What this editor likes... and doesn't like.

Apart from being an author, newspaper sub-editor and writer of editorial and advertorial, I also **gasp** edit commercial fiction, with a specific focus on F/SF/H, although of late I've found myself editing crime and historical novels when someone waves money in front of my nose. It happens. Most of my freelance work comes in by word of mouth, so I can't always predict what sort of job I'll take on.

My real love, however, remains with genre fiction and I'm going to give a quick run-down as to what sort of stories push my buttons and make me squee with delight (and make other rather inelegant noises while trying to snatch at a submission).

First off, I'm going to tell you who my favourite authors are. If we match here, chances are good I'm going to sit up and notice if you mention this connection with regard to your fiction. Top of my list: Neil Gaiman, Storm Constantine, Poppy Z Brite and Jacqueline Carey.

Other authors who are on my favourites list include Ursula K Le Guin, William Burroughs, Mary Gentle, Fiona McIntosh, Robin Hobb, CJ Cherryh, George RR Martin and Trudi Canavan.

There, that gives you a good idea of my tastes. However, whatever you do, DON'T tell me you're the next Neil Gaiman or something similar. That will only make me laugh at you. However, you can tell me that your story should appeal to someone who's enjoyed (insert title) by (insert appropriate author). That will give me an idea of what market your book will appeal to.

Please don't tell me how your fiction will make me feel. Let me decide for myself. If you tell me I'll be moved to tears, or feel some sort of emo vibe, I'll laugh at you.

Now, there are particular themes I dig. Some of them may be grossly overdone but hell, I'll still read or salivate after them if they're good.

MAGIC AND THE OCCULT

I love stories about witches and magicians, especially in a contemporary setting, who go up against adversaries. I love it when I can see an author has done her research and hasn't just watched The Craft or Charmed. Those kinds of "snap your fingers, thy will be done" just takes all the fun out of the story. I love dusty tomes, ancient grimoires, age-old mysteries... What I don't want to see is "Satan is going to take over the world" or "if you mess with the occult you're coming to a sticky end" or clear-cut definitions of good/bad Hollywood style. I like shades of grey. I like humour. I like my demons moonlighting as burlesque girls at the gentleman's club down the road.

EGYPT

Here we go. I'm a total sucker for Egypt. If you've done a believable ancient Egyptian setting and you've done your homework, you'll have me begging to see your story. But... be warned... I've been an amateur Egyptologist since I could read my first National Geographic magazine. If you have your pharaoh eating fish, I'm going to give you a very stern look and waggle my finger at you. If you write about how the ancient Egyptians are descended from Atlanteans and so much as breathe a whisper about the Face on Mars, I'm going to laugh at you and hit you over the head with Fingerprints of the Gods.

VAMPIRES

Yes, vampires are overcooked in fiction at the moment, but I've been into them since... Well, since I read Lost Souls at the tender age of 13. What I don't want to see is eternal wangsting about OMF... I have to kill to live... Or oh noes... I've fallen for a hooman... Or Underworld revamped with vampires vs. werewoofs. Unless you're going to put one heck of a spin on the aforementioned themes, I'm not even going to laugh when I read the query letter or, gods forbid, the synopsis. I'm going to yawn. I do believe vampires make excellent characters to throw into a novel where a lot of other stuff is happening and being or becoming a vampire isn't central to the theme, but may either bring about obstacles or advantages for a character who is that way inclined. I'm going to be far more interested in a vampire playing at being Indiana Jones, just tellin' ya.

WEREWOOFS AND OTHER SHIFTING KIN

I. Do. Not... want to see the "Oh, I'm wangsting after my soul mate" thing, okay? It has its place in paranormal romance, mmkay? Although borderline bestiality is not my thing, I don't mind seeing weres or shifters doing the same thing my vamps are: having an adventure where their abilities are either an advantage or disadvantage, but not central to the theme.

TALKING ANIMALS...

...are twee. I don't mind talking animals that are not merely anthropomorphosised caricatures of cuteness. But here I'm thinking Lucien or Matthew the ravens, and if you know who they are and what milieu they belong to, then we're on the right page. Those are the kinds who have some sort of secret history you're not sharing. That's fine. But I don't want furry sidekicks, okay? And if there is a furry sidekick he or she'd better have a very good reason for being there and impressing me, okay? Otherwise I'm going to laugh. And quite possibly point.

