Have you ever been too afraid to act? Fear has a nasty way of robbing you of your dreams. This has probably been the biggest struggle of my entire life. One that I have regularly failed. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the decision to act regardless of your fear. My progress has never been because I rush in a take on every battle. Sometimes I cowered, waiting for the danger to overtake me. However, there are sufficient times that I have mastered my fear to bring me the progress that I need. So now I am more forgiving of myself. Sometimes I will succeed and sometimes I will fail, but I know I am braver than I used to be. In this scene, Lady Christine was confronted by someone who knows who she is, but she was too afraid to step into her destiny. What is one small step you can take today to master your fear? #medieval #history #medievalfantasy #medievaltimes #sword  #warrior #medievalhistory #swords #fantasybook #fantasy #bookstagram #fantasybooks #booklover #books #...

  Have you ever faced an impossible choice? One of those “which is the lesser of two evils” kinds of choices.   Over the years, I have faced some tough choices. Ones I wished I never had to make. I felt the pain of my character here. The souls King Radolf was referring to were people that Nadine had a strong bond with. Only one soul… Well, that is an impossible choice/  What came into the play here was bigger than this one statement can reveal. Of course, I don’t want to give anything away, but I can say that most of our challenges don’t just boil down to that one choice. Rather, they are an accumulation of many small choices that we made along the way. And when you face those impossible choices, who do you have in your corner to help you through them? #medieval #history #medievalfantasy #medievaltimes #sword  #warrior #medievalhistory #swords #fantasybook #fantasy #bookstagram #fantasybooks #booklover #books #book #fantasyworld #toughenup #christianfantasy #Chr...

 Don’t you hate it when you are full of purpose and passion and then someone comes and crushes your dreams? Over the years, I have had to learn to take feedback. As a writer, my first feedback point is my editor. I have had to mature in this relationship. Sometimes feedback can seem harsh, but then I have to ask myself what the motives are of the person giving me the feedback. I think of all the war movies I watched when the training officer is brutal and then I ask, “Is it better to take feedback from someone who has a vested interest in your success, or get little “kindnesses” from someone who is not impacted by your success or failure?” I know that the more soldiers who die in a battle, the weaker the army will be. So taking feedback from your trainer whose success lies in your success not only makes common sense, it is a survival tool.   Over the years, I have had to learn to toughen up. Because my enemy wants to see me fail and my trainer wants to see me succeed. It ...

I had several challenges this week and I have to say that I realise I have matured in my approach. I think few family members may disagree, as I was rather snappy during the week. But perhaps some context is necessary. This week my computer died. Just died, for no apparent reason. I had one child vomit all over the bookstore floor and after getting through his stomach bug, my middle child followed suit yesterday morning at 01H11. Amidst it all, I had to get over 40 authors processed for the upcoming book fair this weekend and considering that only half of them applied to be part of the event through the official channel; I had to play detective to find all their details. My nine-year-old decided this was the week to wage war on us and I got the ceremonial “I hate you, I wish you never existed,” routine. Making sure that I also do some of my own marketing has been quite a challenge. But here I am writing this newsletter and my children are still alive and a very nice lady at Matrix in K...

 Tensions have been high at home this week. I had several deadlines to meet and things felt a little overwhelming. I was struggling to manage my time, and I wondered which goals should be taken care of first. I am due to leave for Port Elizabeth, which is now called Gqeberha to visit my parents. But I remembered an experiment that one of my lecturers at my tertiary education did for us.  He placed a large glass jar, some large stones, and sand on the table. The task was to fit all the stones and sand into the jar. He first started with the sand and then followed with the stones. Unfortunately, not all the stones could fit into the jar. Then he emptied out everything and this time he started with the stones. When he poured the sand in, it all sifted through the gaps in the stone and every last bit of the sand found space in the jar. You may have already heard of this experiment, but sometimes we all have to be reminded of the simplest messages.  My friend Daleen reminded m...

 On the weekend, I started reading a book gifted to me by one of my clients. It is a book that plots out what new top levels in a new role should focus on in their first 100 days of their new position. One thing that struck me was the author’s advice that these executives should acknowledge their feeling of overwhelm. I often thought that executives of multinational companies had their act together and that it was only a few emotionally challenged few like myself, who struggled with this feeling of overwhelm.  I know I have often felt like throwing the towel in, especially when having to juggle homeschooling my books, helping other authors with their journey and reminding myself that my husband also needs some romance. Overwhelm is a massive challenge. And then there are people who will happily criticize your every move. Wondering what everyone is thinking can drive you mad. It can also be a very lonely place where you worry about where to turn. It is almost as if by admitting...