JENNY ARGANTE
Her favourite quote? “The only true writer is a re-writer.” (Farrukh Dhondy.)
Her main beliefs? “In unity is strength, and if we all do a little, a lot gets done.”
Jenny is currently editor-in-chief of Freelance – Writers Helping Writers, New Zealand’s only magazine for creative writers of all kinds.
“Pulling a notepad towards her, Maggie started her list.
Black 3B and 4B pencils, soft enough for the bold beginning strokes.
Brushes of hog bristles.
Sugar paper, cartridge paper, sketch pads.
Chalks and pastels.
Canvases, a new easel, stretchers.
And colours whose names were dreams as she set them down.
Viridian green, burnt umber and cadmium white; crimson lake,
cobalt blue and ultramarine …”
from ‘Colours’ in After the Act (Oceanbooks, 2012)
“He works to order on a generous scale,
openly plans and openly performs.
They work in secret, in the cracks between
the solid duties that their lives demand,
stealing the minutes unobserved to bloom,
subversive as a sin.
Like weeds, their art
must wrestle out its growth
from grudged and narrow soil;
like spiders, they tug yarn
from deep within.”
from title poem, Working in the Cracks Between (Oceanbooks, 2012)
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Books by Jenny Argante Published in New Zealand:
- 2004, Constructive Editing (Hen Enterprises)
- 2009, Narratives with Nosh: Stories, Poems & Recipes (Tauranga Writers; Jointly with Margaret Beverland)
- 2009, Who Do You Think You Are? An Essay on Family History (Little Red Hen Community Press)
- 2012, After the Act & Other Stories (Oceanbooks)
- 2012, This Side of the World: Tauranga Writers Celebrating 40 Years (Oceanbooks; Jointly with Sue Emms)
- 2012, Working in the Crocks Between: Poems (Oceanbooks)
- 2013, I as in Identity: Writing Based on Personal & Family History (Little Red Hen Community Press)
- 2015, Korero Purakau – Telling Tales (Little Red Hen Community Press; Jointly with Tommy Kapai Wilson)
- 2017, Catchat Tauranga Writers; (Jointly with Barbara Murray)
- 2017, The Art of Anne Westerskov (Tauranga Writers)
- 2018, Words at Work: Good English for Good Business (Red Hen Books)
ANGIE BELCHER
Like the volcanic ash erupting from Stromboli and carried on winds across far oceans, Angie Belcher’s father and his family arrived in Island Bay, Wellington, in 1923. In those days, the journey from Italy was long and thwart with discomfort and doubts. After some years, they settled and the circle of life continued.
Angie says her own writing journey has been similar; cast offshore to sink or swim, uncertain what the future holds and whether the effort is worthwhile. While her Italian side gave her creativity and a colourful upbringing, it was the New Zealand connection that influenced her writing most.
Diving, caving, hiking and biking provided exciting writing prospects resulting in commissioned work in Sri Lanka, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and parts of Europe. The published work began appearing in travel, adventure and in-flight magazines. But it was teaching and motherhood that allowed Angie to look closer to home, resulting in The Girls in the Kapahaka and The Woven Flax kete.
She adds, “Yet, with all of that experience it is only now that I finally have the confidence to write freely and creatively without the constraints of relying on a result. I am grateful for the constant support and mentorship of Jenny Argante. We are never too old or too experienced to learn.”
39 Brighton Street:
In 1925 Maria Concetta and Guiseppe Famularo arrived in New Zealand from the tiny volcanic island of Stromboli. They settled in Island Bay and were soon joined by other family members. As a strong family group they built new homes, new lives and raised young families.
Eighty-five years later, Maria Concetta’s youngest son Dominic, alone and unwell, moved into a rest home.
As if guided by the spirit of her great-aunt, the author arrived at 39 Brighton St, uncovering its hidden secrets, discovering her history and reflecting on her own life and future.
39 Brighton St is the fusion of an Italian heritage, person experiences and self-reflection linked with recipes, poetry and historical facts.
Full back and front cover attached
Helping Harmony – There’s More Than One Way to Save a Whale
Haunted by the death of a young Orca, Nikora Ahipene devotes his life to their study and preservation. Nine year old Ciara is also fascinated by these great mammals. After hearing Nikora speak to her class she decides to adopt an orca of her own. It’s not long before Nikora, Ciara, conservationists and local iwi collide when an orca pod strands on a narrow estuary.
Suitable for 7-10 year olds.
Girls in the Kapahaka
A fun way of learning about piupui from construction until they swing from the hips of the Girls in the Kapahaka.
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TREVOR BENTLEY
Trevor has written numerous articles for historical journals and three books on culture-crossing Europeans for Penguin. Pakeha-Maori was published in 1999, Captured by Maori in 2004 and Cannibal Jack in 2010. A member of the New Zealand Military History Society, his Tribal Guns and Tribal Gunners was published by WilsonScott in 2016. Written for general readers, Trevor’s books are based on archival research, field studies and interviews with the descendants of key 19th century Maori, Pakeha and Pakeha-Maori.
