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Tuesday 27 September 2016

Settle petals... we have Vicky Adin in the dungeon!



Kia ora,
Please welcome our latest victim guest, VICKY ADIN.

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?

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

Thai – the infusion of tastes and freshness of ideas is what appeals to me, just like putting a new story together.

Describe your current mental status.

Calm, as in after the storm – or maybe in the eye of the storm. It could change any minute
I know how I do what I do … but how do you do what you do?

One word at a time! Literally. I am a ‘pantser’. I have a rough idea in my head about what the story is about, but exactly how it is going to pan out I have no idea. I just sit down and start writing. If I get stuck I go for a walk (usually around the pond in the park next to the house) and talk to myself until the next scene comes to life – the locals think I’m slightly cuckoo and I probably am at that stage. Because I write historical fiction, I also research as I go along. I will look up tiny details – street names, buildings, rules, behavior – to match where the story is going. Fascinating stuff, but I can get lost in the past and forget what I started out looking for.

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

My latest release – ‘The Girl from County Clare’  – is about Brigid, an Irish lacemaker who fled poverty and starvation in Ireland in the 1880s and emigrated to Australia, and later New Zealand, to make a new life. I’ve been told it’s a real page-turner, and should be made into a film. If dreams were wishes and wishes came true...

I’ve just started a new book about a young girl living in Auckland at the turn of the 20th century, who is a sugar boiler... not sure where that is going right now. She could end up in a right sticky mess.

Do you have a favorite coffee or tea?

Fickle is as fickle does... tea first thing in the morning, coffee with breakfast and maybe again mid morning if I need a kick in the you-know-what, and then tea to end the day.

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.)

My pj’s are purple and pink with flowers on them. The man of my dreams brings me tea in bed – I did mention that didn’t I? – and my laptop, and I’m set for the day. Social media first. Apparently, you can’t be a writer without a social media presence. Interesting sometimes, time consuming others, and frequently a good excuse to procrastinate and not get on with what I really should be doing. Then my toast arrives with a coffee. I answer my emails, read the newspaper, or write a blog until guilt finally gets me out of bed and into the shower. Life is good.

Then it’s re-reading what I wrote yesterday (or the day before depending on whether I even got to the blank page or not), a bit of editing and rewriting and usually the story starts to flow. If it doesn’t I don’t care, I can come back to it. I’ll do some research or reading instead.

Sometimes, demands of family – a newly retired husband who likes my company, but respects my space – need my attention, and then there’s the boring things like groceries, or cleaning (he’s taken over the washing – did I say life was good?). I never miss a chance to be with the grandchildren, and I must remember to exercise more. Must be time to take a walk.


 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 love women. Oops, that could be taken the wrong way. What I mean is, women are always my main characters, because they are tough underneath all their feminine, delicate, fashionable, traditional, modern charms. The one exception is Daniel in ‘The Disenchanted Soldier’ – the story of a NZ pioneer, soldier turned pacifist, and his conscientious objector sons. But then, a lot of that change should be credited to Emma, his very young Prussian wife.

Women lead change. I love that. They know what they want from life and are not afraid to go for it. What they want changes from era to era. Just read Jane Austen to work out who ruled the household, controlled what women wore, did, or said back then. Ask Kate Sheppard. A modern miss might have different goals, but nothing is going to stop her getting
them.

My characters overcome their own difficulties, the things that hold them back, and learn how to be the masters (or mistresses) of their own destiny. Megan, in ‘The Cornish Knot’ is a heart-broken widow, Emma in ‘The Art of Secrets’ buries her past and learns to grow under the less than sympathetic eye of the aged Charlotte who thinks she knows it all. Brigid, “The Girl from County Clare’ is highly skilled but has to travel the oceans of the world to find her destiny, and who knows where sugar-boiling Gwenllian from the valleys of Wales will end up (although I do have an inkling of an idea).

I love them all - they are mostly based on real people. I am a genealogist. I have researched several family trees and many branches over the years and have been astounded by what the women had to put up with, what they overcame, and what they achieved. I base my characters on those wonderful women from the past. I hope I do them justice.

Who are your favorite writers?

Deborah Challinor, Diana Gabaldon, Sara Donati, Winston Graham – historical fiction authors. I like sagas!

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

The past. I’m a kinda old-fashioned girl. I love the fashions of the late Victorian and Edwardian period, not that my characters live the wealthy lifestyle. 
My husband – he thinks my stories are the best, but then he would, wouldn’t he?

