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Revolutions

Birthdays, Barbie, and books.

Hello! It’s my birthday! I am 42 today!

Alas, I do not yet have answers to life, the universe and everything. This is going to be short, because my brain is trying to handle four or five things at once, and also because I am tricking myself into writing this by telling myself it will be short.

Barbie:

The author, a white woman with short dark hair, stands in a box designed to look like Barbie doll packaging. She wears a dark pink blazer-style jacket and a mid-pink shiny long gown with a low square neckline. The dress sports a truly gigantic 3D bow that has a ton of interfacing to make it stiff.
Hi, Barbies!

I went with some lovely people from the Christchurch Sews group, so the outfit pressure was ON. The jacket is from a clothing swap, and I threw it on in the last second when I realised that duh, it’s winter, and I didn’t really want to hang around in a sleeveless dress for three hours.

The dress is one I made last year for a staff dress up event, where I went as Madonna-as-Marilyn-Monroe. The bow was a different shape and attached to the butt for that evening, but I thought a front bow was more Barbie (and probably easier to sit in) so I revamped it accordingly.

Did I enjoy the movie? Heck yes. Did I get a lot of popcorn down my cleavage? Sure did!

Books:

It is also the book birthday for Aphrodite Unbound, my fake-relationship, beauty and the geek love story between supermodel Aphrodite and sweet IT genius Heph!

A very pink cover, where tall, beautiful Aphrodite stands next to shorter, dark-skinned Heph. She's in a gown; he's in a tux, and is using forearm crutches. They are framed in a floral border of roses and anemones.

(I love these sweet idiots so much. They may be my favourite couple I’ve ever written.)

The second Olympus Inc. romance is off with a bang, with some terrific reviews from terrific people. Tansy Rayner Roberts calls it a “swoony comfort read bedazzled with mythological references and smart social commentary.” Stephanie Burgis “DEEPLY appreciate[s]” the matter-of-fact approach to Heph’s disabilities. AJ Lancaster loves Aphrodite’s “strong golden retriever energy”.

Reviews, on goodreads or ebook retailers, are so helpful when it comes to getting books into the world, so if you have any thoughts on Aphrodite (or any of my other titles!) please do drop them a line!

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One last thing: WORD festival is back! My favourite literary event, conveniently in Ōtautahi, the city of my heart!

This time, I’m appearing on a panel entitled The Importance of Writing Queer Joy. I’m there with friend and fabulous spec-fic author AJ Fitzwater, Young New Zealander of the Year (!!) and memoirist Shaneel Lal, and excellent moderator and queer rights advocate Jennifer Shields. If you’re in the city, come join us on Sunday August 27 to talk about queerness, joy, and the literary representations thereof.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a joyful week.

Love,

That Healey Girl.