By Sonica Naudé-Steyn

Local storyteller and poet, Lukhona Mpupha, has authored and published his first novel, ‘Falling for a Player’, which is now available on platforms such as Amazon ZA.

Lukhona was born on 18 July 2005 in Mount Ayliff and raised in Kokstad where he completed his high school career at Carl Malcomess High School. He is currently a second year Psychology student at the University of Zululand.

“I’ve always been drawn to real stories, the kind that reflect how people actually feel, not just what looks good on the surface. I write and create because I want people to see themselves in what I do, especially young people trying to figure life, love, and identity out,” says Lukhona.
He says personal observation motivated him to pen ‘Falling for a Player’.

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“I wrote Falling for a Player because I’ve seen how messy love can get when one person is serious and the other isn’t. It’s that situation where you give your heart to someone who doesn’t really know what to do with it and I wanted to capture that confusion, the attachment, the hope, and eventually the realization that you deserve more,” explains Lukhona.

He feels the story is relevant to young readers because it is a common, yet less talked about human experience.
“It’s easy to feel alone or even blame yourself. I wanted the book to feel like someone understands that experience, and to remind people that losing yourself for the wrong person isn’t love, and choosing yourself isn’t a loss,” concluded Lukhona.

The book has been published by Kindle Direct Publishing, which distributes the book internationally on Amazon and Romance.io.