DRAGONS

I like dragons. Ursula K Le Guin got it right. Barbara Hambly got it right. So did Tolkien. When I was 12, Anne McCaffrey worked for me. Sometimes, if I'm in the need for goo, I'll go reread one of her Dragonriders of Pern novels for shits and giggles. Hell, a while back I even found writing fanfics set in her world fun. But if you're going to be bringing in dragonriders into the equation, you had better make sure you're not pulling a Christopher Paolini, okay?

SEX

Contrary to popular belief, I do feel sex and erotica has a place in genre fiction. Just look at what Jacqueline Carey does. I enjoy reading about all manner of wild stuff. BDSM doesn't scare me. Bring on the rod and the molten wax. But please, oh please spare me the purple prose. I don't want to read about "cock", "clit" and "pussy". Those are, in my opinion, lazy words that belong in Hollywood. Writing good erotica is a challenge. You can only use the word "throbbing" so many times. I've seen too many erotic novels with words like the aforementioned offenders that just drag me right out of those pages and back into the real world saying "Ick, ick, ick". Heroines who get wet panties every time the hero walks into the room don't work for me. Heroines who fantasise about what they'd do to said hero later... and who get inventive even if they're on their own...after a nice hot bath... My advice: keep it real. I don't don't mind a good few shags but FFS, gratuitous boinkfests make me feel vaguely glad I don't know people like that in the real world.

BOHEMIANS

Oh... and I love debauched bohemian types who fall off society's radar. I love stories about misfits who make all the wrong choices and do all manner of stuff that goes from bad to worse. Granted, I'd like to see some character development. But I don't want to hear about how they get saved when they go "straight". Gypsies, circus folk, freaks, artists, strippers, musicians, writers... Any story featuring a main character with something odd about them will have me sit up and notice. But please... do your research. And let them solve their problems in a way that is unique to their personalities and traits.

And... I'm always on the look-out for fresh me- sorry... fresh talent. If you think you've got a novel I'd be interested in, drop me an email at nerinedorman@gmail.com

Also, go take a gander at my publisher's submission guidelines:

http://www.lyricalpress.com/submissions

Amazon ABNA feedback

So... I got my Amazon ABNA feedback

From what I can tell, the main problems were a) the subject matter, as the reviewer wasn't a sucker (LOL) for vampire fiction and b) the person only had three chapters and could consequently not "get into" my shifting POV structure that is made clearer once a person is about six chapters in. (A/B/C1/A/B/C2... and so on)

Granted, I'd been heavily influenced by GRRM at the time and he does this shifting structure with not four but about 20 viewpoint characters. GRRM I am not.

So... What to do?

I'm going to sit tight for a while and continue querying agents. Failing that I'll consider revising to drop the secondary characters (Arwen and Etienne) by making them non-viewpoint and less important. I'll change the setting to an adult market as well.

Thing is, I know I'm a good writer. **sigh**

But I just have to work extra hard now to attend to these bugs. At any rate, Camdeboo Nights was written after I completed my second novel, which I shoved under my bed.

See the Amazon review thing below:

* * * *

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

I was pleased to find out that this is not an exerpt trying to compete with the Twilight series. The writing in Chapter One featuring Trystan was very suspenseful and a nice surprise ending. I liked the description of the car and the building hunger of the vampire.

Chapter Two was surprising in that it did not pick up the story after Ch 1, and yet was still interesting and the characters were likeable. It also let me know that this particular geographic location was likely in England or other European country. I liked Helen and Damon and wanted to know more about them, and what happened to their mother.

What aspect needs the most work?

While it was acceptable to have Chapters 1 and 2 seemingly not related to each other, I got totally lost in Chapter 3. There was no explanation for what occured nor did the location fit the previous chapters description. I could not relate much to the characters and found the entire story a bit bizarre. I felt a bit of empathy for the characters that were being beaten, but felt more for the characters in Chapter 2.

I also did not know yet how the title applied to this excerpt, and I did not see yet how the 3 chapters tied it all together. The characters in Chapter 3 were a bit stereotypical in their descriptions and their language/voice.

