Back-Burning. Alternate Title: Throw me a punch.

Hey, sportsfans.

I know, it's been a while. It's amazing how fast a month can rush past you when your life is filled with essay writing and drama, isn't it? Well, as an update, it turns out that no circus, big or small, is without drama and confusion, and all writing consumes your life, no matter what you're doing it before. As a side note, if you ever want to talk about Victor Hugo, quiz me on uses of the subjunctive in Spanish, chat about pre-1958 revolution Iraq, discuss comic books (especially X-Men Noir), see the Vagina Monologues, or just generally be crazy academic, I'm your lady.

Or, if you're looking for someone to abuse a little, I can be your punching bag, too. After getting a little criticism for a recent attempted journalistic project, followed by a fair amount of criticism from the first few people featured in the book to check out Ekhaya, followed by a third rejection by a literary agent, I am all over it. Turns out, it's all well and good taking criticism, until it's from the people who you know and care about. Throw a punch at me, I dare you.

Also, I'm reading an absolutely dreadful book right now. The kind of book that makes you wonder whose bright idea it was to invent the English language, I mean, really. And it's totally depressing, because somehow, somehow, crap like that gets published... but anyway...

So, Ekhaya has taken the back burner as a pursue other worthy projects (ie, academic excellence, forays into romance and idealism, and uninhibited protest of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver)... but if you're one of the people who have said to me over the past few weeks, HOW'S THE BOOK GOING?!... well, find out for yourself. That's all I'm saying.

Sample chapters of Ekhaya are now available for purchase, with a small donation, part of which goes to help people in need. Check out the previous entry for details.

Over and out, Sportsfans. See you on the flip side.

Sample Chapters Available For Purchase

Welcome back, sportsfans!

So, in this edition of the Ekhaya times, I am opening up a new offer. I've had a lot of people asking about the book, how things are going, what the whole deal is about... so now's your chance. The deal is this.

The manuscript is roughly 130 typewritten pages long, single-spaced font. Typical printing cost, roughly $13 to $15 CAD. Shipping on a document that size, about $7. Minimum cost to send that document to ONE publishing company... about $20. Here's the catch. If I don't manage to secure an agent for the book, how many publishing companies will I have to send the manuscript to before I find one that will take it?

If you click on the Donate button below, you will be prompted for a $5 donation. Out of this $5, half will go straight into my bank account to help pay the costs of promoting my manuscript. The other half will be put in a separate account which will then be forwarded to my friends at Obs House in South Africa. This money, for them, can be used to do anything from buying toiletries and clothes to having the small treat of a chocolate bar or a trip to the townships to visit their families. Keep in mind that the current exchange rate is one Canadian dollar (or 0.96 USD)  to 7.17 South African rand, so every bit counts!

ALSO, in exchange for the donation that you're making to the promotional fund, if you send me your Email address, I will send you you an electronic 25 page sample chapter of Ekhaya - the same sample that is being sent to literary agents across the country right now.

IN SUMMARY: One $5 CAD donation buys you a sample chapter of Ekhaya, a yet-unpublished manuscript, and makes a small donation to help some people who are far away, but who definitely deserve it! And don't forget to include your Email address! You can Email them to me here, or leave them in a comment at the bottom of this page!

Click on the Donate button below to make your $5 donation now!

OR, if you don't feel like $5 is enough, click on this second button to enter your own donation amount! As with the $5 donations, half will go to South Africa, and the other half into the promotional fund for Ekhaya!

Thank you so much, in advance. You don't know how much of a difference this will make in my life, as well as in the lives of others. And don't forget to contact me with your Email addresses! You can Email them to me here, or leave them in a comment at the bottom of this page!

All my love, sportsfans.
Over and out.

Another Week, Another Bullet. Alternate title: Two Down.

So, guys, another week, another gentle rejection from a literary agent. Let's hope that one of the other four that are still left are feeling a little more generous.

I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you.  Unfortunately, your project doesn't fit my needs at the present time, so it's not something that I can pursue.  I'm afraid I don't have another agent I can suggest, but I recommend that you continue to query agents to see if you can find a match with someone else.
Thanks for thinking of me.

Suffice to say that Ekhaya could use a little love right now... so keep your eyes open. Later this week, fingers crossed, I will be posting an offer that could get you the option of getting your very own sample chapter, as well as a chance to do a little something good for the wonderful boys at Obs House in Cape Town, South Africa.

Keep your eyes and ears open! I haven't given up yet.

