Val Thompson - Editor

28/06/2022

Freeman is one talented artist. And he's such a nice guy!
Check out this article, written by Michael Hawksworth, in the latest LIVING Hawke's Bay magazine – out now.

30/04/2022

In case you missed it ... So happy for you, Shelley!

Shelly is now working with her wonderful mentor Cassie Hart

24/03/2022

Had to share ...

22/02/2022

Look no further than your doorstep for some incredible writing. The Peter Wells Short Fiction award winning Phoebe Wilton-Stuart features in Vines #3 published by the trail blazing EVBooks - Publishers, and Nafanua Kersel, Slam Champ and poet who has reduced me to tears with her poetry (quite hard to do), has pieces in BOTH. And just look at the beauty of Vā: Stories by Women of the Moana, published by Tatou Publishing. Aren't we lucky. Lou x

08/02/2022

Nice work Charity! Love your books!

We had a special visitor today Author Charity Norman. Her books are selling well at a special price of $9.99

18/01/2022

Alas, I am yet to read an Agatha Christie novel. This very interesting read might be the push I need. Thanks Almo Books for posting.

Deeply hurt by the death of her mother, thirty-five-year-old Agatha Christie was still trying to overcome her grief when her husband of twelve years suddenly announced that he was in love with another woman and wanted a divorce. The twin shocks threw Agatha into a deep state of depression. Feeling that the best of life was behind her, she saw little reason to go on living. Only concern for her seven-year-old daughter saved her from su***de.

Born into an affluent English family in 1890, Agatha Miller was a precocious child who taught herself to read at age four and quickly developed what would be a lifelong devotion to books. At age 22 she met Archie Christie, a dashing young pilot. The couple fell in love and were married on Christmas Eve in 1914. They spent most of the next four years separated by World War I, settling afterwards in London. Their only child, Rosalind, was born in 1919. By the time her marriage to Archie fell apart, Agatha had published five well-received detective novels, but she could hardly have expected the success that awaited her.

In time Agatha began to recover from the pain of her failed marriage. She resumed writing and, to boost her spirits, took a trip on the Orient Express. Then, in 1930 a friend invited her to come along on a trip to an archeological dig in Iraq. There she met Max Mallowan, a prominent archeologist thirteen years her junior. They fell in love and were married later that year, a happy marriage that would last until Agatha’s death 46 years later.

At the end of 1926, Agatha Christie may have thought that her life was no longer worth living, but she was entirely wrong about that. In the years that followed she not only found the love of her life, but she also enjoyed her greatest success, becoming the best-loved author on earth, with over 70 best-selling novels as well as the longest-running play in history. Her husband Max was knighted in 1968 and three years later Agatha was made a Dame of the British Empire.

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christie Mallowan died at age 85 on January 12, 1976, forty-six years ago today. With over two billion copies sold, she is the best-selling novelist in history.

The photo is of Agatha Christie in 1926.

credit A Daily Dose of History

06/12/2021

Vine 3 has arrived!

Vines 3 is here! We have been working hard to produce the latest edition of Vines for you to enjoy. Vines 3 is another collection of talented and diverse local and national writers, poets and artists, who will get you thinking and entertain you along the way.

01/11/2021

Congrats to the pekapeka, the controversial winner of the 'Bird of the Year'. Check out our pekapeka bat story 'In for the Bat' in LIVING Hawke's Bay's Autumn 2020 edition ...

Did you hear the news? We love a bit of controversy, and NZ Bird of the Year is always packed to the brim! So when our native bat was included in this year's bird awards line up, it was no surprise. Read the back story here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/126670368/the-season-when-the-political-feathers-fly-is-back

And the long-tailed native land mammal has just taken out the title for New Zealand's 2021 Bird of the Year: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300442704/longtailed-bat-named-winner-of-bird-of-the-year-2021

We published an article on the pekapeka-tou-roa (long-tailed bat) through DOC in our Autumn 2020 edition! This might be a good chance for you to refresh your memory on New Zealand's only native mammal, and it just so happens we have a few Autumn editions still in stock online for only $4!: https://www.livinghbmagazine.co.nz/product-page/autumn-2020-edition

Photo credit: JAMES MORTIMER, via DOC, published in the Autumn 2020 (Edition 11) LIVING Hawke's Bay magazine.

06/10/2021

06/10/2021

The latest LIVING Hawke's Bay mag is full of local characters. Get your copy and enjoy!

17/09/2021

Good work, Charity. Congrats! Loved it!

I'm delighted and honoured - and stoked! - that The Secrets of Strangers is a finalist for this year's Ngaio Marsh Awards Best Novel. Some astonishingly good books were entered this year, in all sections. Founder Craig Sisterton called it a 'dazzlingly varied field' and I agree. Ka Pai to all!