Sometimes the right people land on your front door at just the right time. That’s what happened when I was thinking about a book trailer and two fabulous HelpX volunteers came to stay with us: Emilie and Jeremie. I didn’t...
Blog
TVNZ’s Breakfast visits
“We think we need to fly you to Auckland,” Jennifer said on the phone. She’s my publicist at Random House New Zealand. “What for?” I asked. “To be on TVNZ’s Breakfast. They want to talk to you.” (more…)
Book launch media roundup
Today I’m listing all the incredible things that have happened since I launched my book with Random House New Zealand on 7 June 2013. It all started a couple days before the big launch when I heard someone walk in...
Publisher comes to visit
My publisher was coming to lunch, and I was nervous. She wanted to see the property and meet CJ and me, but she wanted something else as well. She wanted to talk to CJ about changing his name. What if...
A cow portrait for the neighbors
When our neighbors John and Aussie Bronwyn announced that they were selling their property and moving away, CJ and I were mortified. More than anyone, those two have taught us how to live on 20 acres. How could they abandon...
Author photos in the olive grove
The man on my front deck looked like he had teleported through a time machine, straight out of the 1960s. He was wearing dark sunglasses with octagonal, gold wire frames. His sideburns were long. “You must be Jared,” he said,...
Boar tusk trimming party
Kowhai the kunekune boar We’d just finished our Thanksgiving meal, and we headed out with some of our guests to the top paddock. Kowhai, our pet kunekune boar, was out there wandering happily through the grass. I felt bad. The...
Pig tusks and Thanksgiving
Kowhai loves grapefruit The first time Kowhai jabbed me in the leg with his tusk, it hurt. The second time, a week later, it bled. Both times he was just nudging me, but a gentle nudge from a 300 pound...
Babysitting the princess pig
Giggles the kunekune pig Our three scruffy pigs stared through the paddock gate, transfixed by a vision of loveliness: Giggles the majestic polka-dotted kunekune pig. She was above them, standing on the back of a trailer. She clearly wanted nothing...
Never give up: From blog to book
“I’m giving up,” I said. “‘Moon over Martinborough’ is never going to be a book.” Ever since I’d started this blog I’d wanted to turn it into a book, but I was losing hope. “Maybe you shouldn’t give up just...