Wandering Wednesday: Auckland, New Zealand

By Cindy Williams @nutritionchic 

Land of the Long White Cloud

The greenness of New Zealand surprises me every time I return, and then I remember… green means rain. Aotearoa - The Land of the Long White Cloud - is rarely thirsty.

‘Buy a raincoat,’ my friend advised me, when after twelve years overseas I moved back to Auckland. ‘If you want to stay fit, you can’t wait for fine weather.’ That raincoat had a good workout for the year I lived there.

A Prophetic Vision 

Most mornings I jogged around the waterfront, past the trendy cafes of St Heliers, Kohimarama, Mission Bay and up steep steps tucked into the hillside of Bastion Point. Finally at the top, the dew laden grass dusting droplets on my shoes, I would stop to catch my breath and drink in the scene before me – islands, sea and sky - tinged in Monet tones. 

Over two hundred years earlier, the Maori prophet, Titahi, stood on this same hillside and saw a vision of three nautilus shells sailing up the Auckland Harbour. He foretold they would bring both good and trouble. Several years later Captain Cook sailed up the harbour, indeed fulfilling the prophecy. The characters in ‘The Pounamu Prophecy’ are from the same tribe as Titahi, and live on the same land. They too experience the good and the trouble from the arrival of a new people. 

Auckland of a hundred lovers 

The Maori name for Auckland is ‘Tamaki Makaurau’ or ‘Tamaki of a hundred lovers’. Situated on a fertile isthmus, where the Manakau Harbour on the west is little more than a kilometre (3/4 of a mile) from the Waitemata Harbour on the east, it was highly strategic. Tribes fought over the land until, in a move to prosper and protect themselves, the Ngati Whatua chief invited New Zealand’s first British governor to site the capital there. It was 1840. 

Over the next fifty years dubious government deals whittled away their ownership of the land until all that remained was a small village at Okahu Bay. In 1951 the government burned down the houses to 'tidy up'. The novel opens with this scene.

City of Volcanoes

Auckland sits on over fifty dormant volcanoes. The experts say the area could erupt again but no-one seems too worried. Across the lower slopes of these hills houses cluster, sheep graze, people picnic and stroll. 

The last eruption was 600 years ago. It formed Rangitoto Island, which features on the cover of ‘The Pounamu Prophecy’. Mere describes it as she digs kumara to feed the protesters who in 1977 camped on Bastion Point for 506 days to protect their land against the government’s plan to subdivide this prime piece of real estate. 

How much longer would this go on? I wiped a calloused hand across my forehead and rested my wheezing bulk on the rusty garden fork. My gaze swept across the panorama below. To my left stood the city centre – short, squat and tall sleek buildings sandwiched together, their stainless steel and glass shimmering in the afternoon heat… 

Across the harbour entrance was Rangitoto Island. Like a stretched out triangle, perfectly symmetrical, it looked so close I could almost touch it. In front of the island a ferry cut a white trail through the deep blue of the harbour. A light scatter of yachts and fishing boats dotted the sea in between distant green islands of rich farmland and native bush. This was the view that the thieving government was trying to get its dirty hands on. This was why I was digging kumara in the scorching afternoon heat and not greeting the kids with pikelets and raspberry cordial when they arrived home, hot and tired after school. 

Gateway to New Zealand 

Auckland boasts wonderful beaches, bush walks and cafes but there's so much more. Within a few hours you can be floating on a rubber tube through underground glow worm caves, rafting over waterfalls, eating corn straight from a steaming thermal hole in the ground, walking on a live volcano, or strolling along an almost deserted beach. Take your raincoat and enjoy!

 About Cindy Williams

With degrees in Nutrition, Public Health and Communication Cindy has worked for many years as a dietitian for sports teams, food industry, media, and as a nutrition writer and speaker.

Her first novel, The Pounamu Prophecy, was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize. She is currently editing her second novel about a woman who had five husbands.

Cindy grew up in a culturally rich part of New Zealand. Now she lives in Sydney with her husband and son, writing stories of flawed women who battle injustice... and sometimes find romance. 

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Nine Years from Creation to Publication - Kara Isaac

As I write this I'm four weeks away from the release of my third book, Then There Was You. While it will be my third published book but it is also the first romantic comedy manuscript I ever started, way back in 2008!

Since it's been nine years from beginning to creation to publication I thought it would be fun to give you some idea of how the timeline has been :)

2008
After being told that chick-lit (the genre of my first manuscript) was dead, I was advised that if I ever wanted to be published I needed to find a new genre to write. Decided to try romcom because I love the movies!

Having no idea how to write a romance I attempted a couple of chapters and entered them in a couple of RWA (Romance Writers' of America) contests to get some feedback. Much to my shock the entry finaled in both contests and ended up coming second in the inspirational category in one and winning the other (I still have the $25 check that came with winning!). However, a couple of judges also provided feedback that even though they loved the story, no US publisher would be interested in a book set in Australia and if I was serious about getting it published I would need to set it in the US.

2009
Kept writing the story and entered it in more contests. More finals! But yet more judges (again) saying that I needed to change the setting to the US. After much contemplation, I reached the decision that the Australian setting was pivotal to the story and so, at 50,000 words I set it aside to work on other ideas and hoped that maybe one day the time would come when it made sense to finish it.

2013
Four years later, my literary agent sends me an email saying that an editor at a CBA publishing house has asked if I have any manuscripts set in New Zealand or Australia. I almost fall out of my chair with surprise! Pulling the manuscript out of hibernation I spent three months rewriting the first 50,000 words and finishing the story.

