April 19, 2025 • 63 mins
This morning on Off The Shelf, we’re thrilled to welcome the multi-talented Bianca Pensy Aba—a storyteller, author, and former basketball star with an incredible journey to share.
Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Bianca made a bold move to the U.S. at just 18 on a basketball scholarship. From the courts of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, all the way to graduating from Graceland University in Iowa, Bianca’s path has been anything but ordinary. But beyond her athletic talent lies a deeper calling—writing.
Since childhood, Bianca has dreamed of being an author. Now, she's living that dream and inspiring others along the way. Her powerful books, "52 Weeks: A Party of One" and "Across Both Sides of the Mirror", offer honest, reflective, and deeply personal narratives that resonate with readers around the world.
Don’t miss this heartfelt and motivational interview! Whether you’re a book lover, a dream chaser, or just in need of a dose of inspiration—Bianca’s story will move you.
Listen in to Off The Shelf Books host, Denise Turney, and Bianca Aba NOW!
Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Bianca made a bold move to the U.S. at just 18 on a basketball scholarship. From the courts of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, all the way to graduating from Graceland University in Iowa, Bianca’s path has been anything but ordinary. But beyond her athletic talent lies a deeper calling—writing.
Since childhood, Bianca has dreamed of being an author. Now, she's living that dream and inspiring others along the way. Her powerful books, "52 Weeks: A Party of One" and "Across Both Sides of the Mirror", offer honest, reflective, and deeply personal narratives that resonate with readers around the world.
Don’t miss this heartfelt and motivational interview! Whether you’re a book lover, a dream chaser, or just in need of a dose of inspiration—Bianca’s story will move you.
Listen in to Off The Shelf Books host, Denise Turney, and Bianca Aba NOW!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Life with host Denise Turney, author of the books Long
Walk Up, Portie Love, More Over Me, Spiral Love has
Many Faces, and Rosette Us Great Hope. Turn up your
dial and get ready for a blast of feature author interviews,
four one one on book festivals, writing conferences, and so
much more. Ready let's go, Hie.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
All right, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome out there and Off the
shelf books land to those of you tuning in here
to uh we're right now on spreaker, but we go
our globally Apple YouTube, you name it. You can catch
off the shelf books pretty much anywhere in the world.
(00:57):
But I want to start off, as I've been doing
the last several couple of years, with a quote something
just to drop into your thoughts system to ponder. And
this is push yourself because no one else is going
to do it for you. And that quote is anonymous
push yourself because no one else is going to do
(01:21):
it for you. Before I go on, for those who
do celebrate Easter, and I'm one of those people, I
want to say Happy Easter to you out there and
you are listening to the winning book shot off that shell.
Welcome to this Saturday April to nineteenth, twenty twenty five.
(01:43):
So thank you, thank you to our Loawyer listeners who've
been with us. This is our third platform, we now
an iHeartRadio platform. Started out as I was telling I
Guess on a real live radio station which is headquartered
out of New York City, and now we're here on iHeartRadio.
But for those of you who been with us the
(02:04):
whole journey, which is at least eighteen years, I want
to thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me
and authorshelf books, and if this is your first time
catching the show, welcome, welcome, and thank you as well.
We have a just an insightful and talented author on
(02:26):
deck for you today and we just excited to introduce
you to her. But before we do, I just want
to ask you, are you a mystery book lover? I mean,
whatever story. It could be a romance genre, it could
be historical fiction, it could be science fiction with a fantasy.
(02:51):
Whatever it is, it's got to have a touch a
lot of mystery. If you do like mystery and you
also value relationships, I encourage you to get a copy
of Love for Over Me. It's in ebook, it's in
print and audio book. Recently, release and audiobook. You get
(03:12):
an Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart ebook it, and almost
any offline bookseller, and also you can check it out
at your libraries. But if you do value relationship, there's
a complicated father son relationship in here, but oh my gods,
just don't watch that relationship is self evolved. And then
(03:34):
also there is this romance, this soul made this Raymond
and Brenda really do belong together. That's also in Love
for Over Me. Third, when it kind of relationships that
is far dudes that meet in college. Raymond is a
track star. There's another guy who goes on to the NFL.
He does as an awesome career, and their friendship, these
(03:57):
fidues friendship lasts a lifetime. And then one of them
could it be Raymond, could it be one of his
friends is involved in this murder. There's this connection there.
So there's a murder mystery and there's these awesome relationships.
If you value relationships and you love a mystery, I
(04:20):
encourage you to get a copy of Love for Over
Me by Denise Turney. You can get it, you can
listen to it audio, you can you can ebook watch
it on your digital device or you could do the
way I love to read stories. I'm a paperback person.
I love paperbacks. You can get it in paperback. Please
(04:40):
go get a copy of Love for Over Me today
and now let us go and meet our very special
off the Shelf books guests. And today's guest is Bionca
pency Iba NF. I said her name, Mangolfzi corrects me.
Bianca was born i Normally and y'all own Day, Cameroon, Africa.
(05:04):
She relocated to the United States on a basketball scholarship
go Bianca when she was eighteen years old. She attended
Lighthouse Christian School in Antioch, Tennessee, and later John Brown
University in Arkansas and Wylie College in Texas. Bianca graduated
from Iowa's Graceland University in twenty seventeen, and although she
(05:28):
is a talented athlete, at her website, she says that
she has wanted to be a writer since she was
a kid. Today Beyonca is putting her writing passion to work.
Fifty two weeks a party of one, and across both
sides of the mirror are two of her published books,
(05:50):
with hopefully many more to come. I encourage you to
check the Anca pency Abba out online at the Aoncapencabba
dot com and that is spelled b b as and
boy b I A n c A p is and
Peter E n s y A b a dot com.
(06:16):
And just one more time, b I A n c
A p E n s y A b a dot com.
This is one thing I love about Off the Shelf Books.
You can actually click over their website right now check
out our books, the covers, the synopsis, more about her
(06:40):
even as you listen to today's show. And we are just
honored to have the Aunca join us on Off the
Shelf Books this morning. Welcome to Off the Shelf Bianca.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me, Denise.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh it's a pleasure look forward to what you share.
I tell our guests two things at the I always
learned something from every guest, so this is just such
a blessing for me. I always walk away learning something.
And then the first few questions I asked every guest
so our listeners can get a little backstory on our
guests before we launching a talking about their books and
(07:16):
their writing and book marketing, et cetera. So the kick
off today show, Bianca, could you please tear off the shelf. Listeners.
Where you grew up kind of alluded to that intro
and what life was like for you growing up.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Okay, So I grew up in Yaoundei, you pronounced it
perfectly in Cameroon. So I was there until I was
about seventeen, eighteen years old, and I was really into
you know, books, academia, but also basketball. So that is
actually the thing that allowed me to move to the
United States. So when I was seventeen, I was able
(07:54):
to put kind of a video together with the help
of a friend who had some contacts. Hearing the un
I send it over in Lighthouse Christian School was one
of the school that recruited me right to come to
the US on a scholarship, and then I made that move.
I was in Nashville for a couple of years and
I was able to get a scholarship from there to
(08:16):
go to university and ended up graduating from Graceland in Iowa.
So that's a little bit of my story. So growing up,
I mean, life was really nice, you know in Cameroon,
but I always had aspiration, whether it was in sports
or with writing, and I was so happy once I
graduated from school to finally, you know, start walking my
(08:39):
way back to that passion from writing. Because while I
was in college, my focus was really sport, right because
that was the thing that allowed me to pay for
most of my school. So I focused on that a
little bit for the four years that was in college,
and then after that, slowly I started writing my debut
across both sides of the mirror in later fifty two weeks,
(09:00):
a party of one that would be out on April
twenty third, so just in a few days.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, So did you have like you have brothers sisters?
And I always was told and I know Africa has
fifty four countries as a continent, but that family is
so important. And I know growing up for me, family
was very, very important. But in Africa, I was told
(09:30):
it's incredibly important family. Did you have like siblings? And
was that the case for you growing up? And if so,
I can imagine how hard was it for you to
leave Africa and come here?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Absolutely so. Growing up I was so on my mom's side,
I'm her only daughter, but on my dad's side, I
have five brothers, and I grew up with my mom
and some cousins of our house. Was always full. We
always had that at least three four people in there
as far as cousins and sometimes aunts and uncles, so
(10:06):
really kind of that familial cocoon and that's what I
was raised around. So, like you said, it was really
tough just making that transition and moving here. Thankfully, I
had a host family in Nashville, so they were really
nice and they really helped me just kind of just
enact feel so lonely leaving my entire family, you know,
(10:28):
thinking about twenty people that I was always around to
coming here alone. But yeah, it was really big, and
that was probably one of the hardest thing making that transition,
was leaving you know, my family, everyone that I knew
back home and moving here yours.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So, so how was Nashville? How did you like Nashville?
I had some people so they love it, and then
but how did you Everybody has a different take on
the city. How did you like it?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think I definitely want to go back because I
feel like when I was there, I was still because
also something else. English is not my first language, so
French is my first language. So for about six months
to a year, it was really about me adjusting to
the language. That's when I was in Nashville, so I
feel like I didn't really get a chance to explore
it as much because I was really kind of in
(11:19):
a learning phase, so it was all about, you know,
being in school learning language. But I really loved Nashville.
It's really beautiful city. I know, I went to the
country music festival at one point. I don't know how
I ended up there, but I ended up there and
it was a good time. Like one of my neighbor
invited me to like a Beyonce concert. I will never
forget that. So I feel like I had a lot
(11:41):
of musical experience there, which I apparently it is one
of the most beautiful city, especially with country music, and
it's a really I just remember it being very clean.
That's the thing that stays in my head, like because
I've been I lived in a lot of places since
I left Nashville, and it was just really beautiful and
clean and just music was a big thing. So that's
(12:04):
one place I think I'm working my way to kind
of going back with to kind of just maybe spend
more time there. Now that you know I'm speaking fluently,
I can explore a little bit more just freely since
language is not a restriction.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Okay, now, as a kid you play basketball, what else
did you dream of? You know, we're kids. If we
have a remotely healthy home of bring our imagination, we
believe we could do anything. So when you were a kid,
what did you want to be when you grew up?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Honestly, there were two things. Either going to w NBA
or becoming a writer. Those were always do two things
that stayed. So once I got the basketball scholarship, that
was my focus. I ended up getting my ACL torn
my senior year, and quite frank I don't think I
(13:01):
was as good as I needed to be anywhere to
go to the w NBA. But definitely getting that injury
start me from going from that path. And even as
I was playing and kind of pursuing that path, I
feel like something was still pulling at me, and that
was writing. Because every time I was always thinking I
(13:21):
have these stories, I was this, I have these things
I want to share and I want to write. And
I think now that I've kind of been able to
do some soul searching and just kind of sitting down
with you know, what are some of my goals? Are
the things that I want to do. Writing is a
thing that really has been sticking through, you know, everything,
(13:41):
the ups and downs of life. It's really comes back
to writing, and when I was a kid, that was
one of the first things I wanted to do. I
used to like write comic books, I used to draw,
be really artistic, and writing was always the thing that
was in the back of my head.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh, okay, who or what birthed your love for writing?
