Emily's Latest News...

October, 2018.
​Hi,
It's all go here on the farm, and in my writing room. Spring brings tailing lambs (and keeping them out of my garden), the wind, and the start of the cruise ship season. This year it's also brought a new family member with the birth of my sister's gorgeous wee girl! In the writing room, I've put up blinds that actually work, and I've created a series of images to help promote Victory Island and give potential readers a taste of what it's about. You'll be able to see these on Instagram and Facebook soon. That job took my youngest daughter and I 'Thing Collecting' at Allan's beach, where we searched for driftwood, lupin flowers, and other treasures. The beach had been scoured clean after the incredibly strong wind and waves we've had this week, and there was a large female sealion sunning herself on the track. She attracted lots of attention from the tour group we met, as did my daughter, but she was more interested in the long strands of kelp buried in the sand than the variety of accents around her. It seemed a shame that the visitors went to the trouble of getting out to the beach (a long drive and a bit of a walk), only to stop and take a few quick pictures before trooping back to their bus. Of course their time here is limited, and there's a lot to see, but Allan's beach is definitely worth exploring, especially at low tide, and on a day as beautiful as it was. I'm sure they will have enjoyed the Royal Albatross Colony and Penguin Place, Larnach Castle, and perhaps a trip on the Monarch (wildlife cruise boat). I've done them all myself, and they're fantastic attractions, but you don't really get to know the place, and there are some wonderful hidden gems on the Otago Peninsula that only those with a bit of time, or whom ask the right questions of the right people can hunt out.
I'm at the point, this October, where I need to decide if I'm going to give NaNoWriMo a go this year. I've got two manuscripts waiting to be edited, and I'd like to get a couple of short stories out before starting something new. It's a great way to get back into routine after a writing break, but maybe it's not the most useful use of my time just now. I find the early drafting of a new piece the easier part of the writing process, and it's all wonderful and exciting to be surrounded by new stories, but the revising and editing tends to get pushed to the side. I'll let you know when I've made up my mind.
The greatest amount of work being done in my writing room has been a general (and long needed) tidy up of my desk and shelving. I did this to make space for a small order of Victory Island, which I've stocked to sell in paperback within New Zealand. Feedback I've had indicated that buying from Amazon wasn't the right option for some of my readers, and they preferred to buy directly from me. This hasn't been the easiest process to set up, with a lot of learning to be done around New Zealand consumer law, website and order form development, and researching delivery options, but I've done it, and tentatively put myself out there as being 'in trade.' I still need to do further development on the website and advertising, but hey, there's no rest for the indie writer!
As always, everyone can find my stories on Amazon, and now, New Zealand readers have the option to buy in paperback straight from me! Look under books and stories for all your options.
Happy reading!
Emily.
September, 2018.
Hi all!
Spring is finally here! Whilst we didn't really get much snowfall this year, we've churned through the firewood, so it's great to be on the march toward summer. The energy that comes with the sunshine must be why I feel the need to share what I've been up to.
​As I write, I'm watching a sheep and her new twin lambs walk past the window. This is becoming a regular occurrence as we come to the halfway point of lambing on the family farm. I'm not so much involved in the running of the farm, my mum, dad, and youngest sister do that, but I help out where I can. My house is at one end of the farm and they live at the other end. The house that my grandfather, his father and grandfather grew up in is in the middle. Grandad passed away earlier this year, just two months shy of his 98th birthday! It's a new experience not having my grandies just over the hill.
Today I've uploaded my third published work to Amazon, The Siren Moon. It's a Flash Fiction story inspired by a story prompt I found on Pinterest (see if you can find it on my board: Write! Prompts). It's a mere 1500 words, so a super quick read, great for that trip on the bus or if you want something short before bed. You can find a blurb and links on my books and stories page above. This week I've also started a new Pinterest board: Write! Prompts by Emily. These are prompts I've invented myself and will kick-start your imagination for writing. There'll be new ones going up regularly. I'll add a link below!
I can't believe how fast time flies. This week my eldest daughter turned six, and has thus been at school for a year. She was lucky enough to have my sister (the middle of us three sisters, I'm the eldest), as her teacher until the end of last week (she's on maternity leave awaiting her second bubba). It's a busy thing being a mum of a school kid. The flexibility I've sought through writing (and no longer teaching myself) allows me to help out with school events, of which there are many at the moment, and I've even become a member of the Board of Trustees. Polyfest, the Maori and Pacific Islands festival is on next week, so poi have been on the loose as my big girl rehearses for her biggest stage performance yet. Just last month she was first up (and the youngest speaker) for her school's Spoken Word Showcase. I am in awe of her. I experience anxiety, so just the thought of speaking on stage gives me the shakes. As a child I regularly danced on stage, having taken classes and participated in Stage Challenge during my high school years, but speaking, eek, no please!
Little Miss Three (my younger daughter), is growing way too fast. She's really started to assert herself lately and has started copying phrases that her sister uses. She makes up her own stories, usually involving Paw Patrol, but sometimes of her own crack-up creation. Both my girls seem to have inherited my storyteller gene. 
My next goal is to finish my second novel. I've been on procrastination strike for a few weeks as I've finished the guts of it but need to go back and fill in a couple of tricky bits that were too much of a challenge at the time. I thought, whilst procrastinating, that I was going to regret taking a break from it, but all of a sudden I'm missing the characters and have that thirst back to find out what's in store for them. I also feel a bit guilty, having become part of a large community of writers on Twitter and seeing the incredible progress they're making. I really could do better!
So that's about it for now. If you like, pop over to Amazon to check out The Siren Moon (or On Thin Ice or Victory Island), or check out my new writing prompts below. Feel free to drop me an email. I'm happy to answer questions too!
Hope you have a great spring (or autumn as the case may be!).
Emily.
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