Thursday, October 24, 2013

On mess.

"You don’t know what you’re doing for a long time. It seems like a huge mess because it is a huge mess. If you looked at the notes from early on in the writing of this book, you’d think, “This person is crazy. This could never be a novel.” That’s how all my books have felt when I started writing them. Trying to explain them to people was like trying to explain a dream." - Donna Tartt, a woman after my own heart
I'm definitely in that 'mess' stage. Unfortunately most of the mess is in my head - I haven't even managed to commit much to paper/screen. I have faith that it will all come together - I remember going through a similar stage with Magpie Hall.

Sunday, October 06, 2013

Butterflies, Magpies and Selkies - a talk.

This is very late notice, but I am giving a talk to the Friends of Christchurch Libraries tomorrow (October 8), and anybody is welcome to attend. I'll be talking about the research and stories behind my three novels. If you ever wanted to know about the Brazilian rubber boom, taxidermy, Victorian tattooing and Celtic myths, this could be for you. Here's the info:

Date: Tuesday 8 October

Time: 12.30 pm

Venue: Board Room, Fendalton Library and Service Centre
Cnr of Clyde and Jeffreys Road

Cost: Gold coin donation

Speaker: Rachael King

Award-winning Christchurch writer Rachael King talks about the research and stories behind her three novels: The Sound of Butterflies (2006), set in the Brazilian rubber boom of the early 20th century; Magpie Hall (2009), a story of tattooing, taxidermy and family secrets; and Red Rocks (2012), a novel for children which transplants the Celtic selkie myth to the wild south coast of Wellington.