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NZSA New Books List - February 2017
Congratulations to all those who have launched a book this month. Here's a selection of books that our members have sent in for the New Books Lists.
Keen to submit your book for the next edition of the New Books List? Please send to: Claire Hill
Deadline for next issue: 6 March 2017. Information about what you need to send in is explained on our website and at the bottom of this email.
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Fixing Mrs Philpott
Rachel McAlpine
Odd little Mrs Philpott drives away from Christchurch, a city shattered by earthquakes and aftershocks. She is also hoping to escape what she calls a “relationship problem” with her husband Bill. (He stays home, struggling to fix their broken house.) On a shaky road trip around Canterbury, Mrs Philpott must reconstruct her sanity, her marriage, and her very identity. With iPhone in recording mode, she receives a torrent of all-too-personal advice from an ever-growing community of friends. Further disasters test her to the limit. In a final violent confrontation, she must either prove that she is well and truly fixed, or lose everything. A fast-moving story that is comical, intimate and wise.
Available: from Unity Books and EKOR Bookshop & Cafe in Wellington, Scorpio Books in Christchurch, and twelve libraries. Also available as a Kindle ebook. Profits from Kindle sales in December and January will be donated to the November 2016 Earthquake Appeal (New Zealand Red Cross).
Author's bio: Rachel McAlpine’s other novels include Farewell Speech, Running Away From Home and Humming. Her non-fiction includes Real Writing, The Passionate Pen, and Write Me A Web Page, Elsie! She is also a poet and playwright, and recently edited Shaky Places, a song cycle of New Zealand poems.
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The Quay to the Cove
Lindy Davis
Exciting times ahead with the launch of a NEW coastal cuisine cookbook! The Quay to the Cove is essentially a collaboration that celebrates the life of British restauranteur Lloyd Rooney, together with the musings of New Zealand writer, Lindy Davis.
The lifestyle cookbook captures the soul of three popular Northland eateries, with over 70 dishes ranging from paddock-to-plate, coastal delicacies and sweet treats, translated into easy to follow, user-friendly recipes.
In addition to superb coastal and rural views of beautiful Northland, the fabulous food images will make you want to cook and eat everything in the book.
Available: published by New Holland, Dec 2016 - available in all leading bookstores or on-line booksellers.
Author's bio: born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Lindy Davis has worked as a print journalist for the past twenty years. Her stories feature in various New Zealand and Australian publications including Fashion Quarterly, Mindfood, Style, Good, Destinations.
Her debut children’s adventure book series The Golden Scarab and The Golden Scarab’s Secret – published by Pelican Press in 2007/13. Her latest book ‘The Quay to the Cove’ published by New Holland, release date December 2016. For further information, visit NZ Society of Authors – authors.org.nz. Facebook: Lindy Davis Writer. www.lindydavis.co.nz
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The Earth Cries Out
Bonnie Etherington
Fresh, different and exquisitely written, this is an exciting debut novel.
One day we were in a dream world, where Julia was dead and the space where she once was became large and silent, and then we were in another country altogether — where stories and voices made their way into our house any way they could. They heaved under the floorboards, whispered in the windows. Creaked in the attic like a python grown too big on rats. And I collected them all to fill that silence Julia left.
After the accidental death of Ruth's five-year-old sister, their father decides that atonement and healing are in order, and that taking on aid work in a mountain village in Irian Jaya is the way to find it. It is the late 1990s, a time of civil unrest and suppression in the Indonesian province now known as West Papua.
The family drops into what seems the middle of nowhere, where they experience a vibrant landscape, an ever-changing and disorientating world, and — for Ruth — new voices. While her parents find it a struggle to save themselves, let alone anyone else, Ruth seeks redemption in bearing witness to and passing on the stories of those who have been silenced — even as she is haunted by questions about what it means to witness and who gets to survive.
Available: From Penguin books and from all good bookshops. ISBN: 9780143770657; Price: $38.
