J A Croome's Blog

 DAY 30/30 #WC24   — THE END — #writing those two #words, whether to signal the completion of a #novel or a #writing #challenge,  are always fraught with ambiguity. 

On the one hand, sadness that this time together has ended; on the other hand, a sense of achievement that we stayed committed and #wrote every day.  
Well done to all of us. 
After today’s writing target has been met it’s time to relax, catch our breath, and …carry on writing!

 We’re nearing the end of the 30 day writing challenge for 2024. Here’s a selection of the daily motivations I did  to help you with your own writing.  The video versions can be found on my instagram page 

D-day for #WC24 is getting closer!! 

Only 2 more days and we begin our 30 day writing marathon. 

👆👆 Above are a few reminders about how to get the best out of our 30 day writing journey.

The most important thing to remember is we’re not looking to write The Greatest Story Ever.

This writing challenge is about letting our Muse out to play - no judgement, no editing, no stressing about plotting and planning and perfection.

That can come during the editing process that takes place AFTER #WC24 is over.

So tweak your SMART writing goals and remember we’re committing to 30 days of making writing FUN!!

 It’s that time of the year again! Thirty days of dedicated #writing!  From 1st June to 30 June 2024, we’ll dedicate ourselves to #writingeveryday Start thinking about your #SMART #GOALS and join me on my Instagram or Facebook orofules or more info.

 

At last, I'm pleased to announce the publication of my latest book, THE SAND PEOPLE, a collection of magical realism and other stories. I'm writing under the pen name  J A  CROOME now, so  remember to  FOLLOW J A CROOME on Goodreads  for updates on new book releases. Here's a teaser of what some of the stories in THE SAND PEOPLE are about:

If you enjoyed the teaser, rush out and buy your copy of THE SAND PEOPLE on  Take-a Lot (South Africa)  or on  AMAZON (International)

Writing the short stories in THE SAND PEOPLE was both challenging and rewarding. Between nearly two years of major eye surgery, crushing self-doubt about my writing, and learning to live without my beloved Beric, reaching for every word was a struggle I could not have won without the generous support of several key people.

At nearly ninety years old, my mother, Dawn Heinemann, took over allpractical housekeeping duties when I disappeared into my cave to wrestle withmy writing demons. Her fierce spirit of independence gave me the gift offreedom to write, while the example she set and her unconditional mother’slove gave me the inner strength to complete this book.

Myfamily and all my friends (old and new) enrich my life enormously, as does thatcat extraordinaire, Mighty Mr Mittens, the sweetest, bravest familiar anywriter can ask for.

I amincredibly grateful for the presence of Dr Joanne Pautz,  Jess van Herwijnen, Chris Hajec, and GaryChapman in my life. Joanne’s unfaltering friendship and support; Chris’s unconditionalacceptance and understanding; Jess’s uncanny ability and willingness to providewise guidance whenever needed; and the lengthy debates with Gary on everythingfrom philosophy to fishing make me happy and emphasise the importance of humanconnection in the necessarily introverted life of a writer.

Noacknowledgement is complete without honouring my ancestors and loved ones inspirit, in particular, my late father, Isaac Benjamin Heinemann, a giftedclairvoyant and dowser, and my late husband, Dr. Beric Croome, whose brilliantintellect and deep spirituality made him unique. Always remembered, always atmy side.

Mycherished writing friends for over twenty years, Leonie Anderson, JanetChamberlain, Debs Valentyne, and Liesel van Wyk, have, once again, improved mywork with their editing skills and insightful comments. 

Whilethe creative expression of all stories in this anthology is mine, I must thankmy brother-in-law Ian Cockerill for his technical advice in “Where the WindTalks.” Any error of fact is due to my creative interpretation of his extensivemining knowledge.

I amalso grateful to Wendy Bow of Apple Pie Graphics for the beautiful cover design and to Dave Henderson and his team at My eBook (South Africa) for their technicalexpertise. 

JudyAnn Croome (2024)

Johannesburg South Africa

What’s happening on Amazon Kindle April 8, 2024?

After a long hiatus, I’m thrilled that my latest book will be available for sale on Amazon.

