My oldest grandson and his partner came for dinner the other night. I was going on a bit about how nothing seems to work in the writing department for me at the moment. They urged me to write a memoir. I have been toying with that idea (and rejecting it) for some time. But I... Continue Reading →
Alex Miller is an Australian novelist whose writing I greatly admire. I’ve just read his 2022 novel - A Brief Affair - and enjoyed it immensely. It’s a gentle, loving look at family relationships, memory, and the importance of finding your right place in the world. We tend not to read Australian novels and they... Continue Reading →
A friend who helps me with the garden asked yesterday if I could give her some tips for writing a children’s story. ‘A chapter book,’ she said. I have never written a chapter book for children, but I made suggestions which have been made to me over the years and which seem to work whether... Continue Reading →
This seems to be the season for writers’ festivals. I’m just back from a lovely day at Featherston, speaking to a lively group there. And just before that was in Christchurch, receiving the NZSA Heritage Literary Award for Fiction! Harbouring won which was a thrill for me. Now the Verb Festival is about to launch... Continue Reading →
The godwits have arrived back in New Zealand. I love it that any church bells still surviving in Christchurch ring out when the first godwits arrive from Alaska – usually in Rocking Horse Bay. Some years ago Laughton and I were transfixed, as were many New Zealanders, by the story, of a returning godwit which... Continue Reading →
I’ve been on tour promoting Harbouring these last few weeks. First a couple of appearances at the large Auckland Writers’ Festival and then, at the other end of the scale but just as exciting, at the Central Hawkes Bay Festival. My gig was at the amazing Gwavas Homestead out in the country far from towns.... Continue Reading →
It seems this is the season for writers’ Festivals. I have four appearances lined up between now and the end of the year. The first is the mighty Auckland Writers’ Festival this week. I will be appearing on Thursday 25th in the gala opening at 7 pm and the next day Friday at 11 am... Continue Reading →
Driving back from Upper Hutt recently after one of our many storms I marvelled at the way the usually placid Hutt River was bank-to-bank, rushing muddily toward the sea. Harbouring mentions some of those floods back when there were no stop banks to regulate the flow. In the early days death by drowning was known... Continue Reading →
Near the end of The Denniston Rose novel are the words of a song about her. I called it a West Coast Ballad by ‘Anon’ but actually I made it up. At the launch the family sang it to music Laughton had composed in Victorian style. Bill Manhire (my creative writing tutor) was at the... Continue Reading →
There is always a long time (about a year) between when I submit a manuscript to the publisher and when it hits the bookshops. There will be many suggestions and corrections and fact checks from the publishers’ readers for me to deal with, but there will also be plenty of time to get on with... Continue Reading →
Jenny Pattrick 