Author Bio: Bonnie Etherington was born in Nelson, New Zealand, but spent most of her childhood in West Papua and her experiences there inspired The Earth Cries Out. Currently, she lives with her husband and cat in Chicago, where she is working towards a PhD in English Literature at Northwestern University. She was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2016, and has had poetry, short fiction, and travel writing published in literary magazines and anthologies in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Malaysia. She was highly commended for the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award in 2013, and named AA Directions’ New Travel Writer of the Year in 2011.The Earth Cries Out is her first book.
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Southern Gold
Jude Thomas
Southern Gold: a story of early New Zealand and the mystery girl who rises from the slums to become a compelling young woman.
It is boom-town Dunedin. Dreamers and vagabonds are pouring into the new colony. A newborn is found abandoned on the road. She finds acceptance in the notorious community of Maclaggan Street. But at six years old, she is faced with making her own way in the world of pubs and prostitutes, commerce and chance.
An elegant gentleman becomes absorbed in her sketchy past and vows to investigate. An Irish charmer pushes his luck too far. A studious boy decides she's a just calamity on legs.
This saga twists and turns through some of New Zealand's historical events, with staunch pioneer characters evoking Otago's gold fever days. From muddy city streets to wild-west shootouts, Southern Gold is a tale of love and courage against the odds.
Available: as a paperback from NZ booksellers. As an ebook from Amazon. ISBN 987-0-473-36555-4
Author's bio: Judy Tindill (writing as Jude Thomas) lives on the beautiful Mahurangi Peninsula north of Auckland. She was born and raised in Dunedin, where her historical fiction Southern Gold is set. She also spent many summers in the Central Otago region and says she can still smell the wild thyme and feel the shimmering heat. But her lasting memory of a southern upbringing is the piercing winter and her intensely itchy chilblains.
In 2015 Judy was awarded a manuscript assessment through the NZ Society of Authors CompleteMS Programme. This has been invaluable to her in the writing of Southern Gold, her first full-length novel. She is currently working on its sequel. Email: judy@silvereyepress.co.nz
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The Grand Electrification of the South
Gay Buckingham
In 1914, in the deep south of New Zealand, a revolutionary idea took root: Southlanders decided to build their own hydro-electric power station and supply electricity to the entire province, returning all profits to the people of Southland.
The rest of New Zealand quickly followed the southern innovation – to the extent that New Zealand had, during the interwar years, the greatest number of rural people with access to electric power in the whole of the developed world.
The Grand Electrification of the South traces the origins of the Southland scheme, its transition to government ownership, and the convoluted road of its return to the people of Southland within the structure of The Power Company Limited. Personal anecdotes and over 100 photos (many historical) and diagrams, illustrate the carefully researched narrative.
Available: produced by Mary Egan Publishing, it is available from The Power Company Limited, 251 Racecourse Rd, P O Box 1748, Invercargill, 9840.Telephone 03 211 1899. Email: enquiries@powernet.co.nz
Author's bio: Gay Buckingham BA (Otago) MA (IIML Victoria University) www.gaybuckingham.co.nz writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Her work has been published on line, on air, and in print, nationally and internationally. Gay lives in Dunedin.
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Notes from the Margins
The West Coast’s Peter Hooper
Pat White
The influence of Peter Hooper’s work lives on in the students he taught, the young environmentalists he worked with, and those who read with appreciation his award winning writing. Notes From the Margins: The West Coast’s Peter Hooper is the story of this poet and author, teacher, bookseller and philosopher.
In telling Peter Hooper’s life, this biography also becomes a story of the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, and how it influences the lives of those who live there. This is a book written on behalf of many who knew Hooper personally, but there is also much to be gained by others who will be making his acquaintance for the first time.
Available: Frontiers Press, c/ 17 Princes Street, Fairlie 7925. Frontiers Press c/ patvwhite@gmail.com. RRP $35. On-line banking payment option available. ISBN 978-0.473-38066-3.
Author's bio: Pat White is an author and painter who lives with his wife Catherine Day, in Fairlie, a small town in New Zealand’s South Island. He has published several volumes of poetry, most recently Fracking & Hawk (Frontiers Press, 2015), the memoir (How the Land Lies, VUP, 2012), and has exhibited artwork in various New Zealand galleries. His life of Peter Hooper was written in recognition of a valued friendship over decades.
