Written by Tina King Mx

I hardly decide a name of a story before I start to write it. I name it based on the theme I'm exploring. Here are some examples. I added pictures because I'm fun.  The Royals: A King's Heart (Actual Name) I started it as "The Royals". I extended this name because I was bullied to write Book 2 and now we're in the middle, Book 3 is waving hello. Now it seems we might have our very first book series in the making.  The Big Mountain (Actual Name) I started it as "The girl of the big mountain" Her surname is Ntabenkulu. It's very fitting. She is quite literally the big mountain herself. A Love Like This (Actual Name) I started it as "Boys Club" Simply because girls aren't involved until mid story. The boys were at odds. It was about the boys. However, the form of the story is love.   A Deal With The Devil (Actual Name) I started it as "Devils Den" It just sounded basic. I don't like basic. The name must describe the s...

Being a writer in this era is possibly the most tiring work you can create for yourself. Right off the bat you will need thiccc skin. Yes, I meant to spell it with three C’s. On top of the thiccc skin, you will need resilience. When the older writers started back in 2010’s, there wasn’t much scrutiny. I built a page with a following of over 20k, twice, with horrible grammatical errors, words that are used out of context, punctuation errors and typos. I shrivel to dust when I read my old work. Pure embarrassment leaks out of my pores. Yet, I grew to those numbers. Back then, people read what they could find. There was a short supply and it fed those with a craving. As we grew, our craft grew. Those with a passion for the pen stayed and perfected their art growing to crazy numbers. Some of us left the writing world. Some of us returned with a vengeance carried by demons. So today, I want to give a few pointers on how to grow your audience as a new writer.  1: Be consistent and pr...

Imagine you have a beautiful talent. To you, it's not just a talent, it is way of healing. You enjoy doing it so much and it's only a bonus that other people are mesmerized when you are in action. Then. Your father discovers this and beats you black and blue to stop. You have no choice. Your father has been present, wonderful yet stern in raising you therefore you will obey at all costs. You drop your talent immediately.  You are celebrated in a prestigious event with your family and friends welcoming you into womanhood. Your family is proud. You are happy. You're 21 and ready to live life. You wake up the next day and find you have... visitors. These aren't just any visitors. These are your in-laws. Oh. Your father... arranged you to be married.  This is not the plan you had for your life but you adjust. You obey. You end falling deeply for this man who is now your husband and you know what? He makes it so easy. He showers you with affection, luxury gifts, vacations in...

  So Nande falls pregnant at 16 for the charming handsome guy who lives a little better off. Lefa quickly falls in love with the idea of being a father, he’s only 18. He’s willing to make it work. He enrolls in university and works part time to provide for his girlfriend and their child. Nande stays back a whole year to give birth to and take care of their child. Lefa makes good on his promise though. He takes care of them. He marries her. He buys her a house and they should live happily ever after, right?   If you guess no, you would be right. Lefa rakes in a ridiculous amount of wealth just as he starts his career. He’s managed to hook billionaire heir, Thapelo Makhele, to be his company lawyer. Known not to have many friends, Thapelo takes to Lefa... and his beautiful quiet wife. His restrain is patient but his desire isn’t. He decides perhaps, a clone would suffice. That he does. With the amount of money, access and resources; he manages to find duplicates to serve as ...

  Yes. King Sizwe has a middle name given by his father King Ngidumise. It is mentioned in Chapter 41 when Thembisa’s mother is telling the story of the dead queen and in Chapter 49 when Thembisa time travels back to the past as Nonkosi.   Sizwengaye Sikhosana is the luckiest king so far. This is the only king that lived with Ngidumise as his only family, his only loved son (to be debated) and then conceived him and lived again with him as his father. Basically he lived two lifetimes with him. Sizwengaye got the chance to experience the feeling of pure love - that he was denied in his childhood - in his adulthood. He got the chance to redeem the relationship he had had with his father to something closer and worth everything with his son. His daughter in law, sewed back closed the hole of despair of not having a mother.   It could be debated that Ngidumise didn’t want a woman near Sizwe because he didn’t want a replacement mother for his son. It will still be reve...

It is crazy how this story didn't go the way I intended it would. What came out of The Royals series, was pure luck. That's not how it was supposed to go. I didn't have a plan. If I'm being honest, I still don't. We're just steering with the flow. Let's go back a bit... Most of my stories, I remember where I got the idea and why. Most of them. I cannot for the life of me - remember what inspired The Royals. Fun Fact: It wasn't my first royal story. Only the first I have shared publicly. Maybe one day, I'll bring the other forward but let's focus. The original plot was, Thembisa's parents arrange a marriage for her. She doesn't know to who until her wedding day. This is when she finds out; he's the prince. He had special ability, yes. He was very quiet and cold, yes. He just didn't fall in love. She would be in this unfamiliar place with a husband that didn't even acknowledge her existence and she would get depressed. As she co...