Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Follow Me - The Orange River (slightly bent)

We had to entertain ourselves for one day since we couldn't change our booking for our overnight accommodation for the trip back. So we went shopping - if you could call browsing in a co-op shopping. I found some seeds for yellow tomatoes for my vegetable garden. Can't wait to plant those.
And then we decided to visit the Orange river crossing where we parked our two buses and enjoyed the view.
What the Orange River really looked like.

The photographs you see here were taken as panoramas from my Samsung S3. They came out...well, a little bent. But then who needs to see the world in straight lines anyway. Enjoy!
 
The Orange River from a "bent" perspective :)

Then I decided to bend a bridge. Ha, it was a lot of fun doing it my way!

Standing on the white line - 180 degree panorama
Well, that is the end of this tour. Thank you for following me as I travelled my country and allowing me the privilege of sharing a few glimpses of it with you. Until the next time...

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Follow Me - The Guys, the Fun and the Rescue

I had mentioned before that I work with a great bunch of people and now you get to meet some of them. While I will remember the trip for the not-so-successful outcome of our tests, I will also remember it for the fun we had together.
Derek explaining something difficult as usual

Mpho bearing his kit while inside the Badger

Eric explaining to Sam what the next test is going to be about

Thato - at least I wasn't the only woman this time!














Hennie, Willem and Tienie wondering if the fishing is any good

Willem and Paul wondering what happened to their hats
Hours of laughing while just sitting around, talking nonsense and reminiscing about previous tests where people did silly things. Some of the people we talked about I knew, others I didn't. What did strike me was the camaraderie that people enjoy, even as colleagues. Many of our test facilities are fairly isolated, making it difficult to just jump into a car to go see a movie. It is either too far away, or there is such entertainment available in the nearest town.

On the last morning of our tests, we came across a group of springbuck running down the road. We frightened them and they were going all over the place, even running into the fences next to the road.
One of the group managed to get itself so tangled up that it couldn't shake itself free.
Springbuck running
Deciding that it was our fault to begin with (the fence), it was our duty to rescue the animal. 

And so three of my colleagues and one member of the SA Army who was with us in the bus, did the honours.
My attempt at a video was unsuccessful, the sun was too bright for me to see the screen of my mobile phone, but I did manage to capture a few photographs.


Springbuck stuck in the fence and the guys on their way

Job done! Back to work now :)

The heroes - all in a day's work!

Monday, 28 October 2013

Follow Me - Harnessing the Power of the Sun

While on the way towards our destination we came across two projects under construction to erect solar panels on several hundreds of hectares on land. The first was between Douglas and Prieska, fairly close to the road (all the photographs you see here). The second was right next to the old Copperton mine. Although we could see the construction work well enough, it was too far away to take good photographs with my mobile phone.



 On our way back home we came across a third such project. While I cannot remember exactly where - somewhere between Kimberley and Wolmaranstad - it too was large and set too far away from the road for a decent picture.
And the Northern Cape is the ideal place with its high number of days of sunshine per year.
What is heartening is seeing these solar farms being constructed to help with the increasing demand on the existing and future supply of power to the national grid.


Friday, 25 October 2013

Cover Reveal: Don't Call Me Sweetheart by Linzé Brandon

Excerpt
Hell had found me. I was staring at its ugly fangs and I knew if I stayed here any longer, it wasn't going to end well for me. I had to get out of here before more innocent people got hurt. Screams attacked my ears – so loud that it drowned out the pounding club music. But it didn't drown out the bullets causing the panic. Blood splattered over me as two more people fell.
"Where the hell did she go?"
I was too busy dodging bullets to pause on my way to the closest exit to find out who had said that. There. The moment I spotted the door, my feet moved faster.
My one day off from work, my time to relax, hang out, and look at me now; hiding behind a stinking crate of rotten vegetables in the middle of a very long and dark alley. Halfway between me and the safe end of the alley was a flickering yellow light above an entrance of some kind. I thought I saw something move, but it could be anything, from a vagrant getting comfortable for the night to a rat. I shuddered. Neither of those options inspired a sense of safety. I had to move. This was not a good place to be – too many opportunities to be ambushed. I edged around the crate and looked towards the exit of the club I had come from mere moments ago. No one had followed. Yet. How I made it out of the club alive, and uninjured, must have been some kind of miracle.
I glanced down at my expensive high-heeled boots. Damn, I loved those boots and now I would have run – through whatever muck, and dirt, and all kinds of other dead and dying things – in them. This was so not the night I had envisaged for myself.

