My short story Honey Babe is now available to read on the Overland website. 
You can read Honey Babe here. 

If you enjoy it, you might also like my story The Hedgehog, which is available on the Turbine Kapohau website. 
You can read The Hedgehog here. 

I'm working on a couple of longer projects at the moment, so it's been great to have the opportunity to get some short stories out into the world recently. My story Honey Babe is in Overland (it should be available to read online soon), and my story No Happy Ending is in the latest edition of takahē. I subscribe to both of these fantastic journals, so seeing my stories in their pages has been a real thrill! It was also a boost to be longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Huge congratulations to kiwi writer Shelley Burne-Field who made the shortlist this year. I love Shelley's short story ​Pinching out Dahlias and I'm looking forward to reading her shortlisted story, Speaking in Tongues.

Above: Research for my novel, Middle Distance, reading the Bruce the Cat books to a variety of audiences, the hedgehog that inspired my Turbine Kapohau story, takahē, the Holidays Act, Moeraki inspiration. 

In 2021 I focused on writing the first draft of a novel, so I didn't write and send away as many short stories as usual. However, I'm really pleased that the stories I did send out found excellent homes - Physical Education in takahē, What's The Point of Anything in Stasis, The Hedgehog in Turbine Kapohau, and Sea Legend in Te Herenga Waka University Press's Middle Distance anthology of long short stories.

Another short story, Honey Babe, is coming out in one of my favourite journals in early 2022, leaving just one story to find a home. Between the best of these stories, I've written about a third of a second collection of short stories. 

In the first part of the year (before lockdowns and traffic light systems) I also had the opportunity to participate in a number of events including the Dunedin Fringe Festival, the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival, and the City of Literature Readaloud Tour. 

Looking at my writing spreadsheet, I sent away for 37 publication, competition, residency and grant opportunities during the year. Of those, five were accepted, three I withdrew, and four are still in the mix. In 2021 my superpower was definitely getting my stories placed in great outlets, whereas my kryptonite was residencies - I applied for 12 and didn't get any. (Even my self-funded residency was cancelled by lockdown!)

Rejections are interesting - sometimes they're just another line on my writing spreadsheet, but at other times opportunities seem almost tailor-made for me, and not getting those ones is always a bit of a knife to the heart. There were three of those this year.

That's why I'm particularly grateful to have been included in the Middle Distance anthology. The call for long stories came out just as I happened to be nearing the end of writing a long story. It's been a dream of mine to be published by Te Herenga Waka University Press (formerly VUP) for years, and this success really buoyed me throughout the year. Working with the wonderful editor Craig Gamble was like having a fairy godbrother, and I've loved reading the book and making connections with the other contributors. 

Another big success was working with MP Ginny Andersen to amend the Holidays Act to include miscarriage as a reason to take bereavement leave. It's pretty cool to think that I had an idea for changing the law ... and changed it!

And as well as finishing the first draft of my novel I also finished the first draft of my doctoral thesis. 

Despite these successes I finished 2021 feeling a bit 'meh' about my writing life, which is possibly just a consequence of the global pandemic we're dealing with making everything that little bit less fun. 2021 was also the year that I decided not to write and illustrate a third Bruce the Cat book, and to wind down the Bruce the Cat social media. It was the right thing to do, but also the end of a very special period in my life. 

In 2022 I would like to finish my doctorate, finish another draft of my novel, and continue to write and place short stories with the ultimate aim of publishing a second collection. I'd like to continue to grow and develop as a reader and a writer. 

Behind the scenes I'm working on a couple of collaborations, and I'd love to get them off the ground. They're both projects that require funding, so .. fingers crossed!

And I have an idea for another book and a couple of ideas for creative nonfiction pieces. Watch this space! 

I'm coming to the end of my writing retreat in beautiful Moeraki. 

I spent the first day revising a long short story, the next couple of days writing a humorous short story, and over the past few days I've worked up ideas for something that might become a bit longer. 

A writer friend of mine stayed with me for the last two nights and we had loads of fun sharing story ideas and going on missions to the Katiki Point lighthouse (didn't see any penguins but saw loads of seals) and small settlement the Kaika ... and out for dinner at Fleur's Place seafood restaurant (luckily for us, they also have an excellent vegetarian menu). 

