What's The Point Of Buying A Book?

I’m doing a very quick survey for a publisher on reluctant readers and I was horrified to find out that one of my relatives who I thought had a nodding acquaintance with books was no reader at all.

In fact, his views on books, and willingness to pass those views to a child, made me consider that he's not as sensible as I thought he was.

The following is a scene took place this past weekend while we were visiting my family in Phokeng. Baby was just chilling, reading AIR HEAD – BEING NIKKI, by Meg Cabot.

Adult Male Relative: Why do you read so much?
Baby: Because I enjoy it.
AML: [grunt]And what do you do with the book once you’ve finished reading it?
Baby: I put it on my bookshelf. Then whenever I want to read it again, I can do so.
AML: I really don’t understand the point of buying a book. Once you’ve read it, you know the story and there’s no point of reading it again. It's a waste of money, and you might as well throw it away afterwards.

"How can you learn anything new if you never read," I wanted to ask him. I would have understood if he at least non-fiction in a variety of subjects, but he told Baby that he only reads material that has to do with his job.

I decided not to interfere while Baby tried to explain why reading was important to her, and why good books were worth reading again. Sadly enough, AML blew off her explanation, saying he had better things to do with his time and money than spend them on books.

Now keep in mind that AML is in his early twenties. I shudder to think about his spending the rest of his life - and it could be a long life - never reading a book unless he has to. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

OK, now tha I got that out of my system, my question to you as a reader, writer, blogger and parent is this: Put yourself in Baby’s shoes. How would you have answered the question?

Give Away: CD by Sha-Q (R &B artist, South African)

I didn't realise that one of my neighbours is an up and coming music producer. I've known him for the five and half years I've lived here and we chat quite a bit. But the question of what we do professionally has never come up.

Until this weekend, that is. He gave me a couple of CDs of one of his artists - Sha-Q - and it's quite good actually. Never heard of the musician before, though apparently he's done a lot of gigs in and around Johannesburg and other locations.

Anyhoo, I have a CD to give away. If you like trying out new musicians and like R &B and Soul, enter the give-away by taking a poll and leaving a comment on this post.

I'll announce the winner on Friday 4th September and mail the CD soon after.

Writers, Bloggers and Their Priorities

Someone whose work I respect, and for whom I’ve done solid work for, said to me last Friday that she has creative writing work, and asked if I had the capacity to do some of it.

My instinctive response was “ABSOLUTELY! Where do we sign?”[ja, I know I should look at the fine print, but her contracts have always been fair].

Anyhoo, the challenge is that I’ve just started work on KWANDA [a community make-over TV show which I think is very exciting and I’m grateful for the opportunity!] and I’ve been doing some hectic online marketing for current projects.

So I had to say that honestly, for now I can’t take on more work but will let her know about future possibilities.

Later it struck me that I desperately need to evaluate the way I work; take out time-sucking tasks that do not make/break my career/projects I’m contracted for, so I can free up time for her and other creative writing projects that could come my way. Cos she’s real good at what she does and working with her would be good for my overall development and I want to do stuff that stretches me creatively.

So, my question to you as a writer and blogger is this: do you sometimes feel like you spend too much time on stuff that “experts” tell you is necessary for your writing/blogging business, rather than doing things that you really want to do? If so, what are you doing about it/are you going to do about it?

P.S. I’d especially like to hear from people who’ve mentioned to me at some stage that they would like to become writers/write fulltime etc.

Guest Blog: What Do You expect From Advice Columns?

My post this week's post on female2female is about advice columns, and research which found that advice columnists in South African print media do not include include information about HIV and AIDS when dealing with love triangle questions.

Check it out here.

On Books, Facebook Fans and HIV Positive Bloggers

I’m feeling a bit tired after the excitement of the past couple of days, so today’s post is a list of random stuff :

My home office – It has been invaded by a colony of ants. So I’m working in the house today until I can sort the problem out. Bummer! I like my office. It’s so quiet and peaceful And comfortable too.

Books I want to read – Every so often I’d promise myself to learn more about Zukiswa Wanner, she who wrote Behind Every Successful Man and The Madams.

