About me

I made my appearance in the world in 1977 when the rent in my mom’s womb ran out. It happened in a small town in what was then the Southern Transvaal, in a dingy little town called Volksrust. From there I followed the family to Newcastle in Northern Natal, and then to Brits, in the Transvaal. Never having felt at home in Brits (in what is now the North West Province), I still support the Sharks when a bunch of grown men decide to kick an inflated pig’s bladder around.

I finished high school in 1994, and from there I studied Geology at the Rand Afrikaans University before succumbing to the world of information technology. It was probably the biggest mistake of my life. Computers suck. They are soulless and mindless and anybody who tells you any different can go and eat a brick.

They do have one thing going for them, though. They can run word processing software. And writing has forever been my first love.

I have published my first novel, ‘Kodenaam Icarus’, through LAPA Publishers in 2015, and my second, ‘Moordlys’, in the following year. Both novels have been pitched as crime novels, although they both should rather be seen as political thrillers. Yes, there are murders to be solved, but the murders in both books merely set the stage for the resolution of political issues dating from decades prior to the narrative.

I have been working on a third installment in the franchise for the last six months, using the collapse of the African National Congress as background, but as luck would have it, reality turned out to be much more bizarre than anything any writer could come up with. I would never in a million years be able to write political fiction as crazy as what is currently happening in South African politics.

So, to cut a long story short, I am now working on a couple of other projects. I have had countless arguments with my literary agent about positioning me in the market. And I feel her pain. I love thrillers. I love romance novels. I love adventure stories, Wilbur Smith-style. I love horrors, cue Stephen King. And above all, I love Science Fiction. What to do? From a marketing perspective, it’s a nightmare.

I have written a bunch of short stories that I’m publishing here for your reading pleasure. Some are in English, some in Afrikaans, some are romances, some are thrillers, some are just way-out weird. Whatever the case might be, I love writing. And if I can amuse you for a few minutes, I will have accomplished my mission.

When I’m not writing, I dabble in pencil & charcoal portrait sketches of people and pets, and some of my work can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/henk.sketches. A percentage of the pet sketch sales goes to Balls an’ All, a non-profit organization specializing in the spaying and neutering of animals for those who can’t afford veterinarian services. They do stellar work in the South of Jo’burg – give them a holler at http://www.ballsanall.co.za