Ten things you didn’t know about Zibu Sithole, author of ‘The Thing With Zola’

Zibu Sithole, the vivacious author of best-selling romance The Thing with Zola, is a published ghostwriter and journalist with loads of experience in writing for television, radio, and print and digital media. Her knack for screenwriting is evident in her novel, which reads, line by line, like an engrossing TV series unfolding before you.

The Thing with Zola follows Zola, an ambitious city girl figuring out what her next steps will be — from managing her dynamic friendships to dealing with a whirlwind romance and a new career. It’s a flirty, beach-read, romcom novel, but it’s also a bildungsroman with heart that focuses on the trials of womanhood that many will relate to — and it’s all set against the electric backdrop of Johannesburg and Germany. 

And now the sequel is finally here, titled I Do ... Don’t I? At the end of The Thing with Zola, Zola was proposed to by her boyfriend at the airport just before she took off on a life-changing journey. In I Do ... Don’t I? Zola goes back and forth between whether this is a commitment she is ready to make.

Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Zola Sithole

1. I have always wanted to write — so much so that I have never considered any other career. Luckily, there are so many different types of writing.
2. I am a mom. I’d like to think I am a cool mom, but my son’s reactions to the things I do sometimes suggest otherwise.
3. I live in the Kathorus, where Zola lives. I appreciate it because it’s home, but it’s not the place of my dreams.
4. I am a homesteader stuck in a township girl’s body.
5. I don’t have a favourite book, movie or music genre. What I like depends completely on my mood, or the one I want to get into.
6. I am a reality TV junkie and love to witness all the drama as long as I can switch it off whenever I want to without any of it spilling into my life. The people, their interactions and their motives are great story fodder.
7. Despite my disastrous romantic history, I am and probably always will be a champion of love and romance.
8. My name is Zibusisozethu, and I can tell where a person knows me from by what part of my name they use.
9. I have more in common with my character Okuhle than I do with Zola. I can sympathise with how she struggles to come to terms with not getting the life she always thought she would have. I am rooting for my girl’s happily ever after.
10. I sprinkle parts of my personality, experiences, opinions and feelings through every character I write.

The Thing with Zola and I Do ... Don’t I? by Zibu Sithole are both published by Pan Macmillan.

Giveaway:

We are giving away five copies of I Do ... Don’t I? by Zibu Sithole (Pan Macmillan). To enter, name the first book written by Zibu Sithole. E-mail your answer, name and contact number to mila@book.co.za with “ZIBU” as the subject line. Only one entry per person. Competition closes on May 3. Ts and Cs apply.