My London Adventure in Photos

This is the London Eye. It is on the South Bank of the Thames River and you see all sorts of lovely things up there like Big Ben and the Parliament Building. It's not scary at all, sadly, a bit like a slow moving glass room.


This is award winning writer Vanessa Gebbie who I ate THE most fantastic burritos with.

Here is poet, novelist, stage writer Sue Guiney and short story writer extraordinaire (as well as poet) Tania Hershman in front of The Tintin Shop. Yes- everything inside is Tintin, hard to believe but I saw it with my own eyes, in Central London. I doubt Micky Mouse could do the same.

This is South Bank and the Thames River.
A seahorse at the aquarium at South Bank.

This is a very blurry photo (I wasn't sure I was allowed to take photos) of a panel discussion with Lionel Shriver (she's at the end) about new technologies and writers. I was a bit disappointed by her comment about free things, saying that free condoms were given away in Africa (the mythical country) and no one used them. Which, of course, is not true in Botswana, which is part of Africa. But otherwise an interesting discussion.

A juggler in Covent Garden.

A cool jelly fish at the aquarium.

This is the road on which my hotel, the Fielding Hotel, is located. If you look carefully it's on the right with a brown sign. I had a lovely little room on the third floor.


The Charles Dickens Coffee House, sadly I never got a chance to eat here but passed it numerous times as it was near my hotel

I'm Off To London to See the Queen!

When you read this know I'm gone, off to London for the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival. While I'm in London I'll be attending Sue Guiney's launch for her latest book of poetry. I'll also be meeting in the flesh two of my online friends: Vanessa Gebbie, a fantastic, award winning writer who I worked with on the One World book and short story queen, Tania Hershman. Very excited about this!

My talk is on Saturday at noon and I'd so love to meet any of you who have the chance to attend.

Talk when I get back...wish me luck in the BIG city!

When Traditionally Published Authors Jump Ship

Alisa Valdes has learned some hard lessons from her quite successful run with traditional publishers. She felt since she was the one meeting with her readers she knew their needs better. Her publisher thought otherwise so she's in the process of self publishing a third installment of her Dirty Girls Club books. It took her two days to learn how to do it. Read the inspirational article here.

If you continue reading the comments, there's some interesting bits there as well. The warning from the agent that not all books should be published. This is the traditional attack on self publishing, that it's sub-par but I don't think that applies here. Alisa Valdes has sold over a million copies for traditional publishing houses. I also think the comment from the small publisher who instead of fighting the change embraced it by helping her authors self publish and then assisting them in marketing is interesting.

It really doesn't need to be either or, it actually can be both.
What do you think?

My Ancestress, a poem

My Ancestress
(New Year’s Eve 2010)

They say she lived in a cave
Dark, likely with bats.
Her mystical, not of this world
And me, practical as dirt.
Yet finally something resonates inside
At the same wavelength
On which she travelled so long ago
And I think the one word
That never sat familiar on my tongue-
Family.

I wonder did they chase her there?
Somehow I doubt it.
A witchy woman is never chased.
She chose her cave.
I see her hair long and tangled
Maybe a cursory look would uncover sticks
Brought from the southern reaches
From where she came
To the icy northern land
In search of freedom.
The opposite trip from mine, though
Exactly identical too.

I’m happy to know that somewhere
In my cellular make-up
A strand of feral, feminine DNA
Untainted and pure,
Hiding in the powerhouse
Of the cells, of my body
Belongs to her.
Perhaps the essence of us both.
I hope.
I wish.

Her bits make me want to look behind
From where I come,
The place I fled.
Where everything was unfamiliar
And strange.
She has sent out a torch light
For me alone, I think
Over generations and time, over distances.
And for the first moment, I am connected
No longer floating untethered.

From a Friend in Egypt

On the last day I was in Egypt a friend of one of the writers I was with Dalia Basiouny took us on the most amazing tour of Cairo. A whirlwind tour that took us to ancient mosques and hidden magical places. Her love of Cairo was so apparent, she adored the city. Through the last 12 days I've wondered about her and others I met in Egypt. I was so happy to read her account here of being in Tahrir Square on the Day of Departure. Here is her blog from Cairo.

I've been so touched by the humanity and dignity of the protesters; their bravery up against such fear and mis-information.

They are all heroes and I hope they know the world is with them.

Badilisha Poetry Radio

I came upon this fabulous website , Badilisha Poetry Radio via Facebook this morning. I've managed to lose an hour listening to poetry by African poets both here and abroad. I got captured by Karin Schmike's poem Shamshack about the two-faced, false concern of politicians. Powerful.

