Riding a wave...

What makes a bestseller?
And how do you catch the wave of the latest trend in reading? When my first novel, The Housemaid's Daughter, was published in 2012, I was swept up in a wave that crested with the movie of 'The Help', based on the well-known novel set in the USA. My publishers in the UK and USA saw my book as a South-African version of that work... a connection that did indeed resonate with readers around the world, and pushed my book towards bestseller status, with many translations following the original English publication. And options out for the film rights...   

Timing, therefore, is key! You need a good story, of course, but if you happen to present your manuscript to a publisher who is looking for work in a particular genre - crime, romance, fantasy - and yours fits that description, then you may be lucky. The genres that have held sway while I have been writing have ranged from science fiction to thrillers to mystery to "cosy" crime, to "romantasy"... 

Where does The Case Against Fili Du Bois fit? It is characterised as historical fiction and also embodies the elements of a family saga - but with a twist! And that twist comes from the unique era in which the story unfolds: the rise of a young democracy in South Africa, after the system of brutal racial discrimination is swept away. Riding that wave is my young heroine, Fili, who must navigate the promise - and challenges - of this new world in which she finds herself. Can Fili be a peace-maker or will she have to take sides? In today's unsettled world, many people face similar challenges.
You decide... and let's make Fili a bestseller!