COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | The Tūī Has Landed

Kiwi novelist Jodie Shelley was inspired by an Instagram live series delivered by Marian Keyes to write her page-turning and quirky debut novel, a tale of friendship, problem gambling and revenge.

“Are we calling it ‘encouragement’ now? I like it. Less in your face than ‘blackmail’.”

Becky, unlucky in love and facing unemployment, won’t let life get her down.

Anahera, stepmum to three boisterous boys, has found love but is struggling to find her place in the world.

When Anahera’s life is unexpectedly turned upside down, she and Becky recruit their resourceful friends and hatch a mad plan to avenge a wrong and to return a precious ring to its rightful owner, Anahera’s beloved koro. Together, they embark on a risky and, at times hilarious, late-night adventure.

In the meantime, a mysterious character begins her personal descent as she immerses herself in a pit of addiction and blackmail.

The questions remain: Will Becky find the connection and purpose she seeks? And will Anahera secure her koro’s ring and set her world to right?

The Tūī Has Landed is a New Zealand tale of friendship, problem gambling and revenge, set against a backdrop of terrible pick-up lines, outrageous dating disasters, and ultimately, the principle of aroha mai, aroha atu – love received, and love returned.

Author Note:

‘In early 2021, I discovered to my alarm, that I had no hobbies. My life consisted of going to work, coming home, eating dinner and putting my young son to bed. Then I would log back on to my laptop and work into the early hours of the morning. I tested this realisation with my husband and he confirmed in typical kiwi male style with: “Yeah, nah, you have no hobbies.”

At around that time, Irish author Marian Keyes was delivering a series of Instagram Lives, during which she described the process of writing a novel. She welcomed questions, discussed her learnings from her successful career and provided encouragement to budding authors. As a part of the series, Marian set homework for participants. One piece of homework was to take an opening sentence that she provided, and write 500 words following it. The sentence was: “The doughnuts had failed to de-escalate the situation.” Rediscovering my love for writing, I eagerly wrote 500 words about how the doughnuts had not had the desired impact on a formal meeting in which a key character was about to be fired from her job. The next week, Marian suggested that if the participants enjoyed the process of writing 500 words after the chosen starting sentence, we should just keep going. This is what I did, and that sentence became the nexus of my first novel.

About the author:

Jodie Shelley is a debut author, who lives in Auckland with her husband and young son. She writes easy to read and fun novels, which also explore grittier themes such as problem gambling and family harm. Jodie emerged from a twenty-year career in corporate human resources but is pleased to report that she is in recovery now. During the day, Jodie is an Executive Coach, focusing on leadership development.

When she is not writing or coaching, she bakes and drives for the charitable organisation, Good B&*tches Bake, or she can be found on the sideline at football cheering for her son’s team. Jodie has long enjoyed writing. English was her best subject at school, she took a distance course on freelance journalism just for fun, she wrote a travel blog to record her adventures on a five-month trip around New Zealand and she currently writes on a regular basis on LinkedIn. Her first novel, The Tūī has Landed was the result of Jodie being inspired by an Instagram live series delivered by Marian Keyes entitled ‘How to Write a Novel’. Jodie is currently working on her next two novels.

 

 

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1. 1. You must be a GrownUps member and receive our newsletter to be eligible to win.
   2. Competition closes on the 28th February 2023, winners will be notified via email by 2nd March 2023.
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