May 7, 2024 at 12:03
People
She never dreamed that Denise Landman-Bouw, after years of extensive reading, has now published her own book: “I’m not very good at language and I found reading difficult at primary school.”
Johanna Sijbel
It wasn’t until 8th grade that Denise’s reading level was ‘good enough’. “The real reading pleasure only came later, thanks to my aunt. She gave me my first fantasy book as a teenager and I devoured it,” laughs the cheerful mother of three. “I started with Harry Potter and the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini and now read many books by Jennifer L. Armentrout, but my biggest inspiration for my own story was Sara J. Maas. Her stories are not only beautiful and imaginative, but also readable easy away.” According to Denise, the latter makes the books a solution for anyone who has difficulty reading, but is captivated by fantasy.
Denise also wishes the pleasure of reading she had as a teenager to today’s teenagers: “I would prefer to visit secondary schools in the future with my book and my story. As someone like me, for example, who does not always know whether a word ends can publish a book, other children can follow their passion and become successful in unexpected places.”
The development of her book began after the birth of Denise’s youngest daughter: “I had my hands full at the time with my toddler, toddler and newborn. When they were in bed at night, I no longer had the energy to watch TV or That’s how I came up with the idea of writing my own story: that required less energy, because I didn’t have to think about ‘how will this continue’: that was in my hands. I wrote purely for the sake of it hobby, but while I was at it, I thought ‘this will be a lot of fun’, so I kept writing, improving parts, deleting parts and adjusting part of the storyline until almost two years later I had a complete manuscript that I was satisfied with. I let an employee of the Osinga bookstore read it, because she always pointed out the best fantasy books to me. I sent the manuscript in which I incorporated her feedback and tips to various publishers. I was thrilled when Godijn replied that they liked my writing and wanted to publish it.”
Denise will be at the stall of the Osinga bookstore on Friday, May 10, with her book ‘Shadow of Ashes’ on Eibertjesdag in Nunspeet. The sequel, Illuminated from Fire, is currently under review by the publisher.
