Farewell party!

Mixed feelings. Great night. Amazing Kiwiana costumes! I won't post compromising photos, but there was a jar of Marmite, Levi from the Mitre 10 ads, a sexy sheep, a Buzzy Bee, a kiwi bird, Miss New Zealand, fish and chips and a Pineapple Lump, among other things.



LOML was David Bain, a now-acquitted murder suspect who has become a Kiwi pop culture icon, and I was a pavlova (a Kiwi meringue dessert. Although there is some debate between Kiwis and Aussies over who can actually lay claim to it!). I borrowed the vintage hat from Vanessa at Tete a Tete Vintage - it really does look like a meringue.



My sister came as a stereotypical Kiwi bloke, complete with gumboots and beer. She looked frighteningly like her dad with the painted moustache, actually.



Cake! ('Oh, stink' is a Kiwi expression meaning 'oh no.' Or something like that.)

Now I am sitting in my pyjamas with Nurofen, coffee and water, because that is what you do the morning after a party.

The crazy continues

Tonight is our farewell party. How odd does that sound? Farewell. Fare thee well. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye. Of course, it isn't actually goodbye quite yet because we don't know exactly when we are leaving, but it is the last time we will see several of our friends for a while. It feels weird. We went with a Kiwiana theme for the party, and guests are arriving in costume - as a sort of last Kiwi hurrah before we move to another culture.

I'm sorry to have fallen so behind on replying to comments and other bloggy things - I am going to try to catch up today. Thank you for being so understanding while I'm in this transition - I really appreciate it!

Hey, look over there!

Hi everyone!

So as I continue to spin around in fuzzy, chaotic circles (like a teddy bear in a washing machine), I'd like to direct you to a piece I wrote for Damon Young's blog, Darkly wise, rudely great. Damon is an Australian author, philosopher and commentator, and he hosts the series The Write Tools, in which writers describe their own particular processes and talismans. I was thrilled to be asked to participate alongside so many talented writers - thanks, Damon!

The Write Tools #23 - Andrea Eames

Andrea xx

Comment of the day

"Love the piece and that vintage and second hand are so much a support of your writing talent. Your vintage love reminded me of an interview with one of my favorite home designers Carol Hicks Bolton in Fredericksberg near Austin. She collected vintage and antique pieces that showed repair and love of the items, even old coffee pots!" - Lemondrop Marie

Bridal shower!

Dress - vintage, from Tete a Tete Vintage, a gift from my friend Christina
Cardigan - H & M, thrifted
Cardigan clips - vintage, thrifted
Belt - thrifted
Socks - from a little sock shop on Pier 39 in San Francisco
Shoes - vintage Selby, thrifted
Bag - vintage, thrifted

One of my very best friends, Hannah, is getting married on Friday! I can't believe it has come around so quickly. I organised her bridal shower yesterday afternoon - a vintage high tea - and we had great fun. No games involving toilet paper, either, which is always a bonus in my book. I am going through the photos now, ready to send through to Hannah. Somehow they make me feel preemptively nostalgic - even though I am going to be seeing the lovely Hannah, her fiance and our other friends almost every day this week, I am very aware that in a couple of weeks' time this is all going to seem very far away.



Me, Hannah and Christina. Our enormous skirts are battling for supremacy.



Bob wanted to be involved in all the giant-skirt-related excitement.

Ah well - after a wonderful weekend, normal life (sort of) resumes this week, as I finish off the corrections to the typeset proofs. I have also seen the full jacket now, with the back cover and spine, and it looks wonderful! I can't wait to be able to show everyone. And ... LOML has returned! Hooray! We have another couple of weeks here, and then we're both jetting off back to Austin. So much to squeeze into such a short time. Thanks so much, as always, for all of your comments.

P.S. A special thanks to those people on Twitter who were so kind earlier today.

Comment of the day

"That's funny- I actually bought Hannah's dress at an opshop in Melbourne with her brother when we were holidaying there about two years ago. I eventually sold it to Vanessa when I got sick of it. Small world, Christchurch." - Georgia Rose

BFFS

I had breakfast with my very best friend today - Caroline. We have known each other since we were little in Zimbabwe; we met at church, and have been firm friends ever since. We supported each other through everything that happened in Zimbabwe, and our families became very close. We're more like sisters than friends, really. In a stroke of amazing luck, Caroline moved to New Zealand a year before I did, and so we were able to support each other through the transition. We went to the same university, both married Kiwis (and were maids of honour at one another's weddings, as we had planned when we were eight years old), and live in the same town. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful person in my life, and I am going to miss her terribly when we move. Perhaps I can persuade her to move to Texas, as well? I feel an evil plan coming on.


Caroline and I messing about while getting ready for her wedding.

P.S. Attention New Zealand folk! I am continuing to sell off my vintage wardrobe online before we move - check out the listings here.

Comment of the day

"It appears that you're spirit-sisters! A lovely story." - M.banks

Change

I am two people when it comes to change.

One person jumps up and down and says "Yippee how exciting when can we go can we go now what shall I bring shall I bring my bucket and spade will there be ice cream will there be ginger beer and lashings of it will there be puppies and rainbows and I am going to wear my BEST striped socks."