Early 2014
Editors love the story! It goes to a number of publishing boards but ultimately no contract. The most heartbreaking one being when it got a "yes" all the way through (as part of a three-book deal) and then while the publishing house was finalising the contract the decision was made to review their entire fiction line and the contract was pulled.

After being rejected by every publishing house it is pitched to, I return it to hibernation and focus on other projects.

Late 2014
I get the news that Howard Books will be offering me a two-book contract for the stories that ultimately become Close To You and Can't Help Falling. I spent the next two years focused on them.

Late 2016
The news comes from my agent that with Close To You and Can't Help Falling releasing so close together (six months apart) my publisher won't be making a decision on offering me another contract until they have at least a year's worth of sales figures. With the lead in required for traditional publication that means I won't have a book coming out with them in 2017 and potentially not 2018 either. After much pondering (I was eight months pregnant!), a few people telling me I'd be crazy not to, and some nudges from God, I decide to make a leap of faith and publish Then There Was You independently.

Early 2017
The whirlwind adventure of being an indie author hits (which needs its own blogpost or six!). Finding myself the project manager of everything to do with producing a book I pull together my team of editors, cover designer, proof reader, formatter and give myself crash courses on everything from how to get an ISBN, to distribution options, to who to use to print paperbacks to make them cost effective to sell in New Zealand!

May 2017
Preorders for the eBook go up on Amazon and promotional efforts begin with the cover reveal. Advance copies are sent out to 35 early readers and I hide behind my fingers waiting for the first reviews to start coming (Phew! They like it!). The early readers also help pick up remaining typos and errors for correction before the final versions are locked down. The paperback is formatted allowing my designer to complete the cover design for the paperback.

June now holds checking the proof copy of the paperback to ensure all is as it should be before it is approved for production, uploading the final eBook version to Amazon and a changing focus to marketing and promotion to get the word out!

For those of you who are romance readers, here's a taste of Josh and Paige's story :)

Paige McAllister needs to do something drastic. Her boyfriend can’t even commit to living in the same country, her promised promotion is dead on arrival and the simultaneous loss of her brother and her dream of being a concert violinist has kept her playing life safe and predictable for six years. Things need to change. A moment of temporary insanity finds her leaving her life in Chicago to move to Sydney, Australia. There she finds herself, against many of her convictions, as a logistics planner for one of Australia’s biggest churches, and on a collision course with her boss’s son.

Josh Tyler fronts a top-selling worship band and is in demand all over the world. But, in the past, his failed romantic relationships almost destroyed both his reputation and his family. He's determined to never risk it happening again. The last thing he needs is some American girl tipping his ordered life upside down. Especially one who despises everything he’s ever worked for and manages to push every button he has.

When Josh and Paige are thrown together to organize his band’s next tour, the sparks fly. But can they find a way to bridge the differences that pull them apart? Or will they choose the safety and security of what they know over taking a chance on something that will require them to risk everything?

GIVEAWAY
I have two advance Kindle eBook copies to give away to two commenters. Make sure you include an email address so I can contact you if you're a winner! Entries open internationally and close 5pm, Friday, 1 June (CST).

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She is the author of Close to You, a RITA Award Double Finalist, and Can't Help Falling, an RT Review Top Pick. Her next book Then There Was You releases on June 22. When she's not chasing three adorable but spirited little people, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connect on her website, on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Author and Twitter @KaraIsaac   

Let’s go on a walk …

By Iola Goulton

At the weekend, my husband and I often go out for a drive. We usually start with brunch in a nearby town—maybe Hobbiton (because we can), a beachfront café, or somewhere more scenic. Then we might go to the beach, or have a look around some local shops.

Last weekend, after we’d had a lovely brunch at Flat White in Waihi, we drove to a nearby waterfall. Lovely. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining. There is a lovely view of the falls from the road:

The Waiere Falls spill over the top of the Kaimai ranges in the background. The falls are 153m (450ft) high, and follow the Okauia fault line (it pays not to think about what the phrase "fault line" means).

We have an excellent Department of Conservation who mark out trails to local landmarks. Some trails are mere walks—a couple of hours on a well-marked dirt track (no, not concrete footpaths or wooden boardwalks except in the most touristy areas). Others trails are longer, less well marked, and require a greater degree of preparation, and some knowledge of bushcraft. If we were doing that walk, we wouldn’t call it a walk. We’d say we were going tramping.

Then he suggested we walk to the falls. I was hesitant. I’d dressed in a skirt and leather jacket—appropriate attire for a drive and brunch. Not appropriate attire for a bush walk. Even if it was a walk, not a tramp. This is not the appropriate footwear for a bush walk:

He assured me the walk was flat. So I agreed. 

Waiere Falls, our destination, had a sign giving visitors some walking options— 45 minutes to the lookout, 1½ hours to the top of the waterfall, and a 7-hour tramp to cross the range. The walk to the lookout sounded manageable, especially as we passed through native New Zealand bus that looks as though it's straight out of a Lord of the Rings set:

As we progressed, we started going uphill. It was a gradual climb at first, and then it got steeper and steeper. I commented. Apparently, he remembered it being flatter. This is not a flat walk:

This was only half the staircase … and there was a lot of climbing before we got to the stairs. New Zealand Tramper describes this as a “cruisy gradual climb”. Yeah, right. Not in a skirt and ballet flats, when everyone else on the track was wearing leggings and trainers.

The fitness app on his iPhone says we climbed the equivalent of 64 flights of stairs. He says it can’t have been that much. I say it felt like all that, and more.

