Helen Moffett

One of the most frustrating things imaginable for an author, especially in a global village, is when would-be readers can’t find our books. I hear over and over, “Where/how can I buy your books? I can’t find them in my nearest branch of Exclusives or Wordsworth.” Getting them to potential readers abroad often presents major logistical challenges. In theory, you should be able to get them all online by clicking below the covers arranged down the side of this page, but I often get a broken link when I try this — or once I click through, I find the site says “unknown”.

So here’s a guide, designed to make it as painless (and hopefully inexpensive) as possible.

Getting hold of my debut poetry collection, Strange Fruit, can involve a few hoops. There ARE branches of both Exclusives and Wordsworth that stock it (in Cape Town, both the Waterfront and Cavendish branches of EB have it). You’ll need to be very firm with those that don’t: order it, and refuse to take “No” for an answer. Supply all the details: title, my name (spelled correctly — I have lost count of the times bored sales-clerks, bullied by me into searching their databases, have announced triumphantly: “We have nothing by Moffat/Moffit/Mrrfitz on the system”) and ISBN/EAN if possible. (more…)

… but my excuse is that the second birthday of my beautiful furkids also marks the first anniversary of my debut into the world of the blogosphere and BookSA in particular: remember? I was such a cyberklutz (still am) that I uploaded the most ginormous picture file, which still takes forever to download (but it’s worth it, folks), soaking up a third of my permissible space in this here microverse. Have been meaning to fix this for a year…

It’s a strange thing, being besotted with two little sentient beings with non-opposable thumbs and hunting instincts. Even stranger that I continually want to parade them in all their gorgeousness for the rest of the world to see. It was their first birthday that prompted me to post my first blog piece. And it was the thought of being able to put up an entire album of their first two years that tipped the balance in favour of Facebook. (Yes, I succumbed. But when you see this album, you’ll agree it was worth it to launch this much beauty into cyberspace.)

Without my cats, I would be a much lonelier and far more isolated person. And I’m not just referring to the glad welcome I get when I come home, the hours they spend curled up at my feet when I’m meeting deadlines, their purring presence in the night, their uncanny radar when I’m distressed. Because of my desire to share the objects of my affection with others, I have gone out onto the interwebs. Where I have found people — real, live, flesh-and-blood ones. Heroes and friends and even catsitters.

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Apart from the fact that the guest of honour, Kathyrn White, travelled to Mouille Point via Christian Barnard Hospital, where she was unavoidably detained, a grand time was had by all. As fortune would have it, us Capetonians turned out in convivial mode (we tend towards hermitude down here) so that Miz Kitty would carry good reports of us back to Jozi. We had a fabulous time imbibing champagne and other potables: Kitty got attached to a drip. Please take care of yourself, Kate, we missed you. Next time, okay?

We were a very civilized bunch, compared to what the Gauteng bookish people (plus one Dutchman) get up to when they gather. There was even a baby present, and very seriously he took it all too.

At least, that’s how it seemed. (more…)

It’s tempting to list a serious book under “XX is reading…” For most of us, I suspect the truth is that we have several books on the boil at once (I have three or four going at any given moment). There is always something complex and beautiful I’m trying to linger over, plus several junk or confectionary items I tend to wolf down in the bath or just before falling asleep. Sometimes these are good enough to be memorable; in this category, The Last Juror is the first John Grisham I’ve enjoyed in a while — nice strong plot with an interesting twist (remember the pointless one he wrote about learning Italian and wifi laptops?)

Plus there are a whole lot of sub-categories, which I have helpfully listed for you here: (more…)