Our Big Fat Greek Wedding

I’m taking a two-week blog break. One of my step-brothers had the brilliant idea of getting married on Crete, instead of in England where he lives, so we are off to celebrate. My other two steps are coming with their girlfriends, whom I have never met, the soulful one is coming from South Africa and [...]

Read Full Post »

In Which I Guest

Today I’m pointing you to other places on the Web where I’ve been writing. First up, tech blogger Vinnie Michandani asked me to contribute to his series “Technology and my Hobby”. I was very honoured to participate, and I wrote a piece on technology and writing. Please check out the whole series, which includes such [...]

Read Full Post »

Miss Kiss Kiss Bomb

So last night my husband and I armed ourselves with wine and settled happily on the sofa for our annual take-the-piss fest, the Eurovision Song Contest. The ESC, in which 42 countries that loosely call themselves European compete for best song and everyone in those 42 countries gets to vote, has been held annually since [...]

Read Full Post »

Look! It’s Friday!

And a week since I last posted. I said that I was looking forward to getting the scalpel out and applying it to the first draft, but actually the process has been quite painful. I have excised chunks of back story that no longer seem relevant, and have said farewell to parts that, although I [...]

Read Full Post »

First Draft Audit

It’s Friday, so I guess I’m fessing. Anyone going to join me in the booth? Here is the recently-completed audit of the first draft of my novel: Potential titles: 8 Main characters: 1 Secondary characters: 4 Tertiary characters: 76 Scenes: 119 Word count: 86, 281 Research books read: 9 Time it took to get from [...]

Read Full Post »

Single and Soulful

I’m here today to introduce you to someone. This person is a nice man. I mean a seriously nice man, who loves animals, children, plants, sunsets, beaches, fishing, walking, nature, good meals, the occasional drink, dessert, reading, music, philosophising, dreaming, conversations that go on for hours, Scrabble, card games and laughing at the absurdity of [...]

Read Full Post »

Seeking a Character Flaw

I’m back at my novel, after having had a break, and I am deeply into a plotting exercise that I have to complete before I start the second draft. I’ve been trying to get inside the skin of my main protagonist, Lindiwe Dlamini, for over a year now. I know her fairly well, but it’s [...]

Read Full Post »

When in Doubt, Craft

One of the prerequisites of being a parent in Germany is the ability to craft (basteln). It is one of the givens of society along with the hot lunch, no noise on Sundays and goal-oriented neighbour observation. A birthday party is never a birthday party without a crafting corner, kindergartens frequently require parental attendance at [...]

Read Full Post »