FORMER Flagstone resident Tjalara Draper has fulfilled her childhood ambition of becoming an author with the release of her debut novel Shards of Venus.
The paranormal urban fantasy book features shapeshifters which are influenced by the planet Venus in a similar way to how werewolves are affected by the full moon.
Reeling from the vicious murder of her best friend, the main character, Violet Chambers, is haunted by a faceless man with a neck tattoo who kidnapped her.
Violet meets detective Nathan Delano, who is a mysterious shapeshifter hellbent on protecting Violet from the "shiftier world".
Speaking on the release of her book, Ms Draper said it still felt like a dream to have published her first novel.
"As a kid, you like the idea of becoming an author and when you share that idea with adults they tell you it is not a good idea, there is no money in it and it is best to do something that will get you some money," she said.
"I thought it would be nice to one day have a book and publish it but in the back of our mind you fear how hard it is to write a book .... next thing I know I'm holding the book in my hands."
Ms Draper started working on her novel in 2016 after taking a six month creative writing course and moving on to a more advanced six month program.
During school years, she drew inspiration from the work of Enid Blyton, well known for writing the Wishing Chair series.
Ms Draper said she was entranced and addicted to Blyton's work and admired her creative writing skills.
She is now working on her second novel Flames of Mars and hopes to publish early next year.
Shards of Venus is available on Amazon while signed paper copies can be purchased via Ms Draper's website.
