Nerine Dorman's Blog, page 71

Your novel is not a hot potato

I read many stories every year. I don't know how many... short stories, novellas, novels. It's one of the hazards of an editor's calling in life. (And it *is* a calling.) I'm always intrigued and excited when I get a whiff that there might be an absolutely fantastic fresh voice to be discovered. From time to time, my Spidey senses tingle and I *do* find a story that absolutely hits the mark. It's really exciting gaining validation for that inbox "A-ha" moment.

As an editor, I rely on my instinct when reading a manuscript. Sometimes I pull authors out of the slush pile that need just a little bit of tweaking, but they've got what I've termed that mystical "X-factor". A little bit of nudging, tweaking and pruning where necessary, and I sit back and watch as they go out there with so much more confidence. They get agents. They get published.


But by the same measure, I can assess a manuscript and immediately tell when an author really needs to take a little more time to hone their craft. Often it's not any one issue but a conglomerate of niggles, which all contribute to why an editor or agent will pass on a submission with a polite but soulless form rejection.

The horrible thing is, it's often not something that can be fixed overnight, and there's some truth to the saying that you've got to write a million really godawful shite words before you turn out something that's good enough. (A hint: an editor can't accimagically *fix* your book, but she can equip you with the toolkit so you yourself can become a better writer.)

The problem with publishing nowadays is that it's too goddamned easy to get published. Authors churn out something that really isn't ready and with a little bit of effort (or not), either self-publish or get published by some teeny-tiny small press that barely knows what it's doing. And so the steaming pile of godawful numbers of not-so-fab reading matter clutters Amazon and other vendors.

Readers aren't stupid.

Okay, granted, we'd like to think they are when we look at some of the five-star reviews some totally dubious titles get, but who're you kidding? No, really. Be honest with yourself. That last book you wrote and published with [insert name of a small press you don't want to mention] ... was it all really that good?

Were you in a hurry to get that story on vendors' shelves? Maybe the ending was weak. Maybe your dialogue was stilted. Oh, haai, the pacing was completely borked, and you rushed the ending. Too much exposition bogging down the narrative? Were you padding words just to hit that wonderful 95k words so you could make the submission guidelines?

Are you in love with the sound of your own voice?

So, here's the deal. Spend time (a year maybe) playing with your fiction. Try out different ideas. Don't rush into publication just yet. You can still build a readership, but you're going to mess around a bit. Have fun. Learn stuff. Experiment. Get that thinly veiled Thor-and-Loki slashfic out of your system.

Write fanfiction.
Yes. Just said that. Why? Because you're going to muck around with some of those story ideas that are just wannabe Harry Potter or Star Wars. They will be like a bad rash that has run its course and won't make your fresh projects break out in hives. Plus you'll get to meet other writers who'll deliver critique. And it's FUN!

Join an online critique group.
I spent three years actively critiquing and being critiqued on Critters.org before I sold my first novel and short story. I liken this time to the amount of effort some people spend studying a BA in languages. I often learnt more from other people's gremlins than what was said about my own writing.

Start your own writers' group.
It's not as difficult as it sounds. There wasn't a SFF/H writers' group in Cape Town so I started one with a bunch of people I found via the newspapers and the internet. We've been going for almost a decade and still meet monthly. We've become a faboo bunch of friends who're supportive yet deliver critique where it's needed. IOW, we're not back-patters either (and I've seen how little back-patting achieves).

Write flash fiction. 
Apart from writing fanfics, flash fics are another way for you to get that instant gratification thing going. Go check out Friday Flash. If I had more time on my hand I'd definitely participate every week. The totally awesome thing about writing flash fics is that the form teaches you to communicate concisely. Sometimes you really need to strip your writing down to the bare basics of storytelling, and I can't even begin to elaborate how incredibly helpful this was to me.

Then consider serial fiction.
You reckon you got that Friday Flash thing pegged? Then consider Tuesday Serial for shits and giggles. Use your blog as a platform. Try writing that novella you've been threatening your mother-in-law with.

Okay, so that's five different activities that you can engage in that will really bring your writing to life. Though writing is a solitary pursuit, you don't create in a vacuum. Sometimes I get together with some of my writing buddies at my house. We all bring our laptops and lots of unhealthy things to eat cupcakes. We make tea and coffee, and we write. That's it. We write. Or we whiteboard story points that are not working for us. It's rewarding and sometimes provides that little bump we need to push ourselves that little bit harder.

