I'm miserable!

Somehow I caught a summer cold and now my nose is stuffed and I'm coughing my lungs out. I'm not in the mood to work but stories don't write themselves and books don't publish themselves. So I had to drag myself out of bed and start work. Sucks!

How to spend 20 gigs of bandwidth

Looks like I'm going to have a lazy time this festive season compared to last year, when I went on a road trip to East London with a friend.

I'm going to go to a guesthouse in some kind of wilderness in December, chill for around a week or so, then go to Durban and stay at a friend's flat. My friend agreed to lend me her flat for a week at the beginning of January. A week by the sea in summer. Nice, no? Sorry Po, I'll think about you while I'm enjoying your hometown.

I also tried to start getting some of the Christmas presents. I had more than 20gigs of bandwidth which I bought through a special promotion, so I decided to give away some of it to friends and family to add to whatever Christmas gifts I wasplanning to give them. Bandwidth is something useful afterall, and I was planning to give my nephews and nieces a gig each to download whatever they want from the Internet. They're teens or in their early twenties: they can never have too many downloads!

Unfortunately, Vodacom, my service provider, did not make it easy. See, I've given away airtime to people before. You just go to your dashboard and reallocate a bundle of your airtime to another cellphone number, as long as they use Vodacom's service. So I assumed the same principle applied to bandwidth reallocation, especially as Vodacom does offer a data bundle facility on the dashboard. Turns out that you can't donate data from your own allocation; you can only buy for another number. Gah! Why would I want to buy bandwidth when I already have more than enough? And my gift budget is for actual gifts, not bandwidth. This was just going to be an extra.

So, this December I'm going to have a very interesting Internet experience. I don't know what I'm going to do with 20 gigs because I usually use between 2-4 gigs of data per month. And that's including the times when I do research for my writing projects and deal with heavy multimedia.

The only two times I even worked up to 5 gigs was when I when I was developing web sites for two TV shows ( OneLove and Kwanda). And that's because the production company was sending promotion videos for all 13 episodes of each show, as well as the promotional material for the shows and the actors.

Huh! It will be interesting to watch YouTube videos and TV shows online and even listen to radio stations without worrying about data consumption. I'm also going to dowload as many books I've been wanting to read ( which are available for free or as part of the creative commons).

Bomb found at Eastgate mall (my local shopping centre)

An “explosive device” was left outside a jewellery store at the Eastgate Mall today, police confirmed, media says.

To say I'm stunned is an understatement. We may have lots of political disagreements in South Africa about any number of issues, but we're not at war with each other.

As for localised war-fare in the city, I don't imagine there is a lot of mileage to be had from harming us. The people in this area are not extremely wealthy or very poor (either garnering strong political support). And while the mall is very busy, it's in a quiet part of Johannesburg, and it's mostly families who live here, which means parents were at work and kids were at school when the bomb was found.

As for it being related to crime ( bomb found outside jewellery store) it still doesn't make sense because the store is far from the entrances/exits and the bombers/robbers could still be trapped in the mall.

Never mind the fact that the security is tight, though unobtrusive. And I know that mall security people are constantly watching the shoppers because once a stranger approached me; I don't even remember what he wanted from me. I must have looked off or something because within 2 minutes, we were surrounded by security personell asking me if this person was bothering me and shooing him away.

Yeah I know, Big Brother is watching me, but he's been watching me for so long that I always take his presence for granted. And if these bombers did their research, surely they'd know that few things go unseen at the mall? Surely they know there is also mall security guards at all the outside gates who stop cars going out of the shopping centre gates to make sure that people driving out actually have the keys to the car and didn't hotwire it? Anyhoo, the whole bomb issue is leaving me with a big WHY?

It also made me think about the amount of security that surrounds my everyday life: the guards at many of street corners in my subrub(including my street), the security company cars that patrol the streets, and which come more often if a homeowner has a party or any kind of big gathering, the electronic security that most homes have, the guard dogs most families feel that they can't live without..... I suspect I'd feel very exposed if I stepped outside my gate and didn't see someone in uniform. And intellectually I know a lot of people around the world (or even in South Africa) don't live like that. And I don't even want to think about what  having that level of guards means regarding having privacy....

