That end-of-year thing

It's been a crazy 2018 and yet we've gotten through it (relatively) unscathed. I'm not going to lie. 2018 was tough, especially financially. Cape Town's water crisis coupled with the uncertainties related to South Africa's ongoing shifting political landscape resulted in the fact that things were on the quiet side until June/July. Mercifully the film industry picked up again, but I did have to dip into my savings (goodbye overseas holiday). So, yeah, I'm hoping things will be less dubious during 2019.

In terms of my work as a graphic designer, 2018 is the year that I've truly fallen in love with design again. My work in the film industry has kindled an excitement and interest in visual communication that I'm carrying over to my day-to-day tasks that involve design and marketing communication for a luxury petfood brand. The month that I was working at the Cape Town Film Studios on a major television series was one of the highlights of my year, and also an incredibly enriching experience.

Things happened for me on the music front this year in a big way, seeing the neofolk band I'm in with Terminatryx vocalist Sonja Ruppersberg, Isobel, performing at the ALTfest this year, as well as us producing and filming not one but two music videos. We also finished recording our album Dark Water, which will release early next year.

'Take Me Away' was filmed at St Paul's in Rondebosch, edited by the incredibly talented Leon Visser. 'Those Who Return' was filmed on location here in the far south peninsula, scripted and directed by my husband Thomas Dorman and assisted by Leon Visser. A huge thank you to everyone involved – Paul Blom, Matthijs van Dijk, Bounceboard Productions, and others.

While I haven't had any major sales, 2018 has also been good to me. I've seen stories released through Immanion Press in anthologies edited by Storm Constantine, who remains a guiding light in my literary career. After a long-form hiatus of a few years, I've also released a novella, The Firebird, which has been well received by readers and even made it to the semi-finals of the Self Publishing Fantasy Blog Off awards. You can make me incredibly happy by clicking through to the link and buying it. Or, if you've read it, do consider leaving a review on Amazon. I finished and submitted a novel to the Sanlam Youth Literature Prize again, so I'm still waiting for news on that. (The mere fact that I finished a project is already a win, in my books.) I'm currently still revising The Company of Birds, which is turning into a ginormous undertaking. I wish I could give you an ETA but this is a project that's taking the time it needs to be a good novel.

In terms of short fiction, I've had a short story of mine make the shortlist for a Nommo award. "On the other Side of the Sea" was first published in Omenana, and you can read it here. I have other short stories on sub and in production, so I try not to peer too myopically at my inbox.

I'm still editing fiction, but am only taking on select clients. Feel free to check out my editing rates above. Ditto also for book reviews, however my backlog is something awful, so I'm being incredibly picky in terms of which books I'll review. Do check out my review policy above.

Lastly, I'm excited to be taking my illustration more seriously. I majored in illustration at university, only I never got off my arse to take things further. This year I bought an iPad Pro and it's been an absolute game changer in terms of my creative endeavours. If you're on Instagram, do follow me there for my creative shenanigans. Otherwise, stalk me on Twitter, where I often provide largely irreverent unintentionally hilarious entertainment.