Kia Ora!

Warm welcome to those who have just joined this blog! Perhaps you came via Tākaka or Motueka library talks I recently enjoyed giving, or you found me here online via Aunty Google. It’s good to beam into your world, from mine, here in Golden Bay on a blue skied morning.

This week I’m sharing part of a memoir from Mike Brown, a ‘10 pound pom’ with something to prove, as he settled into a small Australian town. This is to give you a taster of the stories people are writing.

Mike’s story is dense with gritty details and I was there with him, watching the bonfire burn (and worrying about the cats!).

Read on for a glimpse into the first draft of someone else’s memoir. I hope it inspires you!

10 Pound Pom [Charlotte’s title] by Mike Brown  

“The bonfire was huge. Weeks of stuff collected by us kids from around the camp made for an impressive sight. Old couches, mattresses were good so were car tyres and anything plastic.

On the night we set it alight, under the approving eyes of many parents of course, we had to wait because a young tree hugging chick had seen a couple of hungry looking cats run into the heap and wanted to see them removed first before we set fire to everything.

After a lot of kerfuffle it was decided to light up. surely the cats would just run out when the fire took hold. Not so. It was a huge fire full of nasty smells and heaps of flames and so hot we couldn’t get near it to light our crackers. If the cats escaped no one saw them.

For those of you who have not experienced the thrill of chucking a double bunger I’ll explain now. The double bunger or banger was a cracker the size of a sausage with a double wick and heaps of destruction power.

Today they would be called an unregistered weapon. I don’t know how many of my mates lost hand skin to bungers that went off prematurely. We would light them whilst holding them waiting for the wick to go down to the point where if you didn’t throw it it would blow your hand off. And it nearly did. They were also a great way to destroy a letterbox or rubbish bin.

They made a hell of a mess of a car muffler with a spud jammed in the end. Heaps of fun but really dangerous.

It was a great night for all of us. Even the Fieros were good about it. They arrived to put out the kindergarten fire they reckon was caused by rockets fired over the camp from our direction. The bonfire burned for five days and nights and was the talk of the district.

We were quite proud at school letting the local Aussie kids know that “10 pound Poms” could set up a good cracker night too.”

I could feel the personality in Mike’s words. This means future readers of his memoir will too. Your unique voice will emerge from your words too, and that’s a good thing.

Mike’s now in the autumn draw to win a free place on my course Write Your Memoir.

And as for you, keep writing!

Charlotte x

PS I’m gearing up to run Write Your Memoir in One Year courses in Golden Bay and Nelson. Read more about them here. If you’d like me to run the same course for your community, email me: charlottesquirecoms@gmail.com

Four awesome ways I can work with you: