The first word that comes to mind when meeting Cicel Vosloo is inspiring.
Cicel, a Symhurst resident, recently had his first book, entitled Legion, published internationally through Partridge Publishing.
Writing under the name John C Vos (because having a pseudonym tickled his fancy), Cicel is excited about the book.
It tells the story of a man who finds a lamp and releases five alien spirits.
They then ask him to do a task for them.
This is the first in a four-part series and Cicel is already putting the finishing touches to the second book, with regard to the editing, and working on the third.
Cicel, who became blind after a freak accident, when he was 22 years old, does not let his lack of sight stop him from achieving the things he wants to in life.
“I grew up on a farm in Fochville and one day we were out beating a veld fire on the mine property next door, to prevent it spreading to our crops,” he explained.
“I hit a clump of grass and it exploded; thieves must have hidden dynamite underneath it.”
Cicel was in hospital for some time and then returned home to the farm.
“I stayed on the farm for another two years, but you can’t actually function on a farm being blind,” he said.
“I was very angry about what had happened to me, but I realised that I had to get my life in order, so I enrolled in a college for the blind in Pretoria.
“I was then lucky to get a job as a radio operator at a transport company.”
Cicel met Sonja in 2005, at church, and the couple married in 2008.
They have two sons, Connor (15) and Ruben (13).
His family is very supportive of his writing.
His idea for the book came from a dream.
“One night I dreamt that Sonja and my mother-in-law Agatha were cleaning a lamp and it fell to the floor,” he said.
“A genie appeared and offered to grant me one wish, and then I woke up.”
For days Cicel thought about the dream and what his one wish would be.
“I decided to write down my thoughts and 100 pages later my sister Magriet read what I had written and told me I should definitely continue to write it as a book,” Cicel said.
It took him six months to write the book, working mainly in the evenings and at weekends, using a special computer speech programme.
He did some research into aliens and various places where they have allegedly been sighted, and incorporated some of these ideas into the book.
However, he told the GCN, the nice thing about aliens is that you can pretty much use your imagination and create something special.
“You can make things from your wildest imagination come alive,” he said.
“While I am writing I see everything I am writing about in my mind’s eye and live my books.”
Along with his talent for writing, Cicel is also an exceptional chess player and has been chosen for the South African Blind Chess Team for the third time.
He will represent the country in Macedonia, next year, at the Braille Chess Olympiad and has been named captain of the team.
To attend the event the team needs sponsorship.
Cecil also used to play blind cricket for Gauteng.
When asked what he is going to write after completing his fourth book in the series, Cicel told the GCN he will “see what bites him”, as there are so many things to write about.
Legion can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Ingram and Baker and Taylor.
For more information about the book, email to johncvos024@gmail.com
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