It’s Alive! Crooks and Straights exists at last

06 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by mashadutoit in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress Tags: ,

This is why I’ve not been putting up any new blog posts for so long:

crook_print

My new book Crooks and Straights!  Ready for the proof-reader.

This is a whole new story, not a sequel to my earlier books.
It’s set in an alternate version of South Africa, where magical creatures live among the rest of us, but are second-class citizens. The growing Purist movement threatens to take over the government, and plan to eradicate all magicals they cannot use for their own purposes.  My heroine, Gia,  has a younger brother Nico, who is not quite normal.  Things go off the rails when Gia accidentally alerts Special Branch (the police force that deal with magical creatures) to the fact that there is something special about Nico…

I’m starting with the illustrations today.

Watch this space!

 

Human plus dog equals rat, it seems

18 Aug 2013 1 Comment

by mashadutoit in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: ,

I had another go at drawing Brakman, a character from the book I’m writing at the moment.  To make sense of his name, you need to know that “brak” is a derogatory term for a mixed-breed dog.  I tried to draw a more doggy aspect of him first, and mix in some more human features – like the nose and eyes.  Came out looking remarkably like a rat 🙂

Brakman also looks a lot more competent and confident as a rat-dog than as a man.

brakman2

The Broken Path is published

03 Apr 2013 5 Comments

by mashadutoit in 1 My books Tags: ,

At long last — I’ve published The Broken Path, sequel to The Story Trap.

story_trap_broken_path

You can buy The Broken Path as an e-book:

I’m still working on the print version, but that is coming soon! Watch this space.

Book description:

What if a story came to life?  If the characters stepped off the page and into our world?

Rebecca has recovered from the coma but she still longs for the places she saw and the people she met in the coma-dream. Writing helps her bear her loneliness, but things get out of control when the characters from her stories come to life in the streets of Cape Town.  And Miss Mouse, the Antelope Girls, Hyena and the rest don’t exactly blend in with the crowd.

Cape Town in winter is a harsh place to be homeless. Esther, the witch who tried to kill Rebecca, is still at large. Rebecca has to keep her people safe until she finds a way to get them back into their story. She turns to her sisters for help but finds that they have secrets of their own. And Rebecca’s gun-packing neighbour is getting far too interested in her strange visitors.

Grey roses, shadows and chains

23 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by mashadutoit in 2 Work in progress, All my drawings, stories Tags: , ,

This might be it: the cover for my new book The Story Trap.  Is it finished?  Not sure. I’ve been working on it all day and can no longer see it.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll look at it and start changing things again…

The big change from previous version is the pattern in the mirror, the roses are completely redone and no longer pink, and I’ve inserted more shadows.

The Story Trap will be available as a  print – as well as e-book. If you would like a notification when it gets launched, please leave me your name and e-mail address in the form below.  Would love to hear from you!

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