Thursday 26 April 2012

#AtoZChallenge - BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! - W is for Writers Block NZ

Hello!
Symbolic Digger's slouch hat in the Flanders Fields
of Belgium


Before we get underway today, I must announce it was ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand yesterday, so it's fitting I have a New Zealander foregrounded. ANZAC stands for - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and celebrates the mateship between the soldiers from both sides of the Tasman Sea, particularly the campaign at Gallipoli in WW1. It was a public holiday here yesterday, where we attended dawn services, lit flames at the Cenotaphs, marched in parades, remembering the fallen - Lest we forget...


Regular followers and visitors to this site will know I'm using BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! for my theme this year. I hope you're enjoying reading about bloggers, some you know and some you may not yet know, as they respond to some prompts I sent out. I've been so grateful for their responses as it helped me to get to know them better, admire their stunning cuteness as babes, and delighted me with random facts.


Thank you Adult Bloggers for your heartfelt responses. Thank you readers for visiting my posts. I hope you'll leave a comment and if you'd like to follow the link to my respondents' blogs they'd be delighted to meet you.


Rock on A- Z Challenge. (Click to read more posts...)

Today:

W is for Writers Block NZ (JJ McConnachie)


I WAS BORN IN:  New Plymouth, New Zealand
I GREW UP IN: New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Malaysia (pilot's daughter!)
MY FAVOURITE HOME WAS IN: New Zealand - less bugs!
MY BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY IS: I was a bit of a clean freak so my favourite childhood moment was when I finally let this go. I learnt to ride a bicycle on the beach and got completely covered in sand and water - head to toe filth and I loved it!
MY WORST CHILDHOOD MEMORY IS: When my kitten, Daisy died, then my three turtles went missing. I was heartbroken and blamed my brother's cat, Ginger, for both (Ginger ate all the food so Daisy wasn't as healthy, and I'm sure he had his eye on those turtles too!)
TODAY I LIVE IN: Auckland, New Zealand
PROUDEST WRITER MOMENT: Getting my Master's in Creative Writing 
RANDOM FACT ABOUT ME: I now prefer dogs to cats!

About JJ:


I'm JJ and I'm a writerholic.  I write MG and YA fantasy, usually crossed with other genres like steampunk, romance, dystopian and humour.  I'll read anything that comes close to being classified as fantasy or young adult, but I love a good thriller and Dean Koontz is my hero.  When I'm not writing, or daydreaming about making friends with dragons, obtaining magical powers or skydiving from a zeppelin, I dabble in photoshop and flash design, and tutor English literature, which I studied at university (along with advertising and digital media).  I've also recently completed my Masters in Creative Writing.  I am a member of the New Zealand Society of Authors and SpecFicNZ, and a staff member of kiwiwriters.org. 


JJ is a recent convert to tumblr. She's shut down her awesome blog. She finds tumblr much more scintillating. You can visit her tumblr site, Book Smut here. She's recently posted a pic of her bookaholic daughter who's not yet one year old!



I hope you enjoyed learning about JJ. Join me tomorrow to discover more about Deniz Bevan.

14 comments:

Li said...

Pets lend a lot to the childhood experience, but it's rough when something happens to them. (Would a cat eat a turtle?) Less bugs would be one of my criteria for best place to live too :-) Nice to meet you, JJ!

Theresa Milstein said...

Preferring dogs to cat? I'm about to get my first dog. Let's see how the cat and me cope.

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm sorry you've had a lot of problems with pets. But, I would love to visit NZ someday. It's so beautiful.

Zan Marie said...

Ouch on the pets, JJ! I'm a cat person who loves dogs, too. I've had 7 cats in my life at various times, but now have two toy poodles per my hubby's request. And I love them, too. ; )

I envy your island homes. I'm such a beach person.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry about your cat and turtles. And definitely less bugs (and poisonous things) in New Zealand.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

JJ, it was great getting to know you. Skydiving from a zeppelin? Sounds great. In my THE LAST FAE, I have her dagger fight her double on the rear stabilizer wing of the Hidenburg while flying in front of the statue Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Wagner time.

Losing our beloved pets can be devastating. I always try to have a dog and a cat together, raising them from puppy and kitten. I dream of moving to New Zealand ... that and a date with Olivia Wilde. LOL. Have the same chance for both! LOL. Roland

Sherry Gloag said...

I haven't managed to visit every day during the A_Z challenge but have enjoyed your introductions to so many interesting poeple.
Losing pets at any time is hard, losing them as children is harder to come to terms with.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I smiled at JJ's best memory. The best fun I had as a kid seemed to always involve mud :)

Denise Covey said...

I can't get over how mischevious JJ looks. D.

Judie said...

I agree with Denise! What a great blog you have here, Denise. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my "W" post.

The Poet said...

Hello JJ.
Nice to meet you. I love dogs too, but my wife prefers cats. Thanks for sharing a little about yourself. Your baby photo is really cute.

Thanks again Denise. Hope you are well. I missed this one yesterday so am playing catch-up. Have a great weekend!

Dawn Embers said...

Yay JJ! Awesome post. I will have to check out the tumblr, i haven't really looked into the site much at all before. Looks interesting. :-)

JJ said...

Thanks for putting this up Denise - I'd forgotten what I had written! I still swear it was Ginger who ate my turtles... but I suppose it could have been a snake :P

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

HI Denise and JJ .. losing animals as kids is awful - we lost our cat I was devastated. Now I've had both cats and dogs .. I'd do both if life was right .. ie space, someone to look after them if I go away.

New Zealand sounds beautiful and one day I hope to visit .. have some great friends there ..

Cheers Hilary