It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas

Donna Goodacre
12 minutes ago
2 min read

One week into December, but I'm pretending it's the end of November. I'm a bit late with this one, my main excuse being I took on the ProWritingAid NovNov Challenge, where you write 50k words during the month of November. I didn't quite make that, but I did achieve 25k, which is a record for me. That brings me to nearly half way through Our Unbroken Spirits. Wow. I could probably slow down now.

In November I attended the Escape Festival in Tauranga, where I saw two of my favourite NZ authors, Catherine Chidgey ('The Book of Guilt') and Anne Tiernan ('The Good Mistress'). Definitely worth investigating if you want a good read for Xmas. Or any time.

On the writing front, apart from the novel, my short story, The Long Way Home, appeared in two places - the Tauranga Writers Publication ByLine and the ebook from the Gisbourne hui, Ahi Dawn of Words Anthology. This is adapted from a chapter in Of Greenstone and Violins. As a short story writer, I think I make a good novelist. The same could be said for my poetry, although I did produce this haiku for our Tauranga Writers Xmas party:

Tauranga Writers

stories gather, summer light

Christmas on the page

Another exciting development is that Audiobooks NZ has made a start on Of Greenstone and Violins. I had a choice of 2 male voices and I'm pretty sure I chose the right one. They're both good, so it all came down to who could do a cockney and a northern accent. They're both good at Te Reo. I'll include a sample in my newsletter.

To finish off, I would like to introduce you to Billy Taka, my first cousin 3x removed (whatever that is), who I discovered only last week. He is the son of one of my main protagonists in the book, so I can't ignore him. I'll get him in there somehow. He was born in 1887 in Kawhia, New Zealand, and died in the Dardanelles in 1915. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for service in Egypt and the Balkans. Sad. The only photo of have is a cute one from Manukau Heads primary school in 1895.