There is also some editing needed to pick up on the duplicated words, etc.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Overall, I think this novel has potential. I have no clue what the main plot of the story is, and I think there needs to be a bit less sterotyping of characters, and some explanation of what is going on, where it is all taking place and why the reader should keep reading. I didn't have a strong desire to find out what scared the vampire, and I had a mild interest in finding out what happened to the kid's mom in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 felt unnecessary to the story.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The prose is really well done. Nice style, fluid motion, good descriptive sentences, believable dialogue. This is not my genre at all, but I was interested in what was happening all the way through.

What aspect needs the most work?

There are some writing mistakes but a good edit and that would be cleared up. Example....Trystan gunned the engine and Rose
responded. He gave her fuel gradually,
allowing her to pick up speed without her bulk
jerking.(how can one "gun" an engine, but yet give speed gently?) This is fairly minor so don't worry too much.

I was confused what kind of school the last chapter took place in? Was this an unotherly realm school or was it a regular high school that Arwen and Etienne were attending. I was hoping it would say, but I never could figure that out. Might need to get that in earlier so the reader doesn't wonder the whole time.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Overall this is not my type of read. I don't like supernatural vampire books. However, I can see many people sucking this right up(pun intented) and enjoying the creepiness and surreal moments.

Good job and I can see this book doing well in the marketplace. Best of luck.

The lower rating on plot hook only indicates my lack of enjoyment in this kind of fodder. I wouldn't read on as I am already pysched out. LOL

Athol Fugard's The Train Driver

It's really embarrassing to admit this, but the last time I went to see a stage production was when I was still in high school, which was more than a decade ago. What's equally sad is that South Africa has a rich literary heritage, of which I'm missing a vital component because I've been too lazy to go to the theatre.

I've been suffering from ennui for the past few months. To put it mildly, movies bore me. I don't even bother watching telly and, in fact, we don't own an infernal box. When I do see programming on telly, the presenters annoy me. I feel like they're talking down to me as if I'm five years old and have the IQ of a carrot.

What I like about books and what I've come to really appreciate about theatre is that as a reader or viewer, I am not furnished with all the details. When reading or watching plays, I have to make a greater effort to suspend disbelief and there's that magic moment when the words on the page cease to be words but become sensual input my mind interprets. With plays there are some visual and aural stimulus, but as a member of the audience, I have to put in so much more effort to forget that I'm watching actors on stage. Books and plays make a greater impact on my intellect than most films.

Now, to get to Athol Fugard. I first encountered his work during high school, when during Standard 8 (Grade 10) we studied The Road to Mecca, Fugard's dramatisation about the life of outsider artist Helen Martins. We also watched the movie based on Fugard's play starring Kathy Bates, and I was, even as a nasty little teen, blown away by the scope of his work and the way I engaged with his characters.

A good decade and a bit later, a good friend of ours told us about a new theatre in the Cape Town CBD... The Fugard Theatre, in Caledon Street.

http://www.thefugard.com/

If you're in Cape Town, I totally recommend making an effort to rather support our local actors than some of the schlock released by Hollywood. The building itself is one of the city's historical gems and, for many years the space was just used as a warehouse. The present owners have maintained that sense of old but have renovated beautifully, with an almost rustic feel. And as far as small theatres go, this one is pretty darn big without losing that precious sense of intimacy.

I am so going back.

Fugard's latest play, The Train Driver worked for me from the start. Using only two characters, traumatised train driver Rudolf Visagie (Sean Taylor) and gravedigger Simon Hanabe (Owen Sejake), Fugard effortlessly presents two men who encapsulate the cultural differences present in contemporary South Africa.

“This may be the most important one I’ve ever written as far as I’m concerned for personal reasons,” says Athol.

I agree that this is a very important work, especially for those who are curious about post-apartheid South Africa. This is a harrowing story but when I walked out of the theatre I felt somehow recharged, that even in some of the darkest emotions present in our beautiful land, something precious can be found and carried out into the world to transform the people who take the message to heart.

This play is a powerful commentary on society and, if you ever have the opportunity to see this on stage, go see it. You won't be disappointed.

For further details, see http://news.book.co.za/blog/2010/02/26/athol-fugard-brings-his-new-play-the-train-driver-home/

Breathing new life into old words

Sometimes an author reaches the point in their career when they look back at their older titles and think to themselves, “Darn, I could have done that better.” And, sometimes, an author will have an opportunity to do just that, as Jordana Ryan tells us how she’s gone about this and some of her experiences.