But the view was worth it:

Maybe next time I’ll have the energy (and the footwear) to get to the top of the falls! Yes, the track goes all the way up.

I’m sure there’s a life lesson in here somewhere, but between my muddy shoes and my aching calves, I’m having trouble finding it. Any suggestions?

Writing With the Help of the Greatest Creator of All

By Cindy Williams

Every summer I return to New Zealand, to the place where I grew up, to a place where it is easy to marvel at the wonder of the Lord’s creation. With just a few words He created the heavens and the earth ‘in all their vast array.’ (Gen 2:1) I imagine the delight the Lord had as He created the colour of the sea, the green of the grass, the petals of each flower, the uniqueness of each person’s fingerprint. As writers we also get a taste of that thrill of creativity, of creating something from nothing. It makes sense –we are created in the Lord’s likeness, including His desire and love of creating.

When my writing flows as effortlessly as trudging through mud I remind myself that I have a friend - a Father - who is the ultimate Creator. Surely, if we ask, He is pleased to help us in our creative endeavours.

‘Which of you if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ (Matt 7:9-10)

Over the years I have been amazed at God’s faithfulness in helping me to write. When I stop myself from rushing straight to the computer and instead first spend time in prayer, the words and ideas flow. I am by nature a slow writer but on those days when I have a deadline to meet (usually 1000 words to read out to my writing group) and I ask the Lord to help me, He always does. I cannot quite believe I have written so much, so quickly. It is truly supernatural – the ‘natural’ process of writing ‘super’ charged by the hand of God!

‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.’ (Matt 11:28) 

The Lord loves to take our burdens and give us rest.

In December I walked the Routeburn Track in the south of the South Island with my family. Maori used this track to access the precious pounamu (greenstone) which they traded with the northern tribes. We walked the 32 km track over three days, climbing to 1300 metres through pouring rain (day 1), minus 9 degree wind chill with snow blowing horizontally at us (day 2) and, on the final day, sun.

We did it the ‘easy’ way which meant that at the end of each day we stayed in lodges with hot showers, heated rooms, real coffee and a three course dinner. We still had to walk the track and carry a pack but with the promise of comfort at the end of each day. It reminded me of our walk, as authors, with God. We do have to sit down and do the work of writing but, with His help, we can do it the ‘easy’ way rather than all in our own strength.

The best thing about being weary or worried about our writing is that it makes us rely more on God and less on ourselves. If this is you, test the Lord out. Before you sit at your computer, fall to your knees and pray. This time of resting with the Lord is sure to reap rewards.

Have you had an experience of the Lord blessing you with a sliver of his creativity? Please share – it’s like a little faith booster for the rest of us!

Blessings, Cindy x

PS I know I am biased but I think New Zealand got an extra portion of God’s creativity!

About Cindy Williams

As a child growing up in a culturally rich part of New Zealand Cindy enjoyed writing, not copious screeds, but short intense pieces that brought tears to her eyes and made people think.

Then she became a dietitian – all science and seriously researched facts. She has a Master of Public Health and a Graduate Diploma in Communication and spent many years as a corporate nutrition consultant encouraging and inspiring people to live a healthy life.

She writes a nutrition blog – www.nutritionchic.com - and was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize for her debut novel The Pounamu Prophecy.

Cindy lives in Sydney with her husband and teenage son.

A Season of Contentment

By Jebraun Clifford

Spring is a tricky, fickle season here in New Zealand, especially on the Central Plateau of the North Island. While the days may be getting longer, that doesn’t mean they’re consistently getting warmer. I keep glancing at my calendar and rooting for summer to make its grand entrance. However, the weather isn’t cooperating. Yesterday I couldn’t stop shivering despite layering on the clothing, and I’m just going to pretend I didn’t have to throw the wool blanket back on the bed a few nights ago because of a freakish cold front.

If I had my way, it would be summer year-round. You see, at my heart, I’m a California girl who craves the sunshine. I can’t get enough of summer. I love everything about it: dripping ice-cream cones and ripe stone-fruit, hours spent sweltering on the beach or by the lake, bare feet and floppy sun hats, loading up the car for a holiday road trip, and lying under the stars on a warm evening—not forgetting to apply plenty of bug spray!

But waiting for summer to actually get here can be problematic. I admire the swelling buds on my hydrangeas and all I can think about is how beautiful they’ll be when they’re finally in bloom with all their purple glory. I watch the rain shower down on my teensy, tiny tomato plants and imagine biting into a juicy beefsteak or popping a tiny heirloom cherry tomato into my mouth. I go to my closet and sorrowfully hold up t-shirts and shorts and pine for the day when I can wear them without also needing a puffer jacket and scarf. Spring to me is all about restless expectancy. I want summer, and I want it now.

This impatience trickles over in other areas of my life as well. As a pre-published writer (which sounds so much more optimistic than unpublished), I feel like I’m suspended indefinitely in the early stages of spring. I’m still tilling the ground, preparing the seed, getting ready to plant, when what I want is to have a hardback copy of my book in my hands. I don’t want to wait any longer.

I’m realizing what I need to have satisfaction with whatever season I’m in. Like Paul writes in the book of Philippians, I want to “…learn the secret of being content in any and every situation.” This isn’t a new lesson for me. I’ve had to put into practice this concept before.

When my children were little and I was still getting up with them several times during the night, I remember older and wiser mums telling me this season wasn’t going to last forever. That my babies were eventually going to grow up, sleep through the night, and I should enjoy the special cuddles while I could get them. Thankfully, I listened to these women and tried to cherish that early bonding time with each of my children.