Where did your passion for writing come from?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
M That's a great question. Oh quite frankly, I'm not
even It's one of those things. I don't know if
you had those feelings, something that's just always been there. Again,
I feel like I've been always kind of a curious kid,
just always just observing things, and I was a little
bit shy, more reserved. So the main ways that I
(14:31):
could express whatever I saw or whatever I went through
that day was through going back and writing things down,
whether it was journaling or just creating stories. So I
think it really came from that. My mom used to
read a lot as well, so she has books around,
So my love for reading I think came from that
(14:51):
seeing my mom reading a lot. But as far as writing,
I feel like it's something that's just always been there.
And it was just away from me at first, just
to processing and put that through writing, and later on
that just kind of evolved into storytelling with novel writing.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Okay, now I want to for our listeners. I always
like our listeners, whether they're writers themselves, a book lovers.
I'm still a book lover. I love to read as
well as right. But people have different interests and someone
that might listening to off the shelf now they might
be interested in starting a business, starting, get kicking off something.
(15:35):
Now you've met the challenge Bianca, of significant change. And
I was actually thinking about this this morning, early this
morning about just shifting. You've met the challenge of significant
change at least once with your move to the United States.
I mean that was that's magnanimous change. Can you share
(15:57):
one to two tips for people there's something you said
you've always known this writing. There's people who they know
there's something they came here to do, but they're scared.
They are scared to make a big change. It could
be a job change, relationship, aging with grace, it could
(16:18):
be a big change starting a business. They know it's
been in them for so long, but they're so scared.
Can you share one or two tips they could maybe
help somebody take that step if they're really scared to
make a big change. Mmm.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yes, icond while that's a great question. Oh okay, So
I think first you really have to sit and figure
out what is that thing you do want to do.
So I'm assuming you're already there, You've already done that
work and you know you're looking to start a business
or maybe become a professional writer or do something else.
(16:59):
Once you know for sure that is the thing you
want to do, I think it really comes down to
taking that leap in that direction. It is going to
be scary. It really is going to be because a
lot of times it's not maybe the most classic path
that most people take. Right you're taking this risk instead
(17:20):
of maybe working a nine to five or I don't know,
whatever it is, you're going in that direction, and it's
going to be scary at first. But I feel like
if you know this is what you want to do,
I mean, we only have one life, and you just
have to take that leap and not give up. You
have to keep going. It's not going to be easy
regardless of the path that you're going to take, especially
(17:41):
when you're talking about you know, becoming an entrepreneur in
whichever field you're looking to do that, it's going to
take time. So it's important also to have a support system,
whatever that is. Maybe it's you know, friends, or it's family,
or it's people who are doing things similar or community
that way, or maybe it's just you, you know, having
(18:03):
a hobby, whatever it is, it's important to have something
to kind of just anchor you and give you some
breeding room. But I think the biggest thing is just
jumping into that once you know what it is, and
just not giving up because it is going to take time.
It's not going to be easy, but once you get
to the end of it, it's going to be worth it, right, Yeah,
(18:25):
it's always going to be worth it. So you just
have to keep going.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, if you're on the right path, yeah, I would
agree you and you might be scared. It's brand new
to you. Start. You could talk to people who've done
what you want to do. They can tell you about
some of the challenges. They could give you maybe some tips,
some ways you can save time or save money or energy.
They can tell you some of the challenges in some
(18:50):
ways around them. You can bring books about it, but
at some point even with all your research, you're just
gonna have to do it. That's some point you're just
gonna have to. You're just gonna have to sit down
and either write the book and publish it, and after
you get it edited and just see what happens and
market it. You're gonna have to just start the business.
(19:13):
And some people might start a couple of them for
they get one that takes off.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
At some point, you're just gonna have to do it.
But I do think doing some research ahead of time
and talking to people can let you know what to expect,
and you're just gonna have to take that lead. Now,
where did you Where did you get this is your
latest book, and we definitely want to talk about both
of your novels. But where did you get the idea
(19:38):
for the book? Fifty two weeks A party of one?
Interesting title?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Thank you? So I the idea came from some of
the things that I've seen recently. I think there's something
you've even said earlier. I don't remember your phrasing. I
think you talked about me be like aging gracefully. One
thing that you mentioned, and this is not specifically that,
but this is someone who's spending a lot of time alone.
(20:08):
And I've noticed that a lot of people, women especially
have been really focusing on, you know, what make them happy,
whatever that is, whatever their goals are, how they want
to do life, and spending a lot of time on
their own to figure out what that is and being
happy in that solitude. So this character this story is
(20:30):
someone who has gone through something really rough. So essentially
she finds out that her best friend and her boyfriend
are having an affair, and that leads her away from
her hometown all the way to another city where she
spends a year alone. And within that time, she really
dig digs deep into her past, right, so just a
(20:52):
fracture that she have in a relationship with her mom,
her brother, her father has passed away, but he would
and present in her life. So she's kind of impacting
all that and also what she just found out and
in the end is really going to come down to
her kind of rebuilding, right, finding a new community, finding
(21:13):
what it is that she wants to do with her life.
And she spends a lot of time alone, obviously not
fifty two weeks completely alone, but a lot of time
it's her doing that reflection, meeting new people and coming
stronger on the other side of everything that broke her
and got her to that point. So the inspiration was
really coming from just having conversations with different people and
(21:34):
just kind of seeing that a lot of people are
doing kind of that work to go inward, to come
back and you know, get stronger from doing whatever that
work was for them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Where and when? Where and when? Like? What time is it?
This is the current time or tenure the twenty early
twenty twenties? Where, what city? What stay? Where? And when
does this story for they two weeks take place? Oh?
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Yes, so this is a contemporary story. So I'm not
specifically about the date, but it's definitely in the twenty
twenties for sure. And it starts in Denver, Colorado, and
it ends in Dallas, Texas, AH.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Now, please describe Aisha. I had a friend name Aisa.
Is Aisa quiet? Is she talkative? Is she strong willed?
Is she laid back? What's her family makeup?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What is she like? Yes?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So Aisha is definitely someone who doesn't keep the tongue
in her mouth. She's definitely talkative. She's gonna speak her mind,
She's gonna say what she thinks. So that's why when
she has that discovery and finding that betrayal, it actually
put her in a place that she's not used to
be where she doesn't know what to say because she's
(22:54):
so shocked by you know what happened. But in general,
this is somebody who actually maybe pretty rash so speak
before thinking, and this is some of the things that
she has to think about just looking back at her
past as far as her makeup. So she has a
brother and she has her mom, so that is her
(23:14):
family structure. So her dad wasn't present in her life,
so and he has also passed away two years before
the event of the start of the book.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Now what does she do? What does she doing? Is
she in her twenties and is what is her career?
What does she do for her employment?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yes, so she is in her early thirties, so she's
thirty one years old, and actually figuring out a career
path is also something that's discussed. So when she starts
in the book, she works as a professional house sitter,
so this is something that she's doing. So she's also
kind of going with the floor of life, so she's
(23:55):
not exactly sure what she wants to do. She feels
like she loves the job that she has, was fortunate
to have it, but at the same time, she's also
feeling she's been kind of going with the flow of life.
So this is something that she's also unpacking in the book,
just kind of figure out what her life looks like,
especially when it comes to professional path.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Now, how long where i Issa and her boyfriend and
what is his name? How long were Asia and her
boyfriend together? And how deep? How deep was their relationship?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yes, so the boyfriend's name is James and they were
together for two years. Okay, so before the incident and
the affair they were actually talking about They moved in
together shortly before that happened, and they were discussing getting married,
(24:49):
so an engagement and marriage, so they were really moving along.
So again that's why she was really taking aback what happened,
because she thought this is the person she was going
spend the rest of her life. Wow.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, Now introduce us to Aissa's friend. How long have
they been friends and how are they How is our
Elisha and her friends similar and how are they different?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yes, so her friends is Samenta. She goes by Sam
and she's a couple of years younger than Aisha, so
she's in her late twenties and they've been friends for
six years. So they actually met at an art gallery,
so they have that in they have that similar taste
(25:36):
in just kind of going to museum galleries looking at art,
and they're very similar as far as kind of speaking
their mind, just being very forward, fright, and candid. So
that's how they kind of have a great venture of
going back and forth. Now, the difference, one of the
main difference between the two is that Aisha knows that
she doesn't want to have children, so she just kind
(25:59):
of wanted, yeah, be married, stay with James. Sam is
ready to have a family and so is James. So
that's one of the things that kind of brings them together.
They feel like as far as moving forward in the life,
they have that same share future that they see versus Aisha,
who is pretty sure that that's not the path that
(26:21):
she wants and she's coming to terms with that as well.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Okay, now, don't give the story away, but I was
going to ask you, how does she discover this? Sam
and James are having a fear.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Oh, I'm not giving it away. That is the first
line of the book. So it's in the prologue. So
she finds out on New Year's Eve. So she actually
walks in on them, kind of making out.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yea, oh my god, Oh my god. How does she deal?
Does she run out? Does she? What? Does she? Oh
my god?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
She runs out. She runs out. So she sees them,
she's just kind of in shock and disco and she
just runs out. She drives away. Of course, they try
to reach out to her and all that, so she
turns her phone off and then pretty much the next
day she packs her stuff and she drives to Dallas
for the year.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Oh my god, why why Dallas?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
So she picked just randomly, so she put all the
names of the states on pieces of paper. So she
didn't know where to go. So she was like, she's
gonna let faith the side, and it just kind of
led her to Texas.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Oh my goodes is okay? Now we just describe her Bianca.
Is she somebody who runs from problems or someone who
faces her challenges head on?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Runner? She definitely runs for problems. And that is the
whole thing, because a lot of people will be reading
and the only thing, Wow, this could have been resolved
in like a month or two, but she's someone who
is avoiding, so it takes her a lot of time
before she's ready to face things. So the whole fifty
two weeks is her actually doing everything she can not
(28:16):
to think about what happened. So she's trying to strike
herself doing the things. But again, these are things that
you cannot run away forever, so eventually she ends up
kind of hitting a wall where she has to face
it and there's really no other way unless she just
wants to hit right bottom essentially, So the whole fifty
(28:36):
two weeks is to her kind of running away from
her problems until she has no choice but to face it.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
So what are some signs that someone might be a runner? Mmm?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I think one of the biggest side is just not
addressing things right and running away physically, even from a situation.
And so if there's a problem or there's something that
needs to be talked about, this is someone who's gonna say, maybe, hey,
I'm just not ready to do it right now, which
is not always bad, but usually most people will come
(29:12):
back to that situation at some point and have that conversation.