How do you identify a novel that you'd like to rewrite?

When I write “the end” on a novel, I’m usually happy with what I’ve written and I don’t revisit it. However, there are times reviews will come in, or a reader will say something to me, and I will think, yeah I could have done that differently, or I should have done that better than I did. Of course, if the book is in publication at that point, there is not a whole lot I can do about that until or unless the book has run its course with a particular publisher, the publisher closes, or I’m willing to ask for my rights back to the book.

How do you advise an author about getting their rights back for a novel from a publisher?

Asking for your rights back is a relatively simple thing. In your contract, there is a clause that will tell you how to go about it. There is usually a waiting period of 30 to 90 days. Simply look at your contract to tell you how long you have to wait and what kind of notice your publisher needs. Is an email enough, or would certified mail be better? I personally recommend both. There are a lot of considerations in this. If a book is selling well with a publisher I would not recommend pulling a book simply because you wish to rewrite it. If the book is not selling, that is a different story. If you have found another publisher you like better, I also would not recommend pulling a book. You can write another book for the publisher. There are very few reasons I’d recommend breaking contract. But the actual approach to it is simple.

Once you’ve decided to do so, and you’ve really taken the time to think it over, simply look at your contract and find out what you need to do, certified letter or email, what the waiting period is, then write to the publisher very respectfully telling them that you have decided you no longer wish to be under contract with them. Tell them that you understand there is a waiting period of so long, and that once that period expires you wish them to remove your books from their site as well as any other venue from which they had placed your material for sale. Also, you would like it in writing that the rights for all material you had published with them have reverted to you and the date in which this has occurred. This will be important for re-publication of the material at a later date.

How do you approach a rewrite for a novel?

Rewriting a novel can be a very daunting task to say the least. You have an entire novel that you’ve written and has been published and for sale to the public. The key to it is deciding what needs to change and why. The book was obviously good on some level because it was published in the first place, but as the author I’m approaching it in terms of knowing there are things I want to be better. I know I’ve learned a lot since then, and there are many things that I wish I had done differently.

So, because I know the story so well, I have in my head the things I know will change and the things that won’t. I think the approach is to leave the characters essentially the same, but to enhance what was already written to make it more than what it was, to make it deeper and more meaningful. The thing about it is, the book is very close to my heart because it was my first. As a writer I have changed, and to see that book evolve and become closer to the writer I am now would really be a phenomenal thing. Bearing that in mind, I want to approach this as not changing the story, but changing the dynamic of it to suit the style of writer I have now become.

What are some of the dangers inherent to revising a novel?

The biggest one is that the book has a fan base. I know when I told a few people I was going to rewrite it they were like “Nooo I love that book.” There is always a danger of people saying, it’s just not the same. You’ve got to be careful of people saying that you changed too much. And it’s true, you don’t want to change too much of the story because then you change the basis of who the characters are. I think my readers will be surprised that I can change a lot but still have the same basis, because a lot of my style change has been to go into an even deeper point of view.

While emotion has always been my strong point, deep point of view has been something I’ve been working on, and it was one of the number one critics’ complaints with this book, so in rewriting it has been something I’ve been working on. But a danger would definitely be not to make the book so different it’s unrecognizable. A second danger certainly is that it’s not going to sell as well. The book has already been published, and it’s had its heyday so to speak. Audiences usually don’t buy a book twice, and revising it doesn’t mean those who already bought it are going to go out and buy it again just to see how I’ve changed it. Of course, I’m running a risk. However, knowing it wasn’t in the right market, and doing the revisions, I’m also taking a chance I can get it with a publisher that has a good market for the type of book that it is and the sales will increase. So it’s a chance an author takes.

Is it difficult to sell a revised novel to another publisher?

It can be. It’s easier to say this book has had significant revisions and rewrites done since publication, and here is the paper from my former publisher that says I have my rights back, than it is to hand a book over that has not been touched and comes immediately from another publisher. At least that would be my opinion of the situation.

What would you say are the advantages/disadvantages of revisions and republishing?

I think any time you revise and republish something, you will have curiosity seekers. Those who will buy the book to see what you have changed. You will also have those who have already bought the book and don’t feel the need to buy it again. So you might have a few takers just out of curiosity, but you also have a whole audience of people who might have bought the book, that now won’t because they have already done so. But then, to get it with the right publisher and see the book as I imagine it… It’s worth that risk because I might be gaining a whole new audience the book never would have had if I had not done this.