Trevor is currently researching and writing a new book to be entitled White Slaves, Maori Masters. In conjunction with this he is also editing an anthology, The Maori Captivity Narratives: Twenty First Hand Accounts From a Fatal Shore. You can borrow a Trevor Bentley book from the library, or order from the Penguin and WilsonScott websites and begin exploring the sometimes strange history of our colonial past.
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SUSAN BROCKER
Susan has a thirst for writing riveting adventure stories that draw the young reader in. She also has a close affinity with animals that shines through in her writing, especially in her novels such as Restless Spirit, Saving Sam, The Wolf in the Wardrobe, Ice and Caged.
Susan has a history degree and her novels often reflect her love of social history, such as Brave Bess and the Anzac Horses, Dreams of Warriors, The Drover’s Quest and 1914: Riding into War.
Recently, Susan wrote a series of picture books about true New Zealand animal stories. Beautifully illustrated by Raymond McGrath, these are Bess the Brave War Horse, Friday the Rebel Dog, Mrs Chippy the Cat and Pelorus Jack the Dolphin Guide
To learn more about her books and to buy an autographed copy, go to her website at
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ANNE CLEARY
Anne Cleary is a fiction writer who enjoys making up stories about dysfunctional and quirky characters and the situations they find themselves in.
In 2017 she won the Franklin Writers’ National Short Story Competition.
Her work has been published in magazines such as Mindfood, The People’s Voice and E-Local, and appeared in Things In The Well publications’ Trickster’s Treats 3 and Guilty Pleasures.
She has stories in the 2016, 2017 and 2019 editions of Byline, the Tauranga Writers’ annual anthology, which she now co-edits.
An active member of Tauranga Writers, Anne is a committee member and also writes a monthly report for the group’s Sunday Focus workshops.
Her current work-in-progress is a literary fiction novel The Sea-Glass Box. Set in 1992 in rural West Auckland, it explores a father-son relationship in the midst of family tragedy.
Aside from writing and reading, Anne is passionate about music and has an ever-expanding, eclectic collection of vinyl and CDs. She loves hiking in the bush, traveling, making jam, and watching The Antiques Roadshow.
Anne has two adult children and lives in Tauranga with her sporty husband, Glen.
Anne Cleary Competition Results:
- 2017 – Franklin Writers – 1st Place
- 2021 – Franklin Writers – 2nd Place
- 2021 – Franklin Writers – Highly Commended
- 2022 – Short Stories Unlimited (Australian) – 2nd Place
- 2022 – NZSA Graeme Lay Short Story Competition – Highly Commended
Anne Cleary Publications:
- Mindfood Magazine
- The People’s Voice Magazine
- E-Local Online Magazine
- Seven Deadly Sins (Things in the Well)
- Guilty Pleasures (Things in the Well)
- The Four Seasons Project (Short Stories Unlimited)
- Byline (Tauranga Writers Anthology)
- A People’s History of the Bay of Plenty (Tauranga Writers)
KAREN COSSEY
I’ve always enjoyed stories and books. I loved to read curled up on my favourite chair by the window when I was a child. When my two children were young I home-schooled them, and the best time of day was always story-time. Nowadays, I like to write stories that capture the fun of family and friendship mixed with a good mystery that keeps the reader guessing.
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VIVIEN EDWARDS
I am the author of:
‘A Path Through the Trees: Mary Sutherland – Forester, Botanist & Women’s Advocate’ (Writes Hill Press 2020). Review: https://www.ketebooks.co.nz/all-book-reviews/a-path-through-the-trees-vivien-edwards For more details on ‘A Path Through the Trees’ see ‘About this Book’ at the end.
- ‘Winkelmann: Images of Early New Zealand’ (Benton Ross 1987). Henry Winkelmann’s life and photography. (A NZ Book of the Year winner for design and production 1988).
Reference: ‘an attractive publication, which reflected a great deal of diligent and perceptive research.’ (‘A Good Place to Be: Auckland Museum People 1929-89’ by Ian Thwaites. p89. Puriri Press 2015).
- ‘History In Motion: Evolution of the NZL Group 1949-1999.’ (New Zealand Lumber Company 50 year history booklet).
- ‘Battling the Big B: Hepatitis B in New Zealand.’ (Dunmore Publishing 2007). Sandy Milne researched hepatitis B and while battling health officials and politicians to acknowledge the hepatitis B carrier problem in children, set up the first screening and vaccination programmes for hepatitis B in schools.
Past History and Previous Writing
I trained as a nurse at Tauranga Hospital, and nursed in New Zealand, England and Australia. In 1987, on the strength of several published articles and my book on Henry Winkelmann, I left nursing and became a freelance writer, mainly for trade and professional magazines. I regularly contributed to NZ Forest Industries Magazine, and NZ General Practice, which had name changes to GP Weekly, then NZGP. Other publications where my work appeared, include New Zealand Doctor, Management, NZ Business, The Transportant, Pharmacy Today, Safeguard, Her Business, New Zealand Pine International, Sea Spray, Bits and Bytes, Uno (Waikato and Bay of Plenty) and The Shed. (Some of these publications no longer exist).