A collection of magical realism and other short stories, this book is a departure from my previous writing and my pen name is now J A Croome.

Stay tuned for more information.

 My compass word for 2024 is BEYOND:

* moving BEYOND fear (in my writing)

* moving BEYOND fat (finally mastering the binge eating disorder/body image issues  I've struggled with for over 50 years)

*moving BEYOND invisibility (being fully, authentically I AM WHAT I AM, with all my passions, my flaws, my strengths, my craziness)

The YEAR COMPASS is a movement that helps you look back and reflect on the past year and then look forward to gaining direction in the new year. Complete your form by downloading it here, and then share your discoveries with the hashtag #yearcompass

2023 was a year of hard inner work, leaving little time for outward achievements. Despite this, 2023 saw me gain many breakthroughs on personal traumas that have drained my energy and kept me from living my best life.
The best of 2023: my youtube channel with my 1 minute tarot readings gained over 200 new subscribers. Thank you to each and every member of our little community for sticking with me, for tuning in and for your comments.
The worst of 2023: I missed the deadline for publishing the book of short stories I'm currently working on (still 25 000 words short)
What's waiting in 2024? 
The opportunity to move BEYOND - to leap over the past traumas, the obstacles, and the fears that keep me from embracing this life with all the passion I've lost over the past thirty years.

Come and join me on what's sure to be an emotional rollercoaster of a year. 

You can find me on:

Instagram - Judy Croome or Chthonic Tarot

Youtube - Judy Croome

Facebook - Judy Croome 

TikTok - Judy Croome

Linked In - Judy Croome

X (formerly known as Twitter) - Judy Croome

I'm looking forward to meeting you on this journey that awaits.

We are in a global pandemic far worse, and far moredangerous, than the Covid19 pandemic.

This pandemic could be called The Cult of Victimhood (or,The Loss of our Humanity).

There have been signs simmering under the surface of societyfor a few years; since 2020, these have bubbled ever closer to the edge until,with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the deadly virus boiled over into society’sconsciousness.

This virus has bred a society of victims who celebrate thedeath of an elder, a woman so old that there are 101 years between the birth ofher first Prime Minister and her last.

One hundred and one years. Think about that for a moment.

How can any of us born in this modern era know or understand the personalcost she paid to meet the demands of a Head of State in an era that spanned anunprecedented amount of social change?

                   

Prejudice is a race-less, gender-less and faith-less human condition and thus every human being, regardless of our race, gender or faith, possesses the capacity to be blind to our own inviolable prejudices. Those who are unable to separate the woman from the symbolism of Queen to theextent that in her final hours wish her “excruciating pain” or who celebrate herdeath are as prejudiced as the worst colonisers human history has seen.

I began to lose hope in the ultimate goodness of humanity in2016, when Trump was elected President. Now, with the vicious, and at timesdownright evil, rants surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s death, I fear humanityis entering a collective dark night of the soul. We have never been closer tothe abyss that irrevocably separates good from evil.

The moral debates around the collective’s past norms must andshould continue: slavery; colonialism; reparation; economic, gender and raceinequalities — there is still so much that needs to be addressed before each ofus can live up to our highest potentials as unique individuals contributing tothe greater good of all. We are not free from suffering until all of us are free. 

But one of the dangerous side-effects of this cult-of-victimhoodvirus is a sense of entitlement that justifies a rage allowing no other suffering and pain except one’s own to be heard.

Is this brave new world, this world that iconic figures suchas Martin Luther King Jr dreamed would be a place where people are not “judged bythe colour of their skin but by the content of their character”, merely the flipside of the old world with a new kind of “vicious racist” that by their verynature create, in turn, new injustices in an attempt to redress centuries-oldinjustices of an outdated and flawed system that perpetrated unspeakablecruelties against humanity?

The vindictive behaviour of so many on the death of QueenElizabeth II begs the question: are we as a species any more civilised than thoseblood-thirsty crowds baying for blood as gladiators clashed in the Colosseum?Are we any kinder than Shaka, thatmost powerful of Zulu Kings who, on the death of his mother, was so filled withgrief that he ordered any woman who became pregnant to be executed along withher husband and unborn child?

