Creativity Causes Laughter

Okay, not always, but definitely in this advert. The first time I saw it I nearly sprayed my desk with coffee!
It's the advert for a local fast food chain and in this series they name reasons why they love South Africa. They definitely always get it right with their ads!

Maandag Fiksie – The Call from Below

Foto deur Julia Starr

“The Call from Below” is flitsfiksie wat ek geskryf het vir die Readers’ Realm Oktober-kompetisie. Die tema/inspirasie wat gegee is, is dat dit ’n bangmaakstorie sonder bloed en derms moet wees. So, toe gebruik ek ’n bietjie plaaslike mitologie en skryf stedelike fantasie (“Urban Fantasy”).

Lees “The Call from Below” hier by Readers’ Realm en, terwyl jy daar is, koekeloer sommer ook na van die ander stories.

Monday Fiction – The Call from Below

Photo courtesy of Julia Starr

“The Call from Below” is a flash piece I entered for the Readers’ Realm October competition. The prompt that was given stated that it should be scary without blood and gore. So, I delved into some local mythology and wrote some urban fantasy.

Read “The Call from Below” here at Readers’ Realm. And why not check out some of the other stories while you’re there?

Inspirasie vir die naweek

Hoop jy geniet die liedjie en video soveel soos ek!

Inspiration for the weekend

Hope you enjoy the song and video as much as I do!

Wêreldbou Woensdag – Draaktrane

Deel 1 - die indigo stene


Ek het reeds ‘n paar stukkies stories geplaas oor die drake van Airthai en daarin is daar sprake van die sogenaamde “draaktrane”. Hierdie draaktrane speel ook ‘n redelike groot rol in die kortverhaal “A Dragon’s Freedom”.

Draaktrane is stene of half edelgesteentes wat gevorm word wanneer die trane van die drake in Airthai verhard soos wat dit in aanraking kom met die lug. Hierdie draaktrane kom voor waarookal drake woonagtig is of waar hulle gewoon het. Daar is verskillende soorte draaktrane wat verskillende kleure is en wat verskillende gebruike vir die drake en die drake se bewakers het. Hieronder word die verskillende stene genoem, saam met ’n beskrywing van die funksie daarvan.
Hierdie week gaan ek die indigo stene beskryf en volgende week die res van die soorte draaktrane.

Die indigo stene 
Hierdie stene word meestal in die Middellande gesien en is ook daar die bekendste. Die indigo stene is by verre die algemeenste van die draaktrane en word dus gewoonlik net “draaktrane” genoem, terwyl die ander kleure elk ’n ander naam of name besit.

"Indigo trane word gestort wanneer drake in
rou is of gevange is"

Indigo trane word gestort wanneer drake in rou is of gevange is – soos gebeur het in die koninkryk van Guldargan. Vir dié wat nie die woorde ken waarmee die stene aan die brand gesteek kan word nie is die stene slegs versiering en is veral gesog omdat dit selfs in die donker met ’n lig van binne gloei. In sommige plekke word die stene selfs gebruik vir beligting in die rykste huise – veral die wat in die stad Marglóthborg gevind word. Die gloei van die stene word ook gesien in die grotte onder Treddian en in die tonnels van Holt Haliern, maar die bestaan van groot hoeveelhede van die stene word streng geheim gehou deur die Bewakers van Holt Haliern en die konings van Treddian.

Baie van die stene onder Holt Haliern en die stad Adea in Treddian is trane wat deur die drake in die moerasse noord van die Grootwoud gestort is deur die wilde drake wat daar gewoon het nadat Nasja die drake in Guldargan vrygelaat het. Hulle het daar gerou omdat hulle nie na die see terug kon keer nie en ook vir die drake wat daar en in die Middellande gedood is. Hierdie stene het mettertyd in die strome beland wat na die ondergrondse riviere van die Grootwoud gelei het. Hierdie strome loop onder Holt Haliern deur, deur tonnels en grotte na Treddian.

*Foto van Ioliet deur "Clever Girl Style"

Seeing the Alien, Seeing Magic – Writing Wednesday

While writing what was supposed to be a piece of flash fiction, I was confronted again by just how important details are when setting a story in a specific location. In this case the story is set in my hometown. Well, city, to be exact. I sent the story in for critiques to my writing group (The Anomalous Sandbox) and received some notes which made me realise just how alien the description was to someone on the other side of the world. While the bustling streets were familiar, layout of streets and shops, things in the shops and the weather were noted as being “wrong”.

