August gadding

A month of festivals, workshops, teaching, touring - all good stuff, but pleased to be home. And then there's the writing to get on with: I'm loving the new book. Fresh, compelling, this story is just desperate to be told!

Giving and receiving

Writing is about long, lonely hours. It's about sitting at your desk and getting on with the job. There's also the delight of discovering each novel; unveiling its unique voice, exploring, unravelling, unpacking the story. There are the highs of completion and the lows of - well, there are lows. There's also the 'business' stuff - does anyone enjoy that? I doubt it.
Alongside writing and the business of writing, for some writers, there is teaching. It would be wrong to assume that because someone can do something they will be able - or will want - to teach it. I never expected I'd want to. The first workshop I ran came about as an accident - I'd agreed to talk for half an hour about being a writer and I ended up running a full day creative writing workshop for forty 10-13 year olds. No warning, no preparation, no experience. Cold turkey in reverse - maybe that makes it hot turkey. It certainly made it a challenge. It was full-on and exhausting, and I loved it. There is a special joy in seeing a kid get something - pick it up and understand it and make it their own, so that you know they have it, from there on, and can take it to new places of their own. And there's also the delight of hearing or reading the amazing pieces of work that come out of intensive workshops.
There's something particularly special about teaching teenagers. Writing is intently personal and brazenly public. There's a generosity to good writing that young writers have naturally - they haven't unlearned that skill yet. Being able to share in that is a gift.
A few days ago I ran a day-long writing workshop and it confirmed my gratitude that I somehow stumbled into running that first workshop - it was a challenge that goes on giving me rewards.

Wintry chill and welcome warmth

Finder's Shore set sail with a crowd of 70 or so to see it launched. Thanks to all who attended, the speakers, the students who escorted people to the temporary door (landscaping in progress at KHS library!), booksellers Beattie & Forbes and Random House.
I've had some great feedback since; hope all my readers enjoy it as much as those who've so far been in touch.
And now, on with the next...

Three phases of writing

Finder's Shore has arrived: a carton of ten author copies; five days till the launch. Can't wait to have it out there and to start getting feeedback.
Meanwhile, Ebony Hill has been shortlisted for the LIANZA Award. Keeping my eyes crossed.

And then there's the new book...
Starting to write is like unwrapping a gift. Quite a complicated gift, with layers of tissue, lots of surprises - a 'pass the parcel' sort of gift, where there are things to be found every step of the way. Then at the heart, the essence of it, satisfying and complete. Oh, and then the work begins!

Old books never die

Well, some don't - and that's a lovely thing to discover. Bookshops normally stock a title for 3 months and then it's mostly nudged aside. Even bookshops in your hometown, and award-winning titles - who can figure it? But schools are less fickle. Last Friday I spent an hour answering insightful and entertaining questions from a year 11 class who had studied Out on the Edge as a set text. Real fun, and nothing like teens to keep you on your toes.
In preparation, I reread the book - something I generally avoid, as there's nothing more disheartening than finding the bits you'd like to edit just a little (or the massive clanger where a name was changed late in the piece but the proofreaders missed one instance of it...). Pleased to report I still love this book, as much now as when I wrote it. Maybe more. Even better that a whole bunch of kids do too...

Sir Julius Vogel Award

Ebony Hill has been short-listed in the 2011 Sir Julius Vogel Awards for science fiction & fantasy.
The Sea-wreck Stranger was joint winner in 2007. Fingers crossed!

NZ Post Book Awards 2011

What a great night: from the red carpet to the knitted finger puppets (yes, indeed), it was a fabulous event. Overall winners Maragaret Mahy and David Elliot deservedly took centre stage, but the category winners also shone. Amongst them, my pick is the winning non-fiction title, 'Zero Hour' by Leon Davidson. About the experiences of ANZAC troops on WWI's Western Front, this is a wonderful book – moving, concise, packed with personal stories and gut-churning facts. It doesn't pull any punches – and nor should it.
The Awards are a great opportunity to catch up with other writers, chat with your publisher, have a load of fun and generally feel like in your lonely writer's life you're at least doing something right. I was delighted to be short-listed, and came back reconfirmed in my enthusiasm for my work. Watch this space!