Keep up to speed with Jordana at her blog, http://jordanasmusings.blogspot.com or visit her website at http://jordanaryan.tripod.com

The mind behind the Dark Tempest

Science Fiction may not be everyone's cup of tea, but sometimes one encounters an author who is able to blend the right amount of speculative future, science and human relationships to bring forth a story that not only engages your imagination but fires up your emotions.

I am both honoured and privileged to have worked on Manda Benson's writing, an author who will, I'm sure, is going to make waves with her writing. Dark Tempest will be released through Lyrical Press, Inc. on February 15, and if you enjoyed reading works in the scope of the likes of David Brin, CJ Cherryh and Mary Gentle, I can say with authority that you'll most likely enjoy Manda's writing.

See: http://www.lyricalpress.com/dark_tempest

Manda, thank you for agreeing to join me here in my world. You have a background in science. Care to tell us a little about it and how it has influenced your writing?

I have an MChem and a PhD in Chemistry. I worked mainly in the areas of natural products and organic synthesis, which included biofuels, drugs design and coming up with ways to make novel polymers. I’ve also messed about with science teaching in its various forms, at secondary and undergraduate level.

I remember the thing that first got me interested in science, when I was very young, was seeing photographs of the sky at high magnification, and realising these amazing images were of galaxies, supernova remnants, clouds of gas and things so big I couldn’t possibly get my head around them. There is an awful lot out there, and I’d love to see it. Unfortunately I can’t, so I write books about it instead.

When working on Dark Tempest, one of my favourite characters was the morran, Rh'Ahrrol, who often saw a situation in a clearer light than the others.

Where do your morrans come from?

The morran species has quite a detailed backstory, none of which ended up being revealed in Dark Tempest. My idea for them came from thinking about how we have sea urchins and land urchins, and wondering what a "space urchin" might be like.

Morrans evolved on a volcanic moon orbiting a brown dwarf (a brown dwarf is an object larger than a big planet such as Jupiter and yet not big enough to start full fusion and become a sun, which emits heat but no light).

Because the closest sun is far away and the moon spends long periods facing away from it, life cannot depend on photosynthesis and instead plants use geothermal energy from the moon’s crust and radiation from the brown dwarf to grow, similar to some ecosystems that have been discovered in volcanic trenches in the ocean.

Like the deep sea, life on this dark world is bioluminescent. Morrans, an intelligent species, have evolved large eyes to allow them to see well in twilight, sonar so they can hunt effectively in pitch darkness and navigate around caves, and luminous quills and voices with which to communicate using colour and sounds.

Their genetic material is different to DNA on Earth, but their biochemistry is pretty much the same, so they can eat the same food as us. Unlike animals on Earth, which mostly have two copies of each chromosome, morrans have sixfold redundancy and thus have six sexes in the ratio 10:10:87:87:227:227. Yes, I have a spreadsheet with a table in it on my hard drive showing how I calculated that, and yes it is a very nerdy thing to do. :-)

There’s a cartoon of a morran at http://tangentrine.com/content/artwork in the aliens section if anyone wants to know what they look like. I like trying to think outside the box when I make aliens, and I like reading about aliens by other writers who’ve done some research and come up with something clever and imaginative.

Tell us more about your Archers. How did this idea first appear to you?

In Dark Tempest, star Archers are the very top caste of the genetic dynasty, and their purpose is to hunt "chimaera" – organometallic Alcubierre organisms needed to build craft for galactic travel. Their minds are connected permanently and intimately to the computers that control their complex and powerful ships.

Star Archers are heterozygous for what’s called the "Blood" genes. Because some of these genes are on the X chromosome, all Archers are female. I was doing recurve archery years ago and I got thinking about how projectiles such as guns (which are effectively just an explosion in a tube) aren’t necessarily better or more accurate than bows, and that got me on to thinking about how new technology could make bows more powerful and more accurate. I came up with the idea of having powered limbs on the bow made of a material that can contract using a chemical reaction, like muscle, and shoot an arrow with far more force than it’s drawn with.

The other thing that ended up being a significant part of it was the Archers’ sense of discipline and philosophy. I liked an anecdote someone told me, that Korean archers are trained to shoot between heartbeats to minimise error. I’ve no idea if it’s true, but it sounds cool and it ended up in the book.

