10 Minute Shopping, Walking into a dream, Soon

Time to beat my thoughts into order!

My three thinks for today are:

10 Minute Shopping - It can be done!! I am proud to report that I somehow managed to choose, fit and buy two bikinis for summer in 10 minutes flat.

Now, now. Lower your eyebrows, lady with the doubtful look on your face. I wouldn’t have believed it either. Usually, bikini shopping for me consists of about two weeks of rifling through magazines and peeking through shop windows, trying to scope out what I like. This is followed by careful calculations, taking into account: my budget, my holiday destination, whether I can mix the bikini with my beachwear, and my current hair colour. Yes, it’s incredibly shallow, but I know I’m not the only one who does this… So take your tsk-tsking somewhere else.

After I’ve decided what I want, I go searching different shops and malls for The One. It takes an average of about four trips before I find what I’m looking for. Suffice to say this whole process annoys my husband endlessly.

So yesterday, in my lunch-time, I go shopping with The Man for a few clothes for him when I am offered the chance to buy myself a bikini at the end of it. With that prospect looming, I rush the poor man through hundreds of shirts and shorts, bombarding him with options and urging him to make decisions. With ten minutes left on the clock, I abandon him outside the shop to deal with his spinning head while I go off, running at full speed and careening around the corners.

In the shop I locate the bikini rail and scan through the colours – skipping anything too bright, frilly or flowery. I find two options, and yelp ecstatically when they fit perfectly. Flying past the till and through the door, I find hubby at the car – shocked and wide-eyed at my crazy appearance.

Mission accomplished.

Walking into a Dream - In an interview with George RR Martin, he explains how he felt when he walked onto the set of Game of Thrones for the first time.

“It’s like walking into one of my dreams.”

What an honour. So few authors ever get the chance to see their characters come to life in such a profound way. It must have been so emotional for him. But it also says so much about him as a writer – having the skill to describe a character or place, and to convey an atmosphere in such a way that readers can clearly see it in their minds… It’s a craft and he is surely a master of it. The fact that the set portrayed what he saw in his imagination is nothing less than a tip o’ the hat to his talent. I hope I will be able to write like that one day.
Here's the link to the interview:

Game of Thrones - Book to Screen

Soon -

“Still Round the corner there may wait,

A new road or a secret gate.

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the moon, East of the Sun.”

-          The Walking Song, JRR Tolkien
So many places to see, so many adventures to embark on. Soon.

At this point in time I am conflicted with so many dreams, ideas and goals, that I find my mind bouncing from one topic to another without pattern or plan. Not such a bad place to be, as long as I do something about it.

Holiday Countdown, It's Alive!, Scuba Diving

Seeing as it's on my mind so much, I've decided to include a permanent little spot in my three thinks, dedicated to my book. This is for the duel purpose of sharing my progress and keeping me sane.

This said, my three thinks for today are:

Holiday Countdown - This morning I woke up with the astonishing, mind-blowing, attitude-changing realisation that I will be on holiday within a month!  That means scalding hot sand and ice cream on the beach; cold fruit salads for lunch, and walking barefoot in town with a ‘so what’ expression on my face. For those of you outside of SA, I remind you that December means SUMMER!!!!! I cannot wait to get my tan on and walk confidently to the water’s edge – only to throw my hands in the air and retreat, screaming, as the first cold wave touches my shins.

And Christmas!! Oh yeah!! Leg of Impala, sweet potatoes, malvapoeding for dessert…(Note to self: do not drool on laptop again.)

I can already see myself: lying on the beach, reading fluffy chicklit and planning my day only as far as the next meal. In the spirit of all this I have already painted my toenails a shocking pink: Summer Here I Come!

It's Alive! - Now, please do not think me weird/mental/schizophrenic, but it feels like the characters in my book have taken on a life of their own. The other night I was writing blissfully, when one of my male characters fell off a hedge. 

I kid you not.

I did not plan this!! He was supposed to leap over all knight-like and sexy, and off he goes rolling in the dust like an idiot. Surprised at his little mishap, I sat back, aghast.

To make matters worse, my other two female characters found this hilariously funny and would not stop laughing no matter what I did to shut them up. Refusing my supposed control over them, they just stood there: snickering and mocking.

Eventually, I got them to calm down and resume sub ordinance, but then I started laughing. Like a maniac. At my own characters.

The thing is, each character has been so fully developed in my mind: with their own likes and dislikes; habits and personalities - that they sort of take care of their own behaviour now. They are leading me on how they react, what they do and what happens to them.

To be honest, it’s quite entertaining. Mwahahahahaha.

Scuba Diving - Hell no. No way. Not enough money in the world. 

Not quite sure how to pinpoint the exact moment when I developed a mortal fear for encountering a tiny fish in its territory, but I have narrowed it down to about three incidents:

-         -  Being manhandled by a monitor lizard in our backyard pool when I was 6,

-         -  Having my flipper caught in something when the water was too murky for me to see what it was (age 10),

-          - Seeing some massive thing outlined in phosphor in the water, at night, in a lake in Mozambique (quite recent).

