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Calling all authors, book artists and publishers! We invite you to participate in our online Stakeholder Survey. In particular, we want to know if you feel our current services are meeting your needs. We also value your input on ways that we could further support you and your business. 

The Copyright Licencing NZ Stakeholder Survey is your chance to have your say in a completely anonymous way. It will only take a few of minutes.

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Stories living happily ever after in tech age: Mumsnet claims bedtime story alive and well

By Hayden Smith Monday 30 Sept 2013 - Metro

(Picture: Metro)

Lucy from The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe might have missed out on finding the portal to Narnia if she had been a child today.
Instead of exploring Professor Kirke’s house, she and her siblings would probably have been lolling about downstairs, engrossed in a game of Grand Theft Auto.
Even in the era of iPads and computer graphics, however, it seems the humble bedtime story is more popular than ever.
CS Lewis’s fantasy classic is among popular choices with the 89 per cent of mothers and fathers who read to their child before tucking them in, a survey shows.
In many cases, parents are starting new chapters in the family tradition, as only 67 per cent recall dozing off with ‘the end’ ringing in their ears when they were young.
‘It’s heartening to find the bedtime story is alive and well despite the popularity of screens of all shapes and sizes,’ said Justine Roberts, of Mumsnet, which carried out the poll.
Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo is the overall favourite story, with Roald Dahl’s Matilda the most read to five to eight-year-olds, the poll shows.
Lucy’s encounter with Mr Tumnus is top in the eight-to-11 category.
Celebrities have also been revealing beloved stories to Mumsnet, which this week publishes a book of bedtime tales by aspiring authors.

Wildlife of New Zealand

Given the abundance of New Zealand’s wilderness areas, it is no surprise that the country’s native wildlife is a major drawcard. In the latest title in his compact-format pictorial series, leading photographer Rob Suisted showcases the most iconic and popular species. Wildlife of New Zealand includes not merely the flagship species like kiwi, kauri, kakapo and tuatara, but a unique assembly of fascinating plants and animals that have evolved amid habitats ranging from alpine peaks,  open scrub and subtropical forest to wetlands, rocky or sandy shores and the open Pacific. And ease of access  to New Zealand’s great outdoors means that almost   all of these species can be seen firsthand by the visitor. Well researched and informative captions from natural history writer and editor Matt Turner make this not only a stunning photographic collection, but also a very useful reference. Existing titles in the series are: National Parks, Birds, Landmarks and Wildflowers of New Zealand.

The Authors

Rob Suisted is a Wellington-based photographer and conservationist who combines his passion for wildlife and magnificent scenery with a successful photographic library. His images are well known throughout New Zealand  and have appeared in calendars, books and magazines. He is the author of 12 books published by New Holland including New Zealand Panorama, Scenic New Zealand, New Zealand Landmarks and Wellington and  Beyond. In 2011 he was awarded runner-up for the Whitcoulls Pictorial Travel Book of the Year Award for Majestic New Zealand, also published by New Holland. Matt Turner is a writer and publishing consultant with a passion for natural history and the environment. He has written books on a diverse range of subjects from elephants to earth sciences. Wildlife of New Zealand is the third title authored by him in this popular series from Rob Suisted and New Holland Publishers. New Holland - $19.99

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and Rules for Facing Giants

 Why do underdogs succeed so much more than they should? How do the weak outsmart the strong? In David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a scintillating and surprising journey to uncover the hidden dynamics that shape the balance of power between the small and the mighty.

From the conflict in Northern Ireland and Vietnam, through the tactics of civil rights leaders and the problem of privilege, Gladwell demonstrates how terribly we misunderstand the true meaning of advantage and disadvantage. When is a traumatic childhood a good thing? How can a disability leave someone better off? And do you really want your child to go to the best school he or she can get into?

Drawing on the stories of remarkable underdogs, history, science, psychology and his unparalleled ability to make the connections other miss, David and Goliath is a brilliant, illuminating book that overturns conventional thinking, and brings home the incredible leverage of the unexpected.