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Armistice Anthology
With six stories by Woelf Dietrich
Long ago, the aliens known as the inlaris lost their home world in a devastating attack. They traveled for eons searching for a new home. But their new home, Earth, was already taken. At first inlaris and humans brokered deals bringing Earth into a new golden age of collaboration. The golden age didn’t last long...
From hopeful stories of first contact and alien teamwork to tales of post-apocalyptic survival and brutal interspecies conflict, these narratives portray startling snapshots of peace and war with an intensity that only very short fiction can convey. Each author’s unique stories enrich the shared, singular vision of the Inlari Sagas.
This collection precedes the Interspecies Series—volumes of full-length stories—and presents 20 tales spanning the years of the inlaris arrival on Earth, the golden era, the Great War that eventually followed, and the interspecies conflicts that still rattle the world in the aftermath.
Available: The electronic version is available via Amazon. The print version only releases in a month or so. Readers can visit Kosa Press for further information on availability. ASIN: B01NCTTHP1 (ISBN will become available once paperback is released)
Author's bio: Woelf Dietrich writes fantasy and science fiction tales which is maybe not such a far cry from his lawyering days. Sometimes he writes other things. He resides in New Zealand with his wife and kids and a dog.
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Symbols of Desire
Virtual foreplay for email lovers
Janet Peters
This is a small (41-page, A5), quirky book talking all the symbols from a keyboard and weaving text in and around each one to symbolise love and desire. It is suitable as a gift book for anyone in love (or lust)!
Available: on Amazon. Publishers Wakkajak Publishers, ISBN: 978-0-473-35100-7. Design by Daniel Jeanes.
Author's bio: Janet Peters is a Registered Psychologist who has written prolifically in the mental health and addiction arena. This book is a fun, quirky deviation from her usual writing. She can be found on: www.janetpeters.co.nz
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Harnessing Altruism
Sava Buncic
Harnessing Altruism is literary (futuristic) novel for adults, about the world in the mid twenty-first century and beyond, in which the very existence of humanity is threatened by an unbearably hot climate and shortages of essential resources due to the long-term insatiable greed of modern civilization. The Turnbull family struggles to survive under increasingly harsh conditions in the war-torn world, in miserable refugee camps and in underground sanctuaries having nothing else but minimal rations of poor food and water. In the process, from childhood to older age, Ed must keep learning where the balance is between his primal instinct for survival and desire to maintain his own essential traits of humanity, how to handle the ‘every man for himself’ situations while facing the risk of imminent death, and what is that one thing for which he would do anything in the world.
Available: on Amazon, also available on Wheelers. Publisher: AbSeeS. E-book and printed book ISBN numbers: ISBN-10: 0473382946 ISBN-13: 978-0473382940
Author's bio: Sava Buncic is a novelist, long-time scientist and university professor. Harnessing Altruism is his third novel, and follows his novels Mantle Convection and Inside Out of Bubble, which deal with hard choices and deep personal dilemmas encountered in modern life. Also, he is the author of several scientific books and numerous articles in scientific journals, all published world-wide. Sava is member of the Society of Authors in both New Zealand and United Kingdom. He has lived in constant motion between New Zealand, United Kingdom and Serbia for most of his adult life.
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A slice of life… A bit of love… An age of passion
Poems by Jim Reardon
A fascinating insight into the understanding of passion and love over the major epochs of life!” Jim Reardon expresses an insight into the ever changing visions of passion over a lifetime. From youthful ‘angst’ to weary acceptance of a love lost, he expresses poetically the human need for connection and intimacy.
A Slice of life...A Bit of love...An age of passion presents a lifelong, evolving notion of the romantic, often bitter, age of passion. “It’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”, is expressed and explored poetically to a depth that is expressive and real. Poetry at it’s best; expressing in words the emotions that dominate our lives. Read it and enjoy!
Available: Purchase through author at jreardon1@xtra.co.nz or through Amazon by title or James D. Reardon author. ISBN: 9781535583206
Author's bio: Jim Reardon is an author with over 50 years experience observing, connecting, and treating people—as a psychiatrist! His insight into human nature is wide and varied. It also includes observing this own emotional reactions to life, love and disappointment. His book of poetry allows him to present a documented description of his love experiences due to saving these poems written over the past 50 years. Through these written poems he can vividly recall and review his descriptions of youthful passion, as well as his varied experiences that changed his attitudes towards women.
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The Wolf and the Baby Dragon
Avril McDonald
Illustrated by Tatiana Minina
When Wolfgang and his friends learn about a secret cave where a baby dragon is growing they quickly run off to find it but, sadly, Wolfgang gets left behind. His bag is full of heavy worries that are making him slow and he just can't let go of them. When he trips on a rock and falls, Spider shows him how to rest his busy mind and tells them that worries aren't so bad if you share them. Nobody likes worries, so it's good to know how to give a worried mind a rest!
Suitable for 4- to 7-year-olds.
Available: from online bookseller sites and New Zealand Bookstores. Publisher: Crown House Publishing. PPR $23 ISBN: 978-178583021-1
Author's bio: Avril McDonald is the author of the Feel Brave Series of books (little stories about big feelings for 4-7 year olds) and founder of Feel Brave. Avril grew up on the Kapiti Coast but currently resides in Kent England. She is an ex-primary school teacher, business woman and a mum. She is also a fellow of the RSA, which has a mission to enrich society through ideas and action.
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I Too
Thomas E. Stazyk
Ben, Paul, and Ridge were best friends growing up, but their lives diverged. Ridge and Paul have successful business careers while Ben is a struggling teacher. When Ridge’s socialite girlfriend, Julia, hosts a twenty-eighth birthday party for him, they find that if they want to remain friends, they must confront some major differences.
Each of them wants more—Ridge wants success at any cost and to be accepted into Julia’s elite social circles. Idealistic Ben longs to be a respected academic at a prestigious university. Paul wants to succeed on his own terms.
They try to rekindle their friendship but encounter challenges. Each must choose between what they think they want to have and what they really value in life.
Both entertaining and challenging, I Too encourages the reader to look at the world around them and think about how they can make a meaningful difference.
Available: on Amazon in hard copy and ebook formats, Kindle
Author's bio: Thomas E. Stazyk was born in the US. After a business career, he did post graduate study in English and world literatures at The University of Auckland. His first novel, Identities, explored the relationship between personal identity and the individual’s role in society and how individuals can make a difference in the world.
Thomas lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with his wife, Mahrukh, and they currently divide their time between Auckland and CUE Haven, a fifty-nine acre pastureland north of the city that they are restoring to a native New Zealand forest preserve for the community. Thomas can be reached at testazyk@testazyk.com.
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Rising Tide/He Tai Pari
Sarina Dickson
Illustrated by Jenny Cooper. Translated by Kaharau Keogh
Rising Tide/He Tai Pari is an engaging junior fiction self-help text for ages 8-12 that follows Ari through a series of challenging events and resolution. The book includes peer reviewed therapeutic lesson plans and family exercises. Research is being conducted by Massey University to measure the efficacy and impact of Rising Tide and its support resources, and to investigate ways to engage communities in low-intensity psychological resources. Rising Tide is the third in The Worry Bug series; Maia & the Worry Bug Julie Burgess-Manning (2015), Wishes & Worries Sarina Dickson (2015), also available in both english and Te reo.
Available: a web-based version is also available with audio in English and Te Reo that includes professional  development for teachers, further support resources for families, and notes for therapists. Please see www.theworrybug.co.nz for more information and to purchase the books. Published by Kōtuku Creative
ISBN: 978-0-473-36872-2/ISBN: 978-0-473-36873-9. RRP$19.90
Author's Bio: Sarina Dickson has worked alongside families and children with emotional and behavioural special needs in both the UK, USA and NZ as a classroom teacher, mentor and advocate since graduating in 1999. She has worked in the Family Violence field with adults and children in assessing needs, co-ordinating services and developing programmes. Sarina is the Teacher Notes Author for Scholastic, NZ and a tutor at Christchurch’s School For Young Writers. She is currently working on a young adult novel.
