Shaun Michael Jooste (born 3 May 1980), known online as Shaun M Jooste, is a South African novelist and business owner who provides freelance content services to businesses worldwide.
While having worked and studied as a Facilities Manager in Cape Town’s local government, his passion was towards writing with an ambition to have his novels published. After leaving this occupation, he pursued writing his books full-time while delving into screenwriting and game writing.
During this time, he established the publishing company Celenic Earth Publications. When the pandemic hit South Africa in 2020, he turned to content services, such as writing for websites, editing, and content project management.
Table of Contents
SNIPPETS
Born: 3 May 1980, Ottery, Cape Town
Current Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Occupation: CEO, Freelancer, Novelist
Passions/Hobbies: Novelist, Screenwriter, Game Writer, Bonsai Enthusiast, Guitarist, Fishing
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Erotica, Science Fiction, Psychological Thriller
Notable works: Celenic Earth Chronicles, Silent Hill: Betrayal
Spouse: Tamarin Charlotte Jooste (m. 28 August 2010)
Children: Nathan (b. 2011), Avril (b. 2015)
Early Life of Shaun M Jooste
Shaun M Jooste was born in Ottery, Cape Town, on 3 May 1980. His father is Peter Robert Jooste, a retired electrician for the City of Cape Town local government, and his mother is Wilhelmina, called Mina by friends. He has a younger brother, Clayton, and a young sister, Nicole, and nephews and nieces through them. He also has an older half-sister, Naomi.
Jooste spent much of his childhood in his favourite town, Vredenburg, between the fishing villages Saldanha and Paternoster. His family, including his grandparents and many cousins, were predominantly Roman Catholic.
His family moved to various locations over his early life, which led to him not wanting to establish long-term friendships. After his parents divorced in 1995, he spent most of his time mastering his guitar, completing his studies, and exploring new relationships. From a young age, he suffered from chronic asthma that led to other health issues, such as allergies, chest infections, and similar ailments. He was also infected with the COVID virus at the start of 2022, which caused massive lung strain due to this asthmatic condition.
Personal Life
Relationships and Family
Shaun M Jooste had several relationships in his life, while he was engaged twice before breaking them off. In early 2010, he met Tamarin Corcoran, known as Tammy, through a mutual friend. After chatting for several weeks on Mxit, a mobile chat app at the time, they started seeing each other romantically. Jooste was so convinced he had found someone to spend his life with that he proposed to her a few months later.
While they had planned to marry on the Blaauwberg beach in Table View (where he had proposed) on 28 August 2010, early rain caused them to move the location to the reception area. Since it was a small wedding due to having a tight budget, only the closest family and friends were invited.
On 25 January 2011, Nathan Michael Jooste was born, taking on Shaun’s second name, with his first name inspired by the prophet Nathan from the Bible in the Old Testament, who was an advisor to King David. On 20 April 2015, Avril Charlotte Jooste was born, taking on Tamarin’s second name and inspired by the French name for spring and April, and the singer-guitarist Avril Lavigne.
Religion/Faith
While Shaun M Jooste was raised and confirmed Roman Catholic, an incident in 1999 caused him to question the religion and move away from the church. He remained close to God as the creator of all things in the universe, still revering Him at home. There were a few years where he studied other beliefs, predominantly Wiccan, but seen in the light of Christianity. He loves the philosophy of The Tree of Life, which he still researches and studies to this day. Jooste also joined a Baptist church for a few years while dating a Baptist at that time.
After meeting Tamarin and having children, they wanted their children to have a faith foundation. Jooste returned to the Roman Catholic faith at a church near their home, while Tamarin was confirmed as a Catholic. Their children were also baptised and taught Catholic lessons at the church.
When COVID hit South Africa, everyone was forced to stay home for more than a year due to the lockdown, which meant the churches closed for services. Due to another incident, both Shaun and Tamarin decided not to return when the churches opened while still practising their beliefs at home. He doesn’t identify with a religious sect anymore, stating that Faith is more important than religion with man’s hypocritical rules and double standards.