I cannot think of anything worse than swimming down into the depths with things peeking out at you from under rocks, gliding over you or bumping into you. And it’s not even the shark thing – seriously! Not afraid of them! I just hate the lack of perspective and the feeling that something out there is watching you. I even hyperventilated once when a fishy the size of my thumb bumped into my mask. Not cool.

I know it’s completely irrational and stupid; that people do it every day and that I’m 'missing out' on a whole world – but really: for the no-nonsense person that I am, I think I am allowed this one small irrationality.

Get geared-up and psyched-up for your holidays (whether it's snowy or unbearably hot), create something of your own - and allow yourself a little craziness. Of the misunderstood fear kind. Not the banging your head against the padded wall kind.

Blackouts, Waiting, Linkin Park

I know, I know. It has been months since I've blogged. I get it. Just for the record, it's not like I decided not to. It just kind of... happened.

Regardless, here are my three thinks for the day:

Blackouts - So last night I get home early due to a miraculous lapse in traffic. Hubby is off to a diving course and I’m home alone. Mischievously, I rub my hands together, trying to decide what I want to do first. So many possibilities! I start making up a list in my head: watch all the programs I recorded; paint nails; make killer sandwich; take long bath; watch series on laptop; work on book… Afraid that I won’t get to everything, I launch into super-speed and start building my dinner: a grilled cheese, ham and jalapeno sandwich.

Just as I pop it into the grill, sudden blackness descends. My first reaction is to scream, but I bite it back just in time when I realise that it’s just a blackout and that I did not, in fact, go instantly blind. I calm myself down and take in my surroundings (pointless). Luckily, the grill was hot, so I manage to cook a decent enough ‘wich. But now what? Just as I start looking for candles (and by ‘looking’ I mean bumping into things and tripping over a mysterious cable), the lights come on!! Yay!! Frantically, I start running around, trying to make up for lost time. I set up my laptop in bed and take a first bite of my dinner as I listen cheerfully to Windows starting up. 

Blackness. Again.

I choke a little on a jalapeno, part surprise and part annoyance. Seeing as my laptop’s battery has been nothing but a decoration for years, it goes off immediately. Dammit!  I scramble for candles again and manage to find a strangely skew one that’s leaning over the side of the holder. Fine, it’ll do.

Just as I sit down to finally eat… LIGHT!!!! Oh joy! I jump up and hurriedly put on my pj’s, put the candle away, start up the laptop again and settle down. 

Dark. 

“You have got to be kidding me!” I shout, effectively peeving off about four neighbourhood dogs. And that was it. My whole plan gone. Sad and all alone, I eat my (now cold) dinner by crooked candlelight. Afterward, I realise I have nothing left to do, so I go to bed. Two hours later; hubby comes home, lights go back on, and he whistles merrily as he heats up food in the microwave and watches TV in the background. Hmph.

Waiting - I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew it was not going to be ideal, easy or glamorous. I knew it would be a lonely road, having to depend on myself. No-one can do it for me. I have to learn, improve, hone, focus and be creative – by myself. But the reality is a lot more intimidating. I am still writing my fantasy novel, pushing through every chance I get. I am contacting publishers. I am sending samples to agents. I am hoping and praying every day. Can it just happen, though? I hate having to wait, doubting myself and going through my proposals again and again, wondering if I could have done something differently. It’s strenuous, draining, scary. I read over my work again, assuring myself that it is perfect – that I would have written it in exactly the same way if I had to go back. But I still doubt myself. Why is it taking so long?

Can’t it just happen like in the movies, with some PA of the Editor coming across my manuscript as it lays discarded under the fax machine, and then reading it and fighting for it until they contact me out of nowhere with a three book deal? 

Guess there’s nothing to it but to keep going. I can create and mold my Fantasy novel, but in ‘the real world’ I can’t do anything but wait. And trust.

Linkin Park - Oh my word. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome the concert was. We went to watch in Johannesburg on Saturday and, upon arriving at the stadium, I knew I was back with ‘my people’: black nails, raucous laughter, army boots and 90 minute queues for beer. The energy in the crowd was something indescribable: hyped-up, friendly, excited. Two hours before the band even peeked out, thousands of people were doing a Mexican Wave; shouting, clapping and threatening to throw each other over the rails on the stairs. When the Kongos opened, the crowd was already close to bursting – and the energy just kept building. All of a sudden, Jack Parow jumps on stage out of nowhere and people go off like a collective siren! Amazing to think that he came on unannounced and that everyone knew who he was – he must have had to change his pants afterward. 

When the band finally did appear in the back corner of the stage, I thought the stadium was going to implode. The noise was astounding! I don’t think I will ever see something like that again and I sure as heck will never forget it. The crowd sang along to e-v-e-r-y word and jumped and swayed in unison. It felt so good to be all studded-out and eye-lined, headbanging and screaming my lungs out – haven’t done that in years! And the South African flag on stage…(tear). That was one of the best experiences of my life – now an even bigger fan.

Keep hoping and moving along, go crazy every once in a while and remember to keep PROPER candles around. Life is too short to be scraping off dripped wax from your carpet.

And leave comments! I get back to you whenever I can!