Yep, we did it! My first novel, A Long Trail Rolling, has won the 2014 RWNZ Pacific Hearts Award! To say I’m pleased is a bit of an understatement! The big one I get to keep for this year, and a smaller version, inscribed with 2014, forever! The conference was fantastic, with amazing speakers from New …
Yes, you heard me right… I’ve given in… Some of my fantastic beta readers have told me things like….. “Too much has happened between A Long Trail Rolling and its Epilogue.” (Hmmm… I didn’t really think so, but your other comments were well-received, Kate…) Thanks, Kate L. Matt’s been a bit more blunt… “You need …
Hello All! Thanks for stopping by! A couple of bits of news for you today! I’ve just heard I’ve been selected as one of three finalists in the RWNZ Pacific Hearts Award 2014 with A Long Trail Rolling (previously called Express Desire). The Pacific Hearts Award is a full-novel competition, the only one run by RWNZ! …
Hello All! I’ve been busy working on my second novel, and researching heavily. Thank you to the many people behind the scenes who are helping me in my quests~ Michelle, curator at Papakura Library, for her help with my MANY Hunua Falls questions, Linton Stuart and Murray Sutton (who dragged me over hill and dale …
Here’s a post I wrote for Bethanne Strasser’s Through the Heart Shaped Glasses blog earlier this month. I thought some of you might appreciate it! What draws us to history? Is it the romance of a different time from our own? Is it what history can show us about ourselves? How we’re different from or …
It happened on the way to St Cath’s Faire, an SCA reenactment event, last Sunday near Clevedon. A massive change in the direction of my new novel, A Sea of Green Unfolding. It came to me while I drove past the Waihou River (Called the River Thames by Captain Cook when he first landed …
Hello All, Not only did I survive November, my month of writing for NaNoWriMo, where one commits to writing 50,000 words of a novel… in 30 days…, but I’ve ‘Won’, or successfully completed the requirements! Express Desired now has a sequel: A Sea of Green Unfolding Just received an email from NaNo… with the …
Hello All! Well, first day, I didn’t make my goal of 1700 words on the new novel I began on 1 November, A Sea of Green Unfolding, the sequel to Express Desired, wherein Aleksandra and Xavier are still reeling from the death of their first newborn child when they discover that they have lost Rancho …
A new signature, thanks to my son Elliot and his awesome skills with Photoshop! For NaNoWriMo! The new short synopsis… This sequel to Express Desired is about a young couple’s journey to adventure in the turbulent wilderness of 1861 New Zealand. Tragedy strikes in Aleksandra and Xavier’s newly found paradise on their California Rancho …
Today I began planning my new novel… It will be entitled…. A Sea of Green Unfolding A sequel to Express Desired, it will be about Aleksandra and Xavier’s journey to a new life and adventure in the turbulent wilderness of 1861 New Zealand. Plotting has begun today and the first 50K words …
Hello all, I am very pleased to announce that the manuscript for Express Desired is done! Hmmm… Let’s just say it it nice to see that I’m making progress in my writing skills… and finally implementing my new skills…. especially incorporating ‘showing’ vs ‘telling’, (and my critique partner will be so PLEASED) . It’s good to …
June 20, 3:54pm PDT (today in the States, for those of you in NZ!) “The mail just left Lingle,WY at 4:45 pm, mountain time, headed towards Ft Laramie.” Patrick Hearty & Joseph Hatch The Pony Express Stations in Utah Well done to all of you out there riding! You might get a bit tired, but …
Yesterday’s post detailed the Pony Express 20th Anniversary Re-Ride. I have posted some handy links for you to follow the ride’s progress! Thanks to Pony Express History –18253400.nhd.weebly.com The Re-Ride continues! The “mochila,” (the leather pad with the mail pockets, below), which is transferred between riders on the Pony Express) has made it from Elwood, …
Español…. … ranks behind only China in total number of language speakers, and far ahead of English speakers.. One good reason to include it in my nearly-completed novel… Another one… it is the language of love… Xavier, born of his Spanish Californio family is, despite his challenges, able to speak this language of love… In …
Looking forward to our trip to the States in July! We will be visiting many sites from the novel Express Desire, soon to be completed! First, the Rancho de las Pulgas, which was the old 1795 Spanish land grant which belonged to the family of my novel hero Xavier Arguello, which today comprises most of …