Act I
Available now on Kindle
Included with Kindle UnlimitedAct II — Coming next
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Jihane believes life can begin later — when the war is over and it is safe to want more.
For now, there is only survival and the careful refusal of the small pleasures that might make life feel worth living.
Then Ezra arrives—impatient, and unwilling to let her disappear inside her own restraint. He has seen what waiting can cost. He knows what Jihane refuses to accept: later is not a promise. It is a risk.
But every step toward Ezra feels like a betrayal: of those suffering, of the way she protects her family, and of the hard-won numbness that has kept her standing.
As he tries to draw her toward life and the frightening possibility of love, Jihane must decide whether waiting will protect her—or cost her everything she might have lived for.
Parts of Me is unfolding in five Acts. Each Act is a complete part of one larger story.
The novel is still being written, and it will take time to reach its final form. But this story feels too urgent to hold back until every page is complete.
Rather than wait years to share it, I am releasing it act by act—so readers can meet Jihane and Ezra now, and continue their journey as it unfolds.
New Acts are released as they are completed. Newsletter subscribers will be notified first.
Parts of Me is available on Kindle and through Kindle Unlimited. Audiobook links will be added later.
Carolyn Venter, this book may have my name on its cover, but it carries your fingerprints everywhere.
Thank you for being my first-round editor, creative director, ideas machine and sounding board. You saw layers in the story that I did not, and pushed it towards what was truer, braver and more real. Thank you for being the second brain behind these pages.
I read as much as I possible could on how to write. The books below had the largest influence on me:
I was inspired and influenced by the works of Hemingway, Dickens, Khaled Hosseini and Sarah Maas
All proceeds received by the author will be donated to Gift of the Givers, helping to deliver urgently needed food and medical supplies to people living through war.
I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where I still live.
I am the father of my beautiful son, Maximus, to whom this book is dedicated. Maximus, wherever you are, I love you.
I am also deeply grateful for my parents, my brothers, and the life we share.
Parts of Me is written with hope for those living through war and siege: that they may find safety, reprieve, and the freedom to imagine a future beyond survival.