Describe your perfect day.

Every day is a perfect day for me – didn’t I say life was good?

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

Flawed heroes are my favorite characters. Ross Poldark, Jamie Fraser, Brett Butler... goodness, what is it with all these men? I love women (remember). Let’s try Friday Woolfe (The Convict Girls series by Deborah Challlinor), feisty, rough, tough and hard as nails, but there’s another side to her.  In fact, I’d include the three other women, Sarah, Rachel, and Harriet, from the series in the list too. All different, but all loyal and determined.

Do you have any quirks?

Of course not!! Quirks are for other people. But my family will tell you differently.

All-time favorite movie and why?

Gone with the Wind. I did tell you I was an old-fashioned girl and a bit of a romantic too.

Do you enjoy the editing process?

Yes, in part: I love playing with words and will rework sentences until I feel they are the best I can get. And no: it takes for ever, and just when you think you have found every last mistake, someone finds one you missed. Damn it!

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

New Zealand – it is the best country in the world (and I’ve travelled a lot). It is beautiful, it is safe, it is the most down-to-earth and the most big-hearted of countries. We just have to make sure it stays that way.

Favorite Pizza topping?

Home made vegetarian with lots of cheese

What were you before you became a writer?

Now let me think: A secretary, a PA, a wife, a mother, a daughter, an amateur thespian, a professional conference manager, a university student, and now I’m supposed to be retired. 

What is the most random thing you have ever done?

Going to university at the age of 48 and coming out with a MA(Hons), or travelling 104 days around the world in a cruise liner. Take your pick.

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

Reading

Who is your ultimate character?

Violet Crawley, The Dowager Duchess of Grantham (or at least the way Maggie Smith portrayed her). She is sharp, witty and totally believes in the small world of the English aristocracy. And I love her clothes.

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

Red wine – keep pouring. If it’s not available, then white wine will do. 

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

Always have reading glasses, a notebook and pen, my iPhone and my kindle. Add in keys, cash cards, tissues, pain relief pills, nail file, and a lipstick probably. I used to be prepared for anything when I had young children with me... now I travel light.

Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?

Mac all the time.

Ebook or tree book?

Both. Ebook while traveling and in the middle of the night.  A tree book if I want to keep it. Love the smell and feel of books.

Where do you do most of your writing?

On my laptop, at my antique desk in my morning room.

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 …)

Marketing! If only books would sell themselves without any help from me. Anyone like to add a review to my Amazon page? 


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 Vicky Adin in the following places ...



Vicky's books are available in our store!

Friday 23 September 2016

Let's welcome Lee Murray to the dungeon ...



Kia ora, Lee Murray
Please welcome our latest victim guest, Lee Murray. 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?

Yes, thank you

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

Indian (preferably hot!).

2. Describe your current mental status.

It’s all in my head.

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

Usually, I start with the beginning, then I skip to the end so I know where I’m headed, and finally I work on the middle. Lately though, I’ve been working on sequels and I’ve found, for the first time, that I’ve had to do some plotting. 

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

It’s a military monster thriller set in the Te Urewera ranges. Here’s the blurb: 

When NZDF Sergeant Taine McKenna and his squad are tasked with escorting a bunch of civilian contractors into Te Urewera National Park, it seems a strange job for the army. 
Militant TÅ«hoe separatists are active in the area, and with its cloying mist and steep ravines, the forest is a treacherous place in winter.
Yet nothing has prepared Taine for the true danger that awaits them. Death incarnate.
They backtrack toward civilisation, stalked by a prehistoric creature intent on picking them off one by one. With their weapons ineffective, the babysitting job has become a race for survival. 
Desperate to bring his charges out alive, Taine draws on ancient tribal wisdom. Will it be enough to stop the nightmare? And when the mist clears, will anyone be left?


5. Do you have a favorite coffee or tea?

Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and my favourite place to consume either is in bed. 

 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.)

Wake, coffee, gym, see the family off, get dishes/laundry/beds done, write until the family get home, cook dinner, eat dinner, sometimes I write some more, go to bed, read, sleep. There’s a bit of a pattern. Underpants usually, because I’m a pantser.

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 …)

Actually, in Into the Mist, the matakite Rawiri Temera appeared first, writing himself into the story before I had even conjured up Taine. While Temera isn’t the main character, he’s integral in pulling the plot together, something I didn’t understand until late in the story. There’s an air of irreverence that I like about him, too.  