It will be great to go home but I'll really miss the sound of the sea, the incredible, ever-changing views, and the abundance of creatures - from the baby silvereye that flew inside my crib, to the goose I spotted wandering down to the sea and going for a dip, to the absurd numbers of rabbits (you might round a corner and see ten of them sitting completely still in a clearing, as though they're holding some kind of bunny freemason convention), to the spotted shags and oyster catchers and pied stilts ... and of course the kekeno (fur seals). 

In the meantime, I have a challenge set by the owners of the place I'm staying in - to eat as many of the courgettes from the garden as I can before leaving. 

​Challenge accepted!

I'm two days into a week-long writing retreat in a quirky little crib in the pretty fishing town of Moeraki, where I'm working on some stories for a new collection. 

I've been writing a fishing story called Sea Legend, and I'm in the perfect spot for a re-edit, with a view out over the sea from the table on the porch. As I worked on the story last year I had research help from a skipper and a former fisherman. The fisherman has stayed in touch and I sent him a copy of the story yesterday. He read it and came back with a couple of notes on gutting fish, but also very kindly said, "The feel of the story seems to match the experiences I had, the banter etc."

Whew, I didn't read The Catch, Into the Raging Sea, The Old Man and the Sea, Song of The Sea, Last Man Off, Trawler and The Perfect Storm, and watch about 77,000 YouTube videos for nothing! (The Perfect Storm and The Old Man and the Sea are both excellent. As for the YouTube videos, there are so many crazy sea videos out there and they're just fascinating. There is some terrifying footage of ships struggling on huge swells. But this timelapse of sunsets and sunrises at sea is very beautiful and soothing.)

Today I started working on a curious little story inspired by a recent hedgehog rescue. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I'll have a sense of whether or not it's worth pursuing. 

I also had a chat with director Charlotte Wanhill about a possible second season of web series Misconceptions, and I submitted a funding application for support writing that second collection of short stories. Fingers crossed!

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on...

I often write about topics that alarm me – climate change, animal cruelty, inequality, misogyny. As a result, the overall tone of Pet was one of ‘unease’, and I would like my next work to be more uplifting. Delight is joyous, hopeful, seductive. Bad deeds are punished, good deeds rewarded, and the beauty of nature abounds. Mythical creatures such as the Canterbury Panther share the pages with everyday wonders such as Queen bees, spotted toadstools and wild strawberries. In these stories the ‘goodies’ usually win and the villains – including an inconsiderate netball player and a lawbreaking skipper – get their just desserts.

What a roller-coaster ride the past few weeks have been!

Pet launch
Changing Covid-19 alert levels put paid to my book launch plans - but luckily Newsroom (and No.1 Family Estate Wine) came to the party with an online book launch! 

You can check it out here. 

Sophia from Mary Egan Publishing (and dog, Gus) even recorded a special launch speech, above. 

Podcast
The Pet podcast is also available now! Thanks to OAR FM, Creative New Zealand and NZ On Air, the podcast is available via your favourite podcast app - and from the OAR FM website here. 

Publicity 
Thanks to ace publicist Sarah Thornton, the books have been getting some great media coverage too. If you're interested, you can check out these articles:

• Otago Daily Times feature article
• NZ Booklovers Q&A
• Read NZ Q&A 
• The Sapling's Mahy questionnaire 

Where to find a copy
If you'd like to get your own copy of Pet, you should be able to find it at your local bookstore. Otherwise, you can get it online from a number of outlets, including: 

• University Book Shop 
• Time Out Bookstore 

Above: If you think I look tired in this photo, you're right! It was taken the night the crowdfunding campaigns finished. 

Thanks to the support of incredibly generous people from around Aotearoa and the world, my crowdfunding campaigns were successful and this month Bruce Goes Outside and Pet are both being released into the world! 

With any luck, the book launches for both books will go ahead in both Dunedin and Auckland. Everyone is welcome to attend. Click the links below to find the Facebook events. 

Bruce Goes Outside: Dunedin
10.30am Saturday 15 August, University Book Shop
Featuring face painting and colouring-in

Pet: Dunedin
5.30pm Tuesday 25 August, University Book Shop
Featuring wine, cheese, and performances from the Pet Podcast actors

Pet: Auckland
5.30pm Friday 28 August, Time Out Bookstore
Featuring wine, cheese, and performances from the Pet Podcast actors

Bruce Goes Outside: Auckland
11am Saturday 15 August, Dorothy Butler Children's Book Shop
Featuring face painting and colouring-in