When it comes to writing, I’ve had more than one conversation with authors who have encouraged me to have patience, enjoy learning more about the craft, relish the days of flipping open my laptop and simply telling a story without a deadline looming over me.

So that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to find the joy in this season, trying not to only look ahead to what could be, but also focus on what is. Some days I have more success than others, but I’m hoping to look back one day and be thankful I was content with the time I was given.

I’d love to hear any strategies you might have for being content!

Be blessed, Jeb

About Jebraun Clifford

Growing up, Jebraun Clifford always wanted to step through a door into an imaginary kingdom, so it's no surprise she now calls Middle Earth home. Too short to be an elf and too tall to be a Hobbit, she lives in the centre of New Zealand where she and her preacher husband planted a church over a decade ago. She has three children, a crazy Jack Russell named Bree, and Gidget, a tortoiseshell kitten. She studied English Literature at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the Central Coast of California is still one of her favourite places ever.

To Be or I Am

 By Iola Goulton

One of the most famous Shakespearian quotes is ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. It’s from Hamlet, which I’ve never read so don’t really know the context, but I know that line. And I guess most of you have heard it as well. I read it recently, as part of a blog post, and it struck me that the world spends a lot of time living in the TO BE.

We ask children, ‘what do you want TO BE when you grow up?’ We ask their parents what they want their children TO BE.

In job interviews, we’re asked ‘where do you want TO BE in five years?’

TV advertising tries to tell us to use their product in order TO BE richer, prettier, more handsome, more clever, more … the list goes on. We even hear it in church. We’re asked if we want TO BE a Christian, which shows TO BE isn’t always bad … except when we focus on it too much.

And it’s easy to focus too much on the TO BE. As writers, we’re forever being told what we ought TO BE doing. Writing, promotion, revising, building a platform, editing, social media, reading craft books, marketing, reading books in our genre, more marketing, reading marketing books, reading books outside our genre … Sound familiar?

In grammar terms, TO BE is future perfect tense. TO BE is always talking about the future, about becoming something different. It seems TO BE (ha!) that the purpose of TO BE is to motivate us to try harder, to achieve more. But this always wanting more, always seeking more, always striving for more … TO BE often leaves us overburdened, stressed, dissatisfied, and looking for some way to ease the strain.

As Christians, we know the answer is the One Way, Jesus.

Jesus is the I AM. He says:

I AM the bread of life. 
I AM the light of the world. 
I AM the good shepherd. 
I AM the way, the truth and the life.
I AM not of this world. I AM the resurrection and the life.
I AM the vine and you are the branches. 
I AM in the Father and my Father is in me.

I AM is different from TO BE.

I AM is present perfect tense. I AM is now. I AM is resting in God. I AM is a relationship with Jesus. I AM is knowing the Holy Spirit is always here. We don’t have to wait. Waiting is TO BE, not I AM. I AM isn’t reaching, striving, seeking, trying TO BE counted as good enough against a standard we don’t understand and can never reach.

We don’t have to do any of that, because Jesus did that on the cross. Our role is to accept that gift. I AM reminds us we need to wait—not TO BE but to quiet ourselves so we can hear the I AM and be reassured and restored in Jesus.

Our role is to rest in the I AM, to accept the gift of IAM, to seek God’s will today and be obedient to that. Not to worry about the TO BE of tomorrow—God has the TO BE of our future under control, and it will all work out according to His plan … as long as we can focus on the I AM of today.

I hope and pray this thought encourages you today.

IOLA GOULTON lives with her husband, two teenagers and cat in the sunny Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, between Hobbiton and the Kiwifruit Capital of the World. She holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting and freelance editing, is active in her local church and plays in a brass band. 

Iola is a reader, reviewer and freelance editor who is currently writing her first novel, contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist, and her first non-fiction book, which aims to help first-time authors navigate the changing world of Christian publishing.

Connect with Iola at www.christianediting.co.nz and www.christianreads.blogspot.com

Iola's brand new website www.iolagoulton.com will be live shortly. 

8 Things I Wish You Knew About New Zealand

Good old Kiwiland. People in other places have various ideas about us, some right, some way off track, some merely insufficient to describe what we've got downunder here. I am now going to attempt to clear up some of these misunderstandings.

(An image of some classic Kiwi icons, generally known as Kiwiana. Which ones do you know?)

1. It's just like in the movies. You know, the ones with the hobbits and wizards and such. Amazing mountains, rolling plains suitable for epic battles, empty roads stretching to the horizons. You can even go and enjoy a banquet in the Green Dragon Inn. Everything you've seen in the background of those scenes - it's true New Zealand.

2. It's not at all like in the movies. They left out all our cities, our beaches, our farms and industrial areas. While the movie images are true, they are more like the half-truth we've all heard about. New Zealand is so much more than that.  Come and slog through a cow paddock, observe Queen Street for an hour, visit Takapuna Beach the day after Christmas - good luck finding a spot to lay out your towel!

3. It's really far from, like, everywhere. Supposedly it's only two hours' flight to Australia, but I've never been on one that got there that quickly. Call it four hours and we're probably nearer the mark. It's about ten hours from Japan, twelve from Hong Kong and the American West Coast; twenty-four to London, in either direction. I really wish sub-orbital transport would go mainstream.

4. It's not really that far from anywhere. Sure, so it'll take a whole day to get here, but pretend you're in your car and it won't seem so unreasonable. From most anywhere on the planet, you can catch two flights and be here no later than the next day. Okay, the flight is certainly gruelling - it's no pleasure to sleep sitting upright - but it's not the worst thing in the world by far.

