I always enjoy finding a section of the latest book which will give you a taste of things without too many spoilers. Here, Heather is thinking back over the last few years as she prepares for her 18th birthday celebrations :-
‘Mixed Blessings’ is available now to pre-order from Amazon, Kobo and Apple Books. It will be everywhere else on 1st April.
Anyway, back to that fateful day. It had not had a promising start. The three of them were in the kitchen at Applecross. Unusually, Caroline was there too, although she spent most of her time at Hither House once Uncle Samuel married Lizzy. But, on this particular day, Caroline had been there too. They would have been, perhaps, fourteen. The death of Mrs Nicol had, to some extent, been the end of their formal school days. Mrs Pender taught them foreign words in her front room while tending to baby Bea. Reverend Nicol had taken their studies outdoors, to sit under a tree listening to him reading out loud. Now, that had been a pleasure, though she lacked the concentration to take in all the words. There were so many distractions outside. The birds, an occasional butterfly, small crawling insects, not to mention the buzzing of bees.
Her own mother had assumed the role of teacher of all things domestic. How to place fresh sheets on a bed, how to clean a room, how to plan a menu. On this particular day they were making sponge cakes for tea. It was not going well. They took it in turns to measure butter and flour and precious sugar on the scales, using the eggs as balancing weights, a skill apparently passed on by the grandmother she had never known. Inevitably, Heather lagged behind while she considered what her grandmother would have been like, who on earth had first thought to crack an egg to make a cake and how sugar was formed into the powdery cake that was stored in an airtight container in the pantry. Nevertheless, all three cakes entered the oven looking more or less identical.
However, they certainly didn’t come out the same way! Two perfect yellow sponges emerged, to be placed on the rack to cool. Heather’s effort had not risen at all. It was more biscuit than sponge.
“Oh, Heather,” said her mother, “Why can’t you ever listen to instructions?”
“Feed it to the pigs, mother,” Heather had replied before dumping her apron on the table and stalking out of the room, slamming the door behind her. There was one place the Mackenzies sought out if they were in need of a moment to themselves, and that was where James Shepherd found his granddaughter a while later. Sitting on the flat stone next to Friday’s grave, sobbing her heart out.
James Shepherd had the sense not to say anything at first, just shuffling his granddaughter along to allow room for him to sit too. The silence was not uncomfortable and slowly the sobs began to ease.
“It’s just not fair, Grandpapa,” moaned Heather.
“I know, my dear, I know,” he replied, patting her knee gently.
There was a pause while Heather formed a question in her head. “Why can’t I concentrate on things?” she asked eventually.
Instead of answering the question, James Shepherd asked one of his own. “Tell me, Heather, what is your favourite word?”
Heather thought about that for a while. Beginning at the beginning, she ran the idea round her brain. Armadillo, Bombastic, Conquistador. Lovely words, but not her favourite. Desdemona, Elephant, Fumigation, no none of those. James didn’t rush her. He knew she would be considering all options. Gelatine, Hispaniola, Influenza…..
At last, putting a single finger to her cheek, she said, “I think I know what it is, Gamps.” She used her own special term of endearment for her grandfather. “I think it may be the word ‘Why?’”
James smiled, as if he had known the answer beforehand. He probably did. “Ah, now, I rather thought that’s where you would end up,” he said. “That’s the sign of an inquisitive mind.”
“I do like to know about things,” she replied. “I want to know where they come from, why they are what they are, and how we have come to see them like that.”
“Bravo, I couldn’t have put it better myself, dearest girl,” said James, clapping her on the back so hard she almost fell off the slippery stone. “The problem is, there are side effects of a mind like yours. It is a blessing, but a mixed one, especially in a woman.”
