Sunday, June 1, 2025

The Week in Review – May 31, 2025

It's finally cold enough that I'm sitting here in a hoodie and bundled up in a blanket. I'm trying to avoid turning on the heater quite yet because electricity is expensive, and I try to save the heater for once the sun goes down.


Yesterday was kinda awesome in that I trusted my gut and got out of my comfort zone. I had somewhat of a torrid week with deadlines from my UK-based publisher I'm a mouse-monkey for. I suspect many of the production controllers all want to go on summer vacation, so they've been hitting me with a pile of work with tight deadlines. Which I did get finished, but man oh man, I was pretty crispy afterwards, and it was straight to Club Duvet and a spin with DJ Pillow for me Friday night. 

I had a friend visiting from the UK, whom I've not seen in two years, and I was so tempted to cancel – primarily because seeing him would involve driving 'over the mountain' as we here in the far south peninsula call the trek to get anywhere near the city proper. Which I wasn't certain I could bear.

But I'm glad I went – because honestly, we don't know when we'll see people we connect with again. Our generation is reaching that age where people are starting to shuffle off this mortal coil. And even if we met at The Forrester's Arms in Newlands, which is totally *not* my scene, it ended up really quite pleasant even if the place was somewhat noisy and crowded. The last time I was there was more than a decade ago. So, yesterday, I had two zero beers, and additionally reconnected with another very distant connection I hadn't seen since my late teens/early twenties.

I often reflect on the meaning hiraeth in a broader context outside of Wales, and the location in question is a property in Rosebank that was for two years of my life a hub around which I orbited. Some good memories in that old Victorian home. Some sad ones, too. But I prefer to cling to the memories of the library, the lovely garden with its chameleons, the old magnolia tree. And of course the tragedy of an ill-starred young adult romance which I try to put behind me because honestly, some of the shit I pulled was so fucking cringe I'm cringing writing this. 

I'm a very different person from the person I was back then, and I suspect if present Nerine could meet past-Nerine she'd give her a rather stern talking-to that past-Nerine would promptly ignore and do all those stupid things anyway. Because I was an idiot. I probably still am an idiot, but in different ways. At least I've stopped drinking a hundred years ago, so there's that. I'm a much better person to be around now than I was back then.

The scary-cool thing was realising that my gut feeling to go out yesterday had been right all along, because that connection with past friends was really awesome – meeting with people who might be on a very similar wavelength even if they come from a vastly different background. And of course realising that my long-term, long-distance friendship with my friend from the UK means so much to both of us. Especially in a world gone crazy. Who knows when we'll see each other again. What matters is that deep-rooted affection that is still present.

Cherish the people you love. Don't be afraid to push outside of your usual comfort zone even if you are feeling a bit crispy. These moments matter.

Bloody Parchment update

So, things are moving along with Bloody Parchment's next anthology. I've just paid a deposit for the amazing Mike Tenebrae, a wonderful South African illustrator with a love for horror and fantasy art, to have carte blanche when it comes to what we'll see on our wraparound cover. I'm very excited to see what he will come up. This is the part of making books that I love – collaborating with and supporting other artists, thereby giving them a platform for their work. This year we're also partnering with a local publisher to do a small local print run that will hopefully see the book available in store, too. So more on that later.

ZamaShort "Summer"

It's been a while since I've had a short story out, and I am so pleased to have worked with editor and publisher Ivor Hartmann on "Summer" a story that is quite dear to my heart as it's inspired by an actual event (not the hanging, that is, but the chance meeting of an old friend after she'd left school). I still wonder what happened to her.

From ZamaShort:

In the far future on the outer reaches of the great space diaspora Hannali toils daily under alien skies on their farm. On a break into town she spots Summer, a childhood friend, on a scaffold waiting to be hanged...

What ensues is a touching tale of choices made, different paths taken, bonds formed and broken, what makes us who we are, and how we travel through life.

The ZamaShort imprint series is solely focused on the amazing powerhouse that is the short story. We give each short story its own publication so that it may be read and enjoyed fully as a stand-alone publication. As per the StoryTime Publishing mandate initialised in 2007, ZamaShort continues to champion and add to the ever-growing canon of African literature excellence and diversity. 

Get it here: Amazon US (Also: UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL, JP, BR, CA, MX, AU, IN); Libby; AppleBarnes & Noble; KoboSmashwords; Fable; ThaliaVivlio; Angus and Robertson.

Review copies available on request, or if you have any questions, please contact: zama1short@gmail.com

Mini Review – Cast Long Shadows by Cat Hellisen

Okay, so just a disclaimer – Cat has for many years been one of my closest writing friends. They were incredibly formative for me, having taught me much in terms of the art and craft of storytelling and style right at the beginning when I had absolutely no frigging idea what I was doing. I remain forever indebted to their guidance (and patience). And every time I read one of their books, I reman in awe (and some small part of me despairs for I shall never measure up to their incredible talent).

That Cast Long Shadows is not spoken about more often is an absolute travesty.

Although I own a signed copy, I opted to access this story via my Audible subscription, which was fan-fucking-tastic. The voice artist, Cathleen McCarron, is phenomenal in terms of the immense dynamic range of the characterisation she delivers that drives the narration, and combined with the lush, image-laden prose, is an absolute cherry on the entire deal. I could listen to her read Wikipedia entries about particle physics and probably be enthralled.

Cat's gonna murgle me for saying this, but if I had to describe this story in a nutshell, it's basically Game of Thrones mashed with Downton Abbey, by way of Snow White. (Sorry, Cat!) But it's so much more than that. The imagery, the prose, the slow-moving drama that culminates with incredible beauty and cruelty – and mercy – means that this book is going to stay with me for a very long time.

Honestly, I'm totally reccing this book to absolutely EVERYONE. It's about women's power and magic within a patriarchal world, and of course mysteries and secrets.

Where I'm at write now... 

I'm at that weird stage where I'm waiting for my publisher to greenlight the outline for my Scatterlings of Fate series. I must've spent about two months writing an outline of more than 7,000 words and creating its accompanying two-page tabled outline detailing the chronology of events so that I know where all the characters are at all times.

I know this sounds a little excessive, but when there's money involved, and an entire five-book series was sold based on the strength of book one, it's my responsibility as an author to make fucking certain that this story is functional and that my publisher knows exactly what I'll be delivering. And when, of course. I have five years to write this. So I got this.

Then, other than that, I've got two short stories to write – one due at the end of June, the other halfway through July. The second is really exciting – I'm collaborating with a scientist to write speculative fiction around the ethics of de-extinction and the impact of fortressing in conservation on the communities affected by land usage. The first is already plotted out – and it's a kinda dystopian eco-punk story inspired by a folk tale about a woman who puts on her husband's clothing and goes to rescue him.

And then, of course, I'm nearly done writing book five of a nine- or ten-book series for my ghost-writing client. It's been wild, I tell you. Wild. Don't ask me where I find the time for all this. I honestly couldn't tell you. 

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