But for her, that took longer, I mean almost a
year to have that one conversation because it just felt
like it was just too much to handle. So I
think a runner is someone who's just gonna walk away
and never come back, or come back at a really
(29:32):
delayed period of time, and they're just gonna do everything
that they can in the meantime to not think about
their problems, and they're just going to distract themselves by
doing everything that they can or that's in front of
them to not face the situation at hand.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
So, for an Nias's case, are there many things she's
dealing with, not just Samantha and James, but and she
takes this year off and what happens again, don't get
a story away there. Something must happen to make her
realize it's time to face it.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Yes, yes, so something definitely does happen and she deals
with more things. So one of the main things also
is that she was really heard by the relationship or
lack thereof, that she had with her father, and that
is a thing that is running. And that's also one
(30:34):
of the things that is the source of kind of
her character or her being avoided or not dealing with things,
is that she also has abandonment issues. So during the book,
she's also dealing with the fact that her father wasn't
present in her life, so she's looking back at her
childhood or when she was a teenager in adulthood and
(30:57):
just kind of how his lack of presence or its
absence shaped her. So they had a few interactions, so
she thinks back on that, and it also makes her
wonder even as far as self as team feeling a
wardiness like why did she leave? Why did he leave? Sorry,
why did he stay? And these are some of the
things that cause her to avoid things, being avoidant and
(31:20):
dealing with things. The way that she does is that
she still has that childhood trauma that she is not
able to face, so eventually, as far as how she
addresses it to not give it away, but eventually, of course,
she ends up meeting someone who is going through something
similar and she sees how that person was able to
handle things and that inspire her as well. And eventually,
(31:43):
with things like you know, therapy or even volunteering, she's
able to maybe not put herself at the center, but
looking at other people and that helps her put things
in perspective. So this is how eventually she's able to
turn things around.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Oh my goodness, it has a it's a it's a
story of this inner growth, and I just I just
love that this is a type of novel where a
reader can come away and the defenses are down because
it's fiction and they can learn something that can help
them in their own personal life. And there's so many
(32:23):
stories you could walk away and come away with a
novel like Okay, I picked up a nugget out of
that one now. Based on the book's title fifty two
Weeks a Party of one, when I was researching for
your interview, this is what I thought was kind of
like the gist of it. Does Alisha shun two loving relationships?
(32:46):
Because I saw her like running away and that she's
gonna I'm gonna do it all myself. Does Alisha shun
true loving relationships after James and she break up? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So she does? So after they break up, she has
some opportunities right in the beginning to form genuine relationship,
but she runs away from that. And that's a definite
defense mechanism, right because she's afraid of being hurt again.
So she doesn't know if she's ready to open her heart.
So that is something that she does too. When she
(33:20):
has the opportunity to build a relationship in the beginning,
she runs away from that, and she also self sabotage
in a lot of ways. So this is definitely part
of her journey too.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Oh my god, miss that Asia. We're gonna see her change.
Oh oh, this just popped in my head. Does she
ever give James and Samantha a chance to explain even
if no explanation is justifiable? Does she ever give them
a chance to explain why they got together? Yes?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
So without giving away spoilers, So that does happen, but
that's not until the very end, and I think by
that time she's already done the work. She's in a
different place. But like you said, that's something she was
wrestling with.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Does she even want to hear it? Is there anything
really that they can say at this point to salvage
the relationship in any way? So this is something that
she's wrestling with. But in the end, she has a
conversation with each of them separately to just kind of
hear them out. But at that time, she's already in
a different place and she's already decided how she wants
(34:31):
to move forward with her life.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Okay, a few more questions on fifty two Weeks, the
part of one before we start to explore across both
sides of the mirror. If Aisha based on a real person,
even if in.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Part No, she isn't based on a real person, she
really isn't. I think again. As I was thinking on this,
my goals really to kind of share a story of
someone who was lost a lot and who had to
start from pretty much zero's right. So she lost the person,
(35:08):
she thought she was gonna marry, her best friend, her
father has passed away, she has a fractual relationship with
her mom and her brother. So I really wanted to
isolate a character and find ways to kind of get
them back to the end of the turnal to healing
and to feeling like they could start over, and they
(35:28):
were optimistic about their lives. So it wasn't really based
on the person. It was just more so some of
the themes and that kind of story that I wanted
to share in kind of a character exploration.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Okay, so this release is April twenty third. Yes, after
shelf listeners, you can go check out fifty two Weeks
A Party of one and Oh my gosh. When the
authors explain their stories is like, I want to go
out and buy them on It's just Bobbyanca Pency. Fifty
two weeks A Party of One again will be released
(36:04):
on the market, available for sale April twenty three. What
is it an any book? Paperback? Audiobook with formats? Can
listeners get fifty two weeks A Party of One in?
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yes, so it's gonna be ebook and paperback?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Okay, okay, awesome. Now now we're switching gears a little bit,
moving away from Miss Aisha and fifty two weeks A
Party of One. Could you please give us a brief
overview of Across Both Sides of the Mirror.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Yes. So Across Both Sides of the Mirror is my
debut novel, and this one the genre is a little different,
so I will say this is a magical realism story.
It's still very grounded. But the main character, her name
is Nova, and early in the story she comes across
she goes to like an antique store and she finds
(36:57):
a mirror that seems kind of something about it is weird, right,
So she goes home and what she ends up finding
out is that the mirror allows her to travel to
an alternate reality and on the other side of the mirror,
she can become who she believes is the best version
of herself. So in the real world she is really insecure,
(37:19):
she feels like she's not where she wants to be
as far as job, career, pad, romantic life. And on
the other side of the mirror, she gets to be
the best version of herself and all those things starts
happening for her. So she finds, you know, a romantic
partner or a relationship with her friends improved. She gets
a promotion at work. So in the story, she essentially
(37:42):
goes back and forth between the real side of the
mirror and the other side of the mirror, and in
the end, essentially yet she has to pick one side
because she can yet to remain on the other side
of the mirror. But it's a fantasy world ride, it's
not reality, so that means on the rail side, essentially
she will be dyeing essentially, but she still get to
(38:02):
live in that fantasy world. So this is really putting
this character in a position where they either have to
step into the real world and actually try to make
those things happen, or they can just continue to live
in fantasy land where everything is working out but it's
not reality.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I like what you said. It kind of goes back
to early and how you and even how you came
to the US, and we were talking about taking big
risks even when it's scary. I like what you said
the two sides. You can either continue to live in
a fantasy or take the steps to actually become the
way she wants to be. Now, where did you get
(38:42):
the idea for the story?
Speaker 3 (38:47):
So this one goes way back. I had the ideas
for this story, at least like a rough idea when
I was a teenager. I was still back home, and
at the time, I just didn't know how to finish
the story because obviously with the time travel, there's a
lot that comes with that, like how much time passes
when she's gone, things like that. So I got a
little bit overwhelmed and I put it aside. But I
(39:09):
think at the time the idea originally came, maybe even
from some of my own experience, right maybe having a
conversation or something that happens, and then going back home
or walking home or driving or I don't know, and thinking,
oh wow, I wish I would have said this, or
I wish I would have done this. I wish instead
of doing that, and I started thinking, what if there
was a reality where I always said the right thing,
(39:32):
did the right thing, how differently my life will go.
So that's when I had the idea of the mirror
where you have this character were it can actually live
those two lives. And obviously with fleshing out the story,
I understood that they needed to have some consequences and stakes.
So that's why choosing one side has effect on the other.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Okay, yeah, to do system is no, But how is she? What?
What is she like? What's her career and what time
period is the story taking place?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
So this is also taking place in the current time,
same as fifty two weeks and with Nova, she works
in a gym, so she's a sells rep at a
gym and that's what she does. So this character is
more she's shy, she's more reserved. She doesn't really speak
(40:27):
her mind. So this is someone who can see something
that she wants and really not do anything about it,
and that is her issue because she feels like she's
powerless and life is kind of going by and she's
really not taking any step to go in that direction.
She had a chance to get a promotion and it
(40:48):
was just a matter of kind of her speaking up
and saying something that she wanted. She didn't do that,
So she feels just really insecure and powerless. So that's
why when she comes across the mirror, it feels like
it's the perfect solution to all her problems because she
doesn't have to do any work. She just goes to
that side and everything just happens magically. So this character
(41:12):
is definitely more someone who has to kind of work
through their insecurity and feel like they are regaining agency
on their life.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
So how old is she and why is she? Why
is she unhappy? I mean, there were pairs in my
life where I dealt with shyness and this uncertainty. But
I did like over saying earlier I just did. I said,
I'm going to do it. I'm gonna take a public speaking.
I'm going to take prompt speaking. Okay, skid I am,
I'm going to do it. I'm going to do this.
(41:46):
I'm going to do that. So why is she? How
is she and why is she unhappy? I'm just curious
how long she's felt trapped in as I can't do
what I want to do, M kind of state of mind.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Yes, yes, So with Nova, she is twenty nine, so
late twenty is about to be thirty. And one of
the main things that got her to be the way
she is is her upbringing. So she was raised in
a really strict environment with her parents. So, just to
(42:21):
give you a little bit more insight, so they are
Jehovah witnesses, but there are from a branch that's a
little bit more strict. So for anyone who walks away
from that, they get shunned by their family. So this
is what happened to Nova. At a certain point, she
walked away from that for her own reason. She felt
(42:42):
like it was a little bit too restrictive. Because of that,
she was shunned from her parents and they have not
spoken to her almost a decade, right, This is why
she's also where she is, and this is something that
she also has to face in the story because she
feels like she's just oriented, right, she just has she
doesn't have any siblings, She's the only child, so the
(43:04):
only family that she has is her parents. But now
they're no longer talking to her because she walks away
right from that environment, and this is something that she's
rappling with. She was able to make friends. She has
her two bread friends, Anna and Camilla, and they're able
to kind of give her that sense of community. But
(43:26):
even in that, she's still missing her parents and her family.
And this is one of the main thing, one of
the main reasons she is the way she is, and
this is something that she's grappling with as she's you know,
traveling across the two sides of the mirror.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Oh my goodness, Okay, I miss Nova. Now, who is
the bean in the ocean? And what power does she success?
Speaker 3 (43:53):
Yes, so the mirror belongs to Mammy Water, Who's the
bean in the ocean. So Mammi Wata is a creature
or consider a deity in African folklore. Right, So this
is the stories that I was hearing when I was
growing back up. This is also part of the inspiration
(44:14):
and Mami Wata is known to have a mirror that
essentially allow people to create a version of reality that
is parisit, that is heavenly almost that is perfect. So
it doesn't allow them to travel back and forth. This
is something that I kind of created with the story,
(44:38):
but it does allow them to view themselves in a
way that's alter and that makes everything look perfect, And
what she does usually is that if you choose to
grab her mirror and go into that world that she creates. Essentially,
what she does is that she collects your soul at
some point. So that's the mythology behind it. So this
(45:00):
mirror in the story does belong to her. Again, I
took some liberty, of course artistically that are not really
part of the folklore. But for the most part, this
is the late legend around Mammy Watcha so being from Cameroon,
I also wanted to infuse some of that African folk
claw into the story. Oh wow, yes.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Yeah, never heard of that. We all have our little zoos.
Some people got Zeus and right you got we got
our the Mermaid, and we all have our different cultural
super heroes are a mythic. Uh whatever cree beings now
(45:41):
does nobody? No? Is she even aware she got this
mirrord antique shop? I can see me picking up something
like this got an antique shop? Does she even know
she's living in a fantasy? And if so, when does
she come to realize this isn't even real? Oh?
