Reading Luke Harding’s The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man, Emma Sadleir and Tasmyn de Beer’s Don’t Film Yourself Having Sex: And Other Legal Advice For the Age of Social Media, and Pico Iyer’s article in the New York Times “The Joy of Quiet“, as well as watching Disconnect in the same week might have put anybody off the internet for a while (or for life). But it was only a chat (over tea, in the real world out there) I had with Alex Smith the same week in early September that made me want to consider the following: NO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. In my case it’s only blogging, tweeting, and as of recently goodreading (I haven’t made it to facebooking, instagraming etc yet) – all entertaining, informative, and sharing activities which I really enjoy, but which are also time-consuming and often creativity-sapping. I can’t complain. In the last few weeks I have done a lot of creative and critical writing, and I think I have got the balance between the different activities nearly right, but I would like to have a month of selfishness (no sharing on diverse platforms, no matter how much fun it is) and finish my second novel, provisionally entitled Ordinary. It is almost there…

In the famous words of Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I’ll be back!”…In November, with a manuscript ready to submit to Danél, my wonderful editor at Protea Book House.

In the meantime, please enjoy some of the pieces which I have posted from my archives:
OUR BRASS BED
A MIRACLE WORKER FROM BAGHDAD
ONA & HUSØYA
ALGIERS
HONEY, WE’RE HAVING A BOOK
AT HOME IN CHINA
WRITERS’ OTHER LIVES