Zukiswa is a Johannesburg-based author and her books have been described as chick-lit. Finally Googled her last night and found her blog and she’s very funny. So I think one of these days I will actually shell out some cash. Check her out too.

Tell your story; inspire others - Laurakim, who runs Female2female is looking for inspiring stories from women who have triumphed through tragedies. If you have a story to tell which you think could help other women, email her at laurakim@female2female.co.za.

Growing a fan base on Facebook – I’ve found Facebook to be a much more effective promotion tool in South Africa than Twitter, even though Twitter is very compatible with cellphones and we have a high penetration of the devices here. Am now trying to find the words to explain why people in my networks should join Facebook and sign on as fans of the OneLove Campaign and Kwanda, and somehow I can’t find the words. Huh!

HIV positive bloggers – A client has asked if I know of an HIV positive blogger who writes about his/her status and life. It’s for an article on PLWHA and their blogging, with focus on what
the blogs are used for. Unfortunately, she can’t find a single active blogger in Africa [who’s HIV+ and talks about it.] To be considered active, the bloggers must have posted an entry within the past 90 days and at least 3 entries during the past 6 months. I’m sure there must be a few? If you know someone, please refer me to them. My email is damariasenne at gmail dot com.

Black bloggers – Speaking of bloggers, someone called me a prominent Black South African blogger the other day. Pfffft! I almost died from the giggles. OK. First it’s a mouthful. And as I told Zukiswa, who had the giggles too when someone called her a celebrity, I’m mostly called ‘Who?” in the media. As in “Who the %$##^&&$ is that?” But I would so love to meet other Black female bloggers.

And no my friends, this is not reverse racism rearing its ugly head. The thought came to me after listening to episode 33 of Digital Edge, where they discussed the fact that the majority of social media enterpreneurs in South Africa are white males. Or is it as Ramon Thomas said during the podcast, that bloggers of colour are out there in South Africa; it’s just that they are not very well known?

Sex tips – I’m looking for sex tips from readers on the OneLove regional campaign web site. We’re chatting about what couples can do to satisfy each other. And suddenly everyone has turned shy. LOL! Come on people! Say something, even if you comment as anonymous.

Guest posts:Riehlife and Female2Female

I have two posts about Kwanda on:

Female2female (A South African bklog for women by women) - Kwanda: Making Our Communities Look Better

RiehLife (Janet Grace Riehl's blog) - Kwanda (Wealth & Growth)

More guest posts will be coming soon. And many thanks to the people who have agreed to host on me on their blogs to talk about Kwanda and my writing life. Much appreciated.

Kwanda Media Launch

Today is the day of the media launch of Kwanda, the community make-over TV show. A basic site is now live, and we will continue to upload content in the coming days, so the site has loads of content by the time the show premiers on the 2nd September.

Check it out.


Afternoon update:

Here are some of the pics of the displays of Kwanda Klothing, the fashion label that was launched as part of the project.

















The design and manufacturing of the label helps create jobs in communities taking part in the show.
















I especially like the cloth folders.

Getting Ready For Media Launch of Kwanda

Tomorrow is the media launch of Kwanda, and I'm mostly focussed on making sure that the online stuff is ready.

Anyway, this promo has started running on TV:




And this is how it started

Can I Be Your Guest-Blogger?

I'm keen to guest blog or to do guest-interviews with my fellow-bloggers. Broadly speaking, I'm happy to chat about:

• The writing life
• Writing & blogging
• Make a difference in our communities
• Love, sex, cheating, HIV and AIDS
• Working from home
• Books and movies
  
• Promoting your work as a writer
• Glunten and dairy-free living ( with some recipes thrown in)
  

My email address is on the top right panel, where I outline my bio.

They LIke Me! I've Been Awarded The Zombie Chicken Award.

Rebecca over at Living The Life Of Writing has very kindly honoured me with the Zombie Chicken Award. Here's what the award is about:

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words.

