagined.