Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 130
June 15, 2011
This sniffle better not turn into a cold...
1. James Fouche is extremely sorry to say he will not be able to attend The Short Story Day South event in Mossel Bay. 2. Diaz Bookshop, where James is no longer speaking, is sorry to say they will no longer be serving free tea, but attendees are welcome to buy coffee and cake for R20. 3. However, you could win enough money for 500 rounds of coffee and cake if you enter the Book Live / Short Story Day South uber flash fiction contest. The rules are HERE the place to post your story is HERE. 4. I always...
June 13, 2011
This Way Up by Paige Nick
I read This Way Up by Paige Nick in one night. Husband wanted to go to sleep, so I promised I'd be oh so quiet and read by head torch so not to disturb, because I was NOT going to put the book down. Well, I did read the final third by torch light. I did not, however, remain oh so quiet. I laughed so LOUDLY! Which should not have been a surprise since that is what I had been doing for the first 2/3rds of the book. Laughed, and laughed and laughed...and you all know from my previous posts...
If everybody jumped off a bridge...
It may have been the weekend, but writers never stop. Consequently my inbox received a call for volunteers to take part in a chain story. Given I'm asking the youth of Mossel Bay to do the same, I didn't feel I could say no. The rules appeared simple. Each writer takes a paragraph (rather than a single line, because we are older than six). 'Okay,' I thought, 'I can do that.' However, there was a catch: each paragraph had to be in a different genre. 'Ach!' Genre fiction takes a special knack. Nor does genre fiction necessarily mean light. Lauren...
June 12, 2011
My young fans are getting restless...
Actually, I'd never let somebody so young read what I write. Nor do these kids think I'm good for much other than bouncing a ball or tying shoelaces. But there we are. The kids want to see their work on the internet. I've struck a compromise. Thus, if you would like to read the first of 4 (?) of Mossel Bay's Grade 1 chain stories please click here.
June 10, 2011
It puts the mini-fridge in perspective
Yesterday I was given a step by step tutorial on how to make traditional South African beer. This explanation came with exact locations of where to locate the necessary ingredients at the local shop, should I ever wish to give it at try. (Um, have you noticed how rarely I bake????) The process takes days. It is highly laborious even in the best conditions. These are not the best conditions. Mossel Bay was hit so hard by this last storm that the dam is overflowing, parts of the outlining areas have been evacuated and houses that 'never leak' were leaking....
June 9, 2011
And we wonder why they don't read. . .
1. Due to scheduling difficulties the children in Grade 1 are doing their chain stories in between National Assessments, rather than as a fun hour. 2. From my son's school diary, it appears that theses assessments take up about two weeks of every term. 3. There are four terms. 4. Which means eight weeks of a six to seven year old's life is spent taking exams rather than learning. 5. In the meantime the children are being taught to read using dreadfully boring books. 6. I have three out of the four chain stories the children have made. 7. They...
June 6, 2011
Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart by Finuala Dowling
I am going to come out and say it, I am very bummed that Dowling's character Zoe did not, indeed, pen a book called Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart. The fictitious 'how-to' guide for the SAHM sounds exactly like my cup of tea. Damn. That said, Dowling's actual book Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart IS a brilliant read. I know so many women both young and old, that would adore this book, and good handful of men, too. I have said in regards to Dowling's other two novels that they are writers' reads. But this book, with no sacrifice to the prose,...
June 5, 2011
The gift that keeps on giving...
My 10 year anniversary of holy matrimony is coming up. Husband was rather romantic and gave me a ring on our 10 year anniversary of being legally hitched. (This was cheating! We never give gifts on this day.) He is now plotting for the other and I've been consumed with a lot of guilt because I had no romantic gift planned. He simply isn't the type of person for whom traditionally romantic gifts are actually romantic. I bought him a box of Lego once and he practically swooned. On our first HM anniversary I bought him a special thermos from...
A First!
Oh my stars, do I need some sleep and it is all Finuala Dowling and Paige Nick's fault. I shall be telling you more about their evil deeds in the next few weeks; but, suffice to say, they've both written some very good books. Then, after rollerblading today, I got a message from Andie Miller to tune in on SAfm at around 3ish. I used to listen to the radio all the time, but confess to have fallen out of the habit. So I found Husband and asked him to tune the sucker for me and sat down with a...
June 3, 2011
My husband is my rock, but...
My husband is my rock. But also, without a doubt, it's my critique partners that keep me going. Quote from Erin Kellison on Writing and Support Link sent to me from my writting bff.