Speaker 3 (46:01):
She knows pretty much right away. So the mirror where
she got the mirror from? She goes back to that store,
and the person who sold it to her is also
aware what the mirror is, so she kind of breaks
down to her. She tells her what it is, and
I feel like Novice is such a bad place that
she is willing to give up on reality to give
(46:23):
it a fantasy because it gives her all those feelings
that she is after. So she knows exactly what she
signed up for. So in the end she has to
make a choice having all the information between reality and fantasy.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Ah, she is aware. Okay, now you take on you
take on a universal topic, and from that, to me,
it's like wanting something to easily change. We want stuff
to just magically happen. Yeah, I do, it pops into
her head, just let it happen. You wanted something to
easily change and change to be instant. Ah, that's something
(47:02):
I think. That's you know, versal agreed. What attracted you
to this? Did you know you would tap it into
like this universal how many people want stuff just to happen,
make it easy, Let me take a pill, let me
let me say something, some positive affirmations, whatever, and poof.
(47:22):
That is what attracted you that this particular tappen I think.
Speaker 3 (47:29):
It's a little bit of what you said, right. It
is a universal story, So I think this is something
that we see almost every day, whether it's with wanting
a job or maybe having certain fitness goals things like that.
There's definitely this idea that most people, other people, they're
(47:49):
not ready to do that work, and we all hope
in a way that we can just snap our fingers
and whatever it is that we want will just magically happen.
And I think that was some of the inspiration into story,
just kind of giving a character that choice. But even
in reality, I think what we see is that when
something is too easy, usually there's a catch, there's something
(48:13):
on the other side of it. And with her is
that it is a fantasy where if you choose to
go there, you're going to end up passing on in
the real life. And I think in the reality with
world topic, when something is too easy you just take
a pill or something, there's always some side effects or something.
So I think I was trying to mirror that with
this story too.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
Oh my goodness, see a lot of things behind your stuff. Now,
who designs your book covers and what was it like
working with your book cover designer.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
So I found this artist. So I was just kind
of searching online, honestly. So I went through a lot
of sites from artists just looking at their portfolio, just
making sure they were doing designs for my genre. And
also even with having characters of calor things like that,
you want to make sure you have to write artists
who can portray that accurately. So it was just to research,
(49:11):
going online, just vetting different portfolios. I was able to
find an artist that I really love was able to
deliver the cover from my debut, and I liked it
so much I ended up contacting her again for my
second novel. That way, it just kind of has a
similar vibe although it's a completely different story. Even as
far as genre and things like that, she kind of
(49:34):
kept the same ye between the two. So I just
wanted to be support where somebody picks up my book
they kind of feel like, Okay, they can see it's
from the same author based on you know, the font
or the cover design, things like that.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Okay, that's an awesome thing instead of it being a
book series. That's a good way to start building at
their brand. I like that. What have readers been saying
about across both sides of the mirror. What have you
been hearing from readers?
Speaker 3 (50:04):
The main word that comes back with a cross sports
side of the mirror is relatable. And I was really
happy when I saw that because that's what I was after.
And I think even with my second novel, I just
always want to be just honest with the stories. I
don't want to embellish anything. I don't want to give
characters the easy way out. So I really want to
(50:26):
tell a real story, and I just want the character
to be more relatable than even likable. So I'm okay
if you know readers don't like the character, I just
want him to feel like this is a real story.
So that is the main thing that I've been getting
honestly with the two novels, but with across both side
of the mirror, relatable is the word that's coming up
(50:48):
a lot.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Okay. Now at your website you also share a journal.
When did you start journaling?
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Oh? Really do your research? That's amazing. I think with
the journaling I'm trying to be better at it is
when I have inspiration, So I think right now I
have maybe five journal entries, so it's different things that
I'm sharing whether it is maybe a little bit backstories
(51:17):
from behind the scenes on book writing, on my journey
so far, what I'm struggling with. So it's not schedule.
It's not something I'm doing like once a months, I
every two months. It's just when I have something pulling
at me, I feel like I want to share something,
I just go ahead and enter it on my journal
so people who are subscribe to my newsletter get that,
and also I even reshare it on my social media
(51:40):
as well, so people can kind of just see what's
going on behind the scene and things like that. What
I've been up to.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
Okay, who are some of your favorite authors? As we
cut out the wine down today, cell Bianca, who are
some of your favorite authors and how is their work
impacted you as a writer.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
So immediately, the top one that's impacted me the most,
my absolute favorite author, which is probably a pretty common answer,
is Toni Morrison. I just love her writing. She has
inspired me so much. I think at this point I've
read almost all of her novels. I think I'm missing
like Jazz and I think another one. But I love
(52:22):
her writing and what I love about her is that
she always also have that element of having something speculative,
like an element of magical realism her story. It's very subtle,
but it's there. And she just has a way of
just kind of sharing stories in a way that's so profound,
but she manages to do that in a way that's
(52:44):
very succinct. So her books are never like overthrow Herndred pages.
I've never seen that. They're always short, but she packs
so much and she's just so good with her word
and so sharp, and I just love how she shared stories.
Her characters are always complex, and I feel like she
also is always honest in her story as far as
just giving us a character and not pushing us in
(53:07):
any direction, as far as making them, you know, likable.
She just shares a story. This is a human person,
a human being going through life. This is what they're
going through, and the reader just decides, Okay, do I
like this character? Do I not like this character? Or
do I relate or do I not? So for those reasons,
she's definitely my favorite author.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
Okay, now what writing process do you follow? For our
listeners who might want to sit down, They might be
listening you saying, oh my gosh, I wish I was
like Bianca and had written and published a book to
the book what for somebody wanting to get started, or
but just for you, when you start to write, what
process do you follow? Do you you start with outlines, characters, sketches?
(53:52):
How do you sit down and start putting a novel together?
Speaker 3 (53:57):
So for me, maybe the very thing I do, it's
always come up with the title, and the title for
me really anchored story. I know that's interesting because a
lot of time people write a story, maybe it's a
title until that, Yeah, that's the very first thing I
do because when I write the story, every time I
feel like things are becoming loose or I don't know
(54:18):
where the story is going, I always go back to
the title because for me, the title of my story
is the essence of the story, even if at the
end maybe I end up changing here and there, but
it is the thing that anchored me. With a cross
word side of the mirror, I knew this character is
going between two sides of the mirror to figure out,
you know, how she wants to live her life. So
every time I was writing and I felt like this
(54:40):
is not adding up, I just went back to that
same thing. With fifty two weeks a party of one.
So after I have the title, I just kind of
write down some of the themes that I'm looking to
explore in the story. So that is the second step.
So as I'm writing as well, even as I'm introducing
new character things like that, I always want to make
sure that their stories and the way that impact, you know,
(55:04):
just the plot always goes back to some of the
things that I'm looking to explore. And then you know,
just coming up with their name, their characters, how they're
going to be. I'm not too strict on that. I'm
definitely more of a pencer than the plotter. I don't
have like a strict structure that I'm following as far
as you know, a plot structure. But I think the
(55:26):
reason I'm able to still write these books within a
few months is because I have a really solid idea
of the story that I'm looking to tell.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
Okay, okay, so you start with the title title. Yeah interesting. Now,
please share three to four steps, Bianca, that you have
taken that you've personally found not not heard somebody else say,
but you've actually done and you've found to be effective
at getting the word out about your books.
Speaker 3 (55:58):
Oh okay, three steps, So the first one is going
to be sending advanced radiaro copies. That's one of the
biggest steps. That's what I've learned between my first and
second book. I didn't do that as much for the
first one, but I will say, give as many free
copies as you can. And this doesn't have to be print.
I'm talking about like you know, PDF or epop, things
(56:19):
that do not cost you any money. Because those people
are going to be sharing their reviews, sharing the words.
It's going to make a huge difference on launch day.
So I think sending advanced radio copies is one of them.
The second one is honestly doing podcast interviews, so just
talking to different people in the writing community, networking in
(56:43):
the best way that you can, just to make your
voice known. And if you are on social media, I
don't post every day, I post barely once a week,
but I think that's one of the other ways, especially
for self published authors, just to share the word of
about your books so people, because if you don't talk
about it, especially if you're self published, no one is
(57:04):
really going to talk about it until you do. So
I know for a lot of us writers, especially people
who are more reserved, it is tough to always talk
about your book, but that's what you want to do.
And the people who want to hear your story, they're
not going to be annoyed by it or anything. They're
going to be excited that you're sharing about your story.
So sending advance reader copies and having events or podcasts,
(57:28):
and also having even if it is a small presence
on social media, just to at least share the word
about your book.
Speaker 2 (57:34):
Okay, thank you for sharing that. Now. Fifty two Weeks
is coming out April twenty third. Are you working on
any other new books that you could give us a
glimpse into.
Speaker 3 (57:45):
Oh, I'm working on things. I wish I could share more.
It's still super early, but I'm working on it. I
should have more updates by the end of the year.
It's still early days. One thing I can tell you
is that this one is going to be set between
Cameroon and the United States. So it's a little bit
different because my two novels were mainly just here in
(58:06):
the US. So this one, I'm going to actually have
a character starting Cameroon and move here, So I'm kind
of excited to kind of bring that as well and
sharing a story in Cameroon and the setting with that
is completely different. So that's what I'm currently working on.
Speaker 2 (58:22):
A excited to let us know when you finish it
the book, and especially on soci media, if your posts
so I can share them. Where can listeners get off
the shelf? Listeners get a copy of your books?
Speaker 3 (58:37):
So the copy of my books would be available on
all the online retailers, so Amazon, Barnes Andnoble, Bookshop, dot Org, Wordmart,
everywhere online where you buy books is going to be
available there.
Speaker 2 (58:52):
Okay, do you have any upcoming speaking engagements, whether they're
in person at bookstores, libraries, et cetera, or online that
our listeners could support you?
Speaker 3 (59:04):
Not as have yet. I'm working on a few things,
but the should be at the few book festivals before
the end of the year, and I'm working on the
book signing as well. I just don't have a solid
date yet, but following me on my Instagram is probably
the best way to keep in touch. So once I
make those announcements, you'll know what's next. So it's just
(59:27):
Bianca penci Abba Rights. That's my instagram about rights.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
The Anca penci Abba Rights. Last question, what last final
words of encouragement or advice would you like to leave
with off the shelf books listeners and readers.
Speaker 3 (59:49):
Who I think what I want to leave the listener
with is that whatever they're after or whatever they're looking
to do, just believe, giving yourself, belief in what it
is that you're after, and don't give up. Right, if
you do not give up and you keep taking steps
(01:00:10):
to get where you want to be, it might take
some time, but you will end up there at some point.
So you just have to believe in yourself and just
keep going.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Oh I love that, I love that. Oh what a
joy we have had the absolute pleasure just being blessed
having miss Bianca pansy Abba join us today. She would
a got a basketball scholarship from Camera Room. She was
grew up and born and raised Camera Rooms and Africa,
(01:00:42):
and she came to the United States on a basketball
scholarship when she was seventeen. I just salute her, salute her,
salute her by having a courage. And when we were young,
we often do have seemed like we get older and
we get more and more scared sometimes. But she just
went out there and she is then she went to
her writing just go do it, go get it, and
(01:01:03):
her first book Across Both Sides of the Mirror, a
final story, very intriguing across Both Sides of the Mirror.
