“A horse can hear your heartbeat from four feet away. If your pulse is elevated, the horse will interpret it as danger. The notion of staying calm around a horse because they can sense your fear comes not from the worry it might exploit you, but from the chance it will become a nervous wreck and a danger to itself and to you."
I wrote an essay about rediscovering horse riding as an adult and looked back at some horses of my past, and examined why horses are a source of beauty, ...
Here is what writers and reviewers have been saying about The Grimmelings:
“The Grimmelings succeeds as a fantasy adventure story, with convincing magic and deliciously judged suspense. Beyond this though, it is a book to savour for its storytelling craft, its detailed depiction of family life, and the way it will feed young readers’ ravenous minds with words and ideas.” Courtney Johnston, The Spinoff
“A dynamic new adventure that will reverberate in the reader’s memory... playing with words in the ...
I appeared on RNZ's Nine to Noon show with Kathryn Ryan last month on the day The Grimmelings was launched into the world. We talked language and dark folk tales, the work of Robert Macfarlane and Robin Robertson, taking time to immerse myself in reading, writing and understanding how stories work, and the beauty and power of the South Island landscape. Read a summary and/or listen on the RNZ website.
I had hoped to finish this by the end of the year but it became somewhat of a behemoth. As demonstrated in my last round-up, 2022 was a huge reading year for me. I revelled in reading wherever my interests led me and knocked off about 60 books (partly helped by the fact I judged an award). In 2023 I wasn’t quite so greedy. I think it was partly because I wasn’t immersed in one writing project as I was in 2022; instead I bounced around between different things (the lot ...
Writers have been announced for the Auckland Writers Festival Schools Programme on the week of 14–16 May 2024. I am excited to be appearing alongside Jason Gunn, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Elizabeth Acevedo (all pictured) as well as Steph Matuku, Natalie Haynes (I'll be chairing her conversation for secondary school students) and many more! The full programme is now out and schools can go here for more information and to register. See you on the big stage!
