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Tag: Jacob Singer

Author Spotlight no.242 – Jacob Singer

May 24, 2013May 21, 20134 Comments

Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-second, is of multi-genre writer Jacob Singer.

JackJacob Singer was born in Potchefstroom, South Africa. He schooled at the Central School, and Potchefstroom High School for Boys. After a three-month stint in the South African Navy as a ballottee, he went to London to study Pharmacy at Chelsea Polytechnic.  It was there, after reading an article in the Readers Digest about the Tomlinson Report, that he realized the horror of the apartheid system in South Africa.

He became friendly with John Farmer, whose stepfather, Reg Sinclair was Chairman of Wilkinson Sword and Steel.  They lived in Slough, and it was on a walk through the fields behind the house,  after he and John  walked to the top of a white tower, that they met a young girl who was hiding “from my security guards,” she said.  A friendship was formed remembered to this day.

Returning to South Africa, five years later, he met and married Evelyn Jackson. Today they have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Living in Potchefstroom, a small town 72 miles from Johannesburg, Jacob became involved in the fight against the apartheid system of the National Party, that ruled the country after WWII. Believing that direct confrontation could never work, Jacob became a member of the National Party, at many meetings arguing and voting against the harsh laws being inflicted on the Indian and Coloured community in Potchefstroom. The National Party eventually asked for his resignation.

In his Pharmacy, he thumbed his nose at apartheid, by having Indian and Coloured staff working on the floor with the White staff, dressed in the same uniforms. Yes, he did make many enemies in the town, because of this, but he also made many friends. One of those friends was the Member of Parliament for Potchefstroom, Louis le Grange, a member of the National Party.

When years later, Louis was made Minister of Police, Jacob asked him, “Louis, after the horror of Sharpeville, and the death of Steve Biko, how can you accept this position?”

“Less people are killed, now that I am the Minister,” he answered.  

A few years later, Jacob received a message from Louis, asking him to form a committee in Potchefstroom, to start educating the Africans that lived in Ikageng, the African township just outside the town.

“I would like you to start teaching them how to govern,” he wrote in a letter to Jacob. “Look for the leaders of the township, and meet with them at least once a month. They must learn committee procedures so that when they do take over the country, they will know how to manage and rule it effectively.”

Jacob formed a committee, with three friends.  Seven Africans who were prominent leaders in Ikageng, joined them.

A year later, when in a riot, young students starting throwing stones at their school in Ikageng, he asked that all the leaders of these students meet in his pharmacy at 6 am the next morning. Five young children were there at 6 am. When they offered him their names, he told them, “No, I don’t want to know who you are. Let me call you A, B, C, D, and E.” He told them that education was very important to them, especially if they one day wished to rule the country; that rather than stone the school, they should stone Municipal Buildings or any building that housed a Government supporter.

After an hour, they left, promising that they would stop stoning the school.

Later that morning, Brigadier Stemmet of the South African Security Police visited the Pharmacy. He asked Jacob for the names of the 5 students that had visited him that morning.  “With pleasure,” Jacob answered, “their names are A, B, C, D, and E.”  Brigadier Stemmet walked out of the Pharmacy,

“We will no longer offer you or your family any protection!” he shouted angrily as he left the Pharmacy.  That night, Gamboo, the families Bouvier dog was poisoned.

BrakIt was then that he encouraged his children to emigrate from South Africa. They chose Canada, and he and Evelyn joined them six years later once they had settled down, and no longer needed financial support. 

It was then, leaving Potchefstroom and living in Johannesburg before emigrating to South Africa, that he wrote his first book Brakenstroom. Brakenstroom is a book of short stories about people he knew and stories he had heard from friends and family.

His second book, The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES was written while living in Vancouver, Canada. “It is a story I have lived with all my life,” he said when asked about the book. The Characters are people I knew, and still know.

*

And now from the author himself:

WHY I STARTED WRITING.

Growing up in South Africa as a child, was a wonderful experience. My mother loved and took care of me, but it was my Nanny that cleaned my room, made my bed, put away the clothes that I had left lying on the floor, and made my meals every day. She became my surrogate mother, walking me to school at 7 am every morning; playing with me when I came home from school, and making sure that I did my homework every day. It was only at supper time and weekends that I would spend time with my parents.

During the School holidays, when I was 15 years old, I would go to the Municipal swimming pool during the school holidays, intent on improving my swimming. Also, all my friends had gone to Habonim Camp at Leaches Bay in the Cape.  It was then that I met Marla (not her true name).  We would both spend the day at the pool, lying in the sun, burning a dark brown. When, at the end of the day, we would go to the local cinema, I could prove that I was a White, by showing my skin was white below my swimming costume line. Marla unfortunately could not. I had to have my father phone the manager and tell him that Marla was a White, and therefore could be let in.

