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Monday 19 December 2016

A Ginormous WPRR welcome to our latest victim, Paul Corrigan.

Kia ora,
Please welcome our latest victim guest, Paul Corrigan. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.
In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation - you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.  

Right. 
Comfy?

Yes. I’m clinging on tenaciously, just like Powdered Toast Man in Ren & Stimpy.
1. What’s your favourite type of takeaway?

Fish and chips with deviations into ‘Asian’.
2. Describe your current mental status.

Crikey. I think it’s OK. The long-term memory works well. Otherwise probably bullfighting with Alzheimer’s.

3. I know how I do what I do … but how do you do what you do?

I don’t know. Maria Goretti and Me, which I self-published last year, was begun while I was on a course for the unemployed. I was 63. I had no thought of even starting a novel. I’d been working my way through a MS Access workbook for two weeks and then hit a wall. 
Suddenly nothing made sense. As my classmates headed off to morning tea on Friday, May 17, 2013, I sat nearly in frustrated tears because I couldn’t crack what turned out to be a simple problem. I felt old and dumb.
All I could see was a picture in my head of a girl standing on a street corner. And I realised that picture had been there for three days when I began having problems with Access. 
I put aside my ‘school’ work and wrote that first sentence of a girl on a street corner. Then there was another sentence, and another. That’s how I went on to write Maria Goretti and Me over the next six months. I didn’t know what was coming. I didn’t even know how I was going to end until I woke up at 2.30am and there it was. Two weeks later I finished it. 
I never plotted Maria Goretti and Me at all. I started it, and just made it up as I went along. Somehow it seemed to work. 

4. Could you tell us a little bit about your latest work?

The Goal Kicker: this gestated and festered for over 20 years with a couple of false starts before I switched on the computer about 8am, June 10, 2002, after the flatmates had gone to work, and started typing. I always had known what the end was so I wrote the end first, which took about three weeks. 
I was getting used to writing fiction again, which I hadn’t done since I was at secondary school. I was also breaking the sub-editorial habit of write-then-edit. I understood that if I was going to write this story then I had to just bloody write it. The editing could come later.
Then I wrote the beginning. Over the next two years I wrote back and forth in the story pretty much as things occurred to me. Most days, about 3am, I’d be awake and the next bit I was to type was there in my mind. I didn’t follow the linear format – i.e., from front-to-back. It was like painting a picture, I think. You go here, there, and just fill in the gaps until you hope it all makes sense in the end.

5. Do you have a favourite coffee or tea?

Instant Nescafe Classic – strong and black. Best drunk cold over several hours, or even days. I know. Long story …

6. Walk us through a typical day. (Do you make sure you’re wearing your lucky underpants before you sit down to write, perhaps you prefer commando? While we’re discussing your underpants, boxers, briefs, or budgie smugglers. Inquiring minds want to know. Yes, that includes my Admins … we don’t piss off the Admins.)

I’m a pensioner. I spend far too much time on Facebook and writing long rants for the Kiwi Journalists FB page or for NZ Indie Authors. Otherwise I like to read a lot. I go to the local libraries. If I’m writing I tend to write quickly and with little disregard for time. My underpants: erm … No. 

7. Tell us about your main character. (How did you first meet? Would you like to hang out with him/her? What delights you the most about writing him/her? You get the idea …)

