Category: Spring Harvest

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Author Harvest ‘bales’ up NZ’s Rae Roadley

How does a life-long city dweller in her middle years find ‘love at the end of the road’, particularly when that road threads through the backblocks of New Zealand and winds up at a sheep and beef farm on the Kaipara Harbour?

Rae’s memoir tells that story — a story that begins with a blind date. And while the road to love has its challenges and heartaches, the setting…

Well, just look at the stately old Batley House. Magnificent. A boarding house in the late 1800s and in then 1970s a home for solo-parent children. But then along came Rae, finding Love at the End of the Road.

At home…Batley House

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

Often a massive bowl – more than a litre – of Pacific Oysters the farmer has just plucked out of the harbour.

(Yum!)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Trackies – yay! I went for a run today… more of a run/walk, but only my dog was looking.

Tell us what you buy when you walk into a fish and chip shop.

(Nah, only teasing you. Sorry Rae, you now I had to :)))

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). How about over there in the north of New Zealand. What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I love my Aussie Akubra – bought when everyone I rode horses with in LA wore wild west cowboy hats.

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realised that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

When my job didn’t involve writing as promised, but fending off creditors while the company went noisily down the gurgler, I immediately trained as a journalist.

Oh – and that wasn’t the question: After signing my contract with Penguin and I daydreamed through three motorway off-ramps. I was a danger on the road.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview?

Were you nervous when your memoir was published?

How would you answer that question?

I lived on Rescue Remedy and my ‘scary’ list included: Things I haven’t worried about.

At a recent conference I attended two community leaders – a bloke and a dame (a real one, dubbed by the queen) – spoke movingly about leadership, saying a key attribute was strong emotional health. If I’d always been a steady six or seven, which is probably where I sit now, there’d likely be no memoir. Truth is, in my troubled 20s I sank lower, then I devoted much of my 30s to the hugely rewarding upward climb.

Fun stuff…

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

I’m still fascinated by Madeline Albright – can I spend time with her rather than swap?

(Sure you can.)

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Feed you and tell a joke. There was a tourist and a prostitute…

(At last, someone wants to feed me. See, that’s why we clicked as critique partners. She gets me! Now start shucking those oysters, Rae.)

Jenn’s trivia: Rae, from across the Tasman (journo, fiction author, non-fiction author)was the first person to read my work, back when I was tense about my tense. (Still am!)

We were introduced by a critique partnering program. But as much as we hit it off, sending that first manuscript to someone other than family terrified me.

I still think sending your not quite there yet manuscript, knowing it needs work, is a bit like walking into a fitting room with that size 12 bikini while only one month into the diet!

 More about Rae…

Both Rae and I are sea changers, dog lovers and we’re also not afraid to grab hold of a second chance at life and love when one comes our way. Her memior will show you that (and a whole lot more).

Love at the End of the Road: Finding my heart in the country

Soon after returning to her hometown in Northland, New Zealand to work as a journalist, Rae meets farmer Rex Roadley through a rural dating service.  

Rex’s beef and sheep farm at Batley, on theKaipara Harbour, has been in his family for almost a century. These days the only evidence of the spot’s fascinating historic past is a magnificent two-storeyed villa standing alone on the point.

Neither Rae nor Rex are youngsters and their love affair, developing relationship and life together go through many twists and turns before they eventually marry.

Meanwhile Rae, a lifelong city dweller, learns to cope with mud, managing a large house and garden, the intricacies of farming, and the frustrations of life in New Zealand’s backblocks, all the while getting to know the locals and an assortment of animals – from wild kittens to wild bulls.

Rae’s charming story is beautifully written from the heart. Not only does she find love with Rex, but she finds out more about herself than she ever knew. Woven through her account is the story of the great house itself at Batley and the history of the surrounding countryside.

Love At The End Of The Road is published through Penguin Books.

For more about Rae and her writing: www.raeroadley.co.nz

Thanks Rae. Have a great holiday.

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Author harvest ‘bales’ up Jaye Ford

Jaye, Jaye, Jaye, you greedy girl. TWO Davitt awards for Beyond Fear? (And you ate all the red velvet cup cakes BEFORE I arrived.)

