Category Archives: Humor

My Mother at Butterfly Creek

Letter to my mother…

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Today is Mother’s Day in New Zealand, and I can guarantee that my mother feels a little under appreciated. She always does at this time of year. Let’s face it. I rarely call, and when I do, the conversations are short. I never visit (she lives in Auckland and I’m in Christchurch). And I never send a present or a card. But I love my mother dearly. Hopefully, she see this and realises that she is in my thoughts every single day, even if I don’t tell her that.Read More→

Editing Headaches…

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Editing... The dreaded beast seems to have come to haunt me again. Just when I thought I had finished with this manuscript, there it is again. The revisions just go on, and on, and on, and on... Did I mention that they go on and on?

When you're writing, it's the inner critic that whispers sweet little nothings about self-doubt that just won't go away. If you're anything like me, you type so fast that sometimes your brain struggles to keep up; the spelling goes out the window and the autocorrect monster just gobbles up that carefully chosen word... without you noticing!

But the editor in me can't just let a new piece of writing go unchecked. I always go back and reread what I had written after a break (even a break as short as a toilet break). I see the punctuation errors, the grammar flaws, and the faults in the writing itself. I struggle in a big way to shut off the editor brain long enough to actually do any writing.

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Dun Loo — A Port-a-Loo in Christchurch

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Recently, I sent out a request for others to share their memories of the Christchurch earthquakes that occurred five years ago. To my pleasant surprise, some have come forward with stories so moving that I felt it was important to share them with the world. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be sharing some of the stories sent to me about that day as well as sharing a few of my own. The February 2011 quake changed our lives forever, but has made the city of Christchurch a stronger community.

Throughout Christchurch, many were without working toilets for months on end. Everywhere  you looked, there would be at least one Port-a-Loo sitting on someone's lawn as they waited for assessors to determine the fate of their properties. Jennifer Wilson shares what it was like to use the Port-a-Loo in her front yard for the first time.

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When does school start again?

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The real torture for a parent starts long before school lets out for the holidays. The anticipation of that long awaited break is almost too much to bear for the child. But a long break from school, like the summer break… Please! Save me now!Read More→

Where are the toilets in fiction?

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Years ago, in a critique of one of my fictional works, a major plot hole was pointed out to me that involved toileting of all things. You read that right, folks. I had an issue related to the poohs and wees.

So here’s the scenario: two warriors were being held prisoner, their hands and feet bound. Within the original story timeline, they were bound for two weeks, but at least were feed and watered. Not once did the narrative mention anything about the characters being allowed to relieve themselves.

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