The main character of The Goal Kicker, which is set over six weeks in July-August 1968, is Richard. He’s 18 and lives with his Nanna. He is socially awkward, a loner, and takes things to heart especially when girls have been mean to him. 
He lacks self-confidence. Apart from his size – he’s 6ft-5in (roughly 1.96m), the biggest pupil in the school – he doesn’t stand out. He would like it to stay that way. 
But now his school needs him for the one thing he is good at: his goal-kicking. His principal accepts an invitation from a Christchurch private boys’ school for their 1st XVs to play the curtain-raiser of the Inter-Islander at Lancaster Park. Richard is not in the 1st XV. The previous coach – a bullying, embittered ex-naval officer – had terrified him so much he wouldn’t be in the team. 
Daniel Eyles, the team’s new coach, sees that if his boys are to have any kind of chance they need a reliable goal-kicker. 
Richard, encouraged by the Springbok ‘Tiny’ Naude, who beat the All Blacks at Lancaster Park in 1965 with a last-minute penalty goal, has taught himself how to kick goals, and from distances that are breath-taking – further even than the great Don Clarke or the schoolboy prodigy Joe Karam. 
Goal-kicking is solitary, which is why Richard liked doing it when there was no-one watching.
Can Daniel Eyles persuade Richard to join the team? Can Cornelia, the one girl who sees only good in Richard, help lead him out of his cave?
I realised when I started writing this in 2002 that I’m not drawn to ‘natural’ heroes and ‘natural’ leaders. I don’t particularly care for the assertive ‘red-blooded’ hero character. The ‘heroes’ in this story are the boys and men who have had responsibility either thrust on them or they take it up because no-one else will. That’s how Daniel Eyles became coach of a demoralised 1st XV that hadn’t won a game for years.
My main characters are not all blokes. In Maria Goretti and Me the main character is the girl who, in the words of her brother Luke, a priest, bears the name of the Catholic Church’s youngest and apparently much-loved saint who died, aged 11 defending her virginity against a would-be rapist. She forgave him before she died from his 14 stab wounds. 
The story begins in 1975. Maria is 17, the head girl of her posh Catholic girls’ school. She is destined to be dux and for an excellent academic life after that. She is the youngest of 14 of a New Zealand family of Irish descent. The parents are a doctor and university teacher. Both are OBEs (remember OBEs?). Maria’s sibling include a QC, doctors, teachers, and Luke the priest. Presiding over them all is her grandmother, who at age 85 can still shock and awe.
Maria meets Martin, who is 23 and a newspaper sub-editor, on a street corner. They fall in love. He’s the only child of elderly non-Catholic parents. Maria challenges her family and her Church’s teachings and attitudes about sex before marriage. Maria is courageous, unselfish, and she loves Martin, who narrates the story. 
I grew to like her a lot.
I get regular feedback about Maria Goretti and Me from readers. Many talk about how the story was like their own, personal story: how young teens had to break up or were disowned by family because of religious attitudes. Most said they had strong emotional reactions to the story. 
In the 1930s my Dad was disowned by his father and many of his relatives because he married Mum, who was Anglican.
I also like to include strong females in my stories. They might not be strong in the sense that they have formal qualifications. Richard’s Nanna reminded me of my Mum and her sisters – assertive and articulate, yet traditional women. Mum taught music for 60 years until she was nearly 80. Three of her sisters were school teachers. Auntie Rene taught in London slums in the 30s. Auntie Rona was an MA (Hons) at 20. Auntie Mave taught children at remote primary schools in Marlborough. Right up to the day she died she was always proud that children left her school knowing how to read and write and do arithmetic ‘because for many of them that was all the education they would ever get’. 
They were daughters of a man who was driving bullock teams carting timber in colonial Nelson at age 10 to support his mother and family. Grandma had the barest secondary education at St Mary’s College, Wellington. She kicked the son of an earl out of her kitchen because of his ‘rough talk’. They had nine children. They believed that daughters should be educated because if they were widowed (no-one talked about divorce then) then they had something to fall back on.

8. Who are your favourite writers?

Alan Furst: I’m not sure he is a favourite, but he’s someone whose books I get out of the library when I see them. He writes spy novels set in Europe in the 1930s and 40s. I find them interesting for his eye for detail and for the fact that very little seems to happen. But they’re bloody good.
Another author I’ll pick out of the library is William Nicholson. I read his Motherland and loved it so much that I decided I’d get out whatever had his name on it. All The Hopeful Lovers is a deft and somewhat painful exploration of adultery and a kind-of forgiveness. He slices and dices motives. I wish I could write like that.
 Wilbur Smith was a longtime favourite. I read Eagle in the Sky for the first time over three days in the 70s and wished I could write like that. I read a lot of his until the late 80s. I haven’t been a fan of his later stuff. A bit repetitive, perhaps. The late Leslie Thomas was another.
I am enjoying Graham Masterton’s Katie Maguire series, which he has set in Cork, Ireland. Katie Maguire is a police detective superintendent.
Am I the only person who has never read To Kill a Mocking Bird. To Set a Watchman?
I do read women authors. I’ve just finished Jack 1939, by Francine Matthews, and American. And, right after that, Day After Night, by Anita Diament, who also wrote the excellent The Red Tent.
9. Who inspires you to do better? 

