Thanks to Creative New Zealand for an Arts Grant to work on these projects for the next wee while.
Book 1: Charlie Tangaroa and the God of Peace will be Book 3 in the award winning and internationally acclaimed Charlie Tangaroa series. In this story, Charlie moves beyond the familiar world of Tolaga Bay as his kapa haka rōpū have been selected to perform for dignitaries at an indigenous conference in Australia. On their return, Charlie has brought back a foreign atua. The sons of Ranginui and Papaūānuku mobilise to destroy this ‘manuhiri.’ Can Charlie, with the help of Rongo, bring about a peaceful outcome or will the rage of the atua destroy Aotearoa in the wake of their wrath?
Book 2: Killing Time is an indigenous ‘time slip’ crime thriller, set in the mid 80s and the early 90s. The body of a university backpacker is discovered five years after his disappearance. The killers are caught and, during the trial, journalist, Tash is brought face to face with her own guilt around her actions at the time the young man went missing: they were friends and she let him down. She’s always felt partly responsible for what happened to him. However, there is a supernatural twist and Tash finds herself reliving the events just days before her friend’s disappearance. She believes she’s been given the chance to change the course of history and save his life. Yet, everything she does only seems to repeat history. The novel asks the questions: does knowing what will happen give you the power to change an outcome or only ensure your destiny is set? And, if we were giving a chance for a ‘do-over’, how much really would things (and we) be different?
Book 3: The Writing Teaching - a memoir
Mai i te kōpae ki te urupa, tātou ako tonu ai. (From the cradle to the grave we are forever learning.) Education is a spark of fire, the beginning of a journey for untold minds. It is the way into our stories, our past, our whakapapa. It is the hope for the future. My vast and varied experiences as a student, teacher and writer since the 1970’s place me at ground zero for many of the things which have occurred in education for the past fifty years: political, social, environmental, personal. This memoir will tell the world why I continued to work in education, despite all the stresses, the changes, the bullying. Why I loved my job. And why I’m good at it. My stories will be the pou tokomanawa (the centre pole) of the narrative as the memoir explores the social and political climate and events through the personal lens of an educator, a mother and an award-winning novelist. Along with digging behind the scenes of staff rooms across the country, the meeting rooms of government education agencies, and the public tussle by the PPTA to improve conditions for teachers, I will also explore my return to being a student. Completing a BA in Māori Studies, honours and then embarking on my PhD, has allowed me to walk in two worlds. I want to discuss what it’s like to learn to speak te reo Māori as an adult student. And the highs and lows of discovering my Māori whakapapa.
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