5. It's a little small country. We have 4 million people, which is less than the population of Ireland, say, or Colorado or Missouri. We have a saying that the world's six degrees of separation become just two degrees hereabouts. Everyone's a friend of a friend.

6. It's a big, wide open country. There's lots of wild land and untamed space... if you lay a map of New Zealand over one of Europe, we'll stretch from the German North Sea coast all the way to the tip of Italy's boot, or from Seattle to San Diego. Admittedly some of that length is only a few miles wide, but that has the distinct advantage that no one has to live more than an hour from a beach.

7. We do speak English here. I'll never forget the lady I met on a Greyhound in Kansas: when I told her where I'm from, she commended me on my grasp of the language. Legitimate questions may arise as to our understanding of American slang, however I'm quick to assure folks that we do get most of our movies and TV from there. We learned to interpret.

8. We have our very own brand of English here. We share some of its words with other British-influenced lands, but much of our slang is home-grown. Heapsa poncey pavlova from the dairy at the bach in the wop-wops for Waitangi and a chocka tiki tour in sweet-as jandals, anyone? Don't let your noggin get munted, just have a cuppa and she'll be right.

The Shire: A Real Storybook Land

by Grace Bridges

I'm lucky enough to live a couple of hours from the Hobbiton film set, but had never been there until recently. And let me tell you, it's worth a visit! It's hard to explain, but the Shire occupies an entire landscape in a way that we don't often get to see - particularly when we talk about fantasy storyworlds. The hills and little vales are crammed with Hobbit holes - doors, windows and chimneys - plus vegetable gardens, laundry lines and everything you would expect a thriving community to have.

This is a view of a large part of the set. The Party Tree is on the right, and back in the centre there is the tree above Bag End - Peter Jackson's famous aluminium tree!

One of many, many hobbit holes. Lots of detail - laundry, tools, etc.

There are a bunch of gardeners whose job it is to tend the vegetable and flower beds. 

Their uniform is rather hobbit-like, with straw hats and all! 

 The baker's house - check out the bread stall there on the left.

The one I got to go into! 

It's all real, folks.

Well, real at face value, anyway. Sadly the hobbit holes are only doors, with just a little space hollowed into the dirt beyond. All the interior shots were filmed at Weta in Wellington.

For a whole lot more pictures, including the Green Dragon Inn and the Hobbit-themed shops in the nearby town of Matamata, you can go here to my Facebook album.

So, if you could visit a storybook world, which one could it be? And what other ones are out there for real? I'm just waiting for Doctor Who World, myself!

North Island Road Tripping: Dam Country

I recently had the chance to travel around the central North Island, and one of the places I visited friends was Mangakino, on Lake Maraetai. This lake is one of many in the area generating the nation's power, and there's a dam at each end. It's part of the Waikato River waterway and is fed from Lake Taupo, the country's largest. The day we were there, the school held its end of year prizegiving, which we were invited to. This Area School covers all 13 years of education and the event included hymns in Maori (which everyone knew without any words being provided) as well as Kapa Haka presentations of traditional song and dance. I haven't been able to transfer my own photos to a computer yet, but in the meantime, please enjoy this similar Haka from the same school hall.



Visiting rural and small-town New Zealand is almost like a trip back in time. It is the complete opposite of the fast-paced, noisy city. Every bend in the road opens up new vistas, each of which would deserve at least an hour's contemplation in their own right. But eventually we always come to a place to stop and rest a while.

New Zealand and Idaho Connect

One of the best things about the writing life is the connections one makes with writers and readers around the world. Alex Reece Abbot at a writer’s day out in York more than a year ago. (pictured above: Jane Finnis, Dolores Gordon-Smith, Donna, Rebecca Jenkins, Alex) Since Alex is from New Zealand, lives in England, and is thinking of moving to Australia she qualifies as a one-woman International Christian Fiction Writer.

Alex and I connected on such diverse subjects as love of apple butter and mustard (not together), and love of books and history. Alex’s pre-published novel The Maori House has already garnered an impressive list of prizes: last year it reached quarterfinals of the ABNA Awards in the US, this month, it has been selected for the long-list of the International Proverse Prize for unpublished writing and the long-list of the Lightship First Chapter Prize. I have already booked Alex for an ICFW interview when The Maori House is published.


Because Alex was writing about pioneer days in her native New Zealand, I suggested she might find my family saga of Idaho pioneers interesting. She responded with a review which I am thrilled to share:

Donna Fletcher Crow’s love of history shines out in this epic tale, centered on (in her words)
"valiant women, who pioneered in Idaho's desert before irrigation was available and still managed to keep journals."

The novel opens with Kathryn arriving from Nebraska to settle in Kuna, Idaho, at the age of seventeen— and from there, the pace doesn’t stop. This well-plotted story is hard to categorize— it has the elements of mystery, romance and historical saga, all skillfully interwoven. A diverse cast of well developed characters create plenty of tension and conflict, right down to the last pages.

Idaho is not a part of the world I know, but I had the good fortune to catch Ken Burn’s documentary series The West while I was reading this, which brought another dimension to the politics of this era of settlement of America, when competing dreams transformed the land.
Those competing dreams are central to this story and the author’s research— drawing on her own family history as a native of the Boise area and fictionalized events based on original pioneer manuscripts— is deftly handled and brings authenticity and insight to the lives she writes about.