I have five grandchildren, aged 8 to 18 months. They live in Australia. When they grow up I’d like them to know that Dziadziu (it’s Polish for Granddad – long story) wrote stories and that people bought those stories and enjoyed them. Even though he wasn’t an ‘established’ author.
But I want to acknowledge my parents, and for two special reasons. I learned to read late. I was 9 or 10, from memory. It was unthinkable to Mum that her youngest could not read. 
She patiently set about teaching me to read. It took a spring and summer of mostly Bible stories in a children’s book before I got the hang of it.
In 1963 when I was 13 Dad decreed that I would write two stories a week. He would read, critique, and mark them. I did it for three months and then Dad stopped it. 
I think he was finding it a chore. I was relieved.
But nearly 40 years later as I was getting to grips with writing The Goal Kicker I remembered those months with affection and regret. Part of me wished we’d kept going because those stories turned me towards journalism and writing.

10. Do you ever put pants on your dog, cat, or budgie?

No. Not fussed on dogs. My daughter Lisa, when she was about 3, used to dress up Hannah the cat and put her in the pram and push her about. Hannah was an old lady so we got Jaeger, just emerging from kittenhood. Hannah didn’t like him and used to box his ears. He refused to be dressed up for anybody. Champ, my daughter Emma’s budgie, died after mistakenly being sucked into the vacuum-cleaner. His burial in the little garden patch by the back door of our state house was sombre and sober and a bit tearful.

11. Describe your perfect day.

If I’m writing a story and everything just flows. It all goes together. At the end of the day I might see the word-count has gone up another 5000 or 10,000 words. But there’s been no stress or strain or effort. It’s great.

12. Who is your favourite fictitious villain? Or are you all about the hero? Who do you love to hate?

I’ve had to think for a couple of days about this one. I think that a lot of villains are not actually bad, evilly bad, I suppose. Often it’s a wrong choice from a wrong motive. In hind-sight sometimes these people have seen what they’ve done, the hurt and damage they’ve caused, and they are sorry. In The Goal Kicker my ‘villains’ have a back-story. Why are these people like they are?
In Maria Goretti and Me the villain is Maria’s Irish grandmother, who exercises far too much influence – control – over the family. She is the source of the bigotry and religiosity that runs like a river through the family. She is the character many readers react to with anger and outrage. ‘She reminds me of my Dad’s grandmother,’ a young Irishman told me. She has a kind of back-story, too. She was a peasant girl brought up in The Faith and married as a teenager. In a way she has an excuse.
But her family don’t get off, either, particularly Maria’s brother Luke, who is more a Pharisee than a man Jesus Christ would identify with. He would be the first to throw stones at the woman hauled before Jesus because she’d been caught in the act of adultery – which was against the Law. He’d do the same to his little sister.

13. Do you have any quirks?

This is a family publication, right?

14. All-time favourite movie and why?

This is where memory fails. Oddly enough, I think Sound of Music, which I first saw in 1966 in Wellington. A woman in my row had seen it about 300 times. Then I never saw it for another 40 years until I sat down one Christmas morning with my teenage grandnieces, for whom watching it on Christmas Day had become a tradition. I loved the story, even though the makers had taken the greatest of liberties with Sister Maria (who was pregnant when she married Korvettenkapitän Georg, Ritter von Trapp, 10 years earlier than in the film) and other truths of the von Trapp story. It doesn’t matter. I was saddened to read that recently Charmian Carr – who at 21 played the 16 year-old Liesl – had died.
Probably some time soon I’ll wake up at 3am and discover I really had another all-time favourite movie …

15. Do you enjoy the editing process?

Oh, yeah. I can still remember in early 1971, as a 21 year-old sub at The Northern Advocate carving up and rewriting a poorly-written story and handing it back to the chief sub, who flicked through it, and passed it to the editor, who was sitting in at the subs’ table that day. He read it, looked at me over the top of his glasses, and said: ‘Very good, Paul. I couldn’t have made a better job of this. Well done.’
This was an era when praise was rarely given and even more rarely expected. I thought I was in heaven. 
I’m better at editing other people’s work than my own. I have ‘rescued’ poorly written work and turned it into something worth while. I’ve edited half-a-dozen books over the last 25 years. In the process I’ve helped a man become a good, clear writer, too.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

New Zealand. It’s home But excursions to Ireland and to England are on the bucket list. That’s where the ancestors came from. In my 30s I realised that New Zealand was my home and that I was a New Zealander. I was not transplanted Irish and Catholic, nor was I English and Anglican.

