Japanese Mermaid

In the sea you will find every creature you could imagine. The most lovely of all is a mermaid. She is cunning, drawing fishermen to their deaths as she circles their boats. I saw a mermaid once in the Sea of Japan, just before the Great Tsunami.  I was casting my net a moment before … Read more

Writing basics: The parts of speech

Horror upon horror, I would wager that the last time you heard the phrase “parts of speech” you were dozing at the back of Mrs Sourberry’s English double period dreaming about Samantha Foxworthy playing netball, right? And in a frenzy of spitting hatred the old hag would beat the principles into your hand with her steel ruler: NOUN! … Read more

How to make online copy easy to read

The golden rule is this: people don’t READ online, they SCAN. In the fast-paced world of Internet-browsing, people don’t read your carefully-crafted prose as if they are snuggled up with a James Patterson novel. There’s no time for that…people want the bottom line in record time or else they’re going to move on. The key to writing … Read more

Hip Hip Hooray – The Origins

Phrases are funny old things, and have been around for ages, most of them anyway. Where do they come from? Who first said “FORE!” on a golf course? What does it all really, really mean? Take the common phrase “Hip Hip Hooray”, for example. ’tis been said that the phrase comes from Roman times, 70 … Read more

Freelance writer in Johannesburg? Here are some writing resources

As a web-based marketing guy I find myself involved in all manner of interesting things including: Something central to all of this is pure, unadulterated GOOD CONTENT. Without it none of the above is effective, entertaining, interesting, profitable or even moderately fun. 2025: THE YEAR OF THE HUMAN COPYWRITER! If you write copy for the … Read more

Goodbye Radio, Hello Podcast

Written for Benoni City Times This is a sample of an article written about podcasting for an audience who are not very technically oriented. TONE: Approachable, not overly technical, friendly. It’s been 2 years since the New Oxford American Dictionary selected “podcast” as word of the year. The phrase was coined even before then, probably … Read more

Loskop Dam

Loskop dam

You work hard during the week, and on the weekend all you want is a chance to chill out and relax, right? If a quick and easy getaway is what you want, and if you’re looking for a destination a stone’s throw from Johannesburg, then the Loskop Dam may just be everything you need. Neatly … Read more

Summer Day

A perfect summer’s day is like walking into a shop with a bakery at the back and smelling the freshly baked bread. It’s heavenly. The air is filled with the smells of goodness. Grass is cut. Recently fallen rain has made the garden leap for joy. Birds are chattering madly about the general goodness of … Read more