Research and Talks
Due to health reasons, and wanting to focus on my own writing projects, I gave up freelance work, after about 20 years. Some talks on my research were published.
- ‘Pestilence from Abroad: After discovering the 1919 Auckland Hospital Board report on when twenty-seven crew members off RMS Niagara, were admitted to Auckland Hospital with influenza in 1918, I wrote ‘Ship of Death’ published in the Auckland Star 20 Oct 1983. Further research led to presenting ‘The 1918 Influenza Epidemic,’ to the Auckland Medical Historical Society. This was published in the NZ Medical Journal No 812, Vol 99, 22 October 1986. A nursing friend, the late Diana Masters and I dressed in nursing uniforms worn in 1918, to tell groups of nurses and various Auckland Historical Societies about the epidemic.
- As well as writing articles on Henry Winkelmann, which appeared in The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Writing News and Sea Spray, I presented ’In Search of Henry Winkelmann’ on 19 July 1988; one in a series of five talks given by different speakers on photography, which was organised by Photoforum Inc. I showed some of Winkelmann’s photographs, using an old lantern slide projector loaned by the Auckland Institute and Museum.
- ‘World Wars Create A Doctor And A Feminist. Dr. Christina Grant Bigham (nee Findlater). 1899-1991’ was published in ‘New Countries and Old Medicine. Proceedings of an International Conference on the History of Medicine and Health. Auckland 1994. Editors Linda Bryder & Derek A Dow, Pyramid Press, 1994.
- ‘Oliver Macey Quintal’ was presented to Tauranga Historical Society. July 2013. He was a Pitcairner given by his family to Bishop Selwyn, to be trained in missionary work. Instead, he became a solicitor in Auckland and was a Tauranga barrister from 1876-1883. Talk https://perma.cc/8BR5-6TAW
- ‘Hannibal Marks’ was presented to the Tauranga Historical Society in July 2014. A mariner, and gunboat commander during the Maori Wars, Marks was the harbourmaster and pilot in Tauranga. He drowned with his son in the harbour in 1879, and is buried in the Mission Cemetery. www.taurangahistorical.blogspot.co.nz
- ‘Wreck of the Nellie’ which hit Astrolabe Reef in 1878 and foundered on Motiti Island was presented at Western Bay District Council History Day in Te Puke 2012. (Published September 2020) www.taurangahistorical.blogspot.co.nz
- ‘Upper Tauranga Harbour and the History of the Omokoroa/ Matakana Island Ferry’ was at the Western Bay District Council History Day in Omokoroa, 2014.
My work has appeared in Tauranga Writers booklets A People’s History of the Bay of Plenty, and Byline 2018, 2019 and 2020. I belong to the Tauranga Historical Society, and participate in the U3A group on ‘New Zealand History – the Last 1000 Years.’ My stories also appeared in several booklets produced by a U3A writing group Pen Whisperers, which changed its name to Writing and Words and is currently in abeyance.
About this Book
‘A Path Through the Trees: Mary Sutherland – Forester, Botanist & Women’s Advocate’ (Writes Hill Press 2020).
Mary Sutherland graduated from the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University) in 1916. The first woman forestry graduate in the world, she worked with women in Britain’s forests during WW1; on a Scottish Baronet’s estates, then with the developing British Forestry Commission. After losing her position due to the 1921 Geddes Economic report recommendations. Mary came to New Zealand in 1923 and was employed by NZ State Forest Service. An educated woman with practical skills created challenges in what was then an all male industry.
After losing her position for the second time following the 1932 Economic Commission report, Mary forged a new career at the Dominion Museum, where she became the botanist, collecting specimens on field trips in New Zealand, and liaising with botanists around the world. During World War 2, she supervised at the YWCA-administered War Workers’ Hostel in Woburn, and at the end of the war, she was appointed the Department of Agriculture’s first farm forestry officer.
A conservationist, and life-long lover of trees, Mary maintained her membership with the New Zealand Institute of Foresters throughout life: she served on the NZIF council in 1935-36, and was vice president during 1941-42. Interested in the world, Mary travelled. She was proud of her university training, and believing all women deserved higher education, she served on various committees and the executive, for the Wellington Branch of the Federation of University Women. She died in 1955.
I am grateful to the Stout Trust, and the New Zealand Institute of Forestry for enabling Mary’s story to be published.
Research Behind the Book
When I discovered Mary Sutherland’s memorial plaque in the Redwood Forest in Whakarewarewa in 2009, I wondered how a woman was employed by the New Zealand State Forest Service in 1923, when not a lot of women work in forestry today. Locating the information to write Mary’s story and put it together has been a labour of love. -Vivien Edwards
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CAROL GARDEN
Carol Garden’s first novel Kidnap at Mystery Island was published by Scholastic in 2022 after it won the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award for best children’s novel by an unpublished author. KAMI went on to win a Storylines Notable Book Award and was a finalist in the 2023 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in the ‘best first book’ category.
