Category Archives: Writing

Northeasterly

March 23, 2016 Hēni Irihāpeti Leave a comment

leaves

Northeasterly

The windows rattle.

Outside, the lawn is mottled with smashed leaves
from the cottonwood.
Flax pods heavy with rain thud against each other.
A tui clings for dear life, and is whisked away.

The Northeasterly is not kind to my garden.
Branches snap, flowers shred,
hens scatter.

It passes through the mosquito mesh.
Invisible fingers lift the tapa cloth off the wall
then let if fall.
I’m reminded of Nalauaki.

Torrential rain is its companion.
Waves break against the stainless steel flue.
A million tiny coral flecks rattling with shells.

It’s been so long since it’s been windy.
I’d almost forgotten.

Jane Percival, March 2016

Writing

Tales from Upper Hutt in the 1970s

November 2, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 1 Comment

It’s been a busy week as far as having stories published is concerned. Of course, I’m delighted, but there is the problem that I need to knuckle down and write some more, get them sent off, etc. I don’t want to run out of any momentum I may have generated.

My latest offering has been published online by Crab Fat Magazine and you can read it here.

Moonshine Road

As I explained in my blog on June 25 of this year, Moonshine Road is a fictional story.

It concerns one particular night in the winter of… shall we say 1976? And thinking back, it would have probably been around June/July.

Outside it was clear and frosty, while inside the Quinn’s Post Tavern, music was pumping.

The scene was set for romance. What could go wrong?

Writing

Spooky Time of Year

October 31, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 1 Comment

The Bookshop

This year, Halloween coincided with NZ Bookshop Day.

To celebrate this fortuitous collision, Speculative Fiction NZ challenged its members to write a short story that combined the two. Imagine my delight when I heard that my submission, The Bookshop, had been placed second!

Three Spooky SpecFicNz Stories for NZ Bookshop Day

The Bookshop is about a woman, Charlotte, who returns to the home of her earliest memories, to try and make sense of her past. Once there, she must overcome her fears and fulfill her destiny.

When I started writing this story, I had a very clear picture of the bookshop itself. I knew that it was old and no longer occupied – it was spooky, after all. I pictured it as a smallish, stand-alone, two-storey, weatherboard building – run down and neglected. It had been empty for decades, and yet, there were still stacks of old books inside, along with the memories.

I tried to think about why the bookshop had been vacant for so many years… What (if anything) had happened, and when? It was a fun challenge!

The process of writing can be very much like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are all the ideas battling for favour inside my head, waiting to be selected and placed within the frame that is the story itself.

Writing

The Mysterious Mr Montague

October 15, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 1 Comment

Bloodlines, edited by Amanda Pillar — Bloodlines edited by Amanda Pillar

My short story, The Mysterious Mr Montague has been published in the Ticonderoga Press publication Bloodlines.

Bloodlines hasn’t yet been launched officially, but a pre-launch party was held at the recent Conflux 11 speculative fiction convention in Canberra, Australia. It would have been wonderful to have been able to attend in person!

The great news is that Bloodlines is now available for purchase either from Amazon or directly from Ticonderoga Press (the latter in either soft or hard cover). click here

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway!) I’m very excited to have my story published in an actual book (rather than an e-copy) and grateful to Ticonderoga Press for accepting The Mysterious Mr Montague for their anthology of stories about blood.

The tale itself is set in Kilbirnie (Wellington, NZ) in the 1970s. At various times back then I lived in the nearby suburbs of Hataitai and Lyall Bay. I walked the streets of Kilbirnie and Evans Bay, frequently. My identical twin uncles owned a butcher shop in Kilbirnie.

It was fun to write and I particularly liked adding reference to ‘The Larch’. Back in the 70s in Wellington, you would see ‘The Larch’ scrawled as graffiti on many walls and previously blank spaces. It was in reference to the Monty Python’s sketch of the same name. The Larch

My story, of course, is complete fiction, but I did enjoy drawing from my memories of the area and the time.

Last month, editor Amanda Pillar, invited the various authors to write a guest post on her blog site about their tales. Here’s a link to mine… Bloodlines Guest Post Jane Percival.

South Head, Writing

After the Rain

August 31, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 3 Comments

First Day of Spring

Three days of rain have drenched the land
forming rippling mirrors in the grass
and a flock of dishevelled, wet hens.

A river of caramel water
runs at the edge of the gravel road
then ducks beneath the concrete pipe
at the end of our driveway.

