The Flightless Writer

Early Summer Garden

2010-11-18T11:41:00.000+13:00

I love late spring/early summer.

It is the time when my garden is at it's best.

All winter it looks drab and by Christmas it will be looking "tired" but right now, it gladdens my heart to see it.

Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park I Salute You

2010-11-11T21:18:00.001+13:00

Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park - I salute you!

The lovely lady at the Rotoiti Holiday Park went above and beyond the call of duty in responding to a "domestic emergency".

One of the gorgeous motel units at Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park. You can check out all the facilities at the best Rotorua Holiday Park. From here you could fish any of the Rotorua Lakes whether it be Rotoiti, Rotorua, Okataina, or Tarawera.

Whose emergency you ask?

Mine!!

Regulars will remember that a number of months back hubby got a temporary job at the local mill. He loved the work and it gave us the opportunity to financially recover after several years on ACC after his back surgery.

Despite the surgeons best efforts, some part of the spinal cord was damaged during surgery and left hubby with a foot drop that has made work a little harder to find.

So to get the opportunity of the work was great. But of course, it was only temporary and eventually came to an end.

And then today we suddenly get the call - another temp position at the mill was available - could hubby start in the morning?

The morning!! I didn't even know where said husband was!

Today of all days he had wandered of to a fishing competition on Lake Rotoiti, a popular fishing and holiday destination.

And no that isn't hubby but it is the sort of fishing you can do at Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park

And today - of all days - our phone goes on the blink.

So I leap in the car and race off to the local village and use the pay phone to send a message to his cell phone.

Mmmm - his cell phone. This is the man who doesn't look at his cell phone from one week to the next. Can I really be sure he has the message?

So I email the Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park where the trout fishing competition was being held and ask if they could get a message through to him.

No problem, they say, we'll hand the message on to the competition organizers.

Mmmm - people are always saying they'll pass a message on - and don't. Can I be sure he has the message?

What say they hand the message on but fail to impress upon the competition organizer the urgency?

But here is the lovely part. A few hours later the lovely lady at Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park emails me back to reassure me that hubby has the message and is winging his way home ready for a start back at the mill in the morning.

So tomorrow morning, bright and early, hubby will be back at the mill for another stint. We don't know for how long but with Christmas just around the corner even a few weeks will be a bonus.

And I'm left knowing that the good ol' kiwi spirit where you help out your fellow man even if there's nothing in for you, still shines.

Thanks Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park.

Whakamaru Dam In Full Flow

2010-09-26T17:39:00.000+13:00

We've had a lot of rain over the last few weeks. More than anyone wanted.

Grass is growing - but it's to wet to mow. Weeds are growing - but hard to find a dry morning to attack them.

But there has been one good side to this - the water was let through the sluice gate (or whatever they call these things) at the Whakamaru dam for several days.

The image above and below is from the bottom of the sluice where the water rejoins the river. I never seen it quite this wild. The air was saturated with water and I got wetter than a duck in a downpour getting these shots.

Above and below here show the view from the top of the dam looking down onto the sluice way and the river beyond.

The river is normally quite tranquil beyond the dam but you can see that the waves are just about submerging the tiny island.

Certainly added a new level of interest to the morning walk for a few days.

North Island Kaka

2010-09-11T09:40:00.000+12:00

Wow! Discovered a North Island Kaka in my garden this morning.

Hard to see but it is about half way down the image and one third in from right hand edge. A brown bird just above a cream colored flower.

Here is a closeup of the NI kaka taken from the Tiritirimatangi site . Photographer, Peter Craw, obviously has the talent for getting a whole lot closer that I did!

The kaka is normally only found in large forest areas and is not usually seen then. They are fully protected with only about 10,000 birds of both North Island and South Island kaka combined left.

They enjoy nectar which is what he is doing in our Banksia tree. The Banksia is actually an Australian native tree but I planted it because I know many NZ native birds enjoy its nectar rich flowers in the winter. We always have lots of tuis and bellbirds in this tree but I have never seen a kaka before.

I've never seen one even in the wild so you can imagine my excitement when hubby's friend spotted this one.

I've been following his activity all morning - he is moving around our trees, visiting the 2 Banksia, a winter flowering gum and a vanilla tree and seems to be feeding from them all. He might have just been attacking the bark for grubs in the vanilla tree. Interestingly, none of these trees are NZ natives but that didn't seem to bother him one jot.

For any NZ bird fanciers who should read this post - our garden is at Whakamaru in the South Waikato and there are large areas of forest about 10 kilometres away with a few small tracts closer. The kaka is certainly a bird that I never expected to find in my garden.

Long may he continue!

All Is Well

2010-09-06T15:31:00.001+12:00

I know that with the recent earthquake in the South Island lots of my cyber-friends are concerned about how we are faring.

Hubby and I are fine. We live in the North Island so are 500-600 kilometres away from the epicenter of the 'quake. We slept right through it and never felt a thing!

However, what IS quite surreal is seeing all the images of the devastation on television. These things happen in other countries - not your own. Not sure why it is quite such a shock because NZ sits right on top of several fault lines and we have frequent earthquakes. Usually they are fairly small whereas this last one, at 7.1 was a biggy.

This link shows a few images.

We have built our tourism industry around boiling mud pools, geysers etc - all a good indication of plenty of underground activity. And we have harnessed all that activity to provide geothermal power. So it isn't as if we should be surprised.

I live about 50 kilometres from Lake Taupo which produced the biggest volcanic eruption the world has ever seen about 1800 years ago. So one of these days I will be in the hot seat.

But not today!

Feel Good Post

2010-08-22T06:19:00.000+12:00

Couldn't resist posting this. Just made me feel good. There is so much senseless violence in the world that it is heart warming to see people caring for a baby bird.

Hope you enjoy.

The Advantages of a Less Than Perfect Childhood

2010-08-08T11:30:00.000+12:00

Does anyone want me to mumble some excuse about why I haven't posted recently. No? Okay, we'll get right to it then.

About 6 weeks ago I had my 60th birthday. It's a strange sort of birthday because it sounds so incredibly old. Little children ask if you remember the discovery of penicillin and even teenagers want to know about the first car you ever rode in.

So 60 sounds old - but it doesn't feel old. I mean I've got aches and pains that I didn't use to have and some of my bendy bits are not quite as bendy as they used to be.

But in my head, I'm just a youngster. Full of enthusiasm and waiting to try out my latest interest. And this is where we get to the advantages of a less than perfect childhood. (You were wondering when I would get to it.)

A less than perfect childhood means that life gets better instead of worse as you get older. I feel so sorry for these folk who say that their childhood was the best time of their life.

For them - life goes steadily downhill. How ghastly!

For me, the recipent of a less than perfect childhood - each decade gets better. My fifities were great - not perfect - there is still time for perfection - but pretty damn good.

So I think the sixties are going to be even better. This is not a foolish assumption. Each decade of my life has been an improvement on the one before.

And there are real advantages to being an "old woman".

You can look at young men and admire them and not feel any need to do anything about it.

Nobody cares about how you look so you can stop worrying about any perceived imperfections.

Somewhere along the way you stop worrying about what other people think.

You've either found a good man (or woman) or got the hang of living without one.

You've got this "art of living" thing figured out.

So a less that perfect childhood is a great thing and if anyone out there is perhaps going though the aftermath of one then remember this - your life will steadily improve.

By the time you get to sixty you're going to be having a ball!

Good Luck - Bad Luck

2010-05-03T14:55:00.000+12:00

I'm always fascinated about the concept of good and bad luck. How one can so quickly turn to the other, and how you never quite know if something is good luck or bad luck until after the event.

So today, someone's elses bad luck has been good luck for us.

Some of you will have followed the progress - via Facebook - of hubby as he took a course in operating a fork lift. He has tickets for diggers and such like and has now added fork lifts to the list.

We had been given a "heads-up" that a temporary position for a fork lift driver was coming up at the local timber mill. The mill is a massive place and very hard to get into. With wages a clear cut above any where else locally, jobs there are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth.

So this morning hubby set off for an interview at the mill with his newly acquired fork lift ticket in his hot little hand.

And just got home an hour ago with a job contract clutched in the other hand.

Yee- har!!!!!!

This will make a big difference to us even though it is a temporary position. We don't know for how long - he is relieving for someone who has to undergo medical treatment.

And so whilst we wish the ailing fork lift driver all the best - we really really do - we're in no hurry for him to race back to work.

And if he feels inclined to take a lengthy world tour to facilitate his recovery - and goodness knows, if he has worked at the mill for any length of time he can afford to - we'll be the last to try and talk him out of it. In fact, we'll drive him to the airport of his choice!

Good luck, bad luck - who really knows. But this sure looks like good luck to me.

Bye Bye Lorain

2010-04-28T08:50:00.000+12:00

My editor at HarperCollins NZ, Lorain Day, is leaving and that makes me feel strangely sad.

The heady days of excitement as Ripples On The Lake was accepted and published are long gone. You'd be hard pressed to find a copy for sale on any of the book shop shelves now. Heaven knows, my royalty payments have dried up like a creek bed in the Sahara!

And as someone who doesn't even classify themselves as a writer anymore I have no reason to mourn her leaving for new adventures.

But I do.

There are still stories in my head. One day, I might have taken that lonely, courageous step of trying to find the words that match the tale I can see.

And it would have been very nice to have someone who liked what I did in the past read it and give her verdict. (I am, in fact, legally obligated to give HarperCollins "first peek" at any future writing.)

But their next Head Editor might not like my style - or my love of the exclamation mark!

As someone who has written and submitted a number of stories, I know how dreadfully hard that first "break" can be. And after all my efforts, I sort of "lucked" into it in the end when an Australian agent who rejected me said try Lorain Day at HarperCollins NZ.

I did. I sent her a first chapter with a postcard that had two options: "Please send complete manuscript" or "Idea does not interest me at this time" - please tick one.

She ticked the first option.

It was one of those times when life seems to stop for a moment and the universe imprints upon you. I felt as if I had spent half my life collecting mail and always wondering if there would be a reply from some publisher or agent.

And there it was! Someone wanted to read the whole story.

I fell in love with that woman right there at the mail box!

So although we never met and although I am not currently writing, I am indeed sorry to hear that she is moving on.

Bon voyage, Lorain, I wish you well.

Sunday Stroll

2010-04-18T14:32:00.002+12:00

Drat! My lovely Sunday stroll which was supposed to be a bush walk turned into a hunt. I guess there is always that danger when your "bush walking" companions are a hunter and his 2 dogs.

Anyway, before I go any further, a warning for the faint hearted. There is an image of a dead animal lower down. If seeing that is going to totally trash your day then I won't hold it against you if you click away now although you can safely look at the first 5 images.

Most of the images are of dogs and bush - nothing gory.

With that warning out of the way, we'll continue. Now I know that most of you probably neither like nor approve of hunting. I don't actually like it myself, BUT, I married a keen hunter, we have hunting dogs that I adore so inevitably I do end up on the odd hunt.

I'd gone along this morning because hubby was trying out tracking collars on the dogs for the first time and we were both interested in seeing how far the dogs went. Our NZ bush is very dense so that once the dogs leave the track you have no idea where they are until they "open up".

Our dogs are pig dogs and the idea is that they find a pig in the bush and then bail it. This means that they stand and bark at the pig, circling round it if necessary, so that it can't run away. The hunter hears the dogs barking, rushes in and dispatches the pig.

This first image is our old dog Diesel. He is the father of our two "boys" and he knows he won't be going along. His days of hunting are behind him. The collars have just been taken of Jem and Bruiser and Diesel is forlornly curled up beside them.

This is where we headed. We're taking the gate on the right and will wind up the mountain in the old ute until the track becomes undrivable. I have actually been right to the top of Mt Titiraupenga - admittedly with hubby providing much pushing from behind. That last bit is steep.

Hubby putting the tracking collar on Jem. Note the cigarette dangling from lips - the health revolution has completely passed him by!

Jem in the lead with Bruiser not far behind as they race across a clearing. Just stretching their legs.

Jem coming up out of a creek after having a drink. This hunting/bush walking is thirsty work! (This is the point where all vegans probably want to leave although the images are not gory - I promise.)

At this point, the dogs opened up and hubby grabbed his gun and knife and dashed off after them. I dashed quite a bit more slowly after them all - I like "the action" to be all over by the time I get there!

Jem and Bruiser had surprised a deer on the side of a gully. It jumped into a creek where the two dogs bailed it until hubby arrived and he shot it. And yes, I did say deer - they're supposed to be pig dogs but with no pigs about they decided a deer would do!

Oh dear, did I mention it was on the side of a gully? The deer ran to the bottom. It took about an hour for the two of us to manhandle it back up to the track. Before the back surgery, hubby would have put it on his back and carried it up, but not now.

That's steam coming up of hubby; that is the deer to the left. I'm supposed to be on the other end of that rope pulling but as you can see, I was actually taking a photo!

We finally make it back to the track. You'll note that the deer has been gutted and head off. This lightens the load. The deer will be kept in a chiller for about 4 days to tenderize and then hubby will divide the meat and share it out amongst family members.

Final shot is of me showing off my bloody, dirty hands and scratches.

And in fact, I can truthfully say, if it wasn't for the blood, dirt and dead animals, I really would enjoy hunting!

Why I Love Working From Home

2010-04-14T09:52:00.000+12:00

I love working from home.

The days when I happily sprung out of bed before the sun had rose to raise off and feed bawling calves or exercise racehorses are long gone. Oh, and the pumping gas - do you remember my days at the gas station.

I do have very happy memories of those days (except the gas station!) but no great desire to do it all again.

No, nowadays - I do still spring out of bed before the sun is up - but it is to light the fire, make myself a cup of coffee and wander into my "office" to see what has happened overnight to my two website.

These are a couple of my "work colleagues"! As soon as it is daylight, I race out in my pj's and let the young dogs out of their kennels. Needless to say they are all very happy to come in and help.

You'll remember I was always a "stat-fan" - haven't changed a bit. The pulse still quickens if an extra person or two has visited. The Probiotic site gets about 1500 visitors a day, but the Charm site is just a baby in comparison and gets only about 30 or so visitors.

I've no doubt the Charm site will grow - it isn't getting much of my attention at the moment. You'll remember that the hubby had back surgery and was left with foot drop as a result so I'm proud to say that we now get the bulk of our income from my website endeavors. I'm concentrating on where the money is until we are clearly supporting ourselves adequately.

At the moment we are supporting ourselves - so long as we don't have an emergency!!

You'll note I have not lost my love of the exclamation. Such a useful punctuation mark.

So, yes I do love what I do. Winter is almost upon us and I know that I will be tucked up snug and warm, beavering away on my websites, helped by my trusty companions.

A Blogger Returns

2010-04-12T16:30:00.000+12:00

Is it really almost 9 months ago since I last posted here?

I can't quite believe it is that long but I guess blog dates don't lie.

Saw a few old blogger friends over on FaceBook and thought I'd just take a sentimental look at the old blog and discovered it spammed to the max! Have removed over 70 comments from the post below this and still hundreds to go on other posts.

Ghastly wretches!

I feel as if these spammers have trashed my humble little blog with their links for their pills and potions.

I bet they've left cigarette butts in the potted palms too!

Anyway - there is a silver lining to every cloud - it's bought about a burst of love and activity for the old blog. I'm filled with maternal concern for it.

So I shall spend the next few days removing spam, cobwebs and cockroaches. And if anyone remembers me, do pop by and say hello.

I'm the one with the can of 'roachkiller!

