Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 121

Finding my rhythm

Been trying to figure out how to get back into this writing shin-dig. The basic is there: make time, sit down in front of keyboard. Which is all very well and good but then one must write. Temptation is to start spewing on the keyboard, but I tend to start with something. Not exactly an outline, but an idea, feeling or mental snapshots of something intangible that I want to paint into a story. Which I sort of have, but don't (not going to say more, or I'll ruin it for myself). So first, I began blogging. Then today I...

Look - I'm blogging

Hello. It has been awhile. I thought I'd be back by yesterday. But, you see, first I needed to load up all that software for my very cool and very wrist friendly magic touchpad and...it took some time. Then, because I am so woefully out of date, the new software immediately required updating before the touchpad would do anything more than be a one click old fashion mouse. Which is hardly magic. After that (4am this morning, if you are wondering. Yes. Long! Time!) there were the rest of the updates and now...now I think we are done for well...

Orwell

I think 2011 was trying to get a last word in

We're home. After a holiday that involved a fire, two major pipe leaks and a shower that gives you an electric shock when you touch the taps (yes, that would be ME that touched those taps), I can tell you we are safely home now. Not that any of the before mentioned were a big deal. But they make a wonderful entry to a New Year post. Besides, it also illustrates what an interesting time was had by all. Thing 1 is happy to be back, too. He is now 7. The funny thing about him being the second youngest...

Fortunately we only live through 2011 once

Around this time last year I was very optimistic. Not a natural state for me. I had just concluded one of the best Christmases of my life, the writing was flowing, I had numerous plans and ambitions dancing in my head and life looked really stable. A quiet year where I would accomplish so much. The word accomplish can be taken in so many ways. My quiet year ended almost with New Years, as a jaw dropping municipal bill made me reevaluate my current living arrangements. So we bought a house. Moved. And I ended up back in a brace....

My Short Story of the Year

Read so many short stories over the past twelve months. Don't ask me which was the best written. Or most creative. It is the story that stuck inside me, made me gasp and filters into my brain even while pushing a trolley down the grocery story aisle. Trophy* by Beatrice Lamwaka, is my short story read of the year. *Published in The Edge of Things, by Dye Hard Press.

My Novel of the Year

This was not my most voracious year of reading literature. It was also not my best year for great reads. For the first time since I moved to South Africa I found myself yelling, 'Who the hell edited this shit?!!?' There were many books with potential that even editing could not have saved. They were 2nd drafts, an outline of a story that could have been brilliant if only the writer had given it another year of work. Sure, there have been some books I've enjoyed that should have gone another round of the draft process, or needed a better...

My Essay of the Year

Can't claim I read that many essay collections this year. That said, I'd love Andie Miller's Slow Motion anyway. I'm still telling people to go out and buy that book. Such a GOOD BOOK. However, it is Rebecca Milford's Quiet Morsels with My Mum* that keeps popping back into my head. An essay about a problem with no easy answers. An essay that has haunted me because I don't think I'd have the wisdom Milford's mother had. An essay that is not easy to forget. *Published in the memoir collection Wisdom Has a Voice.

African Delights

I was in a book store when I spotted Siphiwo Mahala's collection of short stories African Delights. I make no apology for my addiction when it comes to short stories. So into my hands went the book, despite the fact I was supposed to be buying books for other people. Something about that Christmas spirit and all that. I'm not going to lie, African Delights is out side my normal reading comfort zone. It features a slick man wearing a suit. He's cool. He's got moves. He probably sms's (text) with so many abbreviations and slang I can't even begin...

To be fair, you have to admire the man's honesty

1. I had my writer's party last week. Everyone fawned over me and made such a fuss. People kept trying to help me. It was odd. Not that the world at large hasn't tried to lend me a hand or two. But mostly I've just had to cope and learn to work around it all. To be constantly told, 'Let me get that for you,' was surreal. 2. I am starting a love affair with Spar. Spar, the shop that I can get to despite all the tourists. Spar, whose veg tends to be terrible (thankfully our garden is stepping...