Kia ora, Do you know about the fun scale? It’s a way of categorising experiences based on how easy to hard the experience was. Type 2 fun and type 3 fun are what a lot of armchair adventurers enjoy reading about. Trips they’d never go on themselves, but they still want to read about othersContinue reading “Type 2 fun”
Category Archives: Email
If we only had 15 minutes together
Kia ora, If I could sit with you and talk about your manuscript, here’s what I’d say: First, congratulations on writing a whole damn book! That’s huge. The hardest part, in my opinion, is DONE. But that doesn’t mean you’re done-done. Getting the story out is just the first stage. But that’s okay. Publishing isContinue reading “If we only had 15 minutes together”
Blowing out the cobwebs
Kia ora, I love my job, but even I need to get out of my office and off the property every now and then. New places and new experiences help blow out the cobwebs and get ideas going. I know you know this. So last week I went to the Catlins for a few days.Continue reading “Blowing out the cobwebs”
Going for a walk helped me figure out a big issue
Kia ora, I wasn’t at my desk, I wasn’t on the clock, I wasn’t actively thinking about the story at all, but the clichéd bolt of lightning hit me as I heaved my way up a hill, getting blasted by a full-on southerly straight from Antarctica: the tense was wrong. I’d been working on aContinue reading “Going for a walk helped me figure out a big issue”
Sometimes you need a gentle nudge
Kia ora, Mum handed me a $5 note and a pen and said, “Go up and say hi!” She gave me a gentle nudge on the back. A few metres in front of me was Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two people to stand on Mount Everest. We were at the opening ofContinue reading “Sometimes you need a gentle nudge”
Readers only see the finished product
Kia ora, When people pick up a book in a bookshop or library, they see the final product. They see your name on the cover and think, cool, this looks like a great book, I’ll check it out. They don’t see the weeks (months, years) that went into writing the story. They don’t see theContinue reading “Readers only see the finished product”
Finding my 2026 rhythm
Kia ora, It’s taken a couple of weeks, but I finally feel like I’m finding my 2026 rhythm. How about you? Thank you for being here with me for another year of adventures and adventure writing! Over the holidays I mulled over a few ideas for how I can better help you get into theContinue reading “Finding my 2026 rhythm”
2025 travel and adventure reading round-up
Kia ora, I’m starting 2026 by looking back on 2025. Or at least, I’m looking back on the books I read, and I read a lot! Here’s my one-ish-sentence summary of each, in the order I read them. I want to hear your opinions too, so if you’ve read any of these, reply and letContinue reading “2025 travel and adventure reading round-up”
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Kia ora, I don’t know about you, but I am hanging out for the Christmas break. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve had a great year editing a lot of fantastic manuscripts for wonderful authors, but summer is here and the beach is calling. Wherever you are in the world, whether you celebrate Christmas orContinue reading “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”
Are you a writer?
Kia ora, A writer I worked with earlier in the year got in touch recently with an update. He’d just finished self publishing his first book – the book we worked on together. “I guess I’m a writer now!” he said. I shared his joy, of course! Getting that first book out is huge. ButContinue reading “Are you a writer?”
Deborah Shaw Adventure Editing 