Danie Botha's Blog
December 17, 2018
Dolores
The woman tore from the sidewalk the instant the red hand turned into a white walking figure. Oblivious to the screeching tires and the gentleman, who, a moment before, had her elbow in his hand, she crossed the street, her face radiant. The man careened after her, windmilling his arms. “Dolores!” “You’re too uptight, Honey.” […]
November 26, 2018
Black tie
Dark figures clustered on the playhouse’s stone steps. Men and women in elegant gowns and coats, backs stiff against the wind, surged forward, eager to escape the flakes, the flurries, the white confetti, while gusts twirled left-over leaves around their high heels and Oxford shoes. Fall had plunged the early evening into premature night; each […]
November 15, 2018
Why it’s time to stop saying, “I’m not into fiction.”
My heart always misses a beat when I hear people say: “I don’t read fiction.” It is said by many, writers included, with some disdain and aplomb as if declaring, “I eat all my veggies.” Or better still, “I eat only veggies.” Reading fiction, contrary to popular belief, is not a sign of an immature […]
October 30, 2018
Joy be found
Following the spine of debris- line (time for show and tell: my life) clutching holy hurts to bleeding breast, (each validated, labeled), filed for nocturnal resentment roasts (daily pity-parties) scowling the inces- sant sea erasing each (carefully placed) sand print left upon a wounded world. Startled, stumbled I in shallow surf— these bastardly birds swooped […]
October 20, 2018
7 Reasons to Tickle Readers’ Funny Bones
I grew up with a father who kept reminding us, “Life is not a joke,” whenever the five of us resorted to overt silliness, in his eyes an abomination, in our eyes, a saving grace. Noticing the humorous, the comedic, the lighter side to life, is a gift, an art form that can, with practice, […]
October 5, 2018
Peek inside my new novel, An Unfamiliar Kindness
An Unfamiliar Kindness was launched earlier today, 5 October 2018! Here’s what it’s all about: When the Second Wave Feminism crosses paths with the Troubles . . . Mistaking gratitude for love comes at a price. In 1971, Oxford student Emilee Stephens marches with the just-formed Women’s Liberation Movement. She meets Connor O’Hannigan, an intriguing […]
September 27, 2018
7 Lessons a 106-year old cyclist can teach writers
On February 11, 2018, 106-year-old Robert Marchand, cycled his official four-kilometer “farewell ride” in the Saint Quentin velodrome in Paris. Remarkable, isn’t it? What made it even more memorable was that he declined to sit down after the ride and preferred to stand for almost half an hour while being interviewed by journalists. The holder […]
September 17, 2018
When magnolias bloom
Motionless, like one of her window manikins, she watched the man. He collapsed his strange-looking bicycle and locked it to the single post in front of her shop. The contraption was a cross between an English Greyhound and an anorexic pedal-bike. She sipped her dark brew and shook her head. The poor sod must be […]
August 27, 2018
Peek inside my new novel, An Unfamiliar Kindness
How much does love cost? An Unfamiliar Kindness asks this unanswerable question. Mistaking gratitude for love comes at a price. In 1971, Oxford student Emilee Stephens marches with the just-formed Women’s Liberation Movement. She meets Connor O’Hannigan, an intriguing sympathizer who harbors more secrets than the reason he’s at the march. Despite her friends’ repeated […]
August 22, 2018
A cookie tin with sandwiches
“Timothy, keep your eyes on the road!” Mother’s warning was drowned by the whoosh of gravel whipped up as Father brought old faithful’s swinging tail under control and steered it back onto the tarmac, the eight cylinders roaring in swift response. Father went by Tim. Even Mother called him that. Timothy was reserved for special […]