Mother's Little Helpers

2009-06-06T11:07:00.004+12:00

As most of you know, we keep hens. Six brown shavers who have never been named - they're simply referred to as "the girls". I like to let them out of their run most days so they can have a peck around the lawn and garden at what ever takes their fancy.

They do make a mess scratching mulch away from where I've carefully put it and taking dust baths in the middle of some cherished plant. But I like that we rescued them from what would have been a life in a battery cage.

They live as hens should live. Bit of company, bit of sun, bit of dust - it isn't much to ask.

Snow at Whakamaru

2009-05-24T21:19:00.004+12:00

Well - snow on the top of Kaahu really but it was a grand sight to wake up a couple of mornings back and see a sprinkle of snow on top of the hill out the back of us.

I realize this is a total non-event for most of you who trudge round up to your armpits in snow for half the year but, for us, this only happens about once a year.

We do have decent snow falls in many places in New Zealand but not in my back yard!

It had been a very crisp frost earlier but once the sun came out was beautiful. Winter is upon us.

Swans - we have swans!

2009-05-17T11:43:00.005+12:00

At last the issue with my camera is sorted. If you want to read the whole story I made a Squidoo lens out of it which you'll find here at Cannot Detect Camera. (That is just my cunning ploy to give my newest lens its first link in! I have just under 30 lenses now under several different "names".)

The solution was as simple as buying a cheap memory card reader.

Anyway - the images finally got transferred.

There we have the mamma swan and her four babies. The father is just out of shot.

And another shot showing their more general setting. You can see that most of the ducks that arrived for the beginning of the duck shooting season have now moved on.

So we're back in business folks!

Can you imagine?

2009-05-10T21:49:00.005+12:00

Can you imagine two black adult swans and their entourage of gray fluff balls?

Mmmm?

Well, you have to - because my computer and camera are still not talking to one another. I've given up fretting about it. I have so much going on at the moment that it seems like a waste of energy to worry about what's happening with the images. I'll sort it out "later".

So there was going to be an image of the swans and their 4 babies - but there isn't!

I've been following their progress for a few weeks because these babies have hatched WAY too late. We're going into winter and the rest of this season's ducks and swans down by the dam are indistinguishable from their parents. Not this lot.

Four little gray balls of fuzz bobbing along behind mom and dad swan. They appear to be thriving and although there are many extra beaks at the dam at present I have no concerns about feed running out. I see the adults lifting lake weed to the surface so that the little guys can bob their heads under and fish for bugs or weed or whatever they eat.

I'm sure they're going to do just fine.

The dam is a busy old place at the moment as duck shooting season started about a week ago and many out-of-towner ducks have arrived for a visit. It always amazes me how the first few arrivals start turning up before the hunting season has started. They some how seem to know that "that" time of the year has arrived. Every morning I'll see a few more ducks swimming about.

I have to confess that my images - the ones you can't see - aren't that great. Very distant. So perhaps you're better off with your imagination!

Okay you digital camera experts!

2009-05-04T20:39:00.004+12:00

Tell me what I'm doing wrong. Please!!

It's most frustrating. My digital camera is refusing to download onto the computer. It is hoarding its images like a miser.

Normally, I just plug the camera (a Cannon) into the computer and hey presto a screen pops up in ZoomBrowser and I download the images.

Now, all I get is a polite message in ZoomBrowser saying "cannot detect camera"!

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? Ever run into this sort of thing before? Do I need to go to my local computer guy - or digital camera guy?

I have images - I will blog - but first we need to beat this camera into shape!

Anzac Day

2009-04-25T16:30:00.004+12:00

It's Anzac Day here in New Zealand and I've spent much of the day watching remembrance services and documentaries on the Gallipoli campaign. It is a time for remembering our soldiers.

The poppy represents the fallen - it is, I believe, an allusion to the blood soaked fields in Europe during the first World War.

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto

Many thousands of New Zealand and Australian soldiers lost their lives on the beaches of Gallipoli during an ill fated landing in 1916. And many Turkish soldiers lost their lives in the campaign that followed.

After the battles were all ended, Turkish General Kamal Ataturk made this moving and gracious speech about our soldiers who had died there.

"You are heroes who spilled your blood and lost your lives.
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
So, rest in peace.
There is no difference to us between the Allied soldier and the Turkish soldier.
They lie side by side in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, You sent your sons from far away countries.
Wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying close to our hearts and are in peace.
They lost their lives on our land.
So they have become our sons as well."

Matai Bur

2009-04-24T12:32:00.005+12:00

This matai bur resides in my garden and I love it. It's an honored guest. So much character in that knotted face.

You may know it as a bur, or a burr, or a burl. All are accepted spellings in various parts of the world of this type of knobbly overgrowth of wood.

The matai tree it came from would have been maybe 800 years old and we found the bur in an area where the native bush was logged about 40 years ago. It had been cut from the trunk when the log was milled and left lying on the ground as an unwanted waste product. How could anything so lovely been seen as waste? The area was then replanted in pine trees for timber and pulp where once again this fabulous matai burr was covered with scrub and blackberry until it was re-exposed when the pines were harvested. This time, the land is being converted to dairy farms.

So I'm happy to offer a home for this "old-timer" in my garden. He doesn't deserve to be buried or burnt or have cows poo on him!

The matai tree is a New Zealand native and can grow up to 25 meters tall and live for over 1000 years. A bur is usually the result of some injury where the tree responds by making too much growth. This one is about knee high and is the biggest we've ever seen.

Times have changed and now he is of value to people like wood turners. But he'll grace my garden with his wonderful presence until I shuffle off!

We have a number of matia burrs about the garden but this old man is our pride and joy.

Hello

2009-04-21T13:35:00.005+12:00

It's me.

What do you mean "who am I?"

I haven't been gone that long - have I?

I shan't embarrass myself with excuses. It was the thought of coming up with a decent sounding excuse for my long absence that has delayed my return to blogging even further. Somehow I just couldn't get a story about a lengthy bout of yellow fever or black plague to sound convincing!

I shall simply say thanks to one of you for commenting on Facebook "Get back on the blog horse, Dawn. Please. You are missed."

UPDATE: Followed half an hour later by another person writing "You are missed in blogland! Good to see you here, though."

Luckily Facebook tells me when folk comment on my page because I'm never there either! But obviously all of you are! And the reason I was spotted on Facebook is because another one of you lovelies found my name and invited me to be a friend and it was while I was responding that my blog presence was suggested.

All of you lovely people know who you are.

So I've broken the ice and I'm back. Tomorrow I shall be able to nonchalantly carry on as if I've never been gone!

I shall leave you all with a lovely photo of our three dogs. That's Diesel in the foreground, and his 2 sons, Jem and Bruiser in the background. Diesel has been retired from pig hunting now and the two "lads" have taken over.

Diesel gets to stay home with me and whilst he still misses going out, he is getting used to it.

Morning Walk

2009-01-01T17:03:00.005+13:00

I try to get out for a walk more or less every morning.

This summer I have an additional reason in that I intend to climb several mountains this year. These are, I hasten to add, mountains that one tramps up rather than attacks with pic ax and crampons!

Every year I TALK about wanting to do these mountain walks so this year I'm doing it. No more talk! Am just over a week away from the first tramp and doing everything I can to ensure I'm fit enough and that gammy knee is going to hold together for the process.

So I take the road that leads to the foot of the dam (that gray structure is the dam) until I come to ...

... the first flight of the 160 steps (I counted them once) that lead up from the bottom of the dam to the top.

At the top there is this fabulous view of Lake Whakamaru with the small mountain Kaahu in the background. The white line is a float that keeps any weed from going through the turbines.

And then out over the dam and back again, and return via a little track through the bush rather than the 160 steps again.

It's a beautiful walk and I do feel privileged to live where I can keep fit without having to breathe in city smog and exhaust fumes.

Usually see rabbits, ducks, swans, and swallows. And cows, of course! This is dairy country! I'll show you them on another post!

Piglets

2008-12-29T17:19:00.005+13:00

This morning a friend of hubby's stopped off with two intrepid young travelers on the back of his ute.

They were actually traveling inside the drum for safety but made a brief appearance for publicity!

These are two young pigs about 2 months old, fully weaned and ready to venture forth. In their case, this means being released into the wild where they will take their chances as to what life holds for them. These two little boys were smaller than they looked in the pic.

This is something that many New Zealand pig hunters do - release pigs into the wild. Some will grow to a ripe old age and father or mother many youngsters. Others will be caught and killed.

It's the luck of the draw.

Their release point will be a quiet place where by common agreement no one will be hunting. As they mature they'll roam further afield. One day, they will likely run into a pig hunter and his dog.

I wished these two young fellows rapid growth, long legs and a wily brain. If I ever see them again, I hope it's dashing up a steep hill, laughing at the dog laboring behind them and escaping back into the bush.

I love Santa!

2008-12-27T11:14:00.006+13:00

Well, I did hand out a few clues as to what Santa hid under the Christmas tree for me this year.

That is a photo of our deck.

In case you still haven't guessed - let me throw in another clue. Below is a view taken from the deck of Kaahu.

You got it! Santa bought me a digital camera. This is so great because it has been such a pain having to get film developed and put on to disk.

The camera is a Cannon A2000IS and is a joy to operate. I just have to remember not to keep raising it to my eye! Old habits die hard! It takes wonderful pictures - I'm impressed with the quality.

So prepared to be inundated with snapshots of my life from now on.

Hope every one had a wonderful day yesterday (or the day before - depending on just where you live). Time to start preparing for the new year now.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T17:44:00.004+13:00

Here in New Zealand it is Christmas eve.

I'm rather excited because I got a sneak look at what Santa has in his sack for me - and I like!

My lips are sealed BUT there will be no more waiting for me to get film developed!!

Anyway, have a wonderful Christmas. To everyone who bought Ripples on the Lake during the year - thank you. You made a penniless writer very happy!

To readers of Ripples who emailed me with your thoughts, I truly enjoyed basking in your praise. You'd be surprised to know how insecure we writers can be. It is your support that keeps us going.

And to the people that have contributed to my blog, whether by adding your comments or simply by visiting and reading - thank you. I enjoy the contact that the world of the web provides. I feel as if I've developed real friendships all over the globe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

and if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a lovely holiday anyway.

I'm on YouTube

2008-12-18T19:35:00.005+13:00

I really am quite excited.

I'm on YouTube - or at least my little probiotic website is.

You may or may not be aware that I started a raw food diet a few weeks back. I like to try and eat healthily and this seemed like a good way of losing a few pounds and getting a healthy diet as well. Now I don't eat 100% raw or anything like that, but I am eating a raw food breakfast and loving it and usually another meal too.

And I've lost almost half a stone in under a month and so me and Probiotics LoveThatBug are featured on this video clip about raw foods diet. (It's quite save to click through without being press ganged into eating raw nut cutlets for life!)

Now one or two of you will be wondering just how this raw food diet fits in with my obsession for cream filled apple donuts! In fact THAT temptation has been totally eliminated by the little shop down the road changing hands and no longer having them on the menu! Haven't had a cream filled apple donut for months (although I dream about them!)

The latest temptation is ice cream. We have raspberries galore and they are just so nice with ice cream. Not just any type of ice cream. It has to be Tip Top's vanilla.

I try not to yield to often and must be doing fairly well because I AM losing weight. Mostly, I mix a handful of raspberries in with other raw fruits for breakfast. Sometimes, I eat a plate full with yogurt. And occasionally - I confess - I do have them with ice cream!

But most days I eat two raw meals a day and have cut right down on the amount of meat I'm eating - much to hubby's horror. He's one of those men that thinks you die of lack of protein if you don't eat meat every day.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video clip.

Ripples on the Lake Revisted

2008-12-15T13:54:00.003+13:00

I received such a lovely email this morning about Ripples on the Lake.

"I read your book over a year ago now and I am still finding the story-line and characters slipping into my thoughts quite a bit! I think it would make a really powerful film. Is a movie on the cards at all?

I have never written fan-mail before, this book has just hit a nerve I think, it is not just a fictional story, there seem to be parts of all of us as New Zealanders in it and I feel it should be shown to the world."

Sometimes - because life flows on - I forget what a powerful things this story was in my life. I lived and breathed with those characters for several years as the story came into being.

And it strangely moves me when I hear from someone who feels the same way.

Whilst the reviews were mostly positive there was the odd one who just didn't "get" the story at all. (Remember the one who said it suffered from "excessive schmaltziness"!) So it is both humbling and moving to hear from people who do "get it".

There was a brief moment of excitement when a movie director made contact about possibly filming Ripples but it all faded away to nothing in the end. My HarperCollins editors assure me that is almost always what happens. But I live in hope that one day it might make the screen - as I'm sure do most writers.

I don't think about Ripples on the Lake so much now. It is as if the act of writing the story and it being published brought closure to it for me.

Ah - but that crappy first draft of the next story -the one I gave up on and moved on to do other things like build websites - ah, THAT story lives with me constantly. Have absolutely no idea how to turn it from a series of wonderfully visual "made for the movies" scenes into a logical story - but I do know that one day I must return to it and try.

So thank you to the lovely lady who sent me the email today. It meant more to me that you could have imagined.

Jam Doctor

2008-11-29T19:17:00.003+13:00

How many people out there are lucky enough to live over the road from a great band?

I do!

Which is how I came to be listening to live music this morning as I breakfasted out on the deck.

Jam Doctor is a 4 member kiwi band. Classic rock, I guess you'd call it - great numbers like Sweet Home Alabama and Play That Funky Music. The sort of music that gets your body moving whether you mean to or not.

John Trueman is the lead vocalist and also on rhythm guitar, Daniel Trueman is on drums, Raymond Tahu is on lead guitar and Chris Matthews on bass. Daniel, Raymond and Chris all come in on backing vocals.

These guys likes to support local events so were going to be performing at the Mangakino Christmas Parade later today which explains how I was able to enjoy their music as I munched my way through my wheaties.

You'd pay a fortune some places to have live music while you breakfast!

Later in the morning, hubby and I went to the Christmas Parade and heard Jam Doctor again - this time belting out those familiar numbers that I get to hear them rehearsing. They keep things turned down a little in rehearsals so it was great to hear them turn the volume up and let it rip!

I know Jam Doctor are fully booked over Christmas and New Year but if anyone out there has got a function coming up in '09, you really should grab these guys. They rock!

What do you do?

2008-11-19T18:45:00.003+13:00

The trial against the people who tormented little Nia Glassie finished yesterday.

You'll remember about a year ago I posted about the death of this little girl - killed at the hands of the very people who supposedly cared for her. Her mother was convicted of man slaughter and her boyfriend and his brother of murder. Two other supposed adults in the house were convicted on lesser charges.

New Zealand has an appalling record when it comes to young children. We have the 5th highest child abuse figures in the developed world.

I don't know why. And I guess no one else does because this is one problem we haven't fixed. Every time this happens we get upset and say it must never happen again - but it does.

There do seem to be a few common elements in these cases, but other countries have similar problems.

This was a dysfunctional household. A small child should never have been left there. A few neighbors heard or saw things that they knew were not right and yet no one called the police or authorities.

Cases like this bring out the worst in me. All my tolerance and humanity goes out the window and I just hope that the offenders get picked on in prison so that they get a taste of what it's like when people treat you unkindly and there is no one around who cares enough to stop your tormentor.

That poor little girl was treated appallingly until finally a kick to the head killed her.

It just leaves me feeling so sad and helpless - hell, I'd dob someone in at the drop of hat if I believed they were ill treating a child - but I never see anything.

