Congratulations for a good friend & some books to read while it pours

I want to congratulate my friend Pam for landing a contract to write five children’s books (mix of fiction and non-fiction as part of a series) for a well-known publisher (sorry can’t say who).

The best part is that four of the books have already been written and approved by the publisher and she’s due to submit the last book by the end of the November!

Pam and I have been friends for almost two decades. We’ve supported each other as we grew as women, partners and mothers and gone on about the business of life and work.

We understand each other’s dreams (and not just as writers) and she is one of the people who stand strongly behind me as I seek to grow as a writer and human being.

So you can imagine how proud I am that her writing has taken this giant leap forward. My thanks also go to our mutual friend Lynn, who has strongly supported us both. Much appreciated.

My wonderful news is that the National Association of Women Writers (American, http://www.naww.org/blog/) published my article, Your Words Have The Power To Inspire (http://naww.org/blog/your-words-have-the-power-to-inspire). [Blogger is acting up again, and I seem to have lost my features, so can't embed the links]

NAWW President Sheri McConnell found it on Ezine Articles, where I’d made it available for publishers and she left me a note saying how much she loves it. But seeing it published – now that was something else!

I also received acknowledgement of receipt of my entry for the 2007 POWA Women's Writing Competition. The competition aims to

* Promote discussion and debate about women’s issues.
* Promote women’s writing.
* Raise awareness in the public domain about women’s issues, challenges and experiences.
* Encourage women to write creatively.

" The judges have started their job and as soon as the results are out we will notify everyone," the organisation says.

Wish me luck!

Soup to feed 3 families

You may remember that I whined and complained when it rained while I was in Cape Town. But I didn’t mind the wet weather on Saturday. Maybe it’s because I’m home and the rain gives me a feeling of being cocooned, not trapped like I felt in Cape Town.

Made a huge pot of soup on Saturday. Sorry, I can’t share the recipe. It was the kind where you chop and throw anything remotely edible into the pot, put loads of fresh herbs and spices and pray it all works.

The soup fed my family, the couple renting one of my places and my next door neigbour.

I know it’s ridiculous to make soup to feed three families when you meant to make for 4. And I usually start well enough with reasonable quantities of vegetables and meat.

Then I get “inspired” and the next thing I know the soup is too thick and rich and I have to thin it a bit, put it into a larger pot…..

Some reading while it pours

Baby and I also finished Alba by Catherine De Boer, published by Pan Macmillan’s Giraffe Books.

We also read the Setswana translation of Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne [Handa o Gakgametse.] The book is reissued by Pan Macmillan’s Giraffe Books, and was first published by Walker Books.