Two heads are better than one

WRITING NEWS: TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

I met with a former colleague to discuss the possibility of collaborating. She’s a business journalist too – we used to collaborate rather nicely when we were in the same newsroom.

The collaboration is not really about introducing new themes, projects etc – which she and I don’t have time or inclination to do. It’s about doing exactly what I’ve been doing creatively and on this blog, only it will be done better.

Essentially, we are going to weave together legends, folktales and contemporary stories emerging out of Phokeng (where I come from), with my friend bringing a fresh eye to what I’ve done and/have in mind.

As she was explaining her ideas to me, all I could say was “why didn’t I think of that?’ because it all fit so well.

It will be a while before we can give more input on this blog about what we’re doing, but let’s just say she has helped me get excited all over again about telling the African/South Africa/Phokeng story.

CAFE DULCE IS A WRITER FRIENDLY PLACE

Speaking of inspiration, I’d also like to mention that Café Dulce at Eastgate rocks. The place provided my friend and I excellent service, and the bottomless drinks kept us awake, creative and well-watered.

If you’re looking for a place to brainstorm ideas /write, you might want to try them–the company has franchises in South Africa, as well as Botswana and the Middle East.

The company also does book reviews on their web site, so if you have a book coming out, find out what it takes to be reviewed.

I’m certainly planning to go back there the next time I want to write in a coffee shop / meet friends for a brainstorming session.

SUBMISSIONS THIS WEEKEND

I finished and emailed my submission to Stories Across Africa as planned.

They don’t have a limit to the number of entries one can make, so I will send another submission before the deadline (end of July).

Also submitted one of my old poems to The Scruffy Dog Review and received an autoresponse message that they respond within four weeks of receipt of a submission.

Again, not holding my breath for acceptance, but the poem is better off out there being considered for publication than gathering dust in my computer files.

Also wrote a proposal for my possible book review project and sent it to 5 major publishers and one smaller one. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull the project off, or if the publishers will dismiss me as a joker looking for free books. LOL!

But I live in hope.