How do we help these littlies? They're invisible until one day you switch on the television and hear there has been another Nia Glassie or the Kahu twins or ... any New Zealander can recite the list going back.

It saddens me so much to live in a society we're any one of us can treat a helpless child like this.

Twitter

2008-11-03T20:36:00.004+13:00

I'm a recent convert to Twitter.

Oh, I HEARD about it a long time ago and took a brief look. People answering the question "what are you doing right now". It seemed like an awful waste of time.

Why would anyone want to now what I was doing? And more importantly - why would I want to know what they ate for breakfast or whether they were trimming their toenails? Not for me, I decided.

But about a month ago I was reintroduced to Twitter and this time I took to it like a duck to water, like a partridge to a pear tree, like a ... you get my drift.

I was atwitter with enthusiasm!

(You'll remember I was always a sucker for the widgets!)

So - if you cast your eyes to the right (and probably a little or a lot down) you'll see my Twitter widget, embedded there so that you too can share the excitement of every trivial detail of my life!

The thing that I like about Twitter is that it only takes a moment and yet (if you keep your list of people followed on the small side) you do start to get to know those folk.

Some people have lists of thousands but I'm keeping it small for the time being. It seems a bit pointless if all the Tweets disappear of my page within seconds - which is what must happen if you have gazillion people tweeting.

So if anyone out there has wondered about Twitter - whether it was right for them - give it a go.

It is actually fun and I can see some sensible uses for it. It's almost like a blog in giving that connection between people and yet you can do it so quickly that even on a busy day you can find time for a quick Tweet.

And there is nothing quite like a quick Tweet I've always thought!

Roses and Hens

2008-10-24T18:24:00.003+13:00

The Race of the Roses has been won and minor places awarded with stragglers still finishing.

I have an entire film of garden shots so will save the official announcement for when the film has been developed (which as were heading into a long weekend won't be until some time next week.)

Let's just say that the first and second places were no real surprise but the third placed rose came out of nowhere.

Did I tell you that we have hens again?

Hubby rebelled last year when we were buying pellets to feed the hens AND eggs on the same trip to the supermarket. I had be warning the girls for awhile that I didn't know how much longer I could hide the truth of their lack-lustre performances.

Some of them had been good layers - in the past. One hen had laid one egg in two years!

But - as hubby said, as he picked up his .22 and headed out towards the hen run - "this is not a retirement home for hens."

So we had a winter without hens and this Spring I bought 6 lovely little brown shavers. They are one of the breeds that are used for commercial egg production. In the past, I've liked getting hens that have spent one season in the battery cages. It's such a good feeling introducing them to all the things hens should be able to experience - sunshine and dust-baths and room to move and a place to perch.

It isn't much to want out of life.

But couldn't find any older hens so bought "point of lay". I tell myself that I have saved these 6 from going on to the battery farm but it isn't quite the same.

Anyway -when the film is developed - there will be pictures of the girls too.

Bet you can hardly stand the excitement!

Race of the Roses

2008-10-18T10:47:00.004+13:00

Everywhere I go on the web I'm seeing reports on the last rose before winter.

Here in New Zealand, we're galloping towards early summer and I have my annual race on to see which of my roses will be the first to flower.

So far, the educated money is on Madame Gregoire Staechelin, sometimes called Spanish Beauty, who has two buds that are showing color. She is indeed a beauty with lovely pink wavy petals.

But she could yet have competition.

Not from Madame Isaac Pereire, of course, who threw in the towel early by going toes up over the winter. No idea why. Rugosa roses are normally as tough as they come. I did think last summer she didn't look quite her old self - I guess I should have taken more notice. The only thing I can think of is that, when we were in Australia a few years back and rented our place out, that she got hit by the lawnmower and rot got into the wound.

But the wild rambler I have crawling over the hen run (and who I think is American Pillar) often makes a late run for this title to be the first. She can be looking as if there is nothing but tight little buds one day and the next she's draping great swathes of crimson down into the hen run.

Hubbie and I argue about this - the wisdom of letting a rambler hang it's branches down into the hen run. He refuses to go in to feed "the gals" or collect eggs because he gets caught up in them. But I think it looks pretty. And I'm sure our 6 brown shaver's enjoy a touch of beauty.

Crepsucle has one bud that could surprise me, and being against the warmth of the house does give her an advantage, so she can't be totally ruled out. She did win the race one year.

Still haven't got my digital camera yet but I will certainly treat you to a photo of the winner.

Nothing to do with roses but if anyone uses a Salton yogurt maker would appreciate hearing your views on it. I'm going to writing a a review page on this brand.

Did a page on the EasiYo yogurt maker which was easy because I love that brand. Everyone in NZ uses it - probably because it was invented here!

Anyway, I'm off out into the garden now to see our my contestants are going today!

Help required - apply within

2008-10-14T17:10:00.004+13:00

Reclaiming the blog from Saffron has certainly made the entire blogging process much faster. She did protest a little when I told her she couldn't be Blog Administrator but she relented in the end.

(For anyone who is totally confused, Saffron is the heroine in my novel and about a year ago, in the process of giving her her own email address, I managed to lock myself out of the blog. Since then, I've had to sign in as her.)

But I've taken control again and life is much simpler.

Now, if you cast your eyes upward - yes, right underneath the Flightless Writer bit, you'll notice that I am "the founder of Probiotics LoveThatBug." Does that make it sound like Microsoft?

Is there a better word I could use? Nothing is springing to my mind but there a number of folk here who have a way with words and you might see what I'm missing. I don't like "founder" but I don't know how else to say it.

Don't lie awake tonight puzzling it out but if something instantly springs to mind, then please put it in the comments.

Hello World

2008-10-12T13:51:00.004+13:00

This post seems a little like a new beginning.

I'm changing over to using my own identity in the blog world.

Not that it has ever been a secret who I am but I started using the "Saffron avatar" right at the beginning of my blog-life. I've always loved that image from the cover of Ripples on the Lake but as the publication moves further and further into the past, it seems less relevant to use the "Saffron avatar" in my wanderings on the web.

And on my web site Probiotics LoveThatBug I have the cutest little bug which I've named GoodBug. I was tempted to use him simply because I have to change identities every time I blog and my computer is, quite simply, the slowest in the known universe. So I've figured out (ie I read the help page) how to co-join my identities .

And I'm just going to be me!

I know the done thing is to have separate identities for your different "roles" on the web but it seems to me that we're in danger of losing our "realness" in the process.

So here you'll find me talking occasionally about my book - and if you look as if you have dollars to spend on a great paranormal adventure novel I will shamelessly steer you towards my Squidoo lens - and occasionally talking about the probiotic web site, but more often than not, just waffling on with a cream filled apple donut in hand and not a whole lot on my mind.

I've met people through blogging that I've enjoyed sharing cyber-time with and it seems the easiest way to get that back into my life is to just be the real me which means allowing the writing me and the probiotic me to cohabitate.

Over the next few days there will be a few changes here at The Flightless Writer as I redesign it as a multipurpose blog. I won't be chasing readers to lure them back here and will probably not venture much further than the group that has stuck with me through compulsive stat counting and unexplained absences over the last year.

So hopefully, Saffron is going to let me add this post to what she believes is "her" blog. You'll remember she locked me out of it about a year ago, but my time as come.

Move over Saffron Delaney.

I'm taking the blog back!

Tales from a tardy poster

2008-10-01T07:30:00.003+13:00

I'll just sneak in to my blog and have a quick flick round with the duster so that no one will know I've been absent.

Yikes - look at all those cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and the potted palm is almost dead! Is it really almost 4 months since I last posted.

Cyber-friendship is seeing that old blog buddies still have you listed in their blog rolls even with a shameful "4 mnths" beside your name. Bless you, guys.

Hubby's operation has been a partial success. The back pain is much reduced and his mobility has increased but he has been left with a "dropped foot". We're hoping that it will improve over time as the swelling round the nerves in his spine decreases. Very disappointing as he still can't do the things he loves.

The fishing season starts this morning and he had gone off fishing with his brother. Just before he left he said "hope I can get into the boat" and I have this sad vision of him being left on the jetty because he couldn't get aboard.

So I'm hoping like mad that he can get on the boat too. It would be awful if he coudn't. He's put up with so much over the last 6 months that I feel he has "earned" a days fishing with his brother. He'll be home tonight so, fingers crossed, he comes home with a big smile and a bag full of fish.

My little internet business is taking almost all my time. I'm just coming up to one year and traffic is steadily increasing. Have not made my fortune yet! but I can see the potential. I am getting cheques from here and there most months now. My hope is that in a few years time it will add to our income. It is one of these things where you put the work in now and reap the rewards down the track.

Sounds life life, doesn't it!

Sleeping with dogs

2008-05-09T18:46:00.003+12:00

It could almost be the title of a book, don't you think?

I've given up my claim on our double bed and leave hubby to sleep alone at night. He's able to shift himself around more freely to try to get comfortable and I miss the worst of the snoring when he's on his back! It suits us both!

So, I've put a mattress down on the living room floor, and of course, our old pig dog thinks this is wonderful. We let him sleep inside - because he's old and as he is part greyhound his coat is very fine.

Every evening, after I've helped hubby from the couch back to the bed, I return to the lounge to find Diesel curled up on my makeshift bed on the floor.

You'll remember that Diesel was the father of the puppies. And having mentioned puppies, Bruiser and Jem are now 7 months old, great gangling teenagers, full of energy. I feed them up on the deck so that hubby can see them out the window. Luckily we have an orchard they can be left playing in during the day so that exercise is not a problem.

Anyway, Diesel and I bunk down on the mattress on the floor together. As I said, he's old and his breath isn't quite as sweet as hubby's so he has to stay down the lower half of the mattress. He's loving it and will probably think he deserves a mattress for life after a few weeks of this.

Hubby and I are both hoping that the date for surgery comes up soon. Pig dog is happy to postpone it indefinitely!

Fame at last!

2008-05-05T18:57:00.005+12:00

Saffron Delaney and I have achieved super stardom at last! Yes - proud mothers are naming their babies after us!

And if you haven't seen these two gorgeous babies, pop over to Bag Lady's Blather to inspect an array of calf-cuteness.

Oh - did I forget to mention they're calves!

Saffron is a feisty little blond whilst I am a more sedate darker calf. Which more or less sums up Saffron and me anyway.

Hubby continues to suffer. It just makes me feel so helpless when he's in such pain and there is nothing I can do for him. We've got morphine which helps with some pain but not the sort that he gets when he tries to move.

I'm struggling to find time to do anything other than see to him. I know it sound silly but by the time we get through the daily ablution and such like tasks, half the day is gone. I'm champing at the bit to get back into my internet business and blogging but obviously he comes first.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to see a variety of cute calves pop over to the BagLady before they get turned into a casserole or something! And before there are any smart comments about the name, the BagLady is named thus because she makes some truly neat bags for supermarket trolleys.

Book Club Queen Interview

2008-05-01T18:48:00.003+12:00

The last couple of weeks have been seen me drop almost everything to take up the role of nursing my hubby, so it has been a lovely break from rounds of emptying "bottles" to have my interview with the Book Club Queen.

I really enjoyed the Book Club Queen interview because this was the first interview I've had with a non-New Zealander (the Book Club Queen is actually two lovely American ladies.) That meant that the interview approached things from a different angle to a kiwi interview where both interviewer and intended audience are familiar with New Zealand history.

Most of The Flightless Writer regulars are American and Canadian so I think you'll enjoy the interview. It very much concentrates on the story (and not how many times I've stuck pitchforks into my foot!)

And the review of Ripples on the Lake is not simply a rehash of the publisher's blurb which they sometimes are. This is one reviewer who definitely read the book - I have had reviews where I wondered! And I love that she used a quote from Big Wal who seems to be almost everyones favorite character.

And ...

Yes there's more!

And - they're giving away a signed copy in a Book Club Queen competition so if you are that one person that I haven't already pressurized into buying a copy - this is your change to grab a freebie! I don't think you even have to do anything tricky to be in to win!

Hopefully, I'll be catching up with everyone's blogs over the next day or so. Hubby's back, (prolapsed discs) which has been a problem over the last year, suddenly took a major turn for the worse after some "new" physio treatment. He really is literally stuck on his back. Saw the surgeon this week and hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

Got to go. Another full bottle awaits me!

Who put that sign on my back?

2008-04-16T11:11:00.004+12:00

The Bag Lady over at Bag Lady's Blather has tagged me.

Now I have done this particular tag before - name seven random facts about myself - but I'm guessing that the facts were all so boring that none of you can remember and won't realise if I end up repeating myself.

1. Twice during my lifetime, I have managed to stab myself in the foot with a pitchfork! I realise this is something most people manage to avoid completely, but perhaps they live pitchfork-free lives. My life has been full of pitchforks. So, I've stabbed myself once as a child, when I was helping my family gather up long grass we had just cut and once as an adult when I was "mucking-out" a stable in Cornwall. And I totally deny any rumour that suggests I am clumsy!

2. Have ridden a camel in Australia. (Have also ridden racehorses, showponies, cows, and sheep (any before you animal welfare people yell at me - I was very tiny and the sheep was very big.)

3. Have suffered concussion twice - and only once was it caused through the riding of assorted livestock! The other time, I was swinging on a tyre hung from the rafters and fell off and got hit on the noggin.

4. Once swore at a young man so violently that he came out in a nervous rash or something and had to see the doctor! Well, he shouldn't have sat on the arm of my chair and leaned across so that I was physically trapped in the chair while he then proceeded to "chat me up". Motto - never get a rat or a woman cornered!

5. Slept the night in a London loo. (I'm sure I said that one last time - you can tell it was the highlight of my big OE!)

6. I wear glasses for driving. (Stand back! Stand back!)

7. Once transported two sheep in my Mini! We were a sight to behold and yes, it did take a bit of cleaning up afterwards despite all the newspaper I had laid down.

So there you are - far more than you ever wanted to know about me. If anyone wants to play along, grab yourself a tag and run with it.

Spell Checker

2008-04-09T09:50:00.003+12:00

Do you ever wonder about the spell checker on your computer?

You know - that function that when you spell a word incorrectly, it makes a stab at it. "Did you mean ...." it politely suggests

I mean who programmes the suggestions that it comes up with.

My old computer always took this responsibility seriously. If I keyed in "prolbem" it would enquire as to whether I really meant "problem". And without a doubt, I did.

But this new computer appears to have a frivolous side. It does not take it's spell checker duties seriously.

I meant to type in "rhamnosus" - it's the name of a bacteria - but my fingers managed to transpose two letters to make this "rhanmosus".

Now, I'm the first to admit that "rhanmosus" is a tricky one to make a suggestion for, but my OLD spell checker would have given it due consideration and asked if perhaps I meant "ransom" or "Ramses". Look, I would have been happy with a stab at "hanuman", the sacred monkey of India, or even "hippopotamus", the not very sacred podge from Africa. Those are honest attempts that I can understand.

(In actual fact my old spell checker knew how to spell this word as well as a zillion other tricky bacterial names and would have simply given me the correct spelling without making such a song and dance about it.)

But no, the NEW computer studied my incorrect spelling of "rhanmosus" and suggested "southwesterly" or if I didn't fancy that I could have "doorhandle"!

So I ask you, who programmes these things?

Is it some strange little man with a twisted sense of humour? I suspect it must be. No one else could come up with such off-target suggestions.

In some dark room at the back of Spell Checker Headquarters, there is a middle aged geek working his way through a secondhand copy of the Latvian to English translation dictionary. And right now he's thinking "today's word is "porridge"" and it really doesn't matter what you type in.

