Writer. Editor. Mentor



Something is drawing Jena Benedict’s family to darkness. Her mother, father, brother and baby sister are killed in a barn fire, and Grandmother Rose banishes Jena from the farm. Now, twenty years on, Rose is dying, and Jena returns home wanting answers about what really happened on the night of the fire and why she was sent away.Will, Rose’s live-in caregiver, has similar questions. He hunts for the supernatural, and he knows something sinister lurks in the Benedict homestead. Together, Jena and Will unearth the mysteries around a skull, a pocket-watch, a tale of the Dark Man and a tiding of magpies. And in doing so, they set loose an evil entity determined to destroy Rose and her whole clan.Full of tension and psychological thrills, Butcherbird is a novel about uncovering truths and unshackling guilt.

THE KĀPITI WRITERS’ RETREAT

World Building Wonders

Unlock your imagination and discover the key elements needed to craft compelling and immersive fictional worlds for your creative projects. Learn how to use aids like maps, art, and sound to enhance your worldbuilding process and communicate your vision effectively, and dig into what really matters to your world in particular.Engage in collaborative exercises as well as independent ones to put your newfound skills into practice. Bring your world-building problems to the table for us to help problem solve, or embark on creating a whole new universe.Whether your narrative unfolds in a realm of high fantasy, upon a remote celestial body, thrives in contemporary times, or exists beyond the realms of imagination, immerse yourself in learning how to infuse your world with the elements that will ensnare your audience’s imagination.