FNC - On the road (and in the sky) again!

Friday Night Chats from the airport.

Kia ora friends! I am coming to you from the airport. I’m on my way to Ōtautahi for our sold-out show tonight. Then to Waihōpai Invercargill for another sold-out show.

Then we get a break! Which will be great because we’ve just had three shows in a row - Ōtepoti, Pae tu mokai Featherston, Te Papaioea Palmerston North. Fun fact! Te Papaioea means ‘How beautiful it is’ and Palmy was very beautiful!

All of the shows have been so fun and such a ride. And we have been lucky enough to have Krystine Nation at two of them. She’s friggin hilarious - you can catch her in Te Whanganui a Tara at the comedy festival.

I’m glad I have the shows to distract me from the devastating news that my publishers have been made redundant. Claire and Rachel are fantastic and I’m gutted - I don’t know what that means for my future publishing books with Penguin. Margaret at Penguin published Rants in the Dark, Is it Bedtime Yet, and Needs Adult Supervision. She really took a chance on me - someone who had never written a book before. She believed in me and that’s how I became a published author. She was made redundant last year.

I wonder what books will never be published now or what authors will never be published now. I’m very sad about it.

I’m a bit overwhelmed by it all to be honest, so I’m burying my head in the sand.

After our Waihōpai Invercargill show, we have a wee break then head to Tāmaki Makaurau, then Kirikiriroa, and Ahuriri Napier and our final show is in Te Whanganui a Tara.

While in Featherston I spoke to about 30 teachers and support staff as part of the Young Readers Festival. It was such a treat - we had about an hour and a half together before our show. It was lovely. It’s also been so so nice to meet people at all of the shows. If you come to any shows - come up and say hi!

Here's a photo of where we stayed last night at a friend’s house in Glen Oroua where it was -2! Absolutely beautiful!

What I’m watching:

I’m watching Secrets and Lies which is on Amazon Prime only because it has Martin Henderson in it and he does it for me big time. But it’s not a good show lol. I cannot in good conscience recommend it because it does not make any sense.

I watched The Idea of You also on Amazon Prime. I gave my review here: Five things that would have made the Mum Bait Harry Styles fan fic movie better.

I’ll be watching Sunday on…ummm Sunday, because they have a thing on ADHD.

Research shows that almost 300,000 New Zealanders may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but fewer than 20% are correctly diagnosed and treated. Medical appointments for ADHD diagnosis are expensive and hard to come by, and patients say they’re desperate for the care and medication they badly need. So why is a GP’s career threatened for trying to help? And what’s being done to improve patient access?

What I’m reading:

Well, not much with the tour on. But I did get to Good Books which is my favourite bookstore and it’s closing on 10 May! They have 15% off everything in store and lots of sale books. So I bought Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, The Book of Radical Answers by Sonya Renee Taylor, and A social history of Aotearoa New Zealand in badges (a book I’ve been coveting for a while).

I’ll let you know what I think of them if I ever get round to reading them. They may just sit on my To Read Pile for a while! But you should check out Good Books and grab a bargain.

I’ve been talking to my friend Gem about recording reviews of the wildest smutty books we can find because we’ve been cracking up over - Mating with Mallows: An Erotic Sentient Candy Romance and Morning Glory Milking Farm: a Monster Bait Romance. I mean this sounds wild:

Violet is a typical, down-on-her-luck millennial. When a lifeline appears in the form of a very unconventional job in neighboring Cambric Creek, she has no choice but to grab at it with both hands.

Morning Glory Milking Farm offers full-time hours, full benefits, and generous pay with no experience needed . . . there’s only one catch. The clientele is Grade A certified prime beef, with the manly, meaty endowments to match. Milking minotaurs isn’t something Violet ever considered as a career option, but she’s determined to turn the opportunity into a reversal of fortune.

Other things:

The battle for the public service - Whakapapa, Whenua, Whai hua.

Indigenous Sacredness, Christendom and the Doctrine of Discovery.

I want to tag Nick but something is wrong with my at button lol. But here’s Nick with - I could be a florist. Those of us who live in or near Newtown know all about that florist. It’s honestly so tiring all this anti-cycleway shit. I’m so tired of the cyclepaths.

In other news:

The ‘Challengers’ Boys Are Making Everyone Horny for Big Ears

‘Unfrosted’ Is Proof Jerry Seinfeld Has Lost His Touch

Cannot believe how much AI crap is on Facebook - Facebook’s AI Spam Isn’t the ‘Dead Internet’: It’s the Zombie Internet

This is heartbreaking - My final message to Columbia.

Related:

Also related:

What I’m listening to:

Rebecca and I have been singing a lot on our road trip - lots of The Chicks and lots of 90s R&B. It’s a great time tbh.

I have never been much of a fan of Macklemore. It’s not that I didn’t like him - I just I dunno. There was a period where if you were any elgeebeeteequeue you were constantly played that Same Love song and it was so weird in its I’M NOT GAY BUT IF I WAS IT WOULD BE FINE WITH IT….

Anyway, now I love Macklemore because he’s the only mainstream high profile artist I can think of who has had the balls to tell it like it is and condemn Israel’s genocide.

The latest attack on Rafah - this place that was meant to be a safe zone. Is horrific. I am really struggling to even comprehend it. Usually I try to keep Friday Night Chats upbeat but I feel like we can’t not talk about this right now.

This government must cut ties with Israel and condemn their genocide. Grant the visas now. Expel the Israeli ambassador and shut down the embassy. Email your local MP and this government - here's a template.

One of the ways Palestinians have asked the international community for support is through Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions - BDS.

Make sure your super fund / kiwisaver isn't investing in any Israeli companies. If you're in Aotearoa - Do not buy Obela Hommus, AHAVA products, SodaStream, HP (Hewlett-Packard), petrol or supplies from BP and Caltex, and McDonald's. More info here.

Halal Kiwi has created an app which you can download to your phone to provide a BDS list when you are shopping. Or if you just want to see what to Boycott. You can find Halal Kiwi here.

Show up to the snap protests happening around the country now - follow Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa - PSNA and Justice for Palestine

Join your local group - in almost every town there is one - we have been protesting for seven months now and we won't stop. Aotearoa New Zealand Standing With Palestine.

We have a big raffle on at the moment if you’d like to support some good causes - one of which is Kia Ora Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla.

Tomorrow night I’ll publish The Steve Awards for the best worst marketing on Mother’s Day. It’ll be right here - and then published the next day on The Spinoff. See ya then and Happy Mother’s Day if you celebrate x

What are you listening to? Watching? Reading?

What are your weekend plans? I won’t be able to reply to comments tonight because I’ll be on stage but I’ll get to them I promise!

Every Friday night I do Friday Night Chats for paid subscribers, if you liked this please consider subscribing.

Arohanui, Emily x