A Gift From Shakespeare on His 452nd Birthday
"This above all: to thine own self be true…" ...
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29
April
Blog
30
March
The Mature Art of Creativity: A Return to the Spirit of Childhood
Picasso is quoted as having said, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” The implication is that in gaining technical proficiency, we lose the spontaneity and freedom with which children create. There often seems to be a...
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23
March
On Writing Fantasy: A Swashbuckling New Adventure
Why did William Faulkner write 14 novels that occur in an imaginary place he named Yoknaphatawpha County? I can’t speak for Faulkner, but after writing several historically accurate novels, I have my own reasons for wanting to try my hand at writing about places that...
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21
March
Human Rights Day in South Africa
March 21, 1960 is a date deeply inscribed on the memories and hearts of South Africans. The events of that day, which have come to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre, spoke of unforgettable horror: the South African police opening fire on black protesters demonstrating...
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08
March
Celebrating Strong Women on International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women and focus on gender parity. Several men I’ve spoken to wonder why there is a need for such a day, especially in 2016, or why they should observe it, since the woman in his life knows...
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13
February
Writing About Love on Valentine’s Day
What is on a writer’s mind as he writes about love between his characters? I’ve been asked this question numerous times by book clubs. You might ask the same question about any number of topics. What goes through your mind as you write about eating chocolate?...
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28
January
Back to the Beginning: How I Wrote My First Novel
When I began work on The Third Power in the late 1970s, Rhodesia was in its death throes, about to be reborn as Zimbabwe. I was writing fiction based on real events in southern Africa, and from one day to the next there was no...
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14
December
Change That Matters
When I wrote Bloodlines, I knew how important good teachers were to the future of South Africa, but I couldn’t have known how long the shortage of good teachers would last; or how long it would take to train enough of them to fill every...
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02
December
Lessons from South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Struggle
What lessons are there from South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle for our own efforts to combat racism here in the United States today? This question arose during a talk I gave a few weeks ago in Sun City, Florida, and sparked a conversation that I have reflected...
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24
November
An Expat Thanksgiving
I try to live in gratitude. Sometimes I'm more successful than others. I know I'm succeeding when I find myself humming in a traffic jam, exulting in the particular greyness of a lowering sky, or enjoying the enforced moment to slow down while waiting and...
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