Wellington

It's very easy to love Wellington, as long as you don't mind the weather. Personally I think the wind is one of the best things about it, even while I complain mightily along with everyone else. It's a city shaped by wind, by the harbour, and by the hills, and so it's a city full of cheerful sturdy strong-legged people.

Reviews

I write book reviews for an online film & arts journal called The Lumiere Reader. It's not a paying gig, but it's good writing practice and a great way to get acquainted with the local arts scene.

My difficulty with writing reviews is that I have a strong tendency to sympathise with the author of whatever book I'm reading. If I get bored or confused, my initial reaction is not "This could have been written better," but instead, "Maybe I just don't get it." Plus, if I can see that the author is trying to do something clever, I give him/her all kinds of points for the effort. It's another thing entirely to figure out if the author did it well, much less to decide whether he/she did it better than someone else.

My last review, of The Love School by Wellington writer Elizabeth Knox, is here. I'm also going to be reviewing her latest book, The Angel's Cut, sequel to her internationally famous novel The Vintner's Luck, which has been made into a film. No pressure or anything.

Only in New Zealand

Sitting in bed reading a book one night, I felt several slight jolts rattle the house, just enough to make my door squeak a bit against its hinges.

Apparently, this was the feeling of New Zealand lurching 30 cm closer to Australia.

Everyone in the country is now obliged to make a joke about how this won't lead to cheaper airfares.

Hi!

Behold the new blog! This will be an account of the books I'm reading, the writing projects I'm involved in, and the journeys I'm taking. I'll be writing about my travels, jotting down notes, joining discussions about literature and politics, taking photographs, doing interviews - basically exploring the world around me and learning how to make up stories about it. I'm writing a novel and it's taking forever, so I'll probably do a lot of complaining about that. I'll also write about New Zealand, where I've been living for the past two years.

We'll see how this goes. Judging by the way I've neglected my old LiveJournal, there's reason to be skeptical about my chances this time around. All the same, it could be fun.