Take your time to make good art too. The publishing industry's wheels turn slowly. I can promise you it's still going to be there tomorrow, in one form or another. Writing novels is not about winning a race as fast as possible. Your book is not burning a hole in your hard drive.

Most importantly, I'm going to leave you with the tree most important words Neil Gaiman ever said: "Make good art."


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Call for Submissions: Guns and Romances

Cool stuff happens when Carrie and I put our heads together. One of us might have a wisp of an idea then the other encourages her. And it's kinda like an authorly game of ideas tennis that steadily gets completely out of hand.

That's how we started writing together, and ended up with projects like Just My Blood Type and Blood and Fire , with our #3 currently on its way (not quite like being pregnant but let's leave those analogies for now, okay?)


Of course we also love making work for ourselves (but it's fun) and this idea was simply too filled with awesomesauce for us to ignore it. I'm sharing the editor's mantel with Carrie to bring out an anthology (or two) themed along the lines of Guns and Romances. The submission guidelines are here .

Essentially, give us two characters interacting, flavoured with guns and music, and you'll have us by the short and curlies. Can be noir, SF, werewolves, vampires, weird... Doesn't matter. You gotta blend those three elements.

As for what we *don't* want to see, Carrie says: "Submissions that do not have the three requested elements: guns, music and not necessarily romance, but some sort of interaction to excite the reader. This is the most important thing I look for first. It's what I'm asking for. Give it to me. Very poorly polished work, as in first-draft quality. I need to be able to read the submission without stumbling over a million typos. All-out pornography for no particular reason. Needless violence intended to shock me, because it's not going to."

I'll echo that but add that I don't want to see thinly veiled fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off. If you absolutely *must* give us zombies, please find some way to put your stamp of individuality on it. Ditto for the vampires, angels and [insert currently trending supernatural entity here].

As for what we WANT to see, Carrie adds: "I love short stories. I adore being given the opportunity to read these little beauties and possibly include them in this anthology. I know what I'm looking for. Now I'm just waiting for the stories that have it."

My thoughts? Give me something that's going to excite me. A hint, I adore the hell out of Neil Gaiman's Sandman universe. Storm Constantine is another of my literary idols, and I have a soft, very rotten spot for vintage Poppy Z Brite. I love dark fantasy that does the unexpected, like Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series or evil authors like GRRM who break my heart. I love stories that evoke the senses and subvert my loyalties. Make me laugh with twisted, snarky black humour and I will adore you as well. Extra Nerine points if you can mash together two contradictory ideas and somehow give the hybrid beast wings.

Movie Night: Thor #1 and Fright Night 2: New Blood

The husband thing and I took Friday night off with some mindless entertainment, and let me tell you that you don't get more mindless than our two choices: Thor #1 and Fright Night 2: New Blood .

Thor was my choice. I'll admit that I was moved out of pure curiosity because I'd watched The Avengers not so long ago and even though I was dead cold sober found myself incapable of following the plot. My main gripe about The Avengers was that it suffered from what I term as "Too Much Awesome" (iow too many Mary Sue and Marty Stu characters).

So in essence, lots of loud explosions, wholesale destruction, and folks posing in cool costumes, with very little work done with story telling and actual character development (because of course we don't need any of that stuff when we have thousands of dollars to blow on CGI). I got about 10 minutes into The Avengers and realised I had absolutely no idea what was happening or even *why* characters were behaving in a certain way.

(Yes, looking at you, Loki. There are easier ways to sow discord than allowing yourself to be captured.)

But getting back to Thor. My final verdict is that Kenneth Branagh held it together remarkably well with a rubbish script. And seeing the arrogant little shit Thor getting hit by a car not once but twice really warmed my heart. I even giggled.

Loki, however, despite the fact that
And Odin supposedly just slipping off into a too-convenient coma for now apparent reason that's ever properly explained? Or the fact that there are apparently other ways in or out of Asgard but there's that big fuss at the end when they destroy Bifrost? Oh, and that rather literal deus ex machina. Why do I get the idea the writers had no idea how to save that scene?

Ag jawellnofine. Don't mind me getting my knickers in a twist. My inner editor is having conniption fits at this point. Thor was still better than enduring some dumbass romcom or being forced to watch cricket.

People, this is why I get agitated when I hear they're probably going to violate adapt The Sandman for screen.

Now, onto Fright Night 2: New Blood. Basically, they took the exact same plot as the first reboot starring the rather delicious
(The reboot of the first movie was totally stupidly awesome B-grade horror pulp, loads of fun to watch.)