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Bad Oil and the Animals
L P Hansen
Heidi always dreamed of being a society photographer for the rich and famous. Instead, her first film project plunges her into a world of subterfuge as she joins a multi-cultural group of teenage activists from the Cook Islands, China, Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand, committed to saving orangutans in the wild. Their investigations lead them into the shadowy world of factory farming and they risk protest after protest with exhilarating success. There’s danger, disguise and daring and more than a little mischief. But when the police come calling at their school, has it been one stunt too many? Book includes current environmental books and websites for further reading.
Available: Onepoto Press info@onepotopress.com or direct from the author lindastrainingplace@gmail.com $23 posted in NZ. ISBN: 978-0-473-37380-1
Author's bio: L P Hansen is the author of An Unexpected Hero, introducing Archie Baxter, pacifist and father of James K Baxter. This book has been chosen for the 2017 ReadAloud programme, Years7-8. She won the 2012 Jack Lasenby children’s Writing Award for a story about a girl and a homeless man, and is currently working on a further fact-based book about wild and wonderful women.
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Notice of Death
The Ryxin Trilogy Book 3
Genesis Cotterell
This is a psychological thriller involving the death of a Ryxin woman. Her body is found washed up on a beach and Curtis is called upon by a prison inmate called Alys. She believes her friend Maggie has been murdered and wants Curtis and Janux to investigate.
Alys is nearing the end of a seven year sentence for bank robbery and suspects one of the ex women prisoners is the killer.
This book follows a complex web of intrigue, with the themes of love, discrimination and revenge moving the story to its final unexpected conclusion.
Available: on Amazon as an e-book. ASIN: B01NH9U4AZ. For further information about my books see my website or my blog.
Author’s Bio: Pauline Hayes (pen name: Genesis Cotterell) is an independent author living in Napier. She has recently self-published the third book in the Ryxin Trilogy. All three books are available on Amazon Kindle. She lives in Napier and is currently working on a new murder mystery set in an office. This will be published under her own name.
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Talisman of Hope:
Book 1 The Stonemason’s Curse
Janet Bradley
Talia Ridgetree is thrust from her ordinary village life to embark on a journey to places she dreamed of seeing. While the mission of her quest focuses on seeking important answers in the troublesome time of pending war, Talia faces much magic and mysticism as she attempts to settle other curiosities of her life. In the company of an assorted band of wizards, elves, herbal masters, and a miner, Talia carries the talisman through lands as treacherous and dangerous as the creatures and adversaries they meet. Talia struggles and learns through her woes and mishaps, her battles and victories, her challenges and follies. As her quest introduces new obstacles, Talia’s journey to a wise wizard complicates with the obligation to defend dwarves and free dragons, and with every step of the way, her adventure will thrill every fan of epic fantasies.
Available: Amazon, Austin Macauley ISBN Numbers: Paperback; ISBN: 9781786127174, Hardback: ISBN: 9781786127181, eBook: ISBN: 9781786127198, ISBN: 9781786I SBN: 9781786127181127174
Author's bio: I write under the name of Janet Bradley. I live in Tuatapere, a small town at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. I work on a dairy farm as calf shed manager. I live with my two dogs and a small pony (not in the house). I possess a lively, other-world building imagination that I enjoy putting into words.
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New Books List Submission Requirements:
Are you an NZSA member? Like to feature your new book in the New Books List? Please email the following to Claire Hill at office@nzauthors.org.nz
- A JPG, or PNG image: The book's front cover (we don't need back cover).
- A Blurb: 1-2 brief paragraphs about the book. (Max 150 words)
- Available: Don't forget to include relevant information about where your book can be purchased. If your book is available to purchase online, include the html links. Include publisher name and ISBN number if applicable.
- Author's Bio: 1-3 sentences about you. We don’t need a full CV – just the edited highlights. NB: A link to a website is not a bio. (Max 100 words)
And please do a final read and spell check before you send!
The New Books List takes a summer break in January.
The deadline for the next issue is: 6 March
Image: Carson McCullers
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