SA Rocks

Tertia of So Close fame is doing phenomenally well with her blog and her book. She talks to me about raising children in SA, her book, her blog and much more:

You have the most read blog in SA, how does that feel?
It feels completely strange. That so many people seem to care about what goes on in my seemingly mundane life. It also adds a certain amount of pressure on me to update often (I update daily, and if I don’t, I will get at least a few emails from strangers asking me if I am ok) and to write in an interesting way

What do you think makes South Africans read your blog?
I must say here that most of my blog readers are not South African. Around 50% of them are from America, 30% from Europe, 10% from Asia Pacific and only about 10% from South Africa. Why do people read my blog? Well, hopefully I have a way of writing that makes people think, or entertains them, or challenges them. If they weren’t interested in reading what I wrote, they wouldn’t come back again. There are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs out there – what is going to make someone click on your site again? You have to entertain them or inform them and you have to write in a way that they feel a connection to you or to your story. I hope I achieve that.

Are you a proudly South African blogger?
I am very much a proudly South African blogger. I am immensely proud of my country and love talking about what it is like to live here. The good and the bad. Because most of readers are not South African, I often feel a little ostracized by the local blogging community, as if I am not ‘local’ enough, which isn’t fair. I write as a proud South African, I just have a broad readership base. But that feeling of being ostracized is changing though. Wonderful people like Mike Stopforth, Dave Duarte and Max Kaizen have done amazing work in bringing the local blogging community together in a way that embraces all flavours of SA bloggers. Mommy bloggers such as myself rub shoulders with Geeks, Marketers, Web 2.0 experts etc. Rock on South African bloggers! Check out the 27 dinners vibe.

How do you feel about raising children in SA?
This is the country where I was raised. I know it has its faults, but I love my country. I love the feel of the African sun warming my arms when I walk outside. I love the smells, tastes and textures of this beautiful country. I couldn’t imagine living any where else.

Your book is doing incredibly well, tell me a bit more about that.
Yes, I am really lucky. The story behind my book is that in October 2005, I got an email from a publisher telling me that they had read my blog, liked the way I wrote and thought that I had a story worth telling (my infertility journey). They asked whether I would be interested in writing a book, I said yes and my book was published in August 2006.

I’ve had the most amazing response to my book. Hundreds of people from all over South Africa have reached out to me and shared their stories with me. It has been a hugely rewarding experience. And it all came out of my blog!

The Lulu Blooker awards hey…What’s all that about?
The Lulu Blooker Prize is the world’s first literary prize devoted to “blooks”-books based on blogs or other websites, including webcomics. (http://www.lulublookerprize.com/)
The prize aims to encourage cutting-edge literature, more of which is beginning life in the blogosphere.

I think they had around 60 odd entrants and I was short listed with 5 other bloggers in the Non Fiction section. It is a huge honour, and I am on the list with some seriously big international blogging heavy weights like the guys from Daily Kos, Seth Goldin, Frank Warren from Post Secret. I don’t have a hope in hell of winning against those guys, but it is such a huge thrill being in their company.

How do you think your nomination will impact the SA blogosphere?
I hope that it will bring attend to the SA blogosphere, both internationally and also from a local point of view. Blogging is newer here in SA than abroad, and many people are only now getting into the blogging scene. There is a lot of talent out there that we don’t even know about.

I think some people think blogging is all about being forced to read the excruciating minutiae of someone’s very mundane existence, and maybe for some people it is (free piece of advice here… CLICK AWAY IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, no one is forcing you to read), but it can also be a wonderful way of connecting with people, of sharing and social networking. And even if no one else ever reads you blog, it doesn’t matter. You do it because you want to. It can be a wonderful creative outlet and it’s cheaper than retail therapy.

SA clearly thinks you rock, what would you like to say to the people who read your blog, speaking not as a blogger?
Thanks for reading my blog, and please participate in the conversations, I love to hear from you. Let’s keep building on our local blogging community. As a collective, we hold enormous power and can use our medium to connect with people, to launch ideas, to raise issues and most of all, to keep having conversations with each other that stretch across our own narrow existences and histories. Geeks, marketers, mommy bloggers …. together we have the power to do just about anything we want. Lets use that power to lift each other and all those around us up. South Africa rocks!

This is an email that Tertia received today:

“Before I start, I just want you to know that I’m not really a ‘send-a-letter-or-comment-to-someone’ kind of person. I find it all a bit cheesy etc. But I’ve got to admit that I really have been moved by your story and your amazing book. So much so, that I wanted to write to you and help you to realise just how many people out there you have reached and touched with your experiences and your humour. I have started reading your blog and I now read it every day; I fear I may become addicted!”

I get emails like this every single day. It has made writing the book, and maintaining the blog such a rewarding experience.

SA Rocks wishes you the best of luck, as I am sure our readers and your readers do! Congratulations on your nomination, win or not we still think you rock!! 

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• So Close – Making SA Proud
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