Write On Radio Show day

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Write On Radio Show day and in this summer holiday show I will be replaying two interviews from 2012; with Scottish Crime Writer Ian Rankin, who I caught up with on his November tour promoting his new book Standing in Another Man's Grave, and Dunedin writer Maxine Alterio, chatting about her novel Lives We Leave Behind.

If you are blessed enough to live in Dunedin you can listen in at noon on Otago Access Radio on 105.4 FM, or if you are elsewhere on the planet, the show is streamed live from their website here.

Congratulations - Diane Brown ONZM

I had a very pleasurable time yesterday afternoon at Diane Brown and Philip Temple's home to celebrate her receiving a New Year's ONZM honour for her services to literature. I know I have benefited greatly from Diane's services.

Way back when I was a budding writer but had no idea what I wanted to write I did an extramural creative writing course with the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies. I was very fortunate to have Diane as my tutor, and she was one of these fabulous tutors who told you the truth! My poetry was overdone, my short stories too flowery, but she enjoyed my long prose work and offered lots of constructive criticism that set me a great foundation for my writing career.

When I had the fabulous but terrifying experience of actually getting a publishing contract for my first novel, Overkill, Diane and Philip were kind enough to sit down with me and go through the contract, pointing out potential barbs but also explaining what the whole thing meant. That was hugely reassuring at an exciting but daunting time.

Diane has given so much to writers in New Zealand, nationally through the NZSA and also at an individual level, taking so many under her wing. Congratulations, Diane, your honour is so richly deserved!

Judging the best of NZ books...

I was extremely chuffed when I was invited to apply to be a judge for the NZ Post Book Awards for 2013, and delighted when I was confirmed, and then totally flabbergasted when the reality of 121 books arrived with the courier (who made the wry comment that these would keep me out of trouble for a while) The knowledge that more books were to arrive in March made my eyes bulge even more.

The family thought it was like Christmas, and had a wonderful time exploring the boxes, pulling books out going ooh, look at this, and wow - look at that. I had a little sit down!

So I have the exciting and daunting task of selecting the best fiction, poetry, non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction that New Zealand produced in 2012/13.

My fellow judges are:

John Campbell - convenor
Bernadette Hall
Guy Somerset
Paora Tibble

We are a diverse bunch of passionate book lovers. It's going to be a fun ride!

Lives We Leave Behind.

Lives We Leave Behind.

By Maxine Alterio.

The First World War has been the theatre of many novels and in Lives We Leave Behind, Maxine Alterio brings to life the stories of the nurses through the eyes and lives of New Zealand Nursing Sisters Meg Dutton and Addie Harrington. These two women come from very different backgrounds and have little in common apart from their nursing, yet through the trials or war and all it brings they form a firm friendship.

The story takes us from Wellington, and the anticipation of what is to come, to Egypt on the hospital ship Maheno, into the harshness and realities of war in Egypt and France. The author doesn't hold back on the awful effects of war, from the injuries inflicted upon the soldiers and the harsh conditions in which medical staff were having to provide miracles as well as dealing with the psychological effects on people and the vast amount of death. She does it in a way that is eye-opening, but not grim, as we experience it all through these very different women - Meg who wears her heart on her sleeve and Addie, who is quiet and introspective and finds solace in her books. We see how war changes them, and how love and relationships flourish and suffer in such unforgiving surroundings.

The short sections jump and pull you along, giving a sense of the turmoil and rapid changes thrown at them. They are also interspersed with short segments about the women written from the perspective of the men around them. I thought these weren't necessary as the women's stories conveyed the men's impressions already.

I found this a very rewarding read. At times harrowing, at times very sad, but overarching all of this, the warmth and spirit of the women shone through.

Lives We Leave Behind brings a valuable perspective of war through the eyes of the nurses and is a book I really enjoyed and recommend. 

The Search for Anne Perry

 
The Search for Anne Perry

By Joanne Drayton

Anne Perry is known as a best-selling writer of historic crime fiction. In 1994 the revelation that she was, in fact, Juliet Hulme, the teenager who along with Pauline Parker was convicted for murdering Pauline's mother, shocked the world and turned Anne's new life upside down. Anne Perry was understandably cautious when it came to allowing interviews, especially as most focused on the murder, so it was an absolute coup for New Zealand writer Joanne Drayton to gain permission to write this biography and have the opportunity to spend time with Anne. The result, in my opinion, is a fascinating insight into the woman and her writing.

Drayton has approached the work as a biography of Perry's writing, weaving in the events of her childhood, illness, the murder and her imprisonment in a way that neither sensationalises nor minimises it, and that lets the reader see how Anne Perry expressed elements of her past through her characters and writing. In this biography we see her all-consuming friendship with Pauline Parker and the events that lead up to that fateful day. We also see how she rebuilt her life in another identity, how vital her novel writing was to that and the impact of her past life being revealed and fears of how people would now perceive her.

I found The Search for Anne Perry to be a fascinating and sensitive biography, but also one that asked and answered the hard questions.

Well heeled...or not

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. Mine came while fencing at the National Champs in Christchurch, in the women's teams gold medal match, I was fencing the Commonwealth champion, we were in the lead when...SNAP...good bye Achilles tendon.

An operation and an enormous plaster cast later I find my self laid up for the next 6 weeks, and then the long road of rehab.

So what am I going to do for all that time, going stir crazy on the sofa, not being allowed to be up and about? Got a few ideas and they involve a lot of catching up on reading, and writing (woohoo - perfect opportunity to concentrate on the new novel) and some blogging. I know I've been very slack of late, life has been insanely busy, but I now find myself forced to slow down and given a chance to catch up on a few things I have neglected.

Pretty dramatic way of getting a break!

All the best, Bill...

On Saturday night I had the pleasure of mixing and mingling with friends and booky people at the University Book Shop for Bill Noble's retirement do. It was great to see the affection and esteem everyone held for Bill and what he has achieved as a book seller.

Bill Noble talking to his adoring crowd.

Anyone who reads this blog will now I loooove the University Book Shop - it's my home away from home, and Hubby reckons I must be a shareholder by now, because I spend way too much money in there. I love UBS because it is a fabulous book shop - I'll often pop in just to breathe the books, and I love UBS because it is so supportive of its local writers. The fabulous staff recommend our books, and they have a big table, right in front of the door where everyone who walks in has to trip over the NZ latest releases. I've loved having my book launches there - they let you drink wine and eat food amongst the books! (They say the wine loosens people's wallets) They look after me so well.

So farewell, Bill. Thanks for everything! And looking forward to UBS with a new captain at the helm.