The Week in Review, May 25, 2025

It's very much been a butt on seat, fingers on keyboard kinda week, but I can honestly say that I love what I do for a living, be it editing, layout, writing, quality assurance, or coaching. My day is never dull. I have seen a shift in my general income sources over the past two years where I'm getting more work that's not graphics-related. Which was always one of my goals, since I've maintained I'm not a natural when it comes to graphic design. I far prefer layout, in any case. There're some pretty exciting projects on the boil, one of which is related to Bloody Parchment, in which we'll be partnering with a local publisher and another bit of traction with a long-term ghost-writing project I've been on about, where I'm also starting to reach a point with a project where we need a publisher on board to handle all the back-end stuff I don't want to handle on behalf of my client.

I'm a weird one in that I exist at an intersection of not one but three skills sets – graphics, writing, and editing – and I don't think there are many folks who present, as one of my mentors said to me, a triple threat. Gosh. I like that. I'll have that, thanks. I blame the decade I spent in newspaper publishing, where we sub-editors had to develop those skills in our department. Or, rather, I was one of the subs who had the opportunity to do so, because for many years I was doing page layouts, writing editorial, and editing/proofreading the other subs' work.

Things look very different today. As a freelancer, I do graphics and marketing communications for a big pet food brand; quality assurance, alt text writing, and audiobook PDFs for a multinational publisher; ghostwriting; editing for independent publishers and authors; and coaching for writers. And of course, my own writing, which unfortunately does tend to take a back seat. My days are never dull, and while things do occasionally get a bit hairy when I need to meet deadlines, I wouldn't trade in career path for anything. I am constantly stimulated, and my work is often very different. One moment I'm editing a dark, gothic romance; the next I'm working on a product catalogue for pet food.

Moon Knight – a mini review

This week, I heard that Amazon canned The Wheel of Time, yet another series that has bitten the dust. I admit that I hadn't gotten around to watching it, but from what I heard, folks were enjoying it. Another series that got canned that I am sorry won't see another season is Marvel's Moon Knight starring Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy, and Ethan Hawke. I finished watching it last night, and despite the butchering of ancient Egyptian mythology, I did rather enjoy it.

There was certainly enough humour and plenty of mind-bending magical weirdness to keep me happy. Honestly, it felt like the kind of unhinged world building that had me writing my Those Who Return duology, Inkarna and Thanatos back in the day. It did get me thinking on what a fertile, underutilised mythology we have in ancient Egypt – however I suppose it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Moon Knight predictably plays loose and fast with ancient Egypt. It grated a little seeing Khonsu depicted rather as a raven instead of hawk-headed entity. Tawaret was a delight, and I was kinda missing Anubis or even Thoth. Hells, it would have been great to see Bast and Sekhmet, too, but I guess they might've made an appearance later, had the bean-counters not decided the series was not popular enough. The overall production design was lovely – and for once they seemed to have set decoration that wasn't too far off from what would come across as authentic. And yeah, it would have been great to see more of an Egyptian superhero for a change. May Calamawy was a delight as Layla, and I think given more screen time, could really have come into her own. Oscar playing opposite himself to depict the characters Stephen and Marc was nothing short of brilliant, and Ethan Hawke as the rather creepy Arthur Harrow did good, too.

Community

Honesty, I've been operating in a state of poorly contained rage and helplessness the past two weeks. I see what's happening in Gaza or listen to the absolute garbage the Tangerine Palpatine is spouting about South Africa... Or then speak to friends in the creative industry who've seen a significant downturn in work as more and more companies and clients resort to using generative AI for their needs. 

My only thought at present is that we need to stand together as communities. Whether it's sponsoring the educational needs of a child in the townships or donating to Gift of the Givers ... or simply paying your workers better wages. The point is that we do something that will benefit communities rather than enriching a few tech billionaires who already have more fancy yacht money than they know what to do with in a hundred lifetimes. Dog knows waiting for government to pull their thumbs out of their fat fannies is an exercise in futility. 

