AtoZ Blog Challenge: V is for VACILLATE

What is a mind if you cannot change it? A butcher. A baker. A candlestick maker? An engineer or an architect? With every character I write, I epitomize the very core of it. Today a construction worker, tomorrow a pilot. Am I constantly changing my mind? Of course I do.
Step into my office and take up the mantle and listen to the voices that are crying out - I am the creator of worlds, the destroyer of galaxies, the cupid of all the happily-ever-afters.
See me: the lover, the conqueror, the hero, the weaver of tales dark and desirable - I am the writer...and you better start running!

AtoZ Blog Challenge: U is for USEFUL Links

I might have mentioned this before, so please forgive me rehashing this one :)

I am in the process of developing a course for indie authors to help them learn about all things indie - except the writing itself. With many creative writing courses out there, and good ones too, there is no need for me to reinvent the wheel. Developing a course takes a lot of time and research to ensure that the information shared is not only relevant, but actually useful to the student.

Here are some of the useful links that I found and will be sharing and/or using in my course.

Time Management

Marketing information

What it means to be a writer
Writing Advice

If you found a blog or website particularly useful, why not add it in the comments, then I can look into including it in my course to share it with all the students - thank you!

AtoZ Blog Challenge: T is for TWITTER

As the end of April approaches, I find myself “all a freakin' twitter” with nervous energy. The publication date of our group's anthology is coming closer with the speed of white light. At least that is what it feels like.

Was it only yesterday that I came up with the idea? Time certainly flew by and very soon our stories will be out there for people to read and hopefully enjoy. Of course there is printing to arrange for the paperbacks and a venue to finalise for the launch and hours of marketing still ahead.

But being the kind of person I am, I have already been looking towards the future. What will be in stall for the Pretoria Writers' Group in 2015? Another anthology? Maybe a series? Who knows.

There are baby plans in the making (for some members), work issues for others and then there are the invariable normal life issues that crop up. As always we each decide our priorities and devote our scarcest resource, time, accordingly.

On that note maybe T should have been for Time,  Touchdown or Transmogrified instead :)

AtoZ Blog Challenge: S is for STORM

A storm? It is the theme for our writers' group's upcoming short story anthology. Instead of blabbering about it, yet again, this post is a teaser for the interviews of my fellow authors in the project.

Mark those days on your calender, because there is a storm coming, and nothing will be the same again!

3 May - Interview Richard T Wheeler
4 May - Cover reveal STORM Volume I
5 May - Cover reveal STORM Volume II
6 May - Interview Carmen Botman 
11 to 24 May - Blog tour (host blogs promoted)
4 June - Interview Charmain Lines
7 June - Interview Natalie Rivener
10 June - Interview Vanessa Wright

Both Volumes will be published on Smashwords in ebook formats suitable for all e-readers and mobile devices.

AtoZ Blog Challenge: R is for REVIEWS

Do you love books? Fiction? Non-fiction? Did you know that by leaving a review for the author will not only help the author, but will also tell other readers about the book?
I am guilty of the sin of reading many books but not formally reviewing enough of them. As a published author I need reviews on my books, and have been taking mental notes while reading to do exactly do that more often.
So how do you review a book? Here are a few tips to help you out.
And while I am on the subject - our writers' group anthology will be published in June 2014, and we are asking for 50 people to volunteer to review for us. We have had people already asking for the ARC (advance review copy) but there are more copies available. Please let me know if you are interested. You can read more about the anthology and how to contact us here.

AtoZ Blog Challenge: Q is for QUESTIONS

Linzé holding katana

I have blabbered a lot about me and things that I like to do in this April Challenge, but for the letter Q you might like to ask other things.

But be warned – I am going to ask right back! ;)

AtoZ Blog Challenge: P is for PLUS 1

On this day, 18 April 2014, I can claim to be married for twenty years, 16 days, and no, I have no idea how many hours. It is actually quite amazing that I had remembered the date for this post. Yep, my husband is the one that remembers dates, I am useless when it comes to these things. I am good with numbers, but not dates.

Hopefully hubby won't mind being a Plus 1 for a few moments, so let me tell you a bit about him. His name is Francois Venter and he is an engineer too. We went to the same high school, but didn't date back then since we are not the same age (I am two years older). We started dating at university and got married in the week that he had a birthday and got his degree – trust me, it was a real busy week that year!

We worked together for the first few years of our marriage, we shared an office with two other engineers, before our careers started diverging. He still works as an engineer, while I branched out into consulting and project management.

His passion is photography, and he is very good. Biased am I? Maybe, but the awards, red ribbons and medals that hang on the walls in my living room, all agree with me on that score. You can see some of his photographs here.

The funniest thing is however the two of us going to the shops, typically on a Friday evening after work, to stock up for the next week. We would traverse the isles - him pushing the trolley, me picking out food – and then we would whine and complain and chat about our workday. I mean who doesn't do that?

The two of us however, talk about weapons and bombs and explosives and firing trials and stuff like that. Since I work in the military industry, and he works at a commercial company that designs and manufactures detonators and blasting equipment for mines, our talks are normal – for us.

For everyone else shopping with us, it might sound like we are planning the end of the world. It is really funny watching people's faces if they overhear our conversations. Of course, we don't talk about classified things – commercial companies have those too – but it remains a treat. We vent on each other's shoulders, and our audience, well, who knows what they are thinking?

Who is going to win the rugby on Saturday? Probably :)