And then her new book Look for It April twenty third,
another very interesting, engaging read fifty two weeks A Party
of One. I actually thought this was all about some
(01:01:24):
crazy relationship stuff and then as you hear Bionca talk
about it, fifty two weeks A Party of One that's
out April twenty third, e book and in print, and please,
I encourage you to visit miss Bianca penci ab you
can keep up with what she's doing, her new books
that are coming out. And it's spelled b B as
(01:01:45):
in boy b I A N C A p is
and Peter E N s y A B A dot come.
Thank you so much, Bianca, add to our listeners. As
I always tell you, and this is so true, you
are so amazing. That is like the root of Easter
(01:02:12):
because you are so amazing and we just don't even
realize you are so awesome. You're so incredible. Please go
out and create a fabulous day for yourself the Anca.
I will send you a link to the show once
I finish. It finishes streaming and I finished editing. To everyone, everyone,
I just say, happy Easter. Bless you, bless you, bless you.
(01:02:34):
Thank you so much, Bianca, and thank you to every
one of our listeners. See you back here next Saturday.
Bye for now,
Life with host Denise Turney, author of the books Long
Walk Up, Portie Love, More Over Me, Spiral Love has
Many Faces, and Rosette Us Great Hope. Turn up your
dial and get ready for a blast of feature author interviews,
four one one on book festivals, writing conferences, and so
much more. Ready let's go, Hie.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
All right, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome out there and Off the
shelf books land to those of you tuning in here
to uh we're right now on spreaker, but we go
our globally Apple YouTube, you name it. You can catch
off the shelf books pretty much anywhere in the world.
(00:57):
But I want to start off, as I've been doing
the last several couple of years, with a quote something
just to drop into your thoughts system to ponder. And
this is push yourself because no one else is going
to do it for you. And that quote is anonymous
push yourself because no one else is going to do
(01:21):
it for you. Before I go on, for those who
do celebrate Easter, and I'm one of those people, I
want to say Happy Easter to you out there and
you are listening to the winning book shot off that shell.
Welcome to this Saturday April to nineteenth, twenty twenty five.
(01:43):
So thank you, thank you to our Loawyer listeners who've
been with us. This is our third platform, we now
an iHeartRadio platform. Started out as I was telling I
Guess on a real live radio station which is headquartered
out of New York City, and now we're here on iHeartRadio.
But for those of you who been with us the
(02:04):
whole journey, which is at least eighteen years, I want
to thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me
and authorshelf books, and if this is your first time
catching the show, welcome, welcome, and thank you as well.
We have a just an insightful and talented author on
(02:26):
deck for you today and we just excited to introduce
you to her. But before we do, I just want
to ask you, are you a mystery book lover? I mean,
whatever story. It could be a romance genre, it could
be historical fiction, it could be science fiction with a fantasy.
(02:51):
Whatever it is, it's got to have a touch a
lot of mystery. If you do like mystery and you
also value relationships, I encourage you to get a copy
of Love for Over Me. It's in ebook, it's in
print and audio book. Recently, release and audiobook. You get
(03:12):
an Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart ebook it, and almost
any offline bookseller, and also you can check it out
at your libraries. But if you do value relationship, there's
a complicated father son relationship in here, but oh my gods,
just don't watch that relationship is self evolved. And then
(03:34):
also there is this romance, this soul made this Raymond
and Brenda really do belong together. That's also in Love
for Over Me. Third, when it kind of relationships that
is far dudes that meet in college. Raymond is a
track star. There's another guy who goes on to the NFL.
He does as an awesome career, and their friendship, these
(03:57):
fidues friendship lasts a lifetime. And then one of them
could it be Raymond, could it be one of his
friends is involved in this murder. There's this connection there.
So there's a murder mystery and there's these awesome relationships.
If you value relationships and you love a mystery, I
(04:20):
encourage you to get a copy of Love for Over
Me by Denise Turney. You can get it, you can
listen to it audio, you can you can ebook watch
it on your digital device or you could do the
way I love to read stories. I'm a paperback person.
I love paperbacks. You can get it in paperback. Please
(04:40):
go get a copy of Love for Over Me today
and now let us go and meet our very special
off the Shelf books guests. And today's guest is Bionca
pency Iba NF. I said her name, Mangolfzi corrects me.
Bianca was born i Normally and y'all own Day, Cameroon, Africa.
(05:04):
She relocated to the United States on a basketball scholarship
go Bianca when she was eighteen years old. She attended
Lighthouse Christian School in Antioch, Tennessee, and later John Brown
University in Arkansas and Wylie College in Texas. Bianca graduated
from Iowa's Graceland University in twenty seventeen, and although she
(05:28):
is a talented athlete, at her website, she says that
she has wanted to be a writer since she was
a kid. Today Beyonca is putting her writing passion to work.
Fifty two weeks a party of one, and across both
sides of the mirror are two of her published books,
(05:50):
with hopefully many more to come. I encourage you to
check the Anca pency Abba out online at the Aoncapencabba
dot com and that is spelled b b as and
boy b I A n c A p is and
Peter E n s y A b a dot com.
(06:16):
And just one more time, b I A n c
A p E n s y A b a dot com.
This is one thing I love about Off the Shelf Books.
You can actually click over their website right now check
out our books, the covers, the synopsis, more about her
(06:40):
even as you listen to today's show. And we are just
honored to have the Aunca join us on Off the
Shelf Books this morning. Welcome to Off the Shelf Bianca.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me, Denise.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh it's a pleasure look forward to what you share.
I tell our guests two things at the I always
learned something from every guest, so this is just such
a blessing for me. I always walk away learning something.
And then the first few questions I asked every guest
so our listeners can get a little backstory on our
guests before we launching a talking about their books and
(07:16):
their writing and book marketing, et cetera. So the kick
off today show, Bianca, could you please tear off the shelf. Listeners.
Where you grew up kind of alluded to that intro
and what life was like for you growing up.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Okay, So I grew up in Yaoundei, you pronounced it
perfectly in Cameroon. So I was there until I was
about seventeen, eighteen years old, and I was really into
you know, books, academia, but also basketball. So that is
actually the thing that allowed me to move to the
United States. So when I was seventeen, I was able
(07:54):
to put kind of a video together with the help
of a friend who had some contacts. Hearing the un
I send it over in Lighthouse Christian School was one
of the school that recruited me right to come to
the US on a scholarship, and then I made that move.
I was in Nashville for a couple of years and
I was able to get a scholarship from there to
(08:16):
go to university and ended up graduating from Graceland in Iowa.
So that's a little bit of my story. So growing up,
I mean, life was really nice, you know in Cameroon,
but I always had aspiration, whether it was in sports
or with writing, and I was so happy once I
graduated from school to finally, you know, start walking my
(08:39):
way back to that passion from writing. Because while I
was in college, my focus was really sport, right because
that was the thing that allowed me to pay for
most of my school. So I focused on that a
little bit for the four years that was in college,
and then after that, slowly I started writing my debut
across both sides of the mirror in later fifty two weeks,
(09:00):
a party of one that would be out on April
twenty third, so just in a few days.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, So did you have like you have brothers sisters?
And I always was told and I know Africa has
fifty four countries as a continent, but that family is
so important. And I know growing up for me, family
was very, very important. But in Africa, I was told
(09:30):
it's incredibly important family. Did you have like siblings? And
was that the case for you growing up? And if so,
I can imagine how hard was it for you to
leave Africa and come here?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Absolutely so. Growing up I was so on my mom's side,
I'm her only daughter, but on my dad's side, I
have five brothers, and I grew up with my mom
and some cousins of our house. Was always full. We
always had that at least three four people in there
as far as cousins and sometimes aunts and uncles, so
(10:06):
really kind of that familial cocoon and that's what I
was raised around. So, like you said, it was really
tough just making that transition and moving here. Thankfully, I
had a host family in Nashville, so they were really
nice and they really helped me just kind of just
enact feel so lonely leaving my entire family, you know,
(10:28):
thinking about twenty people that I was always around to
coming here alone. But yeah, it was really big, and
that was probably one of the hardest thing making that transition,
was leaving you know, my family, everyone that I knew
back home and moving here yours.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So, so how was Nashville? How did you like Nashville?
I had some people so they love it, and then
but how did you Everybody has a different take on
the city. How did you like it?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think I definitely want to go back because I
feel like when I was there, I was still because
also something else. English is not my first language, so
French is my first language. So for about six months
to a year, it was really about me adjusting to
the language. That's when I was in Nashville, so I
feel like I didn't really get a chance to explore
it as much because I was really kind of in
(11:19):
a learning phase, so it was all about, you know,
being in school learning language. But I really loved Nashville.
It's really beautiful city. I know, I went to the
country music festival at one point. I don't know how
I ended up there, but I ended up there and
it was a good time. Like one of my neighbor
invited me to like a Beyonce concert. I will never
forget that. So I feel like I had a lot
(11:41):
of musical experience there, which I apparently it is one
of the most beautiful city, especially with country music, and
it's a really I just remember it being very clean.
That's the thing that stays in my head, like because
I've been I lived in a lot of places since
I left Nashville, and it was just really beautiful and
clean and just music was a big thing. So that's
(12:04):
one place I think I'm working my way to kind
of going back with to kind of just maybe spend
more time there. Now that you know I'm speaking fluently,
I can explore a little bit more just freely since
language is not a restriction.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Okay, now, as a kid you play basketball, what else
did you dream of? You know, we're kids. If we
have a remotely healthy home of bring our imagination, we
believe we could do anything. So when you were a kid,
what did you want to be when you grew up?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Honestly, there were two things. Either going to w NBA
or becoming a writer. Those were always do two things
that stayed. So once I got the basketball scholarship, that
was my focus. I ended up getting my ACL torn
my senior year, and quite frank I don't think I
(13:01):
was as good as I needed to be anywhere to
go to the w NBA. But definitely getting that injury
start me from going from that path. And even as
I was playing and kind of pursuing that path, I
feel like something was still pulling at me, and that
was writing. Because every time I was always thinking I
(13:21):
have these stories, I was this, I have these things
I want to share and I want to write. And
I think now that I've kind of been able to
do some soul searching and just kind of sitting down
with you know, what are some of my goals? Are
the things that I want to do. Writing is a
thing that really has been sticking through, you know, everything,
(13:41):
the ups and downs of life. It's really comes back
to writing, and when I was a kid, that was
one of the first things I wanted to do. I
used to like write comic books, I used to draw,
be really artistic, and writing was always the thing that
was in the back of my head.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh, okay, who or what birthed your love for writing?
Where did your passion for writing come from?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
M That's a great question. Oh quite frankly, I'm not
even It's one of those things. I don't know if
you had those feelings, something that's just always been there. Again,
I feel like I've been always kind of a curious kid,
just always just observing things, and I was a little
bit shy, more reserved. So the main ways that I
(14:31):
could express whatever I saw or whatever I went through
that day was through going back and writing things down,
whether it was journaling or just creating stories. So I
think it really came from that. My mom used to
read a lot as well, so she has books around,
So my love for reading I think came from that
(14:51):
seeing my mom reading a lot. But as far as writing,
I feel like it's something that's just always been there.
And it was just away from me at first, just
to processing and put that through writing, and later on
that just kind of evolved into storytelling with novel writing.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Okay, now I want to for our listeners. I always
like our listeners, whether they're writers themselves, a book lovers.
