RWNZ Conference

What a busy time it’s been! The RWNZ Annual Conference was held in Auckland last month, and as usual it was brimming with a-ha! moments.

Useful to writers across the board, in my book it’s an unmissable event for any writer on the road to publication. Catching up with online buddies was fantastic, and pitching to agents/editors was wildly exciting. But this year was also tinged with tragedy, and what stood out for me was the way we all came together and supported each other while ensuring the conference remained a success.

I’ve returned home to day-job deadlines, the usual kiddie clutter, three manuscript requests to send off, and a writing competition to enter. Best I get on with it!

Let It Snow!

Snow, glorious snow! The weatherman got it right, for once! We woke to that unmistakable Snow Silence and raced each other to the window because, although Christchurch gets chilly in winter, we don’t often get snow settling.

There it was. The largest snowfall Christchurch has experienced in 15 years. Beautiful. But deadly cold for those poor folk who, post-quake, haven’t yet had their heating replaced. My heart goes out to them. I just hope everyone has been able to keep warm with friends and family.

We’re lucky. Our logburner’s in, so we’ve been able to enjoy the snow the way it should be enjoyed. A snowman, snowball fights, snowflake-catching, and witnessing Little Miss Two’s sense of wonder. Magic.

Want To Know Why I’ve Been AWOL?

You’d think God would be kinder to me. I mean, s/he’s thrown half a dozen significant earthquakes at me in the past nine months (hell, by comparison even pregnancy’s fun), and we’re being put through thousands of aftershocks, not to mention the loss of job security. Our city’s broken. Isn’t that enough?

I took on a part-time job. Just a little one. Hell, it barely even counts as a job! But it’s enough to let us have takeaways on a Friday night without a dose of the guilts – and that, folks, is a Big Deal for us just now.
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Tea Lovers Be Warned!

I felt so loved – better, understood – when Beloved gave me the ultimate tea-lover’s gift: a fancy glass teapot (you know, with the thingy in the middle for the tea leaves so you’ll never have to catch them between your teeth again) and a selection of very cool, very expensive teas to sample. Perfect! Now I could upgrade to gourmet tea guzzler while I slaved over my hot keyboard.

I quickly learned my caffeine lesson when I tried Vanilla Black Tea. I whipped up a pot, slurped down a first cup, loved it, and went back for seconds. Then thirds. (Well, it was Read More…

Silver Linings?

We’ve just had a swanky new logburner installed to replace the chimney/logburner we lost in the Quake/s. We’re now well and truly into the winter season, and after being without heating for so long it’s an amazing feeling to finally be warm in the evenings again. Hallelujah! And double-Hallelujah, because my hairdresser, who went AWOL to Auckland post-Quake and seemed unlikely to return – she’s back! My hair rejoices!

Yes, there’s much to be thankful for. For example, Master Seven is very happy with the new “hills” in our driveway (caused by liquefaction) because he now has somewhere cool to play with his cars!

Meanwhile, the rejections keep rolling in. “Womens fiction and chick lit are very hard sells at the moment.” Sigh . . .