“Ronel Janse van Vuuren hails from sunny South Africa” says her About page, and her blog is called “Ronel the Mythmaker” subtitled Dark Fantasy Author which has intrigued me ever since I came across her blogs – you see I can’t think of South Africa without thinking of sunshine so strong it bleaches out everything, mind, body and motivation. I have to imagine Ronel in a dark, cold cellar beneath a remote house in order to conceive that anyone could write about fairies and review books from all over the world. because, too, South Africa seems at the end of the Earth, last stop before Antarctica and whilst the internet means that you can wander, virtually wherever you wish to go in the WWW, that is merely rational and I am constantly challenged by these mental disconnects when I visit Ronel’s blog. That’s just my problem, because Ronel can, and does write successful books and blog posts about dark fantasies and this year she is another A to Z participant who double-blogged. On one of her blogs – Ronel the Mythmaker she reviewed books on the theme My A-Z of Book Recommendations and Reviews 2023 (AKA my languishing TBR) in which she shows us, graphically, her to be read pile, followed by a book review of one of them that she has read. What this does, is to let us glimpse into the mind of an author of dark fantasies, which is almost as good as reading her own creations – although I still have to imagine her hiding from the sun in a dark cellar…
Ronel’s other blog was her My A-Z of Faerie 2023: and whilst this guide to all things Faerie is not my preferred area of reading, if I ever want a comprehensive guide to the subject – this is it and I have it bookmarked. I half expect Ronel to vapourise my imaginings and tell me that she writes from under a shady umbrella beside a pool in a city somewhere in S.A….
J.S. Pailly was a sometime visitor to my blog just as I was to his, and what I found was fascinating so although I dipped in and out, Planet Pailly Where Science Meets Fiction, is bookmarked for me to read all the way through… J.S.Pailly is not a scientist, though he is a Sci-Fi writer and a cartoonist and he chose this year, to write everything you ever wanted to know about the planet Mercury! Now I think you will agree that this is pretty niche and some people might hesitate to visit that niche, but, illustrated by his own cartoons, this is a very readable blog. One of the joys of the A to Z is to pick up on other bloggers via their comments, and one who would clearly have delighted in Mr Pailly’s theme was the author of My Hubble Abode, who is a student of Astrophysics and who started blogging to write free A-level notes for herself and her fellow students but then kept going as she moved up the academic ladder. If astrophysics is not your cup of tea, then she also gives out designs for her Crocheted planets and more. What’s not to like, I also share a passion for (Tunisian) Crochet…
I also followed along with Faerie 2023. It was interesting, occasionally unnerving, but mostly compulsive as in addictive. The A-Z was a challenge I hope to repeat.
I’ve never been to South Africa, but I have a friend who went there once. Based on the pictures and stories she brought back, I imagine South Africa is much the same as you describe.
You’re right, Mercury was a pretty niche theme for A to Z, but I think doing deep dives on oddly specific topics can be fun. I enjoyed doing it, and if people got something out of it, I’m glad for that.
Oh yes, I remember these pretty crochet blocks you made 😉
Thanks for your kind words, Andrew. I do draw the curtains to keep my study dark, if that helps the “dark cellar” picture you have of my writing cave 🙂