Since this is published by Moody Press (and Greenbrier as an ebook), you’d expect to find some scripture references. Again, as events test Kathryn’s resilience— and her faith— these form an integral and natural part of her sense-making and motivation as the daughter of a preacher.

And having left her friends and family, how she is tested! Kathryn finds herself lonely in an alien, untamed land, where the nearest fresh water is some fifteen miles away; "a wilderness so hot and dry that the only growing thing is endless miles of rattlesnake-infested sagebrush."

If that’s not enough, the early farmer-settlers grapple with the challenges of irrigating a desert and face swarms of flying ants, packs of coyotes and hungry jackrabbits— and encounter their share of human pests too, in the form of gamblers, opportunists and shysters.

Well-written and consistently enjoyable, this is a deceptively easy read— you find yourself learning and reflecting along the way— and the story has a special resonance today, as so many parts of the world, including America, are suffering drought.

                                                            http://ning.it/16s3FqZ

The next in the series picks up Kathryn’s daughter Elizabeth, and her experiences as a teacher in a country school during the Great Depression.
Thank you, Alex, my around-the-world writer friend. I can’t wait for the opportunity to review The Maori House.

Visit Alex at:
http://alexreeceabbott.info/wp/

Posted by Donna Fletcher Crow whose most recent releases are An Unholy Communion, The Monastery Murders; A Tincture of Murder, The Lord Danvers Series; and A Jane Austen Encounter, The Elizabeth and Richard Mysteries. See them at
http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/ 　
　
　

An Awakening of Words

Orama volunteer: 26th December 2000—25th March 2001



It was always in my mind to write a novel. The idea of the thing had been bubbling away in my head for seven years already, but it was at Orama that I first set down its title and began to write. Little did I know it would take seven more years to finish. During my three-month volunteer stint I made beds, cooked lunches, scrubbed toilets—and wrote. My university days were over and my career not yet begun: it was a crossroads in many ways.

Each day as I worked and went my way among the valley’s buildings, the hills would call to me. Come away, they said, taste our air and be changed. As often as I could, I climbed up through the almost-vertical northern cow paddocks and toiled along the steep ridge with the manuka to one side, skinny branches clattering above me in the ever-blowing wind. At the crest, instead of continuing down the track to the next bay, I turned right into the wilderness and clambered a little farther amongst thinning bush and encroaching gorse. A couple more minutes brought me to an outcropping of rock that rests on the apex between the two valleys. There I would sit with my big notebook and sometimes my Saturday sandwiches, my back against the sun-warmed stone, my face towards the west and the scattering of islands where the rabid city hides just beyond the horizon.

The first time I opened the cover of my book, I wrote its title in capitals at the top of the page: FAITH AWAKENED. Before ever another word existed, I knew that would be its name. It isn’t entirely what it seems—Faith is a main character, and Awakened is what a group of future believers call themselves. There’s more to it than that, but I won’t spoil the story for you!



I did my daily rounds of cleaning—main building and flats and communal areas, Pines and Shady Heights and Seaside and Hillside. For a time I was put in charge of rosters and sent others to do various things. The story was always growing within me, whatever I did—epic jam sessions, legendary sunsets, night swims, phosphorescent tides, and preparing for the more or less constant stream of visitors. Once an entire film crew came to stay, and we dollied up all the old cabins with our best bedding for them, on both sides of the valley.

Inevitably, the spirit of Orama found its way into the story I was penning in between all this—disguised, yes, and transplanted into another part of the globe. But those who know her will recognise her if they realise what they are reading. Although my time there coincided with the absence of Orama’s leading lights, I was gladdened on later return visits to see they knew me anyway, from my application papers no doubt. I have a notoriously terrible memory for names, but I can still see the faces of the folks I worked with, here in my mind’s eye.

I’ve written several other books since then, but Orama is where the first was born. As I set out on that journey, the “Orama effect” took hold in my writing: an intense, active, almost forced stopping to listen to the wind, the sea, the heartbeat of community, and the whispers of mystic inspiration. It is my hope to do justice to its expression as I continue to set words one after another, end to end in a calling that came to me early, but sprouted in a place that will always be precious to my soul.



More pictures and info about Orama Christian Community, Aotea (Great Barrier Island), New Zealand:
orama.org.nz/about-orama

Interview with New Zealand author Abby Gaines and book giveaway

Narelle here. I'm excited to welcome Abby Gaines to our blog today. We will be giving away a copy of Abby's latest release, The Earl's Mistaken Bride. The giveaway is open to readers who live anywhere in the world.

Abby Gaines writes funny, tender romances for Love Inspired Historical and Harlequin Superromance -- she's currently at work on her 19th novel for Harlequin. She's also experimenting with a young adult novel and a women's fiction novel. Abby loves reading, skiing, traveling and cooking for friends, as well as spending time with her husband and children.

www.abbygaines.com

As soon as Marcus Brookstone lifts his bride's veil, he sees he's been tricked. He made a bargain with God—to marry a good, Christian girl if his mother recovered from illness. But Marcus intended to marry pretty Amanda, not stubborn Constance. His next plan, to ignore his new wife, fails as well when Constance makes it clear that she wants a true union.

Constance Somerton doesn't dare reveal that she's been enamored of Marcus for years. The man believes love is for weaklings. Someone needs to teach him about marriage's blessings. Someone who sees beyond his arrogance to the tender heart beneath. Someone exactly like Constance....

Narelle: What do you find most fascinating about the Regency era?

