Time to shake off the dust

After being in the cyber wilderness for just over a year, it is time to shake the dust off  The Max Files and breathe new life into my blog.

Much has been happening with me and Suzi over the past few years as we have travelled about South Africa and abroad and in-between launched our indie publishing business. We found that trying to get our books published by the main stream publishers was never going to be a proposition, so we took the plunge and dived headlong into publishing our first book. From there the business has taken on a life of its own.

Our first hard copy books:

• It all began with "The Climax Collection, the Secret Life of Windmills" a quirky but naughty coffee table book that looks at what they get up to when we are not looking. The books is filled with pictures of windmills taken on our travels, with captions to insure that you will never look at these iconic South African landmarks the same again. We are now into the third print run.

• This was followed by "Travels troubles with Koos". Written by Sue, it is a fun look at our travels around South Africa in my quirky and unreliable 4x4. The book is entertaining but at the same time provides great photos, details of interesting places and how to get there.

• We then decided to launch the Climax Collection 2. Another fun coffee table book that takes a look at what music windmills listen to when we are not around. 

• Currently at the printers and to be launched before Christmas is, "Santa's New Helpers". It is the first children's books from the series of African stories, "Tales from the Waterhole" that I've written. The book has been superbly illustrated by Port Elizabeth artist Theresa Hardman and promises to be a winner.

Visit the El Gecko Publishing website for more information about these books and other products.

The Climax Collection - The Secret Life Of Windmills - Special Offer

In honour of world book day, for today and tomorrow only (up to midnight, SA time, 24-04-2015) if you order one copy of the Climax Collection: The secret life of Windmills online from our website (www.theclimaxcollection.co.za), you will get a second copy for free, ideal as a Mother's or Fathers Day gift.

The Climax Collection - The Secret Life Of Windmills is a unique book which combines elements of coffee table photography and colloquial South African humour, with playful innuendo around the fact that most windmills in SA are Climaxes. It even offers a gentle armchair tour around some of South Africa’s back roads, because most of the photos have captions showing where the windmills were found.

It’s a fun book with quality photos of a well-loved South African icon, and the irreverent captions give it an amusing and unexpected twist. All this makes it the perfect gift for anyone who loves windmills and humour and is especially ideal for the man who is hard to shop for. The compact format makes this book easy to post overseas to all those visitors who would like a reminder of our unique country and to ex-pats who look forward to anything that reminds them of home.

Not one of the pictures from the book, but one taken on a recent trip to the Northern Cape, which I have called the "Sociable Climax" because the Sociable Weavers have decided that this is a perfect place to build their nest.

Just for fun I have also added a picture of two Sociable Weavers, being sociable with a stripe field mouse at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. This is an arid part of the country, where the windmills have a vital role in providing water to the animals in the park. The water these guys are drinking was poured into the bottle caps left lying about by careless picnickers - kind of shows how scarce water is for these creatures.

Skywatch Friday - Climax on a mountain

If you are not South African the title may have mislead you.................... 

Climax is the brand name of  a windmill, which is a common feature on the South African landscape and the name is often used as a synonym for windmill. It was also the inspiration for the name of the book my wife and I have just published, which has been promoted quite extensively in some of the earlier posts. 

This battered windmill, perched near the top of the Zuurberg Pass, in the Eastern Cape has the most spectacular panoramic views of the rolling countryside from Paterson to Port Elizabeth and beyond, with Algoa Bay as a backdrop. 

If you have never been to the top of the Zuurberg Pass, put it on your bucket list. The road is not the best, to put it mildly, but in Koos it was not a problem. The views in and from the mountains are breathtaking and worth the trip. On a misty day you may not see too much, but then just enjoy the atmosphere.

Visit the Skywatch site for more wonderful pictures from all over the world.

The Climax Collection: Give-away

The climax of a dream come true.

Well the books arrived from the printers on Monday and I suppose we will not be eating at the dining room table until we have managed to sell a few. This is what a 1,000 books look like, when all neatly packaged.

The Climax Collection is a book of windmill photos, with captions reflecting our own wacky brand of humour. The pictures were gathered while travelling over thousands of miles around South Africa and there was much hilarity as Sue and I hit upon many of the captions, when we saw the opportunities.

According the Africa, this is why I live here Facebook page, it is "The most 'naughty but nice' truly South African keepsake book you could ever wish to find."

To promote the book we are giving away two copies this week, in two separate competitions:

Competition 1 on Africa, this is why I live here, ends tomorrow but if you are quick, there is still time to enter. All it requires is for you to 1. LIKE The Climax Collection's Facebook page.

2. LIKE the post on the Africa page and 3. SHARE the post.

Competition 2 on the The Climax Collection's Facebook page gives you the opportunity to join in the fun by adding your caption to the featured windmill photo. Pop over our site to enter.

The Climax Collection: The secret life of windmills

What started off as a fun idea, while Sue and I were travelling and indulging in our passion for photography, has now become a fun book on windmills.  

The Climax Collection: The secret life of windmills is a unique book, part coffee-table photography, part colloquial South African humour and part travel. Once you have gone through it you will never look a windmill again without smiling.

The book is hot off the press and we are expecting it to arrive by Wednesday next week. We will  have updates on where and when copies can be bought on our Facebook page The Climax Collection: The secret life of windmills. 

The book can be ordered on line from our distributors Porcupine Press.