Since then, Carol has taught a novel-writing course and written her first crime novel.
A former journalist, communications manager and secondary English teacher, Carol now works as an author, editor and a writing tutor. She is a keen sailor and a voracious reader.
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JAN GOLDIE
Hi, I’m Jan. I create fantasy books and stories for young people of all ages. My books include The
Broken Spell series – a magical fantasy adventure series – and A Mer-tale, a fantasy mermaid novella.
I have a number of short stories published in anthologies – the latest is in ‘Pause’ (2025, Maia
Publishing) and ‘Byline’ (2025, Tauranga Writers). More details available at jmgoldie.com. With a
background in journalism and web content creation, I’ve been writing from the get go. I’m a
member of the NZ Society of Authors, Bookrapt (The Bay of Plenty Children’s Literature Association),
SpecFicNZ (Speculative Fiction) and Tauranga Writers.
- Themes and values
Within the stories:
The elements – earth, air, fire and water
Balance – in life, in nature, in all things
Friendship – the power and resilience of our connections
Determination – true grit in the face of adversity
Mistakes are okay – we learn, we keep going, we thrive
For Massive Crush Press:
Imagine. Create. Collaborate.
Massive Crush Press believes imagination and creativity are essential ingredients in the baking mix of
life. Collaboration is the icing on the cake.
Shows and Events
The Broken Spell series (currently at book 3 of 6) is indie-published by Massive Crush Press. We
promote, sell and distribute eBooks and paperbacks through Amazon and in person, at book fairs,
science fiction and fantasy Conventions and markets/festivals. We also distribute to book stores in
New Zealand, including Kiwi Kids’ Book Store, Te Puke Paper Plus, The Book Exchange and more. In
the past year or so, we’ve attended the following events: - Armageddon Expo – Auckland
- Armageddon Expo – Wellington (Also spoke on the NZ writer panel)
- Armageddon – Expo – Christchurch (Also spoke on the NZ writer panel)
- Supernova Expo – Melbourne, Australia
- Oropi Market – Tauranga
- Te Manawa Library Indie Writer’s festival – West Auckland (spoke on panel)
- Papamoa Market – Papamoa
- Steiner Waldorf School market – Tauranga
- Grey Lynn Park Festival – Auckland
- Mt Eden Craft Market – Auckland
- St Heliers Market – Auckland
- Sandbox Fandom Festival – Whangarei
Later this year (2025) we’ll return to Armageddon Auckland, Sandbox Fandom Festival in Whangarei
and attend Los Angeles ComicCon for the first time in September.
Workshops
Creative writing workshops for young people:
- Creating a Fantasy Character
- Building a Fantasy World
Social Media Links
- Website
- Instagram: @authorjmgoldie
- TikTok: @jmgoldie.author
- Facebook: @jangoldieauthor
- Email: massivecrushpress@gmail.com
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Jacqui has led a full and interesting life. She’s worked as a teacher, bus driver, marine biologist, science manager and farmer.
Most days you can find her on Facebook. She’d love you to visit her webpage to find more of her stories.
Jacqui Greaves
Webpage: jacquigreaves-author.com
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Charlotte Lobb
Charlotte is an NZ-born author who lives in Tauranga with her husband, two children, and their fluffy cat. With a love of waterfalls and nature, she’s often piecing together chapters while walking around Mauao, visiting Puketoki Reserve, or clambering down the stairs at Kaiate Falls.
Brought up on a lifestyle block in Tamahere, just out of Hamilton, Charlotte kept busy in the earlier years with an array of interests and talents ranging from ballroom dancing, violin, piano and singing to being a member of the New Zealand Shooting Team and High Performance Academy for air-rifle shooting.
She graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor’s degree in Speech-Language Therapy (Hons.). Since then, she has worked in the hospital setting as well as in schools for children with additional needs. She’s the bizarre one who loves writing therapy reports.
Along with a passion for words, Charlotte has a desire to bring mental health topics out into the open, and to provide hope for those in need. Her debut novel, Hannah & Huia, has been published by Quentin Wilson Publishing.
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Vincent Lyon
Vincent grew up in Tauranga but after University, spent a decade teaching English in East Asia. It was there that an interest in writing resurfaced, primarily with poetry and screenplays, the latter in step with a passion for film-making. Then whilst in China, he became a freelance writer and assistant editor for the Changchuner, a magazine run by locals and expats. Now having returned to his hometown with a young family, Vincent is thrilled to become a member of Tauranga Writers. He plans to contribute regularly to Byline and pursue a long-held dream of writing (and illustrating) children’s books and other works of literature.