Look out for this Sci-fi action thriller (with the tiniest hint of romance) on Smashwords very soon!

 

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Follow Me - Life on the Road

Since it takes us two days to reach our destination, there are lots of things to see along the way.
We often spotted impala, springbuck, a snake or two and even a tortoise who was trying its level best to cross the road.
Once our convoy of four vehicles rushed past of course.
One of the more fascinating sights is a little bird that lives in a communal colony with many other birds. It is the sociable weaver that makes its nest on the poles that carry the power lines along the road.
The nests expand as they continue to build, and care has to be taken that it does not grow too heavy and break up. Many poles have stacks of nest materials around their bases where the nests had become too heavy.

Prickly pears are another sight to make your mouth water. The luscious fruit grows wild in the Northern Cape, while it is not found only around here.

Just as we settled in for the last leg of our journey, it started to rain. While rain was not unwelcome, we were concerned about our tests that we conduct outside. The weather websites were consulted, and we relaxed as the rain was predicted to move on to the eastern parts of the country.

Stay tuned as the next installment will be about an exciting development in this part of South Africa.

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Books-A-Fire: An e-Book Promotion to Fit Everyone's Pocket


The Books-a-Fire authors are back with more fabulous deals and NEW books to buy. There are no gimmicks or hoops to jump, just incredible prices on every single book.
Just point, click, and buy books in every genre for just 99 cents each.  
YES!  All books on the page are priced at 99 cents to make your shopping easy and affordable. For less than the price of a dinner out, you could buy every single book on the page.
To make it really easy, we've also created categories.  Click your favorite category at the top of the page and see all the books that are on sale in that category. 
Load your Kindle and enjoy a quiet read now that the kids are back in school. You've had a hectic summer so treat yourself to a good book today! 

►  Go to www.booksafire.com 


Monday, 21 October 2013

Follow Me - On Route Day 1

We left Pretoria on Saturday and took the route to our overnight destination in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. 

It is one of the driest parts of our country as you can see from the photographs. 

It is also one of the geographical areas that can change almost overnight from a semi-desert to a lush savannah with a single rain storm.

Unfortunately, rain is a rare commodity and very often dams are but dry patches of sand, rather than blue stretches of live providing water.






Kimberley is an interesting city with a long history of diamond mining, that I am sure you have learned about in school. It also boasts one of the oldest, if not the oldest pub in the country.
Garden of the Kalahari Lodge in Kimberley

Sunday, 20 October 2013

Follow Me - Off travelling once again

I am traveling again with my colleagues from work to do some tests again. After my last disaster - killing my poor mobile phone - I couldn't post any photographs of South Africa and the things we saw and did on the way. Well this time, I am going to do my best not to destroy my phone and then you can see the wonderful country side that is my country.
Since I still work for the same company, and the same rules still apply, you won't see any of the actual work. More about that here.

As I intended before, the posts will follow my awesome colleagues (and they truly are a great bunch of guys!) with chats and quirks, and a few quips - I promise to keep those PG!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, there will be updates there too.

Monday, 30 September 2013

Cover Reveal: Bubble Trouble by Linzé Brandon

Excerpt
I hate Thursdays.
My weeks these days were exhausting at best, and generally pissing me off to the point that my temper was fraying around the edges on Thursdays. And then there was still one more day to go. One day with more meetings and deadlines and fifty-something-going-on-five bosses to deal with, until I could relax in my own skin.
I slid down deeper into the bubbles already teasing the edges of my huge bathtub. On Thursdays I needed a long, hot bath.
The bursting bubbles always manage to make me smile. A sweet berry flavour filled my nose, even I as tried to avoid getting too close to those bubbles. John made a point of finding fruit smelling bubble baths on his travels. He said it reminded him of me.

An erotic fantasy in a bubble bath - coming in October!

