Chapter 25: ‘Four years and nine months’
It’s been a few months since my last sporadic update – pathetic, really – but at least no one can accuse me of spamming.
I’ve been reading some excellent novels – The Elements by John Boyne, Mongrel by Hanako Footman, and One Hundred Years of Betty by Debora Oswald, all very different, but beautifully written. At the same time, I’ve been working on short stories in the hope of uncovering a big idea for my next novel.
One theme keeps resurfacing: religion. Rather than getting it out of my system, St Bede and his cult in All Our Secrets seem only to have fuelled the fire. It’s early days, but there’s a spark of something that – fingers crossed (or God willing?) – might yet become Novel No. 4.
In the meantime, here’s one of those new short stories – ‘Four Years and Nine Months’ – which was published on Newsroom in March.
She stared at her 17-year-old son. Crouching in the corner of his bedroom in black tracksuit pants and navy Nike hoody, tears streaking his cheeks, dirty fingers clutching a shiny silver pipe. Her words were big ugly lumps in her throat, which was a good thing because how can you scream at your son when he’s lying, broken, on his bedroom floor?
As mentioned at the end of the story, ‘Four Years and Nine Months’ draws on my experience as both a witness and a support person for a victim of a violent crime. Most of us feel empathy for victims and their families, but we rarely consider what it’s like for the defendant’s family. I wanted to explore a sentencing from the perspective of the defendant’s mother – a woman forced to reconcile her love for her child with the reality of his crime. How do you support someone you love – someone you’ve raised – when they are accused of, and ultimately convicted of, something horrific?
Mystery in the Library
In other news, I had the pleasure of chairing another fabulous Mystery in the Library event in Karori a couple of weeks ago. Organised by Ngaio Marsh Awards founder, Craig Sisterson, the series gets bigger every year, and our event kicked off the 2026 season.
Me with Rodney Strong, James Hollings and Helen Vivienne Fletcher. Photo by Constance Phua.