What started as a fun challenge between friends, who had never met in person, has become a fully-fledged novel.
For their debut book, Bound by Fire, Eleanor Douglas-Meyers, 37, and Faziela Harris-Davids, 34, challenged themselves to co-author a book despite having never met until the manuscript was finalised.
The two formed a strong bond during the Covid-19 pandemic and found out that apart from a love of art, mindfulness and K-pop, they both had a dream of writing a book.
“Both of us had an unrealised goal of writing a book but it seems we needed someone to be accountable to, to finally make it happen,” Douglas-Meyers said.
Based in the Eastern and Western Cape, respectively, they became friends while communicating over social media as bloggers, and used this distance as inspiration for their book.
They also slipped in their other passions, including their support for K-pop group Stray Kids.
Harris-Davids, a small-business owner, said, “we wanted the story to showcase that sometimes friendship and family are one and the same”.
The book follows two young South African women who meet as roommates at university.
After a falling out, they end up on different sides of the world and communicate through email.
The unlikely pair are each looking for a connection to their families, one in a physical sense and the other in an emotional one.
While Jen, a free spirit with a heart for charity work, tries to find independence from her wealthy overbearing parents, Zin, orphaned in infanthood, tries to locate hers.
Zin’s search becomes even more important as she comes to terms with magical powers which can only be explained through her heritage.
Jen, on the other hand, finds herself bound to Zin through these powers.
The book was a labour of love for the two who wrote, edited, illustrated and even created accompanying artwork for the novel themselves.
“Collectively we write, sub-edit, sketch and design things for other people all the time and though it is a little more difficult to have yourself as a client, we are happy we went the self-published route,” Douglas-Meyers said.
Touching on love, self-discovery, mystery and magic, Bound by Fire is a light read for those looking for a little escapism.
Douglas-Meyers was born and lives in Kariega with her husband and son.
As a journalist, she has spent 17 years working in the news media industry but has always had a love for fiction writing.
Bound by Fire is her debut novel.
Harris-Davids was born and raised in Cape Town where she currently resides with her husband, two sons and two pets.
A jack of all trades, she is a small-business owner who specialises in products for inclusive holistic education while following her art dreams in her spare time.
This is also her debut novel.
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