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SHARON MANSSEN
Sharon is now the multi-award nominated author of The Realmshift Trilogy – a YA fantasy fiction trilogy: Medar (2017 – Tom Fitzgibbon Award finalist, 2015), Tyrelia (2019 – Sir Julius Vogel (SJV) Awards finalist, 2020), Golden City (2020 – SJV and Caleb Awards finalist, 2021) and The Tablet – a Realmshift Trilology Prequel (2023, SJV nominated 2024). She is a New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) StartWrite Manuscript Assessor, NZSA Complete Manuscript Assessor and NZSA Youth Mentor. She was the President of Tauranga Writers from 2019 to 2024. She has been the President of SpecFicNZ since 2022.
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PIPER MEJIA
Piper Mejia is an advocate for New Zealand writers and literature and is a co-founder of Young NZ Writers – a non-profit dedicated to providing opportunities for young NZ writers.
As a child, Piper stayed up late laughing at horror films. As an adult, she spends a lot of time being disappointed by plot holes and yet somehow she has never lost her love for Science Fiction and Horror; two genres that continue to ask the question “What if …”
Her short fiction has appeared in a range of publications including Babyteeth, Conclave, Spec-Fic Short Cuts, Short Cuts Track 1, Te Korero Ahi Ka and Tricksters Treats 3.
Books:
A collection of her short stories, The Better Sister, was published by Breach in 2020.
Dispossessed, a YA Urban Fantasy novel, was published by IFWG in 2021.
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LEE MURRAY
A New Zealand-born writer of Chinese heritage, Lee Murray is this country’s most awarded writer-editor of science fiction, fantasy and horror with twelve prestigious Sir Julius Vogel Awards across multiple categories including best novel, youth novel, novella, short fiction, collected work, and service to the genre. A three-time Bram Stoker Award-finalist, Lee Murray is a writer of international acclaim, her most recent nomination (2019) for Superior Achievement in a Novel for her New Zealand speculative thriller Into the Ashes (Severed) in a highly-contested category previously won by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Ann Rice, and Thomas Harris. Lee is also a multiple finalist and two-time winner of the Australian Shadows Award for dark fiction by writers from the Oceania region.
Lee’s novels include the double award-winning Taine McKenna speculative thriller series (Severed Press, Australia), and supernatural crime-noir series Path of Ra (Raw Dog Screaming Press, USA) which she co-writes with Wellington author, Dan Rabarts. Among her works for youth are award-winning titles Battle of the Birds, and Mika (with Piper Mejia), as well as Misplaced, Conclave, and most recently Dawn of the Zombie Apocalypse (IFWG, Australia), all books which have strong New Zealand underpinnings. Upcoming titles (July-August 2020) include a debut collection of short stories called Grotesque: Monster Stories (Things in the Well, Australia) and Black Cranes (Omnium Gatherum, USA), a dark fiction anthology bringing together writing from Asian women writers from around the globe. Several of Lee novels have been translated for German and Spanish markets. Lee is also an accomplished editor, the curator thirteen anthologies of dark fiction, including four award-winning titles.
Distinctions:
- Literary Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Authors in the 2020 Waitangi Day Honours
- Life Member of Tauranga Writers, New Zealand’s longest standing writers’ group.
- Life Member of the Speculative Writers of New Zealand (SpecFicNZ).
- Co-founder and facilitator of Young New Zealand Writers (YNZW)
- Mentor/assessor for HWA, AHWA, NZSA, SpecFicNZ, Whitireia
- HWA international Mentor of the Year 2019
- Co-founder of the Wright-Murray Residency for Speculative Fiction Writers.
Contacts:
TITLES FOR ADULTS BY LEE MURRAY
Into the Mist (Cohesion Press, Australia)
Bestselling Into the Mist was longlisted for the international 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel, and a finalist in the 2016 Australian Shadows Award for Best Novel.
When NZDF Sergeant Taine McKenna and his squad are tasked with escorting a bunch of civilian contractors into Te Urewera National Park, it seems a strange job for the army.
Militant Tūhoe separatists are active in the area, and with its cloying mist and steep ravines, the forest is a treacherous place in winter. Yet nothing has prepared Taine for the true danger that awaits them. Death incarnate. They backtrack toward civilisation, stalked by a prehistoric creature intent on picking them off one by one. With their weapons ineffective, the babysitting job has become a race for survival. Desperate to bring his charges out alive, Taine draws on ancient tribal wisdom. Will it be enough to stop the nightmare? And when the mist clears, will anyone be left?
“Cinematic and evocative, Into the Mist is a tension-packed expedition into primordial terror.
Murray’s writing had me feeling the damp of the forest, seeing the mist curling through the fern fronds, and sensing the danger lurking there. Ancient myths, military men and scientists placed in remote, primordial locations – it had all the right ingredients for me, and it didn’t disappoint for a moment. Lee Murray is an author to watch.” – Greig Beck, best-selling author of the Arcadian series.
Available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo and all good book stores.
