Former north Durban author’s love for reading pays off
La Cock's ideas for books and characters come from walks, watching shows, looking at nature and art and exercising.
SHREYA La Cock, a former Somerset Park resident and Crawford International La Lucia student, has launched her first book, a science fiction story titled Snare which she hopes to turn into a trilogy.
She goes by the pseudonym ‘ShreSays’ and is establishing herself as a fantasy, young-adult author.
“I’ve always had a passion for writing and storytelling, with a dream of one day becoming an author. I have written many short stories, poems and then went on to study scriptwriting and directing for film. From there, I went into production and ghost-writing many ebooks for overseas clients before I rediscovered my passion for writing during the pandemic, with a strong urge to delve into storytelling and establishing myself as a fantasy, young-adult author,” said La Cock.
La Cock’s love for storytelling and writing started from a young age as both her parents, who also love reading, shared this love with her and also encouraged her to read ‘heavily’.
Also read: Fabulous reads: Magic of Harry Potter returns with Wizarding Almanac
She found that, through her journey, there were healing power and rejuvenating effects that came from fiction.
“Being able to learn and explore emotions, ethics and morale and so many deeper stories through fictitious stories felt like an ingenious concept to me, a treasure that I had to dig my hands into and pursue,” she added.
The concept for my latest novel, Snare, came from the idea of ‘futuristic folklore’.
“I wanted to combine the concepts between what a dystopian world would look like – with elements of futuristic technology, such as AI, air-ventilation filters and holographies – while also combining the power of folklore, nature’s balance, magic and mysticism, and then make statements on human nature – power, greed, our need for survival. Snare is the first of my trilogy, so expect many more statements to be made and many more concepts to be explored,” added La Cock.
The main character is Amber who is the ‘chosen one’ from the Arc (short for Arcane) race. Amber awakens with no memories of her past, wondering why she’s become a test dummy and now, apparently a lethal weapon in the war of pharmaceuticals against Mother Nature. Amber, as determined yet weak and feisty as she is, is placed into a journey of finding her truth, until she’s swiftly placed into the predicament of helping local Arcs free the others from the grips of medical experimentation.
Also read: La Lucia resident pens poignant book
“Inspiration for my characters come from everything, pretty much. I have a lot of inspiration stemming from other books I have read – namely Hunger Games and Divergent, they influenced me deeply. Outside of that, I overflow with ideas – on walks, watching shows, looking at nature/art and exercising. Ideas come to me, and that’s when the plotting and research begins,” she added.
Readers can find Snare on www.shresays.org (for local delivery), or Takealot, certain Exclusive Books and Bargain Books nationwide, or Amazon Kindle and/or Barnes and Noble.
For more from Northglen News, follow us on Facebook, X or Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel.