I took you along for some of my week.
Cheers!
Category: Random Ramblings
Just some updates about some things, random and relevant, who knows!
Walkabout at the Nirox Foundation Sculpture Garden
**WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY POST**
Hello everybody
A few weeks ago, I shared in my newsletter about the Nirox Foundation Sculpture Garden. We visited it at the beginning of October.
This was a first for me.
We visited a walkabout at Melrose Arch before COVID and it was amazing. Some of my favourite art pics date from that particular walkabout.
Hubby discovered this sculpture garden when he browsed for something to do in our area.
What a treasure.
Here’s some pictures from this visit.
My absolute favorite art piece was this piece by Xhanti Zwelindaba. It’s called Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Apartheid’s Wishing Well, 2017. The artist is also in residency at Nirox.
On the property are other interesting venues. A spa. A restaurant. Artists in Residence.
We’re not fans of spas, so we decided against it. This is an absolutely beautiful spa with very well-trained staff.
But we love restaurants and food and good atmosphere and such so this was a definite winner.
Their menu was amazing. They would serve what I call ‘clock’ meals. They offered something small at 12. There was also something small at 3, 6, and 9.
But the food was amazing! Prepare for multiple orders because one order is definitely not enough.
The restaurant is called And Then There Was Fire
Some things I did not like at all:
- You’re not allowed to take water in. You have to buy it inside. It’s only available at the restaurant, which is not nearly close to the gate. It’s spring in the North West, and temperatures are above 30 degrees Celsius early in the day. The owners could benefit by adding a water vending machine. They should place it close to the entrance or at the ticket desk.
- Like many waiters employed in our region, English is not their first language. Therefore, the accent with which they speak is very difficult to understand. Make sure you understand what they ask or tell you.
- A disgustingly polluted stream is running down the edge of the sculpture park. It is absolutely vile. This stream is a dark reminder. We need to do much more to ensure our natural resources are protected and not polluted. Tragedy, really.
What I loved:
- Nature! It’s all around with art standing out. It’s amazing. Rolling grass, bird song, water features.
- Every sculpture is marked with a number. It corresponds with the single-leaf pamphlet you get at the ticket counter.
- It’s a treasure map with sculptures dotted around the garden. They are in no clear numerical order. Numbers 19 and 11 will be close by. Numbers 8 and 5 are also positioned together.
- You can interact with the art pieces even though they are not interactive art. Big distinction.
- there’s something for everyone, including obviously political agendas as well as celebrations of all sorts.
I think that’s it from me for today.
Have a wonderful Friday further.
Cheers
Behind the Pages: The South African Influence on My Writing PART II
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.
My writing
My writing, as all writers, was heavily influenced by my upbringing and my environment. Writing entered my life nearly the same time libraries did. As much as I enjoyed escaping into books and stories and make-believe, my reality called for a deeper, darker place where I could hide and escape to.
I appreciate and love parents who encouraged their little writers in their writing endeavours from a small age. Mine thought God was punishing them for something by giving them a child that was seldom in reality. Therefore my writing happened in secret.
I filled up so many A4 hardcover counterbooks at that time. I hid these notebooks with my scribblings. The stories were always of dire situations and lots of violence and abuse. It both scared me but exhilarated me when I could cause that character to overcome the odds in a miraculous way. The ease and conflict-free pages changed with my reality to dark, suspenseful and conflict-ridden scenarios. Only to morph into a winner-takes-all all against the darkest most difficult odds.
Thinking back, I processed most of my days and all its troubles through the stories I weaved.
Shame the writing (writer)
Something I was never willing to admit was the shame that I carried with me and poured into my writing. Not just the shame about myself, my life, and what I carried with me but shame about writing.
Raised in the carefully crafted conservative, racist, politically moulded reality, shame is a powerful tool to keep everybody in line. And shame was something that worked double time in my parents. In my parents’ generation stepping out of line was a death wish. And both of them were quite rebellious come to think of it. The last thing they wanted to do in their lives was have children who stepped out of line.
Unfortunate for them, that is exactly what they received.
Fortunately for me, the environment in which I became an adult became a lot less of what it was but a lot more of a different kind of control.
We can’t get away from controlling people, can we…
But all in all, I prefer the modern day political and social environment. The African version of democracy is a far cry from the philosophical version of democracy. At least we moved past banning writers. We just threaten their families in which they make the prudent decision to move to Germany. Platforms aren’t banned from the South African population. If said platform can pay the bribe, they are free to do and be here.
**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!
Continue reading…
Crafting stories that triumph over adversity: A writer’s journey
I love the underdog in stories. I’m a total sucker for them.
I’ve always been drawn to morally grey characters and villains in stories. Most villains fascinate me, though I can’t say the same for the ones in slasher movies. But even then, if you dig into Jason’s backstory, it might stir some empathy.
It’s not difficult for me to write about people from the wrong side of the tracks or those society has trodden down. In my personal life, I’ve had to dig myself out of difficult circumstances. In a way, it’s ‘easy’ to identify with having the odds stacked against you. This connects to the advice to “write what you know.”
However, I also believe we should “write what we want to learn” or “write what we’re curious about.”
Fiction vs. Real Life
In fiction, characters evolve. In real life, our habits often keep us stuck in the same cycles. Through much discomfort and suffering, I’ve learned that life often gives us chances to change, find better ways, and learn valuable lessons. Yet, our fears, habits, and prejudices often hold us back.
There’s a dark saying—though I can’t recall who said it—that the greatest potential lies in the graveyard. In the cemetery, you’ll find unwritten books, undiscovered inventions, and unsolved problems. It’s grim, but there’s truth in it.
Just as life presents opportunities for growth, our stories often start with characters who have flaws. Sometimes these flaws are simple obstacles they must overcome. That flaw becomes both the problem and the solution. I’m not the most eloquent writer, so don’t take my musings as gospel. But in my experience, human beings, living or dead, make the best characters.
Finding Inspiration in People
People and their behaviours fascinate me. It’s not a very creative approach, I know, but it’s intriguing how inventive people can be when facing problems—and how they come up with solutions. Character inspiration is all around us.
History is filled with colourful characters too. Just ask George R.R. Martin. His epic stories are packed with real events and real people from history. I haven’t read his books yet, but I’ve watched Game of Thrones, and I imagine the books are just as good. Usually, they are, though I don’t want to assume and look foolish.
Stepping Into My Characters’ Shoes
When I write, I like to put myself in my characters’ shoes. I think about what I would have wanted to happen if I were in their position. It’s a bit like the therapy technique of ‘mothering the inner child.’ Therapy has been an important part of my life—not just during crises, but as a maintenance tool to stay grounded.
The idea behind ‘mothering the inner child’ is that, during trauma, a child may get stuck in that moment, unable to process it. Therapy helps by offering the love, support, or instruction that was missing at the time. This allows healing to begin. Once that healing happens, harmful coping mechanisms can be replaced with healthier ones.
For my characters, I often place someone or something in their path that acts as the ‘mothering’ figure they needed in their past. For example, in my story Frances & Gilbert, Frances gets stuck in her grief and loss after her parents die. Her environment exposes her inexperience as a young woman suddenly in charge of running a household. She’s tricked by scheming members of society. The ‘mothering’ figures I chose were both Gilbert and his aunt. They help her move beyond her sorrow and shield her from those who would exploit her.
I had to condense the story to fit the novelette format, but the heart of it remains.
Writing the Dark and Healing
As curious as I am about writing spicy romances, I find it difficult to shift my focus away from character development. For me, scenes of spice and sex can detract from that. However, I do want to take a class on writing this side of storytelling at some point.
Ultimately, I want my readers to connect with my characters. I want them to feel encouraged or inspired by the characters’ journeys.
I recently listened to an author who writes dark, suspenseful romance. She shared how her books appeal to readers who have lived through similar experiences of violence, manipulation, and abuse. Many of these readers developed a sort of Stockholm Syndrome in their real lives. The author herself had lived through similar trauma, and after writing many of these books, she found healing.
I thought it was amazing that through her writing, she could heal her inner child. Her characters’ repeated experiences of trauma and redemption helped her work through her own pain. I’d love to talk to her readers and ask if they feel the same. Are they finding healing through the characters too?
Life Imitates Art, and Art Imitates Life
At the end of the day, life and art often reflect each other, including our hurts and pains.
In summary, my characters usually develop from my own experiences or from real people, living or dead. I pretend that my characters are the inner child needing healing and nurturing. The characters and environments around them become the ‘mothering’ figure, offering the support they needed.
I hope my readers find inspiration or comfort in these characters’ journeys, or at the very least, enjoy reading their stories.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers until next time.
MOVING
Moving…
probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done and will ever do. The thing is, we’ve done it so many times, that we can do it eyes shut! Okay, probably not eyes shut, but definitely mechanical.
13 times of moving probably gives one the qualification of an expert! It does not include co-living or lodging though. Add about another 9 to the figure then.
At some stage in our married life, we’ve moved for as many times as we were married. When we celebrated our 10th anniversary, we moved our 9th time a year later!
It has slowed down significantly since then. Thank goodness.
We’ll be celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary in 2025 and moved the 13th time earlier this year.
We’ve rented, owned, shared, and lodged throughout the years. We can say with confidence that it’s just much more bearable moving to your own property. No rental or co-living!
I was raised in a house where you needed at least 3 months to prepare for a move. But our last 7 moves happened within 2 weeks when the new property became available. Once we actually moved within 3 days!
We used a packing company once to pack for us, the rest of the time it was hubby and I and our boys. Moving between cities we’ve used furniture removal services. But the rest of the time, we rented trailers to move.
When we got married, Hubby had the opinion of paying someone to do stuff for him (snobbish much?!) but has learned in the meantime that there is nothing wrong with his own hands and that a restricted budget is just the thing to teach one the bliss of packing and moving.
Some lessons we’ve learned:
- No matter how well you pack, something always breaks: it could be a glass, a mirror or a toy. We’ve moved our upright piano a few times in our many moves and although it was crated, covered, packed or whichever way the movers used, two of the white notes still broke. Very sad but at this stage an enjoyable annoyance for one of the kiddos when they played along on the piano. Not so much now.
- Do not dispose of cardboard boxes: collapse the moving boxes as well as the boxes in which you buy equipment or appliances and store them away. We don’t necessarily use the mixers box for the mixer but it is very useful to pack fragile glassware or move-sensitive electronic equipment into a bigger cardboard box. Also, the boxes in which most appliances are shipped, are strong and thick enough to protect the specific item. Storing these boxes is not as big an issue as one would think and maybe I’ll share how we do it another time
- Clean house! Packing is one of the most valuable opportunities to rid your house of all that hidden clutter! The stuff that you pack away for one day. We all know that when a project is not started and finished within a few months from the start date, it will never happen
- Prepare the children: we found that the children want to know. And they want to be part of it. There are enough tasks during the move that they can help with. If you have little ones, let them pack their own toys, additional clothes, bookshelves and such. If you have CDs and DVD shelves, let them pack those. Explain to them that it’s still something they need to handle with care and help them see a ‘system’ in their packing. Start with little boxes for wee little ones. Another cupboard they can help pack is the linen cupboard. Although I prefer packing the linen at the bottom of the breakables boxes, it leaves more than enough that they can help with. Remember your plastic cupboard and trays/baking tray cupboard. Also ‘hard labour’ resistant!
- Pack the children’s room last: it helps to create a sense of security for an extended period of time. In the new house, organise little people’s rooms first with beds made, least boxes standing around and curtains hung.
- Organise the bedrooms first AFTER the move with at least two things in place: curtains and beds. The rest can wait for tomorrow.
- Keep basic toiletries separate from everything. Know where this box or bag is at all times. Nobody appreciates unbrushed teeth or the unavailability of toilet paper. Ask me how I know…
- Determine what will be needed in the kitchen, bathroom, scullery, etc for the last week before the move and put that in a special cupboard or higher shelve. The rest are safe to be packed. Be reasonable with this. Ask yourself the questions that matter: Are we going to go snowboard this coming week? Did I plan pizzas for this week? Do we need the slow cooker and the bread machine? Are we going to use all 16 big plates for the 4 of us? Etc. You know what your family needs and you know your family’s routine.
- Make a list! We usually have a clipboard with sheets of paper numbered 1 to 50 for starters (or whichever number of boxes you estimate), a pen or marker, a stack of blank white stickers and a bag of brown tape for sealing up boxes. Every time a box is closed, we seal it with brown tape. Then it gets a sticker with a number. The list gets a description of the box contents. For example, the DVD box is ready to be closed up and sealed. The next open number on the list is 17 and we stick a sticker on the box with 17 written on it. We write a summary of the contents of the box onto our list next to number 17 and then only is it sealed up with the brown tape.
- Allocate one area in your house where the sealed-up boxes can be stacked up: this opens up space to work, is out of accident way and prevents any scenarios of stagnation. There is nothing that freaks most people out than boxes standing everywhere! This has worked well with our last 10 moves. One particular move we we moved out of a very small house, with already limited room under normal circumstances, it was super crowded during our move. It also limited the temptation for our little ones to climb ONTO the boxes when we were not around.
- Quick and easy meals: this would be the one day in my meal planning where takeaways are necessary. If not takeaways make snackwiches or sandwiches or muffins. If you have some kind friends who are willing to cook up a storm on your behalf, bonus! Another option is the prepared meals available now from all the major supermarkets eg. Checkers buffet is amazing, Spar and Pick’nPay’s are not too shabby. But the reality is that our people need to eat even when the task at hand is probably the most traumatic and horrendous a family can endure. Lift a little from your shoulders and let this one time slide. Tomorrow you can do the cereal and milk or buns and cold meat shortcut meals but today, get the tummies full! Something else to keep in mind would be heaps of fruit and fresh water. I try to keep this at hand most times when moving.
- Keep the toiletries close: We usually keep a small suitcase aside. This suitcase includes everybody’s pj’s for the first night in the new house. We also pack the necessary toiletries and towels for the morning before the move and first night at the new house. Additionally, we include a comfortable set of clean clothes for the first day in the new house. Remember comfort! The big unpacking is going to start then.
- Always use smaller boxes: we’ve found that book boxes from a retailer like Boxman are perfect. It’s a little bit more pricey but it keeps. It can take a load of books (we have lots of books) and keeps crockery and other breakables safe and sound. And it’s easier to move and stack. We’ve moved with all sizes of boxes and I promise you, bigger boxes might take a lot of stuff but it breaks and falls apart with the handling and then you need to pack it into two or three other smaller boxes.
- Invest in bubble wrap. I know it’s not eco-friendly at all. Neither are tons of newspapers. Pick your poison. Price-wise, it’s the same really whether you buy 2 rolls of bubble wrap or buy 20 Sunday papers.
- Move clothes in suitcases and duffle bags. Most of us have all sizes from all sorts of events collected throughout our lives, use these to pack your clothes. Box companies do have clothing boxes available but I’ve found it’s incredibly clumsy to move. Another option if you are moving in the same town/neighbourhood, allocate one of your vehicles with a boot (trunk for my US readers) and load it up with all your hanging clothes. A surprising amount of clothes fit into a boot in this way. If your shoes are in their boxes, you can line the bottom of the boot with the boxes and put the clothes on top, otherwise, a garbage bag full of shoes is a good second best. Of course, you can fill up packing boxes with clothes. Avoid using big boxes just because the illusion exists that it will be light. It won’t.
- Remember to pack up the garage, if you have one. This is the one space we’ve forgotten about until the day before the move! Garden equipment, tools, bicycles and those other stored items, are clumsy and difficult to pack. It will most probably be moved just the way it is, but do yourself a favour and grab a box to fill. You’ll be surprised what can be packed.
Well, this is our list of absolute bare necessities learned in the whole house-moving adventures.
This was a long post but hopefully, there are some pointers you could use.
Good luck with your move, I hope this helped.
Cheers
Some updates around the web with Anne C. West material
Hi blogosphere!
Have a dashing Tuesday.
With a cup of coffee or tea, hop over to:
- my Substack for some of my curious musings.
- have a read on KU where Zara & William become available today
- Frances & Gilbert is available everywhere from today
- Short Stories Tier is updated on Patreon with all the short stories in the series
As always, email me at anne@annecwest.co.za for a chat or a question.
Otherwise, see you around
Cheers!
Behind the Pages: The South African Influence on My Writing PART I
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.
My youth
During my teen years we transitioned from apartheid to the democracy we currently have. From a teenage point of view, life was simple. Everything had a specific path. Everybody followed that specific path. Stay in the lines and all was well. Very conservative and very religious. Also very racist. This one never rubbed off on me and I still don’t get it. No questions ever asked. No explanations ever given. Not to mention demanded. Just no. It was subtly taught in schools, from the pulpit, media, you name it. Looking back, the funny thing is that it doesn’t seem as if it ever crossed anybody’s mind to ask. Nobody seemed to question or go against the flow. It’s as if generations of propaganda just stumped out curiosity. It’s actually fascinating!
Transitioning from one governmental system went along with immense fear. I remember the intensely heightened emotions on all sides.
What a crazy time.
I loved our town library. I discovered the concept of libraries when I was elected to Media Center Prefect in standard 4 or grade 6! Fancy name for library duty and no lazy break in between classes. As prefect I learned how to pack the shelves. I organized the cards used to keep track of the books lent out. I also explored the absolutely fascinating world of fiction and non-fiction.
I read my way through our primary school library in those two years. Those were the two years that remained of my primary school years. I mourned the very well stocked library when I discovered the pathetically stocked high-school library.
Enter our town library.
It was nothing fancy or massive but it was amazing! I used my mom and dad’s names to get access to more books. I was limited to four books for a maximum of two weeks. It became exhausting to peddle to the library every second day to exchange the four books. It became worth the effort when I peddled to the library with 12 books every Friday.
Political side of my youth
At the time, I was completely ignorant and unaware of the political environment. I did not understand the impact of said environment on information, literature, music, movies, sports, education, and such. and the limitations we were actually living under.
So many prolific writers, journalists and others were living in exile. Their books, articles, plays and such were banned here and only available after democracy were established.
Our education was shaped around the ideologies of the leaders in our country. Therefore, history, literature, sciences and other subjects were taught with definite agendas and objectives.
It’s actually fascinating and ingenious! But very much part of all governmental systems.
Also exhausting. Can you imagine how closely all things had to be monitored? All the policing strategies that was in place to uphold the propaganda machine?
I believe in literature the dystopia genre explores this type of environment. An environment I, ironically, have no desire to explore in my stories! Isn’t that funny? Write what I know… maybe not.
**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!
Continue reading…
Timeline Before 30 April 2024
My dearest readers and visitors
I’m happy you’re here.
It’s been quite quiet on this blog, not because life is quiet, I’ve been doing what I do best: OVERTHINKING.
Anyody else suffering from this?
DON’T! It’s a terribly limiting habit with only harmful consequences.
Preaching to the choir…
Anyways, I’ve been putting off picking up the blogging habit because I wondered what to write about. What would you want to read? Will anybody read it? What is the use? You catch my drift.
Then after a looooonnnngggg winded affair, I realised, I want to blog because I like blogging. If somebody reads this, bravo! If nobody reads this, bravo!
I like it.
Enough waffling on about this, let me get to the blog post for today.
I listened to an interview on The Creative Penn with Jo Penn. She interviewed Sacha Black about her author business. They talked about the timeline, the progress, etc. Jo mentioned the page on her website where she’s been recording the progress of her own writing career.
I thought that’s amazing! I wanted one of those pages. I started digging through my archives. I compiled this list of when I did what in my author career.
I will record this on my own TIMELINE page after reviewing the year that was.
This is the first year I am taking my author career seriously. I decided to take May 2024 as the start of my official fiction author career. Therefore this is the collection of events unfolding prior to May 2024.
I shared a little bit of info on the TIMELINE page about when I actually started writing. I mentioned how I have a history of being on and off with my writing career. So, I’m not going to add that here.