Thank you so much for honouring me with this award, Rebecca. And in return, I'd like to bestow the following bloggers with this award:

Laurakim at Harassedmom. Her posts are short and have an honesty and kindness that I admire. A LOT.
Janet Grace Riehl at RiehLife - Who's taught me a lot about family storytelling.
BeckyJoie at Leaders in learning - Dr Wordwielder's posts almost always leave me pondering how we use language, and the blog form.
Ms Lona-Lee Hart - I still think it would be fascinating if Ms Lona-Lee live-blogged one of the dates she met online....and don't call me the V-word:-)
Alison Fourie, who's taught me quite a lot about the world of virtual assistants.

This Week's Guest Post On Female2Female

Check out my weekly contribution to Female2Female, a blog for women by women. The title explains what it's about: Be Honest. Is Sexual Satisfaction Really Easy To Achieve If You Just Talked To Your Partner About What You Want?

Ja, I know it's long. Maybe I should have used a formula from 102 Headline Formulas. But somehow this headline works for me, for this story.

And while you're here, what are your 2 biggest pet peeves about blog post headlines ?

Take A Free Screen-Writing Course With Big Fish Film School

Big Fish Film School is offering a rare opportunity to 10 talented writers to apply for a place on a short-film Screenwriting course.

Brent Quinn, an international award-winning writer/producer, will present the course. He will inspire, empower and get you to write outside the box.

We are looking for creative minds, people who are passionate about story, informed about social issues and really want to improve their screenplay writing skills. The competition to get onto this course is going to be tough - so show how us you’ve got what it takes!

The good stories will have a chance to be produced in 2010.

For more info about entry requirements and course details, read this NGO Pulse article.

Spring Is Near. Yay!

I'm happy Spring is almost here and I'm happy I can now eat as I like. Got tired of stodgy stuff and actually having to cook:-)

So yesterday I made myself a really nice melon and banana salad for breakfast and a chicken, bacon and avo salad for lunch. Lunch took me about five minutes to make, is very nutritious and my stomach is much happier.

All I had to do was shred:
half a carrot
half an avocado
a handful of lettuce
leftover chicken breast
leftover bacon
a thin sliver of onion
Tossed them all together, added a pinch of salt and sprinkled a bit of vinegar and virgin olive oil. [Don't use salad dressing much, but you can use salad dressing of your choice.]
Yum!

On the work front, the day was about images:

• Watched a DVD of Club Risky Business, a Zambian TV drama that's part of the OneLove campaign, showing the highlights of all 10 episodes. Then I ripped the DVD with Handbrake to convert to MP4 format, and will later break it into smaller, digestible pieces to place on YouTube channel. For more info on Club Risky Business, visit the show's Facebook page.
  
• Watched TV promos of Kwanda. Also uploading them on YouTube in due course. [ Don't miss the first episode of the series on 2 September] If you like the concept of mobilising volunteers across the country to improve the lives of people in their communities, sign up to be a fan of Kwanda here.
  
• Picked up pics of scenes from Kwanda series, to be used on the site and Facebook page.
  
• Received request of pics of students taking part in CoachLab@JCSE 2009. I worked on the media relations for the official launch of this project, which is an initiative of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering and its partners. Any way, two more stories are scheduled to appear on GradX and the University of Johannesburg's Kampus Beeld.
• Took the food pic above, just before lunch, to go with this post.
  

Nope! Yesterday this writer's day was definitely not about writing:-).

So, what are some of the things that you have to do as a writer or blogger that take up a lot of time when you are not actively writing?

A Day In Your Life

I've been watching YouTube videos where different types of writers (authors, travel writer, online writers etc) talk about a day in their lives and really, if you went by what they are saying, you'd think that being a writer is the most boring career in the world.

As one writer said, you wake up, bath, dress, eat breakfast, and sit in front of the blank screen of a computer and well... type... type.. type...and hours later, get a drink, go to the loo... and then go back and type.. type.. type.. eat... type ..... type.

Enuf said!

The video I enjoyed was a day in the life of Meg Cabot, she who writes The Princess Diaries ( series of books), Avalon High etc.




Baby serious LOVES Meg, and is slowly collecting her teen books. Her love for Meg's books is only exceeded by her love for the Twilight series.

Anyway, what's a day in your life like? I know some of you see yourself more as bloggers rather than writers, and many of the writers who come here don't do it fulltime, so I'd also like to know how you fit in the writing/blogging around the rest of your life and job.

