So What's Up with Me?

Thought I'd do a quick round-up of what's been happening with me.

1. Aunt Lulu is quickly making her way to publication. I've had the edits from the editor and have seen the cover. Getting quite excited since it is my first time working with Tafelberg quite a large, well established South African publisher. I really like Aunt Lulu, I hadn't read it for awhile until I went over the edits. It is for teens and I think (hope) they'll find it quite funny. It's about a girl, Amogelang, who dreams of becoming a world famous journalist one day, who gets roped in by the editor of her school newspaper to write the agony aunt column, Aunt Lulu. Here's an excerpt:

“So,” Lorato continued, ignoring me completely, “I really need a responsible person doing the column, someone who knows the importance of discretion. Someone I can trust. Someone who can keep secrets. Someone who can empathise with these people and help them find solutions to their problems. And, of course, I thought of my most trusted reporter – you.”

All I heard was “most trusted reporter”. I couldn’t believe it! It matters a lot when someone you respect says something like that.

I’ll admit, looking back, I was then at her mercy. My head swelled up and that could have caused some sort of brain misfiring. That’s what I think, anyway. Even though I could smell danger in the air and thought running the Aunt Lulu column was really a demotion compared to the hard-hitting articles I had been doing, I could do nothing but say yes. My mouth, all by itself said, “I’d love to do the Aunt Lulu column, Lorato.”

And that was it. Looking back, that “yes” when I really meant “no” was where everything took a wrong turn. It was when my life began to unravel and it is what brought me to the place I am now – contemplating an early exit from school and a trip to Kurdistan. Years from now, when I have a shaved head and live on a barren, wind-pummelled mountain, eating dirt and stones to sustain myself and spending the bulk of my day sitting cross-legged humming OMMMMMM, I will look back at the manipulative way Lorato pulled me from a firm “NO” to a wishy-washy, slippery-sliding “yes”, and blame it all on that one wrong decision.

2. Mr Not Quite Good Enough, my third romance with Sapphire Press, is also getting itself ready to go out into the world. The date for publication is this August. I've had the edits and seen the beautiful cover. I got the idea for the book from the South African talk show host Noleen. She had some famous South African singletons on her show talking about dating and relationships. One of the men ask one of the famous actresses if she would date a petrol attendant. She tried her best to convince him that she would but no one believed her. I decided to write a book about a successful woman making that jump for love and dating the petrol attendant she has a connection with instead of the long line of rich, successful men she doesn't really care about.

3. Sapphire is getting a lot of buzz in the media. I was interviewed recently for this article.

4. Fellow writer, Uche Umez, has asked writers what the hardest part of the job is for them. Here is my answer. What's yours? What's the most difficult part of writing for you?