Abby: The dresses! They're so floaty and feminine. Plus, the Regency was such a short period in England's history, and was followed by an era that was in many ways more constrained for women…that brief window of time is all the more interesting for its brevity. I'm also utterly fascinated by the banter that Georgette Heyer used to bring the Regency period to life in her books, but I don't know how true to life that is.

Narelle: Have you visited England?

Abby: I am of English descent (I have the passport to prove it!), and lived in London for several years. I worked very close to Mayfair for a while, and one of the things I enjoyed most about writing The Earl's Mistaken Bride was having my characters live in streets and squares that I've wandered many times.

Narelle: What was your inspiration for writing The Earl’s Mistaken Bride?

Abby: The Bible story of Rachel and Leah… as you know, Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but was duped by his father-in-law into marrying Leah. I feel so sorry for Leah, knowing she was an unwanted bride. My heroine, Constance, is in the same situation (though it's not her father who's the culprit). Unlike the Bible days, Constance's husband doesn't get to marry his first choice bride as well…he's stuck with just the one he didn't want!

Narelle: Do any real life historical figures play a role in The Earl’s Mistaken Bride?

Abby: Not an active role, but I did discover during my research that the poet Keats had his first poem published in 1816, the year my story is set, so my characters talk about him. Also, the landscape artist JMW Turner was in his early days, and my hero and heroine are divided in their opinions of his work, which back then was quite different from the prevailing art.

Narelle: Did the church influence the faith and lives of your characters?

Abby: My heroine is a parson's daughter. She has huge love and respect for her father, and for the church. The hero goes to church more out of duty. He believes in God, but at the start of the book doesn't have the concept of a personal, submissive relationship to Him. He strikes a bargain with God (at least, he thinks he does!) and that's what lands him with the wrong wife.

Narelle: How has your faith influenced your writing, and the type of stories you write?

Abby: When I first started writing romance, I tried writing inspirational, but just couldn't get it to work. I think I was too preachy! So I switched to secular stories, very much at the "sweet" end of the romance market. I will likely continue to write those books, as well as inspirational. All my books, whether inspirational or secular, tend to explore the theme of unconditional love…someone loving you just the way you are…which is really a reflection (though pale and human) of God's love for us. But that's not the end of the story. In my books, being loved like that inspires my characters to change for the better - just as being loved by God inspires us in real life.

Narelle: The Earl’s Mistaken Bride is your first release with Love Inspired Historical. Please tell us about your upcoming releases.

Abby: This book is intended to be the first of a series of five, called The Parson's Daughters. A kind of inspirational Pride & Prejudice, with five sisters to marry off. The next book, The Governess and Mr. Granville, out in 2012, is a bit like a Regency-set Sound of Music.

Abby, thanks for joining us today. It's been a pleasure to interview you and learn more about the Regency era.

By commenting on today’s post you can enter the drawing to win a copy of The Earl's Mistaken Bride. The drawing will take place on Friday, November 18 and the winner announced on Sunday, November 20. Please leave an email address [ ] at [ ] dot [ ] where you can be reached.

"Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws."

To learn more about Abby and her books, please visit her website.

Narelle Atkins writes contemporary inspirational romance. She resides in Canberra, Australia with her husband and children. To learn more about Narelle, please visit her website.

Day in the Life

One typical day, or maybe not so typical... not like any other anyone has ever had, anywhere.

I wriggle out of my sleeping bag and three fleece blankets and duvet, waking the cat, and stumble into the kitchen to put the water on to boil. As usual, I do breakfast with my email inbox followed by the latest updates from top Facebook friends, blogs I follow, and the local paper.

I dig back into the current proofreading job. I got halfway through 90,000 words last night; today will see the rest finished. As lunchtime nears, a flatmate whispers from the stairway and hands over a brown cardboard envelope. My book! Aquasynthesis, this one, written by 12 authors. Many of them have seen it before me because I live farthest from the printing presses. So that's how the design worked out. I'm happy.

Time to clean up the backyard after the builders left it in a huge mess. I grab a flatmate and a spade and wheelbarrow, and we spend a couple of hours separating yellow clay from concrete rubble, and stashing the clay in a hole that gaped in the front yard since the drain unblockers were there. My hands are muddy and tender when we call it quits for the day, even though the mess doesn't look that much different than when we begun.

After I get the mud off, a sandwich follows - eggplant and spinach - and then it's back to work upstairs. Read, read, read. Caught a few more typos. But by the time I get through, I'm satisfied that we have done our best. I cast my gaze to the distant sea, to the volcano wearing a bluish tinge today. Winter is showing his gentle side.

Voices float up the stairs. It's a prospective flatmate come to look at the room I'm trying to rent. We hit it off pretty well, and I tell her I just have someone else having a look later on and then I'll decide who I want. She loves cats. Good thing around here.

The fellas are giggling over a computer game as she leaves, and then I educate them on how to pronounce a name in another language. The other would-be tenant arrives, and likes the room, but says it's too far from town. So with much well-wishing we bid adieu and I call up the first one to tell her the room is all hers.

An email drops in to say that one of my short stories has made it through preliminary acceptance for an anthology. That's good news! I am fond of that story. It carries much of my soul in it, though only 5,000 words long.

Night has fallen over the city, and the roar of traffic dulls a little from the evening rush. The valley's twinkling lights suddenly remind me of Christmas tinsel before I draw the curtains and fire up the heater. After midnight I finish my work and toy with the idea of waiting up a little more until a faraway friend or three might be getting up in another time zone. But no, tonight I am sleepy. It's been a long day. I boil the kettle for my hot water bottles and climb carefully into all my layers.

