Creative writing | Meet Dave-Brendon de Burgh

By the Training team

A little bit about Dave
Dave-Brendon de Burgh, 28 years old.
I was born in Krugersdorp on what used to be Paul Kruger Day (the 10th of October) and this year my birthday falls on 10/10/10. I was too lazy in school to get the marks I needed to study, but if I could turn back time and get the marks I would probably study Graphic Design and Journalism.

I am a complete and utter Fantasy and Science Fiction nut! I’m also obsessed with reading and amassing the most awesome collection of SFF-novels; ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I’m always reading. I’ve also promised myself that I will never act my age (my shoe-size is eleven); I just don’t want to ‘grow up’ at the expense of my passions.

I’ve been a bookseller with Exclusive Books for just over a year (we opened our doors in the Kolonnade Shopping Centre on the 10th of April, 2009), but I was a bookseller working for Fascination Books before that - I started as a casual in 2002, left after about 6 or 7 months, and returned in 2004.

Creative writing work in progress
I haven’t published any work yet, except for a short story that was posted on a SFF blog, Un:Bound; the same short story was critiqued by Ron Irwin during the Course and I’m glad that it wasn’t published, it would have embarrassed me!  

Currently I’m working on the first novel in an Epic Fantasy trilogy, but I also have two other projects on the back-burner: an Urban Fantasy that I’m co-authoring with a good friend, Bennie Swarts, and I’m also writing a Star Wars novel that will be ready by the time Lucas Film asks me to write a novel in the Expanded Universe. 

The blogger
Back in 2008 I got the idea to interview SF author Karen Traviss for a Star Wars Facebook Group I created (it doesn’t exist anymore), so I contacted her via email, got the go ahead to send questions, and sent them off. While I was waiting for her reply I thought about starting a blog and reviewing SFF novels for South African readers; I visited many blogs (based either in the US or UK) and saw that these people were fans and readers like me and that people actually paid attention to what they had to say – so I contacted Jonathan ball Publishers, then-Random House, Penguin Books SA and Pan Macmillan SA and asked them if they would mind supplying me with books that I could read and review – I get awesome books and they get free advertising. The publishers were awesome and began sending me books and on the 29th of July I launched Davebrendon’s Fantasy & Sci-Fi Weblog with a review of Peter V Brett’s The Painted Man.

I started the blog because of what I noticed as a bookseller - SA readers were dependant on booksellers for information, while in the US and UK, readers (and the publishing industry, I might add) had already embraced the Internet as a tool to help them decide what they will be reading next and as a marketing tool. I decided that I would give the blog a try and see what response I got; it became apparent, though, that SA isn’t anywhere near to where it should and could be with using the Internet as a tool to help them make informed choices. Since the 29th of July I’ve had over 130000 hits on the blog, but the majority of people who visit the blog are from the UK and US. I’ve even gone as far as giving away free books on the blogs (supplied by the generous publishers) but it totally bombed – it seems that people just don’t want free books. It might be because of the terrible service we all receive from the Post Office, I might not be giving away books that people want to read, or a host of other factors, but one thing is for sure – blogs in the UK and US don’t have the same problem.

Random House Struik Creative Writing course
This Course has been incredible! When I heard that Ron Irwin would be the man teaching us I immediately went to the bank and applied for a loan because I trusted Ron and knew that he would give us value for our money. Since going through the Course my writing has improved hugely – before I was making mistakes and writing uselessly, and now I’m so aware of what I’m doing that it actually makes the process of writing a joy and not a frustration. I feel much more confident and at ease.

I’m hoping that the lessons I’ve learned in this Course stay with me throughout my life: there’s nothing better than knowledge of something you’re passionate about because it serves to make that passion even more wonderful and exciting to have. And I also hope that this Course has laid the foundation for the next generation of South African bestselling authors – to be a part of an awesome group like that would indeed be a blessing.

Famous last words?
Just this: do what you are passionate about, but find something else if it involves death and destruction. No seriously! Passion is something that absolutely everyone has, and it’s my fervent wish that parents can help their children to find their passions and help them grow – a person that grows up with a passion for something can change the world; a person that works hard, but without passion, grows up to become a statistic. So do what you love, what makes you feel good, and you’ll probably die with a smile on your face because you lived your life well.

Click here for more information on the Random House Struik Creative Writing Course.

Back to SmartyPants Newsletter - April 2010 Edition