As a fan of theme parties, cosplaying, and all-round geekery, I have in my adult years thrown more than one Harry Potter party. There is no shame in this. After all, I am a huge fangirl, so are my friends, and with recent headlines dominated by racist mob violence, corruption, and impending nuclear war (and that was just this week) sometimes a night of light-hearted fun is needed to lift the spirits.
Continue reading “How to throw a Harry Potter party” →
The Fifth Mrs Brink is the memoir of writer and academic Karina Szczurek, the fifth wife of author Andre P Brink.
The book describes their romance and happy marriage, but it also offers a portrait of the woman behind the title. Karina writes that to know her, you must visit the places close to her heart, and in this book she shares some of the moments that have defined her.
Continue reading “Book review: The Fifth Mrs Brink” →
Living in Cape Town means you don’t have to venture out very far to see breathtaking scenery. It’s a permanent backdrop.
As someone who doesn’t enjoy summer very much (this pale complexion takes years of avoiding the sun) winter is my favourite time to explore The Cape of Storms. The world comes alive, like a dog shaking off its wet fur. Just look outside to see how vivid green the grass has become as it waits expectantly for the rumbling black clouds to release more rain; how the skies are never anything less than dramatic.
It’s so wonderfully gloomy.
Here are some of my favourite places to go when it’s cold outside.
For the recent Trade Secrets anthology, I wrote a story entitled Kitchen Witch about a witch who can do magical things with baked goods. Sadly I’ve never been much of a baker. My scones come out flat and dry and my cookies lack crunch.
Continue reading “How to make a black metal cake” →
It was such an honour to make the shortlist for the Short Sharp Story Award, and even more so to be included in the anthology. I learned a lot from the editor, Joanne, and I can honestly say my future work will benefit richly from the experience.
Continue reading “Trade Secrets” →
I’ve spoken to a few of my friends about my unusual ancestry, usually during a lengthy evening chat over a glass or two of wine. I’m even writing a book about it.
Recently, I’ve started to obsess about it.
I was tagged by my friend Karina. You can read her reader confessions here.
To call myself a Harry Potter fan would be an understatement.
One of my best friends gave me a homemade Harry Potter Monopoly set for my birthday this year. She has a twin set herself, with different properties and Chance questions. The reason we’re friends in the first place is because of our mutual love of the boy wizard. (We’re the type of fans that immediately pick up the mistakes in the Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit game.)
Continue reading “When a book is so much more than a book” →
As an adult you have to accept that certain things are inevitable and you just have to get on with it. And one of those things is queuing. You queue when you do your taxes. You queue when you renew your vehicle license or your passport. Queues can’t be avoided.
There are some cool things that also involve queuing, like the waiting lines at Disneyland rides, the queues at ComicCon (and in our case, FanCon) and the midnight queues for new Harry Potter books.
Continue reading “Harry Potter and the midnight launch” →
I absolutely adore the cover of my new novel out now in Germany, Zwei Herzen im Goldfischglas. (It translates as Two Hearts in a Goldfish Bowl).
It’s about a kid who uses his amazing observational skills and logic to help the girl of his dreams become popular.
It’s a quirky love story that tackles some tough topics, like Autism and rape culture (especially pertinent now with the Stanford rape case dominating the headlines.)
What do you think of the cover?
Sally Partridge