Winning and Losing

Thoughts on being chosen

This week ended on a high note, with me picking up a Storylines Notable Book Award for the second book in my trilogy, The Miracle.

It’s really wonderful to be recognised for writing one of the best books for young-adults published in New Zealand last year. I only just made it to the celebration yesterday, thanks to fog in Christchurch and Auckland disrupting flights all morning. I landed three hours late but still arrived at the National Library just in time for the presentation of certificates. Sadly, I missed Tim Tipene’s speech, but I didn’t miss out on tea and cake, and the chance to catch up with lots of writer friends. The New Zealand children’s literary community is small and friendly, and these events are one of the few times I get to see people.

The whole afternoon was wonderfully amateur - run by a group of mostly women volunteers who are passionate about books for children. There is so much obvious pride when they talk about authors such as Joy Cowley, Margaret Mahy, Tessa Duder and Tom Fitzgibbon. These are the literary giants in this field, and most children in New Zealand come across their work through reading programmes in schools. I’ve lost count of the number of Joy Cowley books my own kids brought home from school when they were first starting to read, and Margaret Mahy was an old neighbour of mine, known for her walks along the foreshore track with her dog.

I’m really proud to see The Miracle in print because, honestly, it was a miracle I finished writing it. This was the book that I struggled with through during the immediate post-divorce years when I was fighting to survive emotionally and financially. It would have been so easy for me to walk away from this series, and I was tempted to, many times. I regularly emailed my editor, saying, I can’t do this, and she always politely reminded me that I just needed to keep writing. Just keep writing. I’ve still got no idea how I finally got that book over the line. But somehow, I did, and now it’s won a prize!

The third book is coming later this year – watch this space. I’m excited to finally have the series finished and get it out into the world.

I also found out this week that the series is being taught at high schools in Christchurch, and it’s both terrifying and deeply humbling to think of my little book on the shelves of classrooms alongside classics like Z for Zachariah and Lord of the Flies. I wonder how many students will remember my story when they are adults, in the same way that I still remember the books I read at school. These are formative years.

It’s now nine weeks until my sabbatical, and the countdown has truly begun. I’m getting things lined up at work, bringing in new tutors at the writers’ institute, so I can leave my teaching in safe hands while I’m away, and I’m starting to look at visa requirements and immunisations. For once, I’m trying not to leave everything to the last minute.

There’s been a shift in my love-life this week too. Something that I probably should have expected.