A Travelogue in Pictures

Book stuff:

• Bespoke & Bespelled has been re-released by 8th Note Press with a gorgeous new Liz Casal cover! Don’t forget that newsletter subscribers get the (appropriately Christmas-themed) prequel story, Taylor Made.
• Persephone in Bloom is available in paperback and the ebook is FREE until Jan 4!
• WHAT A COINCIDENCE Hera Takes Charge is coming out Jan 4. Pre-order now!

Buildings

In mid-December, I went to my hometown, Oamaru, to speak at a fundraiser for my alma mater, Waitaki Girls’ High School. Waitaki Girls’ were raising money for refurbishing the Music and Drama Suite, in which I spent many happy hours as a dramatic teen.

Oamaru is a setting in Bespoke & Bespelled for the same reason it’s a setting in a lot of historical films1 - it has a glorious selection of Victorian-style buildings constructed from the area’s famous limestone (locally called whitestone or Oamaru stone) in the Victorian Precinct.

I was given a walking tour of the precinct by local icon Helen Stead, one of the first women on the Oamaru Borough Council. Helen is 84 years old, and still dedicated to conserving and showcasing our history. She was getting phone calls and setting up meetings during our coffee break. This woman works.

Oamaru’s much more recent claim to architectural fame is Riverstone Castle, which is a genuine castle, with a real moat and a lake, completed just a couple of years ago. The formidable Dot Smith wanted to live in a castle.

So she built one.

This is so stupefyingly awesome that meeting Dot was a little intimidating. What are you going to say? “You have a beautiful home”? Uh, yes, of course she does, it’s a castle.

Also, Dot has a tiara collection and she will pick one out for you and take a picture. In the photo below I was trying to smile like a human person, but instead I feel this has serious evil queen vibes, which may be even better?

Bookstores

On the way back to Ōtautahi, I stopped off at Mystique Bookstore in Waimate! Dark romance author Elliot Rose opened Mystique earlier this year. It’s the only specialist romance bookstore in the South Island and it’s gorgeous, full of spicy books and lovely furniture.

Boss Babes

I didn’t realise this when I started, but the theme of the trip was awesome women doing awesome things.

There they were, everywhere I turned: Sarah, the Waitaki Girls’ principal; Dagmar, who organised the event; Helen, who runs the beautiful Inc. Design Store showcasing New Zealand designers and creatives.

Preserving history. Building castles. Selling books.

Damn, ladies.