8. Who are your favorite writers?

I would list them, but you haven’t given me enough space to write their names. A lot of them appear on the shelves at Writers Plot, Readers Read

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

Piper Mejia – writer/educator
Cassie Hart – writer/editor
Celine Murray – writer/daughter

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

Sunglasses and pyjamas yes, pants no. 

11. Describe your perfect day.

Sunshine, a run, eating out, a movie, the beach, my family, and checking my page and finding out my book is a #1 bestseller. Oh and a film option: may as well throw that in there in case Taika is reading this.  

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

Any way you look at it Zeus and Hera were pretty badass: jealousy, revenge, power plays, infidelity ‒ those two did some really bad shit. They make NZ Couriers look bad.   


13. Do you have any quirks?

I can knit. Is that a quirk? 

14. All-time favorite movie and why?

Well, this is kind of embarrassing to admit, but a Murray family fave is the Howard Keel and Jane Powell version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. There, I said it. 

15. Do you enjoy the editing process?

I do find it hard to turn my internal editor off. The switch appears to be broken. Roadside signs that say, ‘Brocolli’ or ‘Tomatos’ or ‘Strawberry’s’ make me cringe. As do real estate blurbs that include the word ‘subdividable’.

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

First place in the competition for best spot in the world is still Tauranga in the gorgeous Bay of Plenty, mostly because my mum lives there. Second place is a toss up between Provence and the Loire Valley. And Nelson is nice. 

17. Favorite Pizza topping?

Forget the pizza, just give me the cheese.

18. What were you before you became a writer?

A research scientist. Someone with fewer grey hairs.

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

I crossed the world to attend a cousin’s wedding. I wasn’t going to – we couldn’t afford it – but two days before the event, I said stuff it, bought a ticket and went. 

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

Reading and avoiding the vacuuming, sometimes both.

21. Who is your ultimate character?

Horton the Elephant. 

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

Red, Malbec, but honestly I am a lightweight. I’m more likely to ask for tea.

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

Handses? 

24. Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?

Laptop ‒Surface Pro. 
PC – well yes, but sometimes I think people take it too far.
Mac ‒ ee ii ee ii o
Tablet ‒ okay, I admit I only really like dairy milk.

25. Ebook or tree book?

Any book! I’m partial to speculative fiction and horror. 

26. Favorite apocalyptic scenario?

It goes something like Mae Martin’s song on Russell Howard’s Good News Extra (check it out, 12 minutes in):


27. Where do you do most of your writing?

In my teeny office on the porch. It’s exactly 1.5m2.

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 truth is [hides behind hand] I really really dislike social media, but as a writer it’s hard to avoid. 


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 Lee in the following places ... 


and of course we have Lee's books in store.



Tuesday 20 September 2016

Next in the hot seat: Trish McCormack



Kia ora,
Please welcome our latest victim guest, Trish McCormack. 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?
Very!


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

2. Describe your current mental status.
Changes by the minute - but laughing right now.

3. I know how I do what I do … but how do you do what you do?
WHAT???
Oh yes got it - hmm usually at the last minute - I need to be staring at the end of a deadline to achieve anything.


4. Could you tell us a little bit about your latest work?
My third Philippa Barnes mystery, Cold Hard Murder grew out of my experience of being a national park worker in Punakaiki during the heyday of cave exploration. Our boss took us out looking for caves when we were supposed to be working. I remember being shoved into a cave (feeling like a canary in a coal mine) I was the smallest of the team and could theoretically wriggle where no one else could go. The experience has given me lasting claustrophobia but I put this to good use when I imagined a killer somewhere close behind me in a twisty limestone labyrinth. And turned the scenario into a novel.


5. Do you have a favorite coffee or tea?
Flat white coffee - at least double shot. 


 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.)

Struggle out of bed taking great care not to disturb Miss Lizzie our beautiful cat, mainline first coffee of the day, walk to work, try to find something funny there (spoiled for choice usually), walk home, dinner and RED WINE TIME, read a great crime novel (last night it was Frances Brody's Died in the Wool which I thoroughly recommend), write (when approaching aforesaid deadline), go to bed when summoned by Miss L. Oh and underpants? Let's just
say: unglamourous.