I'm still a book lover. I love to read as
well as right. But people have different interests and someone
that might listening to off the shelf now they might
be interested in starting a business, starting, get kicking off something.
(15:35):
Now you've met the challenge Bianca, of significant change. And
I was actually thinking about this this morning, early this
morning about just shifting. You've met the challenge of significant
change at least once with your move to the United States.
I mean that was that's magnanimous change. Can you share
(15:57):
one to two tips for people there's something you said
you've always known this writing. There's people who they know
there's something they came here to do, but they're scared.
They are scared to make a big change. It could
be a job change, relationship, aging with grace, it could
(16:18):
be a big change starting a business. They know it's
been in them for so long, but they're so scared.
Can you share one or two tips they could maybe
help somebody take that step if they're really scared to
make a big change. Mmm.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yes, icond while that's a great question. Oh okay, So
I think first you really have to sit and figure
out what is that thing you do want to do.
So I'm assuming you're already there, You've already done that
work and you know you're looking to start a business
or maybe become a professional writer or do something else.
(16:59):
Once you know for sure that is the thing you
want to do, I think it really comes down to
taking that leap in that direction. It is going to
be scary. It really is going to be because a
lot of times it's not maybe the most classic path
that most people take. Right you're taking this risk instead
(17:20):
of maybe working a nine to five or I don't know,
whatever it is, you're going in that direction, and it's
going to be scary at first. But I feel like
if you know this is what you want to do,
I mean, we only have one life, and you just
have to take that leap and not give up. You
have to keep going. It's not going to be easy
regardless of the path that you're going to take, especially
(17:41):
when you're talking about you know, becoming an entrepreneur in
whichever field you're looking to do that, it's going to
take time. So it's important also to have a support system,
whatever that is. Maybe it's you know, friends, or it's family,
or it's people who are doing things similar or community
that way, or maybe it's just you, you know, having
(18:03):
a hobby, whatever it is, it's important to have something
to kind of just anchor you and give you some
breeding room. But I think the biggest thing is just
jumping into that once you know what it is, and
just not giving up because it is going to take time.
It's not going to be easy, but once you get
to the end of it, it's going to be worth it, right, Yeah,
(18:25):
it's always going to be worth it. So you just
have to keep going.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, if you're on the right path, yeah, I would
agree you and you might be scared. It's brand new
to you. Start. You could talk to people who've done
what you want to do. They can tell you about
some of the challenges. They could give you maybe some tips,
some ways you can save time or save money or energy.
They can tell you some of the challenges in some
(18:50):
ways around them. You can bring books about it, but
at some point even with all your research, you're just
gonna have to do it. That's some point you're just
gonna have to. You're just gonna have to sit down
and either write the book and publish it, and after
you get it edited and just see what happens and
market it. You're gonna have to just start the business.
(19:13):
And some people might start a couple of them for
they get one that takes off.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
At some point, you're just gonna have to do it.
But I do think doing some research ahead of time
and talking to people can let you know what to expect,
and you're just gonna have to take that lead. Now,
where did you Where did you get this is your
latest book, and we definitely want to talk about both
of your novels. But where did you get the idea
(19:38):
for the book? Fifty two weeks A party of one?
Interesting title?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Thank you? So I the idea came from some of
the things that I've seen recently. I think there's something
you've even said earlier. I don't remember your phrasing. I
think you talked about me be like aging gracefully. One
thing that you mentioned, and this is not specifically that,
but this is someone who's spending a lot of time alone.
(20:08):
And I've noticed that a lot of people, women especially
have been really focusing on, you know, what make them happy,
whatever that is, whatever their goals are, how they want
to do life, and spending a lot of time on
their own to figure out what that is and being
happy in that solitude. So this character this story is
(20:30):
someone who has gone through something really rough. So essentially
she finds out that her best friend and her boyfriend
are having an affair, and that leads her away from
her hometown all the way to another city where she
spends a year alone. And within that time, she really
dig digs deep into her past, right, so just a
(20:52):
fracture that she have in a relationship with her mom,
her brother, her father has passed away, but he would
and present in her life. So she's kind of impacting
all that and also what she just found out and
in the end is really going to come down to
her kind of rebuilding, right, finding a new community, finding
(21:13):
what it is that she wants to do with her life.
And she spends a lot of time alone, obviously not
fifty two weeks completely alone, but a lot of time
it's her doing that reflection, meeting new people and coming
stronger on the other side of everything that broke her
and got her to that point. So the inspiration was
really coming from just having conversations with different people and
(21:34):
just kind of seeing that a lot of people are
doing kind of that work to go inward, to come
back and you know, get stronger from doing whatever that
work was for them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Where and when? Where and when? Like? What time is it?
This is the current time or tenure the twenty early
twenty twenties? Where, what city? What stay? Where? And when
does this story for they two weeks take place? Oh?
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Yes, so this is a contemporary story. So I'm not
specifically about the date, but it's definitely in the twenty
twenties for sure. And it starts in Denver, Colorado, and
it ends in Dallas, Texas, AH.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Now, please describe Aisha. I had a friend name Aisa.
Is Aisa quiet? Is she talkative? Is she strong willed?
Is she laid back? What's her family makeup?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What is she like? Yes?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So Aisha is definitely someone who doesn't keep the tongue
in her mouth. She's definitely talkative. She's gonna speak her mind,
She's gonna say what she thinks. So that's why when
she has that discovery and finding that betrayal, it actually
put her in a place that she's not used to
be where she doesn't know what to say because she's
(22:54):
so shocked by you know what happened. But in general,
this is somebody who actually maybe pretty rash so speak
before thinking, and this is some of the things that
she has to think about just looking back at her
past as far as her makeup. So she has a
brother and she has her mom, so that is her
(23:14):
family structure. So her dad wasn't present in her life,
so and he has also passed away two years before
the event of the start of the book.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Now what does she do? What does she doing? Is
she in her twenties and is what is her career?
What does she do for her employment?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yes, so she is in her early thirties, so she's
thirty one years old, and actually figuring out a career
path is also something that's discussed. So when she starts
in the book, she works as a professional house sitter,
so this is something that she's doing. So she's also
kind of going with the floor of life, so she's
(23:55):
not exactly sure what she wants to do. She feels
like she loves the job that she has, was fortunate
to have it, but at the same time, she's also
feeling she's been kind of going with the flow of life.
So this is something that she's also unpacking in the book,
just kind of figure out what her life looks like,
especially when it comes to professional path.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Now, how long where i Issa and her boyfriend and
what is his name? How long were Asia and her
boyfriend together? And how deep? How deep was their relationship?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yes, so the boyfriend's name is James and they were
together for two years. Okay, so before the incident and
the affair they were actually talking about They moved in
together shortly before that happened, and they were discussing getting married,
(24:49):
so an engagement and marriage, so they were really moving along.
So again that's why she was really taking aback what happened,
because she thought this is the person she was going
spend the rest of her life. Wow.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, Now introduce us to Aissa's friend. How long have
they been friends and how are they How is our
Elisha and her friends similar and how are they different?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yes, so her friends is Samenta. She goes by Sam
and she's a couple of years younger than Aisha, so
she's in her late twenties and they've been friends for
six years. So they actually met at an art gallery,
so they have that in they have that similar taste
(25:36):
in just kind of going to museum galleries looking at art,
and they're very similar as far as kind of speaking
their mind, just being very forward, fright, and candid. So
that's how they kind of have a great venture of
going back and forth. Now, the difference, one of the
main difference between the two is that Aisha knows that
she doesn't want to have children, so she just kind
(25:59):
of wanted, yeah, be married, stay with James. Sam is
ready to have a family and so is James. So
that's one of the things that kind of brings them together.
They feel like as far as moving forward in the life,
they have that same share future that they see versus Aisha,
who is pretty sure that that's not the path that
(26:21):
she wants and she's coming to terms with that as well.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Okay, now, don't give the story away, but I was
going to ask you, how does she discover this? Sam
and James are having a fear.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Oh, I'm not giving it away. That is the first
line of the book. So it's in the prologue. So
she finds out on New Year's Eve. So she actually
walks in on them, kind of making out.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yea, oh my god, Oh my god. How does she deal?
Does she run out? Does she? What? Does she? Oh
my god?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
She runs out. She runs out. So she sees them,
she's just kind of in shock and disco and she
just runs out. She drives away. Of course, they try
to reach out to her and all that, so she
turns her phone off and then pretty much the next
day she packs her stuff and she drives to Dallas
for the year.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Oh my god, why why Dallas?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
So she picked just randomly, so she put all the
names of the states on pieces of paper. So she
didn't know where to go. So she was like, she's
gonna let faith the side, and it just kind of
led her to Texas.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Oh my goodes is okay? Now we just describe her Bianca.
Is she somebody who runs from problems or someone who
faces her challenges head on?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Runner? She definitely runs for problems. And that is the
whole thing, because a lot of people will be reading
and the only thing, Wow, this could have been resolved
in like a month or two, but she's someone who
is avoiding, so it takes her a lot of time
before she's ready to face things. So the whole fifty
two weeks is her actually doing everything she can not
(28:16):
to think about what happened. So she's trying to strike
herself doing the things. But again, these are things that
you cannot run away forever, so eventually she ends up
kind of hitting a wall where she has to face
it and there's really no other way unless she just
wants to hit right bottom essentially, So the whole fifty
(28:36):
two weeks is to her kind of running away from
her problems until she has no choice but to face it.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
So what are some signs that someone might be a runner? Mmm?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I think one of the biggest side is just not
addressing things right and running away physically, even from a situation.
And so if there's a problem or there's something that
needs to be talked about, this is someone who's gonna say, maybe, hey,
I'm just not ready to do it right now, which
is not always bad, but usually most people will come
(29:12):
back to that situation at some point and have that conversation.
But for her, that took longer, I mean almost a
year to have that one conversation because it just felt
like it was just too much to handle. So I
think a runner is someone who's just gonna walk away
and never come back, or come back at a really
(29:32):
delayed period of time, and they're just gonna do everything
that they can in the meantime to not think about
their problems, and they're just going to distract themselves by
doing everything that they can or that's in front of
them to not face the situation at hand.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
So, for an Nias's case, are there many things she's
dealing with, not just Samantha and James, but and she
takes this year off and what happens again, don't get
a story away there. Something must happen to make her
realize it's time to face it.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Yes, yes, so something definitely does happen and she deals
with more things. So one of the main things also
is that she was really heard by the relationship or
lack thereof, that she had with her father, and that
is a thing that is running. And that's also one
(30:34):
of the things that is the source of kind of
her character or her being avoided or not dealing with things,
is that she also has abandonment issues. So during the book,
she's also dealing with the fact that her father wasn't
present in her life, so she's looking back at her
childhood or when she was a teenager in adulthood and
(30:57):
just kind of how his lack of presence or its
absence shaped her. So they had a few interactions, so
she thinks back on that, and it also makes her
wonder even as far as self as team feeling a
wardiness like why did she leave? Why did he leave? Sorry,
why did he stay? And these are some of the
things that cause her to avoid things, being avoidant and
(31:20):
dealing with things. The way that she does is that
she still has that childhood trauma that she is not
able to face, so eventually, as far as how she
addresses it to not give it away, but eventually, of course,
she ends up meeting someone who is going through something
similar and she sees how that person was able to
handle things and that inspire her as well. And eventually,
(31:43):
with things like you know, therapy or even volunteering, she's
able to maybe not put herself at the center, but
looking at other people and that helps her put things
in perspective. So this is how eventually she's able to
turn things around.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Oh my goodness, it has a it's a it's a
story of this inner growth, and I just I just
love that this is a type of novel where a
reader can come away and the defenses are down because
it's fiction and they can learn something that can help
them in their own personal life. And there's so many
(32:23):
stories you could walk away and come away with a
novel like Okay, I picked up a nugget out of
that one now. Based on the book's title fifty two
Weeks a Party of one, when I was researching for
your interview, this is what I thought was kind of
like the gist of it. Does Alisha shun two loving relationships?
