The Selfish Giant...

I thought Nathan Bransford's post on the Goodreads acquirement by Amazon was interesting. He might be a little optimistic about Amazon and it's intentions but he seems more rational than some other folk who believe this signals the end of the world as we know it. We are all selfish creatures at heart and if Amazon's ownership of Goodreads might affect your business bottom line then I guess you might spit the dummy somewhat. Those people however who suggest that readers and/or authors are somehow stupid, responsible or likely to suffer horribly as a result aren't necessarily thinking about the interests or welfare of authors or readers at all. Hugh Howey of Wool fame had this to say. He's biased I guess but I don't think any commentator isn't, one way or another.   Either way you see it, fighting against it seems futile. Authors have been finding ways to work within systems not of their making for years (centuries even) - and we will keep doing so. As writing is not a choice but a compulsion, being able to adapt seems wise.

I had another nice review for A Winter's Day in 1939 here which made me happy. And there was this one in the Magpies Magazine a few weeks back which was also rather nice.

And in less than two weeks I will be launching the book in Wellington at The Children's Bookshop Saturday April 13th at 3pm. I'm feeling pretty excited about this. Love Wellington. Love the Wellington Children's Book crowd. Love The Children's Bookshop.

Win a copy of A Winter's Day in 1939...

Well, people have been saying some rather nice things about my book. The Wellington Children's Book Association have invited me down to Wellington to launch A Winter's Day in 1939 down there. This has never happened to me before and I'm thrilled. They are flying me down. I'll be launching it there on Saturday April 13th, at 3pm at The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie. I'll post a proper invite on the blog soon.

Then writery friend Maria Gill showed me a review of the book by Bill Nagelkerke in the latest Magpies Magazine. It was a very nice highly recommendery review. I will post a pic of this when I get my hands on a copy. And Barbara Murison, writer, mentor, reviewer and manuscript assessor has also reviewed the book here (warning: this one includes some spoilers).

And a couple of weeks back, when the Publishing Assistant at Scholastic advised me that Kate De Goldi, to whom she had sent a review copy of my book, had been in touch to request another review copy for Kim Hill, I felt pretty excited. Kim Hill is an award-winning and hugely respected current affairs interviewer on National Radio. Kate De Goldi is an award-winning writer, book reviewer and speaker, and also hugely respected. I probably don't need to mention how well read they are or how hard it is to get a book into their hands for review. On Saturday morning I thought I may have a stroke, I was so nervous. They are not afraid to call a spade a spade or a book a very bad book. But it seems, after all, that they liked it. You can hear what they said here. I was a little stunned. And I am one very happy writer.

Nice things said about my book have put me in the mood for a give-away. I have one copy, for New Zealand readers only this time (I may do an international one also in future), if you can tell me what year the School Journal was first published in the comments. Everyone who gets the right answer will go in the draw to win the book. Draw is on Friday 22nd March.

Angst is a life-shortener...

eeek - the days are flying by. Time for a new post methinks. As you will all know if you have been reading along it has been quite a year. When I think back on all the things that have happened this year I have trouble believing that I squeezed all that in to less than 12 months. At times I was chasing my tail, juggling too many balls and feeling stressed. Thank goodness I wasn't juggling chainsaws. My health has been a bit rubbish and I'm not sure if that was a cause or a symptom of other things. Looking back over what I have been up to, after moaning and groaning probably more than I should have, I can't actually help feeling a little bit proud and pretty happy about all the things I achieved. Lots of deadlines, appointments and events mean you get a lot of things done. Now that the pressure has eased off I am feeling guilty that I'm not doing stuff and am wasting heaps more time doing silly pointless things. Of course this week is an exception because we are going away next week and all the things I have been avoiding while I twiddle my thumbs in a decorative fashion now need doing before we go. So I am making lists and working my way through them - suffice to say I will have enough underwear to wear on my holiday and I WILL remember to pack the power cord for my laptop so I can keep writing.

I am also assembling everything I need to upload my junior fiction as an e-book. The manuscript is edited and I am about to start formatting. I have been thinking alot about e-books and print books and the publishing industry and publishers, agents, booksellers and everyone else. If you are agonising about ANY aspect of publishing, know that you are not alone. It is an imperfect science. The best way forward is to keep informed, make decisions you can live with and don't angst over everything. Angst is a life-shortener. My experiment in publishing my junior novel Sally Bangle: Unexpected Detective myself is a terrific opportunity to test it all out. I want to know, so I am finding out. After all, knowledge is power.

And I was extremely thrilled to see this in the post last week.

The latest Magpies magazine. And look who is inside it!!

Yes, it's me!!Thank you to the very lovely Julie Harper who interviewed me and wrote a very nice article about me for the New Zealand section of the magazine. I was most excited (still am).