17. Favourite Pizza topping?

I’m not supposed to eat pizza.

18. What were you before you became a writer?

After I left college I became a newspaper reporter and then sub-editor on The Northern Advocate, in Whangarei. In the mid-70s I went to The Press, in Christchurch, as a sub. Ten years later I became a solo parent and went on the domestic purposes benefit. That lasted for about 12 years before a couple in a desktop publishing business took me on as their writer-editor-proofreader-photographer. That went for about three years. 
After that I was in and out of work. I was unemployed a lot. As I got older the jobs were harder to get, the job descriptions became more baffling. In 2013 Work and Income put me on a course to try to improve my employability. While on that course I began writing Maria Goretti and Me.

19. What is the most random thing you have ever done?

Become a solo parent, I think. It all came out of the blue. I probably spent less time on the decision on what kind of Big Mac to have. I stopped work to go on the DPB. It was a career-killer. No regrets, though.

20. If you’re not working, what are you most likely doing?

Reading or spending far too much time on Facebook and composing long rants.

21. Who is your ultimate character?

I haven’t figured that one out yet.

22. Whiskey or Bourbon? Red or white wine? Tequila? Beer?

Yes, whisky, whiskey (the two are different), bourbon, rum … Red wine. Had peach Tequila in Mexico once. Beer, but something with taste.

23. What’s in your pockets? (Or handbag, whatever you carry your stuff in. Are you apocalypse prepared?)

Wallet

24. Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?

Laptop

25. Ebook or tree book?

Tree book.

26. Favourite apocalyptic scenario?

When I worked at The Press there was always this joke, and it was about what the paper considered ‘news’. Anyway, Jesus was Coming Again, this time to claim his bride. The Press would ignore this event and run a local story on the front page instead. That Press was a different beast from now. I think I’d love to be able to stand and watch the prophecy outlined in The Revelation play out.

27. Where do you do most of your writing?

A laptop enables you to write wherever and whenever you like. I have done it in bed, on a couch in the lounge, at my sister’s dining room table. But I especially like writing in libraries. Half of Maria Goretti and Me was written in the Petone and Lower Hutt Libraries. They’re warm and places I needed to walk to and from (for the good of my health). But most of all I enjoyed the noise going on around me. 
One day a girl in a group at the table I was writing at stopped her friends’ chatter and laughter and asked if they were disturbing me.
They were, but I told them not to worry. ‘I used to work on newspapers, so there were always people talking, sometimes shouting at each other, phones going, the noise of the teleprinter and the clack of typewriters.’ I could tell they had no idea what a teleprinter or a typewriter was. So I added: ‘One night at The Press in Christchurch an argument became so heated that a reporter hurled a typewriter across the newsroom at a sub-editor who’d cut her story in half.’
Like wow …

28. What’s the hardest thing for you when it comes to being an author? (For me it’s marketing but for others it’s the actual writing …)

I think taking myself seriously, that I am an author.

You made it!! Damn, you rock. Now would you like to try for the chocolate fish? Mind the puddles … but hurry. Power surges are common in the dungeon; you don’t want to have one hand on the metal plate containing that delicious chocolate fish and a foot in a puddle...
That laughter you hear is coming from The Knight, he probably won’t flip that switch he has his hand on. Probably …

You can find out more about Paul Corrigan in the following places ... 
And of course Paul's book is available in our store! :)


Facebook (but Friends Only …)


Sunday 4 December 2016

A big WPRR welcome to Anya Forest ...



Kia ora,
Please welcome our latest victim guest, Anya Forest. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.
In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation - you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.  



 Comfy?
Yep. I have my retriever Crockett supervising and the TV on.


1. What’s your favorite type of takeaway? (Yes, that means take-out in NZ speak)
Fish and chips. No contest.

2. Describe your current mental status.
Good but it’s only question two…

3. I know how I do what I do … but how do you do what you do?
I start with a scene or line of conversation that won’t leave my head and build from there. As you can tell from that sentence, I only have a broad idea of plot when I start writing…and it’s worked so far. I write down ideas when I have them, but that’s as far as I get with “planning.” With my first book A Southern Star I had a setting and a theme, and went from there. I still vividly remember writing that first line. My second book A Forgotten Sky started with a Ray Columbus song that I’ve always loved, and I was lucky enough to get approval to use. The book was built around that song, and the support I received from the musical, arts and automotive communities – it was then I realised first hand what it means to be a New Zealand writer – so many other New Zealanders were generous with information and permissions! My third book A Remembered Land started with just the first line, and my fourth about-to-be-published book A Southern Shelter started with the hero, Jesse.