Whatever your word, he's going to very politely suggest, "Did you mean porridge"!

Computers!

2008-03-31T20:39:00.002+13:00

I believe that a few days before this latest absence I was muttering about my computer?

Well – the worst happened!

For the last few months it has taken several attempts before it would condescend to start. Oh - and turning everything on in the “correct order”. It was very particular about that.

Under no circumstances was the screen to be turned on before the box was up and humming, or the screen would simply blink owlishly at me and refuse to do anything else. On each blink I’d catch a tantalizing glimpse of the folder-cluttered desktop beyond but there was never enough time for me to click on anything.

Then, about a week ago, even doing everything in the correct order wasn’t working. It took hours to start. A heart-to-heart with the local computer repairman had already indicated that there wasn’t much point in trying to repair it. The old girl was on her way out. (The computer – not me!)

So, hand in hand with my not-very-loved-by-this-point computer, we limped on.

I saved what I could.

And then it happened. One morning she simply refused to even make an attempt. I was tempted to give her a sharp prod – well, it works with unbiddable cows – but I could see she was passed all that.

Even the screen refused to blink at me. Nothing but black glass staring lifelessly back.

I knew I hadn’t saved enough.

So, I have a new computer. We don’t understand each other very well yet, but she has shown me where my email was stored. Well, she has shown me where one email account is; another email account is up and running (except I’ve forgotten where it is!) but everything that was in it has evaporated.

I suspect she’s a bit of a smart aleck. She seems to enjoy showing me how little I really know about driving a snazzy modern computer.

She’s fast. She’s stylish. And one day, I dare say she’ll quit on me too.

I’m gonna save more this time!

I'm a Stumbler

2008-03-18T20:21:00.003+13:00

I've just put the Stumble widget on my computer desktop and although I've always been convinced that it was a total waste of time, I have to confess I'm quite enjoying it. I've come across some websites that I never would have discovered on my own.

And who would have thought there were so many cutesy animal pics on the web!

Anyway, I came across this one Forbidden Library and being a book lover I found it most entertaining. I never have been much into naughty books - well other than when I was 14 and discovered Lady C's Lover - so I was staggered to find that I had read so many of these banned books.

They're not banned all over, of course, But each one of them has had a rocky road to public acceptance.

My all-time favourite author, Stephen King, has several on the list. Just shows what idiots some officals are!

But To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath! I mean we're talking great literature here as well as damn fine stories. (Ever noticed that the two don't always go together.)

Anyway, if you've got an idle five minutes take a peak. I think you'll find it interesting.

I'm Stumbling a few of your sites. Leah's abundance pages, for instance, over at The Goat's Lunch Pail. I'm sure the world would be a better place if everyone had a wise woman reminding them to write out their abundance cheques. And gratitue. You can never have enough of that.

And if I suddenly go missing in action, it won't be that I've Stumbled into a black hole out in cyber space. No - it will be my computer. It's taken to stumbling too!

Tagged again!

2008-03-17T19:32:00.007+13:00

Yep, Michael has tagged me this time. You all know Michael but just in case you don't he's over at Avatar Lore. It seems I have to give you five sentences out of page 123 of a book - any book, I understand. So on the strength of that I'll give you five from Kitty by Deborah Challinor. You'll remember that Deb was one of the writers on my book tour. She writes NZ historical romance and you really get a flavor for what life was like in NZ in the 1800's.

"The girl was wearing a shiny dress the acid green of new leaves, the bodice cut very low and her white breasts spilling out, almost but not quite revealing her nipples. The dress was sleeveless and very tight about the hips, and only came down to the girl's calves. On her feet she wore red button boots with sharp little heels. There were fading bruises on her arms as well as dozens of brass bangles, and her long hair was pinned up with an enormous black silk rose with a peacock feather sticking out of it."

Now I have to admit - and I'll say this very quietly - I don't read much NZ fiction. But before the book tour I read some of Deb's stories and I really enjoyed them. She has about 7 or 8 under her belt by now and I can promise you SHE doesn't get her books placed at ankle level!

I don't think she's with Amazon USA but Amazon UK have some of her books.

So, I'm passing the tag on. As usual, I won't name anyone but if you want to pick it up, then give your readers 5 lines of page 123 of the book of your choice.

Happy scurrying through page 123 of all the books on your bookshelf, everyone!

Book Club Queen

2008-03-08T21:03:00.003+13:00

That should be the Book Club Queens actually because there are TWO lovely ladies at Book Club Queen. And how come I know all about them is because they're going to review Ripples on the Lake AND interview me next month. Pretty neat, eh!

After the trauma of all those live radio interviews I'm really looking forward to this. I'm going to be able to make myself sound intelligent and artistic and not burble on in my usual fashion!

When I was in Hamilton (a nearby city) a week or two back I looked about a few book stores for Ripples and was disappointed to see that our "moment in the sun" is more or less over. In one shop, she was being displayed at ankle level! I kid you not. Unless you're were crawling along the aisle on your belly you could not see the book. Another shop I went into I was assured they did have Ripples - but they didn't know where!

So - another royalty cheque will come my way this month but I'm not expecting to come visit you all on the strength of it!

Still, I sold a story that will always be dear to me, we spent time in the NZ Bestseller List, I did a book tour and met other writers, I started blogging and met all you guys - if we've been replaced by other, newer, books, I can't begrudge some other writer their moment in the spotlight.

But it's so great to have Ripples being reviewed by the Book Club Queens. They've done reviews on ALL of the Harry Potter books so if you're into that, check them out at Book Club Queens. And if you want advise on how to start a book club, then these two ladies have all the answers.

I'm not sure if the Book Club Queens are paranormal adventure fans or not so I hope they enjoy the story, although personally I don't think of it as "paranormal".

I just wrote the story the way it all happened!

Award winning me!

2008-03-04T17:38:00.004+13:00

Today, I've just won an award. Was it the Booker Prize you ask? Not the Nobel Prize for Literature, you gasp.

Nope! Even better. Penelope the cat has awarded me top achievement for - well, I'm not quite sure what it's for, but I'm happy to grab, sorry humbly accept, any award I can.

It is with great pleasure that I accept the "Kudo's from Penelope" Award. I've know Penelope since she was just a youngster and have always been one of her biggest fans. And if you're that one in a million person who doesn't know Penelope then you'll find her link over to your right (if the blog cleaners haven't tossed it out with the empty coke bottles and cup cake wrappers.)

This honour that Her Purrness has bestowed upon my humble self is in recognition of the fact that "I am back". Since the local shop no longer stocks cream filled apple donuts, there is not quite so much "back" as there used to be. But I am back even though the back is lesser. The back that I am is now stronger and more agile after strengthening and toning exercises at the tomato green house. There is nothing quite like pushing a trolley loaded with tomatoes to give the back that I am a new sense of purpose in life.

So - I'm back.

And while I'm here, I'd just like to thank Penelope, my blogging friends, my husband, my parents, my dogs, anyone who bought the book, the people who are GOING to buy the book, the people who bought the book and have since sold it on Trade Me, the people who will buy the book now that they don't have to buy any more Harry Potter books, the people who ...

Funny - my voice is echoing.

Is anyone there?

Penelope?

Anyone?

Oh!

Running the pups

2008-03-02T21:18:00.004+13:00

We loaded up all the dogs late this afternoon and took them up the mountain for a run. Hubby had the gun and knife just in case we did actually run into a pig but we were really only trying to exercise the dogs. Hubby is having major back problems at the moment so that proper hunting is not possible.

We took the two pups, Bruiser and Jem, along with us. I'm not really a pig hunter by nature, my sympathy is with the pig, but I do love these early outings with pups. It's such a delight watching them tackle so many new experiences.

There are lots of things for them to learn but most of them are things that you can't really teach. All you can do is give the young dogs the opportunity to learn. Over time, they'll learn to back track so they never get lost, and how to cross streams and how to scent. And they'll learn what they're going up there to find. That's about the time I begin to leave hubby and the dogs to it.

But for now, they're just two young pups having fun.

Berry and Diesel cool themselves by flopping down in any shallow stream we come to but the pups haven't got the hang of that yet. They carefully jump over so as not to wet their feet!

And talking of feet - I'm a great believer that puppies grow into their feet and these two boys both have enormous feet. They're going to be big dogs for sure. Bruiser has thrown very much to Diesel's greyhound side and I think will be very fast. Jem's a one-pace "plodder" like his mum, Berry.

It was a lovely outing - no pigs about - just a grass covered track winding up the mountain through native bush, and hubby and I and the dogs. Well, hubby was driving the ute mostly but me and the dogs loved it! Pigeons flapped noisily overhead and we saw some Californian quail. We went a little far and Bruiser was very tired - he still isn't back to full strength.

Home again just as it was coming dark. Big dinners for the dogs and then into their beds. I'm sure they have wonderful dreams after these runs.

I love these early pigless pig hunts!

Where I've been

2008-02-28T19:24:00.003+13:00

It's been a difficult time over the last few weeks.

You'll remember out six lovely puppies - four of which had left home and we kept two. Well - out of the six, only three are left. Parvovirus swept through the local dog community and three of the puppies died. Our two, Bruiser and Jem have both survived and a little bitch that went just a couple of hundred metres down the road. The three that lived are the three that received veterinary care - so be warned - if parvo is in your area, get them help. They won't survive without it.

Bruiser was very bad with it. He is still very skinny despite getting three good meals a day. It is taking a long time to get the weight back on him. Jem went down after Bruiser so that he wasn't quite so advanced with the parvo when we called in the vet. It just feels so sad losing the other puppies after seeing them born and everything. They were such dear wee things. Both the little grey ones died.

Anyway - that left us with the most horrendous veterinary bill. Over a thousand dollars!

So it's been back to work for me over this last month picking tomatoes. I did work at this a few years ago but I was a few years younger too! I found it HARD this time. I picked around 2000kg each day and was just so tired when I got home that I could hardly move! Luckily, hubbie was really suportive and cooked dinner.

The good news is that the vet bill is paid, I've left the tomato glasshouse and am back at home, working on my website, lots of ideas in my head and with good intentions of getting back into the blogging a little more.

My Probiotic website is growing. It's up to around eighty pages now and I do enjoy doing it. Not ready to monetise yet but not far off. I'll keep you posted as to how things go in case anyone else is looking at that sort of thing.

Some of you will have spotted me lurking about on your blogs over the last few days as I start to update myself on all your news.

I'm still trying to get the tomato stains out of my skin after the month at the glasshouse! It's given me the most tremendous idea for a short story. Might try my hand at the Six Pack competition again. Some of you will be thinking "I think this is where I came in last year"! and you'd be right. I started blogging immediately after the judges didn't like the lovely story I wrote them last year.

Doesn't time fly!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-23T06:49:00.000+13:00

Some of you will be moving into overdrive about now, racing around in a frenzy of buying food, pressies etc, so I wish you a very Merry Christmas now in case I don't see you again before the 25th. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then have an enjoyable holiday.

A special thank you to everyone who bought a copy of Ripples on the Lake during the year and especially those of you who emailed me to let know how much you enjoyed it. I can't begin to tell you how much pleasure that gave me.

Regular poster, Leah is still in hospital and will be over Christmas but hopefully will be back home by the New Year. Keep her in your thoughts and send her "wellness vibes".

Hubbie and I will be having a quiet day at home. Sometimes we head off to neighbouring towns to celebrate with other members of our family but this year it will be just him and me - and four dogs and four hens - plus all the neighbour's cats who think our little half acre is a paradise and spend more time sleeping in sunny little hidden-away spots than they do at their own home!

Merry Christmas all you lovely people.

The saga of the guilt ridden blogger.

2007-12-18T13:36:00.000+13:00

I'll just sneak quietly in to my blog and hope that no one realises how long I've been away for.

(a deafening silence)

(slightly louder) I said I'll just ...

Hello? Is anyone out there?

You've all gone. Can't say I blame you. Oh well, I just ramble onto myself here.

Puppy update. Four of the puppies have now left home. None have gone very far - two are in one home about three hundred metres down the road and two are about five kilometres away. It was kind of nice that they went in groups of two. It would make those first few lonely nights bearable.

We've kept two boys - Bruiser and Jem. Bruiser was hubby's choice for his next pig dog and we kept Jem because he's big and backward and shy. Most of the others were full of attitude but Jem's personality is well hidden and no one chose him. He's a nice wee fellow and will shape up with time, so with us he'll get that time - and a bit of understanding if he really is as thick as he looks sometimes!

I promised to divulge all about my internet business. I'm developing a site with a group called Site Build It and have been impressed with how much help and support they give. (No- they didn't pay me to say that!) Don't get me wrong - it is me that has to do the work but they have so much behind-the-scenes technology. I can't help but think that it just might suit some of the folk who used to post here regularly. If you have something you want to sell (like bags!), or have knowledge that other people might want to learn (like how to make bags!, or quilt, or write, or be a journalist, or have medical knowledge, or - anything), then it could be helpful if you wanted a web business.

Or even if you were a crab with a desire to build a world empire!

It cost me three hundred and something US dollars and if I don't succeed, it won't be their fault. Their motto is to over deliver and they certainly do. There is a forum where you can get help and they have quite a few rather nifty stat counter thingies. No wonder I like it! Their guides (written and video) help you to develop a niche site. I think it is the lack of a niche that stops so many blogs from making much money. Only a few of the top ones seem to do well.

I've got about forty pages up and am heading towards 200 or so! At some point, when I have the traffic, I will monetise the site. Eventually, I'd like to turn it into a web-shop. So - that's what I've been doing. Just letting you know so that if it was a path anyone wanted to go down, you know that Site Build It are genuine. (Google their name and you'll find them.)

My site is called Probiotics - LoveThatBug (link in sidebar) but it is a long way from finished with a few great glaring holes in content. But I'm getting there and enjoying the process.

So, I'm writing madly but not fiction!

I think I will be "closing" the blog as I simply don't have enough hours in the day, and then I feel so guilty when I don't blog for ages. Does anyone know how you go about closing up shop in a neat and tidy way? I'd rather just visit other people's blogs.

I'm thinking of just having a "goodbye" post and leave comments on for a few more days and then just switch comments off and leave the blog. Is that the way to do it?

Anyway, I hope a few of you discover I've resurfaced.

Puppies galore

2007-11-13T17:59:00.000+13:00

More puppies than you can shake a stick at. You'll be relieved when they're all big enough to leave home and I actually blog about writing again. But that's a month way yet!

This is Berry's puppies at two weeks old. I had to crawl into the dog run on my stomach to get this shot so am pleased that they are now out in the orchard.

The remaining photos are all at three and a half weeks. Their little legs are still a bit wobbly but they can see and hear now. They share that kennel in the back ground with Berry and will eventually have the run of the orchard but at present they only venture a feet from base.

Dinner time! Their table manners are lacking somewhat.

And having finished what I provided they're back to pestering Berry for a feed. They can latch onto a teat while she is standing now so they are getting more and more demanding.

A little more news just to prove I do have a life beyond puppies. I have been working flat out on the little business venture I told you about a month or two back. Very time consuming but I am making good progress and will probably be revealing all within the next month.

Writing? Umm, well, you see ...

Puppy pics

2007-10-31T13:29:00.000+13:00

At last! I forgot to take the film into town to get developed last week.

This is Berry with puppies at a couple of days old. There are four black ones (a bit hard to spot them all) and a grey one and a patchwork one.

The photo above probably shows them off best. There is a jet black puppy, then the patchwork, then two duller blacks, then the grey, then another black pup with a white spot on his back.