Full

These days, I find myself thinking how full I am. Full with experience. Full with emotion. Full with stress. Full with anticipation. I feel like my seams are stretching in ways that I would rather them not.

I find myself pawing through photos of days spent on beaches, or days when I had to put on ten pounds of makeup and a unitard to do my day's work. I find myself looking at the students I teach, and thinking back to students I've had in the past, and how full they made me feel, in a totally different way than how I feel now, and thinking back to how full they all are. I find myself thinking of friends, and knowing that sometimes, just because you are far away from someone, that doesn't mean you can't be filled with love. I find myself looking at people right next to me, sometimes, and thinking that they have no idea how filled with love I am. Love and longing, but that's how the story goes, right?

I wish that all of the people who taught me things could know. I wish that there was some way to express to my students here how full of life and beauty and potential they are. I wish there was some way to tell all the kids that I met at the circus camp where I coached how they were what changed my life that summer. I wish that there were some way to go to the places on earth where I have friends... all the wide world of places... I have friends in Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominica, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and the UK. I wish that there was some way to be there and tell them all... everything.

Ekhaya is just a piece of what I am bursting to tell.

One Down, Five To Go!

Hey there, sportsfans.

So, this past week has been very productive in the world of Ekhaya. Six Canadian agents received very special packages by Email this week, promoting Ekhaya. They were a lot of work, but in the end they looked shiny and impressive. Now, it's just a waiting game. Will anyone take the bait?

The things that are going against me are that I am a first-time author, and that this is a new project with just me plugging it. In a way, my fingers are crossed that an agent will take a risk on me, because that would be the end of my job here... they would be doing the promotions to publishing companies and so on. That said, it's super hard to get picked up by these people... In fact, I've already gotten one gentle rejection:

Many thanks for sending this along. I see a large number of promising manuscripts and although I consider each carefully, I can take on very few every year because of the enormous long-term investment involved in the work we do. Ultimately I've decided against pursuing this project. Please accept my best wishes for the successful placement of your work

...so we'll see what happens. I could definitely use some support while this process is going on. It's like I'm wading in a pool of stress, not sure where the deep end starts... Cross your fingers for me, I could use a little luck!

As per the challenge that I put to everyone last week, so far only one person has successfully guessed the meaning of the word "Ekhaya" on the facebook wall, and gotten a brand spanking new hot off the press 25 page sample of the book... the reward still stands, for anyone else who will give it a shot! What is there to lose?

That's it from me. Over and out.

Coming Soon

That's right, sportsfans. For those of you keeping count, Ekhaya has seen a two drafts already. New to today, draft three on the way.

My editor-in-chief's little sis was great enough to drop it off to my house this afternoon, along with a bag of scrumptious brain food, straight from the Métropole itself. In a few days, the final draft will be ready, and I'll be getting prepped to send it off on the first round of judgings: agents.

Anyone who wants a sneak peek? A taste tester?
Head on over to the Ekhaya facebook fan page, join up if you haven't already, and write your guess on the group's wall. The question of the day?: What does the word "ekhaya" mean? And be honest - this means no search engines!

Look forward to hearing what everyone comes up with.
Over and out.

2010

Tonight, I was at Chapter's to pick up a couple of extra copies of Verge Magazine's winter issue, in which there is an article published that I wrote about my experiences in South Africa. My mom and I were wandering through the store, perusing after we had picked up the magazines, and we stopped at the travel literature section, where she asked if I had enjoyed Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor's book "Long Way Down," which she had sent me as an inspiration gift over the summer. I had spent hot summer days at my aunt's house in the woods in Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia, savouring the words of Boorman and McGregor's journals about their motorcycle trip from John O'Groats to Cape Town in between staring at my own computer screen, poring over first-draft edits of "Ekhaya."

I stopped and looked at the shelf of travel books. So many people in the world have so many stories. They've taken so many journeys. I know that I am privileged to be among those people, to be part of this world. I looked at white faces among African faces, books about people who've faced hardship and who dream about a world at peace, covers with maps of dusty, hot continents, and frozen ones. I thought about people who I care about who are all over the world right now - old friends in Sweden, acquaintances in Switzerland, new adventures in New Zealand, and friends who I'd left behind in Cape Town whose lives continue without me.

I thought about my article in Verge, and I looked over those books, and I said, "Mommy, one day my book will be here." As the New Year quick approaches, I think, Dear 2010, I hope that you bring prosperity and a little help for a little book that was a labour of love and I think deserves it.