Hello all!

Welcome to my Autumn 2023 newsletter and what a welcome it's been here in New Zealand! This is climate change happening in front of our eyes. I hope you Kiwis have remained safe and sound throughout the recent cyclones and storms.

Libraries in New Zealand

At the end of each year a Government payment is paid to authors, who have books in the libraries around New Zealand. As well as being a welcome addition to the coffers, it's also a great barometer to indicate just how many of my books are out there for the public to read.

I'm very proud to have so many of all my books in our country's libraries from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South as well as in the Chatham Islands and Stewart Island.

If you are one of those readers who get your books from the library, please remember to look out for mine and if you've already read some of my work, I'd love to hear what you thought of it. Drop me a line on my Facebook reviews page or send me a message via the website.

It's been a busy time for me, 'Man. Made.' is a continuing work in progress. You may have seen across my social media pages recently, the gradual disclosure of our cover design, albeit in its early stages.  

The manuscript is improving daily and I hope to be able to have a publication date to tell you about very soon.

On a personal note...

As I write this I'm currently in England for an unwelcome but expected reason. My lovely Dad passed away and being with my family was a no brainer. I'll be here until the end of March. There won't be a lot of working over the next couple of weeks as some things are far more important than books and social media posts...

The joys of writing

Being in England once again is always an inspiration. I won't have time to revisit Nottingham and West Bridgford this time around, which is a great shame. Even though 'Man. Made.' is technically finished, it can always be improved on by way of a touch more nuance or maybe adjusting a detail here and there. Also all research is good research! Maybe not for this book but for one I've yet to write or even think about writing.

That is definitely one of the joys of writing, you never know when a new idea for a story is going to strike. When it does happen, it can and has taken me completely off the subject I was writing at the time and literally made me have to write this new idea first. That's how my laptop now has a substantial folder of part-manuscripts, containing anything from a few hundred or thousand words to several chapters long. And I can let you in on a secret... They're not all Dan Calder stories! 
 
All in all, if life teaches us anything, I think it tells us it's for living and we owe it to ourselves and each other to live the fullest life we can in every regard and that's a good place to leave this newsletter. 

See you again here for the next edition. Lots of love. Ian.

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