Can't you just see her thinking, "can't a new mother get a moments privacy"! That's Berry's curly coat on her side not her ribs although she was very thin after whelping. She's was on four meal a day trying to fatten her up without over loading her system but is down to three a day now. Probably impossible to fatten her while she is feeding six of them. They are looking very rotund!

And this is the father, Diesel, skulking off to the garden before he gets roped in for puppy minding!

Puppies are now with Berry in the run outside and are almost 2 weeks old. Their eyes are just starting to open but they can't really see anything yet. That will happen rapidly over the next couple of days. They still "paddle" about on their tummies but are starting to get their legs actually underneath them so will probably become mobile in about a week.

I can't get photos in the doghouse because I'm too close but by next week, I think they'll be venturing out so get ready for another batch of photos.

Three days old

2007-10-21T10:23:00.000+13:00

The puppies are three days old and thriving. Berry is settling in to her role well although she still hasn't quite got the hang of how to lie so that all teats are on offer. As in so many other things in life, all teats are not created equal. The ones towards the hind legs are much more productive than the ones by the front legs, and quite often the first two are more decorative than of any use.

Diesel seems to have twigged that whatever is going on in the bedroom is "woman's stuff" and therefore none of his business. He is back by the fire although I wouldn't trust him not to investigate if I left the house. Berry is quite happy for him to be out there and within a few weeks she will lose her fear of him seeing the puppies. It is just one of these things hardwired into the dog psyche. I'm sure you've all seen these wildlife programmes where males wander in and kill the young, so you can't blame her.

I am staggered about how trusting Berry is with me. Quite often new mothers are very defensive even with people that they know well. Perhaps, because of the chaotic birthing and me having to get involved right from the beginning, she thinks that this is the way it is!

It is lovely to lie in bed at night and hear the tiny "sucky" sounds come from just a few feet away as the puppies feed. There are four black puppies with white underneath, one grey, and one dark grey and white patches. Not quite sure where the last two colours came from although as both mum and dad both have a bit of greyhound in them, it could be that. Three have their father's smooth coat and three have their mother's slightly curled coat. Sexes are equally divided too - I think! It's a bit hard to tell because new born puppies want to curl up so it is hard to see their "bits and pieces" which are all pretty darn small anyway! I'll have another look through them in a few days.

I'll post again on Tuesday and all going well there will be pics!

More puppies!

2007-10-19T12:06:00.000+13:00

No wonder Berry was looking so huge at the end. She eventually had 11 puppies! Sadly, the last 2 were stillborn, probably because of the length of time in delivering. No 11 arrived 10 hours after no 1 and 5 hours after no 10.

We are only letting her raise 6 because this is her first litter and that is more than enough for a new mum. She is managing wonderfully now that she has got over the surprise of what was happening. Yesterday was chaotic with her giving birth in four different locations. I was wandering about with a box gathering up puppies.

I have got some early photos and will publish on Tuesday (after I go to town and get film put on disc).

She is still settled in the bedroom which is now smelling rather "ripe" but she is happy there and I can keep the room warm. (Puppies can not control their body temperature for the first few weeks.) It is fine today but bitterly cold outside and I am worried that if any fall out of whatever "nest" I make, they would not survive. She is completely housetrained and "hangs on" until I insist she goes out and then she does a mad dash outside and races back to the puppies.

Poor Diesel (the father) has been banished to the dog run because his presence upsets her. She seems fine with Tori and I. In a couple of days, once I'm sure she is managing, I will put Berry and the pups out in the dog run and Diesel can regain his place beside the fire. I'm sure he's thinking, "if this is fatherhood, it sucks"!

So - one contended mother, six plump and healthy puppies and one relieved "grandma"!

Berry has birthed!

2007-10-18T14:15:00.000+13:00

What a morning!

Berry has had eight puppies over the last four hours and I'm really hoping that she is finished. I think they have all fed although they mostly look very similar so it is hard to tell.

It has been a chaotic birthing with Berry wandering about have pups left, right and centre, and me gathering them up in a box and trying to keep them warm by the fire while she was having the next one! At the moment, she is settled in the bedroom (so much for my lovely den outside!)feeding them. I've given up worrying about what might be happening to the carpet and am just trying to get her to settle in one spot.

Will post again later.

Almost!

2007-10-17T16:52:00.000+13:00

For anyone out there following the updates of Berry's pregnancy - we're almost there!

Her behaviour today has changed. Normally, she's a very sociable dog but for the last twelve hours she really has been in her own little world. It's as if she is waiting for it to begin.

She is still quite adamant that under the front steps is the ideal whelping site. I built another little den - this one beside my bed. She's wandered into it several times checking it out but I think she still prefers her choice. So long as she doesn't end up having the puppies on the bed, I suppose it doesn't matter!

Her tummy is very large and whereas before she looked round, now the "bump" has dropped so she looks lean above with this large undercarriage!

Her due date is Friday (today is Wednesday) so it shouldn't be long now.

Stay tuned!

This and that

2007-10-11T19:00:00.001+13:00

Life is humming along at a great rate of knots.

The writing is going well with the story unfolding smoothly and none of those ghastly "how the **** did I write myself into this corner" moments!

The internet business venture has been put on the back burner for the last few weeks as I finalised plotting this new version of the latest tale. I'll get back into the planning of that next week. I didn't want to many things at the planning stage at once.

And Berry - well puppies should be here in another week. She still hasn't settled on her birthing place. Her latest choice is under the front steps! She doesn't seem to realise that if it's privacy she's after, then front steps probably aren't a good place. Each day I take her to the little den I built on the deck and show her round it like an enthusiastic real estate saleswoman. "Notice how wonderfully dark and enclosed it is, madam, and you'll see the innovative way that deck chairs have been used to hold the wall in place!" So far, my "client" is not buying!

I seem to be posting on a weekly schedule nowadays, but rest assured, if puppies arrive early, you'll be the first to know.

More tour stuff

2007-10-04T15:43:00.001+13:00

Every now and then, I think of something else that happened on the book tour, so resign yourselves, you're probably going to get months of "did I tell you about when I was on the Myths and Mayhem Tour and blah, blah ...!

I heard about yet another school that is using Ripples on the Lake as part of their senior English class studies. This really does delight me because I love the idea of being any part of introducing students to reading. Reading has been such a major part of my life that I can not imagine having that pleasure denied - or worse, simply not being aware of the fun and adventure that await. These classes seem to be studying all sorts of things that I didn't know I was writing about - you know, deep literary things! Maybe one day some will be able to tell me what I meant!

And some lovely lady reviewed me in a university magazine and is going to send me a copy. I'm sort of assuming it was a nice review or she wouldn't have volunteered the info.

Or maybe she would! Deborah Challinor told a funny story of someone turning up on one of her book tours simply to tell her that she had the price of wool wrong in her last novel!

I'm doing the hard yards on this latest story of mine. As most of you know, I've already written a pretty crappy first draft which has been binned. I know what the story is about - or at least, I know the end and all the exciting bits and all the gorgeous visual bits. Unfortunately, that doesn't quite make a story. It's how it all hangs together that has me puzzled. I've written the story one way and don't like it. So now I know one way that doesn't work. I'm busy finding the way that will work.

The wonderful thing about the tour is that it really has me fired up to nut this problem out. I keep thinking I have and then spot a flaw in logic or decide that I haven't made things quite nasty enough for my main gal.

I bit the bullet and changed some names because I just know those ladies at HarperCollins HQ would decide some names were too similar. It's hard when someone has been Katy in your head for over a year to suddenly turn them into a Jessica, but easier to do it now than later. (I still get a little confused with a couple of characters in Ripples who underwent late name changes.)

Meantime, Berry is now into the final two weeks of her pregnancy. She's very big and her teats are swelling. It wouldn't surprise me if she was a little early although I do hope she isn't. Puppies develop a lot in their final week.

Berry and I are having a slight difference of opinion about where these puppies should be born. I've built her a lovely "den" which she is totally unimpressed with. Her pick is the dirt hole she's dug underneath the dogruns!

Myths and Mayhem Tour

2007-09-27T15:08:00.000+12:00

I've just returned home after having the most wonderful time on the Myths and Mayhem Tour. If anyone out there is stressing about an upcoming book tour - don't. This was my first and I sailed through it. There was one heart pounding moment as I waited to start talking at the first venue, but after a couple of minutes I was away and they couldn't shut me up after that!

I should probably introduce the participants of this whistle-stop tour. There was Deborah Challinor who writes historical novels that bring early NZ history to life. With seven novels under her belt, Deborah was the most experienced amongst us.

Elenor Gill has two paranormal novels published and is currently working on number four. (You can tell they all work harder than I do, can't you!) Elenor's husband Brendan accompanied her and what a fine "roadie" he made! He drove us about, minded bags, took photos, found restaurants - in fact, having been a backing musician to singers like Dusty Springfield, he was even able to give assistance with microphones.

We also had Charlie Holland, the NZ Book Council tour coordinator with us, and she provided all the support a newbie could want.

First venue was Hamilton, a city about an hour and a half drive from home. The audience there was wonderful - they all looked so friendly that it was hard to stay nervous for long. Elenor, Brendan, and myself went on to a restaurant after the talk and then back to the motel.

Next day, we all travelled separately through to Tauranga which is actually my home town. I was born there and did all my schooling there.

That's me in the "hot seat" at the Tauranga Library, and on the left is the chair, Jenny Argante and to my left is fellow author Elenor Gill. In front of me, are zillions of devoted fans hanging on to my every word! Well - about 30 people who were politely managing to look mildly interested!

After that, it was back to the cars - the bagel I had scoffed for breakfast was beginning to seem inadequate - and on to Rotorua, our third and final venue. This time the audience consisted mainly of members of the local writer's group so they brought yet another perspective to the talk.

After that, the five of us descended like a plague of locusts upon a local restaurant called Fat Dog.

I'm afraid I seem to have cropped poor Brendan out of the shot, which seems a bit tough after he guarded my bag all evening, but that's (from left to right) Elenor Gill, Deborah Challinor and Charlie Holland. The food was delicious and the servings enormous and I shall certainly return with Tori - who is not a man to be intimidated by a super large plate of food - next time we are in Rotorua.

I took a photo the next morning because I liked Fat Dog.

The motel I was booked into had a spa and it was wonderful to relax after all the rushing about. I slept like a log that night. And then, this morning, it was back into the car and the drive home. The dogs were delighted to see me; the hens might have been - they're not very demonstrative.

And that was my very first book tour. It's left me feeling proud to be a writer, determined not to waste this opportunity, and so very keen to start writing again!

The Tour Begins

2007-09-25T07:48:00.000+12:00

The mini-book tour begins today. I refer to it as a "mini" tour because I hear of writers slogging from city to city over a period of weeks or even months, battered suitcase in one hand and road map in the other, and I do want you to know that my tour is a nice civilised jaunt, not an enduro event.

This means I'll be "missing" for a couple of days (what's new, you say!) but I'll be back on Thursday and will fill you in on all the details. It sounds strange but I have never actually met another writer in person, so I'm looking forward to meeting up with Deborah Challinor and Elenor Gill. It will be interesting to hear their take on writing.

And so many people have emailed me to say how much they've enjoyed Ripples that I'm hoping I might run into one or two of them. I wonder sometimes if readers realise just how much their support is appreciated.

I have decided to take my camera with me and will get someone to take a pic of us all looking suitably authorial - just in case it's the only book tour I ever go on! The speed I'm progressing with the next story, it well could be!

I have a zillion things I should be doing this morning so had better race off and attend to them. I don't want to turn up in a car that looks as if it carts pig dogs about in the back seat! (It's a treat - they love going to town with me!)

Full report in a couple of days - until then, take care.

Gardens and other things

2007-09-20T18:13:00.000+12:00

I popped into town today to buy a few "bits" for the garden. It's springtime here in New Zealand and in another few weeks my flower garden will look wonderful. I like things fairly wild and - in many people's eyes - overgrown. It's how I like a garden. Drives my husband crazy. He likes things well pruned. In fact, give him a chain saw and he'd reduce my garden to ankle level in a second!

There are a number of roses sprinkled round our half acre, mostly old fashioned ramblers and shrub roses with a few modern ones, and then lots (and I do mean lots) of a pink flowering plant that I have absolutely no idea of the name. Ditto a yellow flowering plant. But they both flower like crazy, self seed like crazy, never give weeds a chance to get a foothold, and I love them. Then there's white flowering feverfew and mauve poppies - I love them all as they combine in an orgy of flowers in the spring and early summer.

I grow lots of vegetables from seed but at this time of year I like to buy a few seedlings just to get things started, so that's what I was doing today.

Adrienne Kress, author of Alex and the Wigpowder Treasure, has a wonderful post about her trip to the UK to launch the English edition of her book. The link is over in the side bar (The Temp, the Writer and the Actress - although the words are possibly not in that order!) and you will enjoy it. Trust me.

I'd started to get a little nervous about my own upcoming mini-tour, but reading Adrienne's adventure reminded me to just enjoy the ride. As usual with Adrienne's epics, there are lots of photos.

Talking of photos - if anyone out there knows of a good digital camera brand and model, do tell. I've been reading reviews of various models and getting so much conflicting advice that now I feel quite confused. If you like your camera, tell me what it is.

Otherwise how will I show you pics of the puppies when they arrive!

Book Tour

2007-09-17T09:46:00.000+12:00

In just over a week my mini book tour will begin. The tour will last two days and I'll speak in three different towns. I hardly ever seem to stay overnight anywhere nowadays so it will be a treat to forget about the feeding of dogs and hens (and husband!) and enjoy doing something different.

The tour is called "Myths and Mayhem" and I'll be joined by two other kiwi authors, Deborah Challinor and Elenor Gill. Both these ladies are multi-published authors so obviously work harder at their craft than I do!

I gather that we will be talking about "the process of crafting history and myth into the perfect story". And there I was thinking I was just belting out an exciting tale!

I have to confess that I actually did do a lot of research before writing Ripples on the Lake, but once I started writing, I was more concerned with the pace of the story and making sure that it never slowed as it galloped towards the end.

Before the writing began, I read everything I could on early Taupo history (the town the story is set in) and on early Maori history. It felt important to keep everything accurate and real - goodness knows why since the story is paranormal. I think I wanted a reader to believe that it could have happened to anyone - even them - exactly as I wrote it, so that background accuracy was important.

It's been lovely to get email from readers saying that they have learnt things about maori culture from the story. It was never my intention to "teach" anything but it's a nice spinoff.

I'll be doing a reading on the book tour and have chosen the passage where Billy dies. It doesn't contain the central character but does feel "complete" in itself.

On the puppy front, Berry continues to thrive. She is still hunting which is unlikely to do her or the unborn puppies any harm, although I'm begining to think that the jump up on to the back of the ute will become a bit of a stretch.

I told Tori that he might need to lift her up, but he just gave me a funny look! I know that he will - he'll just make sure that none of his pig hunting friends see him doing it!

Puppies

2007-09-10T15:48:00.000+12:00

I'm not sure how you count the age of puppies that are yet to be born. Let's just call them minus six weeks and counting.

Berry is developing a wee "tum" on her and seems to have mellowed a little so I'm convinced she is in pup although it seems very early to be showing. If not, it certainly isn't through inactivity on Diesel's part!

He did all the things a stud dog is supposed to do - several times over! I was relieved when Berry was through her fertile period and things settled back to normal. You try telling a couple of amorous dogs that the front lawn isn't really the best place and could they please be a little more discreet!