Penguin Books - NZ rrp$37.00

Kathy Reichs: Putting flesh on bone

Otago Daily Times - Sun, 29 Sept 2013

Kathy Reichs has written her 16th novel inspired by experiences as a forensic anthropologist. Bruce Munro is fascinated and mystified - and not just by the plot twists.

One moment the room is bubbling with quiet, expectant conversation. The next, Kathy Reichs appears in a chair facing the gathering, doors shut, silence falls and the talking begins.
No fanfare, minimal pleasantries. Just down to business.

It is Sunday afternoon and Reichs (63) is speaking in Dunedin at the start of a four-day New Zealand tour promoting her latest forensics crime novel Bones of the Lost.
She is dressed in a straw-coloured cardigan, olive dress pants, and a light button-through floral blouse whose hues tastefully tie together the entire ensemble. For the next 40 minutes she regales the rapt audience with tales of life as a world-class, globe-trotting forensic anthropologist; author of the best-selling Temperance Brennan mystery novels; producer and inspiration for long-running forensics television drama Bones; and, co-writer with her son of fantasy-based teen forensics novels.

Responding to questions posited by Dunedin crime writer Vanda Symon, Reichs, the so-called doyenne of forensic crime fiction, populates listeners' imaginations with serial killers, dismembered bodies, corpse-eating leopard slugs, DNA analysis, decomposition patterns and projectile trajectories.
The 80% female crowd in turn gasps, laughs and nods in agreement.

And then it is all over. The opportunity to buy a book, have it signed, take a snapshot ... and the place is virtually empty an hour after it all began. Efficient, focused, productive. Time, no doubt, well-spent.
The short, sunny walk back to Reichs' hotel for an interview passes the Octagon Writers Walk. Plaques commemorating, among others, James K. Baxter, Janet Frame, Witi Ihimaera, Roger Hall.

For her part, Reichs entered the literary profession late. In 1997, having already become professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Reichs became a New York Times best-selling author with her first thriller Deja Dead. Sixteen years later she is here promoting her 16th novel based on her experiences channelled through the books' main character, forensic anthropologist Temperance (Tempe) Brennan.
As Reichs selects a seat in the hotel lobby, her publicist asks if she would like a coffee.
''I don't think so. This won't take long will it?'' she responds.
More

The Eat for Keeps Experience

 If you knew what caused an epidemic AND you knew how to fix it wouldn’t you move heaven and earth to put it right?

And what if the solution was so simple it could be as automatic as putting on your seatbelt or brushing your teeth each day.

What epidemic are we talking about? It is our horrendous obesity and diabetes statistics. Today, half the world is obese or overweight and this is one race that New Zealand should be ashamed to say we have the bronze medal in – 3^rd behind United States and Mexico.

Over a million New Zealanders either have Type 2 diabetes or are at risk of getting it and 90% of those people are obese – that is 1 in 4! If these figures scare you, they should – if we don’t take action, the Ministry of Health predict by 2028, 10% of our population will have Type 2 diabetes and 40% will be at risk.

Eat For Keeps (EFK), a private NZ company who specialise in the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes and weight related problems have a possible solution which they are keen to share with the whole country! EFK founder and former physical education teacher and business and life coach Leigh Elder says:

“We simply cannot just roll over and let these horrendous forecasts come true. The truth of the matter is, that we actually know that too much glucose in the blood over long periods of time causes type 2 diabetes, and most crucially, we also know that the right lifestyle interventions will prevent a high percentage of these cases. This blood-sugar/insulin equation is very unforgiving. If we exceed the amount of glucose we need for energy each day the excess will be stored as fat. Long term this leads onto serious medical issues like circulation problems, heart disease, blindness, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

There is a huge amount of confusion out there. Factors like our carbohydrate excesses, general reluctance to eat fat, and incredible range of food and drink options provide a ‘perfect storm’ to encourage this chaos.

Over the past 10 years we have helped thousands of people achieve the ‘holy grail’ of permanent weight loss and avoid or improve diabetic conditions by focussing on this simple blood-sugar equation. We could go from 3rd worst to becoming world leaders if we put this blood-sugar thing up in lights and gave people the necessary resources and skills to manage well in this area.

