Joanne Panas presents her first novel. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Local Authors

“I believe everyone has a novel inside,” said P.A. author

Nov 10, 2019 | 2:00 PM

A five year journey has ended for Prince Albert’s Joanne Panas, with the completion of her first novel, “The Battle for the Gift.”

Panas, a former Taekwon-Do instructor, and a talented illustrator in her own right, told paNOW writing a book felt like the next best progression for her.

“I believe everyone has a novel inside just waiting to be written and this is my case,” she said.

According to Amazon’s overview of the book, the world has started to experience unprecedented climate change and society has responded with violence. Only a few with the gift can do anything about it. Panas described her novel as a mix of fantasy, the supernatural, fiction, and a lot of action.

“It’s 57 chapters, 268 pages, and right from start to end it’s action, action, action,” she explained.

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In many cases, authors will draw inspiration for characters based on personal experiences or people they have met. Panas said that was not the case in her book.

“You can not compare any of these characters with anybody I know, although I know these characters are out there somewhere,” she laughed.

Copies of Panas’ new book can be found online now at Barnes and Noble as well as Amazon, iTunes, and Chapters. In the coming weeks, copies can be found at Coles in Prince Albert and Panas plans to do a book launch on Nov. 18 at the John M. Cuelenaere library. When asked if there any plans to write more books, Panas agreed there definitely were.

“The way [the novel] finished, it basically is just screaming we need extension onto this,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell