real-life stories
Not all silences are creative failures. After publishing two novels, James Fouché stepped away from writing for a decade – not because of writer’ s block or burnout, but to become a present father in a world that rarely rewards men for choosing care over momentum.
After a 10-year stretch away from the page, South African author James Fouché( YouTube, IG & FB: @ jamesfouchewrites) is back with his third novel, Gray. His decade-long silence wasn’ t about writer’ s block or creative burnout. It was about nappies, night feeds, and a deliberate decision to be there.
James published his second novel, King of Sorrow, just as life was getting complicated in the best and hardest ways. He and his wife, Marlene, had always agreed on the order of things: marriage, then babies. The only problem was that babies didn’ t arrive on schedule. Seven years of trying to conceive followed.
“ Trying to conceive is like watching your favourite rugby team scrum: it’ s fun, but you still want to see them score a try,” he jokes. Instead, month after month, the try line kept moving further away.
By the time they discovered his wife was on the verge of Stage 4 endometriosis,
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