Writing without stopping is a way of sidelining the critic in you that doubts you. Imagine you’re trying to paint the sunset and a person comes and stands next to you and says: That’s no good, that doesn’t look real, I don’t know what that means, that colour doesn’t work, just as you’re trying to […]
With Love for Publisher Steele Roberts
The first copy of my poetry collection, parallel, arrived at the general store yesterday, in the middle of a snowstorm. The mail got through and I am so grateful to hold a beautiful new book in my hands. I say beautiful in thanks of the craftsmanship Roger Steele and his team at Steele Roberts bring […]
Jillian Sullivan’s Straw Bale House Building Adventure in Central Otago
New Zealand author Jillian Sullivan has built her own straw bale home in Central Otago. She had long dreamed about building her own home. When her situation changed dramatically a couple of years ago – her marriage ended, the last of her five children left home – Jillian decided the time was right to find […]
Teaching and Workshops
Teaching and upcoming workshops Teaching for 2012 For Central Otago writers – I’ll be teaching two workshops in Wanaka: a Hero’s Journey Workshop, August 16th, and a workshop on Character and Dialogue, August 23rd. Hero’s Journey workshop: All of us, at some times in our lives have to be a hero. For each of us, when […]
The Magic of Writing
Writing is magical. I can think of four ways to explain this. The first is mythological. As Joseph Campbell said, we cannot manufacture the symbols of mythology, or suppress them, for they arise within us. They’ll appear unbidden on our pages. And as the ancient myths show, when we set out on a journey, such […]
What Drives Me
A student writer asked me the question “What drives me?” for an assignment he was doing. It was an interesting question to reflect on, to consciously look at what I often subconsciously create. In my writing for young people and for adults I’m passionate about how people treat others – first, that children have the […]
Stillness
Rain is coming, it said on the news, and outside there is a stillness in the air above the mountains and a hushed light, as if all is waiting. Meditating before you write is like that quiet time before the rain falls. It’s a way of stopping one life – that of jobs, family, friends, […]
Teacher Resources
Teacher resource notes for Shreves’ Promise Teacher resource notes for What About Bo? Unit Plan for Silverstream, Year 10 This is a 20 lesson resource for teachers. The following is a brief description of the lessons. The complete lesson plan can be downloaded here: Unit Plan English – […]
How to Write a Novel in 10 Minutes
Chapter one: The Two Words If you don’t carry on to read this book and I only have ten minutes of your time, here in brief is what it’s about. Read this, follow this, and you’ll be fine. Open any book and select two random words; nouns or verbs – naming or action words, not […]
Lillian on the Train to Tangiwai
(Versions published in New Zealand Woman’s Weekly 13 March 2000, and School Journal Part 4 Number 3, 2000) All night the river wept, moving in its dream world state. And all night the train approached the bridge while Lilian slept. As she woke and shifted in her space, she thought of Christmas, turned, and caught […]
About Jillian
Jillian Sullivan writes fiction and non-fiction for children, teenagers and adults. Her work has been published for over twenty years and includes four novels, three collections of short stories and over sixty short stories for children and adults, published in New Zealand and America.
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