The Cheeky Poet

Hello! Just a quickie Tuesday post while my baby naps.  Over the years I've done a lot of self-study to write better and to write well. My first language is Afrikaans so I'm always looking for tools to help me out. I have also researched the how to get published subject extensively. Unfortunately there is a plethora of generic SEO material out there and that's why I would like to write a post on the trustworthy style guides, hand guides and online resources I highly recommend. So, without further ado here's what you will find on my bookshelf and in my bookmarks folder right now. Style Guides The Write Stuff by Pharos, the updated 2011 edition, has been an invaluable source of info. Get it online from Takealot for R185   Hand Guides  Harry Bingham is a brilliant writer on the subject of writing. He has authored two books under the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook  name published by Bloomsbury and I have both. They are pric...

The hours of my days and the days of my life belong to a tiny individual with a big presence. Some days are tougher than others. There is no me, only her. I disappear. On other days I receive rejection letters from literary agents as well. During those tough ones it feels like even the memory of me too will fade and no one will remember that I'd ever lived. On those days I have to actively seek out the happy.  So here goes. My happy is in the sound of notes resonating from the strings of my husband's guitar. It's in the sweet scent of fresh blooms and in the taste of a slice of cake for breakfast. It's in the blue of the ozone, the fragile guardian of our planet. It's in the golden glare of the setting sun over the mountain. It's in a cool breeze carrying the smell of the sea through my open window. It's the latest New Girl episode. It's  Bad Lipreading . The adoration for me in my husband's eyes. My daughter's giggle and the way h...

The Day The Applebaum's Met Being part of a family which consists of an inventor for a father, an artist for a mother, and five siblings which differ from each other on every imaginable level might sound delightful. I can assure you, being in the company of this particular group of Applebaums is everything but a delight. We try our very best to avoid gatherings. We keep it simple: a one-on-one meeting is a lot less volatile. There’s not much potential to get into a heated argument with just one of us. And if the pawpaw hits the fan the possibility to outrun only one was far greater. The odds would be favourable in such an instance. And we have all run away from each other at some point or another. I must admit, when I see other families getting on like a house on fire I am envious. And when I say like a house on fire I mean it in a good way, not in the Applebaum way, like the day we attended our grandmother’s funeral. It was Francis who had started it. Even though she is the ...

Image source:  YULKAPOPKOVA VIA GETTY IMAGES If you are a writer reading this, you might agree that there is just too much generic and paraphrased information about writing out there. The internet is saturated with  how to  articles and  top ten tips  on the matter, and I do not waste my time reading these copied and pasted SEO clickbait articles anymore. Here, on my blog, you won't find any of that. The advice I offer and the experiences I share are authentic. Writing  Rules  Suggestions I have exhausted the internet and library researching the subject of writing. The "rules" to the thing include to read more, to write every day, have an outline in place before you start, carry a notebook with you everywhere etc. In my opinion these aren't rules, they are suggestions. There are no rules.  So, where are we to look for guidance on the matter? Should we find a mentor? Perhaps. This is another popular suggestion on honing your craft. A s...

Dear Agent Rule one: never dear agent . Never. You will not get a response.  Submitting queries to literary agents is not fun but it is part of the job, you know, this no pay job of writing fiction most of us have been doing for years. Every agent has a different criteria for receiving material. The popular trend at the moment is the everything in the body of the email approach -  attachments may contain viruses, malware, or magical incantations to curse the dream crushers of the literary world. This one wants the first 50 pages while another only needs the first chapter, and a detailed synopsis or nothing more than a one-pager. They want to know things about you; your writing credentials, if you're querying other agents simultaneously, and the social media platforms you operate from. Many literary agents I've queried over the years never responded.  It's true for me and it will be true for most new writers.  Rejections I've Received In Th...

Right?! It's occurred to me as I'm sending out query letters (yet again to carefully researched literary agents only to get the "this is not the right fit for me" reply when we both know perfectly well that it is because I know the rules of this game and believe you me when I say I read your profile thoroughly to make sure I'm not wasting your time and you asked for YA speculative fiction and so here we are and all you can do is send me a Dear Writer  reply when I know YOUR name, and your cat's name, and that you have coffee in the morning at that coffee shop around the corner from your apartment, Suzan. I love the blue cardigan you wore on Monday, by the way...), patiently waiting for someone to give me permission to be an author.  That doesn't sound quite right now, does it? If I was an artist, I could sell paintings. If I was a potter, I could sell pottery. If I was a musician, I could play my guitar on a street corner and people might give m...