When photographer Leigh McCabe has a void that needs to be filled, one that she did not even know she had until a chance meeting with Michael Marais. Because the unassuming IT geek—known as ‘Just Mikey’ to his friends—transforms into ‘Sir Michael’ on Saturday nights when he practices his art of Shibari—Japanese rope bondage—in a nightclub at the dirty end of Johannesburg’s city centre. Leigh is taken with the Work of Sir Michael, and asks him if he would be her tutor, a proposition which sees Leigh as Sir Michael’s consensual submissive.
In a journey that utilises his unusual talents, Leigh and Mikey engage in a friendship of mutual self-discovery which deepens each other’s understanding of themselves–and each other.
This is a very pleasant arrangement, until Mikey falls in love with his student, and Leigh needs to decide what she desires more: the mind and heart of Sir Michael, or the exciting relationship with her bad-boy boyfriend, Wayne. But when this choice is forcibly taken from her, someone will need to clean up the mess.
Raw, authentic, and erotic, Discovering Leigh is the most unusual of love stories that is not just about indulging in your fetishist desires; but about identity, truth, trust, lust, love, and betrayal, and if any of those words mean what Leigh thinks they mean.
With her world torn apart, Leigh McCabe is just trying to adapt to the mundane task of just living life again. Angry, confused and hurt by events of the recent past, she is wondering if she can love again. Until eighteen-year-old wannabe-model Giulia Hoffmann enters her life, and gives her an unexpected but welcome counterpoint: a woman’s touch, and the opportunity to be the dominant partner in a BDSM relationship. But Giulia also asks a question Leigh does not want to face: what about the man in her life, the one who carried her through the most traumatic part of her life? Finding herself in a love triangle for the second time in her life, Leigh needs to choose, and what will the consequences of those choices be?
Giulia herself is lashing out at the world and trying to find her place in it, when she has to face a dilemma: stand on her own two feet without a support system mere months after leaving school, or rehome back to her native Germany. This a prospect not even worth considering, especially now that Miss McCabe is adding some colour to her life.
However, circumstance removes the option of choosing, and both women have to accept the unpredicted outcome. A situation that forces Leigh and Giulia to ask what love, lust, commitment, and ‘unconditional’ really means, and how to deal with the surprising answers.
Defining Giulia is a powerful tour de force: a contradictory of blend of imagination and authenticity which takes the reader on a harrowing journey of devotion, love and loss
Defining Giulia is expected 28 May 2020
Warning: Defining Giulia is intended for mature readers only.
The storyline deals with controversial and sensitive
topics that could be triggering to some.
When photographer Leigh McCabe has a void that needs to be filled, one that she did not even know she had until a chance meeting with Michael Marais. Because the unassuming IT geek—known as ‘Just Mikey’ to his friends—transforms into ‘Sir Michael’ on Saturday nights when he practices his art of Shibari—Japanese rope bondage—in a nightclub at the dirty end of Johannesburg’s city centre. Leigh is taken with the Work of Sir Michael, and asks him if he would be her tutor, a proposition which sees Leigh as Sir Michael’s consensual submissive.
In a journey that utilises his unusual talents, Leigh and Mikey engage in a friendship of mutual self-discovery which deepens each other’s understanding of themselves–and each other.
This is a very pleasant arrangement, until Mikey falls in love with his student, and Leigh needs to decide what she desires more: the mind and heart of Sir Michael, or the exciting relationship with her bad-boy boyfriend, Wayne. But when this choice is forcibly taken from her, someone will need to clean up the mess.
Raw, authentic, and erotic, Discovering Leigh is the most unusual of love stories that is not just about indulging in your fetishist desires; but about identity, truth, trust, lust, love, and betrayal, and if any of those words mean what Leigh thinks they mean.
Warning: Discovering Leigh is intended for mature readers only.
The storyline deals with controversial and sensitive
topics that could be triggering to some.
In the world of YouTube and Amazon.com, do we really need another photography manual? Absolutely. Because From Snapshot to Hotshot is the only resource which offers a guide to photography in a structured and ordered way from basic principles upwards. Teaching everything you need to know – and nothing you don’t – From Snapshot to Hotshot is a jargon-free, plain-English guide to photography.
But wait, there’s more! Not only does this comprehensive guide teach the tech, it also teaches the philosophy behind photography: how to look, see, and think; how to apply your mind in order to become a better photographer.
(Product delivery: 52 MB PDF Document – Payment via PayPal)
Compliments to Gerry Pelser who authored this book. Easy to read writing style and well executed descriptions that sets the stage for this book. Discovering Leigh was a treat to read. I enjoyed the non-cliche and surprise characteristics of the two main characters and the excellent character development that took place. The book gives an informative yet fascinating glimpse into a world that was not known to me and challenged many preconceived ideas that I had about it. Finished the book in one day and enjoyed every moment. A must read.
This book has excellent character development. The story line is immersive and whisks you to a world of BDSM. This story has a unique way to tantalize all the senses and visualise the scene taking place. This book had me laughing, angry, crying and the effects remained with me days later. The author has a unique attention to detail a definite read.
I found this book to be quite an unexpectedly 'tender' tale of a journey into the discovery of BDSM. I loved Gerry's character portrayals and had the impression, from the beginning that he knew the people in the book personally. I must say that writing & publishing in your second language is challenging and there were quite a few typos in the book. However, this did not detract from the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
This was at the same time a difficult read and yet unputdownable. Difficult, not in a bad way, but because there were times I had to digest it, give it great thought, challenge my own preconceptions and then move on. Human nature has always fascinated me and Gerry has gone a long way in opening up new perceptions to me in this book . If only we all, honestly, lived by those rules stipulated at the beginning of the book, hell, we'd be a way better species. I look forward to future writing from Gerry.
Coming from A strict Calvanistic, Religeous backround this book was supposed to be on my taboo list, but "Discovering Leigh" took me on a journey of self discovery, acceptance of others and an expansion of my mind about things that I never gave much thought to. A must read for everyone who THINKS they know what BDSM is. "Discovering Leigh" was not what I expected! A MUST READ!
There’s more to me than words. I took my first photograph when I was 5 or 6 with my father’s Kodak Ektralite, and since then I’ve been in love with photography, if not had the opportunity. I started my ‘serious’ career in photography as a fine art student in 1993 when I had an old Ricoh XR7 that was bust in such an interesting way it only worked when held upside down. For many years I was a ‘serious hobbyist’, but in 2008 (or thereabouts) I turned pro. And while pro photography is a great way to earn a living, I still love to venture away from the commercial side and engage my artistic side when the opportunity arises.
Apart from telling stories with words and images, I have a commercial side as well.
My professional services include corporate and industrial photography, product photography, modeling portfolios, graphic design, book cover design, and book layout design (InDesign).
You can find my commercial work at www.gerry.co.za
Gerry Pelser is a photographer and writer living in the suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa, with his wife, Andrea, (who he adores, and who is always right), two super-cool Hungarian Puli puppies, and a stuffed baby petite hippo named Felicity.
He loves visiting his in-laws in Germany, but hates flying. He got married under a solar eclipse in the North Pole. No, really. He is zealous about design, story-telling, teaching, and absolutely infatuated with photographic lighting. He spends way too much time on social media and has an unhealthy obsession with beer, chicken wings, and cricket.
Having previously published a photographic manual, his first work of long-form fiction, “Discovering Leigh”, was published in 2018. The followup, “Defining Giulia” is on the precipice of publication.
