Follow Me: Mashatu Botswana Day 3

We spend a lot of our time driving in a dry riverbed looking to spot animal tracks. The rivers are mostly dry this time of year, but there is evidence of high water flow when they are flowing. The water flow cannot be sustained throughout the year since the water is supplied from another area with higher rainfall.
The black sand in the bed is a remnant of lava flow (I asked 😊) from who-knows how many years ago. Botswana does not have any active or dormant volcanoes, so it is more likely soil that was brought down by the river. It has a larger grain than the general soil texture anywhere else in the areas where we have been driving.
I have been taking particular note of the smells as we are on the game drives. The soil when the tyres of the vehicle break the surface, the wild sage (in abundance!) that grows in certain areas and of course, the distinctive smell of fresh elephant dung.
What is also noticeable is the way the temperature varies as we go up and down hills and valleys. It is too warm during the day, but at night, the differences are easy to detect.
Here are some more pictures of our trip. Enjoy!

Our outdoor bathroom

The shower, no roof!

Yep, it's a bucket!

Sorry, I forgot its name

Bushbuck female - Francois took the pic with my camera

Some of our fellow Mashatu visitors

Another bird 😳

Eland Bull - they are shy and difficult to photograph

Old leopard female - she had been injured in her right eye - the rangers guess her age to be about 15 years

Banded mongoose family - running all over the place!

In the riverbed. Even the pro takes pics with his cell phone upon occasion 😝

Zebra - always a good model 😎

Follow Me: Day 2 - Mashatu Botswana

Day 2 has been a busy day in the Botswana bush with lots to see and photograph. I also took some pics of our lodgings, but you cannot see much. Will see if I can do better tomorrow.

The sunset pictured came out quite well and I can see a painting or two in my future from these pictures.

Francois also took a picture of me. Yeah, not my best angle, but there I am. 😱

I have to make a backup too. Not many pictures so far, but backups are always a good idea anyway.

Hopefully more to see tomorrow.

PS: The wifi/internet is not reliable and you could be seeing this later than intended.

Follow Me: Botswana Mashatu Day 1

And here we arrived to gorgeous weather and lovely people. A few kilometres before the border post, Pontdrift, we got a very nice surprise: a leopard crossed the road right in front of us. Of course, the cameras were stored and I was too slow with my cellphone, but it was a great sighting. Now we have to find the leopard with cameras in hand, and it will be a perfect sighting. 😝

So here is a taste of what we saw (and shot) today.

Tomorrow I will add some more pictures - still to be taken - of the venue and the outdoor shower. Yep, we have the opportunity to commune with nature...naked!

Now it's off to make backups of the day's efforts and get stuck into the next book I have promised to read for review. Until tomorrow!

Follow Me: Botswana Mashatu Day 1

source: Google Maps

The time for our vacation has finally arrived. We are packed - as usual camera gear first, and ready to go and have fun for five days in a game reserve in Botswana, our neighbour to the West.

When Francois asked if I wanted to go on another photographic safari, my answer was something like, duh! you have to ask?

It was planned and booked months ago, and I cannot wait. We need the break, and what better way to enjoy ourselves.

As with my previous trips away from home, I will try to post every day (internet access permitting) about what we were up to, and some of the shots we had taken that day.

Stick around, I think it is going to be a blast!

Linzé's Mischief: 17 April 2016

Always an excuse to travel! My place is booked. Yay!

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 15: What I learned at #ROSACon2015

Like all good things, #ROSACon2015 had to end. Two days of sharing experiences, and making new friends. Listening to presentations were I either learned something new or was reminded of an important aspect of writing.

Work sessions and discussions that were open and honest, even when the discussion got between the bed sheets. This was a romance authors' conference after all!

We shared lots laughs, but were also moved to tears. The organisation is still in its infancy, but the foundations have been laid for a future of authors growing within themselves, growing as writers and passing on the lessons learned to help and support new authors.

While the publishing industry is changing almost by day, self-publishing notwithstanding, there was much to be learnt from the experienced authors. Persistence, coping with fear and rejection, the daily demands of our time, and commitment to our craft despite all the challenges we have to face.

I enjoyed making my presentation on marketing for authors. While the subject matter is very close to my heart, there was not enough time to cover all the aspects in an hour. It is a good thing then that I am committing myself towards finishing the first draft on Indie Author: The Good, the Bad and the Hard Work by the end of November.

Once I am back home, I will assess the progress on the book and update my planning to ensure that it will be completed on time. In the meantime, my travelling is done until December, and my posts will return to the schedule to complete the book, and a few more posts on planning for pantsers and NaNoWriMo.

See you tomorrow - from my home office!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

Follow Me Day 3 - #ROSACon2015 pictures

As promised the pictures from today's presenters. The Conference is now over, but keep an eye out for the feedback posts about #ROSACon2015 - see you next year!