The puppies will be pig dogs, of course, and we will keep one and find homes for the others. Diesel has a lot of greyhound blood in him and is very fast. He can still out sprint Berry although she is just youngster compared to him.

I really do understand why regular guest Marijke loves the breed so much. I remember watching Diesel run at full speed once many years. We were on opposite sides of a small gully and I had this panoramic view of him in full flight down a dirt track. It was simply magical. In some strange way the beauty of him moved me and I still remember that day clearly.

And jump! He can clear a gate, taking off seven or eight feet in front of it and touching down a similar distance on the other side.

I know if any of the puppies look as if they've thrown towards Diesel that Tori will want to keep them.

Mother-to-be, Berry, is a sweetheart although that is not considered the "proper" way to talk about a pig dog! Tori would cringe if he could hear that. I don't care. They can be his rough-tough pig dogs when they're out hunting - at home, they're my two sweethearts.

Berry is part Lockley which I believed is considered a recognised breed now, although not by the Kennel Club. The breed started many years ago when a dedicated pig hunter by the name of Lockley decided to establish a true breeding line of dogs that he considered the perfect mix for hunting pig. For the most part, pig dogs are of mixed parentage.

Tori took them both out at the weekend but it must have been the pigs lucky day. Berry will continue to hunt for a few more weeks before becoming a "lady-in-waiting" until she whelps.

And won't that be an exciting post!

The plan - for this week at least!

2007-09-04T18:57:00.000+12:00

As I lay on the couch thinking nasty thoughts about calf 202, I had time also to contemplate my future. The result of this is that I have decided to put writing on the back burner for awhile.

I hope there is another book in me. I'm convinced that there is - but, what I need to do right now, is earn money. As all you writers know, writing is a long term thing. Money comes in, but it's down the track.

The driving determination that pushed me through to the completion of Ripples is temporarily quietened. Right now, writing is something that gets in the way of life, whereas it used to be the other way round.

So - there are going to be a few changes. I don't want to scrap the blog because I've come to enjoy sharing my bits of news with you all and getting your feedback. I shall post two or three times a week as anything of interest happens.

To whet your appetite (or cause you to hastily delete me from your bookmarked sites!) in the months coming, there will be a report on the three city book tour that I'm doing with two other writers and also the pregnancy and birth of Berry's puppies. Berry is one of our pigdogs as is father-to-be Diesel.

After a lifetime of working for other people I'm about to try my hand at an internet based business. Don't worry! I haven't sent my life savings off to a Nigerian bank or anything! I will reveal all when the time is right and hopefully any lessons learnt can be of use to others. It won't bring in any money for awhile and I shall return to either the garage (if it ever pumps gas again) or the pizza parlour (if it ever opens) in the mean time.

I'll continue with the monthly update on my website and will keep the rating widgets on it but I'm thinking off removing all rating widgets from the blog. Gasp! Did I really just write that? Well, if the blog is going to be simply a means of communicating with people that I consider cyberfriends - it really doesn't matter, does it?

There'll just be me, you and a couple of others, sitting around munching on cream filled apple donuts and working out good names for Berry's puppies!

"excessive schmaltziness"

2007-09-01T16:48:00.000+12:00

Yesterday I received another batch of review clippings. Mostly good.

But - "excessive schmaltziness" - that's what the gentleman from the Dominion Post had to say about Ripples. I'm assuming the reviewer is a gentleman. Come out and say that to my face you swine, sir!

The book was, he tells me, an "uncomfortable chick-lit makeover"!

I believe he has a heart in there somewhere because he did say the book was "sadly spoilt" by the "excessive schmaltziness". Like it hurt him to discover that. Ahh well, it hurts me to hear him say that, but not very much. I'm surprised to discover that my skin is tougher that I thought it might be.

Adrienne Kress over at The Actress, The Writer and the Temp has an excellent post on reviews. It's all subjective, she tells me.

She's right, of course, but what I wonder about is this - are the passages in Ripples that were found to be awash in sentimentality by one reviewer, are those the passages that I wrote through a blur of tears? Because it was genuine emotion when I wrote it.

I know I do go over-the-top when I write. The most common phrase used by the HarperCollins editors was "less is more, Dawn". It still rings in my ears! Possibly I'm better at conveying excitement and action that heartfelt emotion.

All I can say is the gentleman from the Dominion Post should have seen it before the HarperCollins editors made me pull out all my most heart wrenching scenes!

The revenge of calf 202

2007-08-31T10:15:00.000+12:00

Had he seen me callously place little Noddy in the bobby calf pen? I think he must have - and he plotted retribution.

This was no bobby calf boy. He was big and beautiful, 40 kgs of sleek black and white bovine temperament. And, what's more - he didn't want to feed on a calfateria. He had a mother with warm soft teats. Why should a fine physical specimen such as himself have to suck on a rubber imitation?

It was time for a showdown between calf 202 and me. I walked into the calf pen and eyeballed him. He eyeballed me back. I walked towards him; calf 202 retreated to the corner. I grabbed him and wrestled him up to the calfateria. He planted his feet and leant backward.

I stood behind him so that his rear end was wedged between my legs foiling his frantic efforts to retreat from the calfateria, then I leant over him, dabbled my fingers in the milk and stuck my fingers in his mouth. He sucked vigorously. Calf 202 and I were bonding in true mother and son fashion. I cunningly edged the rubber teat into his mouth. He stopped sucking and threatened to call the SPCA.

And there we stayed for the next ten or fifteen minutes, me jackknifed over him, calf 202 sucking enthusiastically on my fingers but refusing to suck on the calfateria. At some point, something horrible happened within the mechanism of my back. But he was almost feeding. If I could just hang out another few seconds.

Eventually, I had to admit that calf 202 had won that round. I hobbled across to the rails and hung on while crampish pains threatened to lock me in some Quasimodo position for life.

At some point, I glanced up to see calf 202 sucking enthusiastically on the calfateria! If I'd been able to chuck an empty bucket at him, I would have, but by then I could hardly move.

So - reluctantly, the calves and I have split company. My back is recovering and I'm hobbling about again now.

Thank you all for missing me and worrying about me. I have to admit, that for most of the week I've been in too much pain to even think about the blog. Calf 202 would tell you that shows just what a horrible, force a boy to drink, sort of person I am!

Bobby calves

2007-08-23T18:57:00.000+12:00

Today was bobby calf day. That's always a sad day for me.

Bobby calves are the male calves who have no further purpose in life. I'm sure if anyone asked them they'd claim that a life eating good grass and lolling about in the sun was a worthy purpose - but no-one asks them.

Their mother has had a calf and will now produce milk for another year. If our poor little bobby calf had been a girl, then she will be retained to one day become a milk producing cow herself. And if he's of a breed that will produce lots of meat if allowed to grow, then his day of reckoning is pushed out into a distant future.

But if you're a Jersey or a cross bred boy, then you have five days in which to enjoy life. At five days of age our wee boy is legally old enough to be put on the "bobby calf truck" and transported off to the meat works.

My husband claims they're made into mince for MacDonald burgers!

So - it's a very short life for bobbies. I try to make their life as enjoyable as I can but I'm fighting a system that doesn't rate quality time for bobbies very highly!

Five days ago, a stumpy legged little Jersey runt was born. He had enormous spirit and wasn't intimidated about sharing his space with calves that towered over him. I called him Noddy.

Today, I stuck Noddy on the bobby calf truck.

Calves in the sun

2007-08-20T18:41:00.000+12:00

Today I had to return to the farm at lunch time to feed electrolytes to a scouring calf. Normally when I'm there night and morning, all the calves are standing up by the yards in the mud and start bawling when they see me - the great universal mother lugging the bright green calfateria!

Today, at lunch time, they were not expecting me.

What a pleasure it was to see my little crew all laying in the sun on nice clean grass fast asleep, every last one of them. I snuck in and bottle fed electrolytes to my little "sickie" without disturbing the others too much. A couple got up and came across to see what I was doing but most of them slept right through my visit.

Scours can be a killer with calves. They die of dehydration, but a couple of days on electrolytes will pull them through. Luckily, this little fellow has decided the taste is acceptable. Some simply refuse to drink it and have to be stomach tubed. It's almost inevitable that a few will pick up one of the bugs that target young calves, and sometimes they spread it to every one else.

The sick calf was looking much better by this evening. He'll be on electrolytes again tomorrow and by the next day should be back on milk.

Another two newborns in during the day. Both looking well and one of them very feisty!

So, although I don't normally visit during the day, it really was a pleasure to see my babies looking so content.

Rainy day at the calf shed

2007-08-18T16:46:00.000+12:00

Well, I may have changed jobs but it still rains! Some things never change!

I had three "babies" come in today. It was lovely to arrive at the shed this afternoon to find they were all in the yard with their mothers having a feed. Those first couple of feeds are just so important but many farms take the calves away almost immediately. Sure, they still get fed colostrum but let's face it, no one can dish it up quite like mum.

So after I had fed all the older calves I whisked those three away from their mums into a shed for the night. The farms calf rearing facilities are very basic but at least they will stay dry tonight.

When I say "whisked", it isn't quite that easy! The littlest one I picked up and carried but even the littlest calf is about 20 kilograms, so I actually more staggered along with it and hoped mum wasn't about to charge at my behind and send us all sprawling in the - we'll call it mud in case some of you are eating. The other two calves were too heavy for me so I shepherded them along bent over in an inelegant and potentially back breaking position with my arms around them and again left my rear end as a potential target for a mother who thinks I'm stealing her beloved!

I also put another calf in the shed. This one was just skin and bone and too weak to stand up to feed when I arrived a couple of days ago but is feeding well on the calfateria with the others now. I figure it will thrive better if it doesn't spend the night in the rain.

Do you have calfaterias in your part of the world, I wonder? It's a large half circle shaped container which can be hooked onto a yard fence and has, usually, ten teats coming off it so the the calves fan out around it. The milk is tipped into the container and each calf sucks as fast as he/she can.

In NZ we also have mobile calfaterias which can be towed out into a paddock and will take 40-50 calves at a time.

OK, that's probably more than you ever wanted to know about calfaterias! I know one of my old bosses from my Australian calf rearing days reads this occasionally (Hello Theresa!) but it is probably as boring as can be for all you writerly types. I'd give you an update on the writing front except there hasn't been much progress. Hopefully, all the good thoughts I had are "composting" away in my mind and as soon as I've settled into this new routine and get home feeling not quite so tired and sore, I'll get back into it.

Farming 101

2007-08-17T19:19:00.000+12:00

Big day today and I am tired - but happy. I stayed on after doing the calves and helped draft the "springers".

For you non-farming types, springers are the cows that are almost ready to calve. They are usually put in a herd by themselves so that it is easy to check to see if anyone has calved. This means that over the beginning of the season, the farmer has three herds of cows. The "milkers", the ones that have already calved and come to the shed twice a day for milking, "springers" who are waiting to calve, and the others who are still a little way from calving.

Then, of course, the milkers are often subdivided into smaller groups. Freshly calved cows produce colostrum and this milk can not go into the vat for pickup to the dairy factory. This is the milk that I feed to the calves. Then some cows will get an infection in a teat and have mastitis. They will be treated with antibiotics and this milk also can not be put in the vat.

And after helping draft cows, I washed the shed down. The hose used is not even distantly related to your garden hose! It's something more like the fire department use! Very big, very heavy, (because of the length of it) and if you haven't done it for awhile, very hard on the arm muscles.

Oh well, I do recall a few months ago saying I wanted to tone my arms!

The times, they are a changing

2007-08-15T16:40:00.000+12:00

The gas station may not want me at the moment but a farm just down the road is desperate for someone to rear their calves. That's good news for me because I love calf rearing.

It's not every ones bag. You do need patience - and not mind getting covered in milk, and pooed upon, and the occasional kick! But there is much satisfaction in turning out lovely big healthy calves and I guess that is what appeals to me.

They start off so little and dependent, and so often they have to put up with having their needs met by someone who doesn't really like them. The world seems to be divided in to people who like rearing calves and people who hate it. There doesn't seem to a middle ground!

I find that people who don't like calves never seem to spot the things that seem so obvious to me - like tonight, the lad who has been filling in hadn't noticed that the back teat on each side couldn't actually be reached because of where he was placing the feeder. So whichever poor little sods got that position would get very little to drink at that feed!

Hopefully over the next few days, a few of the very bony little ones will start to fill out.

I haven't raised calves for several years now so hopefully I soon settle back into a good routine with them. It is a seven day a week job for a couple of hours morning and night over several months.

Over on my website, in the latest news or current news or whatever I called that page, there is a photo of me with my "Australian babies" which was the last job I had rearing calves. I have no idea why I put the photo there, other than I try to include a fresh photo each month. It had absolutely nothing to do with anything current - until now!

I'll try not to bore you with every little detail of my charges over the next couple of months. I'm inclined to get besotted with my calves!

Now - I just have to work the calves into my writing routine!

Can't win 'em all

2007-08-13T16:01:00.000+12:00

The first bad review of Ripples has come out in the Listener.

It has, the reviewer tells me, "an overwrought plot and special effects lacking in subtlety or surprise". "The narrative is a blunt weapon" - which could be a good thing but not in this case!

The reviewer clearly did not like Ripples.

He also tells me that Saffron Delaney is part-Maori which she is not. I ought to know! I wrote her.

It doesn't feel as devastating as I thought it might. I suppose that lots of things in life are like that - you dread them, but when they happen you think "oh, that wasn't so bad."

Don't get me wrong - I would have preferred if this gentleman had enjoyed Ripples, but he didn't and I accept that you can't please everyone.

I prefer to dwell on the growing number of emails that tell me they loved the story. It's for them that I'm writing the next one - not for reviewers who want subtlety.

I never have been subtle!

On my wall

2007-08-11T16:30:00.000+12:00

My computer is set up in what should be a spare bedroom but has become my writing room. It faces a plain cream coloured wall and on this wall are pinned dozens of pieces of paper.

This wall is my inspiration.

On it you'll find a photocopy of my first advance cheque and beside that there is the email that Kim Wilkins sent when I asked her if she would read Ripples. Right beside them is the email from Tania who sent me the very first "fan mail".

There's a copy of the cover of Ripples on the Lake and images of scenes around Taupo.

There is a photo of a hawk and images of the Northern Lights - both are connected to the current story.

There are quotes from various people: James D Macdonald, Woody Allen, Stormy (a character out of a Dean Koontz novel), Mary Carter, Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee Nation, Holly Lisle and a heap of anonymous ones.

And when the going gets tough, I look at my wall and I read what needs to be read. It helps. That's why they're there.

Let me share the one by Chief Tecumseh with you today.

When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose heads are filled with the fear of death,
so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

That final line gives me goose bumps. It inspires me.

Pin it on your own wall if you feel it might help.

No gas today

2007-08-10T16:28:00.000+12:00

No weekend work at the gas station over the next few days. The concrete forecourt is all dug up in preparation for the holding tanks to be removed and the garage will be closed for the weekend.

I can't pretend to be sad. I'll miss the money, of course, but it will give me an opportunity to settle into my new balanced routine.

This is the routine that is going to work so much better than my old balanced routine, which was, of course, the new improved version of the "I am a balanced person" routine before that!

Quite what will happen eventually with the gas station, I'm not sure. It may run as a workshop only - no petrol and therefore no need of me - or it may become a diesel truck stop which may require me.

Or, the pizza parlour being built fifty metres from my back door may put a late spurt on and open its door - in which case I shall be job hunting there!

Nice warm kitchen, the smell of pizza - against wind and rain and the opportunity to blow myself sky high!