(32:46):
Because I saw her like running away and that she's
gonna I'm gonna do it all myself. Does Alisha shun
true loving relationships after James and she break up? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So she does? So after they break up, she has
some opportunities right in the beginning to form genuine relationship,
but she runs away from that. And that's a definite
defense mechanism, right because she's afraid of being hurt again.
So she doesn't know if she's ready to open her heart.
So that is something that she does too. When she
(33:20):
has the opportunity to build a relationship in the beginning,
she runs away from that, and she also self sabotage
in a lot of ways. So this is definitely part
of her journey too.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Oh my god, miss that Asia. We're gonna see her change.
Oh oh, this just popped in my head. Does she
ever give James and Samantha a chance to explain even
if no explanation is justifiable? Does she ever give them
a chance to explain why they got together? Yes?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
So without giving away spoilers, So that does happen, but
that's not until the very end, and I think by
that time she's already done the work. She's in a
different place. But like you said, that's something she was
wrestling with.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Does she even want to hear it? Is there anything
really that they can say at this point to salvage
the relationship in any way? So this is something that
she's wrestling with. But in the end, she has a
conversation with each of them separately to just kind of
hear them out. But at that time, she's already in
a different place and she's already decided how she wants
(34:31):
to move forward with her life.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Okay, a few more questions on fifty two Weeks, the
part of one before we start to explore across both
sides of the mirror. If Aisha based on a real person,
even if in.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Part No, she isn't based on a real person, she
really isn't. I think again. As I was thinking on this,
my goals really to kind of share a story of
someone who was lost a lot and who had to
start from pretty much zero's right. So she lost the person,
(35:08):
she thought she was gonna marry, her best friend, her
father has passed away, she has a fractual relationship with
her mom and her brother. So I really wanted to
isolate a character and find ways to kind of get
them back to the end of the turnal to healing
and to feeling like they could start over, and they
(35:28):
were optimistic about their lives. So it wasn't really based
on the person. It was just more so some of
the themes and that kind of story that I wanted
to share in kind of a character exploration.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Okay, so this release is April twenty third. Yes, after
shelf listeners, you can go check out fifty two Weeks
A Party of one and Oh my gosh. When the
authors explain their stories is like, I want to go
out and buy them on It's just Bobbyanca Pency. Fifty
two weeks A Party of One again will be released
(36:04):
on the market, available for sale April twenty three. What
is it an any book? Paperback? Audiobook with formats? Can
listeners get fifty two weeks A Party of One in?
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yes, so it's gonna be ebook and paperback?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Okay, okay, awesome. Now now we're switching gears a little bit,
moving away from Miss Aisha and fifty two weeks A
Party of One. Could you please give us a brief
overview of Across Both Sides of the Mirror.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Yes. So Across Both Sides of the Mirror is my
debut novel, and this one the genre is a little different,
so I will say this is a magical realism story.
It's still very grounded. But the main character, her name
is Nova, and early in the story she comes across
she goes to like an antique store and she finds
(36:57):
a mirror that seems kind of something about it is weird, right,
So she goes home and what she ends up finding
out is that the mirror allows her to travel to
an alternate reality and on the other side of the mirror,
she can become who she believes is the best version
of herself. So in the real world she is really insecure,
(37:19):
she feels like she's not where she wants to be
as far as job, career, pad, romantic life. And on
the other side of the mirror, she gets to be
the best version of herself and all those things starts
happening for her. So she finds, you know, a romantic
partner or a relationship with her friends improved. She gets
a promotion at work. So in the story, she essentially
(37:42):
goes back and forth between the real side of the
mirror and the other side of the mirror, and in
the end, essentially yet she has to pick one side
because she can yet to remain on the other side
of the mirror. But it's a fantasy world ride, it's
not reality, so that means on the rail side, essentially
she will be dyeing essentially, but she still get to
(38:02):
live in that fantasy world. So this is really putting
this character in a position where they either have to
step into the real world and actually try to make
those things happen, or they can just continue to live
in fantasy land where everything is working out but it's
not reality.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I like what you said. It kind of goes back
to early and how you and even how you came
to the US, and we were talking about taking big
risks even when it's scary. I like what you said
the two sides. You can either continue to live in
a fantasy or take the steps to actually become the
way she wants to be. Now, where did you get
(38:42):
the idea for the story?
Speaker 3 (38:47):
So this one goes way back. I had the ideas
for this story, at least like a rough idea when
I was a teenager. I was still back home, and
at the time, I just didn't know how to finish
the story because obviously with the time travel, there's a
lot that comes with that, like how much time passes
when she's gone, things like that. So I got a
little bit overwhelmed and I put it aside. But I
(39:09):
think at the time the idea originally came, maybe even
from some of my own experience, right maybe having a
conversation or something that happens, and then going back home
or walking home or driving or I don't know, and thinking,
oh wow, I wish I would have said this, or
I wish I would have done this. I wish instead
of doing that, and I started thinking, what if there
was a reality where I always said the right thing,
(39:32):
did the right thing, how differently my life will go.
So that's when I had the idea of the mirror
where you have this character were it can actually live
those two lives. And obviously with fleshing out the story,
I understood that they needed to have some consequences and stakes.
So that's why choosing one side has effect on the other.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Okay, yeah, to do system is no, But how is she? What?
What is she like? What's her career and what time
period is the story taking place?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
So this is also taking place in the current time,
same as fifty two weeks and with Nova, she works
in a gym, so she's a sells rep at a
gym and that's what she does. So this character is
more she's shy, she's more reserved. She doesn't really speak
(40:27):
her mind. So this is someone who can see something
that she wants and really not do anything about it,
and that is her issue because she feels like she's
powerless and life is kind of going by and she's
really not taking any step to go in that direction.
She had a chance to get a promotion and it
(40:48):
was just a matter of kind of her speaking up
and saying something that she wanted. She didn't do that,
So she feels just really insecure and powerless. So that's
why when she comes across the mirror, it feels like
it's the perfect solution to all her problems because she
doesn't have to do any work. She just goes to
that side and everything just happens magically. So this character
(41:12):
is definitely more someone who has to kind of work
through their insecurity and feel like they are regaining agency
on their life.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
So how old is she and why is she? Why
is she unhappy? I mean, there were pairs in my
life where I dealt with shyness and this uncertainty. But
I did like over saying earlier I just did. I said,
I'm going to do it. I'm gonna take a public speaking.
I'm going to take prompt speaking. Okay, skid I am,
I'm going to do it. I'm going to do this.
(41:46):
I'm going to do that. So why is she? How
is she and why is she unhappy? I'm just curious
how long she's felt trapped in as I can't do
what I want to do, M kind of state of mind.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Yes, yes, So with Nova, she is twenty nine, so
late twenty is about to be thirty. And one of
the main things that got her to be the way
she is is her upbringing. So she was raised in
a really strict environment with her parents. So, just to
(42:21):
give you a little bit more insight, so they are
Jehovah witnesses, but there are from a branch that's a
little bit more strict. So for anyone who walks away
from that, they get shunned by their family. So this
is what happened to Nova. At a certain point, she
walked away from that for her own reason. She felt
(42:42):
like it was a little bit too restrictive. Because of that,
she was shunned from her parents and they have not
spoken to her almost a decade, right, This is why
she's also where she is, and this is something that
she also has to face in the story because she
feels like she's just oriented, right, she just has she
doesn't have any siblings, She's the only child, so the
(43:04):
only family that she has is her parents. But now
they're no longer talking to her because she walks away
right from that environment, and this is something that she's
rappling with. She was able to make friends. She has
her two bread friends, Anna and Camilla, and they're able
to kind of give her that sense of community. But
(43:26):
even in that, she's still missing her parents and her family.
And this is one of the main thing, one of
the main reasons she is the way she is, and
this is something that she's grappling with as she's you know,
traveling across the two sides of the mirror.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Oh my goodness, Okay, I miss Nova. Now, who is
the bean in the ocean? And what power does she success?
Speaker 3 (43:53):
Yes, so the mirror belongs to Mammy Water, Who's the
bean in the ocean. So Mammi Wata is a creature
or consider a deity in African folklore. Right, So this
is the stories that I was hearing when I was
growing back up. This is also part of the inspiration
(44:14):
and Mami Wata is known to have a mirror that
essentially allow people to create a version of reality that
is parisit, that is heavenly almost that is perfect. So
it doesn't allow them to travel back and forth. This
is something that I kind of created with the story,
(44:38):
but it does allow them to view themselves in a
way that's alter and that makes everything look perfect, And
what she does usually is that if you choose to
grab her mirror and go into that world that she creates. Essentially,
what she does is that she collects your soul at
some point. So that's the mythology behind it. So this
(45:00):
mirror in the story does belong to her. Again, I
took some liberty, of course artistically that are not really
part of the folklore. But for the most part, this
is the late legend around Mammy Watcha so being from Cameroon,
I also wanted to infuse some of that African folk
claw into the story. Oh wow, yes.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Yeah, never heard of that. We all have our little zoos.
Some people got Zeus and right you got we got
our the Mermaid, and we all have our different cultural
super heroes are a mythic. Uh whatever cree beings now
(45:41):
does nobody? No? Is she even aware she got this
mirrord antique shop? I can see me picking up something
like this got an antique shop? Does she even know
she's living in a fantasy? And if so, when does
she come to realize this isn't even real? Oh?
Speaker 3 (46:01):
She knows pretty much right away. So the mirror where
she got the mirror from? She goes back to that store,
and the person who sold it to her is also
aware what the mirror is, so she kind of breaks
down to her. She tells her what it is, and
I feel like Novice is such a bad place that
she is willing to give up on reality to give
(46:23):
it a fantasy because it gives her all those feelings
that she is after. So she knows exactly what she
signed up for. So in the end she has to
make a choice having all the information between reality and fantasy.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Ah, she is aware. Okay, now you take on you
take on a universal topic, and from that, to me,
it's like wanting something to easily change. We want stuff
to just magically happen. Yeah, I do, it pops into
her head, just let it happen. You wanted something to
easily change and change to be instant. Ah, that's something
(47:02):
I think. That's you know, versal agreed. What attracted you
to this? Did you know you would tap it into
like this universal how many people want stuff just to happen,
make it easy, Let me take a pill, let me
let me say something, some positive affirmations, whatever, and poof.
(47:22):
That is what attracted you that this particular tappen I think.
Speaker 3 (47:29):
It's a little bit of what you said, right. It
is a universal story, So I think this is something
that we see almost every day, whether it's with wanting
a job or maybe having certain fitness goals things like that.