What are some of the developments you think will become more important in present technology? Where would you like to see further development?

Subjects close to my heart are genetic engineering and bionic augmentation. For as long as I can remember I’ve been obsessed with the idea of being able to control things (asides from my own body) with my mind, and this facet has appeared in almost everything I’ve written of novella-length or longer.

Space exploration (using robots, telescopes, and probes; no need to send humans unless there’s a habitat ready for them to move in) is also important to me. Although I’ve yet to hear of anything useful come out of nanotechnology, I predict big strides eventually coming from this area in terms of medicine and computing.

If you were made an all-powerful dictator on Earth, how would you exercise your power?

I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. There is that much wrong with the world, and unfortunately there are no simple solutions. However, I think it’s of utmost importance that science keeps moving forward. I’d put high value on developing the technology to terraform other worlds and build habitats for humans away from Earth, and we need to make full use of technology such as genetic engineering and tide/wind power and photovoltaics to feed people and power our industry rather than importing food and oil.

A few people in high places are making a lot of noise at the moment to do with carbon footprints, and making life difficult for motorists, and ruining the countryside by building eco slums all over it. With the population growing the way it is, that’s not going to make a blind bit of difference. It’s like trying to prevent a dam from bursting by bailing it out with a teacup. Short of annihilating the human race, climate change is not going to be undone, so we need to use our science to deal with it instead of hiding in a cave with no toilet and no Wi-Fi and hoping it will go away.

Can we expect other works set in the same universe as Dark Tempest?

Yes! Dark Tempest shares its setting, which I call Galactic Legacy, with a number of other pieces of fiction I have planned. While Dark Tempest explored the world of the star Archers and introduced morrans and the way halfBlood people are treated, there are other aspects of this universe and other castes, such as the merchants, the castellans, and the inquisitors. My next novella in this setting, which I’m currently working on, is called In the Shadow of Lazarus and it’s about ship whose crew get infected with a contagious disease that’s evolved the next step up from a snotty nose and a sore throat.

Galactic Legacy also fits into a "superuniverse" in that it’s set in a particular era of an envisioned future. There are three settings in total, the first being a near-future series of technothrillers set mainly on Earth; the second being set about 100 years after this, in a Solar system in the process of being colonised by humans; and with Galactic Legacy being the final one, set about 4,000 years after the first era.

Some useful links.
Manda Benson’s official website: http://tangentrine.com
Hubble astrophotography website: http://hubblesite.org/gallery
Critters online writing workshop: http://critters.org

An author's temple is her library

As an author and editor, with a day job, a big gripe I have is that I no longer have much, if any, time for reading. Oh, I read all right. I read submissions, I proofread, I study... but for pleasure? Nah. If I'm lucky, I snatch an hour or so on the train every day, when I'm not writing or chatting with friends. Sometimes I'm lucky and get to read for a whole hour on a weekend when my husband decides to hog the computer. That's if we're not rushing about madly after his photo- or film-shoots.

If 2009 was anything to go by, it's set the tone for 2010. I need to find balance. Sure, I love what I do and this year I'll be trying to work even harder than the last, but I need to be able to indulge in the activity that got me into this predicament in the first place: my love of books.

It all started when I was a wee lass of about five or so. My mom used to teach at a primary school in the seaside village of Hout Bay. My pre-school was across the way from her place of work, and every afternoon I'd sit patiently in her classes (she taught the Grade 6s) and wait for her to finish so we could go home.

(This is possibly also another reason why I could read and write better than most brats my age, thanks Mum!)

Sitting in a classroom watching my mum teach soon lost its appeal. A few other teachers had younglings my age and we sometimes ranged about the school for hours on end, catching all sorts of mischief, but they weren't always there, so I had to find some other sort of entertainment.

That's when I discovered the library. The Thomas Library (as it was called then) was in the same block as my pre-school. I'm not quite sure how I discovered it, but when I did, I pestered my mum to let me spend the afternoons there helping the librarian pack away books.

Even though my reading wasn't all that great, I loved paging through the books, trying to string together words and examining the illustrations or photographs. I spent almost every afternoon in the library, a habit that continued well into my teens, although not with as much frequency, since I'd started checking out books instead.