4. Could you tell us a little bit about your latest work?
A Southern Shelter is Book 2 in my “Across the Strait” series, following on from A Southen Star. It’s set in southern New Zealand – Queenstown, Arrowtown, Kingston and Stewart Island all feature. A Southern Shelter is a contemporary New Zealand romance novel, or at least that what I intended to write when I planned to write a sequel to A Southern Star. And it is still that – a guy and girl (Jesse and Lisa) overcoming obstacles to be together in a happily ever after. Which is a good thing. As I wrote, though, the story took on a life of its own and social issues made their way more into the story. There’s a fair bit of debate in (romance) writing circles about whether readers want pure escapism when they read, or whether it’s okay to include some realism. I’ve chosen the latter path – that was the story that was in my head. So A Southern Shelter does include direct references to the Family Court, loss, and family violence. There is a strong romantic element in the story, but also quite a bit of the (unfortunately) real world around Jesse and Lisa. And in writing about significant social and personal issues I didn’t want to just “explain them away in a paragraph” and move on quickly to, for example, Jesse and Lisa having some first world problem out on a date. It’ll be published late 2016/Jan 2017 and will be available at Writer’s Plot Readers Read



5. Do you have a favorite coffee or tea?
Actually, hot chocolate!

 6. Walk us through a typical day. (Do you make sure you’re wearing your lucky underpants before you sit down to write, perhaps you prefer commando? While we’re discussing your underpants, boxers, briefs, or budgie smugglers. Inquiring minds want to know. Yes, that includes my Admins… we don’t piss off the Admins.)
A day for me includes writing, marketing my books, and spending time with family and Crockett, my retriever dog. At the moment I’m waiting to hear back from my editor about A Southen Shelter, and working on my next two novels. A Southern Strait will follow on from A Southern Shelter, and be the story of Blake’s sister Rebecca. A Link of Gold is the first book in a new series I’m starting – On the Coast. It’s set on the West Coast, around Westport, and will follow Natalie (Nat) and Lucas. (In relation to your other question - after so much time thinking about my characters removing their underwear it’s difficult to switch focus onto any discussion about mine )

7. Tell us about your main character. (How did you first meet? Would you like to hang out with him/her? What delights you the most about writing him/her? You get the idea …)
I have several “main characters” but I still have a major crush on Blake, the hero in my first book A Southern Star. He really is too good to be true, strong, dependable, intelligent – and hot as hell. I have a thing for tall guys, so Blake is tall, and he has a sense of humour, which is mandatory as far as I’m concerned. I’d love to hang out with Blake – if he could be magicked into life it would definitely be a dream come true I’ve always enjoyed writing him – but seeing his character deepen further in A Southern Shelter made me even more “proud” of him. He’s always struck me as genuine – something that comes through in a lot of the reader feedback I get as well. As to how we met, I wanted to create a guy who was the sort of person I’d want to meet – so I did. As the idea of a series grew I wanted to make sure he was in the next books to a certain degree – both because of the way I feel about him but also because of the reader response. Having said that, I think I have a crush on all of my heroes – and my heroines all contain a little bit of “me” if I’m honest (I think most writers would say the same!) So confining this answer to one main character is hard…

8. Who are your favorite writers?
A whole range – Louise Allen, Jean Auel, Pamella Belle…and Clive Cussler and Michael Connelly. I’ve just finished The Dry by Jane Harper – an Aussie mystery and it was amazing, so I’ll be keeping an eye out to see what she writes next. Closer to home I have “Into the Mist” by Lee Murray on my Kindle – I’m about to start. Early indications are it’s a real page turner and I can’t wait!

9. Who inspires you to do better? (Be as corny as you’d like… just go for it! Mmmm  
chocolate fish.)
My dog Crockett, definitely.

10. Do you ever put pants on your dog, cat, or budgie?
No. Although I did see a Superman outfit that would have suited Crockett!

