Kia ora friends,

It has been a busy month as always, and it feels as if it's only ever getting busier. Don't come here expecting important news regarding a certain publishing contract being offered or not. That has not happened yet! (don't know what am I talking about? Look here) But there is one important announcement in the middle of the newsletter. Please, read on...

This month's snippet

(It feels overdue. I probably should have been doing this all along! So I will drop a snippet in each newsletter from now on.) Here's a little sneak peek of something I worked on this month: my magical girl short story Rainbow Stars Unite!

The actual writing:

• I picked up my revision of Marcie, my vampire novella, as I said I would at the end of my last newsletter. My goodness, it is so much easier to revise something novella length, compared to a full novel! If only I had more ideas that would suit the shorter medium. I sorted through the feedback from my spouse, went through my usual revision process (outlined here if you're curious, and I'm always adding to it as I learn more), and came out with a second draft I was really quite excited about. I've already got some feedback, and Draft Three is brewing away in the back of my mind. But that's an October job - need to give myself some distance first.
• I undertook a ground-up rewrite of my story Rainbow Stars Unite! for the Auckland Queer Writers Anthology (AQWA), and I was pretty chuffed with it compared to version one. The feedback group were pretty positive about it too. Did some revision this last week and handed it in before the deadline. More on that below...
• The short film that I was helping to get funded successfully reached their crowdfunding goal. It's nice to be done with that now. I needed my time back. But yay for them! It sounded like a really lovely film set to be on.
• And as always, I had a few other irons in other fires. I've decided I'm going to stop talking so much about my pseudonym works in this newsletter. Next month I intend to build myself a little bit of a separate online presence for that identity, so for anyone who came here solely for my romantasy content, I'll be able to give you the links next newsletter, and then we shall never speak of this again ;) at least, not here.
• Plus one sorta non-writing thing - but still kinda a writing thing funnily enough. I got my two most recent bunnies who passed away memorialized on my arm, joining the first one (they actually died ages ago but I could not get tattoos again until recently!). The artist is the amazing Alex Heart - who is a writer too! She's working away at her project and is already over the whole state of querying and publishing, but one day I know she'll get her book out, and I will totally be sharing it once she does. Having a session with her is great because we get to talk craft and gossip about the industry the whole time :)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

CALLING ALL INTERESTED WRITERS: Have you been told by agents/publishers/the universe that you have to improve your social media game? Ugh, me too. Well, I have a proposal for you. After the success of #pretendpanel on Bluesky, I'm bringing it to Instagram and TikTok. The format is going to be a bit different, but I am hoping it will provide an easy-access, low-stress way in to the scene. I promise you this: I will be boosting and interacting with everyone of you who joins me, so you will not be shouting into the void.

Join me for #pretendpanel Instagram and TikTok edition! The basics:

WHEN: Starting in October, every three days after the 1st, going on indefinitely. Feel free to drop in any time and reply, don't worry about missing any arbitrary deadlines. (Kiwis - I'll post on the evenings every third day, in order to minimize confusion for international audiences)

WHERE: On Instagram and Tiktok (my instagram handle is @hiriadunning, and I will be making a similarly named account on Tiktok in time)

WHAT: Every three days, starting from October 1st, I'll post a video asking a question, and I'll then post a video answering my own question. You can answer my question with your own video or graphic, or in the comments (though on these platforms this won't get as much attention as your own visual reponse). If you're not familiar with #pretendpanel from Bluesky already, you might not be aware: the questions will all be very generic, and aimed at writers of all levels and genres. We keep it light and friendly, even when the occasional controversial topic might pop up (e.g. hoo boy, some people get super heated on the topic of tropes!). We answer the questions as if we're on a writers' panel at a convention - hence the name, pretendpanel. Don't feel pressured to answer every single question if you're not feeling it, or to engage with others too if it's getting too difficult. Just come vibe with me.

HOW: I will make a guide and link it in the next newsletter as to how to do the thing if you've never done it before e.g. stitching on TikTok, reposting and replying on Instagram etc. I will also include incognito ideas for those of you who refuse to appear on camera. Don't worry - I'll have to be doing something similarly obfuscating for my pseudonym persona, who will also be answering the questions (yes I will be talking to myself, what of it?)

WHY: To build up a following and a backlog of lore posts for our author accounts on these platforms, in a way where we have some built-in community so it doesn't feel so lonely

WHO: You and me, I'm hoping! (Definitely me though. Would be kinda stupid if I didn't show up to my own thing. And like I said, I'll be there twice over.)

I'll be posting this information on other channels about this too, but I wanted to let you subscribers know before the general public. You have a month lead-in now to think about whether this is the right time for you to hop on either of these platforms, and how much effort you want to put into it.

AQWA Update:

(If you're new here, I'm one of three people organising an anthology for queer writers in my city. See here for more history)

Tonight is the deadline for the Auckland Queer Writers Anthology. Starting tomorrow, I'll be able to have a nosey at all the entries. In the middle of September, Jade, Jamie and I will meet up to discuss what we've read. It is our intention to include every piece we can, given that the numbers should work out perfectly in that regard. We've kept out eye on the proceedings during the two workshops to make sure that we're happy with the general quality level, and given advice where needed. So after we've convened, it'll be off to the editor.

Meanwhile, I've sent in the first of several funding applications. I'll be able to tell you next newsletter whether that one has been successful; and by then I'll also have sent out another. Hopefully we can get the production and release costs covered as much as possible, so that we can give all the sales proceeds straight to our chosen charity.

On my blog this month:

​Plot the River: In response to having a few literary figures look down on plotters in my recent experience, I have written this blog post to outline what my own process looks and feels like, and to reclaim the idea of 'art' having to be something inexplicable and completely spontaneous. Keen to hear if your process is similar, or different.

​Lore Drop #1: Peregrine Pax // My Best Friend is an Interdimensional Shape-shifting Time Traveller: This is the first in a series of explainers that I'm going to drop over time so that there is a central repository for the development lore for my various projects. These will be living documents, and will be added to over time as my projects go places, and as readers ask questions.

What's coming up next month:

• I will continue chasing my joy with my daily first-drafting sessions
• I have some pre-revision to do (looking at notes people have given me and planning how to revise with them, and writing some new material to work into things). I also have another short story on the go which needs a revision before a deadline in October. More on that one in time; I'd love to be able to tell you where you can find it one day!
• Reading through the AQWA entries and getting them to the editor, and also applying for funding
• Beta reading: a good time was had this month with two novels I read for others, and I look forward to reading more next month
• More Lore Drops, most likely!
• I was thinking it might be time to start posting more poetry on Instagram (and eventually TikTok I guess!). I have all this stuff just sitting there and I never know what to do with it. Some of the stuff that looks pretty on the page I might brush up and send into publications, but I also have some pieces which are begging to be performed rather than just sit on the page, so... I might play around with doing that some time. Might as well, if I'm trying to figure this whole visual medium stuff out.

Stay cool, and chuck any questions my way regarding any of the above. Happy to field them.

Arohanui,

Claire Hiria

>>> Read my work <<<

Short Stories: Love in the Time of Te Rāhuinui | Crass | Liliflora​

Longer works: Inheritance/Whakarerenga | The Villa Delacroix​

>>> And more at www.hiriadunning.com <<<