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The North Shore Writers’ Group of Auckland, New Zealand, was founded in 2016 by Tim Owen. Upon arriving in New Zealand, Owen created the group to meet people with a common interest in creative writing. Before immigrating, Owen published three novels in the gay romance, psychological thriller, and young adult genres. He is currently working on a quirky Sci-fi.
Since the foundation in 2016, the group has had four major successes: Graci Kim went on to be a New York Times best seller, multiple award-winning writer Nikky Lee signed a three-book deal, Sharron Martin’s Discovering Orla was published in September, and Frances Denny has just signed with literary agent Kate Davids of Arc Literary Management.
Denny’s not yet officially released novel My boyfriend Beelzebub has already been shortlisted for the Page Turners Awards. They plan to go “on sub” (pitch to publishers) in November. Frances Denny first joined the group in 2017. She says she attended only one meeting and was extremely shy. Didn’t attend another meeting until 2019. “What the group did,” she now says, “was build my confidence to share my work, and created a supportive environment to receive, give feedback and root for each other. Also, I want to thank the group for their support through a particularly traumatising event in my writing life. The group was there when I was feeling vulnerable. And their validation and encouragement through that time kept me writing.” Her writing falls in the upper-young adult/new adult paranormal romance genre.
Speculative fiction author Nikky Lee says joining the North Shore Writers’ Group gave her the accountability she needed to finish the book she’d been working on for 16 years, as well as writing and publishing over 20 short stories. “They have been there through the lows of the query trenches to the highs of award wins, and I absolutely would not be where I am today without them,” says Lee whose novelette Dingo & Sister won the Best Young Adult Short Story and the Best Fantasy Novella categories in 2020. In 2021, she received a Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. Nikky’s debut novel The Rarkyn’s Familiar won the 2023 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel, three 2022 Indie Ink Awards, Bronze in Young Adult Fiction at the 2022 Foreward Indies Book of the Year Awards and was a finalist in the 2022 Aurealis Awards for Best Young Adult Novel.
“The group is a sacred place of support, learning and joy for me. An opportunity to meet new people, share our writing, receive constructive, helpful feedback and find allies in the pursuit of the holy grail of publication. I am so grateful to be a part of it,” says Irish author Sharron Martin whose debut romantic comedy was released in September.
The other members of the group are in various phases of working on their writing – some are in the final editing phase, others are submitting work to publishers, and many are producing new work weekly. The members write in a variety of genres, depending on the interest of the writers. The common factor is the dedication to producing works of excellence.
“It’s awesome having people from different backgrounds sharing their writing in different genres that you would never be exposed to. From children’s books to romance to chick lit to horror. Writing is damn hard and the support the group gives helps so much. It seems like every session I learn something new,” says horror writer Andrew Imms.
Short story writer Bruce Wyness says, “It’s not easy revealing your secret thoughts, speaking out loud the stories in your head and sharing those words, but with this group it has always felt safe. Their comments and suggestions reveal to me new ways to craft what I present. Their critique is always given with care and positive support. It’s a lovely place to be.”
For Su Bradley, the group offers support, accountability, friendship and constructive criticism. Since joining the group, she feels she has grown as a writer. She loves the group meetings at the Heart of Bays (the community centre) and at Pickles Café for writing sprints. “Also, I find the best movie, series and podcast recommendations here as well. I must point out the level of trust built between members, that no idea shared will ever be stolen. One of the best decisions I ever made, was joining this group.”
“The group provides an encouraging and positive environment to practice and hone skills in.
The atmosphere is informal but committed and it is so good to be with others who are just as passionate as you,” says Young Adult fantasy writer Christopher McKinstry.
Science fiction writer Alex Hamilton recently moved back to Canada. He says, “When I joined the North Shore Writers’ Group, I was just starting to work on my first novel. The feedback I received through the group helped me to build confidence in my writing, examine my story in new ways, and commit to finishing the project. I always looked forward to those Saturday morning meetings. It is a great community where you’ll receive the advice and support you need to grow as a writer.”
Joining this group has been amazing for Nicola Dickinson. Even though no one else is writing in her genre (picture books), she feels she gets such positive and helpful feedback. Thanks to the group, she has also found out about different competitions, workshops, helpful websites, and so much more. Plus, there’s always the added incentive of getting some writing done, so she always has something new to read at our next meet-up!
When Elizabeth Viljoen immigrated from Namibia to New Zealand, she looked for an earnest writers’ group who could support her with the novel she was writing. Not only was the North Shore Writers’ Group walking distance from her new home, but their feedback gave her all the confidence and support she needed. At that stage she wasn’t even sure which genre she was writing in, and she was tempted by all of their genres. The group encourages each writer to have their own voice, and soon she discovered that she was writing a family saga. That’s the biggest strength of this group, in her opinion – that there is no peer pressure, only heartwarming encouragement.
Founder Tim Owen says that he loves how this writing group has brought such amazing people together. This first anthology of the North Shore Writers’ Group is a work of love, something we have envisioned for a number of years to showcase the talent in the group. We’ve burned ships in this anthology, and the midnight oil. While building strong bridges. Over coffee at the Heart of Bays. And breakfast at Pickles.
Wait, not really – we’ve built plots and characters and weird fantasy worlds. And maybe this anthology is more a work of hate and revenge, if you read some of the short stories...