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 …)

Philippa sidled into by consciousness years before I started writing about her. She was the encouraging voice in my head when I did things I shouldn't - career-limiting bridge-burning things - and you know what? I regret (almost) none of them. But she had better things to do than watch me mismanage my life.  She was young, gutsy, full of energy - and coping with tragedy and responsibility that were not of her own making. She was also eternally curious, kind, indiscreet (not the best trait for a sleuth) and self-deprecating.  

When she appeared in my first book some readers didn't like her anger and this surprised me as given what she was coping with I didn't think she was angry enough! Others loved her for her sparky personality. I must say I liked this feedback more! Then there were a couple of readers who contacted me to tell me she was drinking too much. She probably still is … Three books later and maybe she has mellowed a bit, but the edge is still there. She's fascinated by people and their secrets and always willing to try and solve mysteries no one else wants to touch. 

She lives my dream. When I'm writing her stories in her wonderful NZ glacier and national park world I feel like I'm there too - miles away from city, work and boring reality. 



8. Who are your favorite writers?
So so many but top of my list right now are Louise Penny, Val McDermid, Frances Brody, Charles Todd, Elly Griffiths, Cat Connor, Tina Clough, Sharon Bolton, Kate Saunders, Deborah Crombie, William Brodrick, Ann Cleeves.

Favourite past inspirations which remain perennial - PD James, Agatha Christie, Dana Stabenow, Josephine Tey, Kate Atkinson, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, Reginald Hill, Elizabeth George, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers.


9. Who inspires you to do better?
Reading great crime fiction by other writers. And wanting to help put New Zealand on the world map as the place for the perfect crime.

10. Do you ever put pants on your dog, cat, or budgie?
I wouldn't dare try and dress Miss Lizzie! But back in the day my sister and I did dress up our dog and cat.

11. Describe your perfect day.
A good hill walk - Makara on the Wellington coast is a great favourite - followed by a swim in the sea, then an evening of red wine, good food and a great book - with Miss Lizzie in close attendance for latter part of programme

12. Who is your favorite fictitious villain? Or are you all about the hero? Who do you love to hate?
Two spring immediately to mind - Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca -and Kate Atkinson's Gloria from One Good Turn. They are truly inspirational! They could be villains or heroes - like the best people I know in the real world!

13. Do you have any quirks?
Heaps. 

14. All-time favorite movie and why?
Gone with the Wind because I love Scarlett O'Hara - what a role model!

15. Do you enjoy the editing process?
Not much - but when I see my MS improving it is a good feeling. I hate it when you work and work and NOTHING seems to be changing and the words are lying on the page like lumps of mud.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
That changes - but this year I'd live six months at Awaroa in Abel Tasman National Park followed by six months in that wonderful book town Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border.

17. Favorite Pizza topping?
Cheese. No contest

18. What were you before you became a writer?
A stroppy teenager trying to avoid work or anything else that looked like commitment.


19. What is the most random thing you have ever done?
Lying in a discarded coffin (left aboveground for no apparent reason) in an old goldfields cemetery watching the stars. Then getting married in the same cemetery. Divorce followed …


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

21. Who is your ultimate character?
This changes from year to year so I can't just pick one. My rogues line up would be: George from the Famous Five, Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon, Harriet Vane, Miss Marple, Jane Tennison, Anna Pigeon, Inspectors Gamache, Dalgliesh, Wexford and Dalziel, Jackson Brodie, Deborah Knott, Hamish Macbeth, Barbara Havers and  … where to stop!

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

23. What’s in your pockets? (Or handbag, whatever you carry your stuff in. Are you apocalypse prepared?)
Books, random handwritten notes, coffee money, socks, t-shirt and shorts, iPhone tuned to audiobook (I hate people ringing me and dragging me back to the real world). So no - not really prepared for the apocalypse.


24. Laptop, PC, Mac, tablet?
Laptop

25. Ebook or tree book?
Tree book - we recently bought a new house as we'd run out of room for all our books in our old one.

26. Favorite apocalyptic scenario?
Leaving the ruined city and going back to my roots in the heart of the country with a host of pets, my old weaving loom and a good garden. Our books will have survived so there'll be endless escapism into other worlds. And lots of good places to go walking. not to mention sea to swim in nearby.

27. Where do you do most of your writing?
At the dining table.


28. What’s the hardest thing for you when it comes to being an author? 
Marketing - the "how-to" advice makes me lose the will to live. 


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 Trish McCormack in the following places ...


Trish's books are available in or shop and via the website