There's definitely this idea that most people, other people, they're
(47:49):
not ready to do that work, and we all hope
in a way that we can just snap our fingers
and whatever it is that we want will just magically happen.
And I think that was some of the inspiration into story,
just kind of giving a character that choice. But even
in reality, I think what we see is that when
something is too easy, usually there's a catch, there's something
(48:13):
on the other side of it. And with her is
that it is a fantasy where if you choose to
go there, you're going to end up passing on in
the real life. And I think in the reality with
world topic, when something is too easy you just take
a pill or something, there's always some side effects or something.
So I think I was trying to mirror that with
this story too.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
Oh my goodness, see a lot of things behind your stuff. Now,
who designs your book covers and what was it like
working with your book cover designer.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
So I found this artist. So I was just kind
of searching online, honestly. So I went through a lot
of sites from artists just looking at their portfolio, just
making sure they were doing designs for my genre. And
also even with having characters of calor things like that,
you want to make sure you have to write artists
who can portray that accurately. So it was just to research,
(49:11):
going online, just vetting different portfolios. I was able to
find an artist that I really love was able to
deliver the cover from my debut, and I liked it
so much I ended up contacting her again for my
second novel. That way, it just kind of has a
similar vibe although it's a completely different story. Even as
far as genre and things like that, she kind of
(49:34):
kept the same ye between the two. So I just
wanted to be support where somebody picks up my book
they kind of feel like, Okay, they can see it's
from the same author based on you know, the font
or the cover design, things like that.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Okay, that's an awesome thing instead of it being a
book series. That's a good way to start building at
their brand. I like that. What have readers been saying
about across both sides of the mirror. What have you
been hearing from readers?
Speaker 3 (50:04):
The main word that comes back with a cross sports
side of the mirror is relatable. And I was really
happy when I saw that because that's what I was after.
And I think even with my second novel, I just
always want to be just honest with the stories. I
don't want to embellish anything. I don't want to give
characters the easy way out. So I really want to
(50:26):
tell a real story, and I just want the character
to be more relatable than even likable. So I'm okay
if you know readers don't like the character, I just
want him to feel like this is a real story.
So that is the main thing that I've been getting
honestly with the two novels, but with across both side
of the mirror, relatable is the word that's coming up
(50:48):
a lot.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Okay. Now at your website you also share a journal.
When did you start journaling?
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Oh? Really do your research? That's amazing. I think with
the journaling I'm trying to be better at it is
when I have inspiration, So I think right now I
have maybe five journal entries, so it's different things that
I'm sharing whether it is maybe a little bit backstories
(51:17):
from behind the scenes on book writing, on my journey
so far, what I'm struggling with. So it's not schedule.
It's not something I'm doing like once a months, I
every two months. It's just when I have something pulling
at me, I feel like I want to share something,
I just go ahead and enter it on my journal
so people who are subscribe to my newsletter get that,
and also I even reshare it on my social media
(51:40):
as well, so people can kind of just see what's
going on behind the scene and things like that. What
I've been up to.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
Okay, who are some of your favorite authors? As we
cut out the wine down today, cell Bianca, who are
some of your favorite authors and how is their work
impacted you as a writer.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
So immediately, the top one that's impacted me the most,
my absolute favorite author, which is probably a pretty common answer,
is Toni Morrison. I just love her writing. She has
inspired me so much. I think at this point I've
read almost all of her novels. I think I'm missing
like Jazz and I think another one. But I love
(52:22):
her writing and what I love about her is that
she always also have that element of having something speculative,
like an element of magical realism her story. It's very subtle,
but it's there. And she just has a way of
just kind of sharing stories in a way that's so profound,
but she manages to do that in a way that's
(52:44):
very succinct. So her books are never like overthrow Herndred pages.
I've never seen that. They're always short, but she packs
so much and she's just so good with her word
and so sharp, and I just love how she shared stories.
Her characters are always complex, and I feel like she
also is always honest in her story as far as
just giving us a character and not pushing us in
(53:07):
any direction, as far as making them, you know, likable.
She just shares a story. This is a human person,
a human being going through life. This is what they're
going through, and the reader just decides, Okay, do I
like this character? Do I not like this character? Or
do I relate or do I not? So for those reasons,
she's definitely my favorite author.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
Okay, now what writing process do you follow? For our
listeners who might want to sit down, They might be
listening you saying, oh my gosh, I wish I was
like Bianca and had written and published a book to
the book what for somebody wanting to get started, or
but just for you, when you start to write, what
process do you follow? Do you you start with outlines, characters, sketches?
(53:52):
How do you sit down and start putting a novel together?
Speaker 3 (53:57):
So for me, maybe the very thing I do, it's
always come up with the title, and the title for
me really anchored story. I know that's interesting because a
lot of time people write a story, maybe it's a
title until that, Yeah, that's the very first thing I
do because when I write the story, every time I
feel like things are becoming loose or I don't know
(54:18):
where the story is going, I always go back to
the title because for me, the title of my story
is the essence of the story, even if at the
end maybe I end up changing here and there, but
it is the thing that anchored me. With a cross
word side of the mirror, I knew this character is
going between two sides of the mirror to figure out,
you know, how she wants to live her life. So
every time I was writing and I felt like this
(54:40):
is not adding up, I just went back to that
same thing. With fifty two weeks a party of one.
So after I have the title, I just kind of
write down some of the themes that I'm looking to
explore in the story. So that is the second step.
So as I'm writing as well, even as I'm introducing
new character things like that, I always want to make
sure that their stories and the way that impact, you know,
(55:04):
just the plot always goes back to some of the
things that I'm looking to explore. And then you know,
just coming up with their name, their characters, how they're
going to be. I'm not too strict on that. I'm
definitely more of a pencer than the plotter. I don't
have like a strict structure that I'm following as far
as you know, a plot structure. But I think the
(55:26):
reason I'm able to still write these books within a
few months is because I have a really solid idea
of the story that I'm looking to tell.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
Okay, okay, so you start with the title title. Yeah interesting. Now,
please share three to four steps, Bianca, that you have
taken that you've personally found not not heard somebody else say,
but you've actually done and you've found to be effective
at getting the word out about your books.
Speaker 3 (55:58):
Oh okay, three steps, So the first one is going
to be sending advanced radiaro copies. That's one of the
biggest steps. That's what I've learned between my first and
second book. I didn't do that as much for the
first one, but I will say, give as many free
copies as you can. And this doesn't have to be print.
I'm talking about like you know, PDF or epop, things
(56:19):
that do not cost you any money. Because those people
are going to be sharing their reviews, sharing the words.
It's going to make a huge difference on launch day.
So I think sending advanced radio copies is one of them.
The second one is honestly doing podcast interviews, so just
talking to different people in the writing community, networking in
(56:43):
the best way that you can, just to make your
voice known. And if you are on social media, I
don't post every day, I post barely once a week,
but I think that's one of the other ways, especially
for self published authors, just to share the word of
about your books so people, because if you don't talk
about it, especially if you're self published, no one is
(57:04):
really going to talk about it until you do. So
I know for a lot of us writers, especially people
who are more reserved, it is tough to always talk
about your book, but that's what you want to do.
And the people who want to hear your story, they're
not going to be annoyed by it or anything. They're
going to be excited that you're sharing about your story.
So sending advance reader copies and having events or podcasts,
(57:28):
and also having even if it is a small presence
on social media, just to at least share the word
about your book.
Speaker 2 (57:34):
Okay, thank you for sharing that. Now. Fifty two Weeks
is coming out April twenty third. Are you working on
any other new books that you could give us a
glimpse into.
Speaker 3 (57:45):
Oh, I'm working on things. I wish I could share more.
It's still super early, but I'm working on it. I
should have more updates by the end of the year.
It's still early days. One thing I can tell you
is that this one is going to be set between
Cameroon and the United States. So it's a little bit
different because my two novels were mainly just here in
(58:06):
the US. So this one, I'm going to actually have
a character starting Cameroon and move here, So I'm kind
of excited to kind of bring that as well and
sharing a story in Cameroon and the setting with that
is completely different. So that's what I'm currently working on.
Speaker 2 (58:22):
A excited to let us know when you finish it
the book, and especially on soci media, if your posts
so I can share them. Where can listeners get off
the shelf? Listeners get a copy of your books?
Speaker 3 (58:37):
So the copy of my books would be available on
all the online retailers, so Amazon, Barnes Andnoble, Bookshop, dot Org, Wordmart,
everywhere online where you buy books is going to be
available there.
Speaker 2 (58:52):
Okay, do you have any upcoming speaking engagements, whether they're
in person at bookstores, libraries, et cetera, or online that
our listeners could support you?
Speaker 3 (59:04):
Not as have yet. I'm working on a few things,
but the should be at the few book festivals before
the end of the year, and I'm working on the
book signing as well. I just don't have a solid
date yet, but following me on my Instagram is probably
the best way to keep in touch. So once I
make those announcements, you'll know what's next. So it's just
(59:27):
Bianca penci Abba Rights. That's my instagram about rights.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
The Anca penci Abba Rights. Last question, what last final
words of encouragement or advice would you like to leave
with off the shelf books listeners and readers.
Speaker 3 (59:49):
Who I think what I want to leave the listener
with is that whatever they're after or whatever they're looking
to do, just believe, giving yourself, belief in what it
is that you're after, and don't give up. Right, if
you do not give up and you keep taking steps
(01:00:10):
to get where you want to be, it might take
some time, but you will end up there at some point.
So you just have to believe in yourself and just
keep going.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Oh I love that, I love that. Oh what a
joy we have had the absolute pleasure just being blessed
having miss Bianca pansy Abba join us today. She would
a got a basketball scholarship from Camera Room. She was
grew up and born and raised Camera Rooms and Africa,
(01:00:42):
and she came to the United States on a basketball
scholarship when she was seventeen. I just salute her, salute her,
salute her by having a courage. And when we were young,
we often do have seemed like we get older and
we get more and more scared sometimes. But she just
went out there and she is then she went to
her writing just go do it, go get it, and
(01:01:03):
her first book Across Both Sides of the Mirror, a
final story, very intriguing across Both Sides of the Mirror.
And then her new book Look for It April twenty third,
another very interesting, engaging read fifty two weeks A Party
of One. I actually thought this was all about some
(01:01:24):
crazy relationship stuff and then as you hear Bionca talk
about it, fifty two weeks A Party of One that's
out April twenty third, e book and in print, and please,
I encourage you to visit miss Bianca penci ab you
can keep up with what she's doing, her new books
that are coming out. And it's spelled b B as
(01:01:45):
in boy b I A N C A p is
and Peter E N s y A B A dot come.
Thank you so much, Bianca, add to our listeners. As
I always tell you, and this is so true, you
are so amazing. That is like the root of Easter
(01:02:12):
because you are so amazing and we just don't even
realize you are so awesome. You're so incredible. Please go
out and create a fabulous day for yourself the Anca.
I will send you a link to the show once
I finish. It finishes streaming and I finished editing. To everyone, everyone,
I just say, happy Easter. Bless you, bless you, bless you.
(01:02:34):
Thank you so much, Bianca, and thank you to every
one of our listeners. See you back here next Saturday.
Bye for now,
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