A tale of love, loss and robots.
There is no better feeling in the world than being swallowed whole by a book. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is one of those rare novels that keeps you spellbound to the point where everything else literally disappears around you. I read the novel in a day, totally forgetting about food and everything else I needed to do. This hasn’t happened in a while.
Continue reading “Book review: The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” →
29 August 2012
I have just returned from the UK where I attended the IBBY World Congress. I’ve already blogged about my experience which was nothing short of incredible. Thanks again to everyone who helped make it happen.
28 August 2012
IBBY – the International Board on Books for Young People – does incredible work promoting children’s fiction. I’m a member of the South African chapter, which holds regular Book Bashes to celebrate SA lit. This year’s world congress took place in August at Imperial College in London. The event looked at how children’s fiction crosses boundaries, and included an Honour Roll showcase of notable children’s fiction from around the world, including my second novel, Fuse. I had to go. It seemed like the experience of a lifetime, and I was determined to find a way to get there. And so I did.
24 September 2012
As part of the annual Open Book Festival I was invited to participate in a panel about censorship in teen publishing. I was joined by Scottish young adult author Keith Gray (Ostrich Boys, Next) The Book Lounge’s Verushka Louw and librarian Lona Gericke.
27 October 2012
Oh man, I really love Halloween.
This year I once again took part in South African Horrorfest’s literary event, Bloody Parchment, that took place at the Book Lounge on 26 October 2012.
The Battle
Jomo grips the side of the table as if something horrifying is unfolding before him. I can only imagine his agony because it’s never happened to me. You see, he just played his best card, and I’m about to claim it.
16 June 2012
The Cape Town Book got off to a bustling start on Day 2 as thousands of book lovers descended on the CTICC.
There was so much happening it was hard to keep track.
In the morning, Modjaji authors and Sunday Times Literary Award nominees Yewande Omotoso and Tracy Farren spoke about their lives at Poetry Café.
Later the ladies were available to sign copies of their books at the Modjaji stand.
Another highlight was seeing acclaimed novelist Sindiwe Magona speaking about her biography at the ANFASA stand. She attracted such a thick crowd that it was hard to get close enough to hear. There was also a film crew on hand, so hopefully we’ll be seeing Sindiwe on the small screen soon.
The aisles were choc-a-block, but I managed to get some author spotting in. I ran into author Short Story Day South facilitator Rachel Zadok, Karina and Andre Brink, Tiah Beautement, Ben Williams (all the way from Joburg) and I even spotted Jo-Anne Richards in passing. Apologies to Ben for putting my foot in my mouth. I do that. A LOT. (Don’t ask)
A personal highlight was meeting Associated Magazines MD (and hero) Jane Raphaely who signed my copy of her book, Jane Raphaely Unedited. Jane is so poised and elegant, that I felt completely under-dressed in my worn jeans and alice band. Can’t wait to read her book.
I also spoke to Gabriele Lightdancer, who launched her poetry collection and biography at the Book Fair. Her journey from troubled childhood to author was very inspirational and I found that we had a lot in common. I was surprised to discover that the German born-writer lives with her husband in Pretoria.
It’s really great to see so many people excited about reading. Books were flying off the shelves. I made the mistake yesterday of seeing something I wanted and expected it to still be there this morning. Wrong!
Bargain hunters should head to the SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) stand who are selling 5 POSTERS FOR R10! Bargain Books have also got some great deals on.
18 June 2012
Last Friday I was invited by everybody’s favourite book shop, The Book Lounge, to chat to a group of grade seven girls from Red River High School.
The group formed part of the Rock Girl grassroots program that invests in young girls from poor communities.
I read from my latest novel, Dark Poppy’s Demise, and spoke about my journey to becoming a writer.
The girls were shy at first, but after the Q&A they really opened up and started bombarding me with questions and hugs and posing for photos.
Thanks to the generosity of the Book Lounge and the creative community, each girl was able to choose a book from the huge selection of children’s and YA fiction on offer. It was great fun browsing through titles with the girls and referring my favourites.
Many thanks to the Book Lounge for the awesome opportunity.
Read the full article at Plascon Trends.
20 June 2012
The winners of the Media 24 Literary awards were announced earlier this month.
I’m thrilled that my third novel Dark Poppy’s Demise was awarded the M.E.R Prize for youth fiction even though I was convinced that this wasn’t going to be my year. The shortlist included two excellent award winning novels so I definitely felt like the underdog. The judges had this to say about the novel, “The book is wonderfully written and gripping from beginning to end.”
17 July 2012
Young adult fiction seems to be getting better and better. I recently read two excellent novels that top my list of YA reads for 2012.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake tells the tale of seventeen year old Theseus Cassio Lowood, or Caz for short, who is a professional ghost hunter like his dad was before him.
After successfully doing away with the spirit of a murderous hitch hiker, Caz and his mother move to the small town of Thunder Bay which has a killer ghost of its own, Anna Korlov, better known as Anna Dressed in Blood, who died at sixteen when she was on her way to a school dance.
Continue reading “LEGO Book review: Anna dressed in blood” →
Sally Partridge