<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tigest Girma's road to the </span><em><span>New York Times</span></em><span> bestsellers list started with a </span><em><span>Twilight</span></em><span> rewatch during a COVID-19 lockdown in 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As Edward Cullen and Bella Swan flirted on screen, the Melbourne primary school teacher had an unexpected lightbulb moment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I just couldn't get this idea out of my head – what if vampires originated from Africa?" she told 9news.com.au.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kidney-disease-australia-simon-biggs-stage-5-shock-diagnosis/5959bedf-d088-41af-8d75-31d8e1317df6" rel="" target="_blank" title="Shock discovery doctors missed could cost young Aussie family $40k"><strong><span>Shock discovery doctors missed could cost young Aussie family $40k</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Girma threw together a few sentences on her phone and posted them on social media, curious to see if anyone else liked the concept.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The response was immediate and enthusiastic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Three years later, her debut novel </span><em><span>Immortal Dark</span></em><span> hit shelves and a week after that, it was a #1 </span><em><span>New York Times</span></em><span> bestseller.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/tigest-girma-immortal-dark-eternal-ruin-australian-teacher-to-bestseller/cd219e10-fa46-4420-93ec-a8970b66fdf9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Now the pressure's on to recreate that success with sequel </span><em><span>Eternal Ruin,</span></em><span> which drops tomorrow</span><em><span>.</span></em><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Girma once doubted her Black vampire romance would ever see the light of day.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Born and raised in Ethiopia, her family moved to Australia when she was 15.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was a culture shock to say the least. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She found solace in books, but none of the paranormal romances she adored featured any characters that looked like her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I had that itch, that craving for representation," Girma said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As an adult, she tried to write the books she needed growing up but after three failed attempts to get published, she was almost ready to give up.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Immortal Dark</span></em><span> was her last-ditch attempt to get a story centring Black characters on Australian shelves.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/woolworths-ai-job-interviews-jamie-rejected-exclusive/f3fc936d-4190-4f9b-b832-9648a8c8c9e7" rel="" target="_blank" title="Jamie wanted a job at Woolies. He claims he was rejected after two AI interviews"><strong><span>Jamie wanted a job at Woolies. He claims he was rejected after two AI interviews</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It took about a year to write the draft around her casual teaching work, juggling plot points with lesson plans, but by 2023 she had a manuscript and an agent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hardest part was going to be finding a publisher willing to pay for a story like hers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Or so Girma thought.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The paranormal, fantasy and romance genres skew white, as does the publishing industry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than 70 per cent of people working in Australian publishing identify as white, according to a </span><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12109-023-09969-7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="2022 survey"><span>2022 survey</span></a><span>, and the figure is slightly </span><a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/eden-victoria-tiktok-booktok-close-protection-romance-novel-exclusive/d27b3c76-de24-482b-82a2-05a485c9a5db" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="higher in the US."><span>higher in the US.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Girma was floored when not one but two publishing houses wanted to buy </span><em><span>Immortal Dark</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A bidding war ensued and she walked away with a hefty three-book deal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her debut hit shelves to rave reviews and at just 26, Girma officially became a </span><em><span>New York Times</span></em><span> bestselling author.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was in shock, I was floating around the whole day, buzzing with too much energy," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"How is it possible to achieve your wildest dreams in such a short time?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/hospital-parking-adelaide-nurses-paying-25-per-day/b3f13a5f-dfe8-4f5b-84db-51ebf2f7b346" rel="" target="_blank" title="Nurses forced to cop 'ridiculous' $65 parking fines every day just to get to work"><strong><span>Nurses forced to cop 'ridiculous' $65 parking fines every day just to get to work</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was especially meaningful because of what the book represented to her and other Black women and girls; a place where they belong.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span></span></em><span>"Being able to put out these books [is like] being able to go back into the past and hand them to my own teenage self and say, 'this is the one for you,'" she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Uxlay University, where Girma's stories are set, is full of Black characters with unapologetically African names like Kidan Adane, the protagonist, and Susenyos Sagad, her nemesis turned love interest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was an intentional choice from an author who has spent years correcting people who mispronounce her name, as is the experience of so many immigrants and children of immigrants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She won't stand for Westernised nicknames or mispronunciations either.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Girma shared videos on social media explaining how to pronounce her name and the names of her characters, so no one has an "excuse" to get it wrong.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Especially when some readers can learn to pronounce made-up fantasy names but claim real Ethiopian names are "too hard".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Saying 'this is my name and you have to call me by my full name,' is a powerful thing," Girma said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Readers can say these complicated fantasy names, but somehow they struggle with ours? I have no idea how that logic works."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her characters also never have to deal with incidents or discussions of racism.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So many books about Black characters deal explicitly with race but Girma wanted to offer readers, especially young women, an escape from that.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and people of colour] authors have always been associated with these traumatic topics in normal fiction," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I did not want to see stories like that anymore."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Readers have lauded her for these details and for championing diversity in fiction, which has become a popular topic of discussion on BookTok, the online reading community on TikTok.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's part of the reason Girma's idea for </span><em><span>Immortal Dark </span></em><span>first gained traction online. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She's grateful for these spaces that encourage conversations about the ways in which whiteness still dominates the publishing landscape.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm reaching audiences that I never thought I could [and] this is just proof that people want to read Black fantasy books," Girma said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's an audience for us, we can be successful in these commercial spaces."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/veterans-children-mental-health-report/5df1d29f-c2ea-4ab1-83eb-3858b39be3f3" rel="" target="_blank" title="Hannah's parents brought war home with them. Years on, she's still struggling"><strong><span>Hannah's parents brought war home with them. Years on, she's still struggling</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But there are drawbacks to having almost 100,000 people following her every move online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Social media can be a powerful tool for authors – for example, Girma's editor first discovered her on TikTok – but the pressure to perform online can be overwhelming.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And many emerging authors can't afford to opt out.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is something that a lot of authors have to think about, specifically BIPOC authors," Girma said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We sort of have no choice but to be visible on social media, to get attention, to prove ourselves or our readership online before publishing takes a chance on us."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Girma has taken a step back from TikTok and Instagram lately to focus on the launch of </span><em><span>Immortal Dark</span></em><span>, plan the third and final book in the trilogy, and keep up her day job.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 27-year-old kept up her casual teaching work even after becoming an international bestseller and considers her "main profession".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I genuinely do enjoy it [and] it's a good stable job to have next to something as unpredictable as writing."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>Have you got a story? Contact</span></strong></em><span> </span><strong><em><span>reporter Maddison Leach at</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="mailto:mleach@nine.com.au" target="_blank" title="mleach@nine.com.au"><strong><em><span>mleach@nine.com.au</span></em></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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