We have a plan to do this to eventually make managing your blood-sugar levels an everyday message like brushing your teeth and putting on your seat belt.”

The Eat For Keeps Experience

Just published, The Eat For Keeps Experience is an ideal resource for people who want to learn more. This important and unique book breaks the mould in the crowded weight loss category – it is simply in a class of its own. Finally there is a compelling and logical pathway forward to beat many of our weight and diabetes problems. 

The Eat For Keeps Experience combines all the information and advice along with inspirational stories of those who have been there and successfully done it. The book is attractively laid out with relevant and clear illustrations, interspersed with the personal stories and testimonials.

It is co-written by Leigh Elder, expert on solving metabolic problems GP Helen Smith and physical education specialist, Otago University researcher and exercise physiologist Monique Francois.

Eat For Keeps was founded in 2001 in response to the success Leigh Elder (right) was having with his ‘life and business’ coaching clients. 

After selling a Northland rest home business and in the comfortable space of not having to chase the almighty buck, the former phys-ed teacher-turned-financial adviser-turned-life coach spent five years researching our ‘scary’ state of over-eating. 

He simplified many of today’s confusing food issues and helped to empower people to take control of their weight by learning some key ideas on ‘how our bodies work’ and ‘how food affects us’. 

The Bone Season - reviewed by Nicky Pellegrino

A sense of déjà vu plagued me as I made my way through much-hyped fantasy novel The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (Bloomsbury) despite the fact that this is not a genre I have read voraciously in. Characters, settings and plot seemed to have a second-hand feel to them. It was as if Shannon had borrowed from this bestseller and that, a pinch or two of Twilight, a sprinkling of The Hunger Games, a little paranormal romance, a few special powers, a dystopian vision and from the resulting blend produced a story. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it; it’s a fun and engaging read and given Shannon’s age – she’s only 21 – an impressive feat. But hype creates expectations and originality is one of them.

The story begins in 2059 in an alternate Victorian-gothic style version of London, one where “voyants” with paranormal powers are an oppressed minority and liable to be executed for treason by the ruling force, Scion.

Paige Mahoney is 19 and part of the criminal underworld. She is a dream-walker, able to enter people’s minds and roam around. Within a few pages Paige is in trouble. Picked up by guards while travelling on a train, she destroys one of them with her mind. Soon she has been apprehended and transported to a penal colony for unnaturals in the town that was once Oxford.

That’s where Paige learns the truth. Scion is a puppet power controlled by a race of ruthless clairvoyant aliens called the Rephaim who are intent on taking over the world. She is to be trained to help destroy their enemy the flesh-eating Emim and becomes the possession of the enigmatic Warden, soon finding that she is attracted to and protective of him despite herself.

Shannon has a big world to introduce us to whilst also keeping the action humming along. Poor Paige is drugged, battered and bruised as she tries to survive the Rephaim and plot her escape. At times it gets confusing since there are a host of new terms as well as characters to get to grips with. Had I realised there was a nine-page glossary at the back it might have helped me better keep up with the mollishers, amaurotics, mime-lords, harlies and spools.

The Bone Season is the first of a proposed series of seven novels. That’s a big story arc to build and quite a commitment for such a young writer. Film rights have been sold and she’s being touted as the new JK Rowling. If the pressure of all that doesn’t finish her off it will be interesting to see how Shannon’s style matures as she does and where she takes Paige.

Yes it’s derivative and the hype may have over-sold it but still this is a story with heaps of potential for drama and romance. The first in any series of fantasy books always has to be heavily expositional and hopefully, now she has coloured in the background, Shannon will start developing plot and relationships and show fans of the genre what she’s really capable of.

About the reviewer.

Nicky Pellegrino, an Auckland-based author of popular fiction, is also the Books Editor of the Herald on Sunday where the above review was first published on Sunday 29 September 2013.

Her latest novel , The Food Of Love Cookery School, has just been published.

