A busy and exciting weekend at the Word Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival. The Opening Night Gala, Writers Party, Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture with David Levithan and the early release of Shield at the Teens In Peril panel session.

Rachael Craw’s YA title Spark has been optioned by New Zealand film company Miss Conception Films, fitting perfectly with their mission to “make films with strong female protagonists”. A perennial favourite among young-adult fiction fans, the gripping action and fast-paced narrative was always perfect for film.

Tuesday, September 8th, one week after the Christchurch book launch we celebrated the release of Stray at my favourite bookshop, Page & Blackmore. I fell in love with P&B the first time I visited the store soon after moving to Nelson and have been a regular ever since. Stella and the team are the best kind of independent booksellers, friendly, knowledgeable and mad keen on books!

A truly delightful evening of friends, whanau and Spark-enthusiasts, sipping wine, nibbling cake and goodies, celebrating the launch of Stray, book 2 in the Spark trilogy.