Karina Author, Book, Event

Melissa A. Volker reports from Comic Con Cape Town 2024

My books on display at the ROSA stand.

Comic Con was first held in 1970 in San Diego, California as an exhibition of comic books. Today, Comic Con is international event, celebrating popular culture, film, comics, fantasy novels, anime, art and storytelling in its multiple forms. Comic Con Cape Town and Comic Con Africa (Johannesburg) are now annual events.

With one of the Jawas from the deserts of Tatooine – Star Wars.

Comic Con Cape Town also hosts the Animation Festival, where visual storytellers are upskilled by international and local animators, story board artists, producers, screenwriters and filmmakers.

A Fremen – Dune.
The Mandolorian.

Comic Con brings gamers, writers, actors, dancers, publishers, illustrators and artists together to gather, learn and share. Merchandisers, artists, animation schools and book sellers display and sell creative wares. I saw a stand selling the most accurate replicas of light sabers I’ve ever seen.

This year, I was invited to participate at Comic Con Cape Town as an exhibitor with the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa (ROSA). As a member of ROSA, I assisted other members who were hosting the ROSA stand next to the main stage.  Writers, readers, fans and publishers stopped to buy books or discuss reading and the craft of writing. I displayed my books, Shadow Flicker, A Fractured Land and The Pool Guy. I am so proud of the beautiful physical books that my publisher, Karavan Press, created for my stories. The Cape Town City Library stand was nearby, on the other side of Artist’s Alley, so I and the other ROSA writers enjoyed meeting them and discussing strategies to raise up readers and writers together through libraries and author events. The ROSA stand was coincidentally at the gathering point for the daily Cosplay competition. (Cosplay is costume play – a form of performance art where fans dress up as their favourite popular culture character.) We had a close-up view of Vikings, superheroes, a Fremen (from Dune) in a Stillsuit, and children’s cartoons characters. Captain America had to sit down to take a break after a lengthy round of selfies with fans. A writer came to the aid of one cosplayer who found the confines of a heavy costume caused overheating. Perhaps there’s inspiration for a fictional meet cute there?

The resting Captain America.

My favourite were the many Mandolorians. I admire the storytelling techniques of the streaming series. If you’ve not yet watched The Mandolorian, it’s a Sci Fi tale set in space, with the atmosphere and some tropes of an old Western. Of the two main characters, one speaks, but the audience (almost) never sees his face. The other character never speaks but communicates with facial expressions. It’s delightful. And clever.

Comic Con Cape Town is bright and busy, loud and energetic, a diverse mix of creative people, from geeks to gamers, who love stories and characters. It’s a crowded, frenetic celebration of storytelling in its multiple formats. 

I am Weird Barbie from the movie. My daughters and niece are K Pop Band G-Idle.

Karina Author, Book, Interview, Review

‘Reading Romance: Melissa Volker’s twisty love stories with an environmental agenda’ by Joy Watson

Daily Maverick

… Volker’s tales are carefully spun, a weave of gossamer thread of the finest ilk. Her books take a while to write and she has an uncanny ability to transpose the reader into time and place. 

In A Fractured Land, we are able to visualise the arid landscape, the sweat of hot nights is tangible, and we can smell the lingering scent of wisteria on dry, balmy days. Volker is adept at breathing life into the South African landscape, making it jump off the page to embed itself in the reader’s mind. 

“Quite a lot of work goes into my books,” says Volker. “I have been working on my current novel for about three years. I’m quite fussy. I try hard to layer the characters, to make the dialogue work. I feel like each novel is taking longer – maybe I’ve become a harsher critic of my own work, or maybe I am learning the craft of writing more.” 

The time that Volker invests in her writing is evident in her other books, Shadow Flicker (released in 2019) and The Pool Guy, a novella published in 2021. Attention to detail sets her work aside from other books in the genre, where some writers have managed to push out many books in a short time. 

Volker’s writing stands out in its meticulous effort to cobble together a love story that is complex, exquisitely told and of a high calibre. 

What also sets Volker apart is that both A Fractured Land and Shadow Flicker skillfully incorporate an attempt to pluck at the strings of environmental consciousness. 

“I write about the environment because it’s an issue of concern to me. When writing the books, I thought about some of the social circles that I am in where these issues don’t even touch ground. I realised that one way of getting people to think about it is through fiction. 

“Sometimes people are just so fatigued about bad news and watching it on TV. So I wanted to package it in a way that was palatable… in a way that raises awareness.”  