It was years later that I met Marla’s mother, and listened to the story she told me. I have lived with it all my life, and decided that it was a story that had to be told.

The VASE Front CoverIt took me close to 5 years to write The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES. It is a story about Emily Kleintjies, how she jumped the racial barrier of apartheid, becoming a White, changing her name to Emma Kline.  It was a difficult story to write bring back many painful memories.

Emily was classified by the South African race laws of that time as being a Coloured. In the 19th Century, the Coloured people of South Africa had similar rights to the Whites in the Cape Colony, though income and property qualifications affected them disproportionately. In the rest of South Africa, they had far fewer rights, and although the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 gave them the right to vote, they were restricted to electing White representatives only.

“You must understand, Emily,” her father mumbled, “as part of the Coloured Community in South Africa, today we are classified as second class citizens by the government.”

“What does that mean?” Emily asked, not quite understanding what he was saying.

“You have grown up in District Six, amongst both Blacks and Whites, and you have been treated as equals by them. South Africa as a whole does not treat us as equals. The Whites come first, we the Coloureds with the Indians second, and the Blacks are at the bottom with the Coolies and Chinese somewhere in-between.  When you go into Cape Town proper, you have seen benches marked, ‘For Whites Only.’ We as Coloureds are not allowed to sit on those benches.”

“But I have often sat on them, and no-one has bothered me,” Emily interrupted.

“I know,” her father answered, “that is because you were born with a lighter skin than any of us, and with hair that is light brown, long and straight. No White would think you were a Coloured. I know of many in our community who are angry at these laws, where the Whites squeeze us from the top, while the Blacks squeeze us from the bottom. We have to take cheap work, because the Whites do not believe that we are as clever as they are. They treat us like slaves, while many of our women are treated like whores at night, and our children age and die long before they should.”

After I had written it, I found an editor who made me rewrite the entire story. “You will write it as though you are writing a movie,” she advised. It took another year to rewrite.

I had written the book as two books. The first book was about Emma, the mother and the second book about Marla, the daughter. I was advised to combine both books into one book.

I had two friends read through the book, and check my facts. Once they had done this, I self published, after 15 publishers rejected the book. They all told me that in today’s world of eBook publishing, they were only publishing known authors.

**

You can find more about Jacob and his writing via… his website: www.jacobashersinger.com

***

If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.

I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

  • http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

  • http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

  • http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
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Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

  • http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
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Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

  • http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
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We look forward to reading your comments.

Author interview no.493 with biographer, short story and article writer Jacob Singer

September 15, 2012January 28, 20134 Comments

Welcome to the four hundred and ninety-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with biographer, short story and article writer Jacob ‘Jack’ Singer. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Jack. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Jack: I live in Vancouver, Canada. My wife and I decided to leave Potchefstroom in South Africa where I was born, after I was threatened by the Security Police for withholding information they wanted.  They then poisoned my dog. We encouraged our children to leave, and once they had established themselves in Canada, we joined them.

The Story, The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES, is a story I have lived with all my life. It had to be made public, and after writing my first book, BRAKENSTROOM, a book of short stories about people I knew in Potchefstroom, Emily Klentjies, (Emma Kline) insisted that I write her story. It took me almost 5 years to put the story to paper. The memories, reliving history and a life that had to reveal itself, was extremely painful.

Morgen: My goodness, your life sounds just as harrowing. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Jack: I only write about people I knew, often historical, humorous or romantic.  I have never considered another genre.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Jack: My first book, BRAKENSTROOM is a book of short stories about people I knew in the town I lived in, Potchefstroom. I write under a pseudonym for a stock market trading magazine.

Morgen: That sounds intriguing. 🙂 You’re self-published, what lead to you going your own way?

Jack: Studying the market, and being rejected by publishers, I realized that the publishing industry was traumatized by eBooks, and that printed books were on the way out.

Morgen: They kind of are but I like to think they’ll run alongside each other, just eBooks being the bigger sibling. So your books are available as eBooks? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Jack: Both my books are available as eBooks, via Amazon Kindle, iTunes and Kobo.  I was very involved in the process. Today I only read eBooks on my iPad.

Morgen: I’ve just bought an iPad and although it’s probably poorer for my eyesight but I prefer to read as a two-page book (anyone want to buy a Kindle Touch?). 🙂 Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Jack: Charleze Theron as Emma Kline.  I have no idea who should be Charlie Stuart or Marla or any other character in my book.

Morgen: Maybe your readers could tell you who they think – it would be interesting to see if you agree. Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Jack: I chose the covers and titles of both my books, after a great deal of work and thought.

Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Jack: Marketing both books.

Morgen: Not an easy task. Do you manage to write every day?

Jack: I wrote for two hours every day. Today, I still write, but for a magazine on stock market trading.

Morgen: It’s all good practice. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Jack: I write stories that truly happened. The plots are real.

Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters?

Jack: I describe my characters as the people they represent truly are.

Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Jack: I do a tremendous amount of editing, and rewriting. The process took just over a year.

Morgen: Wow. Do you have to do much research?

Jack: Yes… to confirm what I remembered.

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking?

Jack: Third person. I am putting myself into the shows of my characters. They must tell the story.

Morgen: It is generally the most popular viewpoint. Do you write any poetry, non-fiction or short stories?

Jack: Brakenstroom, my first book, is a book of short stories.

Morgen: Ah yes, you did mention that earlier (I love short stories :)). Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Jack: Yes…. plenty of them, all in my head, still be written, although I do have rough drafts.

Morgen: There’s hope for them then. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Jack: Plenty of rejections. I used Preditors and Editors (http://pred-ed.com) to choose the top Publishers and Agents, but became tired of all the rejections.  How do I deal with them? Anger.

Morgen: <laughs> I often recommend Preditors and Editors to people (I did so only just yesterday on LinkedIn). Do you enter competitions? Are there any you could recommend?

Jack: No, I have never tried, nor do I think I ever will.

Morgen: Quite a few authors don’t. I used to but not so much now, I’d prefer submitting for publication (and getting paid if they’re successful!). Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Jack: No, I do not have an agent. However, I do believe that an Agent is necessary, especially to market the book. Wish I had one.

Morgen: Are there any agents reading this? 🙂 You mentioned a moment ago that you’re currently marketing both books, do you have to do much?

Jack: It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. Marketing has become an obsession, and drives me nuts.

Morgen: I think pretty much every author reading this with empathise with you (I certainly do). What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Jack: My favourite is telling the story. My least favourite is looking for errors in editing, finding them, they are always there, and correcting them, even AFTER the book has been edited by a paid editor.

Morgen: I don’t think any reader has not found one in their life time (that’s a terrible double negative… I’ll edit it out later). 🙂 What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Jack: Write, write and write.

Morgen: And I’d add ‘read, read, read’. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Jack: Somerset Maughn, Isaac Asimov and President Obama. I would prepare a typical South African Braai.

Morgen: That sounds like a great party. If you had to choose a single day from your past to re-live over and over, what day would it be and why?

Jack: The day I read my first review of The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES. Sent to a total stranger who wrote that normally she never read books of this nature, but found that she could not put it down. When she had finished reading it, she gave it to her sister to read. Her review was outstanding.

Morgen: Wow. I’ve just had my first (a 5*) on Amazon for my Story a Day May 2011 collection (my 2012 collection is woefully late) and I was thrilled. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Jack: Truth.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?

Jack: Gardening and enjoying my two finger 5pm Scotch on the rocks.

Morgen: As yes, the built-in measuring spoon. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?

Jack: LinkedIn authors. I have made many author friends, and read their advice with enthusiasm.

Morgen: They’re great aren’t they (and some I’m sure will be reading this). Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Jack: LinkedIn Authors. Their experience in writing is very useful.

Morgen: What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Jack: Today, it is all writing for the eBook. When, on a recent holiday to Cuba, I noticed 16 people reading 50 Shades of Grey, I realized that a badly written book with plenty of SEX steals the market. As well as, of course, Harry Potter and Twilight similarities for kids.

Morgen: We’ve just been having that discussion on Facebook – I only found out this week that EL James is English (and sounds posh… as some say I do!). Where can we find out about you and your writing?

Jack: Go to my blog, http://www.jacobashersinger.com.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Jack: Yes…it is about time that major bookstores realize that if they are to survive, they have to start looking at self-published authors. Print on Demand books and eBooks are the way to go in today’s world, a similar story to the way Steve Jobs changed the music industry.

Morgen: Absolutely. We do have more power these days and self-publishing is no longer a ‘dirty word’. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Jack: Yes… tell me how to sell books so that I can retire, and spend more time writing.

Morgen: Oh I’d love to be able to tell you but sadly I’m not sure if anyone knows or they’d write a book about it (although our John Locke did)… and retire, and spend more time writing. 🙂 Thank you, Jack.