Bright green leaves are freshly washed.
A song thrush calls from high up in the silver poplar
and Molly is perched on a chunk of concrete,
keeping her paws dry.

This morning I stomped around in my gumboots
hoping to capture memories of the water
but the thirsty earth had already swallowed
most of them.

The land at South Head imitates a sponge.
Formed from ancient dunes
it doesn’t allow water to rest here for long.

Jane Percival, 01 September 2015

Writing

Halloween Writing Competition

August 10, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti Leave a comment

Spooky Bookshops Challenge

Check out SpecFicNZ’s ‘Spooky Bookshops‘ challenge.

This year, Halloween falls on NZ Bookshop Day. To celebrate this fortuitous collision, they are challenging members of SpecFicNZ to write short stories that combine the two.

Send them your stories of spooky bookshops, booky spooks, or spooked books and be in to win $100!

Details

Length: 1000 – 2000 words
Deadline: 30 September 2015

Theme/genre:
Stories should feature both bookshops and Halloween/general spookiness.

Additional information about the challenge is available here.

About SpecFicNZ / How to join

Information about SpecFicNZ and how you can become a member is posted on their website.

South Head, Writing

All is Quiet

July 24, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti Leave a comment

Kaipara Winter’s Morning

All is quiet when the mist seeps in
to hold the land close in its selfish embrace.

The twiggy branches of the gingko are decked
with the clever webs of orb-web spiders.
They shimmer in the slightest breeze.

The bright green grass glistens with dew
and my steps form wet hollows.

In the orchard, a tahou hops and flits
on lichen-encrusted bough.
His breakfast a selection of tiny insects.

Jane Percival, July 2015

Writing

Flotsam and Jetsam

July 10, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 2 Comments

Yasawa Haiku

shells_02 — Shells and coral, collected from the beach

I’ve spent the past week in the Yasawa Islands, Fiji, escaping from the wintry blast that has been afflicting South Head.

I’d originally planned to take my laptop and work on a couple of stories while we were away, but in the end, decided to leave work behind.

I was certain I’d write something while I was there, but I have to admit that I struggled for inspiration, only managing a handful of haiku.

Tiny hermit crab
scoots along glimmering sand.
It sees me and stops.

Iridescent waves
paint a clean line in the sand.
Caramel to cream.

I see the sun’s rays
push against the comb-like palms.
Grey stripes on the sand.

South Head, Writing

Flash Fiction

June 25, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 3 Comments

Moonshine Road

I received some excellent news today.

My Flash Fiction piece, Moonshine Road, has been accepted for publication by Crab Fat Literary Magazine.

The story goes back to my past – there are some elements of truth and some of fiction. This made it easier for me to write as I still have vivid memories of Moonshine Bridge and Moonshine Road. As kids we knew the area inside out.

My friend Sue and I spent hours and hours, especially as young teenagers, exploring the river, the bridge, and the ruins and wild gardens of a dwelling that had been derelict for years. We’d walk across the river to the ruins of McCurdy’s Castle and swim at Whakamoonie. All amazing memories.

So… writing about the area was easier – my memories are still vivid.

Moonshine Road, the story, is about something different. And it’s set a few years later. But you’ll have to read it to find out what it is.

I’ll post something here when it’s published.

Moonshine Bridge was demolished in 1987 to make way for the redirection of State Highway 2 along the River Road.

Image of the partial demolition of Moonshine Bridge

South Head, Writing

Winter Solstice One Day On

June 22, 2015 Hēni Irihāpeti 4 Comments

Cold Night

It’s cold outside tonight. 6.9 Celsius is not usual for South Head at 11.00 pm, even in June.

Curious, I look out the wash-house window to the west and see a crescent moon, low in the sky. It is deeply golden.

(Alas my photo does not show this well
but I promise you it was golden.)

And this crescent moon is lying supine, lightly resting on the very tops of the pines in Redhill Forest.

A mischievous wind blows hair across my face as I walk to the fence, intent on resting my Nikon on a post to steady my shaky hands.

The long grass paints my ankles with wet stripes and the cool breeze is particularly interested in the end of my nose.

Overhead The Milky Way is too much for me tonight. The single moon-shape is what draws me, reclining there just above the horizon.

My app tells me it’s a waxing crescent moon and the wind is 13 kph SSE.

I could have sworn it was a Northwesterly.

Jane Percival 2015