North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Author chosen for mentorship programme
Dr Eileen Merriman is a haematologist by day and author by night.
The mum-of-two works fulltime at North Shore Hospital but spends about 14 hours a week writing.
For Merriman writing is a way to destress.
‘‘It’s good escapism. It’s using a totally different part of my brain so it’s quite nice for me,’’ she says.
Merriman, from Mairangi Bay, is one of 13 writers picked for the New Zealand Society of Authors mentorship programme.
She is writing a novel based on her short story Pieces of You (In No Particular Order) which placed third in the 2014 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition.
Her mentor is awardwinning Kiwi author Paula Morris.
Merriman hopes to get advice about plot, pace and the voice of her characters.
She also wants help approaching publishers.
‘‘It’s not just about having it to a publishable standard, it needs to be to the right market. It needs to be as sharp as it can be.’’
Merriman’s work is aimed at teenagers.
‘‘Young adults are not dumb,’’ she says.
‘‘They’re at a transition in their lives and I think they need books that identify with that and tackle topics that other people might be too scared to talk to them about,’’ Merriman says.
As a child she wrote extensively but studying medicine and being a junior doctor quickly robbed her of any spare time.
But over the last few years her writing has taken off again.
She completed a 30-week fiction-writing course through Creative Hub in 2013 and now writes for a couple of hours every night after her children have gone to bed.
Her husband is a stay-athome dad to the couple’s two kids, aged seven and one.
Merriman’s advice to aspiring authors is to read a lot and write a lot.
‘‘The more you practise, the better you get.’’
Entering competitions is a good motivator, she says.
‘‘Once you have deadlines to enter things you have to finish. There’s always quite a buzz when you enter a competition and you’re on the shortlist.’’
The New Zealand Society of Authors mentoring programme has been running since 1999.
Judge Joan Rosier-Jones says the quality of the work submitted in this year’s competition was extraordinary.
‘‘Writing plays a large part in the lives of many New Zealanders today and our thanks are due to Creative New Zealand for supporting this programme which encourages emerging writers.’’