I guess this is why I'm so passionate about sticking it to the establishment in my industry (media, publishing). This week I saw that a major South African publisher is now releasing all its romance titles with generative AI images on the covers. It makes me wonder how soon they'll be releasing books under author name brands that have been wholly written by ChatGPT. Because if they don't have to pay those pesky creatives for their time, then hey, let's cut corners. I'm certainly not ever going to consider them as a potential publisher now. 

As creatives, we were only useful so long as they could scrape our work to train the machine. Now they don't need us anymore.

So, once nearly all the jobs out there are automated, where does that leave the majority of the humans on this planet? Who's going to buy all these products that the capitalists are trying to sell if most of us don't even have two rands to rub together to pay for a roof over our heads? With students using ChatGPT to write their assignments, and teachers using ChatGPT to grade assignments and create lesson plans, is this all just going to become a case of machines talking to machines while humans do WHAT exactly? 

Anyhow, this is my call for you to look around you, see where you can affect positive change in a world. Don't let the bastards lie to you and tell you this is all inevitable. It's only inevitable if you lie down and accept it.

Ancient Egyptian Magic by Bob Brier

As part of my ongoing research for my intentions to eventually write something with fantasy elements set in actual ancient Egypt I reckoned this would be a good jumping off point. Granted, I did read the well-known EA Wallis Budge book eons ago, so I thought I'd mix it up and give Bob Brier's Ancient Egyptian Magic a spin. I certainly found Brier more friendly than Wallis Budge, and if anyone has an academic interest in how the ancient Egyptians viewed magic, then Brier's book is great place to start.

Something that can be said for the Brier is that his writing is accessible, and he gives a broad overview of not only the different methods but also gives a basic crash course on ancient Egyptian culture while he's at it – you can't really dig into the magical practices at least without some idea of the history behind it.

If something needs to be understood about ancient Egypt is that magic – and the practising thereof – was intrinsically embedded in the day to day. Doctors, priests, and magicians used amulets, spells, wax figures. Perhaps the most well known were the shabti figures that represented a pharaoh's servants in the afterlife – little statues that would come to life in the afterlife and serve the dead pharaoh so that he would not have to lift a finger after death. The gods themselves, practised magic in the stories – it was as natural as breathing. Great store was put in dreams, too, with some days considered more portentous than others.

Of course, there is also the famous Egyptian Book of the Dead which was not one book, as one might expect of say, the Christian bible, but rather a varying collection of spells to protect the deceased created specifically for individual folks – so the spells collated in each 'book' would vary from deceased to deceased. Brier also looks at how these books started as texts found in burial places – the Pyramid Texts – and eventually became inscribed on coffins and then scrolls.

This is a vast subject, and while this book does not represent a deep dive, it is still a useful jumping-off point that gives essential points that can be used for further study. In terms of the amount of study and research I've done over the decades, I didn't cover any new ground here, but what I read here put much into order, which I appreciated – so this is an excellent refresher. While the copy I read I accessed through a library, I've put the book on order for my permanent collection.

The Week in Review – May 17, 2025

Buckle up, babes, it's going to be a long one. I didn't post last week because I went to the Overberg to visit my mum in Swellendam for Mother's Day. She's pretty much the only family I have left that I'm related to by blood that I still see or speak to, so it's kinda important for me to get out to see her. I love that stretch of road driving up – the Overberg is incredibly pretty, no matter the time of year. One of our favourite stops is at the Ou Meul bakery in Riviersonderend. We usually buy some of their famous pies en route home so that we can have extra gastric upsets after a day of eating stuff we oughtn't at our age.

Locus finalist, my dearests

So, last week I discovered that the very awesomesauce academic book in which I contributed a chapter has been made a finalist in the non-fiction category in this year's Locus Awards. Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, Eugen Bacon, ed. (Bloomsbury Academic) is a fascinating deep dive into identity and the role speculative fiction plays in expressions of African culture. I'm absolutely thrilled, of course. The African speculative community is one that I'm championing, as I believe that we offer important insights to counter the traditional West-centric narrative that dominates much of the publishing industry.

