‘I have a confession’ I said when I met Tracy Going properly this week after a brief, fortuitous meeting at the Franschhoek Literary Festival recently. ‘I haven’t read your book. I opened it at Exclusives and couldn’t get past the Prologue.’ ‘Oh no! Why? That’s not a good sign. Was it that bad?’ she said,… Continue reading Book Review: Brutal Legacy by Tracy Going – the illumination of truths
With less than twenty four hours at my disposal this time at my annual literary feast – the 2018 Franschhoek Literary Festival - I hung around briefly in the EB pop up book section in the Town Hall, to scan the new lists of books. One day, when I own my book shop (in my dreams) I won’t… Continue reading Highlights of the Franschhoek Literary Festival
Finding this so hard, to précis my thoughts on this book. Should have done it the minute I put it down two days ago. That’s when the real, connected emotion was fresh. Having a go now… So there’s this beautiful Polish born woman who has fallen in love with South African literature and South Africa… Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: THE FIFTH MRS BRINK
BEAR WITH ME ON THIS ONE. IT'S LONGER than usual but IMPORTANT but as usual, UNEDITED. We are living in strange and uncertain times. Isn’t it always so? We make history in some way or another every single day in relative terms which will impact someone, somewhere in a future which, today, cannot be known,… Continue reading your one wild and precious life
A long, slightly rambling blog. Like the tentacles of an octopus. My October. Children are easily embarrassed by their parents when they get to a particular age. They are from a different generation dealing with different parts of their growing selves in ways they cannot yet fully understand, and we have long forgotten. Truthfully, I… Continue reading EIGHT OCTOBER OBSERVATIONS
I’ve just come out of a steaming hot shower. The glass doors in my bedroom are still steaming and misted over, so you know how keen I was to get to my laptop to get this one out. As I’m soaping and re- soaping, having gone down my right shin at least three times (do… Continue reading Can we say Virginia Woolf was vain?
I’d been reading Kafka on the way up in the car, scanning through ‘The Metamorphosis’ and other short stories, and deciding that I would have to speak to someone about him. I hadn’t read much of it before and felt a bit clueless about what he was trying to say most of the time. I… Continue reading On Kafda, and thoughts of one and other special things.
In last month’s blog, I dared to suggest that I would talk about turning FIFTY. Funny how you can be so motivated about a writing piece one day and wholly daunted by it days later. I thought I had worked it all out and it would sing of inspirations and insights and read like a… Continue reading 50 THOUGHTS on TURNING 50
Book or Blog: What’s it to be? To write or to ski? Are you kidding? That’s not much of choice- at least not for me. It’s 4.05am. I’ve been awake since 2am. There are people who live out their lives at these sorts of crazy times. Shift workers, nurses and doctors, the early morning radio… Continue reading BOOK OR BLOG: what’s it to be?
In pursuance of my obsession to learn more about the writing craft, hours are spent in relative silence hunched over my laptop with my reliable friend Mr G. Mr Google. He and I appear face to face and then he greets me with his little blue circling google dance and we wait to see what… Continue reading Don’t you DIE to go on a writer’s retreat?
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