Hounds of the Underworld, Path of Ra series (with Dan Rabarts)
Raw Dog Screaming Press, USA, Releasing June 2017, Book 2 releasing 2018.
On the verge of losing her laboratory, her savings, and all respect for herself, Pandora Yee lands a contract as scientific consult to the police. And with seventeen murder cases on the go, the surly inspector is happy to leave her to it. Only she’s going to need to get around, and that means her slightly unhinged little brother, Matiu, will be doing the driving, whether she likes it or not. But something about the case spooks Matiu, something other than the absence of a body in the congealing pool of blood at the warehouse, or that odd little bowl.
Matiu doesn’t like anything about this case, from the voices that screamed at him when he touched that bowl, to the way his hateful imaginary friend Makere has come back to torment him, to the fact that the victim seems to be tied up with a man from his past, a man who takes pleasure in watching dogs tear each other to pieces for profit and entertainment. He wants to protect Pandora from this, but the deeper they get, the more he realises that they’ll have to fall into hell before they have any chance of walking away. And hell is a long way down…
“Filled with an incredible unity of voice and magnificent world building, Hounds of the Underworld was impossible to put down. I was hooked on the first page.” — Jake Bible, Bram Stoker Award-nominated novelist and author of Z-Burbia, Mega, and Salvage Merc One.
“Hounds of the Underworld is a wild and gruesome treat, packed with mystery, action, and dark humor. Horror fans will devour it!” — Jeff Strand, author of Wolf Hunt.
“A dark tech-noir so near to our future, it could be tomorrow, hard-boiled and hair-raising! One of the best speculative fiction novels ever written.”— Paul Mannering, Engines of Empathy.
Baby Teeth: Bite-Sized Tales of Terror, edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (Paper Road Press)
Winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collection, and The Australian Shadows Award for Best Edited Work. Includes the Australian Shadows Award winning story, Caterpillars, by Debbie Cowens.
Ever felt the hairs on your neck rise at something a toddler says? Inspired by the creepy things kids say and do, this collection of horror stories features unexpected frights, nervous giggles and often poignant reflections on life, childhood, and the terrors of growing up ‒ such as when your new house gets a taste for human flesh. And remember, when you hear your child calling for you in the middle of the night – the things that go bump in the night aren’t always under the bed.
Available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes and Noble and all good book stores.
At the Edge, edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (Paper Road Press)
Finalist in the Australian Shadows Awards 2016.
Step up, as close as you dare…
…to a place at the edge of sanity, where cicadas scritch across balmy summer nights,
at the edge of town, where the cellphone coverage is decidedly dodgy,
at the edge of space, where a Mimbinus argut bounds among snowy rocks,
at the edge of the page, where demon princes prance in the shadows,
at the edge of despair, where 10 darushas will get you a vodka lime and a ring side seat,
at the edge of the universe, where time stops but space goes on…
From the brink of civilisation, the fringe of reason, and the border of reality, come 23 stories infused with the bloody-minded spirit of the Antipodes, tales told by the children of warriors and whalers, convicts and miners: people unafraid to strike out for new territories and find meaning in the expanses at the edge of the world.
Compiled by award-winning editing team Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray, and including a story by Arthur C. Clarke finalist Phillip Mann and foreword by World Fantasy Award winner Angela Slatter, At the Edge is a dark and dystopic collection from some of Australia and New Zealand’s best speculative writers.
Available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Book Depository and all good book stores.
The Thief’s Tale, by Lee Murray (a kindle short)
Winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story.
Whitney is a thief. A good one. Like a mosquito she comes in quietly, first anaesthetising, then feeding, and finally leaving before her prey know any better. It’s a strategy which has worked for her 22 times in the past. But when she lands in Refuge, a discovery at an estate sale opens the door to other possibilities.
Available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Audible.
FOR YOUNG READERS:
Battle of the Birds
Winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel.
Annie’s family has moved to Wisconsin, and with her only friend away in Florida for the holidays, 11-year‐old Annie faces a long, boring summer. She lies on an eagle‐shaped hill and daydreams of home. Imagine her shock when the eagle breaks free from the earth and flies her home to New Zealand! But it’s not a New Zealand Annie is familiar with, and when she and her new friend Moana almost walk smack into a giant moa, Annie realises why. The eagle has flown her back to New Zealand, but she’s arrived a thousand years too early, and right in the midst of a battle between the birds. However, Annie’s visit isn’t entirely unexpected…she can speak the language of the birds and is part of an ancient prophecy. Now she must mediate in a battle between the great bird chieftains: the violent and vengeful Te Hokioi and the thoughtful philosopher, Moa. Suddenly, Annie’s summer doesn’t look so boring after all!
Available as an ebook, and in print direct from the author.