And check out my guest posts on:

Women at Work on The Worst Thing About Working From Home
NY Mafia on blogging professionally for others

Funniest Spam Message I Ever Read

Hi,

visit my blog: http://productspammerisselling.wordpress.com

No spam!!!!

If you report my blog at wordpress, you will die!!!!

Visit us!!!!

LOL! Now I'm really motivated to visit this web site and buy their product.

Kwanda: The First Ever Community Makeover TV Show

Finally, I'm able to chat about the new project that I'm currently developing a site for. As I said, it's a reality TV programme that aims to make a difference in communities across South Africa.

Anyhoo, I'll let the Soul City Institute tell you about it through a media invitation that was sent out today.
...............................................................................................................................................................

Soul City and the Department of Social Development bring you Kwanda, the first ever community makeover TV show

Imagine if hundreds of volunteers all over the country from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo, began working together to make a better life for themselves.

What difference could they make? Could they make sure that children are not going hungry? Could they reduce violent crime that causes so much pain and damage in our lives? Could they make their communities look better, work better and feel better?

Please join us at the media launch of a groundbreaking nationwide community development project.

Find out more about Kwanda – Communities with Soul, which is to be broadcast on SABC 1 from Wednesday, 2 September 2009.

Honorable Minister of Social Development, Ms Edna Molewa will give the keynote address.

Meet the people making a difference in their communities, the Soul City Institute and production teams. See a sneak preview of the first episode and be inspired by real reality television!

Date: Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Time: 10h00 for 10h30 (please see detailed programme below) - stay for lunch
Venue: Royal Ballroom at the Park Hyatt Hotel, 191 Oxford Road, Rosebank

RSVP: Georgina Lefifi
Onyx Marketing Communications
Tel: 011 315 6001
georgina@onyxmarketing.co.za

Gilliology: More About Me

My friend Gillian Stokes tagged me for this quiz on Facebook, and I thought I'd just kill two birds with one stone and also post my answers here. I hope my answers tell you a bit more about me.

What is your salad dressing of choice? Trim Mayonnaise

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Harrisons in Rivonia. Haven't been there for too long. Wonder if it's still standing.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Avocado

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Sorry. Don't eat pizza ( all wheat or dairy products)

What do you like to put on your toast? See above


***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many televisions are in your house? One

What color is your cellphone? Depends on the cover I use for the day. Today it's burnt orange

Do you have an iPod? Nope


***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? No

What is the last heavy item you lifted? Moved a table into my new home office yesterday.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? No


************BULLOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Yes. The suspense is killing me!

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I like Damaria just fine, thanks.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000. No. That would be suicide, as I have a bad ulcer.

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season? Spring

Holiday? Christmas

Day of the week? Friday

Month? December


***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Missing someone? Baby who's on end of term hols

Mood? Fairly happy

What are you listening to? It's quiet in my office

Current worry? Loads of deadlines and I want to be out in the sun playing.

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning? Kitchen. Woke up very thirsty.

What's the last movie you saw? Replayed JUMPER on DVD


***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own? One

Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Don't remember

Last person you talked to? Line producer at a TV production house about some promo video

Last person you hugged? Baby

Do you always answer your phone? Nope.

It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? My friend Christelle, who just had a brainwave when she should have been sleeping. But I wouldn't see it until the following morning cos I sleep like the dead.

If you could change your eye color what would it be? I like my eye colour.

Do you own a digital camera? No. But I'd like to.

Have you ever had a pet fish ? Nope. But I had a pet rock I polished and talked to when I was growing up. And yeah, I know that's weird.

Favorite Christmas song(s)? Do I have to choose? I love Christma carols. They always me feel hopeful.

What's on your wish list for your birthday? Cash to install a completely new and state of the art kitchen

Can you do push ups? No

Can you do the splits? Nah

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Both

Do you have any saved texts? No. But I rarely delete emails, except spam.According to my computer today, I have 10289 emails. I guess I shoudl delete some of them.

Have you ever been in a car accident? 3, all minor, no injuries.

Do you have an accent? Doesn't everyone sound like they have an accent to other people?

Plans tonight? none

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Yes. It taught me that I can survive the worst that life can throw at me.

