Welcome
Daniel is a powerful and moving biographical narrative of a New Zealand pioneer. Based on a true account the story follows Daniel from Liverpool and Derbyshire to the Waikato and Foxton.
Daniel is now available as an e-book from Amazon and Smashwords
Have you clicked on Kazam! ? Find out more about this story of a New Zealand adventure for New Zealand children. It is based on a true event! Well, most of it is….
The ties that bind
Sometimes, life gets in the way. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Right now I’m living away from home, in a strange house – very strange since this is a rental being occupied temporarily during a villa renovation – while my beloved son and his wife travel. I have the privilege of looking after their two little ones. …
Read MoreWhat book would your mother enjoy?
It is Mothers’ Day on 12th May here in New Zealand. Have you decided yet what you will do to acknowledge your mother? My recommendation, of course, must be the gift of books (along with some pampering and a special meal). Whether they are non-fiction books about traditional pastimes such as gardening, craft, or cooking, or activities for the modern …
Read MoreHow does an author become famous?
Answer: by word of mouth. At least, that seems to be the answer provided by most authors and bloggers I’ve met or read. The most important factor in becoming famous is the audience – your readers. I attended a recent author event at Takapuna library where author Hugh Howey talked about his recent rise to fame and, without doubt he …
Read MoreThe value of the written spoken word
Scanning other blogs can leave you either laughing or shaking you head. Sometimes I agree with what I find and sometimes not. Following up on my blog about the written word last week, I now turn to the spoken word. It seems Kiwis are a difficult lot. It requires several websites, both formal, such as Immigration, Universities, rental car and …
Read MoreThe value of the written word
Many authors question whether they should phonetically spell incorrectly pronounced words and format regional accents as they are spoken by the characters or whether to use correct spelling and write correct grammar with a few apostrophe’s to show a dropped ‘h’ or ‘t’ now and then. This discussion crops up on a regular basis. To give characters authenticity, it doesn’t fit …
Read MoreWhat is a non-reader? Can someone tell me?
Twice in the matter of a few days the subject of non-readers has come up. One of these situations was in person. I actually met someone who proudly told me they had never read a book from beginning to end in their life, because… they were boring!! I will make no comment because I can’t. The statement is beyond my …
Read MoreBooks for kids, books for libraries and books for you.
This week a fellow author and I had the privilege of visiting a school in Tamaki where we did a presentation to six classes in two groups. Between us we read poems about monsters and dinosaurs, books about giants and mystery trips and cartoon books about a Little Person. With several different nationalities in each class we wondered if our …
Read MoreSummer holidays
This morning I read an interesting article on Reading is Bliss about taking a reading holiday. These reading holidays can be a short rest to let your brain absorb a great story or a long break to give yourself more time to do other things, like work, parenting and even writing. Personally, I can’t understand this philosophy. I read all the time. …
Read MoreThe best laid plans of mice and men often go astray
I had this year planned but it hasn’t got off to the auspicious start I’d hoped for – hence the title to this blog (with apologies to Robbie Burns and John Steinbeck). I’ve hardly written a coherent sentence, let alone a paragraph and nowhere near the thousand words a day I aimed for. I blame summer – amongst other things – …
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