Have just finished – and celebrating it – the first sixty pages of East of East, with Johan, the main protagonist currently experiencing Atauro, one of the only two islands that are part of Timor-Leste and blessed with exceptional marine life, being part of the lesser Sunda Islands chain. To get me in the mood and remind me about a thing or two, I… Read More
A Flight of Fancy in Frivolous Figueres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuj3JEeeKns Andy Warhol was right. But he got the time wrong – my claim to fame only lasts 57 seconds. The clip is as bizarre and non-sequitur as is Dali’s audacious homage to surrealism. My second visit to his bastion of the absurd, and just as stunning as the first one. The town wasn’t bad either, with great food and wine, but would be… Read More
Revolution, Evolution or Devolution?
There are multiple banners being waved about now, and everyone has an opinion. People are roused up to stand on the barricades and declare themselves as something or the other, as long as they choose a side. Does this really advance us as a species? Liberals versus conservatives; socialists versus capitalists; communists versus reactionaries; government control freaks versus anarchists; morons versus… other morons. They’ve… Read More
Woman is the … of the world
I would’ve used the whole unredacted line from Lennon’s song, but in the currently politically charged climate with mindless millennial morons mostly calling the shots, I refrained from it just to be on the safe side. If you don’t know the song, do look up the lyrics and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. And so the world has woken up to the plight… Read More
The humble potato: poor man’s dish or the king of roots?
It’s beef tenderloin time tonight. Letting it sizzle in butter (or ghee) for the briefest of moments just to get a semi-burnt crust on both sides, leaving the interior tender and juicy and quite red, still dripping with blood. (I know it’s not to everyone’s liking, but I can’t help myself. I’m a confirmed meat-eater – the fresher the better. A properly served Steack… Read More
Totally inoffensive and politically correct
We’re living in strange times, aren’t we, when anyone’s innocuous comment or gesture can be turned into a weapon against the speaker. Not me. I’m getting on with the present programme, doing my best to stay inoffensive and continue to spout gibberish, just as most of world media these weeks. I’m even updating my vocabulary to be accepted by everyone, anywhere. And hope to… Read More
Is it worth it?
https://www.jovancic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Is-it-worth-it-1.mp4 Whatever their scientific name may be, these reptiles thought they had found a refuge in a palm oil plantation. Obviously they were wrong. I challenge anyone to come up with a truly valid raison d’être for the existence of these plantations. Sure, it temporarily improves the lives of local people – boosting their finances, having the kids attending school, all paid by big… Read More
Being multilingual is an advantage, until it becomes a challenge
For those of you that have visited this site, you’ll know that I feel at home with multiple languages and am confident enough to use more than one to create my imaginary worlds. I’m itching to try out a third one in a literary context, hopefully sometime in the near future. I’m currently writing two novels, one in English, the other one in Swedish.… Read More
I used to think in the present, but I’m past that now
Just in case you didn’t get it from the title, this is about tenses in novels. And how readers perceive them while writers go on using or abusing them. Particularly any of the four present tenses in the English language. I don’t like books written in present tense. Regardless of its perceived immediacy, I seem to share this dislike with many readers. Maybe it’s… Read More
How (not) to become a writer… continued
Still with me? And curious to find out how and what I did? I started out with a simple premise: A nightmarish sequence set in darkness, in my neck of the woods as it were, an exotic and spooky enough place even in daylight. Present the reader with a strange character driving a Bentley, add a corpse in a trunk and a bunch of… Read More