HAULER
As a kid, I was always a very avid reader and loved adventure stories. At school, one of my favorite things in languages (my mother tongue is Afrikaans, but we had English as a subject) was to try and write the opposite essays than what the teacher clearly wanted. If the essay prompt was A Beautiful Sunset, my story would have been the last sunset a victim saw as they were slashed to pieces. My teachers hated it, but my stories were good. They always gave me good grades—though with a note to try and make it more palatable. Every now and then, I’d throw them a bone!
Actually, no. After I wrote Hauler, I started a new story that was completely separate. But once the reviews and feedback started to come in, it was clear that readers wanted another story in the Hauler universe. The characters and the world they live in made it easy to keep the adventure going. I’m currently writing book five in the series.
Writing itself comes fairly easily to me, but I did face a few challenges—the biggest one being that English is not my first language. Luckily, I had an excellent editor who was a great help, and I learned a lot through the process. That said, the biggest hurdle for any indie writer is always marketing. There are so many amazing books out there, and it’s hard to make a name for yourself.
Just because you’re doing it yourself doesn’t mean it’s free. I don’t use any AI in my work and had to invest quite a bit in editing, proofreading, and artwork. Despite the financial challenge, I wouldn’t dream of giving up the control that indie publishing gives you—like having your book featured in Your Paper Quest!
