Events:
NZSA Northland Branch Meeting
Thursday 9 February 2023 at 6.00 pm, via Zoom
Secretary, Trish Fenton will send the Zoom link with the agenda
POETS@ONEONESIX
Thursday 15 December 2022 and Thursday 19 January 2023
5.30 pm – 7.30 pm, 116 Bank Street, Whangārei
Gold coin entry
COMING SOON!
Final results for the NZSA Northland Open Short Story Competition 2022 will be announced on 17 December 2022.
CONGRATULATIONS!
We are proud to announce that Shadow of the Boyd by Diana Menefy has been included in the first set of the online Aotearoa Classic Collection Series.
Q: What was your inspiration for Shadow of the Boyd?
Di’s response:
Shadow of the Boyd started from a dream. I’d taken Wade Doak down to a Storylines Festival in Auckland and because it was a long trip I read his Burning of the Boyd before the trip so I’d have something to discuss with him on the way down. In the book Wade refers to Thomas as Thomas Davis, a cabin boy, with a club foot and this was why he survived. I thought this was strange – and a lot of research proved me right. Thomas Davidson was signed on as an apprentice to the owner of the Boyd before it left London.
But it was the fact that the boats from the City of Edinburgh took off, leaving the survivors behind, that struck me as terrifying for them. Coming so close to being rescued. Of course they were just going to a nearby island to spend the night and the rescue took place the next day.
It wasn’t long after this that I woke up from a dream. I was devastated, heart thumping, covered in sweat. I was hidden behind flax, being prevented from calling out, watching my only hope of rescue being rowed away. I knew exactly what Thomas was feeling. I had to write his story. That feeling stayed with me throughout the book.
I am thrilled that One Tree House Publishing has included Shadow of the Boyd in the start of the Aotearoa Classic Collection Series, along with Elsie Lock’s Journey Under Warning, Bill Taylor’s Blue Lawn, and Tessa Duder’s Alex Quartet.
Available on Kindle:
https://www.onetree-house.com/product-page/the-shadow-of-the-boyd-kindle
For softback copies of the book, email: diana[at]braefern.co.nz
NEW PUBLICATION:
Meanwhile, Back in the Jungle…
Congratulations to NZSA Northland member Ross Lockyer whose fourth book has just been published (Nov 2022) and is now on the market!
This time we are in Indonesian West Papua (1979-80) and North Sumatra (1985-89).
Living and working in New Zealand in the 1980s isn’t much fun when there are leech-infested jungles somewhere out there to be explored and isolated tribespeople to befriend. So when Ross Lockyer’s mate, Swampy, telephones him with a job offer that seems like simple madness, Ross jumps at the chance to escape civilisation yet again.
In his latest book, Ross heads into the remote, unmapped jungles of Indonesian West Papua (Irian Jaya) to set up a base camp from which to survey and establish a new forestry concession. He’s spotted the perfect camp site from the air, but there’s nowhere to land an aircraft, so first he must find his way to it by water, riding a drum of avgas in an overloaded dug-out canoe into the unknown, across the open sea and up a tangle of crocodile-infested, mangrove-clogged creeks. And that’s just the start of it …
In New Zealand, Meanwhile, Back in the Jungle is available on “TradeMe” by clicking on the following link: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/books/non-fiction/new-zealand/listing/3873700401 or alternatively email Ross and he will send an invoice for direct payment by internet banking: rosslockyer1944atgmail.com
’TIS THE SEASON …
Women’s Refuge Critiquing Raffle
Once again it’s time for Lesley’s annual Christmas raffle for a critique (or the equivalent time in editing) in memory of her son, with funds to go to Te Puna Women’s Refuge.
To enter, simply contact Lesley to arrange payment (editline[at]xtra.co.nz), and she’ll put you in the draw.
The draw will take place on 20 December so that gives you lots of time to get your entries in. The critique is for a novel or any similar piece of work, and the winner can send it any time in the next year, either on paper or by email. The costs for entries are as follows:
One chance = $20; 3 chances $30; 6 chances $40; 10 chances $50; 15 chances $60.
The refuge is a very deserving cause – especially in these challenging times.
Kiwi Christmas Books
Kiwi Christmas Books is encouraging Whangārei residents to once again play Santa Claus by gifting the joy of reading to local children and youth in need.
In the nationwide initiative, people buy a new children’s book by a New Zealand author or illustrator, to donate to a local charity. Books donated in Whangārei will be delivered to Whangārei Women’s Refuge, which will distribute them as Christmas presents for children whose families are using the refuge’s services.
All types of books are welcome, and for all ages: board books, picture books, chapter books, young adult fiction, non-fiction and reference. Buying a new Kiwi book supports local authors and illustrators, publishers and booksellers.
Books can be dropped off at Craniums in Whangārei’s Town Basin, by:
Monday 13 December
Sharing NZSA Northland Branch News and events:
– Share with us on our Facebook Pages for NZSA Northland
Facebook page (public) and Facebook group (private).
– Submit your news, including events, awards, recent publications and book launches to: northlandauthors[at]gmail.com for inclusion in our monthly newsletter.
Free for financial members. 50 cents per word for non-members.
Check for further updates on: https://northlandauthors.co.nz/
“Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!” –
Theodor Seuss Geisel, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Northland Branch 