Then they take the myth of Elizabeth Bathory, and they completely ham it up with some sort of bizarre prophecy involving sacrifice of virgin blood. Then throw in more improbable character motivation and behaviour than you can shake a stick at...

Sorry... I was too busy ogling Jaime and thinking about which characters I'd like to cast her as in my novels.

So, if you like the idea of watching a naked and absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Jaime bathing in blood and biting people, you can't go wrong with this film. But not much else goes right with it. The husband thing says that the set dressing and cinematography is good, so yes, this is a pretty film. But as for the rest... It's pretty awful and you might want to gouge your eyes out at the end for some of the illogical, senseless twists.

Six of the Best with David Youngquist, and the release of Black Jack

For those of you who don't know, David Younquist is one of the masterminds behind Dark Continents Publishing, but he's also an author, and he's got many stories to tell. Earlier this year I worked with him on Black Jack, a novel he's had sitting on the backburner for a while. I loved working on the novel with him because it's one of those solid, dependable fantasies that whisk you away to another world – and literally so, if your name is Jack. ;-)

So, David, tell us a little more about Black Jack. You've taken one of the classic fantasy tropes: a human finds his way into a world of magic. What fresh spin did you put on your setting.

I've tried to do a few new things with Gwennolin. I've always been fascinated by the thought of different dimensions of reality side by side. Gwennolin is kind of one step to the side of ours. It's a world where magic rather than science reigns. That's not really so different. What is different is that the magic itself has affected the humans that step over from our side. The Alshura, the river of magic that flows through Gwennolin can be tapped by mages. I also froze time in the Medieval time frame. Also not really different, but the residents of the world come in all shapes and sizes. Not only did I make the humans kind of a UN of the world, with white Europeans, Spaniards, Africans and American First Nations people with their traditions and customs, but I threw in every mythical creature I could find. And of course Jack's new kingdom of cat people. I also had a little fun with Illinois politics by including King Richard and his consort Prince Rod.

Earthlings (human and animal) who find their way into your setting gradually either get animal or human features the longer they stay in the world. Are these at all related to their inner natures? 

Definitely. As Tabby explains, she was a hunter. She enjoyed her sexuality. She was independent when she came to Gwennolin. The magic gave her some more feline traits to go with her personality. Mare, Jack's horse becomes much more human. I've always believed horses have souls. The fact she becomes a great archer and fighters goes back to the Sagittarian mythos. Jack becoming more mountain lion relates to the type of businessman he was, and the fact he was also a hunter. So, yes, the magic taps into your personality and shapes you accordingly.

Every tale has a story seed. What was the story seed for Black Jack? 

I think the original seed was planted years ago when I was going through a rough patch. I woke up after a blackout drunk under a tombstone topped by a life-sized weeping angel. Through my hangover, the idea kind of germinated with some of the fantasy novels I'd read over the years. I stumbled out of the cemetery and the thought hit me what would happen if you woke up in a truly alien landscape. So through liberal overuse of alcohol, the seed for Gwennolin and Jack was planted.

Which was the most difficult scene to write (without giving spoilers)?

The scene directly at the end of the final battle. It took me the better part of two weeks to write that. Close on the heels of that would be the argument between Jack and Tabby. Also took me a number of days to write that one as well.

And your favourite scene (also without giving spoilers)?

Boy, this is a tough one. It's a toss-up between two. The final, epic battle was the first battle scene where I was able to create an entire battle, with troop movements of my own, weapons used and units of knights, commoners and mounted cavalry. When I wrote Out of Sync it was the culmination of about two years research into the Battle of the Little Bighorn. I had an epic battle two historically recreate with some variances, but mostly had to stick with the historical record. Again, a great battle, but very confining. With Snareville , it's kind of many little fights, with maybe one or two bigger battles, but fights were one sided. Zombies don't shoot back. With this final battle in Black Jack, it starts out rather quiet, and then just explodes into all out violence. Typical of most big battles anyway.

My other favorite scene is when Jack has a sit down with the vampire lord Al Capone. It is so much part of this reality, with the office, a desk, and a man in a well-made suit, until you realize a vampire is having a discussion with a feline (mountain lion) male about how they can make the problems between them go away. The talks devolve when Jack reveals that Capone's men had killed his grandfather, who had been a hitman for the Irish mob. Again, a nice, quiet, tense scene that devolves into utter violence from one heartbeat to the next.