Political Views
When it comes to politics, Shaun M Jooste had exposure to the political system when he worked for the City of Cape Town local government. He’s openly Tweeted his support for the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has held power in the Western Cape for several years. Thanks to his career in government, he met and did some work for the former Mayors and several sub-council members. However, he’s never been involved in any public political events, except when it was time to vote.
Education
Primary and Secondary School
In 1987, Shaun M Jooste attended Langebaanweg Primary School, where his father worked as an electrician in the small airforce base town. When his parents moved to Vredenburg in 1990, he shifted to the primary school in the area. In 1993 in the final term of the last year of primary school, his family moved to Bothasig in Cape Town due to his father being transferred to the Public Works Department. He ended up in Wolraad Woltemade school.
Fortunately, his previous school was ahead in education than the new school, so Jooste aced the final exams. However, he experienced bullying for the first time, where other boys picked on him and beat him up for being the new kid in school and having more ambition to learn. While his former school praised intelligence and competed for high marks, the boys in the new school frowned upon it.
When Shaun M Jooste passed, he went to Bosmandsam High School from 1994 to 1996. The previous bullies now had new enemies, the older kids that picked on them. While he had a bit of reprieve from them, they still chose their moments to insult him or threaten to fight him.
While his parents’ divorce in 1995 had a massive negative effect on him, changing schools was a massive relief. He moved with his mother, brother and sister to Goodwood, where he attended Fairbairn College, completing his senior certificate in 1998. He was back in a school that aimed for his honours and awards, where most students targeted 100%, if not more, for tests and exams.
With more intellectual friends and students by his side, Jooste enjoyed his last two years of school while achieving an average of 74% on his senior certificate. The subjects that he studied and passed were English, Afrikaans, Mathematics, Biology, Science, and Woodwork.
Certification in A+ PC Technician
In 2000, computers and the internet were still relatively new concepts. Since Shaun M Jooste had some experience with PCs at home, he decided it would be a good idea to complete a certificate as an A+ PC technician. It formed the basis of his computer experience for years to come, but he never made a career from it
Diploma in Marketing Management
Thanks to advice from his girlfriend at the time, Shaun M Jooste completed a diploma in Marketing Management in 2000 with Tygerberg College. While it was an interesting topic, it wasn’t a subject matter that particularly interested him. However, it helped form the basis for marketing his company in years to come.
Courses and Certificates in Local Government
During his career in local government, Shaun M Jooste participated in many workshops and classes that were needed at the time. Some were focused on IT programs, such as Excel, Word, and others, while there was also an intense focus on Project Management. Most of them were simply certificates of attendance, but Jooste also qualified for designing offices in AutoCAD. The City of Cape Town paid for or provided all the courses as part of training and developing initiatives.
Higher Certificate in Facilities Management
While working for the City of Cape Town local government, a new branch called Facilities Management was formed. Also, the FM industry was brand new, which meant business opportunities for Shaun M Jooste in Council. Thanks to his high marks, especially in Maths and Science, in school, he qualified for the Higher Certificate in Facilities Management. In 2010, after studying for a year while working, he passed it through the Academy for Facilities Management.
Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management: Specialising in Facilities Management
Once Shaun M Jooste completed his Higher Certificate in Facilities Management, he discovered that he needed a degree to apply for a management position. After some research, he applied to the University of Free State for its Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management: Specialising in Facilities Management, funded by the City of Cape Town local government. From 2012 to 2014, he studied the modules part-time long distance, attending class thrice a year while studying from home. He finally obtained the degree in 2014.
Crime Scene Investigation Certificate
From 2005 to 2007, Shaun M Jooste worked for the Departmental Inspectors department in Council. They had two Crime Scene Investigation books that he loved reading in his spare time. This was also a time that the CSI and other crime TV shows were incredibly popular. In 2013, while studying for his FM degree, he applied and paid for an Intec course in Crime Scene Investigation. To his surprise, the books that arrived were the same he had read through before. He took the exam soon after and passed with 100%, receiving praise for his case study example from the educators.
SEO Certification
After establishing Celenic Earth Publications in 2016 and learning how to create a website, Shaun M Jooste became familiar with SEO principles. Since then, he’s attended online courses and workshops, free and paid, to understand how search engines rank articles online. It’s an ever-growing industry, and Jooste does his best to keep up with new best practices. However, he doesn’t consider himself an expert, often complaining that SEO doesn’t work at the best of times.
Autodidact Mindset
From a young age, Shaun M Jooste presented an autodidact mindset. With an inquisitive mind, he’s always eager to learn, even if that means teaching himself. He would rather study at home alone than sit in a classroom with a lecturer. Whether in a library before the internet or online afterwards, he’s taught himself to do many things independently, such as playing guitar and violin, publishing books, gardening, programming, accountancy and running a company.
Passions and Hobbies
Novelist
Shaun M Jooste started writing his first novel in 2002, with his first book published in 2007. While he had varied experiences in school with English teachers, one specific one encouraged him to pursue writing as a career. In his final senior year, the Guidance Counselor advised him to follow a career that deals with plants and animals due to his high biology marks. Needless to say, Jooste decided to follow his heart and write novels.
Desire to Write Novels
It was in 1996 that his desire to write novels first appeared. After his parents’ divorce, he spent lots of time in the library and at home consuming fantasy books. Some top names include Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Rowling’s Harry Potter, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern, Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger series, and Terry Pratchett’s fantasy novels. You can see many influences from titles like these in his Celenic Earth Chronicles epic fantasy trilogy.
Perhaps the most influential series was Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant volumes. They have a massive influence on him, and Jooste fell into their pages during his darkest teenage and adolescent years.
While completing his senior studies at Fairbairn College, Shaun M Jooste spent more time creating maps and worlds than being social or pursuing relationships. He often completed his exams early, and he would use the back of his exam papers to write poems or note ideas for books while waiting for permission to leave the classroom.
First Novel: The Windfarer
It was in 2002 that Shaun M Jooste first decided to pursue writing his first novel. He started with completing the overall lore for the Celenic Earth Chronicles before planning what he called Shadowolf Volume 1: The Windfarer. Since he was working and focused on looking for a meaningful relationship at the time, it took him several years writing chapters by hand. In 2005, he finally typed the novel on a computer until he completed the first draft in 2006.
The Hunt for Publishers
With the first draft of The Windfarer at hand, Jooste approached a local traditional publishing house down the road from his work in 2006. While it was well received and described as an outstanding story, the company replied that they weren’t in the market for fantasy books. It said that the country wasn’t ready for fantasy stories yet, even though Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies were becoming popular in South African cinemas.
With this feedback in mind, Shaun M Jooste approached overseas publishers online. After sending a few queries, Raider Publishing responded with an interest in publishing the fantasy series. In 2007, The Windfarer was published in the US, while being made available in South Africa, the UK, Australia, and other locations on Amazon. In 2008, the second book, The DragonRider, was published by Raider.
New Publisher: African Publishers
While Shaun M Jooste completed the final book of the trilogy, The Sadgi, in 2009, he was hesitant to remain with Raider Publishing. He had heard from other writers that it was a scam company, lying about its location in the US and keeping royalties to itself. While he had requested that the publisher remove the first two books from circulation, they are still listed on Amazon.
Feeling despondent, Jooste decided to leave writing books for a few years to focus on his studies and getting his degree. In 2015 after his education was complete, he looked for a new publisher, which is when his father suggested African Publishers after reading about them in the newspaper.