Canterbury Poets Collective

• The Press Christchurch Writers Festival

  Canterbury Poets Collective dates for October and November here:
  http://jopre.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cpc-2013-poster.pdf
  A great line-up!

  
  

  

Wellington LAUNCH PARTY

One Human in Height

by Rachel O'Neill

Friday 11 October

5.30PM sharp

City Gallery Wellington

Unity clan will be selling copies on the night

(Paperback $25)

Voyage to Gallipoli by Peter Plowman

At the commencement of World War 1 in 1914, New Zealand had been a dominion for 7 years and had no independent navy. Australia had only been a nation for 13 years and the Royal Australian Navy was only three years old. As young men rushed to enlist, the governments of both countries had to find ways of transporting them away to a war being fought half a world away, and protecting them against German raiders en route. It was a massive undertaking.

In Voyage to Gallipoli maritime historian Peter Plowman takes the story from the planning stages and the requisition of ships through to the Gallipoli landing of 25 April 1915. It covers activities of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy and its role in the Australian capture of German protectorates (including New Guinea) in the South Pacific and the Battle of Cocos Island which saw the destruction of the German raider Emden.

The book tells of the mobilization of troops and sailors, requisition and refitting of ships, one convoy false start, a number of voyages, various changes of plan and destination, and the assistance offered by ships of allied navies. Included are many newspaper accounts of various events (some by Banjo Paterson) in port and on board and quotes from diaries and memoirs of sailors and soldiers involved, giving descriptions of conditions on board - training, sport, exercise, living and eating conditions, hygiene, medical examinations and supervisions, even crossing the line festivities; also conditions for horses — and details of convoy formations. By the time of the blooding of ANZAC forces at Gallipoli, the force had been molded very much on board and in transit. 
Two appendices give details of all the transport ships involved.

Details:
Transpress
304 pages in 240 x 180 mm format, black and white, plus a colour frontispiece, a painting different to the front cover. 
Softcover. ISBN 9781877418150.

NZ Recommended Retail Price  — $49.90
Publication 1 October, 2013

7.11.13

This abbreviated date features on the spine of Ian Rankin's new novel, Saints of the Shadow Bible, because that is the date the book is being published worldwide.

I have an advance review copy but am not allowed to say anything about it until the pub date ! Watch out for it. I agree with the reviewer in The Times who said about Rankin- "Unsurpassed among living Britsih crime writers".

Nic’s Lunchbox

Scholastic New Zealand has once again teamed up with inspirational child chef Nicholas Brockelbank to produce a second cookbook, Nic’s Lunchbox, this time with a range of quick, easy and delicious lunch ideas.

Nic lives with muscular dystrophy and in 2012 and 2013 was the ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Bow Tie Appeal with Judy Bailey (the Patron for the Muscular Dystrophy Association). Nic featured in the television campaign and on posters and billboards throughout New Zealand.  Nic and Scholastic NZ are again donating half of the royalties from sales of the book to the MDA.

Since the publication of his first book, Nic’s Cookbook, in October 2012, Nic has held a sell-out book launch, made guest appearances on TVNZ’s Saturday Breakfast, What Now and Attitude TV, and performed in-store cooking demonstrations assisted by celebrity chefs Simon Gault and Brett McGregor.

Nic’s Cookbook has been a regular feature in the top 10 NZ children’s bestseller list, and it won the 2012 Best Fundraising, Charity and Community Cookbook category of the strongly contested Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for the Pacific region. Previous New Zealand recipients of these awards include Annabel Langbein, Brett McGregor and Jo Seagar.

Nic was encouraged by a schoolteacher to use cooking to improve his reading, spelling and maths. He enjoyed it so much that he put together his first ‘cookbook’ when he was eight years old, as a Christmas gift for family and friends. This photocopied booklet of recipes was so popular he set up a website (www.nicocool.com) to sell recipe books and artwork to raise money for various charities. The website also describes aspects of Nic’s life with muscular dystrophy from his personal experiences.