11. Describe your perfect day.
Roadtripping around the South Island with Crockett.

12. Who is your favorite fictitious villain? Or are you all about the hero? Who do you love to hate?
I really am all about the flawed hero. Even when I wrote the character of Louise in “A Forgotten Sky” as the villian, with few if any redeeming qualities, I still had to turn around and redeem her in “A Remembered Land”. Originally I was going to leave her as the villian but I just couldn’t do it. 
If you mean outside of my own books then I would have to say that the Jackal in Frederick Forsyth’s Day of the Jackal is one of the most compelling villians I have read – in the sense of his ruthless planning and coldness.

13. Do you have any quirks?
Writing!

14. All-time favorite movie and why?
Gone with the Wind – because of Scarlett O’Hara’s singlemindedness (a.k.a selfishness) and the way her story is told against the backdrop of the Civil War. There’s so much in that movie – and the book – that has left a lasting impression on me.

15. Do you enjoy the editing process?
Yes – I was a (non-fiction) editor in my real life (before my writing took off) but it’s always unnerving to edit my own work! Exactly why I always have a professional editior for my own books – it’s so hard to “see” mistakes and inconsistencies when I’ve worked so long on a manuscript myself.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
New Zealand is hard to beat – but I can’t decide where. I go on roadtrips often to re-visit my ever increasing list of favourite places.

17. Favorite Pizza topping?
Margherita

18. What were you before you became a writer?
I’ve always enjoyed writing stories - since primary school - but until recently I was an editor of non fiction journals and articles.

19. What is the most random thing you have ever done?
Move to Stewart Island

20.  If you’re not working, what are you most likely doing?
Out and about with Crockett.

21. Who is your ultimate character?
Asking me to pick an ultimate character in my own books is like a bit like asking someone to choose a favourite child – impossible! So I hope you’re asking for a character outside of my own books, in which case I’d say Scarlett O’Hara, for the reasons given above. Even as I write this I can think of so many others…it’s difficult to isolate just one! Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliott, Captain Wentworth and Mr Darcy would also be VERY high on the list! 

22. Whiskey or Bourbon? Red or white wine? Tequila? Beer?
Dessert Riesling

23. What’s in your pockets? (Or handbag, whatever you carry your stuff in. Are you apocalypse prepared?)
The bare minimum, so no, I’m not prepared.

24. Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?

Laptop

25. Ebook or tree book?

Treebook, usually, but I’m getting more and more into 1-click on Amazon!

26. Favorite apocalyptic scenario?
Scarlett and Rhett escaping on the cart through the flames in Gone with the Wind. 

27. Where do you do most of your writing?
In the lounge in front of the TV

28. What’s the hardest thing for you when it comes to being an author? (For me it’s marketing but for others it’s the actual writing …)
The hardest thing about being an author is also the best thing – being self published means I have all of the control, responsibility and work! So I enjoy marketing, but it takes me away from writing. And I love writing, but then I start thinking about my Facebook page or designing my next cover. So the hardest thing is fitting everything I need to do to into a day. It’s worth it though – being a published author, and writing stories, has always been my dream and now it’s come true



You made it!! Damn, you rock. Now would you like to try for the chocolate fish? Mind the puddles … but hurry. Power surges are common in the dungeon; you don’t want to have one hand on the metal plate containing that delicious chocolate fish and a foot in a puddle...
That laughter you hear is coming from The Knight, he probably won’t flip that switch he has his hand on. Probably …


You can find out more about Anya Forest in the following places ...

Anya's books and excerpts of her books are available at Writer’s Plot Readers Read


Monday 28 November 2016

Our latest brave soul is Kevin Berry ...



Kia ora,
Please welcome our latest victim guest, Kevin Berry. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.
In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation - you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.  



 Comfy?



1. What’s your favorite type of takeaway? (Yes, that means take-out in NZ speak)

It’s either Thai food or burgers. I love hunting around Christchurch for the best gourmet burger places. They’ve been springing up all over town lately. Chips are included in my burger order. Obviously. And I rate Velvet Burger the best of the bunch.

2. Describe your current mental status.

The answer to that depends on the day you ask … even the time of day you ask. It varies a lot. Sometimes I can’t write because of my mental state. Other times, I have heaps of energy and love writing. Like now. But today my mental status is pretty good, because I’ve just won $5,500 on the horse racing this afternoon.

3. I know how I do what I do … but how do you do what you do? 


Not having much sleep helps, as does having a coffee dependency. I work part-time, have two young boys as a single parent, occasionally do editing and proofreading, and still find time to write. Though I’d like to write more than I do now.