Name 3 things you bought yesterday? a couple of ebooks from mustlovebooks.co.za

Have you ever been given roses? Yes.

Met someone who changed your life? Many people change my life in small ways and big ways. Sometimes I don't even know about it until much later.

How will you bring in the New Year? Thinking about going on holiday by the beach with friends

What song represents you? Never thought about it

Name two people who might complete this? Didn't even know I would, so can't guess.

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? Yes.

Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? Yes

Do you have any tattoos/piercings? Ear piercings

Does anyone love you? Yes.

Would you be a pirate? No. Don't like water much.

When did you last cry? months ago

Do you like to cuddle? Sometimes

Have you held hands with anyone today? No

Who was the last person you took a picture of? Baby

Are most of the friends in your life new or old? Combination. As old as 20 or so years (hey Pam); as new as couple of months

Do you like pulpy orange juice? Not really

What is something your friends made fun of you for? My friends make fun of me? Tell me who did, so I can smack them.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but you're all welcome to take Gilli's quiz.

Got Myself A Copy Of 102 Headline Formulas

I'm not very good with writing attention-grabbing headlines, so I decided to get myself a copy of "102 Headline Formulas" By Chris Garrett of Authority Blogger.

The free ebook is actually a collection of different types of headlines, for numerous types of stories/blog posts. All you have to do is choose the headline that resonates with your story, fill in the missing words to make it wholy relevant for your story and you're in business.

Hopefully, I will now spend less time wondering: "what do I call this sucker?" after writing an article or blog post or have one of my editors call to say, "very nice story Damaria, but what's it called?"

Yup, that has happened a couple of times:-(.

Anyhoo, you can also download your free copy

And on the life front...

Had dinner last night with a group of journo friends I used to chase the same stories with back when I was a fulltime journo.

I hadn't seen them in waay too long, and it was a wonderful, relaxed evening of good food, too much wine, a sharing of newroom horror stories and stories we knew but never wrote (because legitimate sources would not confirm /or the story was too tabloid) and loads of giggles.

Thanks Jana, Thabiso, Anneli, Flo and everyone for a lovely evening. It was wonderful and I really should meet up with you more often.

Was too tired for my usual early morning wake up though, and only dragged myself out of bed around 8am when the courier from a publisher knocked to drop off an assignment package.

The look on his face when he saw my face with my hair standing on end! Next time I will take the time to run a comb through my hair first:-)

Refreshed But Still Spinning On Wheels

You know days when you push through a lot of work, but still feel like you’re behind? I’m having one of those days.

Part of the challenge is that I do have a lot of work to do. I periodically do a major clean-up on the sites I work on, looking for links that don’t work, pages that have been mis-categorised etc.

That kind of detail work takes a lot of time. And I still have to keep up with the regular updates, promotion work, and writing a couple of articles that are in danger of being overdue.

Nope, I’m not complaining. The yellow blob in the sky is back, and if it shows up regularly, I might even remember its name.

I also had an opportunity to rest and recharge over the past long weekend visit with my sister in Durban. I think it would be fair to say my picture would have been the perfect illustration to define SLOTH.

All I did was watch a lot of TV (Spongebob the movie, The OC, Stargate SG1, The Legend of the Seeker, Chuck), sleep, chat a bit with my sister, her husband and Baby, play with Matthew Kabelo (my sister’s new son) and eat. [P.S. While I choose not to publish Baby's pics on Internet or mention her real name, my sister has no problems with KB's pics being online and has published loads of them already. So there is no contradiction]







Anyway, my sister and her husband are talented artists when it comes to food. Each meal was well-planned, different from the last and absolutely delicious. I especially loved the grilled fish wrapped in bacon strips. Thanks guys!


And many thanks to Ms Lona-Lee too, for recommending me for an assignment.

It is something outside of my usual scope of work but exactly in line with the kind of assignments I would like to do more of.












Meanwhile, if you have five minutes, check out the following:

The Facebook photo-album of the OneLove Campaign march which took place in the Limpopo Province on Women's Day (10 August). You can also read about the event here and here.

Read my weekly guest post on female2female here.

