Scott's Fiordland Adventure...

Out October 1st in all good bookstores and supermarkets nationwide and also available in Australia.

The NZOH Oct/Nov issue features my article on Fiordland's magnificent Wapiti. The largest round horned deer in the world. The Fiordland herd is the biggest outside its native homeland of North America.
First introduced to NZ in 1905 they are a highly sought after trophy, but it takes a certain type of hunter to venture into the extreme environment that is Fiordland and hunt wapiti.

My briefing for this assignment was... Louise, we want an exciting adventurous wapiti story hopefully with a hunter who has secured a decent trophy and has some great photos.

It was up to me to find this person, interview them and tell their story, and I did.

His name is Scott Turner and he's what I call an intelligent hunter. Thoughtful and in tune with his environment. Like the hunters of old and with the same outlook on venturing into the wilderness such as the great Archie Kitto - see my post on Archie for his story titled: "Mists of Time." 15/04/2012

With this type of hunter its not about just going out and killing an animal, they embrace the entire experience, they know how to survive in the wilderness and they respect nature and the natural environment. They don't take anything for granted and they go prepared mentally and physically. Scotts training for venturing into Fiordland is something I asked him about.

This is my fifth feature for NZOH and one Im very proud of.  I asked Scott the hard questions and the fun ones. Regarding supplies..."What would you hate to have left behind on the kitchen table?" His reply, "Chocolate, I have a sweet tooth."

But I'll leave it there.

You'll have to read the article to find out what else Scott takes in his pack, about his trophy, his highlights and how he and his hunting mate Marc survived in one of the worlds most challenging and exciting places to hunt.

Autumn Leaves

"Leaves drifted,

Huge poplar leaves veined with amber so golden 

they might have been coin of the realm for a finer world than this one."

Extract from The Paperhanger by William Gay.

I'm reading The Best American Noir of the Century Edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler.

William Gay's short story The Paperhanger features in this book. It's another one of his beautifully crafted southern gothic tales. Again, no speech parenthesis anywhere in sight, and this omission of those little pecks scattered throughout the text like chicken feed intensifies the austere and brutal quality of the writing and its overall theme of death and despair.  

I haven't written in the short story genre for a few years now so it would be a good exercise to draw on the Frank Erceg research and maybe fire away at some creative writing in the southern gothic style; which fits perfectly into the theme of backcountry Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the lone deer culler hunting in the wilderness. 

I took the photo above this morning, gathering the leaves on my walk, looking for William's lost coin of another realm. 

Looking for Wapiti Stories

My article on the Glaisnock Rock Biv out now in the Feb/March issue of NZOH

Another article done and dusted and now my latest  assignment for NZOH will be on wapiti, our larger deer residing in the Fiordland National Park, South Westland.

I'm looking for hunters going into Fiordalnd for the the 2014 wapiti season who want to share their experience. Photos are a must, if you, or anyone you know can tell a good yarn, might be interested, please get in touch.

http://www.nzoutdoor.co.nz

For more info on wapiti go to:
http://www.fwf.net.nz

On writing...

The above photo was taken in Timaru. Louise in conversation with Captain Henry Cain:1816-1886.

His clothes are real, and all soaked in resin. 

Link here for more on Captain Cain:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzlscant/cain.htm

Where does writing come from. For me a key component is how to connect one thought or idea or inspiration with another.

Visual art and music are important to me, and this morning I've been doing a bit of research into the connection between music and creative writing. I sing and I write my own music. I've studied music theory. Words are tonal and the way they are combined in a narrative -  can be likened to a musical score. I hum parts of the story into being,  a sad slow dirge in a minor key, the words are dark, inky, unlit, they dwell in caves, are hidden and reluctant to be revealed, gloomy shadowy and have to be coaxed into being, to form a sequence and give the narrative the necessary tension or atmosphere at that point in the story. Then  the narrative lightens up, but its not that conscious, not so contrived, its a feeling that nows a good time to surface into an effulgent, more radiant place.

Some great writing tips here:

http://thestorybridge.blogspot.co.nz/p/free-writing-tips.html

Words: Choosing the right word can take time, a paragraph is distilled down to one or two sentences the remainder of the words are pruned back and discarded, they lie below the surface and this is important, they  support the upper structure, form the foundation the basement, and give a sense of underlying depth, you can feel those words are still there because the story's been "worked" not unlike an oil painting, all those layers beneath the surface, rubbed back, partly scraped, chipped at, sometimes physically bashed into shape until you know you got it right...maybe.

Frank Erceg Project: I'm at a point in writing the Frank Erceg story where I'm not with a clear direction. I'm still researching but I'm allowing myself some time off to create a distance from it and work on some other projects. I know in time the right format to tell Frank's story will show itself. Its actually a huge weight off my shoulders to let it go for a bit. It wasn't an easy decision to make. I feel a commitment to seeing this book done and was pressuring myself to do it before any more of Frank's mates pop off. But  forcing the story into being is the wrong way to go about it. Its just not there yet. Don't force the river it flows on its own. One of my favourite sayings. 

So I'm working on a novel and I'm writing freelance articles for NZ Outdoor Hunting and Glory Days magazine: 

http://www.glorydaysmagazine.com/

I'm also working on my writing style and studying other writers particularly the American southern gothic and noir writers. I've requested some books from the library including one of my favourites William Gay. A Southern gothic writer who wrote an entire book without using any speech parenthesis. At first it was a bit weird I wasn't sure if I was reading the narrative or a character's dialogue, but then I found the rhythm and didn't notice their absence. He's a master of chipping back the superfluous, his short story The Ice Man is written like this. I don't agree to get rid of all grammar, for example comas are handy, they let you breathe, pause and consider. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gay_(author)

Anyway... gotta go put the billy on and have a cuppa. Then there's writing to do.

Louise.

Glaisnock Rock Biv Part Two

Glaisnock Biv being occupied. Image Gary Johnson.

View from above the biv looking down the Glaisnock Valley. Image Gary Johnson.

In December 2012 I wrote a post on the Glaisnock biv and recently New Zealand Outdoor Hunting magazine suggested I write a piece about it. So coming out in their February issue is my article on the famous Glaisnock rock bivouac.

Gary Johnson - hunter, photographer & regular contributor to NZOH was a wealth of info on the biv and supplied all the images. Thanks to Gary for his contribution to the piece.

The article includes some historical info and also informs the reader with the nuts and bolts facts about the biv and how to get to this remote location. The biv is situated up from the Glaisnock Valley - the mouth of the Glaisnock River is in the North Fiord of Lake Te Anau.

So come February 1st buy a copy of NZOH and support New Zealand's longest running hunting publication, its been rolling off the press since 1937.

Dreary west Auckland weather today, might see if there's something else I can put up here.

Happy New Year everyone, make it a good one!

Louise.