Midweek Moment #28
I went out with my camera during the week, but nothing I captured took my fancy for a Midweek Moment. So, this morning before school, I interrupted my son during his violin practice. He seemed annoyed at first, then bemused as to why I’d want to take photos of...
Midweek Moment #27
As I was preparing this week’s Midweek Moment, it struck me that although we live in a colossal city of concrete and bitumen and over 1.5 million people, we’re never far from a walk along the coast, around a lake, by the river, or through the bush. Our...
My Week—Back-to-School and Back-to-Writing
1. It’s been back-to-school here, which isn’t anywhere near as frantic as it used to be: Only half my children are still at school, I only had one school to get them back to, and they’re now old enough to do most of it...
Midweek Moment #26
Monique and I have gone with simplicity this week. My photo is of leaves from a yucca plant in our backyard. We planted half a dozen of these about ten years ago. At the time, they were about knee-high but, unlike most plants in our garden, they have thrived and now...
Midweek Moment #25
I’ve been without a camera this week, and I feel as if my third eye is missing. But after a few visits to the beach, the photos were looking rather salt-streaked, so I’ve taken it in for a clean. This photo is from my archives—it’s the first photo I ever took in...
Talking to Teenagers: How I Turned My Relationship With My Daughter Around: Parenting Reflection #2
In a blog post last year, I said I’d write a post about my second daughter and how, through her, I learnt to be a better mother. That was easier said than done, believe me. Once kids reach a certain age, it’s difficult to write about them...
Midweek Moment #24
Summer and school holidays mean longer, slower days, so of an evening, I’ve been taking myself down to the beach and trying out long-shutter speeds on my camera. This, however, has been largely unsuccessful. I lost my thongs to a rogue wave on the first visit,...
On Not Shaming Kids: Parenting Reflection #1
This isn’t the post I intended for this week, but the original one has turned into an unwieldy epic and I’m still working on it. Our second daughter finished school last year and will turn eighteen next month. This means both of...
Midweek Moment #23
Summery Midweek Moments from both of us today: I took this photo of a frangipani in our pool. The flower was already struggling in the heat and chlorinated water, but I still liked the photo. Maybe it’s the detail: the colour of the petals, the tiny water...
The Story Behind the Story
ON WRITING ‘THE SISTERS’ SONG’ My novel, ‘The Sisters’ Song’, has evolved and that’s the only way to describe how it came into being. It’s nothing at all like what I set out to write, and this draft, Final Draft 3.0, is very different to...