Thursday, 26 September 2013

Spotlight: Secrets of the Moon by Kristy Centeno


Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Date of Publication: July 1, 2013


Secrets of the Moon
Teenager Marjorie Emery eluded death. As she struggles to get her life back on track, she believes her efforts are paying off. Yet, when a black dressing, unfriendly, and incredibly handsome hottie walks into her classroom, she’s forced into a tailspin. Marjorie has no idea how much his presence is going to shatter what little tranquility she’s achieved.
Kyran Rousseau’s gloomy nature has a name, one that is potentially fatal under the right circumstances. His family harbors secrets and does everything to protect Kyran. While, he doesn’t want to ruin Marjorie’s normal life, love has a way of changing his plans.
Falling for Kyran is the least of Marjorie’s worries. With a faceless threat hunting her and a boyfriend who's as dangerous as he is good looking—how can Marjorie and Kyran keep all hell from breaking loose before it’s too late?

Goodreads
Purchase links: Amazon | B&N


EXCERPT

Minutes later we arrived, and just in time for our eight a.m. classes. Claire, Tracy, and I dispersed to our respective classrooms upon entering the building, agreeing to meet later on for lunch.
Usually, I’d sit in one of the chairs at the first row of tables, since I barely made it in time for class; but today the only available seats were at the back—where no one likes to sit because it’s too far away from the writing board. No one paid attention to me as I scooted by to the back of the classroom and grabbed one of the empty seats at the last row of tables. The seat to the left of me was empty and everyone else had chosen their seats, so I was a little relieved that I wouldn’t be sharing the table with anyone. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, so sitting alone came as a bonus.
When a few moments had gone by and no one else showed up, the teacher began his lecture for the day. With book, notebook, and pen in hand, I began to take notes of what the teacher was either saying or writing on the board, when the door opened and someone stepped inside. I was too busy going over what I wrote so I didn’t bother to look up to see who’d entered the classroom. I automatically assumed it was probably a student running late. However, the sound of loud gasps rushing through the otherwise silent room caused me to look up to see what the commotion was all about.
That was the first time I saw him. My gaze automatically drifted toward the silver-colored orbs he had for eyes. Never in my life had I seen eyes like those. It wasn’t just the color of them that was strange and incredibly alluring but the way he looked around the room also, as if searching for prey. Where that thought came from I had no idea, but I did agree that the description match him to a T.
The instructor spoke softly to him, but the boy only nodded several times, not even bothering to look at him. I thought that rude until I noticed he was too busy looking at…me.
My cheeks started to burn as he kept staring at me with those dangerously sensual eyes. No one had ever observed me that way before and it made me slightly uneasy. His quiet stare made me feel hot and uncomfortable all at once. After a silent staring contest, I turned my eyes away from him and decided to stare at the notes in front of me instead.
His eyes were intense, too much for me to handle without feeling as if I was going to be burned alive right on the spot. Good grief, no one ever had this mammoth effect on me before.
He was so different from the young men from around here. His demeanor held a hint of arrogance, boldness, and indifference unlike anything I’d perceived. Sure, some guys tended to act that way, but he took it up a notch. I took note of his dress code too: all-black casual wear—black hoodie, black shirt, black pants, black boots. Even his backpack was black. I could have easily accused him of being some kind of rock and roll groupie or maybe even a Goth-loving fan, but he didn’t appear to fit into either category.
However, the dark clothing only made his look more mysterious and it definitely brought out the color of his eyes even more. He was tall, too, very tall. If I had to guess what his height was, I would say six-foot-one or something close to that. His chestnut-colored hair was long, down to his shoulders, and he wore it lose. Something about him clearly screamed bad boy.
About Kristy Centeno
As a child, she used to lose herself in an imaginary world by the means of a good book. Now that she’s all grown up, Kristy gets to create her own fictional realms and make them come to life in ways that most readers might not expect.
She’s always had a passion for writing but never had the opportunity do so until now. After trying out numerous options, she realized that writing was what she loved the most so when she found herself with some free time on her hands, she decided to pursue her passion. As it turned out, her very active imagination helped her achieve her goals of creating believable plots with some ordinary, and some not so ordinary characters that helped the stories move along in one way or another.
As she keeps moving along in achieving her dreams of becoming a published author, she divides her time in between her four children and her very understanding husband.


Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Boost Creativity in the Workplace (republished with permission from eCare4me)


“I’m just not a very creative person.” Have you ever said these words or heard a colleague say them? If so, it may be time to re-evaluate how you see creativity and start training yourself to think more creatively, which often means more effectively. After all, creative thinking is often a driving force in a company’s progress.

According to Charles Hulten, professor of economics at the University of Maryland, the modern business world is demanding more and more conceptual thinking and with this, comes new innovations linked to creative thinking. “Every job is a creative job,” he says “A barista, for example, can create new drinks and greet customers in a variety of ways to add to the coffee shop experience.” No matter what your job entails, a bit of creativity can go a long way in helping you streamline your tasks and enjoy what you do.

Creativity is intelligence having fun

Einstein said it best when he linked creativity with both fun and intelligence. It is important to acknowledge that while creativity is often linked to fun and may seem like a time waster, it can result in powerful outcomes. Allowing yourself to think creatively gives you greater flexibility in your thinking and widens your perspectives. It also helps you to explore alternatives and foster a more open-minded work environment. According to Forbes magazine, creativity is much more of a skill than a mystery and with a little practice; you can master it. 

So, how can you invite creativity into your work life? Here are some suggestions.
  • Doodle Keep a notepad on your desk at work that is purely dedicated to doodling. Draw pictures, write words, and see what happens. Using colour is also a good idea. When our brains are in an unconscious state, we are often able to make clever connections and solve problems easier. 
  • Experiment Try doing something different in your life, even if it’s not linked to work. Go to a new restaurant, take up an unusual hobby, watch a movie or read a book that would normally not interest you. You’ll be surprised at the new insights you can gain by exploring new experiences.
  • Play As children, we expressed our creativity by playing. Playing games in the office, where appropriate, can stimulate fresh thinking, foster team relationships, and up innovation. If you’re focusing on a task, pop in some earphones and play soft background music or ambient sounds. Research has found that this helps to stimulate our imagination which is a key component in the creative process.
  • Think in opposites Creativity is about exploring the unexpected. Change the order of how you see and do things at work: start a meeting from the end of the agenda; present from the back of the boardroom; send an email with a few answers before asking the questions.
  • Laugh Humour can inspire creativity at work. A jovial discussion and a playful environment can encourage people to come up with unconventional solutions to problems and alleviate day-to-day stress. 

Challenge yourself to think out-of-the-box this week. This will help to inspire you to see things in a new light and the possibilities that come with this are endless. It may also motivate your colleagues to be more creative too. Let us know what creative techniques work for you by sharing it with us on Facebook, Twitter, or via Email.

Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Tips, Tricks and Tales: Using Mindmaps

To be honest I am not a plotter, but a pantser. I have tried plotting and for some reason my characters will always do what they want and never as I planned the story. So if you are a pantser like me, there is a tool that can help you to give some structure to a story - even if you let your characters make their own choices and mistakes. It is called a Mindmap.
The funny thing is that even if you are a plotter (and actually manage to control your whole story universe) this tool can also be useful to you.
There are software packages out there that you can buy, and then there are free options too. Check out the best options for your pocket and application.
Mind maps are exactly that. Mapping of a problem or a solution or a process that helps you think about it, and change it according to a set or rules (or not!) that you define.
And it has an infinite number of applications, even if you are not a writer at all!

Let's look at the example below:

Since I write mostly romance, what you see here is a basic starting point for a romance story. The details are not limited to a certain type of romance sub-genre, and you can adapt and change as your story moves along. Even if your characters make unexpected choices, you can then map possible outcomes and decide from there which one would suit your story or characters the best.
This is especially useful if the story is part of a series, and you need to keep in line with the overall plot of your series.
You will notice mapping of some background details - like the place and time to help you keep track of those. But the basic idea is simple: whether you are a plotter or a pantser, here is a tool that could help you in writing the story you have always wanted!

Do you use mind maps? How do they work for you?

I'm back! CreativeLife updates since my break

Hey there fellow creative! Taking breaks are necessary for all of us, and we shouldn't forget that as creatives we need to do the same. ...