I can mostly talk okay now which is good! However, there is much to do.
Each day I choose to write three sentences with two words, using ‘Multiple Sentences Formulation’ and I do three different things.
I start to write carefully. It’s not easy.
I write on the laptop and then I listen to it.
Then I write it again, and I ask lovely husband, Cliff, to make sure that it’s right.
This takes a lot of time. You see, I can’t get the right word every time yet. Sometimes it could take more than five minutes! Even though I get frustrating. But it’s worth it.
I pop a little line here and there in WordPress. Also, once a week, I have been doing ‘Three Things Challenge’ on Wednesday with the wonderful Di at pensitivity101.
Spring has sprung in the West Coast (in the south hemisphere) and floral buds are springing up. The festive season is fast approaching and the villages and little towns are so abundant in beautiful wild flowers. 🌺🌼🌸
I like to read as much as I can. This is quite difficult still, although it’s much better. And how exciting when my lovely friend, Robbie, posted a few days ago, her ‘Roberta Writes’ for my book, Spirit of Shell Man – even though I can’t read properly yet!
Finally, a little bit of numbers. Did you know that I have aways been a demon Scrabble person? This really helps and it’s such fun, with my great friend, Laurette, each Saturday morning. We have scored each time almost 500, and last week we got to 501! She also put a nice photo with me and my cat, Luna.
This is how it starting. Back from the void… ‘Coming Back’
And now, what can I see?
At the very start, it sees that the brain doesn’t recognise in my head properly at all.
Only listening.
Another few weeks. A little talking.
I look at my right hand. I need to write.
I move the pencil and the hand, and I look at my eyes..
This is how it works. (Sort of).
“Your eyes work, but the letters on the page have turned into squiggles. They make no sense. Now meet Howard Engel, a writer of detective stories, who has this condition, but amazingly, has found a way to trick his brain to almost read again.”
Something else
Much later, I find another writer. He had a ‘problem’ similarly to mine.
I am not quite right yet. My legs and arms and everything are good, although walking around is still a little odd. There is a little bit in my sight and I can’t see well on the right, but it is getting smaller.
My writing is getting so much better. Reading is still a bit difficult and talking is the same. Sometimes it is perfect but other times it disappears. Oh well.
So much has changed in my haemorrhage stroke, but at least I’m getting better. Slowly (very slowly) does it.
Now I get the gist of things in reading and writing. Before I would copy and paste on Word on my laptop were I can Read Aloud on Review. It’s not great but it’s all right. Of course, your clever people who read aloud on WordPress are fun. I can read pretty well now too and I can pop a little reply here and there.
Meanwhile, I will enjoy the Tour de France for three weeks. Just as I watched last year, although I could hardly speak at all then, and now I’m so much better, though there are quite a few of bumps in the way as I talk. It will get there, I’m sure.
And we love to walk on over the beach, right by the ocean, near Cape Town – the best therapy, I know. Apart from all your excellent posts from WordPress.
Well, it’s been a strange time starting on the 19th June 2022. When, out of the blue, a haemorrhage stroke landed at my door. The next I knew, my brain has scrambled. Not great.
It’s taken many months, but I am on the mend.
However, now physically I’m brilliant. I am stronger and fitter (and beautifully thinner too). I am still improving my reading, writing and speaking, but still more time is required. It is so strange but it will be all right again.
Thank you very much, my friends from WordPress – so many who giving me support. Most of all, Cliff, my wonderful man, keeping me safe and sound. He is my soulmate.
And now you’ve seen me around and eventually I’ll be back properly.
‘Look at this!’ Connor brandishes the bright and colourful cover of the new Six Sentence Stories magazine. ‘You’re on the cover, Ms Hall. A first for you.’
Cynthia stretches out an elegantly manicured hand and takes the proffered copy from him. She looks at me over her new reading glasses. ‘Such a nice photo of you, too.’
‘I’m surprised it’s not in sepia, it’s that old,’ interjects Gary with a grin, immediately receiving an elbow in the ribs from Gina.
‘Don’t upset her Gary,’ Gina mutters. ‘Don’t you want to be in a story again?’ Gina flashes a smile at me.