Christmas preparations, vacation planning and work update

It's a lovely Monday morning and I'm well-rested after a quiet weekend spent with friends and puttering in my garden. I also coloured my hair black. I started going gray when I was 20 or so and now almost 50% of my hair is gray. I'm used to it and most times I just leave in it its natural state. But somehow this weekend my last drop of vanity kicked in and I decided to do something about it. It looks good, if I do say so myself. And according to a friend, I no longer look odd (like an old woman with a remarkably young face and body. LOL)

Christmas preparations- I realised on Saturday that Christmas is almost upon us. I'd been so focussed on getting the publishing work done that the world changed without my noticing. The good news is that I don't have to do a whole lot to prepare for Christmas.

One my million cousins is hosting the Christmas lunch. (My father was the youngest of 9 kids and none of his siblings were shy when it came to reproducing. And as my cousins are a lot older than me and some have kids around my age who also have kids and grandkids, you can see why the number is inflated to a million:-) So all I have to do is show up with food and a gift on the day. Yay me!

Vacation planning - I've also been looking at my holiday vouchers trying to decide if I can take a holiday. I need the break after a year of pushing myself so hard. But I'm not sure whether there's still space available at locations I'm allowed to choose from.

Freelance work - Work is going well. I'm handing in Book 4 to the client this week. I've done most of the manuscript review and preparation and am having author do final check before we into edit. Starting work on Book 5 today.

Creative writing - Nanowrimo was a bust for me. I had too much book work to do and when I did get a breather, I needed to sleep. There has been days when I had to get by on 4 hours of sleep per night to read through manuscripts and review them, so I'm reassured that Nanowrimo did not fall through the cracks through any fault of my own. Maybe next year I will do better and manage to finish the 50 000 words.

Business and Cancer Update

It's been raining quite a bit, which makes me happy because my vegetables are finally getting as much water as they need. But the weeds! They just keep growing back. Anyhoo, here's an update:

1. Business is going well. Three clients are keeping me extremely busy, so I wake up each morning with a sense of purpose. Another writer sent book 5. I'm not going to get a chance to look at it for a while. I need to push out what's in front of me as soon as possible.

2. My friend who has cancer is having another biopsy today. Honestly, I'm scared. I moved to this suburb to be near this woman, because we'd been very good friends for years and she's been very supportive to me in so many ways. She's one of my heart sisters. And I don't even want to contemplate losing her.

3. Haven't done much creative writing lately. The biggest reason is that I've spent every working hour on client projects, especially the publishing project. I dn't regret it - I learnt a lot - but in the future, I will need balance.

The publishing train chugs along

I almost said happy Monday, because time has been flying by so quickly if I feel like it's still Monday. And not in a sad blue Monday context.I'm content.

I  handed over Book 3 reviewed manuscript to client yesterday. Received edited version of book 2 for final look-see and draft copy of book 4 from an author today. So the train is moving along. And the reason I'm happy? It struck me that I'm finally working more with books, like I always wanted. Ja I know that's kinda dense, considering this assignment has been going on for months. But somehow it hadn't registered properly in my head.

I need gift ideas

Still keeping my nose to the grindstone. Lots of progress on the publishing project, which is very encouraging. Emailed several steady clients and asked them to send me all the work that will be due January. It will be nice to do the assignments at a slow pace and I can go on leave confident that I have work for January.

Thinking of buying one of my clients a Christmas present but I'm not sure whether it's kosher or not, and if it's OK, what to buy him. He's brought me a lot of work this past year (more than 5 referrals, who now bring me steady work) and I just want to express my appreciation.

Obviously chocolate and gift hampers are out. I had too many of those when I was a journalist and I always ended up giving them away to family, friends, even a couple of tenants. So I prefer something thoughtful that he could possibly use/like.

Client is in his 20s, I think. We're not buddies or chatty or anything like that, so the gift has to be a bit friendly but conservative to reflect our relationship. Suggestions please?

What I learnt

Today is the birthday of one of my closest friends. Like Pamela, she's like a sister from another mother, and the three of us have been like Musketeers since the early nineties.

Spent the afternoon with this friend yesterday, both to celebrate her birthday and for me to reassure myself about her state.  You see, my friend has cancer. We don't know to what extent yet. The surgery to find out is tomorrow. My chat with my friend reminded me of several life lessons, which I want to share here:

1. Make sure that you have savings and invest enough money for your retirement. You probably think retirement is very far off and but the earlier you start, the more you set aside, the more you peaceful you will be when you're in middle age and retirement looms. And havings savings means being able to deal with little and big disasters life throws at you without the additional financial stress.

2. Good friends who support you are more valuable than money. Not that money is not important ( see point 1), but you really need people who's support you can count on no questions asked. We have been there for each othe through financial disasters, bad relationships, break-ups, divorce, unemployment... you name it. And they have provided another layer of security for me: it's a good feeling to know that you have friends who will always be there, who've seen you at your very worst and love you because of it, not in spite of it.

