Congratulations Fleur!

Wellington writer Fleur Beale wins ‘much-loved’ book award with psychological thriller.

A tense psychological thriller, I am not Esther, has won the 2009 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book for its Wellington author, Fleur Beale.

Congratulations Fleur from all of us at the WCBA!

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a good break and are now refreshed and ready to indulge in another year of Childrens Literature in. Interest has been rolling in for the Conference and you can expect more detailed information mid Feb. We will send it out to those who have expressed interest in the first instance so if you haven't already done so, hit that send button now so you get first in for registration when it is open. There are limited spaces so and we expect they will go fast.

In the meantime, if you are at a loose end and wondering how to progress that tricky bit in your Young Adult novel you have tucked away, the NZSA has the evening for you:

AGM 9th Feb, Wellington

After a short AGM, there will be an extended panel discussion on How to write (and how not to write) a great sex scene. Confirmed speakers are Kate De Goldi (young adult fiction novelist) and Leda Swann (romance novelist and member of the Romance Writers’ Association).

The panel will discuss such issues as how to make such a scene truly romantic in romance fiction and how far to go (and how far not to go) in teen fiction. For more information about the panel, see websites such as www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/degoldikate and www.ledaswann.com. After their opening presentations, which will include examples of scenes that work (and which really, really don’t), there will be time for questions and an open discussion of this challenging aspect of the craft of writing.

Kate De Goldi is the author of Sanctuary; Love, Charlie Mike; Closed, Stranger; Clubs: A Lolly Leopold Story; Uncle Jack; Billy: A Lolly Leopold Story; Little Nan; Like You, Really; and The 10 pm Question

Leda Swann is the author of Captive; Mistress; Polly’s Game; Stand and Deliver; The Price of Desire; Sugar and Spice; Parlour Games; School for Virgins; Lessons in Seduction; Rainlashed; Sunlit; and Ice on Her Wings

A not-to-be-missed Wellington literary event...

The AGM of the Wellington Branch of NZSA (PEN New Zealand Inc) is being held at 7.30 pm in the Upper Chamber at Toi Poneke Wellington Art Centre, 61-89 Abel Smith Street, Wellington on February 9.