A Baobab-sized thanks
for signing up to my newsletter
What, why and how we’ll do this
I’m hoping, with your help, to grow a community of interested readers who will buy a book (you’ll be the first to know about discounts), and/or spread the word about it.
In this way I can sustain my fund-raising effort for the Nyae Nyae Village schools and facilitate school attendance for children in that part of the Kalahari desert.
Getting to school there is no walk in the park. Imagine grass high enough to hide lion, irritable bull elephant blocking the track at times, a 16-kilometer round trip on foot because there is no food available at the school hostel if you stay over.
But things are improving. One of the tented schools has been replaced with a purpose-built complex featuring classroom, hostel with ablution facilities and food store. And school attendance figures have tripled. But there are five more schools to build and resource if the elders’ dream of making their children “paper people” is to be realised.
Did you know?
That the Ju|’hoan people, the San group from which my hero, Koba, comes, have had a written form of their language for fewer than 50 years? Remarkably, they have sustained their culture purely orally, for millennia. 150 of them, is the conservative estimate.*.
An excerpt from the revised Author’s Notes in my soon-to-be-released novel, Salt & Honey.
*Geneticists[1] have found that the San have some of the most ancient gene signatures of living people.
Sorry about the footnote; academic habits die hard.
[1] I’m quoting Professor Himla Soodyall, Director, Human Genomic Diversity and Disease Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand. I’ll spare you the rest of the academic reference, but if you’re that way inclined, ask and ye shall receive.
Why am I self-publishing my traditionally-published novels again?
Firstly, because I can - the rights have reverted to me. More importantly, I want to give back to an indigenous community who taught me the true meaning of generosity.
It all starts way back, in 1994, when I undertook a research trip into a remote area to find the last band of southern African hunter-gatherers said to be living among the Ju|'hoan people in northern Namibia.
Now that was an adventure!!
Dear reader, I wrote the book; two of them in fact, and just weeks after launching them, my publisher went under. But I kept the relationship with the extraordinary Ju|'hoan people I met, visiting their Kalahari desert homeland often. Ten years on, I've retired from my academic duties and have time to learn new skills.
Self-publishing promises to be as tricky as changing a tyre on a 4WD vehicle laden with canisters of petrol while the mother of all bushfires races across the desert towards me. But hey, I managed. And I also managed to find reverse gear quickly when that bull elephant charged. So, Amazon KDP, (Kindle Direct Publishing) bring on your worst.
If you're interested in coming on this journey with me, stay subscribed. Most of you know me so you’ll know I’m allergic to routine; therefore, posts will be sporadic - sometimes few and far between; sometimes more frequent.
Remember, I'm doing this for a good cause, so please tell anyone else who may be interested.
I thank you again for being here with me. It makes this journey seem less daunting.
Mi ui a, in Ju|’hoan (Zhu-twan, in phonetic :)
I admire your courage!
Well done 💕