Who do you think the novel will appeal to? You've got exactly 16 words to sell the novel to this person, GO!

Mix Harry Potter with Harry Dresden with a dash of Piers Anthony. Enjoy.

Now go feed your Kindle...

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell #review

Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Author: Susanna Clarke
Publisher: Tor, 2006

I admit I struggled initially with this book, and it had a false start the first time I tried to read it. I'm glad I gave it that second shot and persevered until the end. The first thing that strikes me is that Susanna Clarke is a keen observer of people's natures. With minimal brushstrokes she's able to capture the essence of a character's personality.

Not just that, but she effortlessly subverts history. The tale is long and winding, and although slow-moving it's the smaller story arcs that provide some of the best entertainment.

Superficially the novel is about the tensions between Mr Norrell, who's a by-the-book kind of magician who's convinced that none but he is qualified to study and practice magic. He is aided by his servant Childermass, who's a dab hand at reading cards.

Jonathan Strange enters the picture almost quite by accident, but he's quite the opposite of his counterpart, Norrell. Since he must do without bookish learning, he sets about *doing* magic and learning that way.

At first Strange is the student of Norrell, but predictably this relationship sours. Added to the mix is an ancient and malevolent fairy (the gentleman with the thistledown hair) who causes much chaos.

Magic has returned to England, but its arrival won't be without incident.

This is a beautiful Gothic novel, much in the same vein as Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. If you're not used to the style of writing, there's a chance you're going to struggle, but please, please do try. This is an epic, lush tale, filled with many ironies and plenty of little surprises that are bound to make you smile.

Prince Thief: From the Tales of Easie Damasco (Tales of Easie Damasco #3) #review

Title: Prince Thief: From the Tales of Easie Damasco 
Series: Tales of Easie Damasco #3
Author: David Tallerman
Publisher: Angry Robot, 2013

I’m always a bit leery of jumping into a series when it’s a few books in, so I will admit to needing a bit of time to adjust to the story and its host of characters who have already shared considerable backstory. I’m glad I persevered. David Tallerman has an easy, and broadly entertaining style that drew me into his world.
From what I can gather, Easie Damasco has made it a habit to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now he has fallen in with the ringleaders of a rebellion, and the city of Altapasaeda is besieged by the king of Castoval. Things are not looking good, and that’s putting it mildly.

Easie finds himself cast in a pivotal role to steal the Shoanish prince, a miserable youth by the name of Malekrin, from under the nose of his battleaxe mother’s nose, and bring him back to Altapasaeda. The reason: Malekrin is the bastard grandson of the king, and it’s hoped that the lad, who’s pretty much the leader of the rebel nation, will be able to turn the tide in the city’s favour.
Well, that’s the theory, at least.

Things rarely go smoothly for Easie, however, as he and his giant friend Saltlick, embark on their desperate quest.

I will totally recommend reading the books in order. I view myself as a savvy reader, so I don’t mind not knowing all the missing details, but I suspect that I missed a lot, especially the history between secondary characters Alvantes and Estrada.

Easie Damasco is likeable. Insanely so. He’s not the most adept thief in world, and his smart mouth tends to run away with him (I can compare him favourably to a roguish, slightly toned down Captain Sparrow-type character). What’s refreshing about this novel is he’s not the hero of the story. His activities don’t shake the world, but his actions are lynchpins that set the bigger events in motion, and that I appreciate. It makes a refreshing change from following around a mage or a prince.

Mostly, he’s a person. He sees the events that transpire around him from the perspective of an ordinary person. The ugly realities of war are brought home. There is no glory in death dealing. People get hurt. People are maimed. People die. They hunger, and don’t have securities for the future.

What shone through for me mostly was Tallerman’s exploration of the nature of friendship, and if I have to look for a theme that underpins Prince Thief, it’s just that: how we relate to friends. Easie realises that it’s not just every man for himself, but he’s defined also by his relationships with the people around him.

This is a fantastic story for its realism. The tale might not tie up conveniently, or with huge epic fanfare, but it *feels* authentic, and that’s what counts. Lovely characterisation, awesome dialogue and an overall solid fantasy read.

Oh, yes. And giants. Believable ones.