Karina Szczurek Brink

Jayne Bauling

FltR: Joss Wood, Rae Rivers and Elsa Winckler

Rae introduces Phoenix Kelly

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 14: Follow Me...Stellenbosch @ #ROSACon2015

Some of the Conference attendees: Day 1

Yesterday I was asked to be one of the bloggers for one of the presentations. The presentation was about Internal vs External conflict - that one thing that sets a story apart from a narrative. I don't know when the post needs to be ready for the SA Romance Writers' blog, but will let you know, and post a link if you want to read it. There will also be posts about the other presentations that you can have a look at.

Today is the last day of the conference and here is what I have planned for my day:
1. The Category Romance Formula by Joss Wood

2. What do you mean I have to market my writing? presented by yours truly
I will be giving the presentation to everyone subscribing to the mailing list on my blog. I have also received a few requests to give the presentation back home too. If you are interested, please keep an eye out for the details of the date and venue. It will be in the Pretoria/Centurion/Johannesburg area.

3. Tips to overcome the fear that can paralyse our writing by Rae Rivers

As promised there will again be more pictures online (in a second post) after the conference finishes today for you to look at.

See you later!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

Follow Me to #ROSACon2015 - Day 2

Some of the speakers today:

     

Left: Romy Sommer (chairman of ROSA); right: Joss Wood (author)

Rebecca Crowley and Jo Watson

A few of the dinner pictures as promised :)

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 13: Follow Me...Stellenbosch @ #ROSACon2015

The Butterfly in Linzé's Mischief

One of the benefits of using an online journal is being able to write blog posts while attending a writers' conference. The first day of the conference I will be attending the following talks:

1. Options for Authors today by Rebecca Crowley
2. Say what (is it about writing dialogue) presented by Joss Wood

Then I will be skipping a few presentations to go to a book shop with antique and rare books. I just have to go. As a book collector this kind of shop is my kryptonite. I don't know if I will find any books that will interest me, but if I don't go I will never know. I saw on their website that they had books that might interest me - and so the opportunity arises.

I will be in time back for the next session that interest me:
3. Just because you could, doesn't mean you should by Marie Dry

I will add my notes and impressions (and also lessons learned) as the second post to my blog. Will also try and get some good pictures of the speakers for you.

Tonight is the conference dinner at a historical building in town and some fun and mischief might result. Put a bunch of writers together, and the end result is guaranteed be unpredictable. Keep an eye out for my update later tonight.

See you later!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

Follow Me - Day 1 Pictures

The view from my room @ Le Verger Guesthouse In Stellenbosch

Le Verger Guesthouse - my room is the one on the left

I took a few pictures with my mobile phone from the plane, but cannot upload them here. I have a Samsung phone and a Apple Mac - they don't talk to each other :( If you want to see some of my aerial shots, please visit my Facebook page.

There will be more pictures tomorrow!

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 12: Follow Me...Johannesburg to Cape Town

Linzé is a Member of ROSA

Part of the rules for the 35 Day Author Blog Challenge is to go to the parent website and post your daily post link for everyone else to see. When I went back to get the link for Day 10, I realised that the post had originally been scheduled for Day 11, oops!

I didn't fix the booboo and I have to apologise for that. If you didn't spot it, well, I am not going to tell you what it was. :)

If you read my Journal, Linzé's Mischief, on Sunday you would have seen that I have been having difficulty on deciding what clothes to pack. Well, the weather forecast clinched it for me, so I am packed and ready to go.

I even relented on my own decision to pack my camera. Yeah, yeah, I know, what is a mind if you cannot change it? So I did, and now I will be able to post some decent pictures for you on Facebook and here on my blog. To make it slightly easier for me, I will add another post today with some of the photographs I have taken along the way. Also keep an eye out during the coming days for pictures of the #ROSACon2015 venue, my fellow attendees, the speakers and some of the mischief we are getting up to.

Here is to a lovely long weekend for me! If you are a rugby fan, like many of my friends and colleagues, enjoy the world cup games!

See you later, from Cape Town and Stellenbosch!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 6: Another Follow Me Tour

One thing that I love about blogging is that I can show you my country as I travel for work or pleasure. Or in this case a writers' conference. Yep, I am grinning like an idiot, as it will be my first local conference. Local as in the same country, but not the same province. I live in Pretoria in the Gauteng province and the conference is in Stellenbosch which is in the Western Cape province. For my non-South African friends - if you can find Cape Town on a map, you will see that Stellenbosch is not far away.
Since I am not much of a travel writer, I will beg your indulgence as I do my tour guide impersonation from 24 to 27 September. One thing I should mention in my favour is that I can take good photographs, so at least the pictures will be something to look at. And I should warn you, this is one of the most beautiful parts in my country, even if the region is famous for its wine making. Cheers!

"Stellenbosch fan Papagaaiberch grut" by Fmalan at en.wikipedia.

In the meantime I have to finish preparing my presentation. Yep, I will one of the speakers at the Romance writers Organisation of South Africa (ROSA) Conference. My talk will be on marketing for writers, and it will focus on the things a writer have to do to get started on marketing.
I will be talking about topics such as branding, blogging and social media. The contents of my presentation is an extract from Chapter 6 of my book, Indie Author: The Good, the Bad and the Hard Work.

PS: I will email a PDF of the presentation to my blog subscribers after the conference.

See you tomorrow!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?