Can Women Be Writers, By Rebecca Emrich

One of the things I like about Rebecca Emrich's blog, Living The Life Of Writing, is that she makes you think very hard about issues related to the writing life.

The two article series that really made me keep going back to her site were the one on money(how important is money to you as a writer? If you're not making money from your writing, can you still consider yourself a writer?) and on self-publishing ( would you consider self-publishing as an option? Why/not? And what are the issues you need to consider if you go the self-publishing route?).

Anyway, I was thrilled when she agreed to host me as a guest blogger last week, and agreed to also be a guest on my blog.

Welcome Rebecca!
.......................................................................................
Can Women Be Writers?
By Rebecca Emrich

This is a question that I ask myself everyday when I wake up. This is not a negative question ask. In fact, it is a good question to ask oneself. I increases the reason and focus one has as a writer.

Given that I am both a woman and a writer I can say that yes, women can be writers.
It all has to do with two important aspects in life: priorities, and values. When I first came across this seemingly paradoxical view, it took me a while to think of them as one. To suggest that there are different people who are writers is an understatement. To elaborate, I’ll try to give some examples:

Priorities:

I am a mother first and foremost. To suggest otherwise is a grave disservice to my work as a mother of two growing and active daughters. I teach them through my own actions and I learn from them as well. I am the first line of teacher and of the world. I shape them good or bad, negative and positive. This is an important priority and take precedence about all else.

I am writer next. It is not a job for me, and although I do make money, this doesn’t stop me from doing what I love. My writing is my passion, and I strongly believe that all people should follow their passion whatever it may be. Of course, if you are a writer, this is great as there is a large and wonderful community found easily through the internet.

I am a Woman and a Friend, after these two priorities. I am not listing these last to suggest that I don’t believe that they have a high priority in my life, but it is more than the other two, given a choice will always come first. I am strong and caring, and I care about myself. If I don’t the two other priorities above will lose out, as I will have nothing to give to them. I need as much recharging as the next women out there. My friends are as wonderful and attentive as I am.

They are one of the ways I can continue writing and being a mother. I suspect some people will feel my next comment a bit off colour but I have many acquaintances but few friends. This isn’t to suggest something horrible, but rather my friends are the ones who I trust who go the extra mile, who while critical will always find a redeeming quality between the two of you.

My next point that will link the two Are Values:

I value most above all three things: Honesty, Integrity, and Loyalty. At first glance, the three may seem to be the same thing, simply different words, yet they are not.

Honesty to me is the value that no matter what someone can say to me what they feel and how they think. I may not agree with them, but they are acting on a higher calling. As women and as writers we need honesty to work and to improve. This doesn’t mean in any way that we should be abused or demeaned. What this means is that what we work with is to improve to refine, and to produce greatness. Writers are no different. The world over we want and we need to hear that our honest is something that we can all value.

Integrity is to me the hallmark of a true person. You can be honest to a person, and yet your underlying motive is something completely different. You might say one thing For example: I think that you as a woman are wonderful.” Yet, at the same time, your action do not correspond with your statement. As writers and as women we have a duty to ourselves and others to let our words and actions coincide. It is a conscious effort on everyone’s part, and something that we should all strive for.

Loyalty is the third ingredient to our work as writers, if we are writing fiction or non-fiction we must be loyal to ourselves and our work. This means that we work until our best is in fact our best. We need to be loyal to the people who help us along and in turn give help to others. As women writers, it is imperative that we work in harmony to produce our work. A writer might be a solitary person, but the process to write takes many. We need to understand the value in this loyalty.

Can Women Write?

The most basic answer is yes. We can all write, it is not that complex, although there are many days when it might seem that way.

The more complex answer is both a yes and no, some are writers, and they work towards those goals others are mothers, daughters, writers, scientists and about anything that one can name. They can of course all be writers, but it is a choice that we make. Although writing isn’t easy, it is a powerful medium and a way to communicate with each other.

My Question for you today is this: As writers and more specifically as women who write what is the greatest thing about being a writer?

Biography:

Rebecca Emrich grew up in the city of Vancouver BC, in Canada. She has been writing for the past fifteen years, and has her own blog: http://rebeccasbook.blogspot.com. She also reviews books and does author interviews and Questions and Answers on her blog: http://myrecommendedlibrary.blogspot.com.

