Meet Toby from My Best Worst Year
Toby is the main character in My Best Worst Year, a hilarious story about a boy who is promised a Gamebox V3 by his dad if he scores 20 wickets […]
The day R2D2 threw me into a trash can
One of my favourite interviews in my radio career was with Kenny Baker, otherwise known as R2D2. Kenny was a circus and cabaret performer before a phone call came […]
This little shop was the inspiration for my first children’s novel
In my children’s novel My Best Worst Year, the main character Toby often visits his grandma in her second-hand shop named ‘Junk and Disorderly.’ The inspiration for this came from […]
When you accidentally meet the main character from your novel
I was walking along Ponsonby Road in Auckland on a beautiful morning when I ran into an old mate with his ten-year-old son. Here was a kid dressed in […]
Dr Seuss was right – your first draft always stinks!
Here’s a little story to prove it. In 1964, Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ was published in the UK. It took over two years to write and underwent […]
The day my teacher achieved the impossible
I remember being at school and having to write a thesis from one of William Shakespeare’s plays. At the time I thought there couldn’t have been anything more boring. There […]
Jack Reads Books Reviews Freakout Island
Thanks, Books Jack Reads for your lover-leee review of Freakout Island. Jack adds – ‘There’s a strong element of mystery in this story too, as everyone slowly realises that both […]
My dog is having a bad hair day
If you’re new to my site, you will find my sketches of our family dog Cooper here. While you’re having a look around, be sure to check out my latest […]
What is the strangest thing YOUR dog has eaten?
If you have a dog as a pet you’ll know they do some crazy things. The story above is not entirely true, but my daughters and I sure had fun […]