I know which sounds the most appealing to me!

Lost my balance

2007-08-09T14:00:00.000+12:00

I recall blogging about balance six weeks ago. I had the best of intentions.

And then a week ago, once more I was prattling on about how writing was my priority and how I wasn't going to allow anything to come between me and the next story.

Fine words but they amounted to doodly squat!

I'm not a balanced person. I go overboard on everything I do. I concentrate on one task to the detriment of everything else. Although I can multitask within an activity, I can't multitask with life!

One thing I've noticed over the years is - the thing that I start the day with is what dominates. So, instead of fighting against my own nature I'm going to try working with it a little more. That means no more morning time on the internet which is going to put me completely "out of synch" with my trusty little gang of fellow bloggers. That's you!

I'm going to allocate one hour a day, mid afternoon, to come on to the net and post and visit. I'll probably be the last commenter for most of you and will be hopelessly behind with the news. Bear with me. Please! I'll try this for a week and if I get back on track with my writing, well and good, I'll stick with that routine. If it doesn't work then I'm going to cut myself down to a weekly post!

Today has gone well, and I'm hopeful that this new routine will work. When I was writing Ripples, I would get up, make a cup of coffee, switch on the computer and look at the story. Even if I didn't immediately start writing, the story was in my mind.

Nowadays, I switch on the computer and go straight to the blog!

Time to get firm with myself before I topple right off the beam!

I'm a "Trade Me" baby

2007-08-07T20:49:00.000+12:00

It isn't something that I ever considered happening - but today it did. Or at least today it showed up on my Google Alert meaning it had already happened.

At the weekend, a second hand copy of Ripples on the Lake sold on Trade Me (similar to ebay). It was described as being in tidy condition after one careful owner!

Initially, I wasn't sure how to respond to this, but I browsed through the other books on Trade Me - a zillion copies of various Harry Potter's, lots of Jenny Pattrick - and decided I was in good company.

I suppose all writer hopes that every copy sold will hold pride of place on a bookshelf somewhere to be lovingly reread each year. A nice thought - but it ain't gonna happen. That being the case, I can see virtue in being handed on to (hopefully) brighten the day of another reader.

So that is how I choose to see this. The ripples are spreading out. That's good. I hope the new owner of that preloved copy will make it a "keeper" but if not, let the ripples spread.

Shame I can't pick up a royalty on that second sale!

The gas station with no gas (almost)!

2007-08-05T19:56:00.000+12:00

Yet another extraordinarily fun filled day at the gas station.

I defrosted the icecream freezer.

I discovered a horde of potato crisps that had, whilst my back was momentarily turned, crept dangerously close to their use by date so I corralled them in a box and stuck a "Cheap Chips" sign on them. That'll learn 'em!

I kept a wary eye on a dog who seemed to think that the gas station belonged to him and snuck up behind me each time I turned my back. Eventually he got bored with baiting the gas station lady and wandered back home.

I wondered where all the customers were until I discovered my boss had put an announcement in our local weekly paper stating "no petrol sales whilst we retank" - except we don't start doing that until next week.

I ran out of diesel (in preparation for the retanking) aided by a few trusty souls who had obviously not read the local rag and didn't realise that they weren't supposed to stop.

I would have run out of petrol but not enough customers came in (because of the announcement in the paper!) to quite pull that off.

Shame!

I was looking forward to being the gasoline equivalent of the pub with no beer!

Get your butt into a bookstore

2007-08-04T19:14:00.000+12:00

I'm assuming that most of the folk who find their way to my blog enjoy reading. That being so, how do you lay your sticky little fingers on the book of your desire?

If you're anything like me, you wait until it hits the library!

I'm endeavouring to stop being such a cheapskate. If I want people to buy my book then it seems reasonable that I should buy other people's.

On my travels round the web I found this extremely interesting post My Top Six Reasons for Buying Harry Potter 7 at My Local Bookstore at the Woza Books website. You have to scroll down a wee bit to find it but it's worth the journey. Amy Wachspress is the author of The Call to Shakabaz.

Did you know that the very first print run on the very first Harry Potter was a paltry 1000 books! Heck, even in little old NZ, the publisher churned out more than that for my first run.

This article shows what the magic of "word of mouth" can accomplish. And it also shows how we need to be looking after our book stores. Yes - the internet is changing the face of publishing, but in the meantime, don't we just love the idea of seeing our books out there on the shelf.

This is simply one of those articles that make you feel good.

Read it - and you'll see what I mean.

For Nia

2007-08-03T18:37:00.000+12:00

Little Nia Glassie died at 4:12pm today. She was the victim of child abuse.

Advice from a friend

2007-08-02T20:57:00.000+12:00

Always do a visual check inside the sack of pellets before you put your hand in to scoop out the hen's morning rations.

Just a friendly word of advice.

There was a mouse inside the sack this morning.

Yeek!!!!!

The caring side of Big Brother

2007-08-01T22:12:00.000+12:00

Out of all the talk surrounding this latest case of child abuse in New Zealand comes one idea that might achieve something.

Statistics tell us that in four out of five of these cases, the caregiver is on a benefit. The suggestion was that there should be some sort of additional check on these children. If you want to claim a benefit then you put up with this intrusion into your home life.

Sounds good to me.

There would be an uproar, of course, as people yelp about big brother tactics, but if it could be presented as something that good parents on benefits just need to suck up and swallow down in the interests of helping these poor battered kids, then maybe it would achieve something. Sure, it's making a judgement call on people simply because they're on a benfit, and that isn't fair, but beating kids to death isn't fair either.

It wouldn't have helped in this latest case as the little girl's mother had a job, but if those stats are right, then a public health nurse visiting homes every so often just might reveal when a family (to use the term very loosely) is so dysfunctional that the safety of babies and young children within the group is being compromised.

I do question whether you can actually use the term family because so often it sounds like a mother, a boyfriend, and dozens of hangers-on coming and going, partying, drugs, and absolutely none of the things that I associate with family life.

I hope someone looks at this idea. It seems to me that it might help. Can the country afford it? I don't know. But like I said, sometimes you just have to suck it up and swallow it down.

Hitting my straps

2007-07-31T19:08:00.000+12:00

The last few days, I have started to hit my straps (a harness racing term, if you were curious) with regard to my new story. I've started to churn out my 3000 words a day as I began a total rewrite of a lack lustre first draft.

I've killed characters off and totally changed the emphasis of what the story is about. Somehow I got off track and ended up writing a book where the wrong part of the story dominated, and then when I'd finished I didn't really like what I had. Then I caught up in the excitement of Ripples and ignored it for six months!

So, same characters as the crappy first draft- what's left of them! - same town, but completely new story. What was simply a story told by a character over a couple of pages has become the dominant thing. I'm loving it.

It's possible that posts might become shorter, visits to other blogs might become more sporadic as I knuckle down and do the hard yards. (Penelope the cat will be loving all these sporting analogies!)

That's what it feels like at the moment - a sporting event. Much sweat and grunt interspersed with moments of triumph and ecstatic delight. And this ability to just get on with it and do it is what separates the people who do write from the people who talk about writing. At some point you simply have to put bum in chair and do it. For me that time is now. The story is ready to be written.

So, don't feel I'm ignoring you. Keep a watchful eye on your MyBlogLog and you'll see me flit by. And, my dear old faithfuls who have been with me from the beginning, I'll still be posting and commenting almost every day because I've come to enjoy our time together.

You've become part of my little world.

New Zealand's shame

2007-07-30T18:57:00.000+12:00

Today New Zealand is faced with yet another case of child abuse. We don't seem to be very good about caring for our youngsters. I believe that our figures are substantially worse than many similar countries.

A child is harmed and we're all horrified by it, and we talk a lot about it and the Government commission another report on it, and a few months later we hear that another baby or young child is fighting for it's life - or dead. And the cycle starts again and we all say how terrible it is and the Government ....

My heart bleeds for these children as I'm sure do the hearts of most New Zealanders. So why does it happen? How does it happen?

I'd dob someone in at the drop of a hat if I thought they were abusing their children, but I never see anything suspicious. I almost sorry that I don't because I feel so helpless.

There is are a number of fairly constant factors and it does seem to me that we can spot the "at risk" child. I suppose the problem is that most of the children in that group won't be abused so that society can not take draconian measures as a precautionary step.

Drug and alcohol abuse is often part of the equation, as is a youth and a lack of family support, and often a step-parent is part of the mix, and a complete lack of parenting skills.

These children often seem to be hidden until the tragedy happens. Do we need to have public nurses that follow up after birth through to starting school? I don't know and I don't know what the cost of such a programme would be, but if we do nothing and this pattern of child abuse is allowed to continue, it seems to me that the cost will be far higher.

Tonight, I feel a pain that I don't know how to ease, and yet the weeks will pass and I will forget about this - my pain will go.

But out there, somewhere in this beautiful country that I'm usually so proud of, this abuse is happening to another child.

Their pain will not fade. They will die.

Same old story

2007-07-29T17:37:00.000+12:00

It was wet at the gas station today. It's always the same old story at this time of year.

Mid-morning, a woman came in and told me that she had loved reading Ripples. That put a warm ball of sunshine above my head which lasted until the next downpour! She said, "I do hope you're writing another" and I assured that I was, and then she added, "I hope it's the same".

And half an hour later I had the same conversation almost word for word with another local woman.

That got me thinking because with each of these women I had assured them that the next story was "the same" as Ripples. And it is.

I'm not one of these writers that head off into brave new fields with each story. My stories are about the same things - they have to be because that's what is in my head. I realise that the critics may not like that and the next novel could well be greeted with cries of "boring". I hope not.

It certainly does not feel like a boring story to me, but those elements within Ripples that I loved and "had to have' are there again. And they'll probably be in the next story too!

I can't help it. The stories in my head combine things Maori and Pakeha, things from the past and the present - that's just how my stories come out. They're the stories that need to be told, and even if no one needs to hear them, I need to tell them.

So - next time round, I'm hoping I've got the new story disguised pretty well so that it looks like deep uncharted waters. But what I secretly hope is that, as the editor rips the package open, she think "I hope it's the same as Ripples"!

Even editors must think that sometimes. Don't they!

Snip, snip!

2007-07-27T17:32:00.000+12:00

Amongst the swag of Harry Potter reviews I've read over the last week was one that wondered if JK Rowling gets edited nowadays.

Interesting point. Up front I'll say that I've read the early Harry Potters and loved them but haven't read the last few. This reviewer believed that the later Harry Potter have grown a paunch and would have been improved by judicious editing. I haven't read these last ones so I can't comment, but I've read a similar criticism of Stephen King.

So - do some writers become so big that no editor dares tamper with their words?

My editors had no such qualms with Ripples and quite honestly, I bless them for it. I was instructed to delete 30,000 words and the story was accepted only after I had did that to their satisfaction. And I'm sure another 10 thou disappeared during the rounds of editing that followed that, but it made for a far tighter story.

I'll follow Stephen King anywhere. I don't mind at all if he throws in an extra hundred thousand word beyond what was essential for the story. They'll be good words. I know that. He's just ensuring I get my money's worth!

What I wonder about is - if that is what happens - a writer gets big enough that they don't get edited - who makes that decision? Is it the writer who warns the publisher to lay off their sacred tome, or it the publisher who gets nervous about possibly destroying their golden goose?

This is all just theoretical pondering, you understand. I fear I'll always need the sharp slash of editorial red ink!

Skinner's rats

2007-07-26T20:43:00.000+12:00

I imagine you've all heard of Pavlov's dogs? Pavlov was the Russian chappy who taught dogs to salivate at the sound of a ringing bell. It's called a conditioned reflex and it's no big deal. I dribble when I hear the wrappings being torn of a chocolate bar. Same thing.

Skinner took it all a step further. He sent a rat to a sort of Rat Club Med - minus the room service. Mr Rat was given a lever attached to a food dispenser and left to sort it out himself, and of course, being a rat, he managed just fine and was last heard extolling the excellence of Rat Club Med to all his relatives.

Now Skinner learnt a number of things during the course of this experiment - one of them being that a habit once learned is retained most efficiently if it is rewarded occasionally rather than every time.

The point of all this - and admit it, you were beginning to wonder if there was one - is that I believe this same sort of operant conditioning comes into play causing the almost obsessional behaviour that many bloggers display.

If you knew that each time you checked your stat counter it would show another 10 hits - never more, never less, but always 10 - you would lose that compulsive need to check it. But if your stat counter runs like mine, there might be a gap of two hours without a single hit and then a swarm of them followed by one every ten minutes for a while before ...

You get my drift? You just never know if you're going to get that reward or not so you're driven to keep checking.

Same with the comments on your blog.If every time you checked there was another comment, you wouldn't have this compulsive need to look. It's the uncertainty of the reward that compels you to perform the behaviour.

It's why the pokies are so addictive.

Now, I used to use Skinner's findings to train obedience dogs, and very effective it was. What I wonder though is whether one day as I compulsively gallop towards my stat counter, I'm going to find my ears are flapping and I've got a dumbbell in my mouth!

Or worse still, cock my leg on the stat counter if I haven't got sufficient hits!

My book shelf

2007-07-25T18:45:00.000+12:00

Am I wandering about with a "tag me" sign pinned to my back?

This one comes from Michael over at Avatar Lore. Sounds like fun so I'll grab myself a tag. Thanks for the opportunity to play, Michael.

"The rules are to provide a list of books that you have on your shelves to see if anyone can learn about you from them - but not just any books. They have to be books that you've actually paid for, nothing given, borrowed, stolen, or whatever."

So here goes!

1. "On Writing" - Stephen King

2. "Heart in Atlantis" - Stephen King

3. "Giants of the Frost" - Kim Wilkins

4. "Dreamcatcher" - Stephen King

5. "Forever Odd" - Dean Koontz

6. "Write Away" - Elizabeth George

7. 'The Denniston Rose" - Jenny Pattrick

8. "The Snake" - John Godey

9. "Beyond Basic Dog Training" - Diane L Bauman

10."Misery" - Stephen King

Does that tell you something about me? Probably. Nothing too highbrow, is there. I suppose my selection for the list influences what you learn from it, but I tried to show what I think is an honest representation from my bookshelf.

Lots of Stephen King. For me, no one can tell a story quite like Stephen King can. Plenty of Dean Koontz and Kim Wilkins, plenty of nonfiction on training dogs, plenty on writing.

Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Hmmm - so that's where that lovely scene towards the end of Ripples came from. The scene that big meanie editor made me take out! She thought I was slipping into the horror genre and missing my "target reader"!

If you'd like to grab a tag and play - enjoy.

Ripples on the Lake falls from Best Selling List

2007-07-24T18:48:00.000+12:00

Schreeeeeesh!

That was the sound of fingernails clawing for a hold as a desperate author slides down the Best Selling List!

The latest Booksellers NZ Best Selling List has come out and I am no where to be seen. I console myself that I'm in very good company as the wonderful New Zealand writers Deborah Challinor and Jenny Pattrick have also disappeared into the gloom that lurks below the list.

I console myself that we three gals are probably sitting in positions 6,7, and 8 - each ready to rise like a phoenix from the ashes given half a chance!

I had hoped to stay there longer, although HarperCollins - obviously sensing an imminent case of newbie writer hysteria - consoled me that books can enter and leave the list a number of times. So, I'll continue to watch this list with narcissistic intensity in the hope that my baby will reappear.

Certainly, the colour of my day faded after hearing this news. Who would have thought that a List I hadn't even hear of six weeks ago could dominate the tone of my day.

