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Week in the life…3

This week’s snippets from my day, writing, editing and working my way through creating my stories and books to be published on various platforms.

Not much talking happening but loads of writing!

Happy about that.

Cheers!

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Introduction: Lowveld Shadows by Anne C. West (Rangers of Inyanga) Book 1

My dearest readers

The 1st episode in my new romance will go live on Saturdays.

The 1st 2 chapters will be free and after that it will be part of the Book 1 of the Rangers of Inyanga subscription tier on Ream or on the Rangers of Inyanga subscription right here on my website.

Since this book is unedited with basic spelling and grammar checking done, you as readers are welcome to highlight any problems you have with character development, plot holes, etc. I appreciate every comment and opinion.

If you’re the reader of suspenseful romance, this book is for you.

Below is the blurb, also a work in progress. Let me know what you think.

Cheers!

***

When Alex, a battle-hardened game ranger haunted by his past, uncovers evidence of a ruthless poaching ring, his only focus is justice for the wildlife he’s sworn to protect. 

But when Emily, an ambitious wildlife photographer, inadvertently captures the poachers in action, she becomes an unexpected ally—and a target. 

Forced to work together, their clashing methods spark tension, but their shared passion ignites something deeper. 

As the stakes rise and danger closes in, Alex and Emily must risk everything to save the wilderness they love—and each other.

Tropes:

  • Enemies to Lovers
  • Grumpy/Sunshine Dynamic
  • Forced Proximity
  • Opposites Attract

Other tropes I played with in this story is:

  • Rescue Romance
  • High-stakes adventure
  • Forbidden romance
  • Hero with a tragic past
  • Damsel in distress
  • Action packed romance
  • Partners in crime-solving
  • Slow burn romance
  • Reluctant heroine
  • Life threatening situations
  • Shared purpose
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Introduction: Silver Murder by Anne C. West (Kensington Murder Mysteries) Book 1

Look out for the 1st installments in this 1st book in the Kensington Murder Mysteries.

The next episode will go live every Tuesdays.

The 1st 2 chapters will be free and after that it will be part of the Silver Murder subscription tier on Patreon or on the Kensington Murder Mysteries subscription right here on my website.

Since this book is unedited with basic spelling and grammar checking done, you as readers are welcome to highlight any problems you have with character development, plot holes, etc. I appreciate every comment and opinion.

If you’re the reader of cozies or mysteries, this book is for you.

Below is the blurb, also a work in progress. Let me know what you think.

Cheers!

***

A murder in Kensington, Johannesburg, sets undertaker Agnes Fane on a dangerous path of discovery in Silver Murder, a riveting cozy mystery.

When Camillo Rosser, the local barber, is found dead under bizarre circumstances, the police dismiss it as an unfortunate accident. Agnes isn’t convinced. Why was his body painted silver? What was he hiding? Determined to find answers, Agnes partners with Dr. Reitz, a skeptical but resourceful ally.

Their investigation takes them deep into Johannesburg’s secrets, uncovering a smuggling ring and revealing tensions that Camillo’s charm hid all too well. Each clue Agnes uncovers brings her closer to exposing the truth—but also puts her directly in the killer’s crosshairs.

Will Agnes solve the mystery before it’s too late? Or will the murderer ensure that Camillo’s secrets—and Agnes—are buried for good?

Fans of historical mysteries with intelligent, fearless heroines will fall in love with Silver Murder.

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Behind the Pages: The South African Influence on My Writing PART III


For those unfamiliar, I am a writer from South Africa. Born here and raised here.

Over the course of 5 posts, potentially more, I’ll share about me behind the pages. I will discuss what influenced me as a writer. I will also share how being South African influenced my writing.

New environment, new writer


Under our young democracy, we’ve had a lot more freedom and affluence to grow as people. There are also a lot more opportunities for people to live out their expressions as they choose. An artist can create their own art. Writers can write their own articles and books. Musicians can make their own music. Entrepreneurs can identify a need to fill and continue to make it happen. It obviously allowed for the darker opportunities to flourish as well with tenderpreneurship flourishing, illegal trading in whatever you can imagine flourishing, corruption and fraud blossoming and so on and so forth.

It’s very much like a small child being allowed to explore their environments. The only difference is that the parent figure in our democracy is as corrupt, greedy and dark as the crimes they are trying the convince the world they are banishing. At some stage, our democracy will mature. Every year our society matures and grows a little bit more. More and more people develop the skill to look at what’s happening and add their voice to the right channels that can make the difference or add their weight to the dark underbelly for the fortune they want to make. It’s a fascinating swinging of the pendulum.

I prefer to observe. I don’t agree with any of the sides in the power positions, it’s truly a matter of supporting the lesser of two evils and I just can’t.

As our democracy grew, my confidence as writer grew as well. The two have nothing to do with each other but it’s a great analogy of the growth I’ve undergone to get to this point where I can, at least in a blogpost, admit that I am a writer.

  • I’ve struggled to let go of the shame of being outside the box.
  • I’ve struggled to admit that I prefer to colour outside the lines.
  • I’ve had one hell of a time to realise that my skill is weaving with words, not academics, though I tried, not corporate, though I love the power dynamics in corporate, not domestic life, though I threw myself into homeschooling my sons.

All in all, this has been my necessary journey to become the writer I am developing into.

Anne, the writer

I have so much to learn as a writer. You have no idea. Least of all is my actual writer’s voice, but that’s why I am here now. And that’s why you as the reader are here.

In the following post, I will get back to the purpose of this series.

**I promised myself to keep blog posts to no more than 500 words so I’ll end this post here.

Thanks for reading. Look out for the next post in this series where I’ll go into a little bit more detail about my writing

Cheers!

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