…

Daily Maverick
Karina Author, Book, Event

THE POOL GUY by Melissa A. Volker launched at The Alma Café

Earlier tonight, surfers, romance enthusiasts, readers and writers gathered at The Alma Café to celebrate the launch of Melissa A. Volker’s novelette, The Pool Guy – “the holiday you need”, in the words of Qarnita Loxton. Melissa was in conversation with the wonderful book reviewer, Sammi Malunga.

You can find Sammi on Twitter and IG @sammikoalareads.

These are tough times, but thank goodness for uplifting stories that allow you to escape into a world where, despite challenges, you can expect a happy ending. In Melissa’s stories that ending always includes an empowered woman fighting for her dreams. And she gets the guy – the pool guy in this case! And everybody needs this pool guy in their lives – trust me! 🙂

Thank you to Melissa and Sammi for an entertaining evening of romance and laughter!

And thank you to everyone who attended and to The Alma Café for supporting the literary scene by making their music venue available for book launches and readings. You guys rock!

Karina Author, Book, Event

Book launch: THE POOL GUY by Melissa A. Volker

Spa manager Lauren runs a professional space, so when Wyatt, the pool cleaner, brings down the tone with his languorous manner and sketchy dress code, she loses her cool. Instead of being intimidated, Wyatt is captivated and tries to chip through her armour of hair gel and makeup to find the real Lauren inside. But he is reluctant to reveal too much of himself, and when Lauren finds out who he really is, the pool guy is in for the swim of his life.

Every time I read this story, it makes me happy! It is the holiday we all need.
See you at the launch.
Love, 
Karina
Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: THE POOL GUY by Melissa A. Volker

Spa manager Lauren runs a professional space, so when Wyatt, the pool cleaner, brings down the tone with his languorous manner and sketchy dress code, she loses her cool. Instead of being intimidated, Wyatt is captivated and tries to chip through her armour of hair gel and makeup to find the real Lauren inside. But he is reluctant to reveal too much of himself, and when Lauren finds out who he really is, the pool guy is in for the swim of his life.

Hotel. Spa. Pool. Summer. Sea. Romance.

This book is the holiday you need.

– QARNITA LOXTON

ISBN: 978-0-620-96484-5

Publication date: November 2021

MELISSA A. VOLKER is a reader, writer, beauty therapist and water woman. She lives in Cape Town with her husband, two daughters and a cat. She blogs about surfing and stand-up paddleboarding; writes eco-fiction, romance and short stories. Her first eco-romantic thriller, A Fractured Land, was published in the US in 2018 and was republished along with her second novel, Shadow Flicker, by Karavan Press in South Africa in 2019. Shadow Flicker won the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa’s Strelitzia Award for the most promising manuscript in 2017. Melissa’s short story, ‘Spa Ritual’, was published in Hair: Weaving and Unpicking Stories of Identity. The Pool Guy is her first novelette.

Karina Literary Awards

KARAVAN PRESS entries for the GBAS Book Cover Design Awards 2021

Celebrating the fabulous, multi-talented designers we work with:

Monique Cleghorn | Nick Mulgrew | Megan Ross | Stephen Symons

Not representing Karavan Press at the Awards this year, but hopefully next year again, is Megan Ross, who designed the stunning covers of Melissa A. Volker’s novels, A Fractured Land and Shadow Flicker (2019). Melissa’s third novel is on its way …

In the meantime, Megan’s SSDA Disruption cover features at the Awards in 2021:

GBAS Book Cover Design Awards

Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: THE POOL GUY by Melissa A. Volker

Hotel. Spa. Pool. Summer. Sea. Romance.

This book is the holiday you need.

– QARNITA LOXTON

Spa manager Lauren runs a professional space, so when Wyatt, the pool cleaner, brings down the tone with his languorous manner and sketchy dress code, she loses her cool. Instead of being intimidated, Wyatt is captivated and tries to chip through her armour of hair gel and makeup to find the real Lauren inside. But he is reluctant to reveal too much of himself, and when Lauren finds out who he really is, the pool guy is in for the swim of his life.

MELISSA A. VOLKER is a reader, writer, beauty therapist and water woman. She lives in Cape Town with her husband, two daughters and a cat. She blogs about surfing and stand-up paddleboarding; writes eco-fiction, romance and short stories. Her first eco-romantic thriller, A Fractured Land, was published in the US in 2018 and was republished along with her second novel, Shadow Flicker, by Karavan Press in South Africa in 2019. Shadow Flicker won the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa’s Strelitzia Award for the most promising manuscript in 2017. Melissa’s short story, ‘Spa Ritual’, was published in Hair: Weaving and Unpicking Stories of Identity. The Pool Guy is her first novelette.

Publication date: November 2021

ISBN: 978-0-620-96484-5