Currently she is completing her first non-fiction book on World War Two, and the Eastern Front, using interviews form soldiers. She also writes fiction, and will begin her series entitled “The Lost Timers” shortly.

Bloggers Unite: International Youth Day Post

Tomorrow is International Youth Day, a day that gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies.

In line with this, I'm posting a video which highlights the challenges girls in Southern Africa face. Entitled: Girls At Risk, A Discussion Tool, this video is made up of excerpts from five films in the UNTOLD series, the largest locally developed HIV & AIDS prevention communication campaign in Africa. The initiative also aimed to build a community of regional writers and film-makers.

Countries that took part in the UNTOLD initiative are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (Click on each country to view scenes from each film).

Durban Was Great!

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I went to Durban to visit my sister, who recently gave birth to an adorable little boy.








The trip down was uneventful and Baby enjoyed looking at the passing landscapes and taking pictures using my cellphone.

Guest Blogger; Women At Work

I have an article up at Women At Work, entitled: "4 Lessons I Learnt From My Mother About How To Earn Extra Income."

Check it out!

Woza Women's Day

Guest Blogger @ Living A Life Of Writing

Today I'm a guest-blogger at Living A Life Of Freelancing, where I chat about how we can use writing to make a difference in society. Enjoy!

Please don't forget to comment at the end of the post. And many thanks to Rebecca Emrich for hosting me.

Happy Women's Day

I don't think I'm going to be able to do much blogging in the next couple of days, so I have been doing some guest-blogging to make sure you have lots to read from today through Monday.

And if you have a minute or two, please leave a comment on the guest blogs I'm referring you to:

TAVASA
Who are your current blog and web site readers?

Female2Female
Ensuring that your daughter grows into a strong woman

Many thanks to Gaynor and Ali, (of TAVASA) and Laurakim (of Female2Female) for inviting me. Much appreciated.

And please visit the OneLove Campaign web site to check out what's rocking there. Interesting posts include:

Students and celebs march for OneLove at the University of Venda (news item)

Focus On Women In Southern Africa: The Challenges They Face and The Resources To Help Them (A lead up to Women's Day Celebration on 9 August)

Tjiramue Explained ( A Herero cultural practice that encourages a man to marry the daughter of his uncle or aunt to keep the family and resources together)

And to my South African readers, enjoy Happy Women's Day and enjoy the long weekend.

Bonding Over Buffy and Junk Food

Baby's Spring holidays began today and we had a lovely time last evening just hanging.

I became a fan Buffy the Vampire Slayer back when it used to play on TV.

So when I saw a box set of the first 4 episode of the series retailing for R29 at CNA, I grabbed it, thinking to introduce Baby to the series.

After a dinner of cheeseburger meal from McDonald's for Baby and a packet of fries and salad for me, we spent the evening cuddles in front of the TV set watching Buffy kick butt.

And she loved it!

It was a bonding moment.

I'm definitely going to back to CNA to buy the next 4 episodes (retailing for R49). They get you hooked by selling the first 4 at a low price and then raising the price when you want more:-).

Blog Party on Women's Day

We're getting ready for another blog party on the OneLove web site. The links will go up on Monday 9th August, so you have the rest of the week and weekend to write something on your blog and email the link to me.

Posts talking about the evolution of women's sexuality, the challenges that they face today, and indivdual stories of women who have overcome them would be most welcome.

Check out the site to get the details of how the blog party works and how you can participate.

Should you need additional information, leave a comment at the end of this post. Or email me directly; my email address is in the profile section of this blog.

Some good writing news & a review of a membership deal

The German publisher I previously mentioned contacted me again. They are going to use one of my stories in a CD too.

Also got a quick email from a publisher of romance novels based in Africa, asking if I have a manuscript for her to look at. What I have does not quite fit her editorial requirements, but I am happy to cut and edit and rewrite until the story flows and still meets her requirements.

Lovely!

And we're ready for another blog party on the OneLove web site. So please check out the site to get the details of how you can participate.

Deadline for submissions of your links is Saturday 8th August. Links go online on Monday 9 August, in celebration of Women's Day in South Africa.