When writing about why the founders saw the need to establish Badilisha Poetry Radio and The African Centre they say this:

For a range of historical, political and economic reasons, many of the important collections and productions of African art today are located or performed outside of Africa. As a result, Africans living on the continent have limited access to their own artistic heritage and the work of contemporary practitioners. Based in South Africa, the Africa Centre was conceived as both a physical entity and an ongoing philosophical journey that aims to redress these imbalances.

I've been thinking a lot about this very thing lately. After my recent interview about the books I read last year, I realised I've hardly read any books from other African countries except for South Africa. It is easier for me to buy a book from America or the UK than is is for me to buy a book from another African country. The books are just not available. There is something wrong with that. It appears this is the same for many areas of the arts. There is something seriously wrong with this and I'm glad at least Badilisha is trying to change things.

My Book on the BBC Website!!

The new wave of romance writing in South Africa, of which I am proudly a part of, is getting all sorts of press lately. Here is an article on the BBC website. My publisher is Sapphire Press (an imprint of Kwela).

If you look carefully at the photo at the top ... that's my book Can He Be The One? !!!! On the BBC website!!!

That's a very nice Monday morning present.

Ghanaian Blogger Geoffrey Gyasi Interviews Me

Geoffrey Gyasi a Ghanaian blogger who blogs at Geosi Reads interviewed me at his book-loving blog.

GR: Have you always wanted to become a writer? At what point in your life did you decide that you wanted to be a writer?

LK: I am not one of those writers who “has to write”, I do it because I enjoy it. When I look back I see that writing is a thread that runs through my life but I never thought one day I’d be a writer. At various points in my life books have saved me, they gave me a refuge I didn’t have in my real world. I guess I wanted to find a way to be more a part of books, writing seemed to be a natural progression. I’ve only been writing for 7 years.

See the rest of the interview HERE.

Could you be a Resident Writer?

My Australian writing friend, Elsa Neal, interviewed me about last year's writing residency in Egypt for Blood Red Pencil. The article is "Do You Have What It Takes to Be A Resident Writer?

Here's an excerpt:

Elsa asked me what a writer should do to prepare for a residency. I told her you should know what you plan to work on.
"I had a project I wanted to work on while I was there, a new novel. Before I went I made sure all of my pre-work was done: character bibles, a plot map, chapter outlines. I also got about halfway through the rough draft before leaving. My plan was to complete the rough draft of the novel while in Egypt and I did manage to do that.

....despite the beach outside my window!

Read the rest of the interview HERE.

Buy Can He Be The One- Available Online!!!

My second romance novella, Can He Be The One?, is now available online. My first book ever that could be bought online. Very excited!!!

If you want to buy it click HERE.

How To Make Morula Jam (and by accident morula sweets)

We have two morula trees in our back yard, a male one and the female one above, just next to my office. As I sit here writing every once in a while I'll get a big fright when one of the morula fruit fall on the roof with a much bigger sound than its size would predict. The tree is prolific and for years I've been wondering what to do with all of the fruit. I searched for a recipe for morula jam but never found one. This year I decided to try my luck and I was so pleased with the result. I thought I'd record my results here for other people.

1. Collect the morula fruit from the ground.

2. Wash them a few times.

3. Put them in a pot with water and boil. Boil them for a long time. I boiled mine for about two hours. Until the skins break open.

4. Let them cool down. Then mash them up with a potato masher.

5. Now strain the mixture. You want the liquid not the seeds and skins. If the mixture is too thick you can add water. It makes no difference how much water you add.

6. Add water to the mixture. For the amount I used I added 4 cups of golden brown sugar. The best way to know if the sugar is enough is to taste it. You can also experiment and add cinnamon and ginger which is very nice, even some lemon juice.

7. Boil the liquid again. By trial and error I discovered if you boil the mixture until it is jam consistency, when it cools you will have made morula sweets, which is a problem if you have now poured it into a jar. (for morula sweets pour it out on a cookie tray and when hard cut into cubes, can be rolled in sugar). To get jam, stop boiling when it is apple sauce consistency. I have to admit though that this part is the tricky part. But it is reversible. If you cook too long, pour in the jar and then it cools and you find it has become solid like sweets you can heat the jar and pour the whole lot back in a pot. Add water and heat again.

8. When cool pour into sterilised (boiled) jars and VOILA!!! It tastes a bit like apricot jam but wilder and with more flavour. And who doesn't want to be wilder???

What's New in Lauri's Life?

I've been busy busy and not keeping things up-to-date, so here goes.