I then invited Jack to include an extract of his writing…

Leonard was born Leonard Francis Sandler, in the same nursing home at the top of Berg Street that David had been born in and which, at that time, was the only respectable nursing home Brakenstroom had. His parents were originally from Russia, lured to the gold fields of Johannesburg as stories of Africa’s riches filtered through the ghettos of Europe.

Leonard’s father, Solomon, after eventually arriving in Johannesburg, soon realised that a growing city needed bookkeepers, and so applied his knowledge to auditing other peoples businesses. He worked hard, the hours spent pouring over accounting books giving him the stooped scolitic back and chronic myopia that on his tall thin frame, offered a portrait of the Scrooge circumstances had made him. His miserliness lasted until he had saved enough money to buy a small farm in the Brakenstroom district where he began speculating in cattle. With his shrewd business sense, something Leonard never inherited, he became very successful and very wealthy.

Rachel, Solomon’s wife, was a simple woman.  All who knew her remembered her as the finest baker in town. Her chocolate cake was the best, and her cheesecake – well, David’s mouth would water whenever he thought of her golden topped cakes, even to this day. He could even remember the rich cheesy smell that pervaded the house as she took the cakes from the oven.  Because of his Mother’s baking, Leonard was probably the most popular boy in town, although, to be quiet honest, as Mrs. Brick’s daughters matured, and boys learned more about girls, Mrs Brick’s bagels were sometimes better than the chocolate cake. This more so, when they were served with the beautiful smile and fair hand of either girl holding a plate of hot bagels fresh from the oven, dripping farm butter into mugs of sweet tea as the boys crowded around the kitchen table.

Leonard had inherited his father’s looks and his mother’s brain. Not that he was simple – far from it. He was always in the top ten at school, but he was simply not the leader he would so dearly have liked to have been. He was always a follower, basking in everyone else’s limelight and whatever his achievements were, came through hard work and dedication. As a boy he was always a head and shoulders taller than others his own age, as thin as a stick, with two large ears on either side of a very Jewish nose. His ears were so big that they earned him the nickname of ‘Dumbo’ when that famous Disney movie first hit the circuit.  Then, as if to make sure he kept his balance and his feet on the ground, nature gave him a size 10 foot while he was still in primary school. He was one of those unfortunates that had two left feet and couldn’t throw a cricket ball straight no matter how hard he tried. He was simply enormously gawky, but his feet stopped growing and by the time he was in 17, he still wore a size 10 shoe.

and a synopsis of his latest book…

The story is about a young coloured girl born into the apartheid system of South Africa. As she grows up, she finds that being classified a second class citizen unbearable, and decides to cross the colour barrier and become a white.

This is Emma’s story, how she crosses the colour barrier, and how she does enter the white community, but not in Cape Town where she was born , but in Johannesburg. She becomes friendly with a Jewish Family who escaped Nazi Germany, and decides the apartheid policies of Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister is pro-Nazi, and that it will just be a matter of time before gas chambers are built. She joins the father of a friend, Charles Stuart who fought the Boers in the Anglo Boer war, and she makes a life for herself in a town called Potchefstroom, that is very pro- Government. Charlie Stuart has her join his secret organisation working against the apartheid system. She does.

***

Born in Potchefstroom, South Africa, Jacob Singer matriculated in 1952, and went to study Pharmacy at the Chelsea Polytechnic in London, England. Returning to South Africa, after 5 years, he met and married Evelyn Singer and they eventually settled in Potchefstroom, raising a family. While in London, Jacob realized the true horror of the apartheid system practised in South Africa. He became determined to fight it wherever he could. In his pharmacy, he thumbed his nose at the conservatives of Potchefstroom, employing Black, Indian and Coloured staff in his front shop, losing many customers, but gaining respect.  It was only when the Security Police threatened him, for not giving them certain information that they wanted, that he left South Africa, once his children had established themselves in Canada.

His stories are all based on truth. Should one wish to read about historical South Africa, with a romantic twist, do read The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

  • http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

  • http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

  • http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

  • http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

  • http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
  • http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445

We look forward to reading your comments.

Newsletter (with freebies!)

100-word comp

sentence start: ‘Before the shot was fired…January 31, 2021
17 days to go.

The ideal gift!

Just £40 for <2,000 words

Online Courses

two free courses - see 'Mentor' above.December 31, 2020
two free courses - see 'Mentor' above

New Website/Shop! www.morgenbailey.com

www.morgenbailey.com

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    © Morgen Bailey and Bailey's Writing Tips, 2011-2019. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Morgen Bailey and/or Bailey's Writing Tips with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All guest content remains the property of the appropriate author - any reproduction is strictly prohibited without their prior written approval.
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