The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant #review

Title: The Story of Philosophy
Author: Will Durant
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1933

I’ll start by saying I own a (very) battered copy of the 1933 edition of The Story of Philosophy that my husband has been trying to get me to read ever since we got married. A little digging tells me that Will Durant and his wife were rather prolific, and I’m curious to give a stab at the epic The Story of Civilization. But that’s for another time. At any rate, what’s abundantly clear is that the Durants had an abiding love of history and learning, and for this incredible legacy they have given us I’m eternally grateful.

Now for a little trivia: according to Wikipedia, The Story of Philosophy started out as a series of Little Blue Books (basically education pamphlets geared toward the working class) and they went down such a treat that Simon & Schuster published them as The Story of Philosophy in 1926, which became a bestseller.

Durant went from being a starving writer to a wealthy man, and could spend much time travelling the world – I think a dream all of us would share.

Now back to The Story of Philosophy. The book itself profiles nine Western philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Two final chapters offer an overview of prominent European and American philosophers. Within this hefty tome, Durant first details the lives, history and background of the philosophers being discussed, then he segues into an examination of their work. What I enjoyed was that he gives both the pros and the cons, and also compares their thoughts to contemporaries and those who went before.

Philosophy itself is such a vast topic to try to cover, and Durant merely skims the surface, but if you’re absolutely clueless, like me, then you’ll appreciate a starting point that at the very least lays down a skeleton upon which to embroider. The Story of Philosophy is very Eurocentric. There’s no getting away from that. And though I don’t know enough yet to point out the holes, I can sense they’re there.

I loved seeing how the Greek philosophers built on each other’s viewpoints, and how the seeds of modern thought were sown from Socrates through to Plato and Aristotle. Spinoza is one I’d love to dip into again, as is Voltaire, though I do admit that I struggled with the chapters on Kant and Schopenhauer. Nietzsche deserves a volume all of his own, but his fire is inspiring. Another philosopher mentioned in the American chapters that I’d like to look into is George Santayana, who straddled Old and New World thinking.

I’d dearly love to say more but I admit freely that my mind is very much still like a leaky sieve when it comes to retaining the mechanics of the various philosophies. This I hope to remedy by focusing on the various areas in further reading. What I gained overall here was that bigger picture I needed to have in my head, which up until now was missing. Durant offers a good starting point. Yes, this book misses a lot, but I think it would dovetail nicely with others, especially as I continue my exploration. My next big read will be Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy, which I suspect might supplement nicely. In the meanwhile, I’ve laid my hands on The Greek Philosophers by Rex Warner.

Announcing The Sea's line-up of stellar names

Okay, so a while ago some of you might've been paying attention to a call for submissions I ran via Dark Continents Publishing for an anthology of SFF/H stories themed around the sea. Today I can happily share the final line-up for The Sea, to be published through Dark Continents Publishing early next year.

Alex Hughes
Amy Burgess
Andrea Jones
Anna Reith
Barry King
Benjamin Knox
Camille Griep
Diane Awerbuck
Don Webb
JC Piech
Martin Rose
Patrick O'Neill
Rob Porteous
SA Partridge
Simon Dewar
Steve Jones
Toby Bennett
Wayne Goodchild

What I love about the selection of authors collected here is that we have such a wide range of tales. Some mystical, others downright chilly or with the inevitable Lovecraftian references one would expect.

If you want to keep up to speed with further announcements, feel free to stalk me on Twitter. I am guaranteed to provide plenty of free entertainment, especially when I'm on deadline.

The other dead horse

This horse is so dead the flies have stopped laying eggs on it.  I’m so tired of this old story I don’t really want to talk about but it has to be said again. Because I have to get it off my chest. Who knows, in a year or two you might see a variation on this theme here again.

There is a perception in certain circles of the media that if you’re self- or small/independent press published that your writing is automatically substandard. I have encountered newspaper editors and journalists who tell me to my face that “Oh, your book isn’t a real book”. Why? Just because it’s epublished on Kindle and Smashwords and you can print on demand via a platform like CreateSpace or Lightning Source now suddenly this is not a real book?

No. Really. (Notwithstanding that a quality author-published title has probably undergone similar hours and hours of editing, proofing and layout.)

I need to digress slightly to make a point. I review books for the newspapers, as well as on my blog and on Goodreads and Amazon. I read about 80 to 100 books a year. I make a point of reading an even split of author-, small press- and traditionally published books.

And let me tell you something… I am often gobsmacked by the utter dreck brought out by some of the bigger houses. Stuff that wouldn’t fly with a small press or a particular respected indie author gets thousands of dollars thrown at it by a large house. This gets sold in national retailers. People buy it and read it because it’s *there*. It gets written about and featured on TV programmes and then generates even more hype, while other, worthy projects are sidelined without a cursory glance.

