Free Family Day Archives - Eileen Mueller

19 June 2017

2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award – Best New Talent

I was absolutely thrilled – and more than a little speechless – to receive a 2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent at Lexicon, the New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy National convention. The full 2017 SJV awards list is here.

With the deep blue backdrop of Lake Taupo, and snow-tipped ranges across the water, the setting for Lexicon was magical. Ninety teenage writers attended workshops on Friday and boggled us with their talent. A weekend full of interesting panels, discussions, impromptu meetups with writers and fun social activities kept me on my toes. Not to mention the last-minute accommodation booking I made without realizing my bed was situated above a nightclub. It was actually above a nightclub AND three bars, the only nightlife in Taupo!! Yes, I was dancing all night – even in my asleep.

Even though I was on the shortlist, it was still a nerve-wracking process waiting through the ballot and having that envelope opened on stage in front of my eyes. Then there was that long moment: sitting, stunned, while people nudged me to get to my feet!

Thank you to my wonderful readers for nominating me. And thank you to everyone who has supported my writing – by beta reading, believing in me, critiquing my work and brainstorming plot fixes. Thanks to my publishers, The Fairytale Factory and Phantom Feather Press, they’re great! I’d also like to thank the New Zealand speculative fiction community, Romance Writers New Zealand and Holly Lisle’s online writing community.

My critique groups deserve a proper mention. I’m lucky, I have two. Monkey Lab: Alicia Ponder, Charlotte Kieft, Michelle Child and Peter Friend; & Clarke’s Critters: Lee Murray, Simon Fogarty and Alicia Ponder. Everyone needs a tribe, so thanks for being mine. You’re all more than critique partners, you’re wonderful friends.

Sir Julius Vogel 2017 Winners — 2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award Winners

23 August 2014

Storylines Family Day – Antarctica Zone

Storylines Family Day Michael Fowler Centre Wellington

Sunday 24 August 10am-3pm

Shackleton Bear Goes South.

Well, he’s actually come north, all the way from Christchurch to be with us for Storylines Family Day in Wellington! Author John McCrystal has gone all out to bring you a wonderful Antarctica Zone for Storylines Family Day.

We’ve collected samples of marine life from NIWA, real stuffed penguins from Te Papa, oodles of slides, photos and pictures, a real snow tent from Antarctica NZ, and a replica of the old stove from Shackleton’s hut in South pole. Of course, Shackleton bear will be very happy to meet you! Visit him in our version of Shackleton’s hut!

ShackletonsHut — The real Shackleton’s Hut in Antarctica

Come along and make snowflakes, snow globes, and bear masks! Meet Shackleton, see John’s presentation about going to the Antarctic with Shackleton Bear and try on a real Antarctic snow suit!

We also have a Monster Fun zone, a Bugs ‘N Bees Zone, a War Zone, and more fun.

23 August 2014

Storylines Family Day – Bugs N’ Bees Zone

Storylines Family Day Michael Fowler Centre Wellington

Sunday 24 August 10am-3pm

We have lots of bug-gy and bee-sy activities lined up at Storylines Family Day. Sally Sutton and Gary Venn have a great book, with a bug theme, Ben and the Icky-Ooky-Sticky Smick. Brian Lovelock just illustrated Raymond Hueber’s book Flight of the Honeybee and won the LIANZA award for children’s illustration two weeks ago. So we are celebrating!

Phil Photo

Come to the Bugs N’ Bees zone and meet Phil Sirvid, Te Papa’s entomologist and a spider expert. Check out his bug collection. Don’t miss his talk, Spiders Are Cool at 2pm.

You can also meet Tricia Laing and Frank Lindsay, real live beekeepers from the Wellington Beekeeper’s Association. They’ll have beekeeping gear to try on and hives to show you.

Join in a bug hunt, find illustrator Gary Venn’s super-sized bugs around the venue and win the bug to keep and go into a prize draw for books! Hear Sally and Gary talk about their bug-gy book and where they get their great ideas from! Hear Brian and Frank talk about bees. Learn about the different types of bees and what they look like. See a real queen bee, a carpenter bee, drones, and more…

Get your face painted bug style. Come along and bee a bug, but whatever you do, don’t bug your parents too much! Just have fun! For Monster Fun Zone go here. For War Zone go here. For general info go here. For a program go here. See you tomorrow!

23 August 201424 May 2016

Storylines Family Day – War Zone

Storylines Family Day Michael Fowler Centre Wellington

Sunday 24 August 10am-3pm

Philippa Werry is a fantastic author, short-listed for the NZ Post children’s book awards, and a prolific writer for the School Journal. Most kids will know Pippa’s stories, even if they don’t yet recognize her name. In the last few years she has become a World War 1 specialist with several books about the war – both novels, and picture books.

To celebrate Philippa’s great books we have a War Zone at Storylines Family Day. Real soldiers will be there to give you camouflage paint, show off their tents and equipment and let you try on soldier’s gear. They’ll even teach you how to march like a soldier!

One of our team has been baking up a storm. We have hardtack to break your teeth on (the softer modern kind) and 900 real old-fashioned Anzac biscuits – that taste more like ginger-nuts than today’s Anzac biscuits!

There are displays of WW1 soldier’s food, oodles of photos of world war one, soldier stories and even Bob Kerr’s fantastic illustrations from Best Mates. A particularly special treat is Philippa’s personal Galipolli gallery. She volunteered there on Anzac Day this year and has a fantastic presentation to share about her trip!

PippaAtGallipoli — Philppa Werry, Anzac Day 2014 in Galipolli. Pippa is in the back row, on the right at the end with long dark hair.

Come along, march like a soldier, get dressed up and learn about the war! For a full programme, go here. For the Monster Fun Zone go here. General info go here.