Dana Bay resident an avid book writer

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Dana Bay resident Lindie de Beer is an avid book writer, her craft spurred on by her colourful imagination.

Mossel Bay Advertiser interviewed her about her writing passion.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm 39 years old and I write under the pseudonym, Lindie Dagenhart. I am an only child, who has been drawn to artistic pursuits from a young age.

Most of my school teachers tried to dissuade me from following those paths, because according to them I wasn't good at the things they tried to teach.

I guess I was always meant to forge my own path and enjoy discovering things on my own.

I have taught myself painting, digital art, graphic design, game development, 3D modelling and more, constantly jumping from hobby to hobby and chasing a way to express myself, especially as someone who doesn't communicate too well verbally.

In art nobody can tell you that you speak too fast or that they have trouble keeping up with your thought processes.

Writing has always been the thing I come back to the most. I wrote my first story when I was 14. It wasn't a great story, but I have hopefully improved in the years since.

What is your latest work called?
Other Lost Souls

What is the genre of the book?
Young adult fantasy.

Describe the book?
It's the first book in a series called Thin-blooded Children, and it follows a teen boy named Baen Balcrome, as he navigates family, friendship, literal and figural monsters and his own limiting self beliefs, while trying to find his place in the world.

Other Lost Souls deals with the spirit world. In reality Baen himself is a lost soul and so are many of the people who are drawn to him.

Is this your first book?
Not the first I have written, but the first I have felt strongly enough about to publish.

What is your usual occupation?
I have spent most of my life in administrative positions and am currently assisting an agency in Pretoria with recruitment tasks.

Do you plan to write more books?
Absolutely. Book two in this series will be released on 15 November and I am just starting the first draft of book three. I plan on it being a five-book series. After that there are many other magical worlds I would like to explore.

Tell us about your writing process.
For me a book always starts with the characters.

They start slowly forming in the back of my mind and in time they start "talking" to me so much that I have no choice but to tell their stories.

For my current book it started with this quiet, withdrawn boy who should have died as a child and his determination to remain alive.

As someone who also struggles with mental health issues, sometimes I am really drawn to characters who manage to fight that darkness and prevail, with a little magic and horror, of course, as I discovered in RL Stine's Goosebumps books at the age of eight. I knew right there what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life.

Where did you grow up?
I was born in Nylstroom and grew up in Pretoria. When my parents decided to retire to Mossel Bay in 2018, there was little keeping me in the city, so I followed them.

It was a truly excellent decision. Now I get to listen to the ocean instead of traffic, while I craft my stories.

Where can people find your books?
I am still working on getting my books into South African bookstores, but at present the book is doing well in the US, UK, Australia, France and Germany. Contact me (lindie.dagenhart@gmail.com) if you wish to purchase a book.

Lindie de Beer with her first work in what she plans will be a five-book series.