I am honoured to have been nominated to take part in “A Tour Through Blogland” or also known as “The Virtual Blog Tour Award.”
My nominator, Wanda Hartzenburg wears many hats; she lives across the other side of the world from me, in South Africa and is also an author. She wrote her first story at the age of 4 (I wrote mine when I was 6) and like me, she enjoys writing and cooking. Her two books ‘Suicide Song’ and ‘The Struggle of me’ are both available on Amazon. I mainly know Wanda through her Facebook Group, Wanda’s amazing Amazon Reviewers which you can read about in my a short article.
You can read Wanda’s Tour through Blogland Post here.
To kick off this blog tour, she asked me to answer these 4 questions:
1- Why write? Why not sing, dance or figure skate?
Writing seems to be ingrained in my soul. I started when I was six. I filled up my drawing book with fairy tales and it was about the same time as my parents took me to ballet! I was too clumsy to dance and the first time I tried skating, I fell over and broke my wrist. That just about sums it up – whereas I derive enormous pleasure from writing.
2- Do you have a musical playlist or do you need to write in absolute silence? If you have a playlist would we recognize any of the songs or artists on it?
Music definitely inspires me – not when I’m writing but when I am thinking about writing. I have a play list for each of my books: some from the decade; for ‘Beginnings’ there are lots of tunes from the 70’s. The current playlist however, contains nothing anyone would recognise. It’s music for the younger generation – Drum and Bass and a lot of thrilling rave music. It would be a great soundtrack if ever the book was made into a film.
3- Can you see a future for yourself in which writing forms no part of your day to day life?
I can’t imagine that at all. Much as I enjoy other hobbies, writing is something which seems to be stamped onto my personality. I cannot bear to think of a scenario where I wouldn’t be able to do it any more.
4- Which author/s inspire you currently? I am not talking about some of the greats but departed. Authors alive today, which of them inspire you?
Ken Follet is and continues to be my biggest inspiration: his books have wonderful characters and are set around historic events. There are some pretty good indie authors around too; such as Terry Tyler who writes modern day British based fiction and Marion Kille who’s crime thrillers set in one of my local towns, are impossible to put down.
Here is my short article: Karma in the Writing World
It was always my intention in the New Year to write a small piece about Wanda’s Amazing Amazon Reviewers group which was how I was introduced to Wanda Hartzenberg.
The idea stems from authors across the world coming together and supporting each other. As the name suggest this is a group for reviewers – which means they are always on the lookout for avid readers, people who love books and are willing to give up their free time for reading and giving honest reviews. It’s a friendly group which relies on mutual support. We give reviews and receive them in return. Not only that, we like each others Facebook pages, tweet each others tweets and generally do what we can to raise each other’s profiles.
What goes around comes around and as a result, I have not only met some very fine authors but had a few new reviews myself, which is something us budding writers have come to rely on more and more, these days, especially if they crave success.
Most of all it is fun. It’s a platform for debates, competitions, giveaways and a forum for authors to share their experiences – post questions on anything to do with writing: from editing to cover design. It is also a good place to make new friends.
In all the years I’ve been an author, I’ve discovered there is a lot of karma in the writing community. I don’t have the time to join many author groups but I’m glad I found this one. Just to finish with, here’s a sample of some of my own reviews from my favourite authors:
The Luck of the Weissensteiners by Christoph Fischer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An ambitious story of how one jewish family manages to escape the persecution of the nazis.
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Baby by J.K. Accinni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I highly recommend this book. Science-fiction is not usually my genre, but I became so quickly absorbed, I can genuinely say that this is the most unusual and captivating story I have read in a long time.
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Peer Inside My Soul and See Me by De Ann “Native” Townes Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Definitely one for a rainy day. This is a delightful collection of poems, is beautifully written and with incredibly inspiring words. I know I’ll be picking it up again soon!
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Revealing Hamilton by Sarah Jayne Carr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Part thriller with a scientific conspiracy in the background; a notion of secret societies, where you are never quite sure who you can trust.
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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A Wonderful Story: Fantasy is not my usual genre – yet I was rapidly drawn into a story which was not only beautifully written, but filled with characters I instantly engaged with.
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Lastly, I have nominated Julian Kirkman-Page for this award. I met Julian via our local authors group CHINDI and enjoyed his first book The 7:52 to London Bridge which is a hilarious set of short stories
“The author is a businessman in the guise of a train commuter trying to make good use of the otherwise dead time to study for a distance learning science degree. Instead, the trials and tribulations of the daily grind between home and London Bridge station force him to reflect upon a life filled with mirth, mystery and sheer madness.”
Julian’s 2nd book I Don’t Drink is a comprehensive guide to giving up alcohol, written in a light hearted comic style and includes a free downloadable self-hypnosis session.
Over to you, Julian!
Same Face Different Place 