Armidale writer Bridget Van der Eyk was brought up to understand the benefit of hard work and determination, as well as doing things for yourself and not relying on others.
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On July 1, she will independently publish her first novel through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
Titled '10 Dates' the work has been in progress for the last five years, after an idea that came to her when she finished high school.
"I wrote the characters before I wrote the story itself while journaling when I was 18," Ms Ven der Eyk said.. "I've always been a big romance reader - I have every single Nicholas Sparks book on my bookshelf and every one of his book-to-movie adaptations on DVD, so it made sense that '10 Dates' turned into a love story.
"Everyone loves a good love story, and I decided that Hollywood would be a fun setting for it to all happen. Obviously writing a 100,000 word novel is a massive job, so it wasn't until I had 13 months off on maternity leave that I actually found the time to put all the pieces together and finish the '10 Dates' story."
An independent endeavour
Ms Van der Eyck was raised with younger brother, Alex, and a younger sister, Sigrid by her parents Daniel and Barbara Labrosse who owned and operated a number of different cafes and restaurants around the Armidale and Uralla area. She says the importance of application was always instilled in her from a young age.
The 33-year-old currently live on a five acre property in Rocky River with her husband, Joshua, daughter, Zoe, and two dogs, Kevin and Stella.
"I work as a Science/Agriculture teacher at Armidale Secondary College during the day, and spend my nights reading the latest contemporary romance novel or writing my own," Ms Van Der Eyk said.
"I have written bits and pieces of all kinds of different fiction since I was 12 years old, but '10 Dates' is my first finished novel and the first one that I've endeavoured to get published."
Originally chasing down a traditional publishing contract, Ms Van der Eyk decided along the way that she wanted to retain full creative control of the editing process and the story.
"I had friends help me with the editing process and picking up inconsistencies within the plot, but essentially I did all the work myself," she said.
"I even designed the book cover after commissioning an illustrator on Instagram to draw the main characters that I had envisioned in my head.
"The book will be available to purchase in paperback and ebook formats worldwide on the Amazon online platform. I'm hoping in future to have it available in hardcopy in some local independent bookstores as well."
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