Writing was no more than a breath in the wind today, but it is still the essence of my being.

Remembering

As I write this on Easter Monday, this year it falls on one of the most important, significant days on the Australian calendar. No, it isn’t only the day after Resurrection Sunday, it is the day we remember death – the death of many Australian and New Zealand soldiers in battles fought around the globe since the late nineteenth century.

This is ANZAC Day, the Australian New Zealand Army Corps Day of Remembrance.

Australia is a very blessed nation in that no war has ever actually been fought on our own land. However, having said that, those who have seen the recent film. Australia, saw scenes of our most northern city, Darwin, being bombed in World War II. What may not be known as well is that enemy mini-submarines entered Sydney Harbour and caused loss of life and damage that brought home, in a way never expected by many other Australians on our eastern shores, that we were at war! Other than these incidents, we have been so blessed never to have had men fighting men on our own soil with all the horrors of war. We do need a day of remembering.

The first time Australian armed forces were involved in a war was in the late nineteenth century during the Boer War in South Africa. The next time was years later when our troop ships left to support England during World War I. That we have made April 25th our nationwide day of remembrance often causes many to shake their heads in puzzlement – and perhaps even wonder. This was a time of war when the British and allied forces suffered a dreadful defeat at Gallipoli against the Turkish army. This photo of World War I memoribilea was taken in a small Australian town's museum - so typical of many, many such small towns and villages across our nation trying to help us "remember."

Over twelve months ago I made contact with a fellow Australian writer, Andrea Grigg. Since then, I have been privileged to meet this delightful, very talented Christian woman and am delighted she has signed her first contract for a Christian novel – an inspirational romance being released next year by Even Before Publishing in Queensland. Andrea is a lady of many talents and last year in my April post here I shared the ANZAC song she has written. The song and images of soldiers at war are so good I want to share it again. I trust if you viewed it then you will still do so again. It shows clearly what Australians are involved in today and I have just watched and listened again. It brought home to me once again just a very, very little of what our soldiers have faced – where they have died – not only at Gallipoli but in far too many countries and wars since. Sadly today, our soldiers are still serving and dying in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrFGBXvHK4Ehttp://
This is the first time I remember our national ANZAC day being the very day after we have remembered THE Day death was conquered once and for all time. RESURRECTION SUNDAY!

How appropriate, and yet yesterday during our worship service, I couldn’t help but wonder just how many folk throughout Australia gathered at dawn services, at special church celebrations to remember that God raised Jesus from the dead. That DAY God demonstrated once for all time that Christ’ death on a cruel cross was acceptable to Him to pay the price for OUR sin.

Throughout the world, remembrance days of special significance for nations are held in the hope that people will not forget the sacrifices soldiers have made for those nations. The surviving soldiers of wars long gone are being replaced by other generations who could perhaps too soon forget what it has cost to live in peace, what it also warns about the cost of war. Sadly, this morning on our TV was a grieving mother of an Australian killed in Afghanistan. And so another generation is grieving today from modern wars.

Even more important for us never to forget is that a spiritual war is still raging. The enemy wants humankind’s allegiance. He hates God, seeks to enslave, to control, to destroy God’s creation – whether through physical wars or even more destructive, the war for our souls. But the Creator God is a God who loves so much He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Christ will not perish but have everlasting Life.

That is what we must never, never, never forget.
It was Jesus Himself who told His disciples the words we often hear at our ANZAC day services across the world.
“Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
But it is sad to me the rest of Christ’s words in that passage in the Bible are most times omitted. He went on to say, “Your are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:13-14)

Perhaps even more important for us today is to remember the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 5: 6-10
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Mary is a best-selling inspirational romance author... A Queensland farmer’s daughter, she became a registered nurse before going to Bible College. She and her minister husband have three adult children and five grandchildren, enjoyed over 46 years of ministry including church planting in Australia, two years in England, three short term mission trips to Africa and now live in Tasmania, Australia's island state. Her 19th title, Justice at Baragula will be released next month, May, 2011. Do watch out for book giveaways here and also on her own blog http://www.maryhawkins.blogspot.com/

On Being Broken

by Grace Bridges

New Zealand has surely been on everyone's minds lately, as we are battered with image after tragic image of our once-beautiful Garden City, Christchurch, now shattered. Videos like the above are played in churches across the land, and there is an inescapable sense of national loss. Although I live almost a thousand kilometres away, and have not lost anyone I know, still a part of me is hurting badly for my people down south.

It also shows me how broken I still am in my personal life. It's good to cry, to let it out, to say how badly I miss my dad and regret the years I wasted. Catharsis, for Christchurch and for me.

We are all broken in some way, even me with my relatively sheltered life. And yet, I am making the discovery more and more that it does not stop me from being content, from having peace. I embrace all of my brokenness - I do not want to hide from it. I want to feel it in its entirety, and use those feelings in a positive way - like in my writing, in my day to day living, and in practical help like adopting a Christchurch family. Many people have lost their homes, or are living in them despite the holes, and we can help them.

It makes me grateful every day that my own house is still standing. Six people live in it, soon to be seven, and I want them to have great lives under my roof. I want to understand their needs and how we can best live together for the good of all. I want to keep a soft heart towards all, and strange as it may sound, being broken myself is proving a really good way to have sympathy for others.

The earthquake has brought New Zealand much public pain, but also public comfort. It has become normal in these days to cry on the street, and to be comforted by strangers. It shouldn't take a disaster for that to be acceptable. But now that this has happened, I hope we will remain as open to each other as we have been lately - because it's not just earthquakes that break us.