Nic’s Lunchbox will be celebrated at a launch event at the Red Cherry Café in Cambridge, at 2.30pm on Saturday 5 October 2013. Samples of some of the recipes will be provided for guests to try. Both books will be on sale and Nic will be signing copies. All are welcome to attend.

Full colour paperback - $10.00

A reminder about Pip Adam's presentation about her new novel, I'm Working on a Building,

This is a reminder that Pip Adam's presentation about her new novel, I'm Working on a Building, is on this Thursday 3 October at 6pm. Rm 102, Alan MacDiarmid Building Kelburn Campus Victoria University of Wellington Light refreshments will be served. Pip will discuss how she used the language of structural engineering in I'm Working on a Building to highlight the strangeness of surroundings we normally take for granted. She'll focus particularly on a chapter of the novel called 'The Alan MacDiarmid Building'. Pip will take questions from the audience following her reading. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of Vic Books, $30, p/b

DEATH

QUAKE DOGS - Heart-warming stories of Christchurch dogs

Strange-but-true dog stories from the Christchurch earthquakes, with beautiful photographs illustrating each story - Random House NZ - $34.99
Publication - 4 October

Pupcakes courtesy of Topdog Barkery; a complimentary ‘brush and bow’, nail clipping or teeth brushing; soothing acoustic music; and other well-deserved doggy and human indulgences will be served up at a very special Christchurch party on Saturday, 5 October, to celebrate the publication of a very special collection of stories which has also now been optioned for a television series.

For those lying injured under the quake rubble, the sound of a USAR dog bark was the sound of hope; for the elderly living alone during the quakes,huddling together with their canine companions brought mutual comfort in the lonely and frightening dark. There were the dogs who fled their family homes in terror never to be found again; there were the abandoned dogs, taken in by complete strangers who also took care of their vet bills;

there were those who ran miles to find their families; and there were those who were so traumatised that they had to be rehomed with families in other cities. Some were trapped in liquefaction being sucked at like quick sand; there’s a dog who still today warns her family that another after shock is on its way by rushing out into the garden; others have continued to suffer from sustained post-quake trauma and sadly, three dogs included

in the book have recently passed away losing their two year battles.

Boss, Bruce, Angel, Nemo, Easy, Stig, Blu, Buster, Molly, Poppy, Boo, Stanley and Jack are just a few of the quake dogs featured in this book.

Gracing the book’s cover is Guinness, a very familiar scruffy face who appeared regularly in the TV news updates. The enormous, shaggy Irish Wolfhound became the pin-up boy for the Student Volunteer Army and he was awarded a medal for his work with their rescue effort.

It’s a book with a very big heart at its centre. It ultimately celebrates the very special, wordless bond between people and their pets which is one founded on love, trust, loyalty and companionship.

The Christchurch earthquakes, the on-going aftershocks and their devastating aftermath changed southern lives forever. It also changed the lives of our beloved dogs. Cantab writer Laura Sessions and photographer Craig Bullock have teamed up to gather together this very moving collection of stories because, as animal lovers themselves, they felt that this was a quake story that had remained untold. Called Quake Dogs, some of the proceeds from the book go to HUHA, the national organisation that works to rescue and re-home animals around the country and who successfully relocated at least 70 quake dogs.

Laura says that she first began collecting stories for the book shortly after the February 2011 earthquake.

“There were a few well-publicised animal stories at the time, but no one seemed to be reporting — or even talking about — the vast majority of what dogs in the city were going through. In talking with people, I began to realise that dogs had been affected in just about as many ways as humans.

“At the same time, I also began to realise that in telling me about their dogs’ stories, people somehow found it easier to open up about their own experiences, something they probably wouldn’t have done if I had been asking directly about what they went through. The dogs’ stories became interwoven with human emotion, pain, laughter, grief and gratitude at what was left.

“One of my favourite themes that emerged while I was writing the book was how close people became to their animals when tragedy struck. People relied on their dogs for emotional support, companionship, and stability. Many people told me they could not have made it through the two years of quakes without their dogs.