Cynthia brushes her hand over the glossy cover. ‘Oh look, there’s a voucher for that little deli shop, Sam’s. It was very pleasant. Apart from that rather brassy woman coming on to you, Connor.’
‘You mean, Beryl?’ Connor’s eyes twinkle.
Gina prods Gary’s leg. ‘You see, they’ve both had an outing, and it wasn’t even in one of Ms Hall’s stories.’
‘What a charming man Tom is,’ Cynthia purrs. ‘So creative! We met him briefly at Ms Hall’s book launch.’ She runs a thoughtful finger over Tom’s picture on the magazine cover. ‘Nice eyes. I don’t suppose I should blame him for Beryl’s behaviour.’
‘I met another excellent chap there too,’ Connor takes a long pull from the glass of whisky which has mysteriously appeared in his hand. ‘Chris Nelson, short story author and a fellow poet. No wonder we hit it off.’ He looks around the room. ‘And you know what, he’s written a really good review of Our Book!’ Connor beams and raises his glass to me.
I’ve really enjoyed my first quarter’s reading this year. As I’m sure I’ve told you before, I love to read almost as much as I love to write, and I strongly believe that the more good writing I read, the more my own writing improves.
I generally choose to read books that have been recommended by other people, mostly my WP reviewer friends. Once again they’ve picked real winners. I’ve also read a couple of well-known authors whose books I’ll always turn to (Jasper Fford and Isabel Allende) and a couple of instructive books to hone my ‘word-smithery’ (Kathy Steinemann’s Writer’s Lexicon) and to improve my poetry-crafting (Colleen Chesebro’s Wordcraft).
It has long been one of my missions to read more authors from South Africa and the African continent, since I feel we are frequently under-represented in the wider world. You’ll see that my first four reads were all SA authors, after which I spread my reading wings and flew north to find Jude Italkali in Uganda.
I hadn’t read a collection of short stories for ages, but Chris Nelson’s excellent collection, The Beautiful Silence, has re-kindled my appetite. As soon as I’d finished reading Chris’s book, a reading recommendation made to me by Liz Gauffreau* on the thread of a post about Magical Realism on Jacqui Murray’s excellent site, led me to seek out a short story by Gabriel García Márquez, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World – a delightful read! Encouraged by the fact that I found a copy via Mrs Google, I also sought out Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro, which I’ve been keen to read ever since I began dipping into Hemingway’s Boat by Paul Hendrickson. My obsession with Hemingway’s prose continues.
Here are the books I read as the scorching South African summer mellowed into a glorious golden autumn. My next round up will find me shivering as we head into the depths of winter!
As a writer, I know how exciting it is to receive a review from a reader, and I offer a big, big thank you to my readers (and listeners, now I’ve three books published as audiobooks) who’ve taken the time and trouble to rate/review my books. That aside, to know someone has read one of my books is enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *A quick heads up for poetry lovers: Liz Gauffreau is hosting a live poetry event Poets in the Blogosphere, on 23 April 2022 from 4-5:30 PM ET. This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy poetry being read out loud. Just as it should be. You can find out more here.
Quote from my interview with Jean Lee in April 2020
It’s exactly 10 years ago today that I took the plunge and published my first novel. April 1st 2012 saw me press that big ‘submit’ button and launch The Silver Locketinto the world. A momentous moment about which I basically told no-one. So lacking in confidence was I back then that I published it under a pen-name.
I’d started bits and pieces of the book during the mid-noughties, but I hadn’t come up with anything very substantial. Then in April 2010, the ash cloud from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull delayed my flight back to the UK from a holiday in South Africa and resulted in me being AWOL from my job for a week. Rules around unauthorised absence in the council where I worked dictated that I must make up the time, leaving me a chained to my desk for 2 hours every day after everyone else had gone home for (I can’t remember how many) weeks.
It was not even as if I had sufficient work to fill the time. My risk management role had been scaled down due to governmental policy changes, and the work that I took over from other members of my team hardly filled the the normal working day.
So what to do? Twiddle my thumbs? Bring in some knitting? Nobody much seemed to mind as long as I made up that oh-so-important missing time.
