Inside The Imagination: LN Bokete

L N Bokete
May 8
2 min read

Updated: May 18

When I write, the goal isn’t just to tell a story; it’s to build a feeling. A world that breathes. A myth that mirrors something real. My dark fantasy novels, Tokoloshe and Pisces Family, didn’t begin with outlines or maps. They began with emotion. With questions. With wonder. Everything else, the structure, the arcs, the twists, came later.

1. Feeling First, Structure Later

Before I knew what would happen in Tokoloshe, I asked myself one question: What if the thing we feared most was the only thing protecting us?

That question cracked open a world rooted in African folklore. The Tokoloshe, once a creature of fear, became something else: a guardian in the shadows, locked in a war no one could see. The story that followed wasn’t linear. It was emotional. A journey through identity, legacy, danger, and forbidden love.

For Pisces Family, the spark came from a different place: What if the zodiac signs were people — siblings with stories of their own?

That idea exploded into twelve voices, each distinct, flawed, and vibrant. Aries doesn’t sound like Leo, and Scorpio doesn’t love like Virgo. Writing them meant constantly shifting rhythm, like composing music with a dozen instruments, each playing its own truth.

2. Character as Catalyst

In my process, characters don’t serve the plot; the plot bends around the characters. The protagonist in Tokoloshe wasn’t designed to fit a mould; she broke it. Her evolving bond with the Tokoloshe, protector, mystery, and love interest, shaped everything else.

In Pisces Family, I didn’t write “the zodiac.” I wrote people. Siblings. Some loud, some soft. Some cruel, some aching for connection. And they didn’t ask politely to be heard. They disrupted. They rewrote chapters. I let them.

3. Myth as Mirror

To me, myths are never just stories; they’re lenses. In Tokoloshe, African mythology becomes a way to explore identity and inheritance: What do we carry? What do we fear? What do we protect?

In Pisces Family, the zodiac becomes a lens for relationships, the mess of them. How we love. How we clash. How we come together and fall apart. All within one chaotic “family.”

4. Beauty in the Broken

If you’ve read my work, you know I’m drawn to contrasts. I write beauty into brokenness. Laughter into darkness. Love into danger. That’s not accidental. It’s how I see the world.

Tokoloshe finds humour even when the world is falling apart. Pisces Family offers grace between sibling fights and silent grief. Tonal tension is where the truth lives, and that’s where I like to write.

Conclusion

Tokoloshe and Pisces Family didn’t come from a formula. They came from a feeling. I write from the inside out. Letting emotion lead. Letting myth evolve. Letting characters surprise even me.

If you step into these books, you’re not just reading a story. You’re stepping into a realm shaped by intuition, steeped in emotion, and unforgettable by design.

👉 Grab a copy of the books on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/L.-N.-Bokete/author/B0BST533VN?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=tru e

Enjoy this prologue of Tokoloshe on Youtube