Photographer Craig Bullock, who specialises in pet portraits, says meeting and photographing the dogs for the book has been an incredible and inspirational experience for him: “I will always remember each of their unique personalities.”

Buster’s paws eventually healed after he’d run until they were raw and completely torn looking for his family

Easy and his USAR handler, Brenda, worked a day and a half straight searching for the injured lying beneath the rubble

 With the chaos around them, Guide dog Kiwi remembered his routine and walked Blair down the stairs and out of the building

Jonah was undergoing major surgery when the quake hit. The vet didn’t think he could survive the explosive shaking.

R. A .Lawson: Victorian Architect of Dunedin

R. A .Lawson: Victorian Architect of Dunedin was launched last Wednesday  by Dunedin’s Mayor, Dave Cull. Fittingly the launch was held in the Municipal Chambers in the Octagon, a grand old building designed by Lawson.

The book is written by Norman Ledgerwood with contemporary photographs by Graham Warman, and documents and celebrates the work of R A Lawson who designed many of Dunedin’s most important buildings. In his 28 years working in Dunedin from 1862 onwards Lawson designed over 250 buildings in Otago, South Canterbury and Southland, including 45 churches large and small; commercial, residential, educational, civic and institutional architecture.

The author, Norman Ledgerwood is a retired architect who spent most of his working life in Dunedin and Hong Kong. His interest in R A Lawson was triggered by his accidental discovery in 1954 of a collection of 82 architectural drawings and sketches by Lawson. These were covered in dust and rolled up in an attic in the offices of Arthur Louis Salmond the architectural firm where Norman was working as a junior draughtsman. Lawson had worked briefly in the firm of his former pupil, James Salmond, after his return from Melbourne in 1900.

Lawson’s most significant works — First Presbyterian Church of Otago, Knox Presbyterian Church, Larnach Castle, Otago Boys’ High School, Dunedin Municipal Building — take their place amongst the country’s most important historical buildings and grace Dunedin to this day, giving the city its distinctive character, unique among New Zealand’s towns and cities.

The book provides a well-researched historical record of the life of R. A. Lawson and his life and achievements. The book is stunning, and between them, designer Richard Stedman and photographer Graham Warman have achieved an elegant, contemporary feel to an historical subject.

Footnote:

Review and photographs in Otago Daily Times feature

Available from UBS Otago Ltd, Email ubs@unibooks.co.nz,. Or at your bookseller. 

 RRP $74.99

Tuhoe: Portrait of a Nation

AUTHOR: KENNEDY WARNE

PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER JAMES QUINN

Penguin Books - Hardback - $60.00

In 2013, leaders of the North Island iwi Ngai Tuhoe signed an historic settlement with the Crown that promises to end a century and a half of injustice, animosity and mistrust. At the heart of the settlement is control of the mountainous region known as Te Urewera, the vital core of Tuhoe aspiration and identity.

Tuhoe: Portrait of a Nation explores the relationship between Tuhoe and Te Urewera, the people and the land. It is the result of a multi-year project by acclaimed documentary photographer Peter James Quinn and Kennedy Warne, founding editor of New Zealand Geographic. The two journalists circled the 'encircled lands' – the tribal domain that stretches from the forest fortress of Lake Waikaremoana to the coastal valleys of the Bay of Plenty – and collected the stories of Tuhoe. From tribal leaders to possum hunters, traditional healers to tourism operators, Tuhoe shared their words, their culture and their lives.

At once an exquisite photographic showcase – incorporating dramatic landscapes, documentary-style reportage and portraiture – and the most up-to-date retelling of Tuhoe history, here is a portrait of an iwi and its encounter with a unique and treasured land. Listening to the past through the voices of today, the book asks, and answers, the question: What does it mean to be Tuhoe?

