The Radio Interview

It's not everyday that one get's to do a radio interview. And while this wasn't my favorite interview, I am particularly proud of this one because it allowed people to enter my mind and find out more about my story.

Click to listen to the interview

It's always a surreal experience to hear yourself speaking in a radio booth. Now usually, I would take
this time to explain what I spoke about and how it went. But I thought I'd try something new. I have added the link to the podcast of the interview in the links to this blog. Otherwise, you can click the link below and enjoy.


I'll be sure to keep you posted on anything and everything else that follows.

Until next time,
S.T. signing out

The Newspaper Interview

"I get tomorrow's newspaper . . . today. I'm out there saving people's lives. That's what I do, you see."

—Gary Hobson

Early Edition

The newspaper. Delivered either weekly, bi-weekly or daily. The thing they said was dying out decades ago yet to this day, is still very much alive. As it turns out, sometimes the old ways really are the best. I guess it has something to do with the reliability of the newspaper. Perhaps it's just that sense of knowing that whoever wrote what you're reading knows what they're talking about. With the internet, there's always that sense of uneasiness, isn't there? Is the person who wrote this someone who actually goes out into the world and sees what's out there or is it a person who writes everything from his or her desktop in the basement? The truth is, anyone can write some stuff on the internet. Hell, this blog was easy for me to write.

The newspaper is distinguished by being something that not just anybody can publish. And even if they did, when we, the customer pick it up, we're likely to go for the one that's been around for a while. Which brings me to the South Coast Sun. If you ever want to know what's going on in the beach side town of Amanzimtoti, the South Coast Sun (delivered every Thursday . . . but dated Friday for some reason ever since I could remember — hence the quote) is your best source of knowledge. And now it's going to be known for one more thing: a feature on your favorite author.

After telling the world the news of my book, an old friend of mine did the unimaginable and contacted our town's all-time favorite media source and within a blink of the eye, there was talk of my book being mentioned in the paper. Give or take a festive holiday and who other than a Sun journalist calls and asks if I'm free tomorrow.

Now, I'm not one to count my chickens before they hatch, but dammit if I'm not thrilled that this year this decade is off to a good start. One way or another, with the South Coast Sun's credibility and a town always on the verge of wanting to support something new and exciting, I see good things in the near future . . . good things.

Until next time,

S.T. Kubheka,

Signing Out.

The Bookstore Supremacy Part II

"Success Breeds More Success"

There I go again, quoting things that weren't actually said by anyone famous. Anyway, we are gathered here today because I went ahead and decided to accomplish one of my goals. In the previous post (which I shall now simply call "Part One"), I talked about putting my book in some local bookstores. I then mentioned that I aimed to continue by going putting my books in bookstore in places like Pietermaritzburg and Richard's Bay.

Well as of today, my book can now officially be found at Adams Book Store in Durban on Dr. Pixely KaSame Street (formerly known as West Street) but as of the 20th of January, 2020, it can now also be found at Adams Book Store in Pitermaritzburg.

So, if you're in the PMB area or surrounding areas, you no longer have an excuse to be missing out on engrossing reading entertainment.

Until Next Time

S.T. Kubheka,

Signing Out.

The Upcoming Book Discussion

The Book Club Meet Up

They say that it's not everyday that you get to meet the author of the book you're discussing in a book club meeting. We'll then consider this the exception as the latest book club meeting of the Dolphin Coast Film and Book Club will be featuring none other than The Bowman's Apprentice and Other Stories in the upcoming meet up happening on Saturday, the 11th of January. 

The Chilled Venue

Nowhere else will you find a cooler bunch of people who love  books than the folks in the Dolphin Coast Film and Book Club. I mean, how else to explain how they can host a book club meeting in the Durban Botanical Gardens and make it work perfectly? Perhaps it's magic?

The Bowman's Apprentice and Other Stories

I feel like it's an understatement to say that I feel honored to have my book featured as the attraction of a meet up of one of the most prominent book clubs in Durban. 

At the event, I will be available to discuss the book itself and answer any and all questions about the book, giving attendees a unique insight into what into the creation of this collection. 

All details about the event can be found on the meetup.com page: https://www.meetup.com/Dolphin-Coast-Book-Club-Meetup/ where you can rsvp. Hope to see you there. 

Until then, 

S.T. signing out. 

The Photo Shoot

Becoming the Bowman

It's tough being a hero... I'm just kidding. I'm not a hero. I just dressed up as one all in an effort to create a promotional basis on which to market my book.

Do you want to know a secret though? Okay. Come closer. I wasn't portraying the Bowman in these pictures. I was portraying the Bowman's apprentice. Point in fact, the main character of the cover story of my book is actually the student and not the famed archer.

The whole idea behind the shoot was to bring the setting of the story and the characters that inhabit that location to life which I personally feel that I achieved.