But - and I do confess I'm putting on a brave face and don't yet feel this with quite the intensity I'm pretending - but it really isn't such a bad disappointment to have to accept. To fall off the Best Selling List means I was actually on it! Who cares if it was for only a month.

I do, of course! I wanted Ripples on the Lake to be on it for years and years, fighting off all challengers and entering some mystical legendary status previously unknown.

Oh well, back to reality. I thoroughly enjoyed my baby having her 15 seconds of fame.

Now (drumming fingers impatiently) when does this next List come out!

One Hundredth Post

2007-07-23T09:57:00.000+12:00

Lady Rose over at The Diet Pulpit was kind enough to present me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. Thanks Lady Rose. Honour duly accepted. I'm not sure if I should get down on one knee and let her whack me on the shoulder with a sword or whether that might be fool hardy. Has Lady Rose got a steady hand, that's what I want to know!

I'm probably the oldest rockin' girl blogger about!

Anyway, with it being my one hundredth post tonight, it feels like a celebration of sorts so it's come at an appropriate time. There are cream filled apple donuts and wine for the taking and even a beach boy or two in case Miss Prozac turns up!

Unfortunately, I can't give you an update on the Best Seller List. No news on that front and commonsense tells me that means bad news. On the other hand, I did, in a frenzy of narcissism, email HarperCollins HQ demanding to know the result. No response to that either so all I can do is patiently wait. Hopefully, I will be able to let you know tomorrow night whether I'm still clinging on there.

So I'm just going to settle back here, cream filled apple donut in one hand (I found a stash of them over at the Crab's place) and glass of wine in the other and muse upon the delights of being a writer.

As Holly Lisle said:

All you can do is span the darkness with your slender threads,
and build them strong enough that people can traverse them,
and make them interesting enough that people will take the risk.

I do like that.

Another eight things you probably didn't want to know!

2007-07-22T19:13:00.000+12:00

I've been tagged again, this time by Jodie over at Avinak. Jodie is one of the regulars at All for Women, an aussie forum I've joined recently.

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I can't remember what I listed last time so hopefully I don't repeat myself.

I have to wear glasses for driving.

I once spent the night locked in a London loo.

My favourite alcholic drink is white wine

I once slept the night on the backseat of a Mini when I got lost in the Scottish highlands.

I rode a camel in Australia.

I'd never steal candy from a baby, but I would probably steal their chocolate!

I never iron anything unless it really needs it.

I hate being cold more than almost anything.

Well, I do hope that little lot has enriched your lives! Right - I'm tossing my eight tags in the air. Jump high, my friend. Got it? Then consider yourself tagged!

This and that

2007-07-21T19:12:00.000+12:00

A bit of this and a bit of that tonight.

I'm biting on a whole clove as I type as several readers have suggested it as a cure for toothache. It is definitely working and, at the very least,hubby will get an interesting scented kiss goodnight!

Talia enquired how the Best Seller List is this time round - I'm dying to know myself. The figures would have come in last night and HarperCollins will be told on Monday. From there, they will then tell me. The actual Booksellers website lists don't change until the following Friday, (ie they update midway between through each two week period) but all going well I will be reporting in on the latest Bestseller List on Monday night. It's been an enormous buzz making the list and I do hope that I manage to hang in there for a few more weeks.

I've spent the day at the gas station but as we ran out of both petrol and diesel yesterday and it didn't arrive until mid-morning, it has been a quiet day. The highlight was a local bringing "his lady" in with a copy of Ripples for signing. He's been telling me for weeks that he intended to buy her a copy.

In a few days I will be coming up for my one hundredth post. Some of you will be chuckling at this "babe in arms" milestone, but for someone who started blogging upon a surge of disappointment with no real aim or direction, I figure that it is a respectable achievement. I know that I'm in it for the long haul now although I am aware of the number of writers who have abandoned their blogs as being to time consuming. Hopefully I am finding a balance that will enable me to keep going.

And if I do ever give up, don't worry, I shan't desert you! I shall become the irrepressible perennial guest, stopping off where I fancy, commenting when the mood takes, a quip here, a quiet nod of approval there.

Sort of like your favourite auntie visiting but you don't have to dust and hoover first!

Who annoyed the tooth fairy?

2007-07-20T18:39:00.000+12:00

Do you want to hear about how bad my tooth is aching?

Thought not.

Well, I'm sorry but my head can't get round anything else so that's the extent of my posting tonight. Don't feel obliged to comment - if you belong to MyBlogLog, I'll see your lovely faces pop up there.

Goodnight - although it will be a good morning for most of you.

Come in New York!

2007-07-19T19:11:00.000+12:00

Top of the six o'clock news in New Zealand was the burst steam pipe in New York. I can only imagine the terror of those first few moments when everyone thought it was a terrorist attack.

The thing is - I cared. Not in some half hearted, "it's a world away" manner but in the way you do when you hear that people you know have run smack bang into a hard place.

There are a number of regular readers of this blog who reside in New York. I thought of them - some by name, some just as people who show in the stats with a New York ISP - and wondered if they were close by. Had they been frightened? Did they have family members involved?

To me, this is the wonderful thing about blogging. We're reaching across the world and touching each other's lives. Age seems mostly irrelevant in blog land. If you act mature, you're assumed to be mature, if you act like a cranky two-year-old, you're soon left to pick up your own rattle. And if you've got more wrinkles that Uncle Arthur's suit and one foot in the grave, well, as long as you don't kick the bucket whilst you're actually posting, no one cares.

Doesn't this have to be a good thing for the world? If we all get just a tiny bit more tolerant of each other, if we reach out and discover than the other guy is mostly pretty much the same as ourselves - isn't that going to help?

So my little New York babies, sign in, tell me that you're all okay. I thought about you today.

Caught me a Captcha

2007-07-18T20:28:00.000+12:00

Have there been moments when you felt that the internet needed to be a little more selective about who they're letting loose on the web? Go on - you can be honest!

Have you never struggled through a long winded post that contained no punctuation at all - not a single capital or full stop - a post that wasn't so much a point of view as a regurgitation upon the page. Upon your beautiful blog page!

Instead of having word verification that checks to see if you're human, here's one to see if you're literate. There are days when I definitely feel this would be useful! Take a look at Internet Access Captchas.

Of course, one day they might invent one that discriminates against the completely normal and healthy energetic use of exclamation marks! Now that would be unfair!

Fancy a bit of skirt?

2007-07-17T20:08:00.000+12:00

Then get yourself over to Sk-rt the latest social bookmarking site on the web.

I've only discovered this site today when good friend Crabby from Crabby McSlacker's Guide to Health and Fitness - or something like that - suddenly leaped to prominence in the Sk-rt rankings with that hilarious post on becoming a successful gym rat.

The great thing about Sk-rt is that it's categories seem much more sensible and relevant than some of the social bookmarking sites I've ventured into. I really don't need a separate category for every different game there is out there. I want categories that relate to my life and the things I like to read or view. And that's what Sk-rt does.

It was easier to join than some I've trifled with. I haven't bothered getting a button as I don't think my topics have a broad enough appeal, but I joined so that I can sk-rt you - yes you, the one hiding shyly in the corner! Might I suggest, though, if anyone is serious about wanting posts promoted that they join up and get the Sk-rt button on their posts so that the likes of me can sk-rt them shamelessly.

And before any of you guys start thinking that Sk-rt is just for the us girls, let me assure you that it isn't. You're welcome to join in - bring your sensitive side with you and we'll sk-rt you too!

Doesn't that sound like fun!

Libraries

2007-07-16T19:50:00.000+12:00

Nearly fell off my chair this afternoon.

I was looking in the Christchurch Library catalogue (for you non-residents -which on my blog is almost everyone -Christchurch is the third largest city in NZ) and to my total amazement discovered that spread around their various branches, they had 20 copies of Ripples. Twenty!

Gob smacked would not be putting my feeling too strongly! I mean I knew that libraries would be stocking the book but I'd never thought in that sort of quantity for one city.

It all becomes a little unreal - one minute you're stuck in the back bedroom, just you and the computer, as you tap out your story, and the next the Christchurch Library and it's myriad branches have 20 copies of your beloved!

I discovered this quite by accident when I was sniffing round another site to see if he had mentioned Ripples (he hadn't) but discovered that he had favourably mentioned a blog at the Christchurch Library. So off I surfed and next thing I knew I was flashing through their catalogue with spray flying in all direction to be totally wiped out when I saw their list for Ripples.

And - this is the best part - they were almost all out!

I wonder sometimes if I'm going to wake up and find that I am still in the back bedroom typing away and that this has all been a wonderful dream.

Keep it in the family

2007-07-15T19:50:00.000+12:00

Today I worked at the gas station.

The mail is delivered by van as we're a country gas station and when I raced outside to collect the envelopes and packages, the driver told me that she loved the book. That news never fails to delight me. Every single time I hear those words, I beam in self-conscious delight like a new mother whose baby is being smiled and cooed over.

Then she told me she'd lent it to her daughter and her daughter had loved it too.

Great! I was still beaming. This is music to a writer's ears.

Then she told me she was posting it off to her friend.

At that point, although I was still nodding and smiling like a noddy dog in the back of a car window, what I was thinking was "let your friend buy her own jolly book! Them's me royalties you're messing with!

But then I thought of my book, pages becoming dog-eared, perhaps a coffee ring on the cover from when someone used it as a coaster, perhaps a cache of chocolate biscuits crumbs caught in one of the pages, maybe even a tear or two staining a page and realised that Ripples on the Lake was travelling upon a journey of love.

And I nodded and smiled again.

Verify me, baby!

2007-07-14T18:59:00.000+12:00

So how do you get along with word verification? A match made in heaven, is it - or is it a nightmare of deepening desperation as you desperately attempt to convince this moronic thing that you're human.

I admit that word verification and I have a troubled relationship.

My theory is that there are several versions, twins you might say, and whilst one is dark and cruel, the other is a right little Miss Helpful.

You gaily key in the letters and await transportation into the blog of your desire. It doesn't happen - but word verification throws you another assortment and this time, they're lined up not too badly. Again, you key in what your eyes see, and again, you wait with only slightly dampened optimism. It still doesn't happen but on this third attempt the letters are clear, of uniform size and aligned with almost textbook precision. You're in, and you glance nervously about and hope that an evil computer isn't lurking and learning this third time lucky rule.

I'm convinced that I could train any biddable computer to manage word verification when Miss Helpful is at the controls. She wants you to enter that blog - she really does - despite the fact that she suspects your father was a Mac and she'll happily pull out all stops to ensure that you do.

However, there's her evil twin, a twisted deranged creature that wants you to blow your brains out - or at the very least, end up a gibbering wreck!

You type in the letters that you see. Nope, she's not letting you in on that and this is the beginning of her devilment because I have another theory that says that what you keyed in was correct. She's just being bloody minded!

Anyway, she throws you another assortment. This lot contains two blurred letters, an 'f' beside some letter that could be an 'l' or a 't' depending on where you reckon the cross stroke on the 'f' ends, and one letter that is only half in the frame.

You swallow manfully - or womanfully - and stare myopically at it. The letters blur further. You panic and your fingers career across the keyboard like a drunken centipede.

You're not granted access but instead shown a third word verification test. There isn't a single recognisable thing in this one. It may not even be in the language you normally speak. It could be anything!

It could, for instance, be saying "you are a moron" in the one Swahili dialect that you haven't yet mastered.

It could be a psychologist's ink blot test.

At this point, I begin to question just how much I wanted to access that blog and whether I might not be happier working on the current story. Writing, in fact.

Umm - have I just proved that word verification is my friend?

Dawn on The Breeze

2007-07-12T21:07:00.000+12:00

Another radio interview this morning - this time with Chris Burn on The Breeze. They must be getting less stressful to me because this one I was able to ignore until almost the last minute.

Half an hour to go and I put both dogs outside in their runs, gathered up a few notes - in case I forgot what the title of the book was, or worse, my own name! - turned the washing machine off and I was ready.

The interviewers have all been wonderful and I don't know why I worry about it. I guess no one wants to look foolish in public and if you're not used to talking on the radio then it feels pretty damn public.

I always think of Adrienne just before we go live. The regulars here all know the lovely and super talented Canadian actress, Adrienne Kress. I've sort of adopted her as my very own actress just so I can name drop! Anyway - I think to myself that this must be what she feels each time she goes on stage. It helps.

Anyway - seven minutes later it was over.

I hang up and think "that wasn't so bad" and wonder why I'd got so nervous.

Family are staying the night as they travel from Auckland down to Wellington so I shall leave you all with that and go chatter forth!

Wild weather

2007-07-11T21:39:00.000+12:00

The wind roars round the corners of the house. It's a wild night and I'm glad I'm tucked up inside. I always feel sorry for stock in exposed paddocks during weather like this, when they're left with no option but to endure.

There's no flooding around here, but up north, where regular poster Talia lives, there has been massive flooding. She was without electricity for twenty-four hours but is up and running again now. The worst seems to be over.

This is cobweb clearing weather. I took a long walk this damp, wind swept afternoon; there seems so much to think about at the moment.

I'm still struggling with the current story. There's something missing and I can't find it, and the more people say nice things about Ripples, the more I feel I have to find this missing element.

The only consolation is knowing I had this same battle with Ripples.

So let the wind blow and the rain flee before it. I need its cutting clarity.

Ripples on the Lake moves into second place

2007-07-09T15:58:00.000+12:00

Woohoo!!!

Ripples on the Lake has moved from third place up into second on the Best Sellers List for New Zealand Adult Fiction. This list is separate from the International Fiction so I have no idea how it compares with the imported titles.

But I don't really care. I'm happy to be at second place on any list!

I'd spent an anxious day worrying that Ripples appearance last fortnight at number three might have a digestive burp from Booksellers' computer or a momentary spasm as the Mayor of Taupo bought Chrissie presents for his overseas relatives.

But no, it's there again, and this time I'm prepared to believe it's real. My baby is a winner!

And to complete a lovely day, I received another email from a reader. Thanks Lyn. It really is such a buzz after numerous "don't call us, we'll call you" letters from publishers to have a success.

And if it can happen to me, it can happen to you!

In my usual quiet and retiring way, I have added the Best Seller List to my sidebar so you can follow the adventures of Ripples twenty-four hours a day!

MyBlogLog revisited

2007-07-08T18:59:00.000+12:00

I notice that in response to my post about MyBlogLog a few of you raced out and grabbed yourself one.

If anyone has joined but is unsure of what to do to get the Recent Readers feature look underneath your "view stats" on your home page and you will see something about widgets. That's the place.

And to those who have just arrived and haven't the faintest idea what I'm talking about, check out the Recent Readers widget lower down in my sidebar and also my post of two days ago. That will bring you up to speed with the rest of us.

The stats that MyBlogLog keep are excellent and give you detail that Stat Counter doesn't. The only drawback is that on the freebie version they are the previous days. But that's okay with me. I don't need to know right that moment. If you're wanting to see which links are valued by your readers and which aren't, then MyBlogLog is going to be your buddy.

I've seen a few sites with Recent Readers encompassing the last twenty or even fifty site visitors but as I have trouble getting a rapid change on five I've wisely stayed away from that option. You, however, may be made of sterner stuff - and have an altogether more happening blog. In that case, get yourself the biggest shiniest version you can find.

Thank you to those of you who joined. I notice already that my Recent Reader feature is ticking over more quickly and I don't look quite the socially inept, friendless drone that I did!

So now all I have to do is write sparkling posts that drag you all back each day.

I'll try.