About the author & Photographer

Kennedy Warne was the founding editor of New Zealand Geographic magazine. He is now a contributing writer and editor-at-large for New Zealand Geographic and an occasional contributor to National Geographic. His recent stories have explored issues of environmental ethics and the concerns of indigenous people. His book Roads Less Travelled: Twenty Years of Exploration with New Zealand Geographic was published by Penguin Group (NZ) in 2008, and his book on the plight of the world's mangrove forests, Let Them Eat Shrimp: The Tragic Disappearance of the Rainforests of the Sea, was published by Island Press in 2010

Peter James Quinn was born in Te Aroha, his family later moving to the Eastern Bay of Plenty. He studied photography at Wellington Polytechnic in 1989 and upon graduation photographed the book Staunch: Inside New Zealand's Gangs (text by Bill Payne; Reed, 1991). In 1993 he began contributing to New Zealand Geographic magazine and has produced more than 40 features on a range of topics from home birth to New Zealand peacekeepers in Bougainville. His photographs have been included in numerous exhibitions in museums in New Zealand and overseas. His second book, Highway 35: Travels around East Cape (text by John Woods; Reed, 1998), was a finalist in the Montana NZ Book Awards, and a twenty-year retrospective, New Zealanders in Focus (Kowhai Publishing, 2010), was included in the New Zealand Listener's top 100 books of 2010.

Mark Darcy is dead! Bridget Jones is left a struggling single mum in long-awaited sequel

By Ted Thornhill

The Daily Mail -, 29 September 2013

Spoiler alert for Bridget Jones fans and tissues at the ready - Mark Darcy is dead and the world's most famous singleton has become a widow.

The shock revelation came as extracts of writer Helen Fielding's latest Bridget Jones's Diary, Mad About The Boy, were published in the Sunday Times Magazine.


Fifteen years after the last novel in the saga, it turns out unlucky-in-love Bridget married Darcy and gave him two children - only for Fielding to kill the awkward yet successful barrister off.

True love: Renee Zellweger pictured as Bridget Jones, with Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, in a scene from the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, based on the novel by Helen Fielding

Heralding the arrival of 'chick lit', Bridget Jones's Diary started life as a newspaper column in 1995.

Two best-selling novels, with their corresponding Hollywood blockbuster film adaptations featuring Renee Zellweger as Bridget and Colin Firth as Darcy, followed.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2437165/Bridget-Jones-single-Author-Helen-Fielding-reveals-killed-Mark-Darcy.html#ixzz2gJ1rea9a 

Malcolm Gladwell interview

Conventional wisdom says Malcolm Gladwell is a zany brainbox whose books challenge our assumptions and revolutionise our lives. But, asks Gaby Wood, is that another misconception?

Malcolm Gladwell photographed in New York, 2013 Photo: Dan Callister

By Gaby Wood

The Telegraph - 28 Sept 2013

Malcolm Gladwell says he never knows what people will take from his books.

“It’s never what I think it’s going to be,” he shrugs. “Parts that you think are going to make this big impact are ignored, and parts that you wrote in a day are like the 10,000 hours stuff – I thought no one would ever mention that again. And it is, in fact, all people talk about. Who knew?”

Not dissimilarly, the story of Malcolm Gladwell himself has taken off in ways that would have been difficult to predict. Once a journalist, he is now a phenomenon, revered and scoffed at in different quarters, somewhere between social scientist, motivational speaker and preacher-like source of consolation.

He plays one-man shows to packed theatres on both sides of the Atlantic; he gives talks to businessmen about subjects such as Fleetwood Mac, earning tens of thousands of dollars per speech; his books are automatic bestsellers. His work has coined an adjective – “Gladwellian” refers to a sort of nerdy and captivating formula, against which there has been an inevitable backlash. A website called The Malcolm Gladwell Book Generator mocked up fake Gladwell covers: “Blank”, one read, referring to his book Blink, “300 Empty Pages to Fill With Your Own F---ing Thoughts”. 
More

extra curricular issue 12

Somehow this fascinating, appealing little magazine has just published issue # 12 and yet this weekend is the first time I have come across it ! What a wee gem it proved to be. I found my copy at Mag Shop in Ponsonby Road - $14.90.

It is a magazine "about getting people creative in their spare time".
I especially enjoyed the article on Sally Greer and her Beatnik Publishing Company.

