POLOKWANE – From handing out “completed books” to relatives at age seven, to publishing 18 books across three pen names, author Patrician Chikondo, known as “Pat waDon”, says her biggest evolution since her 2016 debut “Justified” was not talent, but information.

“As a woman, I went from a girl who wrote quietly for her family to a wife and mother of two who still writes quietly, just with a much bigger audience listening in now,” she said.

Her first believer

Chikondo, who also writes as Astrael Vox and I.D.A, credits her late sister Taa, who passed away on Women’s Day in 2024, as her first believer.

She also credits being signed to Eglobal Creative Publishing in New York, where a bestselling editor taught her polish and strategy.

That discipline sustains her.

“Inspiration is a moody houseguest who shows up unannounced and eats all your snacks,” she said.

The Billionaire’s Sacrifice

Her 18th book, “The Billionaire’s Sacrifice”, which is her bestseller, follows a Soweto tavern worker who devours billionaire romance novels until the fantasy becomes real, only to discover she is an ingredient in the juju that keeps him rich.

“It asks the question every woman quietly asks herself when the money starts talking: ‘Do you stay for the shine, or do you run for your soul?'”

Poetry for GBV victims

Chikondo also writes poetry, including “Keys Between Our Fingers”, for victims of gender-based violence.

“I was tired of watching our sisters become pixelated hashtags,” she said, describing the poem as remembrance, activism and healing.

On heroines, she is clear: “Perfect heroines bore me. I write messy women who still find a way to claw out,” she said.

Her advice to a young girl writing in a Limpopo village: “Even sitting in the red dust of a village, your words have wings. Write anyway.”