That was so good. I loved that one! It’s funny with writing how the genres are just for booksellers because writers can write anyway they want. I found that very visual, maybe because I’ve been there, maybe became I really want a ham cheese and iceberg lettuce sandwich! Thanks Alia, that was a lovely way to wake up :)
It was a great read/listen Alia, (and a great sandwich! - reminded me that as a kid in NZ we were given little paper bags with a Vegemite and crisp sandwich for school lunch. I don’t know why that memory bubbled up).
Alia, I loved this so much. Wonderful storytelling. You recreate the scene so vividly and manage to keep the secret you learned only later. We only see what you are seeing and don't know better ourselves.
Hi Leslie! Thank you :) That’s exactly the feeling I was trying to recreate, so I’m glad it worked. I felt it was important the reader identified with the people on the beach in not knowing what the orcas were actually doing, but then giving you that little gift at the end.
Alia, I loved the way you handled the sights and sounds of the New Zealand shoreline. I thought partway through that the orcas were just milling around looking for some bread and lettuce so they could have a sunbather sandwich with a little bit of very good book on the side. Young lady, sometimes you frighten me. ❤️!
Hello Alia, I loved this little auto-fiction. This genre suits you! So many delicious phrases, I just adored the any character, just doing their thing, the woman with the book (I imagined this might have been you) and the beautiful surprise at the end, I wasn’t expecting that. ⭐️
Thank you, Kate! I really enjoyed writing this piece and playing with the voice and texture. I thought people may suspect I was the woman with the book, but I was actually the one with the sandwich, haha. I only discovered it was orca birthing bahaviour when I described the scene to a Kiwi a week later.
I really enjoyed this one, primed by nature docos I was waiting for the dark turn, but no, a babe! You have some beautiful turns of phrase and the book and the iceberg lettuce just made me giggle and tied it all together!
Thank you, Gillian. The book was very real. The iceberg lettuce may have been fictional, but there's a 90% chance that happened too 😆 And the babe, we later heard from a Kiwi friend whose father lives on a boat in the Bay of Islands what it was we saw. I was kicking myself, thinking that maybe if I looked even harder I may have noticed some other little detail. But I doubt I would have. I couldn't exactly go and stick my head in the water to see what was happening, (although I would have liked to) it would have surely been bitten off 😂
That was so good. I loved that one! It’s funny with writing how the genres are just for booksellers because writers can write anyway they want. I found that very visual, maybe because I’ve been there, maybe became I really want a ham cheese and iceberg lettuce sandwich! Thanks Alia, that was a lovely way to wake up :)
Thanks Jonathan. It's absolutely the sandwich 😂 Glad you enjoyed that one. I really enjoyed writing it.
It was a great read/listen Alia, (and a great sandwich! - reminded me that as a kid in NZ we were given little paper bags with a Vegemite and crisp sandwich for school lunch. I don’t know why that memory bubbled up).
I love how the senses trigger memories. It's quite fascinating.
Glad to hear it was a Vegemite sandwich and not Marmite 😝 And I imagine it was square white bread.
Alia, I loved this so much. Wonderful storytelling. You recreate the scene so vividly and manage to keep the secret you learned only later. We only see what you are seeing and don't know better ourselves.
Hi Leslie! Thank you :) That’s exactly the feeling I was trying to recreate, so I’m glad it worked. I felt it was important the reader identified with the people on the beach in not knowing what the orcas were actually doing, but then giving you that little gift at the end.
Alia, I loved the way you handled the sights and sounds of the New Zealand shoreline. I thought partway through that the orcas were just milling around looking for some bread and lettuce so they could have a sunbather sandwich with a little bit of very good book on the side. Young lady, sometimes you frighten me. ❤️!
Thanks Rafael. Haha, that could have been interesting. It could have developed into the next Jaws or Sharknado.
If that’s what you wrote some suit in Hollywood would have turned it into the next Megalodon movie.
Beautiful beautiful. So gorgeously told. A time of wonder ❤️🐋
Thank you, Meg 🙂
Hello Alia, I loved this little auto-fiction. This genre suits you! So many delicious phrases, I just adored the any character, just doing their thing, the woman with the book (I imagined this might have been you) and the beautiful surprise at the end, I wasn’t expecting that. ⭐️
Thank you, Kate! I really enjoyed writing this piece and playing with the voice and texture. I thought people may suspect I was the woman with the book, but I was actually the one with the sandwich, haha. I only discovered it was orca birthing bahaviour when I described the scene to a Kiwi a week later.
I love this — I thought about the person eating the sandwich, but imagined you with the book some how.
That’s the beauty of writing and having a curious journalistic mind, all the things you find out, even if it’s much later.
A great story x
I really enjoyed this one, primed by nature docos I was waiting for the dark turn, but no, a babe! You have some beautiful turns of phrase and the book and the iceberg lettuce just made me giggle and tied it all together!
Thank you, Gillian. The book was very real. The iceberg lettuce may have been fictional, but there's a 90% chance that happened too 😆 And the babe, we later heard from a Kiwi friend whose father lives on a boat in the Bay of Islands what it was we saw. I was kicking myself, thinking that maybe if I looked even harder I may have noticed some other little detail. But I doubt I would have. I couldn't exactly go and stick my head in the water to see what was happening, (although I would have liked to) it would have surely been bitten off 😂
These are the hours of wonder. Alia your words and painting share the love.
Thank you, Jeff. The wonder is always there for those who look ♥️
Beautifully told!
Thank you, Steve :)
You’re welcome. It was! Heading up your way later this week: Chiltern for birdwatching, then Bright for Mountaingrass as usual, next week.