4. Could you tell us a little bit about your latest work? 


I’ve been working on three things simultaneously (see, I said I have heaps of energy at the moment). I’ve just published a short book, Quotes on Writing by Writers for Writers. I did two editing passes of my science fiction novel Teleport following comments from beta readers, and I need to re-edit it more. Finally, I’ve started working on an interactive fiction book for You Say Which Way.

5. Do you have a favorite coffee or tea?

At home, Moccona Caramel instant coffee. When out, it’s cappuchino (or a caramel milkshake).

 6. Walk us through a typical day. (Do you make sure you’re wearing your lucky underpants before you sit down to write, perhaps you prefer commando? While we’re discussing your underpants, boxers, briefs, or budgie smugglers. Inquiring minds want to know. Yes, that includes my Admins… we don’t piss off the Admins.)

OMG, is there such a thing as a typical day? Okay. Weekday example. Wake by 7am at the latest, either by the alarm or by one of my children (whoever I’m currently looking after). For the next hour, try to actually wake up, work out where I am, who I am, what I’m supposed to do (I’m not a morning person) … and get breakfast. My eldest son has ASD and ADHD so mornings are challenging usually. Check emails and sports results on the computer. School run. Work for five hours as a software engineer. Reverse of school run. Look after whichever child I have (it may or may not be the same one as in the morning). More email checking because I can’t do that at work. Usually there are several I have to reply to, like to teachers or psychologists about what is going on. Spend time with my child. Cook dinner (at which I am terrible so please do not visit at dinner-time unless you want takeaways). Chores. Reprimand myself for doing only some of the chores, and promise myself I will do more in the future (ha!). Play games with my child (depending on who it is – Nicholas is a genius at Scrabble and Bananagrams, Fluxx and even Star Wars Risk). If I have James, then I’ll read dystopian science fiction to him for 30-60 minutes before bed (yes, sometimes he does have trouble getting to sleep afterwards, but I have to prepare him for a zombie apocalypse somehow). If I have Nicholas, he likes to have a conversation instead and then read in my room with me. After my child is in bed (8pm for James, 9.30pm for Nicholas), more emails, anything else I need to do on the computer, make an appearance on Facebook, chat on the phone to my girlfriend, then START WRITING. If I can manage two hours of that, I’m doing well. At about 1am I’ll start reading, usually on the floor. I go to bed about 1.30am to 2am, unless I fall asleep on the floor first. But doesn’t everyone have a day like this?

7. Tell us about your main character. (How did you first meet? Would you like to hang out with him/her? What delights you the most about writing him/her? You get the idea …) 

As I write different genres, I have different main characters. In Teleport (not yet published), my main character is a female scientist, Maddie. She’s a genius at her work but not a particular good parent and fairly hopeless at working out the motivations of other people. I’d have a coffee with her anytime.

8. Who are your favorite writers?

I’ve always admired Connie Willis for her books Passage (my favourite book) and Doomsday Book especially. I think she’s so good with characters. And Jane Austen for the same reason. Suzanne Collins for The Hunger Games. Of New Zealand writers, Lee Murray is my favourite. There are many more I want to read (I have a TBR list to rival a small library). Indie authors I like include Marsha Cornelius and Sara Furlong Burr. 


9. Who inspires you to do better? (Be as corny as you’d like… just go for it! Mmmm chocolate fish.)

Other writers do. Sorry, it’s not corny … I love talking to other writers, sharing ideas and giving and receiving encouragement. Without encouragement from a couple of NZ writers (you know who you are), I probably wouldn’t have written anything.

10. Do you ever put pants on your dog, cat, or budgie?

Only on my ring-necked parakeet, and only for special occasions

11. Describe your perfect day.

It would have to involve pancakes at a café and lots of coffee. Some writing. Lunch with my girlfriend or with another writer. A nice, long forest walk. A burger and chips for dinner. Time for more writing in the late evening. To date, I’ve never had a perfect day like this.

12. Who is your favorite fictitious villain? Or are you all about the hero? Who do you love to hate?

There are so many to choose from! The Balrog, for its immense threat, came to mind, but that is a monster, not a villain as such. I think what I would pick for a favourite fictitious villain is the demon from Terry Brooks’ The Word and the Void series, because he is so understated and so insidious in his corruption of others—pure evil that creeps up on you.

13. Do you have any quirks?
Yes. Possibly many. Very likely including some of which I am unaware. Answering this is best left to the people who think they know me. 