The other says "But what about the polar ice caps and the swine flu and the decline of civilisation and what if it gets cold and what if I forget my umbrella and have a hole in my shoe and maybe I will lose my favourite blanket and maybe I will never be able to find a brand of yoghurt I like EVER EVER AGAIN."

I know this. I am at peace with this. Both people are necessary, and there's nothing wrong with either. It is naive to pretend everything will be wonderful all the time, and it is silly to always focus on the problems. I hope you can bear with my likely-to-be split personality over the coming months!

Comment of the day

"Change is always tough. The older I get, the more my relationship to change is shaped exactly the way you described here. When I was younger I just went for one or the other, which wasn't always healthy and got me in trouble often. Just embrace the process, and you will work it out!" - The Waves

Why writing is like sex

"Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process." - Isabel Allende

Now, darling, when a writer and a story love each other very, very much ...

Just kidding.

So, sex isn't something that comes up often here (thank goodness, I say). I started thinking about it today when I said to a friend that I feel frustrated. With my writing, I mean (get your minds out of the gutter). I feel like I have lost the ability lately to sustain periods of deep, concentrated thought and focus. I am not particularly engaged with the world. I am far more engaged with my to-do lists and my red pen. My body and emotions, all those hormones sloshing about in glands, seem to have disappeared, and I am left with the analytical part of my brain and a diary full of appointments and reminders. In a way, I think this might be a self-protection mechanism - clearly it is a difficult time, as we prepare to move countries. My brain is shutting off some of its more emotional and visceral responses in order to focus on the Things That Need Doing. I understand that. But it doesn't make for great joy in creativity. Writing is an activity that needs the involvement of your body and emotions, and the suspension of the critical, analytical self. Like sex. And it resembles sex in other ways, too.

You might not feel in the mood initially ...

... but once you get started you'll usually get into it.

It works best when you go with the flow

If it seems to be working, and it feels good, it's better not to analyse. Just carry on ... er ... writing.

For it to feel good, you need to be in the moment

Worrying about your next appointment or the bill that was due yesterday is not conducive to losing yourself in creativity.

You have more fun when you're uninhibited

It might seem crazy, but try out that wild idea that occurred to you in the shower. You're not landing a plane in a snowstorm. No one is going to die if you try something different and risk failing. More often than not, the weird idea or unexpected detour will result in something great.

Trying new techniques can lead to good (and unexpected) results

Work outside of your normal style now and then. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what turns up.

Sometimes toys can help

I get really excited when I have a new programme to play with, or a sparkly new notebook to scribble in. And one of the most effective techniques I have ever tried is cutting and pasting everything I've written into a scrapbook to shape a new novel. If props help you think in different and exciting ways, go for it.

It's really satisfying once you've finished

Enough said.

Comment of the day

"Great post! And yes *holds hand up sheepishly* I did have to pull my mind out of the gutter. The problem is I think my mind likes it there, rolling around getting all dirty. *stares hold at sentence* AGH!" - Jayne

I passed! And googled myself! (Sounds dodgy)

IpassedIpassedIpassed.

(PASSED).

Also, look what I found here:

Harvill Secker Acquires Exciting Zimbabwean Debut Novel

Posted at 4:35PM Monday 10 May 2010

10 May 2010
Harvill Secker, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, has bought World English rights to Andrea Eames's first novel The Cry of the Go-Away Bird. Rights were acquired from Vivien Green at Sheil Land. The novel, based on the author's experiences growing up in a white farming family in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s, will be published by Harvill Secker in hardback in February 2011 and in Vintage in 2012.

The narrator of The Cry of the Go-Away Bird, Elise, comes of age during the souring of Mugabe's rule and realises that her idyllic and privileged life is built on past wrongs and that violence is an inevitable part of her future. Liz Foley, Publishing Director, said 'I'm delighted that we will be publishing The Cry of the Go-Away Bird. Andrea Eames has a bright future ahead of her and the accomplishment she shows in handling the tension and characterisation in this gripping novel is incredibly impressive.'

The author

Andrea Eames is a second generation Zimbabwean. Her grandfather moved to Zimbabwe in the 1950s to work for the British South Africa Police and later became a government agent. Her parents grew up during the Second Chimurenga (also known as the Bush War) in the seventies, and she was born in 1985, five years after independence was declared and Mugabe was sworn in as president. Her father died in a car accident while her mother was pregnant, and she and her mother lived in England for a few years before moving back to Zimbabwe when Andrea was four. In Zimbabwe, Andrea attended a Jewish school, a Hindu school, a Catholic convent school, and then the American International School in Harare. Her mother worked on a farm. Andrea has worked as a bookseller and editor in publishing and now lives in Christchurch with her husband. The Cry of the Go-Away Bird is her first novel.

Eee!

Comment of the day

"Congratulations on passing your full licence! I had heaps of trouble getting mine. I passed the test in the early 1970's, but never drove, and by the time I wanted to I'd lost all confidence and forgotten how! I finally passed it again in 1980 and have been driving ever since!

And it's great to read about your novel being another step closer to being published. I can't wait to read it. Writing a novel must be worse than having a baby combined with a huge uni assignment - a thesis or something!" - Kay