Jooste emailed them and discussed the trilogy. After reading the fantasy novels, the company stated that it was a fantastic fantasy series that they were eager to publish. However, after working on them for six months, the publisher indicated that they would simply publish the books, and the rest was up to the author.
Starting a New Publishing Company
Shaun M Jooste was dissatisfied that the new publisher wasn’t willing to market or help sell his novels. Also, he wanted a larger audience than South Africa. Using his autodidact abilities, he researched what it took to publish books, using the current local printers for his trilogy as a basis. From there, he listed his books on Amazon, Smashwords, and other sites before marketing them on social media.
It was in 2016 that Jooste decided he wanted to publish books under a company name and not his own. He registered a new private company, Celenic Earth Publications, to republish all three books with new covers and ISBNs.
It was also the same year that he published his first Silent Hill novel, Betrayal. Thanks to its popularity at launch, he made new acquaintances in various industries. Celenic Earth Publications became a big name, and writers started asking if the company would publish short story volumes. Since then, CEP has been publishing other writers’ books.
The Silent Hill Drama
One of the top horror games that Shaun M Jooste loved was Silent Hill. He loved the lore around it and wished he could write some stories based on them. Taking a chance, he emailed Konami in 2014, asking if he could receive permission to create horror novels based on the games with fresh stories.
Konami support responded that Jooste could contact the South African licence holder, Ster Kinekor. By doing so, he received permission to proceed with his Silent Hill novels as long as he didn’t write about the brand in a negative way.
With this approval, Jooste planned a 7-book series and started with the first one, Silent Hill: Betrayal. Learning his lesson from before, he marketed the book far and wide. Silent Hill fans were eager to read it, and so it successfully launched in 2016.
Running Celenic Earth Publications while working for Council, and then leaving to manage it full-time in 2018, took up lots of Jooste’s time. He planned and started writing the second horror novel, Silent Hill: Obversion, with a view to finally launching it in 2022.
In October 2022, Konami surprised Silent Hill fans by announcing a remake of SH2, new SH games, and a new movie. Due to this, a representative of Konami emailed Shaun M Jooste, asking to see the permission he received for writing Silent Hill books. After sharing the records, Konami stated that the support team was wrong in sending him to Ster Kinekor, who had no right to grant the permission.
While Jooste accepted the decision, he applied for rights to continue his Silent Hill novels. It was declined in January 2023, stating that the book series wasn’t in line with their plans for the brand. Shaun M Jooste made an announcement that he would continue with the Boatman Saga, but rename the town Sacred Valley. He aims to rework both books and republish both soon.
Heroes of Antreya: The Journey Begins
Thanks to his Silent Hill book, he made a few new acquaintances along the way. One of them was Dean Clark, who introduced him to Antreya Studios, which was developing an MMORPG called Antreya Chronicles Online. It gave Shaun M Jooste and Clark a chance to collaborate on a fantasy novel together called Heroes of Antreya: The Journey Begins.
While it was published in 2017, the Antreya Project came to a standstill in 2022, leading to the book being made free on Smashwords until further notice. All plans to continue the fantasy book series came to a halt.
Upcoming Novels
Shaun M Jooste has mentioned on his blog several times that he has a list of planned upcoming novels. Some of them are noted, while others are in progress. The ones closest to completion include:
- Sacred Valley: Betrayal (horror)
- Sacred Valley: Obversion (horror)
- Malum: Rise of the Deadly Sins (dark fantasy)
- Open Door (erotic thriller)
- Resilience: Dawn of a New World (horror)
Online Content Writer / Journalist
When Silent Hill: Betrayal launched in 2016, Shaun M Jooste became better known among the writing and SH online communities. An acquaintance he made, Andy Hodgetts, introduced him to Pulse Entertainment, where he was offered a content writing position in the gaming news category. Fellow writer Dean Clark introduced him to GameTyrant, where he held the same position for gaming and entertainment news. Besides his own author site, it was the first time he had experience with online content and SEO.
