The A to Z Challenge: D is for Daisy

And also for Doctor.

Daisy is an only child; an oddity at a time when large families were the norm. She's a bright and imaginative girl, taking after her grandmother Amy in many ways, and cherished by her extended family.

Daisy's War looks at the experience of family members left to manage the farms during World War I, with so many of the men away. In the next book (still a work-in-progress), the family faces the challenge of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, which in a two month period killed almost half as many New Zealanders as the four years of the war had done.

Daisy has dreams even larger than her grandmother's: she wants to be a doctor. In early 20th century New Zealand this is a large ambition, but Daisy is determined.

She's inspired by tales of woman doctors, including that of Margaret Cruickshank, who was New Zealand's first registered woman doctor.

Dr Cruickshank worked in the town of Waimate, in practice with a Dr Barclay. When the epidemic struck Waimate, Dr Barclay was still away on active service, and Margaret was managing the practice on her own. Her driver fell ill, but she continued to travel the district, by horse and gig or by bicycle, doing what she could for the sick. She even milked cows for some of her patients, in households where there was no one else to help.

By the time she caught influenza herself, her strength had been badly depleted. She died on 28 November 1918. The town of Waimate had a marble statue put up in her honour, inscribed with:

The Beloved Physician
Faithful unto Death

Jock Phillips. 'Memorials and monuments - Civilian memorials, 1900–1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Breaking Out With Apple

Apple's iBookstore has just launched a new feature, Breakout Books, to showcase selected authors. I was pleasantly surprised (not to mention delighted!) to find myself on this list with Daisy's War.

Daisy is in fine company, and this is a wonderful opportunity to meet some new readers.

More about this feature can be found at the Smashwords blog.

Down in the Archives

In early September we spent a week in our capital city, Wellington. Wellington's a great city to visit: compact, set against a stunning harbour, and well-endowed with good cafés. But the main reason for our visit was that it's the home of National Archives.

Archives New Zealand provides excellent facilities for researchers, and the staff are helpful and knowledgeable. Most of the records are stored underground, and fetched to the reading room when ordered by a researcher; anything from the thin, old pages of a handwritten will through to huge volumes that must be nestled on bean bag-type cushions to protect the fragile bindings. But one entire room is devoted to land title records, with all the volumes on open shelves. Here's a small part of the collection:

The land records have a complex indexing system that leads from one hand-written volume to another, then another, and sometimes even further. Having a well-muscled and patient research assistant was a definite asset!

Archives require careful tending, and the atmosphere in the reading rooms was so dry that I'm sure the hours spent there contributed to the bronchitis I came down with soon after our return home. But poring through the records was a fascinating experience, especially when I encountered the signatures (or perhaps a shaky "X") of some of the people I'm researching.

Which leads to a confession: I'm currently writing two books at once. My main project is the sequel to Daisy's War, but at the same time I'm working on a non-fiction book that's unrelated to my novels, other than taking place in New Zealand at a similar period. I've found myself caught up in this real-life story, and in the desire to do it justice.

"Daisy's War" is here

It's sometimes disconcerting just how clearly characters can make their feelings known (as the mere author, I'm frequently not in charge), and Amy has made it very clear that she would much prefer a quieter life from now on, content to have a role in the lives of her grandchildren. While she is still an important presence in Daisy's War, the main focus has shifted from her, and I've had the pleasure of getting to know Daisy and Eddie much better.

Writing Daisy's War has held a new experience for me in how much this book's plot is shaped by a single historical event: the Great War of 1914-1918. In the earlier books events such as the Tarawera eruption, the baby-farming scandal and the struggle for women's suffrage affected my characters in varying degrees, but in this book their lives become increasingly intertwined with the War, as it grows from a shadowy threat to a very real one.

More than 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas in the Great War, and over 18,000 died; this in a country with a population of barely one million. The War must have had an effect on every household in New Zealand; it certainly touches everyone in my little valley.

Daisy's War is available now on Amazon.com and Amazon UK. It should appear at Barnes & Noble, iTunes and other retailers within the next few weeks.

Coming Soon: Daisy's War

In 1914, Daisy lives in the quiet New Zealand valley where her family has farmed for generations. A cherished only child with an adored older cousin, and surrounded by a sprawling extended family, her world seems a warm and safe one.

But the Great War is casting its long shadow over New Zealand. Daisy watches in growing fear as more and more of the men leave to fight in Europe, and the War strikes ever closer to the heart of her family.