Chapter 22: 82,735 words, a few miracles, and one dark deed.
The end
So much has happened since my last post (that was mid-June, so it’s hardly surprising), the most exciting being completing my Masters. In the final months, I was writing every day, usually from bed as soon as I’d opened my eyes. Everything that could go on hold, I put on hold – dentist check-up, doctor’s appointment, home admin, housework, breathing – until the day arrived. The day I’d been dreading since it was announced in our first class: ‘Hand-in’ day. 7 November.
Even by June, halfway in, 7 November seemed like an impossible deadline to meet. But meet it I did. I even had three days left to panic about the f#@!ing formatting.
My thesis, a novel which was originally known as Staying Alive*, is now an 82,735-word manuscript called She Loves You** and is currently sitting in an agent’s to-read pile. Possibly at the very bottom of potentially a very tall pile, but in it nonetheless.
If you’d like a sneak preview while the manuscript gathers dust, you can read the first chapter in Turbine.
Now that I’m back at work, my nine-month stint as a student feels like a dream. Gone are the days of doing nothing but writing, reading, talking about writing and reading, and wandering around campus pretending I wasn’t old enough to be everyone else’s mother.
Thankfully, some other exciting stuff is happening…
*Then I realised that the song Staying Alive hadn’t been released in 1967 so couldn’t possibly have been playing on the protagonist’s car radio at a pivotal moment.
**Title may change depending on whether I can borrow a few of The Beatles’ lyrics without selling our house.
Dark Deeds Down Under II – out soon!
While She Loves You is potentially yonks away from existence, my short story ‘The Barbecue’ (an earlier version of a scene from She Loves You) will be available soon in Dark Deeds Down Under II, an Australian and New Zealand crime and thriller anthology. Edited by legendary Ngiao Marsh Awards founder, Craig Sisterson, it’s out later this month, and you pre-order a copy here.
More on Miracle
If you’ve been waiting for the results of the New Zealand YA Awards, I’m sorry. I meant to post several months ago (see paragraph one for excuse) to say that Miracle didn’t win and to congratulate Philippa Werry whose Iris and Me did. Interestingly, eleven-year-old Oscar Sweetman reviewed all the finalists and rated both Iris and Me and Miracle as winners Here’s his generous review on YouTube. It was fun meeting the impressively well-read Oscar at the awards ceremony (pictured below).
Before the ceremony all finalists appeared at a school event called Books Alive. I didn’t know what to expect but was shocked to be greeted by the world’s most enthusiastic audience. We were treated like rockstars, signing autographs not just in copies of our own books, but also in school exercise books and on tiny scraps of paper. Those scraps probably remain at the bottom of school bags to this very day, soggy from drink bottles and smelling of socks, but still. We felt the love.
Below are some shots from the Awards and other recent events.
Me with fellow writing group members Janis Freegard, Kate Mahony and Annette Edwards-Hill at the Flash Fiction Awards. Congrats to Janis for being short-listed and Annette for placing third!
Coming up…
I’ll be waxing lyrical about Miracle on the following evenings:
22 March – Villainous Newtown: Mystery in the Library, 6pm at Newtown Library
19 April – Fabricating fiction: Wellington novelists on the stories they make from facts. 6pm at Undercurrent, 118 Tory St, Wellington
More details to follow via Facebook.
If you haven’t read Miracle yet, you can get a copy from good NZ bookshops and libraries or via Amazon. Reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are always gratefully received (especially if they’re positive!).