Writing Process Blog

BLOG 2026

June

The official release date is set for 10th July 2026 - Matariki and the Māori New Year!
Te Herenga Waka o Ōrewa Marae is hosting a dawn service at the Ōrewa beach, and a community breakfast and quiz at the surf club afterwards. We will be launching my book at this event, so come and get yourself for an official release day copy for a discounted price! Thank you to all my friends and family who purchased pre-release copies and wrote reviews. In the revised edition, the 'history chapter' is now dispersed throughout the the book, and the suggestion of Hailey (my co-author and daughter). A few pages have been rearranged, and some reworks based on the pre-release feedback. I've been asked for the sequel! I certainly hope to write one. 

May

I could not wipe the smile off my face all the way homew today. What  a joy to open a box full of my very own novels! A little dance in the office with a colleague. Shared excitement as we held the weighty little book in our hands. I actually started writing it back when we lived in Dunedin. Four and a half years later, here it is! I LOVE the cover artwork from my son Nathan. I hope you do too. 

April

The pre-release stock is being printed! I decided to print some locally, for pre-release sales and sampling. For English teachers like me, it is wonderful to be able to put a book in the hands of our kids that not only tells a story, but educates along the way. 

I will be adding a form to place a pre-release order .If you have my details already, please drop me an email to add yours to the order!

Feb-March

Have been engaging with a process to ensure that my blindspots are covered, and that I have the appropriate green light to launch a story firmly seated in Te Ao Maori and using Te Reo Maori. Those I have consulted with have been very encouraging. I had the Paipera chapter (with history content) checked over before I put funds into a pre-release print run. It was good to be affirmed that it was written sensitively and that I could put out there confidently.

BLOG 2025

 The revised draft is finished, and after some insightful stakeholder reviews, I have rewritten the ending. My own children are my best critics while my intermediate classes are very encouraging. I am also awaiting a process for ensuring tikanga is followed, and use of Te Reo Māori is accurate.

Last year, whenever I was relief teaching in a Year 7 or 8 class, I would ask them if they wanted to hear a bit more of my novel and help me with suggestions. The children were so excited to be part of the process that they offered me many suggestions. At the tuck shop, I often get questioned, "Have you finished the novel yet Mrs Shotbolt?" "Will it be ready for us to read when we get to your year level?" What a motivator to push on!

Writing a children's novel has been a fantastic process for me as an English teacher. I don't want to ask my students to do that which I wouldn't do myself after all. It has been an learning experience for me as I have gone through the process of polishing a manuscript. It has also helped me to inspire our GATE writers to publish their own novel.