Masha

Reading Dog drawing in process

mashadutoit — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:01:22 +0000

Possible illustration for my new book – work in progress:

Second Draft Done!

mashadutoit — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:45:11 +0000

Yesterday I finished the second draft of my new book. Felt good!

Now I’m wobbling between doubt and confidence. My head tells me to take a break before I dive into the final edit but it’s very tempting to just go ahead right now.

Maybe I should spend some time working on illustrations and see what happens?

The witch of witches: Baba Yaga

mashadutoit — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:23:20 +0000

Another area I’ve been researching for my book: Baba Yaga. She’s fascinating. In some stories she is the child-eating ogress, in some she is in charge of the world of the dead, or will show you the way to the world of the spirits, as long as you can prove that you are not intimidated by her.

There are many amazing images of her online. These first two are on many websites, but so far I have not been able to find out where they are originally from. Baba Yaga riding her pestle and mortar, sweeping up her tracks with a broom.

This one is by Rima Staines – see more of her wonderful images here.

Baa Yaga’s hut on chicken legs. According to some, it has no windows or doors, very like a coffin, and it has a palisade of human bones. And you can also see her iron teeth:

And another Baba Yaga image, this one by Isabellart

The wind is getting under my skin

mashadutoit — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:02:32 +0000

A quick digital doodle. Got to release this irritable feeling somehow.

A whole new way to procrastinate

mashadutoit — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:51:49 +0000

I’ve found a whole new way to procrastinate – I spend my time looking for images for writing inspiration. These two fit with the scenes I’ve just been writing:

Benjamint

Image from Marty FM

…and Mistress Mouse gasped “Oh!”

mashadutoit — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:43:20 +0000

Writing my first full length book is an experience full of surprises. I planned about two thirds of it quite meticulously but started writing when I realised that I had to leave some things open to allow for unexpected developments.

Now that I’m past the point I’ve planned for, I don’t know what is going to happen next. I know pretty much how the whole thing will end, but the landscape between the point I am at now and the end is uncharted territory.

Here follows the last paragraph I wrote today. Thing is, I have no idea what happens next.

“I don’t know,” said Rebekka. “I don’t think I have anything in my pocket.” But as she spoke she patted her pockets and discovered that there was, in fact, something there. The key to her flat in her left pocket and in her right pocket, the one Hare had been trying to get a finger into, was a flat hard disk. She drew it out and Mistress Mouse looked on with interest.

“A mirror” said the mouse and then “Oh!”. Rebekka had turned it over and they both saw that the mirror showed, not a reflection of what was around them, but

How to baffle a ghost

mashadutoit — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:26:29 +0000

I’m reading a lot of South African folk tales as part of the research I’m doing for my new book. Today I found a book called “Boere Wysheid” which translates roughly to “Farmer’s Wisdom”. This is a great resource for Afrikaans superstitions and folklore.

For example, I now know just what to do if I’m ever chased by a ghost. You pull a small shrub out of the ground and upend it so its roots point upwards. Apparently the ghost will be so fascinated by this oddity that it will forget all about chasing you. Not sure what to do about indoor ghosts, but maybe upside-down furniture will be equally effective.

Reminds me of advice I’ve heard about how to deal with a poltergeist. Mix lentils and peas together and spread them over the doorstep. The creature cannot resist them compulsion to separate and count them, and hopefully in the process forgets whatever mischief it meant to do.

A strangely comforting trauma

mashadutoit — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:46:11 +0000

I’ve been very sick (flu!) and very busy, but at last have time for a quick review of a remarkable book:

The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers.

You just know that things are going to go bad from the moment when a very drunk Michael Crawford, on the night before his wedding, puts his wedding ring on the finger of an ancient female statue. In the middle of a stormy night. For safekeeping. He has reason to regret that decision very soon.

This book is not for the faint hearted. These vampires may sparkle at times, but they bite hard too. And yet they are not just evil monsters. They fit into our world with Tim Powers’s convincing mixture of science, magic and poetry.
It also features real historical characters such as Byron, Keats, Shelly and Mary Shelly. In Tim Powers’s reality there is a close link between vampires and the poetic muse, and some poets are willing to put up with quite a lot of danger if it keeps them writing.

