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Interview with Allyson Koekhoven, South African Editor

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Meet the editor

We’ve just come to the end of a series of interviews covering all the authors of our thirteen books contained in In All Things.  Each of us undertook to get our own proofreaders etc, but when I received the books, after checking them for consistency and making corrections where needed, I sent them out to a number of volunteers from our Christian Writers of Southern Africa (CWOSA) group for final edits. That’s when I discovered the editor, Allyson Koekhoven!

Allyson has been a member of our group for a while, but up until then I hadn’t realized she is actually a member of the Professional Editors’ Guild. What a find! She did several excellent edits for me, picking up on a number of issues that had slipped through all the other pairs of eyes that had already been over the books. read more

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Anna Jensen and her Poems from an African Garden

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This entry is part 17 of the series In All Things

And what do you know? It’s Friday once more! Here is the last of all the interviews of the authors featured in the boxed set, In All Things, a set of 13 devotional books all based on Africa.

Today, we’re chatting again to Anna Jensen who is actually an ex-pat from her beloved England. Anna wrote two of the books in our In All Things boxed set, and we’ve already interviewed her about the first, Musings from an African Garden. Today, we’re taking a look at her book of poems, Poems from an African Garden

Shirl: Anna, welcome once more!

Anna: Thanks again, Shirley. I’m always happy for a chance to talk about my writing, and I found this boxed set to be a real treat for us all.

Shirl: I was intrigued when you chose to write two books with a linked theme. What motivated you to write a book of poems on the same theme as Musings–that of an African garden?

Anna: For me, poetry reflects the way a garden is, for me, a place of rest and reflection. I feel as if a poem is like a garden bench. It offers a place to sit and pause, a time to reflect, amidst the busyness of daily living. read more

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Dianne J. Wilson chats about 7 Lights in Dark Times

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This entry is part 16 of the series In All Things

Hello again! Here comes another Friday!  And here’s a bit of trivia you probably don’t want to know. At the point I’m writing this, there are only 46 more Fridays until Christmas! I wonder what those 46 weeks are going to bring? Will we still all be in various stages of Lockdown? Or will COVID have faded into the history books? Or at least have been brought under control? Who knows? (Apart from God and He’s not telling!)

So we’re still doing a weekly chat with the authors of our fabulous boxed set, In All Things, into its second AND FINAL phase on Amazon. So if you don’t have it yet, make sure you grab it while it’s still available.

Today, we’re talking to a friend of mine, author Dianne J. Wilson—also known as Di. read more

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Shirley Corder – Peace in Life’s Storms

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This entry is part 15 of the series In All Things

Last Friday of January!

And we’ve reached the last Friday of the first month of the year! How crazy is that? It’s surreal how the days are galloping past. I wonder if, at the end of this year, we’ll make the same comments as we did at the end of 2020. “This year seemed to last for years!” So it’s time for another interview.

Seeing we’re looking at one of my books this week, I’ve asked a friend and writing colleague to conduct an interview with me. Anna Jensen and I both have two books in the boxed set, In All Things. So thank you Anna. Over to you, as we look at my second book in the set, Peace in Life’s Storms! read more

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Marion Ueckermann – and her Reflections from the Ocean

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This entry is part 14 of the series In All Things

And it’s Friday again!

I thought time was supposed to be going slowly. Yet it seems to be speeding by as if someone has his foot stuck on the accelerator of his new Ferrari. It’s time once again for another interview with one of the South African authors involved in the boxed set, In All Things.

Today it’s my pleasure to introduce you (or re-introduce you) to popular Christian Romance writer, Marion Ueckermann, who took a break from her romance writing to share some devotional insights in her book, Reflections from the Ocean (and Surrounds).

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Musings from an African Garden – by Anna Jensen

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This entry is part 13 of the series In All Things

Can you believe it’s Friday again?

And halfway through the first month of the year.

Today, we’re chatting to a South African author who is actually an ex-pat from her beloved England, Anna Jensen. Anna wrote two of the books in our In All Things boxed set, and it’s a pleasure to interview her today. I think we’ll take her first book first—Musings from an African Garden.

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Opening the Year with Val, Author of Saints in Lockdown

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This entry is part 12 of the series In All Things

Happy New Year!

It seems impossible that it’s a whole year since our last interview two weeks ago with Vida Li Sik!

Talking to others, I’ve found it fascinating how many people reporting that 2020 seemed more like a decade! That although the days seemed to fly past, the weeks went on forever. I was chatting on WhatsApp with my daughter in Montenegro. She said she’d been talking to her teaching colleagues the day before, and they had all said the same thing!

Isn’t it strange?

How about you? Has 2020 seemed a particularly long year for you?

So today we return to one of the last interviews with authors who participated in our boxed set, In All Things, and today we’re chatting to Val Waldeck, a multi-published author who lives in Durban, on the South Coast of South Africa.

Welcome Val!

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Off with the Old – And Singing in the New.

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Singing in the New Year

Singing in the New Year!

Well, we’re at the end of the year, 2020.

The other day, I came across a local group singing a song that expressed how many of us is feeling. It’s actually an advert for a local product so I can’t play it here – and it also contains some bad language which I’ve edited out. 

They sing it to the tune of ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ but use the words,

‘We wish this year never happened!” And it ends with …
‘We’ve got a tiny bit of hope left, ‘cos December is here!’ read more

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Happy Christmas Eve. Is it possible with COVID?

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Many years ago Bing Crosby recorded a song that been a favorite across the world, “It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!”

You can listen to it here.

But my question for you today, which quite probably is Christmas Eve, is:

Is it beginning to feel a BIT like Christmas?

Really?

A few days ago, I wrote a simple post and put it on my Facebook. I have been amazed at the feedback it has brought me! read more

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Chat with Vida Li Sik, Author of Promises to Cherish

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This entry is part 11 of the series In All Things

Goodness me! It’s Friday again!

And the last Friday before Christmas and New Year!

Vida Li SIk

Time to once again meet up with one of the eleven authors who contributed to our 13-book boxed set of devotional readings. Each book covers seven days of meditations based on a different theme but loosely connected with Africa.

Meet Vida Li Sik

So today we’re chatting to Vida Li Sik, author of Promises to Cherish.  Isn’t that a beautiful title? Lovely cover too.

Vida lives in South Africa’s “City of Gold” – Johannesburg. She has two young adult sons, one of whom recently wrote the matriculation certificate examination after surely the most traumatic year any students have ever faced for their final and most important school year. We wish him well in the results. read more