In 2017, Jooste and Hodgetts had a fallout with the owner of Pulse Entertainment. With the knowledge gained from running a gaming news site, they founded AIR Entertainment, with AIR standing for announcements, interviews, and reviews. Shaun M Jooste paid for a fully upgraded WordPress site, consistently producing gaming news and reviews. He placed it as a sub-division of his publishing company, Celenic Earth Publications.
Since his focus shifted to AIR Entertainment, he decided to leave GameTyrant. Also, his work at Council with mayoral entities became more intense. Jooste considered limiting how many gaming sites he wrote content for, especially since GameTyrant wasn’t paying for the freelance work.
Until 2020, writing online content for CEP and AIR was just a hobby and passion. When he joined Captain Words, it became his main source of income, which will be covered under the Career section. During this work, he didn’t have time to manage AIR anymore, and the team became frustrated with his lack of involvement in the gaming news site. Out of respect for them, himself and his clients, he left AIR to focus on his career, handing the site over to the team.
Poet
One of the writing categories Shaun M Jooste doesn’t speak much about is his poetry. After his parents were divorced and the years of depression that followed, he found an escape by writing poetry. From 1995 to 2005, he wrote over 600 poems that he stored in a file. Most of them focus on real-life experiences, especially with his partners over those years. He divided them into Eras, each section devoted to one of his partners or a period of his life.
In 2018, he decided to start publishing his poems for anyone that was going through the same dark times he did. The first one was called The Sickle Rose: The Lonely Era, focusing on the time between 1995 and 1997.
Later, poems started making an appearance in his novels, especially where prophecies were concerned. However, he stopped writing poems about his life and as an escape after 2005.
Screenwriter
Shaun M Jooste wasn’t satisfied with just writing books. He wanted to do more. With his autodidact abilities, he bought books and studied online in 2014 to become a screenwriter for movies and series. The two most influential books were The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier and How to Write a Great Script with Final Draft 9 by Wallace Wang.
While researching online, he read about the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival and decided he wanted to write a science fiction feature film called The Space Drifter. It took him three months to complete it with guidance from the book listed above on the Final Draft 9 program. Jooste paid for submission into the competition and waited patiently.
Early in 2016, the 2015 Cinequest competition had closed and winners were announced. While The Space Drifter didn’t win, it was recommended by many of the judges as having a solid story and a promising feature sci-fi film.
With this positive encouragement, Shaun M Jooste joined Screen32, an online community of screenwriters, directors and producers. He made an effort to market his screenplay, mentioning his influences. Author David Trottier noticed the mention of his book on Jooste’s profile, encouraging him to keep going.
When Neill Blomkamp released the movie District 9 in 2009, it was a big deal for Jooste. Since Blomkamp was South African, it gave inspiration that Jooste could achieve more. In 2016, fresh off the news of his Cinequest recommendation, he started looking for a screenwriting project. He had read online that Blomkamp had worked with Majority Entertainment.
After some more research, Shaun M Jooste made contact with Majority Entertainment in early 2016. They discussed a Chinese fantasy film called Deeds of Yen, for which they offered Jooste a minimum of R100,000 for the first movie if it was optioned for production in China.
It took Jooste several months of back-and-forth working on the script and several revisions while sticking to the tone and requirements. By the end of 2016, Majority Entertainment made a complete change in the vision and what they wanted from the story, frustrating Jooste. It became clear that he was doing months of work with no pay, and it felt like this “sudden” change was just a way to force him to quit the project. Feeling irritated with the abrupt change in plans, Jooste left the project.
Between 2016 and 2017, Shaun M Jooste listed three loglines on Screen32: The Space Drifter, a TV series called The CopyCat Effect, and Kilo 8. The Space Drifter won the award for the 2017 Logline of the Year, receiving praise for the concept and pitch.
Unfortunately, Jooste didn’t market The Space Drifter much after that, and it became lost in time. He also hasn’t made much effort in the screenwriting field, although he still lists himself as a screenwriter with the Writers Guild of South Africa (WGSA).
Game Writer
Jooste has loved video games ever since his parents bought the Atari console in 1991. His aunt also introduced him to the Nintendo Super Entertainment System console around that time, where they competed in games like Pac-Man. In Vredenburg, an arcade sprung up, showing him beloved titles like TMNT 2 Arcade and Mortal Kombat 1. Since then, he’s owned a PS1, PS2, PSVita, Xbox 360, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and a gaming PC, showing his love for the gaming industry. He also enjoys mobile and tabletop games.
Thanks to his connection with Dean Clark and Antreya Studios, Shaun M Jooste became a game writer for the fantasy MMORPG Antreya Chronicles Online from 2016 until 2023. He helped work on the lore, website content with game information and scripts for dialogue and character descriptions. It was his love for and understanding of Elder Scrolls Online that made him an ideal fit.
In 2022, many team members left while the game was being presented to investors. At the moment, development on the game is on hiatus, but Jooste remains hopeful that writing for it will continue. He hasn’t pursued writing for any other games yet, but is working on his own title, Bonsai Simulator, as well as plans for a game series for his epic fantasy novels that will be similar to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, with an open-world RPG element.
Martial Arts
Mostly due to being bullied in school, Shaun M Jooste developed a desire to learn martial arts to defend himself. He studied books in the library between 1993 and 1999 on self-defence with a focus on Taekwondo and Kung Fu, training in his bedroom. Games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter also inspired him.
In 2002, he discovered the Wu Shu Academy in Goodwood near the library he visited. He took up Tai Chi, learning the defensive fighting form of Kung Fu that most people usually use for meditation. He studied for three years, moving up the grades until he left in 2005 when he moved to a new city. Much of what he learnt went into his epic fantasy novels, the Celenic Earth Chronicles, especially the movement of Chi, or energy.
In 2012, he was missing his martial arts training. After searching online, he found the Chinese Martial Arts and Health Center that also taught Tai Chi, hoping to progress in his studies. It was near one of the buildings he was managing for Council at the time. Instead of training further in Tai Chi, the academy encourages him to study Shaolin Wu Shu, which Jooste proceeded to do.
He trained and studied for three years in Shaolin Wu Shu, passing into the third year in 2015 and feeling like part of the Academy’s family. A massive change happened in Jooste’s life that year, with him finally clearing his debt, buying a new house, and the birth of his daughter. It was a new life for him with more costs, which meant he couldn’t afford the martial arts training anymore.
His Sifu, Marco Kavalieratos, presented him with a book, Key to Hong Quan by Master Chen Qing He, so that he could continue training at home. Jooste still treasures it to this day, training his children in Tai Chi and Shaolin Wu Shu.
Bonsai Enthusiast
In 2009 after a bad breakup, Shaun M Jooste became reacquainted with friends he knew between 2002 and 2005, one of which was Mark Jacobs. Through this friendship, he learnt the art of bonsai and wanted to care for his own trees. It wasn’t long before he found a passion for growing new ones from seed and cuttings, rekindling his love for nature that his Guidance Counsellor had advised him to follow as a career.
Ever since then, Jooste has been buying or growing bonsai trees. The Cape Town drought of 2015 and 2016 killed many of his bonsais, especially when he moved into his new house. He’s been slowly growing them again, showing them off on his Instagram account.
Guitarist and Violinist
Jooste’s father was in a local band in his youth and adolescent years. While growing up, Shaun M Jooste often listened to his father playing an acoustic guitar, sparking his love for stringed instruments. From the age of 15, he borrowed his father’s acoustic guitar and learnt from library books how to play. When he was 20 years old in 2000, he finally bought his own black Pearl acoustic guitar that he still owns to this day.
In 2013, he decided it was time to level up his guitar skills. He bought an electric guitar, followed by a bass guitar in the same year, watching YouTube videos and playing the video game Rocksmith 2014 to learn how to master the instruments. This was followed by purchasing and learning how to play the violin in 2015 by watching online videos.
While Shaun M Jooste plays his instruments in the comfort of his home, he has no interest in pursuing a career in becoming a musician or a singer, both of which are passions of his. He doesn’t enjoy playing for an audience, as the music he creates or the covers he plays is simply to soothe his soul.
Fishing
Growing up, Shaun M Jooste spent some time fishing with his father when he went on fishing trips with his friends. During one of his relationships between 2005 and 2008, Jooste would spend time in Rooi Els with his partner’s family in their holiday home, where they would fish on the beach and from a boat.
In 2022, Jooste wanted his children to experience the same joy with fishing. He bought licenses for them and Tamarin, while buying rods and equipment at the Fishing Specialists in Goodwood. Their favourite locations were Melkbosstrand for sea fishing and Door de Kraal Dam in Durbanville for freshwater fishing.
Bibliography
Book Title | Series Allocation | Genre | Year Published | Current Publisher |
Celenic Earth Chronicles: Book 1 | Epic Fantasy | 2007; 2015; 2016 | Celenic Earth Publications | |
Celenic Earth Chronicles: Book 2 | Epic Fantasy | 2008; 2015; 2016 | Celenic Earth Publications | |
Celenic Earth Chronicles: Book 3 | Epic Fantasy | 2015; 2016 | Celenic Earth Publications | |
Antreya Chronicles: The Journey Begins | Antreya Chronicles Book 1 | Fantasy | 2017 (removed from publication in 2019) | Celenic Earth Publications |
Boatman Saga: Book 1 | Horror, psychological thriller | Celenic Earth Publications | ||
Standalone | Non-fiction Guide | 2023 | Celenic Earth Publications | |
Sacred Valley: Betrayal | Boatman Saga: Book 1 | Horror, psychological thriller | Upcoming publication | Celenic Earth Publications |
Sacred Valley: Obversion | Boatman Saga: Book 2 | Horror, psychological thriller | Upcoming publication | Celenic Earth Publications |
Open Door | Standalone | Erotic thriller | Upcoming publication | Celenic Earth Publications |
Rise of the Deadly Sins | Malum: Book 1 | Dark Fantasy | Upcoming publication | Celenic Earth Publications |
Career
7 Eleven
While completing his final matric year in high school, Shaun M Jooste started earning some money on weekends as a packer at a local 7 Eleven store down the road from where he lived. It gave him a sense of what sacrificing free time for money felt like, but it wasn’t the more rewarding job.
CNA
As soon as Shaun M Jooste completed high school, his mother assisted him in looking for work. In 1999, he obtained a job with the CNA store in N1 City Mall, Goodwood. He started as a cashier but eventually also rotated as a floor assistant and junior floor manager within a few months. His love for video games also got him a pot in the gaming section of the store, promoting titles and providing information to customers.
City of Cape Town Local Government
In 2000, his girlfriend at the time secured Shaun M Jooste an interview with the local government, now known as the City of Cape Town. They were looking for someone with maths expertise to fill a temporary position in the Supply Chain Management branch, the Tenders division. With his high maths scores and logical approach, the government signed him on a 12-month contract.
Due to HR and appointment processes at the time, the government extended the contract for a further 12 months until the end of 2001. Since a branch in local government at the time couldn’t extend beyond two years without making someone permanent, Jooste soon realised he would be out of a job. Not wanting to lose him, a manager in another branch signed him on another 12-month contract with Departmental Inspections in January 2002, which is when Jooste started learning about forensics and investigative techniques.
With further contract extensions provided, Jooste decided to let management know in 2004 that he needed a more permanent solution and was going to scout externally for a new career. The management team, who had learnt to rely on him for his skills, approached the Director to request appointing him on a permanent contract. It was approved, and he was appointed as an administrative assistant to the branch manager of Asset Management and Procurement.
