Review Yak

Authors fed up with publishers’ rejection slips, and readers hunting for new material will welcome the launch of Kiwi online publisher www.bookhabit.com on 29 February – especially writers, who have a chance to win US$5,000 in Bookhabit’s “Unpublished Competition”.

The Bookhabit Show features Stefan and Clare from Bookhabit.com discussing the competition and some tips for entering.

Bookhabit.com enables authors to self-publish works online for free, contributing to an online library of ebooks accessible by readers all over the world. Book lovers visiting Bookhabit.com can sample a book with a free first chapter before they buy. Full books start from as little as US$2.50 (approx NZ$3.30) to (more…)

Writer and comedian Susan Fogarty managed to write a book by thinking up random tasks that would keep her three sons occupied for 20 minutes at a time. Undoubtedly the boys thought the tasks were very entertaining as Susan worked as a professional improviser for six years and was part of the team that won the 1994 World Theatresports Championships in Los Angeles.

Susan’s book developed from her Neurotic Housewife column that ran in New Idea magazine for four and a half years. She pitched (more…)

The Bookhabit show features Tom McLeod, a script writer, composer, arranger and producer. Tom discusses the parallels with the music industry, getting work accepted and the creative process. Tom is also the creative genius behind the music for the Bookhabit show.

Tom McLeod’s inventive arrangements, exciting scores and memorable songs, as well as his ability to capture the perfect style for any genre, have seen him work on a range of television and musical projects. He was a finalist at the New Zealand Screen Awards for Best Original Music in 2005 with the children’s comedy-drama Secret Agent Men.

Tom has produced and arranged several albums including Tim Beveridge’s Come Rain Come Shine for Sony Music, recorded in LA with Oscar-winning arranger Russell Garcia; The Spirit Symphony, recorded with the New Zealand Symphony (more…)

3 generations of Bowen women – Trixie Bowen, his 91 year old widow, daughter Denise and granddaughter Debbie – share their memories of Eion Bowen (1915 – 1983) with Bayly and Clare Tanner on the Bookhabit Show.

Not many families have influenced New Zealand to the magnitude that the Bowen family have. From developing shearing techniques that revolutionized the world of shearing and wool production, came world records for two of the brothers – Godfrey and Ivan, meetings with royalty, Queen’s honours, rare Soviet honours, and international television appearances. Spurred on by their (more…)