This is a cruel book. Fingers are shot or bitten off, throats are cut, eyes are gouged and many of these wounds are self inflicted. As with the other Powers’s books, you are taught very early on that the characters are not safe and wont be rescued at the last moment. This makes things a lot more tense and exciting, and in the end, also very moving. The hero and heroine are mauled and savaged and yet they survive. Despite being traumatised and permanently scarred, they remain true to some deep part of themselves, and to one another. I found that strangely comforting.

A tennis ball full of tadpoles

mashadutoit — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:00:07 +0000

My dog Pippin picked up an old tennis ball on the Rondebosch common. He bit it open, carried it around for a while and put it down and walked off. This is surprising as he is obsessive about tennis balls. I went to have a look at it. It was full of tadpoles.

My father’s pond now has some new inhabitants.

An interview with author Debora Geary

mashadutoit — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:47:36 +0000

Something a little different for my blog, an author interview. Debora Geary, author of ”A Modern Witch” and “A Hidden Witch” was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

I’ve only read two of your books – “A Modern Witch” and “A Hidden Witch”. In both of these I was struck by the importance of family and the bonds of friendship between the characters. While some of them enjoy their personal space, in most cases they come to their rights when they are surrounded by friends and family. In fact, the strongest magic is created by several withes supporting one another’s skills. Why this emphasis on togetherness?

It’s where the books went. I started off with three witches in three different parts of the world – doesn’t sound like a recipe for family and togetherness, does it? But then, as I started to write Nell’s character, she needed a family. So I gave her some kids, and a brother – and they rather insisted on taking over the story. By book two, I knew what to expect, so Moira’s Nova Scotia clan wasn’t a surprise any more.

When I look back on the first two books, I can’t imagine them without that strong current of family and community. But when I sat down to write A Modern Witch, I thought I was writing a book about witches and magic on the Internet. The rest came from trying to learn a little more about the characters in my head. It’s ironic – I’m actually quite a solitary person…

Quite a few of the characters are very young, and yet they play as important a role in the plot as the adult characters. In fact, the young witches are taken very seriously by the adults, and often given quite adult responsibilities. Does that reflect your own attitude?

Hmm. Yes, I think it does. I believe children are often overlooked and underestimated. However, the witchlings in my books also come into extra responsibility early, by virtue of their special talents. I wanted to build a world where those talents were nurtured, and encouraged, but where my magical kiddos also have the space and security to play, and enjoy being kids.

While “A Hidden Witch” seems a little sadder at times than “A Modern Witch”, it is still a lot less angsty and grim than most fantasy books out there. Is this a choice you have made as a writer and story teller?

I grew up reading McCaffrey, Zimmer Bradley, and Lackey. While there are definitely dark moments in those books, mostly they are just wonderful stories with rich characters. And in my current life, I really appreciate an escape into light and happy. I suspect those are the two main reasons I wrote the books I did.

Added to that, I’m a wimp. I can’t make it through a good number of current fantasy reads, even the really good ones. Too much darkness and grim gives me nightmares!

Another strong theme in this second book is the various characters relationship with technology, and the push and pull between modern technology’s ability to connect people and its intimidating and impersonal aspect. From the supreme confidence of the spell coding witches to the older witches who barely know which end of a mouse is up – where do you fit on this spectrum yourself?

I’m a geek. I love computers, I love the ability of technology to connect us… to writer friends in South Africa, for example . It’s been a lot of fun to blend technology with magic, and see what comes out of that. But I also have some sympathy for the less technologically competent. There’s very little I can’t do with a computer. But my cell phone – well, for starters, it took me until six months ago to cave in and actually own one. I’ve figured out how to call my husband, and that’s about it. And I was not made to type with my thumbs.

Are there writers who you find particularly influential – and if so, who are they?

I already mentioned McCaffrey, Zimmer Bradley, and Lackey. I read voraciously as a child and teen – multiple books a day. I suspect the foundations were well laid then, and I can’t even begin to name all the authors I read. They collectively fostered my love of a good book as a world I wanted to stay in, to live amongst the characters and belong to their story. The first reader email I got, saying I’d done that for them – made me cry.

I’m curious about the next book in the series. Can you give any hints on what we can expect from “A Reckless Witch” ?

A little more action on the magic front – Sierra, the newly fetched witch, has weather magic. Moira always says, “with big power, comes big responsibility”. Well, our Sierra isn’t convinced of that… I also have a couple of important story lines running from the first two books. Nat and Jamie’s baby is about to arrive – and it’s time for a man to land in Lauren’s life. My readers insisted on that one .