Please explain:

Jenn, I thought I was getting scones and a cuppa delivered to me while I wrote this. Since it’s you who’s getting the treat, I’ve made myself my standard ‘work’ cuppa – a black coffee made in a single-cup plunger and drunk from my ‘Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep’ mug, in the hope some of his coolness rubs off on my writing! For you, though, I baked some delicious red velvet cupcakes (thanks for the hint) and brewed a cup of Earl Grey tea. Enjoy!

Well thanks for the tea and…ahem…dry crackers, Jaye. So tell me…

At home…

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

No gnomes here. Although I’ve got a couple of large urns and a few quirky pots and lamps in amongst the greenery.

(And did I mention TWO Davitt Awards!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

I’ve always wanted to grow tomatoes successfully. I try almost every year and there’s always some disaster – grubs or possums and now my dogs, one of which thinks the unripened fruit are green balls, picks them off and tosses them around the yard.

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

The best thing in my fridge today is the lasagne cooked by my two kids last night. They are 23 and 21 and sometimes I think I’ve failed to pass on my cooking skills then I realise what I failed to do was get them to cook when their mother is home.

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

Green – and no, it’s not that I’ve sorted by colour, it’s that there’s so much there. It’s an addiction.

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Fifteen layers and a green lap rug – my office is always cold.

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Someone who lives in Tuscany and can pay my airfare. Do you know anyone like that, Jenn?

(Yes, and red velvet cup cakes might have loosened my lips!)

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I’ve got a small head and hats that don’t make me look like a pinhead are hard to find. I’ve got small feet, too, but I love boots – not only because they make my feet look bigger.

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

I’ve been both, actually. In a college play, I had the role of a tree that turned into a deer. I hear you snigger at the kind of acting ability that lands one such a role but I was the only tree deemed worthy of turning into an animal. That has to count for something!

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

To escape the knife-wielding psychopath closing in on her – I write thrillers, can’t help it!

(Wow, you and Juliet Madison – last week’s blog – are seriously scary dudes!)

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

The first offer I had for a manuscript came after almost ten years of trying to get published. It started a bidding war for my thriller Beyond Fear and suddenly, instead of just hoping someone would read it, I was making decisions based on what I wanted for a career. A startling and immensely satisfying moment.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I find the early chapters quite difficult. I don’t do much plotting but I usually have a good idea of how a story will open. I have a little fun with the opening scenes and the voices then chapter two turns up and it suddenly feels as though the rest of the story is a huge, unwieldy object that I’ve got to try to wrangle into shape. At that point, I’m still working out who everyone is, what drives them and how the story will unfold. There’s always a moment when the book takes on a life of its own but until that arrives, there’s a fair bit of stuffing around and thumb twiddling that makes it all pretty frustrating.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

Don’t tell her she can’t do it. My mum used to tell us we were generalists, meaning we weren’t the kind of people who were ‘good’ at any one thing but average at a lot of things. It used to bother me – I didn’t like the idea of ordinary, I wanted to be ‘good’ at something. It made me work hard at stuff. I should probably thank my mum for that.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

Can you speak faster? To which I would answer, how fast can I go? I’m a fast talker anyway and when I’m nervous or fired up, I sound like I’m on fast forward.

Fun stuff

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

She probably thinks I’m a pain in the butt. Always asking why she’s doing that and what she’s thinking and getting all pernickety about how exactly she’s going to do it, instead of just letting her at it.

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Have massive performance anxiety!

What food would you be?

Something sensible and relatively healthy with a twist. Maybe an apple with a couple of jelly babies on the side.

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.

Paper weight, book holder, page holder, door stopper … does it have to be five?

(No Jaye, of course not, Jaye. It can be any number you want, Jaye. Just put the knife down, okay. It’s just a chicken and it’s just fiction!)

How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).

I’d give myself a 7 – not so weird that people wouldn’t let me in places, weird enough that they’d wonder ‘what the hell’ if they asked a few searching questions.

And a 10 for seriously scary and seriously clever. (Scared Yet? Umm, yes!)

More about Jaye and her gnome…I mean her Davitt collection…and her books can be found at www.jayefordauthor.com The third thrilling book, Blood Secret (Random House), is due for release September next year (2013).

 

Author Harvest is just getting started. If you’ve enjoyed this post, there are plenty more in store with a spring, summer, autumn and winter harvest.

Why not subscribe to my blog and have the posts delivered to you inbox.

