Author puts pen to paper for her fifth novel
A misdiagnosis made her follow her dream.
For local author Dibi Breytenbach, it took a life-threatening scare to follow her dream and unleash her full potential as a writer.
Now, five years after she was misdiagnosed with a malignant tumor in one of her breasts, the author has released four crime-fiction books and is set to launch her fifth novel this September.
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“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, and in that moment, confronted with my own mortality, I started to question many of my decisions. One of these was why I had never taken all the manuscripts I had written and shared them with my brother to the publishers. What did I have to lose? If they told me no, then I would know what I was doing wrong and at least I would have tried,” she recalled.
Whether luck or fate, the tumor detected in her breast turned out to be benign, but by then, Dibi was well on her way to publishing her very first book, titled Saliger in 2015.
“After publishing that book, I vowed to myself I would have five books published within the coming five years,” she said.
True to her word, this year she will be releasing her fifth book Dowe Gode, and although she planned to only write five books, Dibi is now tempted by the idea of exploring other writing genres.
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Her works have been distributed as far out as New Zealand, Australia and the Turkish Islands.
Dibi explained her novels focused on various issues which arise within small-town communities, including child abuse, rape, farm attacks, misplaced racism and many other concerns.
“Wherever you find the Afrikaans diaspora, you are likely to find my books,” she said.
Inspired by great writers such as Steven King, Dibi explained that she has learned over the years that writing is less about inspiration and more about discipline.
“Steven King says he writes 2 000 words religiously everyday and that is what keeps him disciplined. So I started doing the same; I wake up at 2.20am every morning and start writing until 6.00am when I need to get ready for work. I write 2 000 words without fail – sometimes I have to end mid-sentence because of just how I’ve coached myself to stick to that 2 000-word goal,” she said with a laugh.
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