You could say that I'm something of a cheap skate as I made a point not to hire a model (even one who would have done cheaper in an effort to expand their portfolio. Sue me.) In my experience, if you want something done, you best do it yourself.

Anyway, I'll spare you the details of where we went to get these photos done, but it was so utterly perfect, that for most of the time there, I thought we'd done it . . . I thought we'd traveled to Rogue Valley. (Where on earth is that, you ask? Read my book and find out.)

If I'm being perfectly honest, leading up to the moment we started the shoot, I was not convinced that we'd pull this off. I mean, the idea to do the shoot was completely based on the cover of my book which was a photo that my editor found from who knows where. Heck, she might have done a photo shoot herself but the point is, the location in that photo was nearly impossible to replicate. But the when the time for shooting came to be, I realized I had been looking at it all wrong.

In reality, we weren't trying to recreate the book cover in the photo shoot, we were instead shooting extracts of the story itself, like we were bringing one of the scenes from the story to life. (Again, if you'd like to know which scene, buy the book.).

The end product produces a couple of amazing shots which in my mind are iconic . . . or at least will be and have gone on to be featured on promotional work that I've done myself and the bookmark which you'll get if you purchase one of the first hundred copies.

Special thanks to my photographer, Amy for helping bring the Bowman (or rather his apprentice) to life and special thanks to my lady, Juliet, for being there every step of the way. Without her help, I might still be a boy with a dream rather than a self-published author on his way to making it big.

I may not be a hero, but if you want to read about one, then be sure to purchase the book as soon as possible.

Later,
S.T. signing out.

The Bookstore Supremacy

"The bragging rights to being someone who can say 'I hustled' begins with not stopping just because you're tired"

Who said that? The hell if I know. But if you can't think of an answer, then I guess I said it. The point is this, after driving for more than 4 hours up and down the South Coast (I'm not a hero as I didn't go any further south than Port Shepstone) all in an effort to find local bookstores to put my book on their shelves, I think I can say a word or two about giving it your all.

Now granted, this was a small step in the grand scheme of things. After all, it's not like these two places are Bargain Books or Exclusive Books but the fact and the matter is, they're bookstores where people go when they want something to read, i.e.: the perfect place.

Seadoone Mall in Doonside

The Readers Rest Book Shop

I don't know how many times I walked right past this place and never went inside. Now I know what you're thinking: wow, some book guy you are! Expect us to go to a shop you didn't go to. Well I'll have you guys know, I was a library guy. That was my education into the world of fiction. But since my books have yet to hit the library circuit, you're going to have to make do with one of the greatest local bookstores in Amanzimtoti. Seriously guys, if you want good old fashioned reading entertainment, you have to go to this book store. The prices are affordable and the people are friendly.

This place embodies why I wanted to put my books in local stores in the first place: there is something intimate about it that makes you feel like the authors of those books actually walked those isles. Say what you will about the chain stores, but you just don't get that feeling with those places. So, if you're even remotely in the Amanzimtoti area, check this place out.

Fields Shopping Center in Kloof

Scribbles

Never have I seen a store with such friendly people. From the moment I walked in here, I was surprised by the sheer professionalism. In fact, I was convinced that this place was a chain store. It was set up like something you'd last seen from CNA. Well done to the owner.

Now that I'm done gushing, this little place is up in Kloof. I think there must be some kind of magic to the place because not one minute after leaving a number of my books there, did a nice lady immediately ask me about my work. I kid you not, It's like the place had a magnetic pull to those intrigued by all things fictional.

While the moral of the story is that for your dreams to come true, you have to work hard; my motivation for putting my books in these stores is so that now you have a place to find them when you're ready to be entertained by your soon-to-be favorite author. But for those in places "other", my next objective is to find bookstores in Pietermaritzburg and then move on to places like Howick and Richard's Bay. But until then, do yourselves a favor and find these stores.

See You Soon.

S.T. signing out.

Bowman Begins

Welcome to what's soon to be your favorite website on the internet. Here you will find everything you need to know about my debut book, The Bowman's Apprentice and Other Stories, including what its about, all things behind the scenes and where and when you can get your hands on it.

So The Bowman's Apprentice and Other Stories is a short story collection by yours truly, S.T. Kubheka that comprises of 5 short stories, some fantasy & sci fi and other local and lekker. Themes you'll find in the story include revenge, love, adventure, retribution, heroism and repentance.

I'm a self-published author, meaning that most of the work usually done by a publisher will be done by me. I personally like to think of this as doing this manually. It has its pros and its cons but when it comes to embracing your passion, you find that you can handle all the cons that come your way and enjoy the hell out of the pros.

Right off the bat, I'll tell you that anyone can read my book, which includes old, young, male and females. As such, making these short stories every different from each other was a very deliberate choice.

So I look forward to entertaining you, through this blog and when you buy my book.