Taranaki Touring

The NZ Post Book Award finalists' Tour this week took me to Taranaki - and what a great part of the world! In two hectic days I had six speaking events, visited five schools, one region-wide literary challenge, experienced an uncountable number of shifts in the weather, saw the mountain (and not. And again. And not...), caught up with wonderful NZ author David Hill and his lovely wife Beth, visited several bookshops (including the outstanding Benny's Books in New Plymouth. If you live nearby or you're just passing through, check it out: Julia and her staff really know their stuff!), meandered my way along New Plymouth's superb coastal walkway as the sun rose, and decided that Taranaki is definitely a place I'm coming back to. Though it would be good if it didn't involve four hours of flying and seven of sitting about in airports waiting for connections.
The tour kicked off at Hawera High School where a buoyant group of year 9s asked some outrageously good questions. I'm still working on an answer to one of them. At the Community Centre I was blown away by the enthusiasm and organisation that goes into the region-wide Literary Challenge: what an excellent idea! I hearby lay down an official challenge to the rest of New Zealand! I've already suggested to the NZ Post finals organisers that we should make this a part of each year's events and hold an annual national final as part of the Award Ceremony event...
Hawera Intermediate has to be one of the prettiest schools I've visited and the kids' enthusiasm for reading, for writing, for soaking up everything they can of the world around them, shines through. Sacred Heart Girls College in New Plymouth offers walls slathered in vibrant artwork and this year's winners of the Literary Challenge. Inglewood was the only Primary School I visited, and what a great group of kids. Together with their enthusiastic teacher we shared an hour of interesting discussion - on books, on films, on films of books, on writing and reading and a whole lot more. Waitara High School library is a stunner: jam-packed with not only books but art and artifacts and ideas. This was a great school visit to finish on - kids who were attentive yet full of energy, with an overflow of questions that kept me on my toes.
At every school Julia from Benny's Books had a stack of books to give away - and everywhere we went kids rose to the challenge of Julia's mini quiz. Just goes to show how attentive those audiences really are...
Thanks to all of you for sharing your time and your questions.

Sneak peek:

Finder's Shore  hits the presses next week. Can't wait? Here's a sneak peek.

CHAPTER 1

Blood binds me to this place. Blood and memory. As we climb the steep rise that carries the road over the pass, my morning’s meal curdles in my stomach. Truso’s hand rests on my shoulder as he passes. His beard has greyed since I last came to Ebony Hill, the lines of his face burrowed deeper.

For those who've already met Ness in The Sea-wreck Stranger and Ebony Hill, you'll remember the role Truso played in her life. But it's a year since we last saw her - 'a year filled to bursting, that leaves my head brimming with new knowledge.'   Will it help her? Ness has always been a magnet for trouble - or maybe it's just that, faced with problems, she chooses not to turn away.  

'Finder's Shore' Draft Cover

A cover always makes a book feel 'real' - even though it's still weeks till I'll have the first copy in my hands. Of course, there may yet be a little tweaking, but we're very nearly there. Let me know what you think!

Writing Workshop at Iona

One starter, ten amazing stories. Always great to see where a simple idea can lead; how many different doors it opens; how many unique ways there are to transfer a story from imagination to paper. Can't wait to see the finished (crafted, edited, polished) artifacts!

NZ Post Tour

Early next month I'll be touring Taranaki as part of the NZ Post Book Award finalists Tour.
I'll be visiting libraries, schools and community centres in Hawera, New Plymouth, Inglewood and Waitara.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!

For details of the NZ Post Book Award finalists for 2011, visit: http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/nz-post-childrens-book-awards-finalists-2011

To VOTE  for the "children's choice" book visit: http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/childrens-choice-award-voting-form

CLF Notable Book Award

Ebony Hill this month won a Storylines Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand Notable Book Award for 2011 (for books published in 2010).
It was great to get this award (and to get a hug from Maragaret Mahy!)
If you'd like to know more about Storylines CLFNZ, visit: http://www.storylines.org.nz/

Ness's story

began in The Sea-wreck Stranger.
Growing up on isolated Dunnett Island, Ness's view of the world is shaken when a stranger is washed up in Skellap Bay - a stranger who can't exist according to the Island Council. A stranger who won't exist if the Council finds him.

Ebony Hill is the home of Vidya's farm communities.
Ness is not the only one who longs for clean air, for prosperity, for the respite the farms offer. But are there any simple answers when right and wrong no longer apply?

Finder's Shore picks up the threads of Ness's life.
Ty and Sophie, Ronan and Dev. How will Ness respond when she discovers the true price of her choices?

Watch out for the final book in The Sea-wreck Stranger Trilogy, due out in June 2011.
For sneak previews, watch this space!

Spinning Tales

April 1-3: I and many others attended the Storylines/Spinning Tales conference in Auckland. Three days of teaching and learning, celebrating writing, catching up with old friends. Some people I only managed to catch up with at the airport as we all headed home. Busy time, loads of fun. Lucky we don't do it that often: came home exhausted!