As for work, it's going steadily. Sleep is a valuable commodity I'd love to have. But December and January are go-slow months in South Africa ( across industries, as people take off for Christmas/summer holidays), so it's good that I have enough work to keep me busy now and hopefully through the season.

A different kind of weeding

My friend Michelle brought me more plants, which I have now potted. My cache of plants I'm going to use for my back garden is growing steadily and I'm happy. Soon I'll clear out the area and actually start the garden.

Meanwhile, I really do need to weed my front garden. It's starting to look cluttered. Much like my work scheduler, which had a lot of assignments pending and there didn't seem to be enough time in a day to get to them. So I worked on them most of the weekend. Yes, it means I missed out on the leisure time. But I feel better because I managed to catch up with an assignment that was starting to look overwhelming and some small projects that are due this week.

High tea and a write-up

My hectic schedule has not let up, and I'm usually at my desk around 5am in the morning and stay there until the evening.

Except yesterday, when a friend talked me into going out for high tea at a spa. We got horribly lost - how many Alexander and Alexadra streets can there be in one city? Quite a few as we found. Still, it was a nice break away from the deadlines - the atmosphere was very tranquil, though it was right in the middle of the city (for the Joburgers, the place is off Jan Smuts Avenue, one of the busiest streets in the city).

Other than that, the suburb I live in was written up by Lynley Main for the city of Joburg's web site. It's nice, long feature called Joburg's Village In The City. You'll gain some insight into why I like it here. And yes, moi gets quoted talking about the Writers' Circle she belongs to and periodically mentions here. Enjoy!

This week I had a growth spurt

When I began my writing career, researching an article or book was harder (due to lack of Internet and connectivity, among many reasons).

Let me explain. In those days, I lived in the small town of Mafikeng, birthplace of the Boy Scouts movement. Every month I would go to CNA to pick up my monthly issue of Writer's Digest. Yes, they special ordered it for me. And I read it from cover to cover, learning about the craft, drooling over other writers' successes and looking for potential markets.

I never did land a New York agent or publisher, though in those days everything seemed possible. I was in my late teens/early 20s afterall, and I felt that the world was my oyster.

Then I sold a children's book to a local publisher.. and then another... and over time, I realised that the writing I was doing was not going to make me rich any time soon, or even support me adequately. I guess I grew up. I didn't give up the dream of being a writer; just on how to do it and how much I expect to earn from it. Hence the move to freelance writing/copywriting.

This week I had another growth spurt.I was in a client meeting with the publishing team working to make one of the client books happen (managing editor, production manager, project manager and typsetting guy). I was doing handover of a manuscript for one of the titles I'm working on and we were talking about schedules to get the book done. I'd had sleepless nights working on a manuscript and was guzzling Play like water ( too much caffeine, felt like I would float away any minute).

And then it struck me - the book business has become rough over the years. Publishers are under pressure to bring out books more quickly than before. The editorial and production staff are under huge pressure to keep up with the demand  to publish more and faster than before. It used to be a book took two years from the time an author submitted a manuscript to the time it was launched. Now? You're lucky to have six months to get it done.

So the people who make these books happen work under the kind of pressure that still gives me nightmares. For example, my managing editor said that at some stage, she was managing the development of 120 titles. That's 120 BOOKS! And she had the lightest workload among other managing editors in her company.

It was a sobering moment for me as a writer and publisher. Basically it means as a professional ( whether writer or editor or publisher) dealing with a publishing house, you have to get your part of the job done right the first time. Yes, you're probably dealing with someone who is really kind and would hold your hand a little bit if things went south, but really, you'd help him/her sleep better at night if you were meticulous with your work.

This experience also gave me a new perspective on people we send our book proposals to. Yes,sometimes they seem snarky and unappreciative of the thought we put into the work and the hours or research and writing we did to get a viable manuscript. But honestly, that spare 5 minutes they get in a day? They'd probably rather spend it at home, just sitting still, appreciating that they can have a breath amid the madness, rather than trying to explain why they, as publishers of genre romances can't publish your family saga, for example.

Anyhoo, I hope the rest of your week goes well. I'm going back to the salt mines:-)

And nope, this post is not intended to imply that witers don't work hard or keep crazy hours. Because we do. Some days when I go to my desk in the morning, it strikes me that there must be easier ways to make a living. But then, I'm crazy enough to want to do this job.