And on the life/biz front

The promise of a free holiday in Hawaii or Jamaica plus a chance to win a R75 000 kitchen make-over or R50 000 cash prompted me to drag Baby to a presentation by a company I shall not name.

So what was it about?

Essentially, the company sells you a 10-year membership for a little over R14 000, which guarantees you a 75% discount on your hotel accommodation (both locally and internationally). You also get huge discounts on airfare and car rentals.

The company also has the option for a lifetime membership, which costs almost R50 000.
The presenters, who were very charming, gave real life examples, including the fact that a 7-day holiday for two in Disneyland which could cost you R20 000 would work out to a bit more than R4000.

The deal sounded very good, especially because you don’t have to pay the membership fee all at once, and can pay R4888 for a 30% deposit ( for the 10-year deal), with 24-month instalments of R477 per month.

I liked the deal.

A lot!

And no, I did not sign on the dotted line.

Lately I’ve been thinking that I would like to travel more. I have been to a number of countries, including Egypt, Spain and Mauritius. But it recently occurred to me that as a work-at-home writer, home can actually be anywhere.

I could travel during Baby’s school holidays and make sure that I’m in town for client meetings. The 75% discount would also ensure that I can fly in from Cape Town or Durban or wherever. And if I wrote about my destinations for travel pubs, that would help offset the cost of my travels.

Anyway, this was a vague thought; nothing concrete, but something that made me decide to attend the company’s presentation.

So why didn’t I sign on the dotted line?

I have this rule – never to sign a contract until I’ve had time to consider all the angles. I needed to know:

a) About the company - Sure they told me about themselves in their presentation, but due diligence requires that I also investigate what is being said about them. Are their customers raving about their holiday services? How do they resolve customer conflict?
b) My own needs – would I be able to use the discounts effectively? Or is this one of those discounts that would actually cost me in the end?
c) My financial situation – Even if I took the deal on a 24-month plan, did I have the financial cushion to pay the 30% deposit + the monthly payments without stress?
d) The fine print – Exactly what did the contract include/exclude?
e) Dispute resolution – In case I wanted to terminate the deal in a year or so, what would it all mean?

To be able to answer these questions, I needed a promo package that included the actual contract.

This is where things came unglued, because the presenters insisted on showing me the benefits of signing immediately. They also told me that the offer was only valid to me that day, and expired if I did not sign immediately.

It was completely against my nature to do so. And the more they pushed, the more I wondered why they had to.

If it’s a good deal ( and it sure seemed like it), what was the harm in letting me think things through? I would eventually decide to buy or not, depending on my needs and situation in life.

Forcing me to buy if I was not equipped to do would only result in buyer’s remorse, which would lead to my either trying to terminate the contract, or being so inherently unhappy that I would bad mouth them to customers. Or God forbid I was a vengeful blogger, on this blog.

I feel sorry for the salespeople

If their product is on the up and up ( and I'm not saying that it isn't, because I was not given the opportunity to investigate it,) their sales method is actually a hindrance.

Instead of listening to my concerns, and allaying them, they focussed on the script which tried to get me to sign on the dotted line.

Centuries ago, back when I was an account executive, I learnt the hard way that the easiest sale you can make is with someone who is already convinced they need it, have the money to buy it and have the authority to make the purchase.

All I needed to do was show them why my products met their needs, and if it didn’t, I was usually happy to let them walk away, even direct them to someone else who can help them. The end result is that you have a happy customer who’ll rave about you to anyone who’ll listen, and will send more business your way.

And the free holiday voucher?

Yes, I did indeed get the free holiday voucher. According to the terms and conditions, I have to pay $35 to claim my holiday, and booking requires a $169 fee per person, and a $29 per person surcharge if I book for peak season. I don't know whether I will use it.

Moral of this very long story?

Some people's idea of free actually involves you shelling out some cash. So you must always read the fine print of a contract, and sleep on the decision, before you sign, even if you really, really, like the deal.

Take the time even if they have a blinking sign shouting BUY NOW! Because if it's a good deal today, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get it AFTER YOU'VE THOUGHT THINGS THROUGH.