South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment Short Story Competition winners

And the, staying with speculative fiction, quite recently I decided to limit the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment Short Story Competition to African writers only, which does mean that we receive fewer entries. However I am adamant that we need to grow our offering as African writers. There is enough happening in the world at large for Western writers. So, I am pleased to announce the results for the 2024 competition: Xan van Rooyen for their winning story "Splinters of the Schism". Runners-up are Brett Rex Bruton for "The Hand on the Door" and Dera Udochukwu for "Alkaline Water". Do go check out more at the Bloody Parchment blog.

On Voetsekkers, and why their attitude sucks balls

By now, most folks watching the news will have heard about what we here in South Africa are now calling The Great Tsek (IYKYK). Forty-nine Afrikaners took the Naartjie Emperor up on his offer to claim refugee status in the US, on the pretext that there's allegedly a 'white genocide' happening in South Africa and that white people's land is being taken away from them.

This is all while an actual genocide is happening in Gaza, and millions of brown people who are actual refugees are being deported or refused aid, so that 49 smug, privileged and somewhat well-fed white South Africans can get a fresh start. This makes me incandescent, in addition to the blatant lies the Tangerine Palpatine has been spouting to mainstream media. Stuff that is patently untrue.

Here are the facts. There is NO WHITE GENOCIDE in South Africa. White people's land is not being taken away from them en masse. The problems we are facing affect ALL South Africans, regardless of colour or creed.

“Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts,” Lizette Lancaster, who manages the Institute for Security Studies crime and justice hub, told Africa Check. This is supported by an analysis of a national sample of 1,378 murder dockets conducted by police in 2009.  In 86.9% of the cases, the victims were Africans. Whites accounted for 1.8% of the cases (although whites make up 8.85% of the population). (Are SA whites really being killed 'like flies'? Why Steve Hofmeyr is wrong, Africa Check 2013)

It's a grim picture, and in a decade, not much has changed in South Africa. In fact, according to data.worldbank.org the murder rate has spiked in rent years to 42 per 100,000 people in recent years. Which fucking sucks, to put it mildly. 

So, what to do about it? Firstly, instead of pandering to the politicians over the pond and our home-grown idiots, who seek to divide and destabilise us with their racist, bigoted ideas, we need to stand together. We are, first and foremost, South Africans, regardless of colour or creed. While I acknowledge that I, as a white South African, benefited from apartheid and continue to do so courtesy of the head start I had in life, I can also aim to do better than my ancestors who supported racist institutions that assisted in the wholesale systemic oppression and dehumanisation of the majority of dark-skinned Africans.

Which means that when I do see people pulling any BS strategies, I can use my position of privilege to call out their nonsense. I can pay my workers a better wage than most. I can sponsor their children's educational needs. I can assist with large expenses when I have the spare resources. These are small things, but they make a huge difference in the lives assisted.

South Africa is not all wine and roses. There's a lot that is wrong here. We have unacceptably high rates of unemployment and violence. Even though we transitioned to a true and robust democracy in 1994 without the benefit of a civil war (and that's a fucking miracle in and of itself) our politicians are... to put it mildly, either grossly incompetent or disgustingly self-serving and corrupt. There are certainly a few good ones in among the lot, but I can imagine that their work is often hampered by the numpties. We need to hold those numpties accountable for their actions (or inaction), and we need to work harder to foster a country where education, housing, healthcare, and job creation number among priorities where taxpayers' money is spent wisely.

I spoke to an elder in my community this week, and she said something that was profound. And I'm going to paraphrase here. She said, there are two types of South Africans, those who live in fear and those who live in love. Which South African are you?

So, instead of fear, where I allow myself to be manipulated by the likes of Afriforum and Magat frothings, I give myself over to love – love for the land, its people, and a future here. It's not easy. I admit that I am, as always, hyper vigilant. Violence and crime are a reality here that I will not sweep under the rug. I am privileged to live in a small, peaceful but tight-knit community far south on the urban fringe. More often than not, it feels like a small rural dorpie rather than a community encapsulated within the embrace of one of South Africa's major cities.