The latest update from Amanda Giorgis, best-selling author of the Applecross Saga – February 2022. |
Oh my goodness, busy busy times at Applecross HQ. ‘Mixed Blessings’, the 5th book in the Applecross Saga is almost ready after a month of editing, formatting and checking for inconsistencies. And behind the scenes we have been preparing my very first audiobook version of Book 1, ‘The Wideawake Hat’. It is quite strange to hear someone else reading my words, but I think my narrator Su has made a mighty find job of putting character and emotion into the story. If audiobooks are your thing, I will have details of where to get your copy of The Wideawake Hat next month. Bargain Time! I am clearing room for a stock of book 5, so if you are in New Zealand and prefer the feel of a real book, I have a special bargain for you. Any of my current paperback books for $20 each, post free (usual price $30). Just go to my online shop to place your order. I’ll even sign your copy and include a free bookmark! Offer only available in New Zealand. A Writer’s Retreat For a while now I have been struggling to find my perfect writing place. I don’t work well at a proper desk, but lounging on the sofa is not ideal either. We discussed plans for a ‘writer’s retreat’ in the garden, but our climate would make that a purely seasonal affair. So, we have re-purposed our smallest spare bedroom into a writing room. I have taken residence, surrounded by all the things I need for inspiration, including a nice view of the mountains. Now, you may say the table looks a bit low, but it magically lifts up to be the perfect writing height. So, from spare room full of junk to an author’s escape in just a day! |
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We have just returned from a precious few days staying at The Hermitage Hotel in Mt Cook village. We were lucky with the weather and enjoyed some great walks in the mountains. Mount Cook is often called Aoraki these days, being the Māori word for our tallest mountain. It means ‘cloud piercer’, and it certainly did that for us. James and Sophia would see this very mountain as they go about their daily lives, and Guy and Freddie are building up a business of taking tourists into the area. No wonder people want to see it – it is a special environment indeed. |
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We walked the Hooker Valley on a very warm and unusually calm day. Reaching the Hooker Lake, we stopped for a picnic lunch surrounded by the mountains and with a view of the Hooker Glacier and the icebergs formed when the glacier calves. Stunningly beautiful, blissfully peaceful and altogether an amazing place. |
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Book News If you are looking for something to read during February, you may find a freebie here – Discover Free Historical Fiction I am really excited to tell you that Book 5, ‘Mixed Blessings’ is ready for publication on 1st April 2022. To give you a taste of it, here is the synopsis :- The girls are growing up. Not for them the daily grind of family life, not yet anyway. After all, it is 1873. Women have more opportunities than ever before, especially in New Zealand in an era of great prosperity and progress. Five years have passed since we last visited the Mackenzies. Applecross sheep station is thriving, more people than ever have made it their home. There are changes everywhere, big and small, but James and Sophia remain the solid, dependable mainstay of life in the rural community. Until a dramatic incident rocks the very foundations of Mackenzie’s Basin.We join Heather, Caroline and Adey Rose, daughters of the Basin, as they blossom into young ladies, find their feet in the burgeoning city of Christchurch and take their first hesitant steps into the world of romance.However, the draw of Applecross is strong…….. |
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Mixed Blessings is already available as a pre-order ebook on Amazon and Kobo, and will appear on other platforms shortly. More news next month. Pre-order ‘Mixed Blessings’ here I have a limited number of ARC spaces available for Book 5. If you would like to get ahead of the pack and read a draft ebook copy, then please go to Mixed Blessings ARC. All I ask in return is an honest review on your chosen platform. |
News from Applecross The latest update from Amanda Giorgis, best-selling author of the Applecross Saga – January 2022. |
Happy New Year to you all. May 2022 be a year where the world recovers and moves towards normality once more. It has been a busy January at Applecross HQ already, the hot weather a good excuse to stay indoors and get on with writing and editing Book 5, ‘Mixed Blessings’. In the cool of the evening, I like nothing better than to wander the garden looking for small changes. The bud that has become a flower or the fruit that has grown in size since yesterday. It is surprising what can alter in only one day. Sad news on the chicken front. We lost Foggy, the randy old rooster to a heart attack. I will not go into detail, but let’s say he died doing what he loved most in life – not a bad way to go! His harem didn’t waste time on grieving, they were establishing a new pecking order with Henry, the other rooster almost immediately. |
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We’ve not been far from home over the summer break, but we do have a short break planned for early February, heading for Mount Cook. Do you think we may see James and Sophia as we drive across the Mackenzie? More on that next month. Bird of the month I’m going for the obvious one here – this month’s bird is our famous kiwi. It is not a bird one generally comes across unless you are tramping the wild places of New Zealand, but on Rakiura, Stewart Island, right down at the southern tip of the country, there are a lot more kiwis than residents. In one of those ‘Only in New Zealand’ moments, we all laughed at this New Year’s report submitted by the only full-time policeman on the island – https://www.police.govt.nz/news/ten-one-magazine/raucous-night-rakiura Now the smart readers amongst you will realise that the photo below is not a kiwi. In fact, it is the same photo as last month, the teeny, tiny titipounamu. I’ve left it in place to celebrate the Hinewai nature reserve where we saw this wee floofball last month. One male chick fledged, according to the humans who provided the nest site. We all hope he stayed safe in the terrible storm which hit the Banks Peninsula a few weeks ago. Goodness, what a storm it was, washing hillsides away and re-routing rivers. Our friends lost much of their garden, including tunnel houses and plants, but fortunately the raging water didn’t quite reach their house. |