1. I've signed and sent off to Tafelberg (South Africa) the contract for Aunt Lulu. It will hopefully be out mid this year. It is about a girl who is asked to run the agony aunt column in her school newspaper. She agrees reluctantly since she sees it as a step down from her lofty aims of being a serious journalist. It all goes wrong and then sort of right before the book is over.

2. I finished last edits to The Vanishings, my first book in a new detective series with police officer, Dambuza Chakalisa and safari owner, Delly Woods. It's a full length novel about the sudden strange disappearances of people in Maun. I've sent it off to a publisher- cross fingers!

3. I've begun writing short science articles on new discoveries for Mmegi again. Here's one about male pattern baldness. I really enjoy researching and writing these.

4. And my weekly column in The Voice Newspaper is going along. I still get phone calls most weeks, so I think people are readings it. Here is last week's column on showing and not telling and the one before that on the nasty habit of exploiting artists in Botswana.

So that's about my life lately, except I recently celebrated a birthday, I'm now 47. Though people bad mouth Facebook as a huge time waster, I must say I certainly enjoyed all of the lovely birthday messages I found there last Saturday.

So that's my life, like I said a bit busy.

Is a Bestseller Really a Best Seller??

This is an interesting article about how books are made into bestsellers and it appears to have little to do with how many books have been sold. From this article it appears even an average book that a publisher decides is going to be a bestseller becomes one because of the pre-publicity for the book.

The publisher may decide they like you. You may have a good list of contacts. You might have a weird lifestyle that could be milked. And what about this about one of my favourite books-

On a smaller scale even our own Arundati Roy's 'God of Small Things' had a roller coaster ride helped by her publisher. Arundati's personal life was as interesting as her book was uninteresting! She had fought with her mother and left house in Kerala to stay in a slum in Mumbai. She joined NID and made a film with an extraordinary and inscrutable title, 'In which Annie gives it those things,' See ? Then she was the daughter of the redoubtable Mary Roy who took on the might of the Church in Kerala to get her share of the family property. There were other more salacious bits some of which were splashed in the tabloids. The publishers then got the 'Big Mouths' to talk about the book. Incidentally, one of the Big Mouths was Shobha De! There were favourable reviews in select dailies followed by interviews. Arundati's own 'in your face' attitude helped sell her book. The rest is history and dear Arundati never wrote another book!

Imagine 2000 books printed just to send out for pre-publications marketing. That's our entire print run around here. So what do you think about this?

Help!! What to talk about in London?

See the problem is I know what I know and don't really know what I know which is different from what other people know. You get me??

SO- I'm supposed to speak in London about how it is to be a writer in Botswana. I know some things are different, for example we make little to no money from the trades, we don't use agents, etc.

But my question to you dear readers who are so helpful and lovely- if you were walking into a talk by a writer from Botswana, what would you want to know from that person? What would you expect them to speak about?

I am sending you all sorts of kisses and hugs in advance for the use of your brilliant minds.
THANK YOU!!

Our Trip to the Rhino Sanctuary

During the Christmas holidays, Mr K and I took a camping trip to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary not so far from where we live. I'm not the best photographer because I much prefer to experience what I'm doing as opposed to taking photos of what I'm doing, so I missed all of the best photos, like the Bateleur eagle and the kudus fighting and the family of eight warthogs. But I did get a few photos I thought I'd share.

This fellow above is a leopard tortoise. Mr K and I had a schedule we followed each day. We'd wake up early and pack tea and peanut butter sandwiches, then we'd head to the bird hide for breakfast. After that we'd spend the morning cruising around the park. About noon we'd be back at the camp site for a late brunch and reading in the shade. While reading, I heard crunching in the bush near our tent. I only saw the grass moving and this fellow's shell and at first I thought it was a massive python. Closer inspection revealed this very friendly fellow who in the end spent the entire afternoon munching away while we napped and read next to him. I'm a huge fan of turtles and tortoises and this one was a lovely specimen.


There are plenty of impala in the sanctuary. This is a lonely male. The park is looking very green in this photo.

We also saw lots of giraffe. Though I tried my best, I have no photo of them grazing. I suppose they are trying to keep it a closely guarded secret but the giraffe at KRST graze! They spread out their legs and get to work on the grass, all of them even the juveniles.

One thing I did notice this time, the white rhino are becoming very tolerant of people. It used to be you'd only see them far across the pan. This one was right next to the car. What you don't see in this photo is me completely spazzing out. I'm not a fan of dying like a shish kebab on the horn of one of these fellows. The problem was we were in a queue of cars, one in front, one behind and this guy decided to come right up to our car and we could not get out of his way. Eish!!