I love books. I don’t care *how* they’re created. If the story resonates with me, I’ll read it and absolutely adore the hell out of it and give it lots of love on social media. To have literati snobs slant the media against those who’re genuinely passionate about writing, so much so that they’ll go through the pain and anguish of doing it themselves. That just makes me sad.

That’s not saying that all people *should* be publishing their stories, because, let’s face, not everyone writes deathless prose. And some of them probably *do* need a bit more polish. But FFS don’t tar and feather every author- or small press-published book with the same brush.

Now listen here, what I’m going to say here is very important. There is a time and place for each model of publishing. Sometimes your writing will only have appeal to a small, niche readership. Then, by all means, self-publish. Or allow a small press that’s geared toward your particular brand of writing publish you (for instance, fantasy fiction with a GLBTI theme). That being said, the traditional houses also have something to offer, and there is NOTHING WRONG with being traditionally published. They have amazing resources at hand and I'd jump at the opportunity if and when it presents itself.

But for the love of Dog, don’t discriminate.

There is no pleasing all the readers all of the time.

The book you’re reading won’t appeal to everyone, and that makes it no better or no worse than any other. If you want to find out whether a particular book is good, go read the reviews. Sites like Goodreads and Amazon will offer a wealth of opinions. Then go make up your mind yourself.
And you know what, if boinkfests involving velociraptors are your thing, then you should have all the rights in the world to buy and read as much of it as you want.

So long as you don’t tell me to stop reading about androgynous bisexual boy vamps, elves or shape-shifting telepathic dragons.

What’s African anyway?

I said to myself that I was going to keep my mouth shut about this. Really. Because this old argument has been doing the rounds in my immediate writerly circles for ages now. But some stuff’s been said by folks in the media recently that picked open the scabs, so I’m going to have my say and then be done with it. I'm also glad that I've waited a week to calm the hell down before posting this (and removing all the F-bombs).

Firstly, there’s the notion of what constitutes being African, and writing African issues. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that all people who reside in Africa, or who were born here, should have a voice. But … And here’s the really big BUT. This voice should be inclusive.

We need to ask ourselves why many South African fantasy, horror and SF writers look to getting published overseas rather than locally. Oh, it’s never said out in the open, but I’ve – excuse the colloquialism – picked up enough stompies. (Reading between the lines, for you folks overseas.) We have a wealth of amazing talent in this country, and what’s being done to develop it? Not much.

Oh, you’re not literary enough.

You’re not writing about “African” issues.

Your ancestors were not born in Africa.

You are not African enough.

Major awards or grants go to writers who create the “right” kind of “African” fiction or poetry. So, what’s going to happen to South Africa’s answer to JRR Tolkien, Stephen King or Ray Bradbury? Not much. Their voices will go unheard because they do not validate a common stereotypical perception of “Africa”. This is discrimination. Plain and simple. You can try dress it up in platitudes about how we need to uplift blah, blah, blah, but it doesn’t change the facts. I see this in other art forms too, particularly the film industry. It makes me tired.

Culturally I'm Afrikaans. When I was a teenager, I was so ashamed of my culture and race back in the 1990s I stopped writing and reading in my mother tongue or discussing "local" issues in my fiction. I looked to the worlds created by Anne McCaffrey, JRR Tolkien, Kate Elliot and CJ Cherryh for inspiration. Which is possibly now why I write mainly SFF/H. I often feel my writing is socially unacceptable here because I choose to write SFF/H. But, get this. (It gets even better.) When I submit to overseas houses, I have my stories rejected because they are not “recognisably African”. When you say you are an African writer, there are certain expectations of your art, and you need to play along and conform to a particular vision of what is African – according to the lens presented by the world.

What makes my experience of being African any less valid than that of a farmer’s daughter in the Northern Cape or a retired security guard living in a township?

But jawellnofine. I'll leave you with that. I'm going to continue doing my thing, and I'll continue cheering on some of my mates who've broken into the overseas market because hey, that's awesome. You go. Do your thing. I'm not going to stop trying.
All I ask is that you think about what it means to be African, and how we are moving into a world where borders are blurring, and cultural identity is moving from local to global. Africa is more than thorn trees in the Serengeti. It's more than South Africa's apartheid past or the depredations of colonialism. We need to move beyond that.