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Book News If you are looking for something to read during January, you may find a bargain here – Free Historical Fiction for the New Year I am really excited to tell you that Book 5, ‘Mixed Blessings’ is complete. Editing and formatting has begun and publication date is set for 1st April 2022. To give you a taste of it, here is the synopsis ;- The girls are growing up. Not for them the daily grind of family life, not yet anyway. After all, it is 1873. Women have more opportunities than ever before, especially in New Zealand in an era of great prosperity and progress. Five years have passed since we last visited the Mackenzies. Applecross sheep station is thriving, more people than ever have made it their home. There are changes everywhere, big and small, but James and Sophia remain the solid, dependable mainstay of life in the rural community. Until a dramatic incident rocks the very foundations of Mackenzie’s Basin. We join Heather, Caroline and Adey Rose, daughters of the Basin, as they blossom into young ladies, find their feet in the burgeoning city of Christchurch and take their first hesitant steps into the world of romance. However, the draw of Applecross is strong…….. |
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Mixed Blessings is already available as a pre-order ebook on Amazon, and will appear on other platforms over the next week or so. More news next month. Pre-order ‘Mixed Blessings’ here I have a limited number of ARC spaces available for Book 5. If you would like to get ahead of the pack and read a draft ebook copy, then please go to Mixed Blessings ARC. All I ask in return is an honest review on your chosen platform. |
From ‘Three Cedar Trees’, Book 5 of the Applecross Saga.
Lizzy pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a dozen beautifully carved wooden bobbins for lace making, fashioned in the same style as the ones given to her in Fremantle during their voyage to New Zealand. Each one was slightly different, each one weighted down by three coloured beads strung on a wire loop.
“Goodness,” she gasped. “Thank you, Samuel, they are just wonderful.”
Carefully taking one of the bobbins from the box, she held it up to the light so that the three red beads glistened as if they were rubies. “How did Samuel have the time to make these?” she thought to herself.
“Oh, Samuel, you are so clever,” said Sophia. “I am sure Lizzy can’t wait to use the lace cushion you have made too. Perhaps we can all expect lace handkerchieves soon?”
“I will need to practice a bit first,” replied Lizzy.
“Come on, Aunty Sophia,” said Caroline. “It must be my turn next.”
Everyone was sitting in a circle in the Combe parlour, taking it in turns to open their Christmas presents. It being an unusually large group of people this year, Combe had been chosen to play host to the Christmas Day celebrations. The day had begun early, at least for the younger children, who had woken to find a stocking hanging at the end of their beds. Sophia, Nancy and Lucy, along with their extra helpers, Amelie and Lizzy, had been hard at work secretly organising an appropriate toy to fit into each stocking. Each child also had a book to read and a handful of precious nuts saved from the autumn harvest. Bertie, John James and young Sam had spent all morning pushing their toy trains around, getting under the feet of the ladies preparing lunch, while Polly, Grace and Lily played outside with their new spinning tops. Even Vicky and Nancy’s youngest, Ezra, both too young to appreciate Christmas yet, had new dolls to play with. Vicky’s a rag doll wearing a pretty blue dress stitched by Lucy, while Ezra’s toy was a soldier wearing a bright red jacket and smart black trousers.
The older children insisted on still having their stockings, although the toy was replaced by a new pair of long socks for the boys and stockings for the girls. It had become a tradition that the older girls received a diary for the following year. Even though they knew exactly what each stocking would contain, they still held on to the childish excitement of dipping into it to see what had been left for them. This year, Freddie and the twins had found a small notebook in their stockings, with a tiny pencil that fitted down the spine.
In all honesty, the presents placed in each stocking were cunningly designed to keep the children occupied for the morning while their mothers worked in the kitchen. Following their traditional pattern, luncheon was eaten outdoors sometime after midday, regardless of the weather. Neither Sophia nor Nancy had ever been able to adjust to Christmas in the summer. Even though it was normally a hot day, they were still inclined to prepare the traditional roast dinner followed by heavy plum puddings, which nobody really wanted to eat in such warm weather. As was usual, a wind had blown up as the feast came to an end, requiring a sudden rush indoors carrying plates and serving dishes into the kitchen before they got blown away.
Nobody minded coming indoors because they all knew that the next stage was opening their presents. Chairs were hastily arranged in a circle and the children given the task of distributing the parcels from under the tree. Of course, the youngsters found it really hard to wait their turn, especially Bertie and John James, who had spent a great deal of time under the tree that morning, feeling each parcel in order to guess its contents. Lizzy had been given the privilege of going first, mainly because the ladies knew exactly what was in the box, Samuel having been encouraged to give them a peek at his handiwork last evening. Caroline came next, followed by her brother and sister, then Samuel. So it went on, round the room, each person carefully unwrapping their parcel, exclaiming the contents to be just what they wanted, even if it wasn’t!