Shaun M Jooste went through several internal roles and sections in the branch at that time until the Facilities Management branch was created in 2008. With his knowledge gained in the different sections over the years, he was now able to put them all to good use. It led to his studies and obtaining a degree in Facilities Management in 2014.
During this time and the years that followed, Shaun M Jooste assisted in developing new systems in the FM branch. Besides an overall model for managing more than 600 buildings across the city, he also became Acting Building Manager for the CBD region in 2012, where he was personally responsible for more than 40 buildings and facilities. While managing these facilities, he received an award from the City’s Mayor for outstanding services delivered. He also applied for the position after the former manager retired.
Sadly, despite acing the tests and becoming the only eligible person for the position, the Mayor turned down his appointment due to Employment Equity reasons, stating that there were too many white males at that management level. The position was readvertised without Jooste being considered the second time.
After someone was appointed, Jooste continued as an assistant to the new Building Manager until he moved to the Space Management division in Facilities Management in 2012. He assisted in developing new management models and systems at that time, such as the integration of SAP with AutoCad designs. He once again aided management with improved management of all facilities across the City.
In 2017, Shaun M Jooste realised that he had been stuck in an admin assistant role since his permanent employment in 2004. With all he had accomplished, he applied for a promotion to Senior Project Manager, who would manage the system he helped develop in Space Management. Unfortunately, the role called for a qualification he didn’t have, despite all the skills acquired while developing the system. He, therefore, didn’t qualify for the position.
In a meeting that followed, the FM manager informed him that there was nothing more they could do for him. Feeling despondent, Shaun M Jooste knew he wouldn’t get anywhere if he remained in council. In early 2018, he submitted his resignation letter and put all his attention on his publishing company and novels.
Celenic Earth Publications
After Shaun M Jooste republished his Celenic Earth Chronicles novels with African Publishers in 2015, they told him that he can contact the printers directly for copies and further marketing. When he made contact with Groep 7 Drukkers (Group 7 Printers), he realised just how easy it was to publish his books himself.
Until that time, he was satisfied simply publishing under his own name. When he realised he wanted to make a side business of it, he created Celenic Earth Publications in 2016. He officially registered the business in 2017, which is when he became CEO and the primary Director.
At first, Shaun M Jooste mainly focused on his own books. However, his Silent Hill book became increasingly popular, and many writers asked if he would publish anthology volumes for them to submit short stories. Soon, others became interested in publishing under CEP. In 2018, he decided to resign from the local government to run his company full-time from home.
There will be a separate Wiki page for Celenic Earth Publications and all that Jooste accomplished since its inception in 2017. He currently still holds the role of CEO of CEP.
Captain Words
When COVID hit South Africa and the rest of the world in 2020, the lockdown caused an economic strain on people and businesses. Celenic Earth Publications saw a drop in book sales, with no one having enough money to spend on that luxury. To make sure there was enough money to keep the business running, Shaun M Jooste started applying to provide writing services to companies.
In April 2020, Captain Words responded with an application to write articles for the company’s clients. After passing the initial test, Jooste became a steady writer for the company. It was in June 2020 when Jooste became a writer for Softonic articles that set the path for the coming years.
Thanks to his gaming and writing experience and skills, it was decided that Shaun M Jooste become an editor, project manager and account manager for Softonic within Captain Words. From there, Jooste continued to grow with more clients, project-managing writers and editors while meeting deadlines and quality requirements.
As of 2023, Jooste continues to exclusively provide these services to Captain Words’ clients, managing clients, team members, and orders in the online written content industry. Also, he continues to write and edit for some of these clients.
Online Presence
Shaun M Jooste has developed a strong online presence due to his writing and publishing services. To make sure he shared articles and markets products across various avenues, he’s signed up on many platforms. Here are a few of them with links to his profile.