I think, let’s get into it:
2016
Published Amazon Appointment to Die 1 December 2016
Published Amazon Pebble in my Brick 2 December 2016
Published Amazon Walking the Pages 3 December 2016
Published WIDE Appointment to Die 3 December 2016
Published WIDE Pebble in my Brick 3 December 2016
Published WIDE Walking the Pages 4 December 2016
2017
Joined Wattpad 22 April 2017
2018
Joined StoryOrigin April 2018
2019
Published Amazon Beauty and the Vampire 19 January 2019
Published Amazon A Genocide 19 January 2019
Published WIDE A Genocide 19 January 2019
Published WIDE Beauty and the Vampire 19 January 2019
Republished Amazon Beauty and the Vampire 20 February 2019
Republished Amazon A Genocide 20 March 2019
Published Amazon A Day of Celebration 17 December 2019
Published WIDE A Day of Celebration 18 December 2019
2020
Joined Prolific Works March 2020
Published Amazon Frances & Gilbert 17 July 2020
Published Amazon Jack & Jool 3 October 2020
Published Kobo Jack & Jool 6 October 2020
Joined Bookfunnel 29 October 2020
2021
Published Amazon Zara & William 31 January 2021
Published Kobo Zara & William 31 January 2021
2022
Joined X (Twitter) for the 2nd time July 2022
Created Facebook Author Page 6 September 2022
Created Instagram at some stage…
2023
Published Author Shop A Day of Celebration 25 February 2023
Published Author Shop A Genocide 26 February 2023
Published Author Shop Beauty and the Vampire 26 February 2023
Published Author Shop Pebble in my Brick 26 February 2023
Published Author Shop Appointment to Die 26 February 2023
Published Kobo A Day of Celebration 10 March 2023
Published Kobo A Genocide 10 March 2023
Published Kobo Beauty and the Vampire 10 March 2023
Published Kobo Pebble in my Brick 20 March 2023
Published Kobo Appointment to Die 10 April 2023
Published Kobo Walking the Pages 8 April 2023
Published Amazon Notebooks 9 May 2023
Published WIDE Notebooks 10 May 2023
Joined TikTok 14 May 2023
Published Amazon The Harmony Bridge 28 May 2023
Joined Threads July 2023
Published Kobo The Harmony Bridge 15 August 2023
Published WIDE The Harmony Bridge 15 August 2023
Published Kobo Notebooks 1 September 2023
2024
Joined Goodreads for the 2nd time April 2024
Republished Amazon Frances & Gilbert 1 April 2024
EARNINGS
Amazon earnings from February 2019 to February 2024 R42.59
Kobo earnings R0
Draft2Digital earning R0
Direct sales earnings $45
That’s it until April 2024.
All I can say is, WOW! Indecisiveness, double-mindedness, doubt, insecurities, impatience, those are all things that only do harm. Can you imagine if I just stuck it out? All the stories that’s been simmering for years could have been out there in the world for all to enjoy.
I would also have been able to say that I’ve found my voice as an author. Or, I’ve found my genre.
Life is such an interesting journey.
But it’s what it is. We have now and we have our attitude. The rest of the things are outside our control. As an indie author, I can also say that I have technology that makes this possible, so use it, right?
That’s it for today, I’ll chat to you soon.
Cheers
Anne
PS. Future timeline posts will go to the timelines page
Change, the only consistent
Hi my dearest reader
It’s amazing how frightening and uncomfortable change is.
Do you ever hear something and think, ‘I can definitely do that’ only to shrivel and die inside when the point of action comes?
The only medicine for that is, do it anyway!
What does that have to do with anything? Nothing really, just a thought.
I’ve been writing again, whoohoo!
They will all be blogged here and available to read for free.
BUT
It’s only available if you know the password.
Do you want the password?
Easy, subscribe to my newsletter.
See you over in my newsletter!
Lots of love until next time.
Anne
Vlog 15 – crappy writing weak
Hi everybody!
It’s been a less-than-ideal week of writing.
A process toward writing 2k words a day. I’ve progressed to 10,5k words in Book 1 on my cosy mystery. Not what I hoped, but progressing. I didn’t spend much time rewriting Book 4 of my SHRN series, so I’m officially much worse of in my publishing schedule.
That’s it for today!
Happy writing!