The Writing Room

  I used to tell everybody that I didn’t have enemies. I really didn’t think I had any. I knew no one who was out to get me. My relationships were not perfect but I didn’t think anybody hated me. I was forced to think about my enemies , though, in one interview I attended. “ Suppose the current employees refuse to work with you, what would you do?” one of the interviewers asked. “ I would find a way for us to work together,” I said. “I tend to get on with people.” I had been confident in that conviction. That was before I had met my supervisor and that bus driver, but after I had met Mas Joe. “ Are you saying that you have no enemies?” That lady was persistent. “ None that I know of,” I had responded. “ Everybody has enemies,” she had told me, every one of her words imbued with a certainty that she had dared me to question. Since then, I had tried to figure out the meaning of that word — enemy. One dictionary told me that an enemy “is a person who is actively hostile

  The music of the crunching of stones under my feet, the bu-dum bu-dum of my heart and a head full of grown up thoughts accompanied me as I jogged down the dirt steps. The steps led to a dirt track that resembled a squiggly mark that a child who had not yet learnt to write had scribbled on a page. My body traced its curves until I reached its end. A hop and I was on the main road which was not much different from the track, but wider. I was ready to experience the first of many firsts in my life. I ran past silent houses, free from the constant bickering of their owners. After rounding two more corners of silent houses, I reached the guango tree that guarded other silent houses. The guango tree provided shade for people and beasts. I stopped, not because I wanted solace from the blazing sun overhead. Stopping there was what travellers did when they reached that spot. Climbing atop one of the gnarled, sprawling roots of the guango tree, I gazed to my left at the far end of the fiel

I sing a song I sing a song – a new song Music to the ear A song raw with emotions A song to start the year A song that soothes my wary heart that I wear on my sleeve A rare song that provides reprieve from troubles near and far I sing a song – a new song A tune from the sun’s bright ray A little light to show the way to the weary seeking eye A song to brighten the overcast morn A song to drive away the burgeoning storm A song to wean me from creeping doubt’s door A song to lift me from the sinking floor.

This Christmas will be one unlike any other for many people. With COVID-19 restrictions in place in many parts of the world, the traditional Christmas gatherings of friends and loved ones to affirm their love for each other, will be postponed until a time when such gatherings may not be harbingers of severe illness and death for vulnerable family members. But all is not lost. Instead of ruing the good old days of Christmases past, why not create a new Christmas tradition? How do you do this? Reach out to your community. Remember that Christmas is many acts of love rolled into one big celebration, so share one of these small acts of love with your neighbours and yourself. Go carolling this Christmas. If you are not in full lock-down and restricted to staying on your property, revive that age old Christmas tradition of carolling. As a family, whether you have the best singing voices or not, get up really early in the morning, don those face coverings, get the dog and spend at l

  Have you been wracking your brain to come up with ways to promote your book? You have written your masterpiece, if only in your eyes, and you’ll be happy if a few hundred readers get access to your story, taking into account the fact that while  over 2 million books  are published in the world each year, only a small percent go on to impact the majority of the reading public.  As an indie author, you will have realised that it is challenging at best to get readers to pick up your book – at least the paying ones. However, to build a readership is a process and the strategies that I'll share with you will help you to further this process, while not necessarily bringing in the dollars right away. But don’t lose hope. You have embarked on a marathon, not a sprint when you go solo in this business. Here are three strategies to promote your book and I guarantee that you will get some positive feedback and, no doubt, some negative ones too.. Use them and see what happens. "Noth