Just a thought 😉

 

 

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Author Harvest ‘bales’ up Juliet Madison

Talented, emerging author, Juliet Madison leaves no gnome unturned as she launches Author Spring Harvest…

STOP PRESS: I am so happy to announce Juliet is no longer an aspiring author. Her first novel, Fast Forward, will be published by Harlequin Escape Digital in February 2013. Escape Publishing

At home…

Juliet, my mum says garden gnomes make a house a home. Are you: (a) loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, (b) a closet gnomer or (c) with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

Hmm, well, now I think of it. I don’t have a gnome nor do I have much of a garden! All I have in my garden is a few shrubs, a trampoline, and probably a ton of fertilizer courtesy of my cat who thinks the whole yard is his toilet 😉

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

Hang on, let me check… okay, looks like I need to go shopping. I have a half-full (I’m an optimist) bottle of juice, a carton of protein-enriched rice milk (no dairy in our house), leftover soup, mayonnaise (half-full again), fish oil capsules and probiotics, chilli paste, mustard, apple cider vinegar, out-of-date pesto (and out of the fridge now), strawberries, vegetables, smoked salmon, strawberry jam (my son goes through bucket loads of the stuff), and an empty lemonade bottle (the one thing my son decides to put away, and it’s EMPTY).

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

Mostly pinky-purples! And no, I’m lucky to get as far as putting things away, let alone colour-coordinating them. Backs of chairs make such good clothes hangers!

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Bugger. Knew I shouldn’t have changed out of my Collette Dinnigan designer dress for the sake of the comfort and warmth of my ten-year-old tracksuit pants and lambswool jumper, complete with those little pilly bits hanging off it. Today is a cold day, and daggy is allowed.

(Juliet, daggy is the new black in my part of the country!)

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Downton Abbey. Then I could dress up in fancy clothes and put on my best British accent and hope that a handsome Turkish diplomat comes to visit (and doesn’t die, this time).

(Juliet, he may cark it if you feed him from that refigerator!)

Country curiosities…

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

Probably an owl because I often stay up late, as that is when my creative muse works best.  But I would prefer to be a cat and get lots of naps!

Now for the big country question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

He was chasing after the love of his life, of course. Why she was crossing the road, well that’s another question. Hopefully she wasn’t trying to get away from him!

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realised that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream and you were going to make it a reality and a career?

When a crisis resulted in me leaving my health business behind in order to help my son get through high school by distance education, and I realised that being at home full time would be the perfect opportunity to begin my dream of writing a novel. I’d had no time whatsoever when I was running a clinic, and I knew it was now or never. Three years and three novels later, I am one hundred percent committed to doing this as a career, as it is my passion and I love it.

 (FYI readers – Juliet joins Author Harvest this spring as a seedling, but she will be reaping the rewards of her hard work with a contract soon enough – or I’ll eat my Akubra.)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Surprisingly, the hardest part sometimes is stopping. I can get so carried away in the story and before I know it it’s 2am. Creativity strikes me at ridiculous hours. On the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes just sitting down at the computer and starting can be hard too, but once I start… well, see the first part of my answer!

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

Mother on a Mission

Okay, not wanting to take advantage of your hospitality, before I go, tell us…

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

I think Kelli, the protagonist in my most recent manuscript, FAST FORWARD, probably wouldn’t want to hang out with me after what I’ve put her through. I made her age twenty-five years overnight, forced her to bungy jump against her will, gave her multiple hot flushes, and almost killed her off courtesy of a revolutionary and ridiculously tight support undergarment. Then again, I did give her a happy ending, so for that she might at least meet me for a quick coffee once a year. I would have to pay, of course.

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

I’d tell you about all the funny things my son has done in his life, such as secretly wearing a Superman outfit under his school uniform at age six, and making a well-thought-out decision around the same age that he’d like to be ‘a man’ when he grows up.  If that failed to entertain, I could try summoning my dancing skills from the past and hope I don’t end up knocking over a valuable vase or something.

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

What? There was a time when people didn’t have sliced bread? 😉 

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.

1. Paperweight

2. Door stopper

3. Bug whacker (sorry bugs!)

4. Back scratcher

5. Weapon (if the need ever arose, though it might be more powerful WITH staples)

(Okay Juliet, I’m backing away now. Put the stapler down. I said, PUT THE STAPLER DOWN! (hehehehehe)

Thank you. The scones were delightful. Not only that, you have FREE treats on your website. So readers, what are you waiting for? Get your free gift now. http://www.julietmadison.com/