About the Author & Contact

It Started in Matric
I first started writing Almost during my matric year. At that point in my life, I wasn't necessarily thinking about becoming a published author or imagining that one day people would be able to read my work. I was simply writing because there were things I wanted to express and emotions I wanted to explore. I didn't have every part of the story figured out, but I had enough of an idea to begin putting words on a page.
The manuscript originally had a different title: Unspoken Truths. Looking back, I think that title reflected an important part of what I was trying to explore. There are things people don't always know how to say, feelings that remain hidden, and experiences that can be difficult to explain to someone else. Sometimes, you know what you're feeling but don't know how to communicate it. Other times, you are still trying to understand those feelings yourself.
Writing gave me somewhere to explore those ideas. Instead of needing to explain everything directly, I could create characters and let them experience situations that allowed me to examine different emotions and perspectives. I could build conversations, relationships, and moments around the things I wanted to explore, without needing every part of the story to mirror real life exactly.
At the time, I didn't know precisely where the manuscript would lead me. I was learning as I went, developing the characters and discovering the story along the way. I wasn't starting with a finished novel in mind so much as giving an idea the opportunity to become something more.

The Feelings Behind the Pages
One of the things I wanted to explore in Almost was the difference between what people see on the outside and what someone might be experiencing privately. We often make assumptions about others based on how they behave around us. Someone can laugh, make jokes, spend time with friends, and appear to be doing well while dealing with thoughts and emotions that nobody else knows about.
I find that contrast important because not every struggle is visible. Sometimes, people don't speak about what they're experiencing because they don't know how to explain it, because they are afraid of being misunderstood, or because they aren't ready to share it. Other times, they might not even realise how much they are carrying until something makes them stop and think about it.
Through Almost, I wanted to make room for those quieter experiences. The uncertainty that comes with growing up, the difficulty of understanding yourself, the fear of not being accepted, and the desire to find people who genuinely understand you are all emotions that can be difficult to put into words. They aren't always dramatic or obvious. Sometimes, they appear in ordinary conversations, in moments of hesitation, or in the things a person chooses not to say.
My own experiences helped me understand some of these feelings, but writing about them through fiction allowed me to explore them from different perspectives. I could give a character a particular fear or uncertainty and then consider how that feeling might affect their decisions, their relationships, and the way they see themselves.
I didn't want the story to pretend that difficult emotions always have simple solutions. Sometimes, understanding yourself takes time. Sometimes, other people don't understand you immediately. And sometimes, you have to keep moving forward without knowing exactly how everything will turn out. Those uncertainties are part of life, and I wanted the emotional world of Almost to reflect that.

Jamie Carter and the Heart of the Story
Jamie Carter is at the centre of Almost, and creating him meant thinking about what it feels like to grow up while trying to understand yourself and the world around you. I wanted him to feel like a real person rather than a character who always knows what to say or makes the right decision. He has his own thoughts, fears, uncertainties, and hopes, and those things influence how he experiences the people and situations around him.
Part of Jamie's journey involves navigating emotions that aren't always easy to understand. Growing up can be complicated enough without feeling uncertain about where you belong or how other people see you. Sometimes, you want to be understood but don't know how to explain yourself. Sometimes, you hope for something while worrying about what might happen if things don't work out the way you imagined.
Those are the kinds of experiences I wanted to explore through him. His story isn't intended to represent everyone who has struggled with their identity, relationships, or emotions, but I hope readers who recognise some of those feelings will find parts of his journey relatable.
Jamie is a fictional character, and his life is not a direct copy of mine. However, the emotions that helped shape him are connected to things I understand personally. Giving those feelings to a character allowed me to explore them through a different perspective and develop them into a story with its own meaning.
What mattered most to me was making Jamie feel believable. I wanted readers to understand that he is more than the things he struggles with. He has his own personality, relationships, hopes, and experiences, and his journey is about more than any single challenge he faces.