Misplaced
One evening, just before tea, Adam’s mum pops out for the milk and doesn’t come back, launching a frantic nationwide search. After weeks with no leads, the television crews drift away, the police start asking hairy questions, and Adam’s dad starts seeing someone else. Adam’s life is falling apart. But perhaps it was already unravelling and Adam just hadn’t seen the signs? He’s spending so much time in the counsellor’s office, he’s beginning to think he’s a head-case. Then he meets Skye, who it seems has misplaced a parent too, and things start to look up. That is, until a body is found…
Available in print and ebook.
Mika (with Piper Mejia)
Winner of the SpecFicNZ Shortcuts competition.
“A gripping and disturbing vision of an all too possible future.” — Brian Falkner, author of Brainjack and The Tomorrow Code.
Mika Tāura arrives in New York in the middle of a storm, where she accidentally kills a motorist and lands herself with an injured child. What’s more, she’s missed her rendezvous.
Stan has problems of his own. Several of them just broke into his apartment and tried to kill him, which may explain why hitching a ride in Mika’s armoured waka seems like a good idea. Besides, her business is taking her across to the West Coast, and so – conveniently – is his.
On the run, Mika, Stan and the girl flee across the country to Stan’s reservation home, where they encounter a couple who may be the key to Mika’s mission. But time is running out, for the travellers and for those they leave behind…
Available as a stand-alone in print and ebook, and in the collection Shortcuts 1.
Conclave 7
“a gripping pan-galatic death race” ‒ Ian Charles Douglas, author of the Zeke Hailey Mars adventures.
Rowan knew nothing about the secret in his DNA until he found himself on the Terrean team bound for Conclave Seven, the universal Games held every millennium. But on the eve of the Games, being a direct descendant of the warrior Spartacus is less like a gift and more like a death sentence…
Available as an ebook in Conclave: A Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and as a stand-alone print title from the author.
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Nina Payne
My first book, ‘Wind of Change-My Autobiography’, was inspired by my life journey, experiences, challenges, struggles, determination and achievements as an immigrant in New Zealand.
My second book, ‘Never Ending Footsteps Vol.1’; tells of some of my travels. I never realised travelling had always been in my blood. Travelling has increased my confidence and enhanced my perception of the greater world we live in.
My latest project is ‘Migrants’ Voices — Our stories’ is now nearing completion. Soon this will be in the publishing stage.
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DERYN PITTAR
I have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, both on-line and in hard copy. I also have a number of published novels, paranormal and contemporary, that can be found on my Amazon link.
I have also won or been placed in New Zealand and international awards and they are listed below:
- Prize winning finalist in Globe Soup International Paranormal Short Fiction Contest 2025
- 2nd in the N.Z. Cambridge Autumn Festival 2024 short story contest
- Finalist Best Youth Novel, Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2023
- Placed second in Ngaio Marsh Short Story contest 2022
- Finalist in Hammond House lockdown short fiction 2021
- 4th in Stephen DiBaise international poetry contest 2020
- Sir Julius Vogel Award Winner 2019 for ‘Best Young Adult published 2018
Click on Cover image below to see more of Deryn’s popular young adult book
PETER PRATT
Out of all our moves in Africa and England, New Zealand is the best. We still have a son Damon, in the UK and two grandchildren that we contact over Skype. In 2001, I retired after 50 years, in heavy engineering construction and later joined a small writing group in Yarm North Yorkshire. Yarm Writers gave me the inspiration I needed to write besides a creative course with a local college. Before then I had only written letters home during my worldly travels in Africa and the Arabian Gulf or daily notes in the company site diary. I read quite a verity of literature mostly autobiography and travel books. Some of my favourite travel authors: are Wilfred Thesiger, Paul Bowles, Ranulph Fiennes, Colin Thurbron, Jan Morris, Ernest Hemmingway Maurice Shadbolt, and many more.
Writing my memoir — It seemed to take forever—but what fulfilment and joy. I must admit that my main interests lay in travel writing, researching, poring over maps, flicking through photo albums — reliving the moments of our journeys, by road, ship and plane, mixing with people of all nationalities and lifestyles. When I am not writing I am a member of Otumoetai Golf Club and exercise twice weekly at Snap-Fitness gym, presently one their oldest members. I love the outdoors, walking, meeting people, taking photographs and driving. At 6-30 am, I start my day walking our retriever Skye along the estuary boardwalks, snapping birdlife and together we watch the sunrise over the Waikareao Estuary and the Mount. Although I find writing and researching hard going, as I always have, (one can tell by the full wastepaper bin of re-writes. My present ambition is to write the final forty years after Africa “The end of the Road” to settling in New Zealand.
My memoir “The Road From Grimsby” is 9”x 6” a 368 page 36 chapters paperback with Photographs and available from Amazon and on kindle.
To read Chapter 13 – Click Here
Also available in Tauranga and Greerton Library and Grimsby Library NE England, UK.
The Road from Grimsby,
You could say this is the story of an ordinary boy who lived life to the full, growing up in the 1940s to manhood in the 1950s. Peter was born in Grimsby England in 1936 three years before the start of World War 2. Grimsby then was the world’s premier fishing port. He was the youngest of three brothers and four sisters. In his first seven years, he hardly knew his merchant seaman father and brothers because they were fighting for their country.
After the years in war-torn Grimsby and many unhappy school days, Peter discovered in sports – mainly football, cricket and fishing – a refuge from the classroom. He left school at fifteen with a school report that said, “You must do better.”
He began his apprenticeship in 1951 with the Grimsby Humber Graving Dock where after five hard years he earned his qualification as a steel fabricator, skills that later took him on many interesting worldly journeys south from Grimsby. In 1964 Peter and his wife, Patricia immigrated to Africa. While living in Africa, he raised two children making these important years.
The work he took in different countries demonstrated that this Grimsby lad could indeed, and would do better! Now Peter and his wife Patricia are enjoying their final journey retiring in Tauranga, New Zealand’s sunny Bay of Plenty.
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Kinsa Hayes
Top Field
Kinsa also paints and enjoys the challenge of becoming an effective communicator of the spoken word at POWERtalk. She does house sitting and finds that each new place and environment provides ideas to create a story or a picture.
Stop Press
Kinsa Hays scooped the pool at the national level of the POWERtalk International writing contest awards on May 7 2017, held in Wellington. One person winning all the categories has not happened for many years. Kinsa was awarded a silver tray for each win and her stories and poem will now represent New Zealand at the POWERtalk international writing contest.
First in poetry was her poem entitled Mindfulness, unforgettable moments that capture you in the present.
First in non-fiction was the story The Cannibal Isles, set in Fiji recounting attending a health workshop in a traditional village.
First in fiction was the story House Hunting for Bees, with a family comparing bees being their own real estate agents after swarming with their own efforts at house hunting.
Doctor Peter’s Good Earth Magic Review
By Kinsa Hays
A good lesson in earth science has been wound around a New Zealand based fairy story to produce Doctor Peter’s Good Earth Magic.
Environmental blogger and former Opotiki resident Kinsa Hays incorporates a real person, Waipawa-based researcher and soil testing laboratory operator Dr Peter Lester in the tale.
When the soil expert gets an email from the fairies asking for help to show humans how to rebalance their soil he feels he must offer support. Young readers are given good insight into some soil science and environmental basics while reading a charming tale of modern thinking and email savvy fairies.
The author has plans to incorporate this book and others with teacher’s notes. Her aim is to offer enjoyable tales that also raise awareness about the need for sustainability. She says this and other planned stories fit within strands of the primary school science syllabus.
Doctor Peter’s Good Earth Magic is targeted at the 8 -12 years age range. They will be able to learn what happens after Dr Lester travels to Magic Toadstool Lane, located in a Katikati Avocado Orchard.
You will find Doctor Peter’s Good Earth Magic at Paper Plus, Tauranga and Katikati and you can purchase direct from the author at kinsa.hays@gmail.com. Her blog is kinsahaysblog.
09/03/2016
John McMenamin Whakatane Library
To Order, Please Contact Kinsa:
Maree Hyde
Click on Cover image below to see more of Maree’s popular young adult book
Denise Fitzpatrick
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Donna Goodacre
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John Laker
One Son – Two Mothers: A Chance Discovery – Book Cover
Blurb:
John Laker was born in the middle of World War Two, but not with that name. One Son, Two Mothers covers what he regards as just an ordinary chaps life from a terraced house on the outskirts of London to a small town on New Zealand’s East Coast overlooking diverse wetland; eventually to a retirement village.
Encouraged throughout life and guided by fleeting meetings and unknown souls has resulted in a satisfying diverse work life experience. However discovering his adoption in midlife changed him.
Now retired he has written several short stories and indulges in his life’s passion of model building and flying, painting and enjoying music.
Rachel Weston
Books and Achievements:
Brave: A story about children’s arthritis (July 2025) PB, Commissioned by Kids with Arthritis Trust New Zealand. Endorsement – Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland.
*Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees: Native Bees of Aotearoa New Zealand, (2024)
Storylines Notable Book Award Winner, Non-fiction List 2024
Endorsement – David Pattemore, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd and Julia Kasper, Lead Curator Invertebrates, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
New Zealand Listener Top Children’s Books of 2024, NZ Herald Best Children’s Books 2024, The Sapling Bookseller Recommendations Dec 2024, Spinoff’s List – The Best NZ Books of 2024.
*Messy-o-saurus, (2022) PB, Illustrator, Scott Tulloch.
*Bumblebee, (2021) PB, Illustrator, Deborah Hinde. Endorsement – Ruud Kleinpaste. Re-printed 2022, 2024, 2025.
*Boo Goes Tutti Frutti, (2020) PB, Illustrator, Scott Tulloch.
*Hello! Kia ora! Welcome new friend! (2020) PB, Illustrator, Deborah Hinde. Endorsement – Auckland Kindergarten Association of New Zealand
*Bumblebees Have Smelly Feet, (2019) Non-fiction. Endorsement – New Zealand Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Reprinted 2020, 2023, 2024