Look for it at your magazine retailer or check out their website.

Michael King Writers' Centre - Last week for applications

Applications for the Michael King Writers’ Centre 2014 residency programme close in just a few days.  

There are four supported residencies in 2014, with stipends ranging from $8,000 to $30,000. The residencies are at the Michael King Writers’ Centre which is based in the Signalman’s House, a heritage villa on Takarunga Mt Victoria in Devonport.

The residency programme, which is open only to New Zealand writers, aims to support writers and promote the development of high-quality New Zealand writing. Previous resident writers include Eleanor Catton who wrote the final draft of her novel The Luminaries at the centre last year. The novel is on the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker Award.

Writers who are selected for the 2014 residencies receive free accommodation at the Michael King Writers’ Centre, use of the writer’s studio and a stipend:

·         Summer Residency, eight weeks from January 6, 2014 ($8,000)

·         Autumn Residency, eight weeks from March 10 ($8,000)

·         Maori Writer’s Residency, eight weeks from May 12 ($8,000)

·         The University of Auckland Residency, six months from mid-July 2014 ($30,000 stipend/salary)

The eight-week residencies are open to emerging or established writers, while the six-month residency offered in partnership with The University of Auckland is for an established author who may benefit from an academic environment. Writers must be working on a specific project in fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction or non-fiction. Writers who live in Auckland are welcome to apply. The residencies are offered with the assistance of Creative New Zealand.

Application forms and further information are available on the centre’s web site 

(www.writerscentre.org.nz) or from the centre.  Applications close on Friday October 4, 2013, and the selections are expected to be made in November.   

Twenty-six New Zealand writers have held residencies at the centre since 2005. The current writer in residence is novelist Sarah Laing. Writers who do not qualify for the supported residency programme are able to apply to be a visiting writer on a paying basis.

For further information, please call Karren Beanland, Manager:

Ph/fax:            445 8451 Mobile:            021 496 488 Email:  manager@writerscentre.org.nz

Katherine Scholes: Books that changed me

Date

September 29, 2013

Sydney Morning Herald

Author Katherine Scholes. Photo: Marc Burlance

Bits of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald

I had already read most of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books when I came across this joint collection of stories. I found Zelda's work just as impressive as her husband's - very similar, in fact. I read everything about them I could lay my hands on. It sparked an ongoing interest in how the lives of authors shape the work they produce.

Tangara - Nan Chauncy

I first read this story about the friendship between two Tasmanian children - one white, one black - when I was 10 years old. My family had just moved from East Africa to Tasmania. The descriptions of the landscape and the magical feel to the story helped me see my new country as a place with imaginative and spiritual meaning. It made me feel more at home, which meant a lot to me at the time.

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Shogun - James Clavell

When I read this novel in the 1980s, I knew almost nothing about Japanese culture and history. The saga accompanied me during a whole winter that I spent living on Flinders Island in Bass Strait. By the end of the story, my everyday world seemed flavoured by Japanese sensibility. I was left with an understanding of the power of a book to become part of someone's life.

A Marriage of Inconvenience: The Persecution of Ruth and Seretse Khama - Michael Dutfield

This is a ''truth is stranger than fiction'' account of the marriage of the last tribal chief of Botswana to his English fiancee in the late 1940s. Amid the scandal of how the couple was treated by Britain, there is an amazing report of tribal elders debating law versus love.

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - Jared Diamond

I was captured by this book from the first page. The American scientist's argument - that the fortunes of different peoples around the world were largely determined by the suitability of the local plants and animals for farming - completely changed the way I saw human history.

Katherine Scholes was born in Tanzania, the daughter of a missionary doctor and an artist, and settled in Tasmania when she was 10. She is the author of bestsellers The Rain Queen, Make Me an Idol, The Stone Angel, The Hunter's Wife and Lioness. Her latest, The Perfect Wife, is published by Michael Joseph. 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/katherine-scholes-books-that-changed-me-20130927-2uhj7.html#ixzz2gDReBd50