We've been going to KRST for years, sometimes more often, sometimes less. It's large enough to still feel wild but small enough that you always see something. It was a lovely trip this time as usual.

Home Away

Home Away is an interesting collection of stories because some are fiction and some are true. They are written by South Africans travelling elsewhere. The book is arranged to cover 24 hours on the clock, over 24 cities around the world. It's about their reflections on their problematic home when they are not there.

I resisted mentioning this book on my blog because I personally know many of these writers. As I've written before sometimes it can be seen as a conflict of interest for a writer to review books especially books written by friends. I think I've settled on the position- if I like it, I like it. I liked Home Away.

Like most collections of this type, written by different writers, there are stories I don't like as much as others. My favourite in the whole collection in the end is written by a person I don't know and have never heard of before, "Hair Shirt" written by Ivan Vladislavic is set in Oklahoma City. It's creepy and stuck to me like a bit of tar. You're not sure what has just happened when you're finished reading but you have a feeling it wasn't very nice.

I've raved elsewhere about Sarah Lotz's "Maun of the Dead", a story about our very own Maun being invaded by zombies. I also loved Sarah's writing partner, Louis Greenberg's story which takes place in Ushuaia Argentina on his honeymoon, called "Last Chance at the End of the World". It's so tender and loving and laugh out loud funny.

The royalties from the sale of this book go to charity, another reason, besides the fact that it is a very good read, to buy it.

I'm Going to London!!!!

I saved this for Friday on purpose- Friday should come carrying gifts. My gift is good news. I've already mentioned this on Facebook but not here on my blog. (For Facebook friends who are also Blogging friends- please excuse the repeat)

So what's my good news?? I'm going to London from the 16-19th February as a speaker at the London School of Economics and Political Science Space for Thought Literary Festival 2011.
I will be giving a talk titled,"Writing Across Borders A Botswana Perspective".

I'm really excited about it. I'm a bit scared of the UK coldness, which I'm not quite sure I'll be able to handle. Cross fingers a spell of spring hovers over London for those few days.

And please, if any of my fabulous readers happen to live in London or will be there at that time, I'd love to meet up with you. One of my favourite things is to turn internet friends into flesh and blood ones, it's like some kind of magic.

So that's my Friday good news- what's yours??

Homing by Henrietta Rose-Innes

Many people say, "I don't like short stories, they're so unfulfilling." There is a fad in short story writing at the moment of leaving the reader hanging high up there with their legs swinging in the air and you the writer walk away waving "bye-bye". I always feel a bit undermined by such stories. As if I haven't been let in on a private joke. It's not fair and I completely get readers' frustrations since I feel it myself when a writer treats me so.

There is something very comforting about reading a short story written by Henrietta Rose-Innes. From the second you begin you feel safe, you know she will not leave you up there hanging as she walks away with a knowing smirk on her face. You will, instead, leave the story satisfied, like you were allowed dessert after a big plate of lasagne. You will want absolutely nothing else.

I'm a bit of a manic short story writer. I don't plan, unlike my books which I plan incessantly. With short stories, I get a tiny bit of an idea and then sit down at the computer and hope the story will have legs. Sometimes it doesn't and I put it away. Sometimes it has ugly, useless legs that carry me to a place I don't like very much. Other times the story walks calmly and with certitude to its conclusion and I am pleased. But it is all about chance.

With Henrietta Rose-Innes you feel as if it is never about chance. You feel she is always firmly in control of things and you need not worry at all, you will enjoy the ride and arrive at your destination safely.

In her first collection of short stories, Homing, I cannot pick out a single story that is lacking. I finished the collection some weeks ago and still certain stories are sitting stubbornly at the front of my brain demanding I take spare moments to give them a thought.

One in particular is "Promenade" about a middle aged man who takes his evening exercise walking along the edge of the ocean in Cape Town. Each day he passes a certain man, he later decides is a boxer, and they develop an odd connection for the few seconds each time they meet. It is a haunting story about our connections to our species-mates and how our actions impact on everything around us.

"Homing" the first story in the collection is another that will not leave me alone. It is about an elderly couple and how a new fancy hotel built next to their modest home upsets their lives. Rose-Innes builds the tension by showing us the couple's vulnerability created by this intrusion into their settled, safe life.

Besides her confident and competent way of approaching short stories, Rose-Innes does not try to dazzle the reader with bells and whistles which is highly appreciated by this reader. She tells her story plain and simple and then pops the reader with the human truth laid bare. This is an excellent collection I read in nearly one sitting, and will definitely be pulling down off my shelf to read again.

