{"id":21407,"date":"2025-10-06T07:52:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T05:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/?p=20222"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T06:04:22","slug":"at-my-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/joburg-north\/blog\/2025\/10\/06\/at-my-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"AT MY DESK"},"content":{"rendered":"

While some writers are born, this one was dragged into the world by one woman\u2019s sheer bloody-mindedness, says Gareth Crocker, international author and filmmaker.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cEvery cent I\u2019ve ever earned has been as a result of my ability to work with words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThere\u2019s no easy way to say this,\u201d my teacher told my mother. \u201cWe adore Gareth \u2013 such energy, lovely hair \u2013 but we believe he\u2019d be better served at a school equipped for his condition.\u201d My mother\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cWhat condition is that?\u201d I already knew: I was clearly being sent to a school for children with exceptional hair. But it turned out the issue was my reading. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t seem to have any,\u201d she said. I wasn\u2019t bothered. I could still name the pictures: cat, dog. I even shared some fun facts. Only later did I learn the words were mat<\/em> and ball<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe Gareth suffers from a severe learning disability and needs to be sent to a school better equipped to deal with his limitations,\u201d my teacher declared.<\/p>\n

My mother leaned forward and offered my teacher what appeared to be a smile but wasn\u2019t. \u201cI\u2019m not taking him out of the school. There is nothing wrong with Gareth. I\u2019ll work with him.\u201d With that, she grabbed my arm and marched me out the classroom.<\/p>\n

And so for the next six months, she worked tirelessly on my reading. Seven days a week. We argued. I threw tantrums. There was crying on both sides.<\/p>\n

I can recall regularly faking injury and illness, offering up some real gems. Having overheard that someone in our extended family was unfortunate enough to be suffering from simultaneous bouts of alcoholism<\/em> and breast cancer<\/em>, I thought I would adopt these ailments into my repertoire of medical misdirection. \u201cMom, I really can\u2019t read today. I have alcoholism in my breasts. It\u2019s really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, one afternoon, something entirely unexpected happened. We were wading our way through a Secret Seven<\/em> novel when, all at once, what we were doing didn\u2019t feel so horrible anymore. I actually didn\u2019t mind that we were reading a book. After that, things quickly fell into place. I began to understand how phrases worked. Saw the rhythm of language and story, the power of narration. The magic of words.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, those months didn\u2019t just change my life. They gave me one. They enabled me to become a journalist, columnist, copywriter, editor, author and screenwriter with ten novels, two films and five international TV series to my name. Pretty much every cent I\u2019ve ever earned has been as a result of my ability to work with words. The same words that, once upon a time, threatened to condemn me.<\/p>\n

At the end of that pivotal school year, my teacher handed my mother my report card. I can\u2019t recall what my marks were but I do remember what was written in the special notes section. Best Reader in the Class. <\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly, my mother recently passed away. As I process her death, it occurs to me that she didn\u2019t just set me on the path to becoming a writer, she taught me how to be a parent to my daughters. How to fight for them. How to put in the work when it really matters.<\/p>\n

Now, whenever I sit in front of the blank page and wonder if I\u2019m capable of writing another novel or script or anything else, I think of her. Then I sip my coffee, take a deep breath, glance out the window and start writing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Now You Bleed by Gareth Crocker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this gripping sequel, detectives Ruben and Zander face a terrifying case: cops are dying from a brutal designer poison, and the killer leaves no trace. With bodies piling up, they enlist a counsellor to dig into the mind of a presumed madman \u2013 only to uncover a calculating professor whose brilliance hides a deadly motive. Tense, twisty, and smart, this thriller probes the line between genius and pure evil. Now You Bleed <\/em><\/strong>hits shelves in this month.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in The Penguin Post<\/em><\/a>, a magazine about books for book lovers from Penguin Random House South Africa.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While some writers are born, this one was dragged into the world by one woman\u2019s sheer bloody-mindedness, says Gareth Crocker, international author and filmmaker. \u201cEvery cent I\u2019ve ever earned has been as a result of my ability to work with words.\u201d \u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s no easy way to say this,\u201d my teacher told my mother. \u201cWe adore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":21408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,40,27],"tags":[417,2179,8130,8131,8132,2673,2674],"class_list":{"0":"post-21407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leisure","8":"category-people","9":"category-reviews","10":"tag-authors","11":"tag-filmmaker","12":"tag-gareth-crocker","13":"tag-international-author","14":"tag-now-you-bleed","15":"tag-penguin-random-house-south-africa","16":"tag-the-penguin-post"},"yoast_head":"\nAT MY DESK - 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