Award-winning Kiwi author to let her lips, not pen, do the talking

KEEN TO BE USEFUL: Sue McCauley will speak at the Carterton Events Centre on February 1 as part of the Wairarapa Word writers' series. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Dannevirke author Sue McCauley is heading to Carterton next month.

The novelist, scriptwriter, journalist and winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction will speak at the Carterton Events Centre on February 1, as part of the Wairarapa Word writers' series.

McCauley, whose novel, Other Halves won the Wattie Book of the Year Award, the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction, and was made into a feature film, said she expected the talk would focus on her career as a writer.

"Hopefully we will make it a bit useful for budding writers and cover the craft stuff - and I guess the kind of mental attitude, because I've lived as a writer."

A Masterton resident in the late 1980s, McCauley said she looked forward to catching up with old friends in Wairarapa, as well as speaking at the Wai Word event.

"I thought it might be fun, I've done quite a lot of this public stuff over the years, so it doesn't seem stressful. We aim to entertain and keep them interested."

McCauley, who returned to Dannevirke about 10 years ago to run her father's farm, initially began her career in radio but was offered a job at the Listener after the editor read one of her short stories.

She has worked as a journalist and a television scriptwriter and raised two children.

Making a living as a writer had its tough moments: "I just was determined that I would try to make a living from home, and we managed, but we had some hard times."

Working across a wide range of genres was key to supporting herself as a writer, she said.

She is now employed as a creative-writing mentor at the Auckland-based Creative Hub and also works for the New Zealand Society of Authors.

In 1986, she was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for Community Service.

Wai Word is held on the first Sunday of the month at 3pm.

Entry is by donation.