14. All-time favorite movie and why?

This is hard to answer because there are so many different types of moves. But I’ll plump for Bend It Like Beckham, which has made me cry whenever I’ve seen it, and I don’t really know why. That’s an atypical reaction for me. 

15. Do you enjoy the editing process?

I like editing other people’s work. Who doesn’t? But the standard of writing that comes my way to edit varies considerably from top notch to bottom of the barrel. I don’t mind correcting lots of mistakes in someone’s manuscript if the story is engaging and the writing is good, but plodding through a terrible document is worse than drinking Clorox bleach. Fortunately, the good writers come back and the bad ones tend not to. 

Editing my own work is different. I give it to trusted friends, all good writers, for beta reading one at a time, and wait for the feedback. Anything less than 100% praise can give me a migraine. When I’ve recovered, I can see they are right and I set about fixing my story. I’m prone to struggle with doubt and therefore question the value of everything I’ve done, so I need this outside validation.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

I think if I won the lottery (or it might require winning several lotteries), then I’d like to live in First Class on Singapore Airlines and travel the world for a while. But there is an infinitesimal chance of that happening.

17. Favorite Pizza topping?

Nothing exotic, just swiss cheese and pineapple

18. What were you before you became a writer?

Now you are asking me to reveal secrets. Okay. Here goes.

  • I don’t write full-time, though that is my dream, like many writers (and some I know have succeeded). I work part-time as a software engineer developing risk management software for commodity traders. 
  • I do copy editing and proofreading part-time for clients who approach me directly through my website, or are referred by editors I know in Australia and the USA. 
  • I’ve very recently become a paid horse-racing tipster (under a pseudonym) with a group in the UK. If you could follow my tips, you’d be winning.
  • This year I tried (and failed) to sell tee shirts online. After $500 of costs, I’d sold only one.

In the past, I’ve done a number of other things part-time. Perhaps the most interesting of them are:
  • Tennis journalist and tipster for a national sports paper in the UK.
  • Labourer.
  • Security guard at the Wimbledon championships (for about three days).
  • Visa officer for Immigration.
  • Astrologer.
  • Hypnotherapist.
  • Stock trader.

19. What is the most random thing you have ever done?

I don’t know how to answer this. At times, everything seems to be random.

20.  If you’re not working, what are you most likely doing?

One of (depending on the time of day): Spending time with my children. Eating comfort food. Reading a variety of books. 

21. Who is your ultimate character?

I like to create and write about characters who can make readers laugh, cry, cringe, angry or upset, all in the same book, and never forget them. That’s the ultimate character in my mind. A fictional character who is more real to my reader than their best friend.

22. Whiskey or Bourbon? Red or white wine? Tequila? Beer?

None of the above. I have an addictive personality, so I don’t drink alcohol at all. 

23. What’s in your pockets? (Or handbag, whatever you carry your stuff in. Are you apocalypse prepared?)

Diary (with appointments only partially completed, because I forget to write them in), sometimes a book, notes that I’ve scribbled and tucked away never to be seen again, and a small interdimensional wormhole that swallows money and pens.

24. Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?

Laptop. I need to be able to take it places, even around the house. I touch-type, so a tablet isn’t good enough for writing.

25. Ebook or tree book?

OMG I have to confess, I buy lots of ebooks, and then sometimes I buy the paperback too. Sometimes I do it the other way around. I have 10 bookcases at home, stuffed full. Thankfully I haven’t got into the habit of listening to audio books yet.

26. Favorite apocalyptic scenario?

Vampire takeover. I’d fight back. I learned to do that by watching this documentary series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, for seven years.

27. Where do you do most of your writing?

At home, at my desk in my room. It’s not exotic, but as I’m a solo parent I can’t easily go out to a café and write, though I’d like to sometimes.

28. What’s the hardest thing for you when it comes to being an author? (For me it’s marketing but for others it’s the actual writing …)

The hardest thing is reading a bad review. They affect me. I shouldn’t read them,really.

You made it!! Damn, you rock. Now would you like to try for the chocolate fish? Mind the puddles … but hurry. Power surges are common in the dungeon; you don’t want to have one hand on the metal plate containing that delicious chocolate fish and a foot in a puddle...
That laughter you hear is coming from The Knight, he probably won’t flip that switch he has his hand on. Probably …


You can find out more about Kevin in the following places and of course his books are available via our shop and website ...