Writing on the move is secret to success (From Warrington Guardian)

Writing on the move is secret to success

3:29pm Monday 22nd August 2011 in News

A LIFE growing up in apartheid South Africa has formed the basis for a book by an Appleton businesswoman.

Annette Forster, born in South Africa during apartheid, has just released her debut novel Journey-reminders from a Guardian.

Her book is a spiritual fiction story based upon Annette’s own recollection of life in South Africa during the racial segregation.

Her experiences are instilled within the story of Blue-eyes, a young girl living in South Africa, who guided by her guardian angel, Raphael, witnesses the transformation of the country into a nation of progress and racial tolerance.

“It is a memoir that draws on episodes from my life and the experiences I lived through.” Annette said.

Annette, aged 42, first moved the UK with a South African paper company in 1998 and has lived in Appleton since 2001.

She says: “I love living in Warrington as I think Warrington is the perfect location.”

But the author spends long periods away from home travelling frequently as marketing director for the international Klarius group based in Manchester.

“I started travelling in 1994 following the first free general elections when Nelson Mandela was elected and I have not stopped since.

“I grew up with the desire and ambition to travel.”

With such a busy lifestyle, she writes whenever she finds the time. She said: “Writing is my way of relaxing. I write at airports and in the evening when others watch TV.”

Despite now working on her second book The Divine with Raphael again at the centre of the story, Annette has no intention to become a full-time writer.

“I need the energy and adrenalin and people I meet in my job and my life to inspire me to write,” she explains.

Annette’s novel Journey-reminders from a Guardian is out now.