Here’s SpecFicNZ Wellington — Featuring Elizabeth Heritage
Last week I heralded a new “mini-post” series on the blog, starting today, titled “Here’s SpecFicNZ Wellington.”
As I set out then, SpecFicNZ is the “national association for creators, writers and editors of speculative fiction in or from New Zealand” and I thought some of my blog readers might enjoy “‘meeting” a few more of the member, following the very successful “Here’s SpecFicNZ — Christchurch” series from earlier in the year.
As I also explained, effectively my fellow SpecFicNZ-ers will be introducing themselves using a series of common headings:
- Here’s Who: a short, first person introduction to the member
- Here’s Why: the member writes or publishes speculative fiction, as opposed to any other genre
- Here’s What: an example of the member’s work
- Here’s Where: you can find out more about the member and their work
So without further ado, please meet Elizabeth Heritage.
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Here’s SpecFicNZ–Wellington: Featuring Elizabeth Heritage
Here’s Who:
Kia ora koutou, I’m Elizabeth Heritage and I’m a Wellington-based freelance publisher. I have a first class honours degree in history and english, and a post-graduate diploma in publishing – but, more importantly, I have a lifelong love of books and language. Publishers are primarily readers, and I love working in an industry that values not only the imaginative power of prose but the physical arrangement of words. There is a very special joy that comes from being intimately involved in the creation of a book, from manuscript assessment and editing, through design and typesetting, production and printing, to sales and marketing. Seeing a book in stores that I’ve worked on always gives me a thrill of pride – it’s like an invisible sort of fame.
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Here’s Why:
At my wedding party, my father made a speech in which he claimed that I first read The Hobbit to myself when I was 6. I don’t remember whether that’s true, but it certainly speaks volumes about me that that’s the story he chose to tell. These days, I have another special connection with The Hobbit: my pet rat Orville is in the movie! I made a very short film about it:
I have always been a devoted reader and I have always valued those authors whose transformative talent with language creates new worlds and beings so engrossing that they stay in my brain for years. I love books that I can revisit in my head whenever I like, and I consider it perfectly normal to have long-term imaginary relationships with fictional characters. For example, I have been married to the Lord Vetinari in my head now for about fifteen years.
These are interesting times for the publishing industry in New Zealand. The rise of online purchasing from overseas has led to a lot of bookshop closures, and the withdrawal of many international publishers. If you want to support the creation of spec fic in Aotearoa, there are three main things you can do: shop local, get involved, and keep writing. Two spec fic publishing houses have recently opened in Wellington and want to hear from you: Steam Press and Paper Road Press. Good luck!
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Here’s What:
As a freelancer, I work with publishing companies small and large, and with authors who are self-publishing. At the moment I’m working with Te Papa Press, Paper Road Press and SpecFicNZ, to name a few. I also review books for the BooksellersNZ Association, which is wonderful because it allows me to apply lots of verbs to books: reading, thinking about, discussing, weighing up, comparing, writing about. It also means there’s a steady stream of new books arriving at my house, which is absolutely the way life ought to be.
If you’d like to learn more about what I’m working on, visit the ‘my projects’ page on my website:
http://elizabethheritage.co.nz/my-projects/
If you’d like to learn more about how I might be able to help you with your book, look-ee here:
http://elizabethheritage.co.nz/how-i-can-help-you/
I’m always keen to meet fellow bookaholics, so do get in touch.
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Here’s Where:
My website: www.elizabethheritage.co.nz
My Twitter account: https://twitter.com/e_heritage
My Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.heritage.98
My book reviews: http://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/tag/elizabeth-heritage/
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The “Here’s SpecFicNZ–Wellington” series will be posting for the next six to seven weeks, with the next feature post on Thursday 14 November.