And so I began to work on the novel which I’d been composing in my head during my daily commute. Apart from the time I happily spent chatting to our cleaner, there was only one occasion that I remember being disturbed. One of the field staff phoned and I was so wrapped up in my writing – see that quote at the top of the page – that it took me a minute or two to come ‘back to earth’.
Six months later, we’d emigrated to South Africa. It took us a little while to settle in, but soon I was back to writing a couple of afternoons a week between the various voluntary activities I’d signed up for. Fast forward a further eighteen months and my finger was hovering over that submit button.
I sometimes wonder whether I would ever have got down to serious writing had it not been for that volcano, but now I’ve been well and truly bitten by the writing bug and I’ve never looked back.
Five novels, three published as audiobooks, and one tiny short story collection later, what’s next? Well, here’s the nearest I get to an outline for a new novel:
Revenge of the Rain Bull, third in my Weskus Series, is about to begin…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Image credit for the unpronounceable volcano: National Geographic
I’m super-excited to say that the audiobook version of my latest novel, Spirit of the Shell Man, is out. Currently available on Amazon, Audible and Kobo, you’re likely to find it in most online audiobook retailers within the next week or two.
Just like its prequel, Song of the Sea Goddess, the story is beautifully narrated by talented voice artist, Terry Lloyd-Roberts, and recorded and produced by Devon Martindale, founder of audiobook producers and distributors, Audioshelf, in his studio in Cape Town.
I shared my first experience of publishingan audiobook last year. Once again, the recording process went really smoothly and just as before, I loved the way Terry’s interpretation of the characters really made them come alive.
Creating audiobooks is still quite new for indie authors and for authors in Africa in general. I’ve by no means made my money back (so far) on the three audiobooks I’ve released, but it has given access to my books to another set of readers, including language learners.
Perfect for language enthusiasts “…If you’re looking to hone your language skills, buy the book along with the audio and use it to practice like me. Wonderful experience. I am very grateful to the author! Loved it.” ~ Audible Customer
If you’re interested in the full process from production through to distribution, you can listen to this interview with Devon who now has clients around the world, and because he’s based in Cape Town, overseas authors can take advantage of the relative weakness of the SA Rand.
Read yourself into the venueviamy second Six Sentence Story this week. The Prompt Word (helpfully) was BOOK.
A neon sign lights up the narrow side street which leads to the Six Sentence Café and Bistro where a bearded man waits, watching as a minivan draws up. The driver leans out of her window and waves, and a leather-jacket-clad man wearing dark glasses, despite the lateness of the hour, emerges from the vehicle carrying a box marked ‘books’.
Low-lit ambience and laid back vibes wash over the now-iconic interior, where sunflowers grace every table, and the author, fidgeting with her special book-signing pen, observes the figures who drift into the room, each familiar from their glowing presence in cyberspace.
The scene is set, D has done a marvellous job; passing the author’s table, now loaded with shiny new books, she places a calming hand on her shoulder, winking at a recent arrival, who slides into a side booth with an enigmatic smile, indicating the bottle of apricot liqueur that’s partly concealed within her capacious handbag.
Returning to the bar, backlit by the reflections in the long mirror, D gives a nod to the MC. The tall, slender man strides onto the stage and offers a lavish introduction to the now inwardly-quaking author, who lays her pen aside and advances.
~~~~~~~~~
Now on stage, I turn and survey the room, shading my eyes against the spotlight, I can’t see you properly, but I know you’re all here. Thanks so much for coming to the launch of my new novel, Spirit of the Shell Man.
I have to admit, I’m a little overwhelmed.
My heart-felt thanks goes to my fellow Proprietors of the SSC&B who’ve done so much to set up our little soirée, and to my ARC readers, Chris Nelson, Paula Light and Gretchen Bernet-Ward who have offered such encouragement in their feedback and reviews. Chris recently posted his review on his blog – I’m thrilled with it – you can read it here.
Okay, that’s enough from me, I’m no good at this self-promotion stuff, but since the audiobook version is being recorded at the moment, here’s a foretaste from Chapter 7, beautifully narrated as always by the wonderful Terry Lloyd Roberts.
luna's on line 