The older folk had not been forgotten either. Betsy Franks had come up trumps with a selection of handkerchieves for James senior, Job Nicol and Atewhai. Sophia had Atewhai’s ready to deliver the next day. The old Maori woman refused to join their party, but would, no doubt, be happy to accept a small gift, protesting, as she did every year, that Christmas was for pākehā, the white man, to celebrate.
There was no doubt that Lizzy’s lace bobbins were the star of the show, and Sophia was pleased to see Samuel’s obvious affection for Lizzy. Poor Lucy was the odd one out this year as her beloved Ned had reluctantly joined his brother in Marytown for the day. Sophia wondered briefly if there would ever be a Christmas when Lucy would find joy. It may be a few years ago now, but nobody could forget that dreadful year when that man Drummond had come to stay, shooting Lucy’s precious pheasants as if they were fair game. It had been a rather strained Christmas Day that year.
The latest update from Amanda Giorgis, best-selling author of the Applecross Saga. |
Home news Spring is here in the southern hemisphere. The garden is growing apace, birds are building their nests and wildlife abounds. As I write, I can see 2 ducks and 5 rabbits on the lawn, and can hear the skylark’s song rising into the sky. Mind you, we have had our fair share of storms in the last few days. It has been so cold that we rather regretted having cleaned the wood burner out and put the log basket away, and we had such strong winds that a lot of blossom has blown like confetti across the garden. We have guests in our field! Our neighbour’s 4 Wiltshire sheep, have taken up residence, and they will soon be joined by 4 of this year’s lambs too. Wiltshire sheep shed their fleeces without the need to shear them. I am gathering handfuls of wool to use as garden mulch. I wonder what James Mackenzie would think of sheep who don’t need shearing? |
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Yes, I know it is meant to be ‘Bird of the month’ but….. In a controversy as big as Australia entering Eurovision, the Long-tailed Bat (pekapeka-tou-roa) has been added to this year’s New Zealand Bird of the Year competition. Now, the clever ones amongst you may be aware that a bat is not a bird. However, it does fly, it is our only endemic mammal and it is critically endangered. These criteria are enough for it to be considered alongside the current incumbent, the kākāpō and all the other favourites like Hoiho, Kiwi, Kaka and Tui. This annual competition, run by Forest and Bird, is a chance to showcase our native birds and is well supported by politicians, sports personalities and celebrities. Read more about the competition here. |
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Book News There has not been much time for reading this month, but I would like to recommend ‘Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail’ by Danielle Hawkins as a great book to dip into. It is written as a diary, but don’t expect any dry or dusty records of a day in the life of a vet. On a couple of occasions I have found myself laughing out loud at Danielle’s descriptions of her day. Somewhat embarrassing when you are sitting in the doctor’s waiting room. Thank goodness for a mask covering at least part of my face! If you are looking for something in the Historical Fiction genre, you may find a bargain here – Fall for Historical Fiction Mixed Blessings, the 5th book in the Applecross Saga, will be available in early 2022. |
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Competition News |
This month I have a competition for you avid readers. It won’t be easy, and you will need to have read all four books in the Applecross Saga already, but I do have a prize of an Amazon voucher. There are 40 questions, and they run in order through the 4 books. Please submit your answers by email to amanda.giorgis@icloud.com by the end of October 2021. I will randomly select a winner from those who submit correct answers, and my decision is final. I’ll be in touch with the winner in early November, and I will print the answers in next month’s newsletter. Hopefully, looking back through the 4 books will bring you up to speed in readiness for Book 5, ‘Mixed Blessings’ – due out in early 2022. Click here for the 40 questions – The Applecross Quiz |
An Applecross Companion You will find a list of Applecross folk and their dogs in The Applecross Companion. I will be adding more to the companion as time goes by, including updated information for Book 5. (no spoilers yet, though!) It is still a work in progress, but you are welcome to dive on in there and take a look. Go to https://amandagiorgis.com/the-applecross-companion/ – use the password ‘Applecross’ to get access. What do you think? Any ideas of other things to include? Please do email me at amanda.giorgis@icloud.com with any thoughts and suggestions. I do love hearing from my readers with feedback (good and bad, of course). Finally, may I make a plea? When you have finished reading any of my books, please consider writing a review online, on the platform you used to buy the ebook, or on Goodreads, or wherever you can shout it from the rooftops! Not only does it help to increase sales, but it gives me a great boost of confidence as I write Book 5. Thank you. |