17 August 2003

To all my Young Friends:

I'm a bit late with this newsletter. I've been in the United States at Writing Workshops, have met a lot of new friends and, in between jobs, have been writing a new Wild Wests book. It is now with the publisher. That should please those readers who have written asking for more Wild Wests.

I'm not going to tell you about the book. I want to share with you what happened on the way back to New Zealand. Terry and I and granddaughter Lucy had a few days vacation on Hawaii. By Hawaii, I don't mean Honolulu but the biggest island of the group, the one with active volcanoes. It has a lot of amazing scenery. We snorkelled amongst little fishes of brilliant colour. We walked white sand beaches, careful not to disturb resting green turtles. We drove along narrow roads rimmed with blossom, plumeria, flame trees, bougainvillia, all as bright as the reef fish. We saw tall green cliffs with waterfalls that fell into the sea. One waterfall was nearly 800 metres high. But the greatest experience was a helicopter ride over the active volcano in the south.

The people of Hawaii are used to busy volcanoes. They don't get too excited about them. But we were amazed at the great fields of lava that cover the middle of the island. How can a mountain produce so much without emptying out the earth? we wondered. Little Pele, the mountain in the south that is erupting at present, is not very big but its lava flows have caused huge damage - over two hundred houses destroyed and thousands of acres of forest. Between two hot lava flows we saw a patch of green, trees and taro fields and a house with a man still living in it. He was completely marooned. I suppose if the lava started creeping his way, he could call a helicopter, but I don't know how he would do that. The area had no power lines.

The fire and smoke that belched out of the crater seemed small compared with the lava flows that crept down to the coast, covering a road and dropping into the sea in a curtain of steam. Did you know that lava cools from bright red to silver? Then it turns black. We flew over streams of lava that looked like mercury, very shiny with deep orange-red cracks. The pilot told us that the silver lava was 700 - 800 degrees Fahrenheit and that the orange-red stuff was 3000 - 4000 degrees. I'm glad he didn't land in it!

That flight was the most exciting thing we've done this year, although writing stories is quite exciting, don't you think? We can go anywhere and do anything in our stories. Don't be surprised if some time in the future, I write about a volcano!

I want to tell you about new books coming out. In New Zealand, the new Froghopper novel will be out soon, published by Harper Collins. It's called "Froghopper and the Paua Poachers" and it's a thriller set on and around D'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds.

Coming up soon from Scholastic New Zealand, is a picture book illustrated by Gavin Bishop - "A Nice Little Tractor." I enjoy working with Gavin Bishop. He does a great job.

In America and New Zealand there is a picture story book called "The Wishing of Biddy Malone" which reads a bit like an Irish fairy tale but was made up. This too, has lovely illustrations. Also, the third easy read picture book about Agapanthus Hum. "Agapanthus Hum and the Angel Hoot" is out. Jennifer Plecas puts a lot of love and laughter into the pictures. Both of these have been published by Patricia Gauch of Philomel and will be available from Penguin books in New Zealand.

Boyds Mills Press in Pennsylvania has recently published a non-fiction picture book, called "Where Horses Run Free." This is the true story of cowboy Dayton Hyde who sold everything he had to buy land in South Dakota for a sanctuary for unwanted horses. A few years ago, I visited this wilderness ranch with publisher and friend Kent Brown. We saw hundreds of horses running proud and free in land that had never been cleared and cultivated. It was a heart-moving experience and the end result was a book with beautiful illustrations by Layne Johnson. I'm encouraging people to buy this picture book because the author's royalty goes to the sanctuary to help pay for winter feed. That's about all for now. When I do the next newsletter, I'll try to show you some pictures from Hawaii - especially that volcano.

Happy writing, happy reading, and love from your friend,

Joy Cowley