I was in Tauranga last Friday night for a literary evening. I host them with Paper Plus all around the country. People come along to hear authors talk about their books and to enjoy a few wines - they're like bigger, flasher book club evenings.
Lynley Dodd was at the Tauranga event - she's the writer of the Hairy Maclary books. If you have a child you'll know of them. Wonderful rhyming picture books that are as enjoyable for parents to read as they are for children to listen to. Out of the gate and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary of Donaldson's Dairy, who is joined on his stroll by a cast of characters including Hercules Morse, as big as a horse, and Bitzer Maloney, all skinny and bony.
I suggested that she might like to include a Luigi Wewege character in her next book. He could be a rampant tomcat, always on the prowl. Inspiration seizing me, I said she could capitalise on the zeitgeist of soft pornography that has appeared on our bookshelves (and in our local body election coverage) and produce an x-rated picture book featuring Luigi Wewege and his friends.
Lovely Lynley Dodd declined but I think there is room in the literary landscape for a book of this type. Feel free to grab the ball and run with it.
The mayor cannot continue to duck and hide as he has done over the past week. He has cancelled a number of events at which he was to appear and while I'm sure he's nervous about the sort of reception he'll receive when he shows his face, he can't keep doing no-shows. Appearances are part of the job. He needs to get on with it.