The saddest development over the past few years since I've started writing and editing professionally, is that I'd stopped going to the library. Besides, even if I did check out books, I never had time to read them anyway. With so many books at home sitting on my "to read" pile, it didn't make sense to still use the library.

What I didn't realise is that I'd been missing out on what can possibly described as one of the most spiritual aspects of being a wordsmith. The library was my temple, and I was so far off the path I didn't realise my absolute thirst for knowledge and inspiration.

I work in Cape Town's CBD, and for many years the central library was hosted within the labyrinthine City Hall, with several floors and a series of pokey, stuffy rooms choked with shelves. Although fun to visit, I was rarely stayed long to browse mainly because the building made me feel claustrophibic.

Imagine my delight when I decided to visit the newly revamped central library, which has now moved to a historical building next to the City Hall.

This story pretty much sums up the feeling of intense ecstasy flowing through my veins:
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/NewCentralLibrarywillbeaCentreofExcellence.aspx

Of course, I told myself, I had to be realistic. With my current times being overburdened with other activities, there was no way I could check out books and read them. But a part of me just itched to spend time in that hallowed hall, breathing in the atmosphere and basking in my reverence of the written word.

Then something struck me. Nothing was stopping me from making a special "me" day, once a week, to spend my lunch hour in the library. Now, every Wednesday, I trot down the road to the library. Acting on personal whim, I wander between the shelves, picking books at random. Sometimes I read the preface... or the first chapter... Maybe next week I'll pick up the book again or find something different.

The most important aspect of this act is to take me away from the hundreds of distractions and say, "Hey, you, author, how about broadening your horizons a bit?"

During an hour I look at four or five books in this fashion, and am exposed to new ideas. As a writer, this is a real act of discovery, and often I walk away turning over the bones of yet another plot to stir and thicken... and who knows, may just prove to be my next novel.

2009 in review

Well, For the sake of keeping things neat and tidy, I've listed some of 2009's achievements with regard to links and activities related to my publishing endeavours. Looking back, it's been quite an eventful year, even though at times I felt I wasn't moving forward.

December 21, 2009: Khepera Rising launches at the Phoenix Lounge: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?eid=221304291624&index=1

December 13, 2009: Taking the Dark Diva Reviews spotlight: http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/weekend-showcase-nerine-dorman.html

December 3, 2009: A review for Khepera Rising from author Greg Hamerton: http://www.eternitypress.com/review_nerine_dorman_kephera_rising.htm

December 2, 2009: I'm one of SinWhore's favourite sinners: http://sinwhore.webs.com/myfavouritesinners.htm

September 18, 2009: I finally cave in and join The Red Room: http://www.redroom.com/member/nerinedorman

Oh, and did I mention that cover art for KHEPERA RISING is live at: http://www.lyricalpress.com/nerine_dorman

September 15, 2009: Interview with author Keith Pyeatt: http://paranormalwriters.blogspot.com/2009/09/horror-with-heart-few-minutes-with.html

June 3, 2009: Horror flash story appears at Fear and Trembling magazine:
http://fearandtremblingmag.com/item.php?sub_id=4802

May 22, 2009: Interview with David Farland goes live: http://www.ioltravel.co.za/article/view/4986603

April 24, 2009: Featured review for SECRET NAMIBIA: http://reviews.book.co.za/blog/2009/04/24/carrot-nerine-dorman-on-secret-namibia/

April 20, 2009: Author page live at LPI: http://www.lyricalpress.com/nerine_dorman

April 8, 2009: Release date for Khepera Rising, to be published by Lyrical Press, Inc. is December 21, 2009.

April 7, 2009: Issue 9 of Something Wicked magazine available as ezine. See:
http://www.ereader.com/ereader/eBooks/eBook85371.htm?cache

March 30, 2009: Guest-blogging on Murdery by 4: http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2009/03/characters-good-bad-and-their.html

March 23, 2009: Jam Jars and Fairy Dust sold to BK Publishing for inclusion in its Water of Life project:
http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/general/young_publishers_strive_to_breed_book_culture_in_kids.html

March 6, 2009: The publisher contacted me today with the news that they've signed the contract on their side. Khepera Rising now officially is part of the Lyrical Press Inc. stable.
See: http://www.lyricalpress.com/

March 5, 2009: I'm on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nerinedorman