From Unspoken Truths to Almost
The original title of the manuscript was Unspoken Truths, but as the story developed, I eventually chose Almost. Changing a title might seem like a small decision, but a title can influence how you understand a story and what you want readers to take away from it.
To me, the word almost captures a particular kind of emotion. It describes being close to something without quite reaching it, wondering what might have happened if things had been different, and finding yourself somewhere between what you hoped for and what actually happened. It can carry hope, disappointment, uncertainty, and possibility all at once.
An almost can be a moment that nearly changed everything, a feeling that was never fully expressed, or an outcome that came close to becoming something else. It can leave you wondering whether things could have turned out differently, but it can also remind you that not every part of life has to be resolved immediately.
As I thought about the story and the emotions at its centre, Almost felt like a title that captured more of what I wanted the book to explore. It was simple, but it carried several layers of meaning. It could describe the uncertainty of relationships, the experience of growing up, and the feeling of being somewhere in between what you know and what you are still trying to understand.
Eventually, the new title became part of the identity of the novel. It wasn't simply a replacement for the original name; it reflected the emotional direction I wanted the story to take.

What Writing Almost Taught Me
Working on Almost has shown me that writing is about more than putting words together to tell a story. It involves making decisions, reconsidering ideas, and being willing to look at something you have created and ask whether it expresses what you want it to express.
It has also reminded me that inspiration can come from many different places. Personal experiences might provide the starting point for a scene, but imagination helps determine what happens next. An emotion might inspire a character, but that character gradually develops a personality and experiences that belong to the fictional world of the book.
There is also a difference between having an idea for a story and bringing that story to completion. Starting the manuscript in matric was one step, but returning to it after a year and continuing to work on it was another. Completing a novel requires patience and a willingness to keep working even when the process takes longer than expected.
Perhaps the most meaningful part of the experience has been seeing something that began as a personal writing project develop into a story I can prepare to share with others. The original inspiration remains part of its history, but the finished novel has become its own creation, with characters and experiences that readers can interpret in their own ways.
I know that every reader will bring something different to Almost. Some may connect with the characters, others may recognise particular emotions, and some may simply enjoy the story as a work of fiction. Whatever they take away from it, I hope the book gives them something worth thinking about.

The Things Readers Won't See on the Page
A finished novel is only one part of the writing process. Behind it are the early ideas, the scenes that changed, the words that were rewritten, and the decisions that shaped the final manuscript. Readers encounter the version of the story that eventually makes it into the book, but they don't necessarily see all the possibilities that came before it.
While working on Almost, I had to develop the story beyond its original ideas and think about how the different parts fitted together. Characters needed to feel believable, conversations needed to work within the story, and the events of the novel needed to contribute to the overall journey. Sometimes, that meant reconsidering an idea or approaching a scene differently.
I find the creative process interesting because it shows that stories don't always arrive fully formed. They develop over time, and the final version is shaped by many decisions that readers may never notice. A small change in wording can affect how a moment feels, while a larger change can alter how a character's experience is understood.
This is also why I want to share more of the story behind Almost as time goes on. There may be opportunities to discuss early ideas, selected deleted scenes, writing challenges, and the details that helped shape the finished manuscript. These are all part of the journey that transformed the original idea into a novel.

A Final Word From Me
When I first started writing Almost in matric, I didn't know where the manuscript would lead me. I didn't know that I would leave it untouched for a year, return to it, and eventually work towards publishing it. At the time, I was simply trying to write a story that meant something to me.
Looking back, I can see how a combination of experiences, emotions, relationships, and ideas helped shape the novel. Some of those influences were personal, while others developed through observation and imagination. Together, they became the foundation for a fictional story about characters with their own lives, struggles, and hopes.
Almost isn't a direct retelling of my life, but parts of my life helped bring it into existence. Writing it gave me a way to explore emotions, develop ideas, and turn an unfinished manuscript into something I could prepare to share with other people. The process wasn't a perfectly straight journey, but it became one worth continuing.
I hope that when readers eventually discover Almost, they will find more than a story about Jamie and Ethan. I hope they will find moments that feel familiar, emotions that make sense to them, and perhaps a little hope in the pages. Most of all, I hope the book reminds them that even when life doesn't unfold as expected, there are still stories worth telling and experiences worth understanding.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about the person and the experiences behind the pages. This is where Almost began, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to share a little of that journey with you.

- Armand Meintjes