I do what I can, with the resources that are available to me and with the skills I can donate, to build rather than tear down. And wherever you are, I challenge you to do the same. If you can't change the awfulness of the big picture, then work where you can. Because dog knows we're going to need our neighbours in the years ahead.

Mini Review – The African Baobab by Rupert Watson

I love baobabs. I grew a few from seed when I was younger, and a few years ago, when I was on a media visit to Zambia (a beautiful country which I totally recommend you go visit if you're planning a trip) I got to see that typical view of Africa with its red earth, big trees, and small round huts clustered in tiny villages in rural areas. This beautiful book is a must-have for anyone who loves these majestic trees. Watson not only gives an overview of the tree's iconic status in history, but also discusses its importance within the landscape – the tree itself providing food and shelter to many species. He also looks at the importance of the tree on a cultural level and touches on its future (which is, predictably, vulnerable if not threatened). Although it's a concise book, it offers a wonderful, thought-provoking dive into the life and magic of this amazing denizen of our natural world, with lovey photos accompanying it.

Local is lekker when it comes to stories

With the general enshittification of publishing and the insidious creep of the technocapitalists into the wholesale destruction of All The Nice things, I'd like to remind you that South Africa has some amazing small presses that are doing the Muses' work. This is a shout-out to Karavan Press, Modjaji Books, and Mirari Press. If you're looking for quality, home-grown literature, do visit their sites and support them directly. I do believe that some of them offer loyalty or subscription programmes, which is a way that you can directly become a patron of the arts and help platform voices we need to hear.

De Zoon van Dik Trom door Cornelis Johannes Kieviet

Ik ben bezig met het leren spreken en schrijven van Nederlands, dus vergeef me alstublieft de fouten in mijn spelling en grammatica. Ik heb dit boek op mijn Kindle-app gedownload, en gekozen als het eerste boek dat ik zou proberen te lezen. Dit is het verhalenbundel over het leven in een klein stadje en de energie waarmee een kleine jongen in de problemen komt met zijn vriendin. Dit boek is licht leesbaar en gemakkelijk te gebruiken voor mensen die de taal aan het leren zijn.

The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living by Joseph M. Marshall III

I've grown quite fond of Joseph M Marshall's voice and writing, and The Lakota Way is one of the titles that I accessed through my Audible subscription that gave me much pleasure – and much to chew on in terms of how to consider life and living. And it's most certainly a book that I need to get a hard copy of in my library at some point.

Perhaps what I appreciate the most of Marshall's writing is his empathy – not only towards other people and the environment, but also empathy and kindness towards self. Yet he also does not shy away from discussing topics that are painful, and he does so within the framework that allows you to pause and reflect. 

Marshall effortlessly blends his people's cultural stories and history with his own experiences in a rich tapestry that is full of wisdom and quiet reflection – something that I feel we need, and that serves as a reason to engage more fully with ourselves, our motivations, and how we can approach navigating a world that is increasingly filled with callousness and cruelty.

I also feel that this book is suited to those who wish to engage with philosophical concepts in a way that is approachable and easy to understand – a good starting point for further reading. The Lakota Way is a book that asks you to sit still by the fire and listen. And after listening, find ways to move forward in the world with a softer touch.

The Week in Review – May 3, 2025

It was Cape Town Comic Con weekend, and as always, it was a bundle of fun. This was my third time speaking on panels, and yesterday (May 2) I was on a panel with Sam Wilson, Masha du Toit, and Shreya la Cock, all talking about the challenges that SFF authors face in South Africa. As someone who's been in the trenches since the mid-2000s, I can honestly say it's wonderful to see that newer authors are making waves despite the lack of will from the large traditional publishers in this country. Opportunities abound that were not available back in the day when I was a relative unknown. Not only can indie authors now get their books into major South Africa retailers but they are being recognised by institutions such as Comic Con. Also, we have robust small publishers like Mirari Press now looking to fill the gap for quality SFF in southern Africa where the big players are relaying on imports instead of developing local voices. Which we have. In abundance. 