Photo courtesy of 
Belovodchenko Anton

As I had described a neighbourhood akin to mine (and weather I’ve been living with my whole life) I knew that what I was describing was indeed “right”. But I had not painted a clear enough picture of the setting. Not only that, I had not included the details which I take for granted every day which would have set the story more firmly in a specific city (or neighbourhood).

I started reworking the story, putting in a bit more description here, a little bit more “local flavour” there, and soon realised that a bigger story was waiting behind the first scribbled draft. I’m still working on the second draft, though, but this time around it is most definitely set in SA. Or, at least, the small part of the country which I live in.

It’s a strange mixture of cultures, languages, violence and compassion. Only when speaking to some people from other countries do I realise anew that it’s not second nature for everyone to switch between two (or more) languages during a day, or normal to walk into the kitchen at work and hear four different languages spoken. And I realised once more that setting a story in my little part of the world is as alien to some readers as if I had set in on another planet.

Protea, SA's National Flower

You may ask yourself ‘what is the point of all this rambling?’ Good question. My answer is that the point is learning to see _your_ world through different eyes. Not the eyes of the person who travels the same route to work every day, or who visit the same shop every week. It’s the eyes of a person who sees a place for the first time, who sees anew the people, the neighbours, the streets, the music, the poetry and the jokes. There is a magic, a fantastical world waiting to be discovered in your everyday surroundings. And, sometimes, I forget that.

Vandag op Hersenskim

Gaan maak gerus vandag 'n draai by Hersenskim - en vind uit waarheen ek verdwyn het... Hier is die skakel.

Keeping Sane. Sort of.

With the year rushing to an end - as if it doesn't happen every year round about this time - I've found myself rushing to get everything done while keeping sane. It works most of the time.
Between studying, writing and working it's quite a juggle to keep up without becoming a zombie. Which is the short reason why I've been a bit quiet on the blog these last two weeks. I've been focusing on finishing a few short stories in between everything else and I'm also working on a more serious blog post - which needs a bit more polishing and research than I usually do.
So, basically, I'm rushing around just like everyone else at the moment. I hope we all get through these last few months sane. Or sane enough.

Worldbuilding Wednesday - Write About Dragons

I came across this site last week – Write About Dragons. It contains the videos of the creative writing classes by Brandon Sanderson (author of, among others, Elantris and the Mistborn books). I have not yet had a chance to watch all the videos, but it looks to be a very helpful resource.

Here's the first video, to give you an idea of what to expect.

Wêreldbou Woensdag - Write About Dragons

Ek het afgekom op hierdie webwerf verlede week – Write About Dragons. Dit bevat video's van kreatiewe skryfklasse wat deur Brandon Sanderson (skrywer van, onder andere, Elantris en die Mistborn-boeke) aangebied is. Ek het nog nie kans gehad om na al die video's te kyk nie, maar dit lyk na 'n baie goeie hulpmiddel.

Hier is die eerste video om jou 'n idee te gee van wat om te verwag.

Fliek Vrydag – The Hobbit, lokprent #2

Aan die einde van nog 'n week wat sommer so verby gevlieg het, het ek gedink dat vandag 'n goeie dag vir 'n lokprent is.
Ek kan nie wag vir 14 Desember nie!

Film Friday – The Hobbit, trailer #2

With another week over so quickly, I thought another trailer would be in order.
I can't wait for 14 December!

Les Misérables

Hier is nog ‘n film wat ek nie kan wag om hierdie somer te sien nie – Les Misérables. Ek is ‘n baie groot aanhanger van die musiekblyspel wat op Hugo se groot werk gebaseer is en wil graag sien hoe dit op die silwerdoek interpreter word. Net jammer dat dit eers in Januarie 2013 vrygestel word (in Suid-Afrika).

Les Misérables

Here is another film I can hardly wait to see this summer – Les Misérables. I am a very big fan of the musical based on Hugo’s great work and would love to see how it is interpreted on screen. Just a pity it is only releasing in January 2013 (in South Africa).