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Novel, Down at Jika Jika Tavern, book 1 of the Poacher's Moon Crime Series, product shot.

The Poacher’s Moon Crime Series was never intended to be a series! The first book, Down at Jika Jika Tavern, took eight years to write. I fitted writing in and around my life and my ‘real’ work. But then readers began demanding answers to very important questions. I realised that the characters were no longer just mine; they were alive and well in the minds and hearts of readers. And to be honest, I wanted to know the answers too! The Leopard in the Lala is the second book in the series.

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Blog posts

  • Interview with pilot, Steve McCurrach. Steve McCurrach is a blessed man. While the rest of us lovers of wild spaces experience the bush from car window level, Steve has a view most of us can only dream of…the sky. I met Steve while gathering information for my novel, Down at Jika Jika Tavern. I was looking for someone who had experience working in the field of anti-poaching, and Steve kindly responded to my request. In the novel, rhino poaching was......

    30 August, 2021

  • Danny Naidoo was always looking for a way to make a quick buck. He was from a long line of down-and-out Naidoo men who somehow managed to evade gainful employment and yet remain marginally solvent through the hard work of a long line of Naidoo women. But even Danny knew he couldn’t rely on the females in his family for every meal, and had therefore perfected a system that ensured he was reasonably well fed without severing those already tenuous......

    04 March, 2015

  • Every morning, as the rising sun burns the mist hovering over the still water of the dam, bachelor Jackie Hangman stares longingly at the object of his affection. He barely moves from his perfect vantage point, a few trees away from where she sits. He is a shy bird, failing miserably at contributing to the much-feared reputation that birds of his kind have managed to cultivate over the years. While the other shrikes invoke terror into the hearts of the small......

    26 October, 2015

  • Excerpt. © All rights reserved. Down at Jika Jika Tavern (Prologue) A terrible mistake 29th November 2012 The driver parked the old Nissan Sentra in an informal layby between the dirt road and the railway lines; the cut of the tracks, thin and bright, in the dark fabric of the night. A sudden gust of wind blew in through the open windows but did little to mask the varying odours of unexpressed emotion inside. For within the shoddy interior, two......

    09 December, 2020

  • When people ask me what I do for a living, I often feel quite panicked. Do I focus on my non-profit work, my writing, or painting? If I mention them all, I might come off sounding a bit unfocused, or indeed, flighty, but each area of work is equally important to me. It was great to share my work with Bronwyn Forbes-Hardinge from Get It Magazine, and discuss how each interest can be used as a driver for social change.......

    01 April, 2021

  • Excerpt. © All rights reserved. Down at Jika Jika Tavern (Prologue) A terrible mistake 29th November 2012 The driver parked the old Nissan Sentra in an informal layby between the dirt road and the railway lines; the cut of the tracks, thin and bright, in the dark fabric of the night. A sudden gust of wind blew in through the open windows but did little to mask the varying odours of unexpressed emotion inside. For within the shoddy interior, two......

    18 May, 2023

  • I recently read the most depressing article entitled, Why writing books, is not really a good idea*, by author, Ellie Griffin. Had I read this article when Down at Jika Jika Tavern was a mere mote of dust, wafting on the eddies of my mind, I likely would have abandoned the project. Griffin reveals that during 2020, just over 2.6 million books sold online. But only 268 of these books sold more than 100 000 copies! That’s right, 2.6 million titles only......

    19 May, 2021

  • “Jesus was not born here but sometimes, he comes in through the little holes in the walls, and sits on that chair” Sandile Dikeni (Shack Chic) An old man sits in a shaft of light at the front of the small mud hut; his brown hands clasp the spine of his battered bible, motes of dust gently orbit his head and the butter-yellow sunlight sets his hair aflame. This one-roomed, thatched mud hut is a church located in rural Nyathi, situated......

    30 April, 2012

  • You don’t find the story; the story finds you. I can clearly remember when the story of Down at Jika Jika Tavern found me. Although I had started toying with the idea of writing a novel in 2012 (after deregistering from my PhD), I wasn’t doing it very well. I had the main character but was fumbling with the plot. I had a notebook full of possible scenes, but no storyline to convincingly pull it all together.   It was only......

    04 October, 2020

  • What makes you angry? In my first article related to my upcoming novel, Down at Jika Jika Tavern, I ended off by saying that I would share some of the research, and introduce you to people doing phenomenal work in the field of conservation (both academic and field). Today, I’d like to introduce you to Catherine Jakins, who completed her Criminology Masters at UKZN in 2019. Her research, The Modus Operandi of Rhino Poachers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,  explored the drivers......

    05 November, 2020