My Reading List from 2010

Emmanuel Sigauke, writer and owner of the blog Wealth of Ideas interviewed me over the holidays. He asked me to make a list of the books I read during 2010. It was a huge task to try and remember and I'm not sure my list is correct, almost positive it is not, but I tried my best.

At the end he interviews me. Here was one of the questions:

You have written more than thirteen books? Are you a satisfied writer?

Is anyone ever a satisfied writer? No, I am not. I’m learning as I go along. My only hope is that I’m getting better, and even this I’m not always sure about. I have a story I wrote very early on that I try not to read. It’s a short story, a flash, and I think it may be one of the best things I’ve ever written. I don’t read it because it makes me wonder if what I believe, that I’m learning and getting better, is really true. Anyway, I suppose that’s the typical insecurities of a writer.

Satisfied writer- do those words EVER go together??

See the list and read the rest of the interview HERE.

Resolutions for Superheroes

Here is my last column for 2010 (quite a fabulous year, acutally) from The Voice.
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I love a new year, just like I love a new day, and a blank piece of paper. Each is 100% potential. Every possible thing could happen. Hesitations and back tracking have yet to make an appearance. No does not exist. Perhaps I’m an eternal optimist but a new year always puts me in the right frame of mind- my superhero frame of mind- I can do absolutely anything and everything.

The world is wide open waiting only for me. Any experiences in the previous year that might be evidence used against my super hero-ness are rubbed clean. They are not allowed to cross that magical line we all step over at 11:59 pm on the 31st of December. Anti-superhero evidence, in its entirety, we drop at the threshold as we walk though the door into 2011.

So this year when you cross the door, in your imaginary blue tights and red cape, where will you be heading? It’s all fine and good to be equipped with x-ray vision and the ability to fly but if your talents are not used positively things can go decidedly pear shaped quite quickly. Even superheroes need goals and it’s best to make them when your mind is still untainted by the faltering steps and cracked pavement waiting to catch you out beyond the magic door. When the slate is clean, you can decide what will go where. Once you let Life get involved, it will start filling up all of the good spots, leaving you only leftovers- and no one likes leftovers.

As writers, despite rumours to the contrary, we design our course. Do I want to write a book about ghosts? How about win a short story contest? Do I want to get an agent? Will I self publish? All of these questions help us to define the path we take. Other jobs you have a boss handing out the goals and even laying down the bricks on your path. Not as a writer. It’s all up to you.

So make some new year’s resolutions- serious, specific ones. Make them now before it gets too late. You’re the boss, lay down those bricks.

From my point of view, as writers we have some main areas where specific goals should be made. We must write. We must learn. We must read. We must be published. We must publicise.

We Must Write
You call yourself a writer- but do you write? Make a resolution. Come the end of December 2011 what writing do you want finished? Do you want to end 2011 with an 80,000 word novel in your hands or five solid poems? How will you accomplish that? Will you write only on weekends? After work? Everyday? How many words must you write at each writing session to accomplish your goal? Commit to that word count. Give yourself quantifiable goals.

We Must Learn
Writing is an endless journey of learning. Tomorrow’s writing will be better than today’s if we make sure we progress in learning our craft. Attend workshops. Read writing books. Go to author talks. Learn online. But don’t only learn the craft, make sure you learn the business too. Know how the publishing business works. Pay attention to up and coming technologies. What learning resolutions do you have for 2011? Write them down; commit to them.

We Must Read
I know you’re getting tired of me singing this song BUT we must read to be good writers. Again make a new year’s resolution. How many books will you read each month?

We Must Be Published
Are you going to start a blog for your writing? How often will you post? Do you want to get your poetry or short stories published? Which literary magazines will you submit to? Do you have a novel that needs a publisher? Which agents or publishers do you intend to send it to in 2011? Write your goals down. On the 31st of December 2011, how many poems will you have published? Where will your novel be?

We Must Publicise
Though most writers would like to stay hidden in their writing room, the game decides that is no longer viable. In 2011 how are you going to get your work out there? Will you set up a website? Will you read at public events? Will you attend book fairs? Make a personal marketing plan for your superhero self.

Writing is a tough, tough business. By the 3rd of January 2011 evil forces will be tugging at your cape, your blue tights will start to fade under their hot gaze, but if you’ve marked out your path with stakes made of steel, at least you’ll know where you’re heading. They’ll bash you around with their rejections and losses. They’ll tell you your characters are flat, your plot predictable and your poem riddled with tired clichés- but it won’t matter. You are a writer with a plan and you expect next New Year’s Eve to be a time of celebration. So, get to work now, my Superheroes- your new day is just about to arrive.