Surely, surely, in the name of our humanity, thisnecessary narrative on how to create a better world for all could have been suspendedto acknowledge the decades-long personal sacrifice and effort of a young woman whodid her best to serve her country and her peoples under the accepted norms ofthe day?

Just as no-one consciously chooses to be born into slavery or poverty,or black or white, or male or female, the Queen did not consciously choose the role thatwas thrust upon her at the young age of 25. Yet, two days before her death at age 96, and seriously ill, she heldsteady and performed her final state duty with a smile on her face.

There is nothing humane, or just, about the appallingviciousness of Prof Uju Anya’s tweet, or the EFF’sofficial statement on the Queen’s death, or Irishfootball fans or Irishex-pats celebration during Queen Elizabeth II’s final days and death. ProfessorAnya is in the position to mould the minds of her young students; the EFF is aninfluential opposition political party.

What kind of world is their prejudice, anger and hatred going to create? It's worth considering that history shows us, while King Shaka’s pain and suffering were no doubt the root of his cruel actions, that moment of savagery led to his downfall.  

To those who, like the self-styled “anti-racist” Professor Anya,try to justify their cruel and merciless behaviour as “fair and just” becauseof the history of what the Queen symbolised, I ask this: if, with retrospectivemoral judgement, you condemn individuals who lived to their highest potential withina system that, when it existed, did not know it was horribly flawed by presentday moral standards,  how will a moreevolved future society judge your actions around the suffering and death of anotherhuman being?

Under the categorial imperative of moral rectitude, what is unjustwhen done to you, is also unjust when done by you. Nelson Mandelaintuitively understood this. Despite his suffering, despite his humiliation, herose above his pain and was able to separate the role of apartheid jailer onRobben Island from the man Christo Brand, and anunlikely friendship was forged.

Nelson Mandela addressed his letters to Queen Elizabeth II as "My dear friend Elizabeth"

How much more powerful it is to bring aboutthe changes you want in the world through love rather than through a hatred that leaves no place for our common humanity!

To those who danced at the Queen’s passing, I leave you toconsider the words of my late husband’s mentor and friend, Judge Bernard  Makgabo Ngoepe. In hisrecently published memoir, RichPickings Out of the Past [Juta Law, 2022], the Judge says “How did we,as humans, reach a point where the [death] of a head of state, a fellow humanbeing, became a cause for celebration? …for change to occur we foolishly tendto embark on ways that will inevitably lead to our demise.”

When future generations, still wounded and in pain from aeons of cyclical ancestralpain and suffering, look back on how our society responded to thedeath of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, an elderly woman — a human being— who also happened to be called Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, whatwill they think of the loss of our humanity?

 

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NOTE: King Charles III has been anadvocate for climate change and an environmental activist since the early1970’s. In 1975, the King established thePrince’s Trust, which has helped more than one million young people of allraces, genders and faiths improve their lives. Long may his work continue.#GodSaveTheKing

 

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I've been busy building my Youtube channel with and planning some writing projects for 2022 - 2032 - a collection of new short stories, a collection of meditations, a trilogy of novels, and 2 stand alone novels and finally, another non-fiction. 

Exciting times ahead!

My Youtube DAILY TAROT SHORTS is building nicely - slow, but steady. I post a daily "shorts" tarot reading - that's a tarot reading of less than 60 seconds. Quite a challenge getting everything said in less than one minute. Learning new reading skills every day! You can subscribe to my youtube channel for your free daily tarot guidance. Here's a sample of what'll you'll find:

Looking forward to having you join us !

Last month I spent a delightful few hours with journalists from THE HAWK newspaper of St Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States of America. Over smoothies and hot chocolate, journalist Leslie Quan, photographer Mateo and I discussed a wide range of topics from the Ancient Greek poet Korinna and her focus on women's experiences being written for women  to how the listening to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in the 1990's as South Africa transitioned to a democracy affected me. 

You can read the full interview here or an excerpt below.

Thanks to Leslie for her thought-provoking questions and Mateo for his photography skills, and wishing both Leslie and Mateo great success in their future careers.