When Peddar Panga was 3 years old growing up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he remembers his father and grandfather reciting moral tales to him. The stories were about doing the right thing, and treating others fairly.
“We have a long tradition of oral communication between parents,” Panga said.
Now a student at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, Panga has two accomplishments under his belt: he’s earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology and will soon publish his first book.
Panga used his life’s savings of stories to compile “Tales of the Mirror,” a compilation of moral short tales of stories he heard growing up. Panga said his stories detail universal truths about life and education.
He tells his stories the way he heard them from his parents, using animals as characters that teach a lesson by the end of the tale.
“Like a cat working who steps on a nail and tried to rearrange the nail for someone else to step on it,” Panga explained. “Just for him to end up stepping on the nail himself for the second time.”
“All the stories I put in this book were narrated to me by my dad and grandpa. So that’s what this story is all about: a short story with a moral,” Panga said.
Panga immigrated to the United States in 2005. His parents influenced and supported his writing.
“Tales of the Mirrors” is a collection of fifty fables that use animals to address universal truths and human foibles.
Writing has always been a major focus in Panga’s life. By age three, he was already writing down his dreams.
“Writing for me has been in my blood,” Panga said. “I started to write when I was five years old. My dad would ask me to write down my dreams every morning when I woke up.”
Panga said that by 3 years old, he was already forming letters and writing them down. I would write something, even if it was just ‘I did dream I was on a road,’” he said.
Panga’s consistent writing practice resulted in longer and longer works.
“My very first manuscript I wrote at age 15. It never got published until now,” Panga said.
“This will be my very first published book, but I’ve written more than 20 manuscripts so far, and it took me four years since I’ve tried to get this one published,” Panga said.
He recalls years of “rejection after rejection” from publishers before he decided to publish the book himself.
“I’ve spent a lot of money, but the manuscript has been on my computer for so long,” Panga said. “So it was worth to get it published than to have it stay on the shelf.”
Self-publishing a book is no easy task. Rather than having a publisher cover the expenses, proofread, and editing, Panga said he paid for the services on his own.
“Somebody told me to keep trying. To try something else like self-publishing,” Panga said.
His book will be on Kindle and Amazon.
“I’ll probably keep trying to publish another one,” Panga said. “I’ll also be relaxing and enjoying the royalties that I’ll get from the book, and keep writing.”