Sam Wilson, Nerine Dorman, Shreya la Cock & Masha du Toit

I hope that we, as South African SFF authors, can change this mindset local readers have that all South African fiction is just about a limited set of topics. I recall walking into the main bookselling area of a big literary festival a few years ago, and the books that were promoted front and centre mostly related to politics, sports celebrity, and crime. South Africa is so much more than that.

Likeable or relatable? What's in a character?

So, this is a debate I've seen doing the rounds on social media a bit, and I felt I need to weigh in. I've seen so many readers give novels poor reviews because the characters are unlikeable. I get it that we often read because we'd like to project ourselves into a world, to escape aspects of our own that we don't like, so if a character doesn't match our own preferences, it's easy to not like them. I can think of a bunch of characters I don't like. Off the top of my head, there's Anakin Skywalker. He's an entitled little prat for quite a few of the movies, and then he becomes the dark lord himself. He kills countless people. He's cruel. He's petty. And yet, right at the end, he has that glimmer of goodness that redeems him and tips the balance of an entire saga. I find him fascinating. I don't want to be Anakin, but I do love watching character arcs like this. If I take an example from literary fiction, Holden Caulfield annoys the ever-loving crap out of me, and I'll likely not reread The Catcher in the Rye again unless it's for any tertiary studies I might do. But Holden still makes for an interesting character worth discussing.

The crux of the matter is that characters have quirks. I consider how my views on Cathy and Heathcliff and their support cast have changed since the first time I read Wuthering Heights at age 14. As a teen, I felt they were wonderfully tragic. As a middle-aged adult I want to slap some sense into them. When you write characters, write to provoke. To make memorable characters. In a world of Bella Swans rather write a Circe Lannister.

Reviews to make authors purr

I had such a wonderful batch of reviews for The Company of Birds this week after the Instagram readalong. 

Mr Pink Ink writes, The pacing of the novel does require patience, especially in the first half, where much of the world-building takes place. However, once the story gains momentum, the payoff is immense. The depth of the world, combined with Dorman’s lyrical prose, makes for a read that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

Riley Herbert-Henry writes over at Goodreads, Nerine Dorman’s prose is elegant and lyrical. She conjures worlds that are rich and vivid and otherworldly. Her characters are flawed and deeply human. You feel with them, ache with them, route for them. Dorman manages to find the perfect balance between working with introspective character monologues and high-stakes conflict, all while asking difficult moral questions.

Do go pick up your copy direct from the Mirari Press website.

Mini Review: Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

I purchased a copy of this book a hundred gazillion years ago when the publisher was having a massive sale, and it's been languishing far too long on my Kindle. I'm so glad that I gave it a spin, because it turns out that Eames' writing is exactly what I needed this past while. The premise of the novel is simple – in a world where monster-hunting mercenary bands are treated with the same awe as rockstars, a band has a reunion and goes on a not-so-merry adventure to rescue the daughter of one of the members.

At times absurd, playing with all the well-worn fantasy tropes and at times having quite serious social commentary to make (I'll give a hint, the bad guys are not simply the bad guys for the reason of being bad), this epic saga is at times funny in an almost Pratchettesque way but also goes to some dark places. It's a perfect blend of action adventure and humour in a fantasy setting, and I'm immediately jumping into book two. I've heard through the grapevine that book three is in the works.

You're not pizza – a healthy attitude to bleh reviews

One of the things I've learnt over the years is that I'm not pizza. Not everyone's going to enjoy my writing. It might be a pacing issue. It might be an unlikeable character. Hell, it might even be the subject matter. Whatever it is, I'm not going to please everyone, and I'm okay with that. That doesn't mean that those bleh reviews don't sting. But here's my advice to any author who's received that first lukewarm-yet-stinging two- or three-star review. Or heaven forbid, a genuine one-star DNF stinker. 

Here's what you do: I want you to think of the most recent novel you read that you absolutely adored, that felt as if it was written just for you. Go to Goodreads or Amazon, and go look at all the reviews for that novel that are three stars or less. There. Do you feel so bad about your own writing?

This is a subjective business. That is one truth I've seen again and again in the decades that I've been seeing my stories wander off into the wide world.