As some of you know, I have one child - not by choice. I wrote about my struggles to have a second child and my experience of recurrent miscarriage and secondary infertility in this article, which was published in a New Zealand magazine last year. I wanted to share my journey for selfish reasons - cathartic…
A Posy of Poems
It's been a while, but here I am at last. Some time ago I wrote a post listing some of my favourite books. I badly need to update it and will do so before too long. But today, given it is National Poetry Day here in NZ, I want to talk poetry. I love reading poetry…
A Gift from France
Our family has expanded this week. We have welcomed 16-yr-old Joséphine, an AFS exchange student. She is from Dijon and has come to live in New Zealand for just two months. She'll go to school here and hopefully get a taste of the Kiwi lifestyle. She has fitted right in and it feels like she…
One Down, Eight To Go
Nobody, not even the rain, has such small paws. Sorry E.E. Cummings, I have ever so slightly edited a line of your masterpiece (the wonderful poem "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond") in honour of my cat. I have two cats - Sam (who is always presumed to be a boy, but is in fact Samantha)…
The Bank of Words
Robert Southey said: "It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn." Short fiction - good short fiction - can have an emotional impact and resonance not found in quite the same way in longer fiction. That is why I love it. The trouble is, it's fecking hard…
Selling Beauty to Babies
My six-year-old daughter was invited to a party this weekend. The little birthday girl is a delight and I would have loved Miss B. to attend. After checking out the venue online, however, my partner and I decided we had to decline the invitation.Club Girly Girlz hosts parties for young girls centred around getting made up,…
Elizabeth Goes Shopping
One day Elizabeth woke up and decided to go shopping. She dressed in trousers and an anorak and wrapped a paisley scarf around her hair. After breakfast she ducked through the kitchen, out the gates and was on the No. 32 bus before anyone had noticed she was gone. First stop, Boots the Chemist for…
Crossing Over
Just for fun: I've written the same story, first in under 150 words, and then in under 300 words. I've entered both in different Flash Fiction competitions. Which do you think is best? Why? Crossing Over (150 words) We spear through the pre-dawn. As we shoot down the last hill before the pier, all wheels…
A Short Short Story
As I have previously pointed out, I love writing short fiction. Perhaps still high on my success in the 2013 Reader's Digest 100-word story competition (I came runner-up), I've just entered the BNZ (Bank of New Zealand) Literary Awards, in the Short Short Story category (150 words). As long as your story is deemed eligible, it's published…
Brightness
It is Miss B's birthday today. I wrote her a poem not long ago (see "My daughter's bedside, 3am." Today, however, I bow to the superior talent of New Zealand poet Denis Glover (Dec 1912 - Aug 1980). For you, my darling daughter. Happy Birthday. Brightness I am bright with the wonder of you And the…
Patricia Bell, Author 