Goodbye, 2011!

I have a bloggy tradition of posting a round-up of the year's major events at the end of the year. Thank you so much for your comments, support and friendship over the past year!

The biggest event of my year - and the biggest event of 2011 for many people - was the devastating Christchurch earthquake in February that killed and injured so many people and caused such a huge amount of damage (and aftershocks). I am so thankful that our family and friends are safe - we were very, very lucky. Christchurch is doing an amazing job of recovering, but there is a very long road ahead. All we can do from over here is support everyone as best we can, both emotionally and financially. You can donate to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal here.

We started our year in Times Square in New York - it was an amazing experience and a great start to a very exciting 2011!

My first novel, The Cry of the Go-Away Bird, was released, and I went over to the UK to promote it. I did my very first radio interviews and my very first readings, and had a tiny nervous breakdown (not my very first). It was so much fun - and lovely to see our family over there, too. Thank you so much to everyone who bought a copy of the book - I so appreciate it.


I sold my second novel, The White Shadow (I say 'I,' but really it was my amazing agent, Vivien Green of Sheil Land. She is a superhero). The rest of the year was largely given over to revising and editing The White Shadow ready for publication this year! It is so lovely working with the team at Harvill Secker again.

LOML and I visited New Zealand and spent time with our family and friends.

My gorgeous friends Sandhya and Gaurav got engaged! I went to Miami, Florida to celebrate Sandhya's bachelorette weekend.

We experienced our first American Fourth of July - and our first rodeo!

LOML got his private pilot's licence! So proud of him. We have had a wonderful time exploring Texas from the air. In less exciting news, I got my Texas driver's licence, which was a big step for me (but not as cool as flying a plane).

We acquired a tiny Mo. After some initial suspicion, Mink was very pleased with this new development.

And so were we! I can't imagine life without her.

We had an array of overseas visitors and had a fantastic time showing them around Austin! LOML's parents were first (from NZ), then my grandparents (from the UK), two of our cousins from Northern Ireland, and our close friends Christina and Scott (from NZ).






And we welcomed two beautiful babies into the world - our second nephew, Charlie, and Theresa and Mike's beautiful baby, Marshall!

It has been an amazing year, and I am hugely excited to see what 2012 will bring. Happy New Year, everyone!