Well, June was a wild ride: an unexpected trip to the US to ride shotgun for my eldest as she drove from the West Coast to the East, four days in Taranaki delivering poetry workshops to high schoolers and adults, an all day school visit, and some success with my children's poetry. I was thrilled to have my poem Night Craft highly commended by judge Kate Wakeling in the 2025 Caterpillar Poetry Prize - you can check out the winner and second and third place getters here. And another poem (titled Reading) was accepted by The Toy for their Hobbies issue.
Since then I've had roughs come through for the picture book, Runaway Rooster, coming out next year with Bateman. The uber-talented Lael Chisolm has done a terrific job of bringing little Fred and friends to life. And I was delighted and relieved to find myself chuckling as I read the text when it came through for edits. It'll be fun to share it with y'all when it comes out in 2026. You can be sure I will share the cover here when it is ready.
July has been about catching my breath, working my way through a few jobs and trying to get myself back into a writing routine. How is it that it feels like a writing routine can take weeks to establish and just days to lose? It's useful to have a few goals to keep myself on track. I have a novel to complete (2/3 of the way there!), a poetry collection to work on and a new picture book to complete. None of these things have homes but I believe in the content and these projects are satisfying to work on. I hope that at least one of them might get published but I have to be prepared for all of them to go in the bottom draw. There are no guarantees, ever, and that is okay. What matters is that I will have completed three projects to a standard of my own making. The other day I stumbled across a post on Twitter talking about golfer Scotty Scheffler stating that winning major championships was 'not fulfilling'. The poster said 'There is no greater trap than thinking that the accomplishment of some goal will fulfill you. What will fulfill you is who you become in the process of going for it.' Scheffler had made a comment about being asked about the next goal by reporters at a press conference after winning a tournament. That win was already in the past and they were focused on the next big thing and he acknowledged that for him that was unsustainable thinking. Scheffler said, 'It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes ... Wherever you are, the goal post is always ten yards down the field. If you develop a mindset: "If I just accomplish X, THEN I'll arrive," you are in for a rude awakening ... There is no arriving.' So however much I might think about a project getting accepted, and then whether it does well, or even if I'm really lucky and it gets some kind of industry award or acknowledgement, I have to remind myself that none of that might happen and even if it does the joy is fleeting. I have to look for a more sustainable kind of joy in the act of creation itself. And the other joys inherent in being a part of the children's writing community. And becoming the writer I want to be.