On the weekend of 3 & 4 October, I attended my first Storylines hui, hosted at Dilworth School in Auckland. It was an absolutely packed agenda with an abundance of high-quality workshops, panels, keynotes, and opportunities for someone willing to grab them (like pitch slams and networking)! Highlights included the brutally honest and incredibly entertaining keynote by artist and writer extraordinaire Donovan Bixley; the generously practical and very funny novel planning works

For three days in mid-September, Jessica (and her wings!) visited 7 schools in and around Timaru in Canterbury, South Island, as a Reading Role Model for Duffy Books in Homes. Twice a year, Duffy school students get to choose 2 brand new books of their very own, which are celebrated at Duffy assemblies. Role Models around NZ visit for these assemblies to talk about the importance of reading and to promote reading for pleasure as an enjoyable and important literacy practice. C

On Thursday 30 July, Jessica presented the keynote presentation to the Wellington branch of the School Librarians Association of NZ Aotearoa during their recent PD day at the stunning new Wellington central city library. Jess has been working since 2022 on her PhD in Education, researching practical learning strategies for secondary teachers to encourage reading for pleasure among their teen students. While she has given multiple workshops at national conferences over the las

Master Mariner Chard Pawley is blogging his way across the high seas. Check out his nautical news and maritime musings over on his dedicated Captain's Log.

Earlier this year, Jessica received an email from an intermediate student sharing how much he loved Generation Icarus. The email was so thoughtful, jessica reached out to his school librarian to plan a surprise. So, on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June 2026, Jessica returned to Northcross Intermediate after more than 10 years to visit the student and his peers. In her first school visit since Covid, Jess dusted off her wings and updated her slideshow to reflect the twists and turn

Chard has launched his book's publicity campaign with his first interview with Kathryn on Nine to Noon on RNZ! Follow the link below to listen to the podcast recording of the interview, and learn a little more about Chard's work and inspiration for his book. Sea captain's book imagines NZ 60 years after devastating war

It was just like any other day at school – and then Ellie Hapstead found a lost baby unicorn behind her classroom! Recruited by a time-travelling animal rescue agency, 12-year-old Ellie steps through a glowing portal into the year 2361. Here she learns the truth about mythological animals from all over the world: Bigfoot, unicorns, flying monkeys and more – they’re all real! But they aren’t supposed to be… and the STARR Agents must sneak into the past to rescue as many as cre

I joined the merchant navy at seventeen. By twenty-nine, I had my captain's stripes. I've circled the globe. I've crossed the Suez and Panama Canals. I've stood watch in pirate-infected waters. I've towed offshore platform sections across hostile seas. For two decades I've made a living staring at the horizon. Somewhere out there, between night watches and long transits, a story began forming. What happens when the land can't sustain us anymore? What do we build offshore? Who

Nearly a decade after I had the first spark of an idea for the story, The Knowledge Keeper has launched online! Now available in paperback and Kindle ebook exclusively on Amazon. For New Zealand and Australian customers, please click here. For US customers, please click here. For UK customers, please click here. For all other Amazon store territories, please search "The Knowledge Keeper Arid Earth" and let me know if it doesn't pop up! For the full back story of the series, s

Thanks to Storylines for taking J L Pawley on tour round the Thames/Coromandel/Hauraki area with fantastic fellow authors Glyn Harper, Sandra Morris, and Elaine Bickell, 21-25 October 2019. For more peeks at J L Pawley's last tour for 2019, check out the Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust's Facebook page. #schoolvisits #tour #GenerationIcarus #publicappearance

Generation Icarus #2: Take Flight has won a Notable Book Award from the Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust, identifying it as one of the 10 best books published for teenagers in NZ in 2018. Congratulations to the other worthy winners! #TakeFlight #review #award

Jess sat down with one of Massey University's Greek experts to talk old masters and new wings. #video #QA #Interview #GenerationIcarus

#charity #duffybooks #schoolvisits #tour #wings

J L Pawley was invited back to Radio New Zealand to chat to Jesse Mulligan about YA books, how to define and identify them, and how the grey areas can challenge teen readers and adults alike. Listen to the full 10 minute chat online now! #publicappearance #Booktalk #onlinemedia #radio #Interview

The Russian edition of Air Born, released earlier in 2018 by Arkadia, is currently averaging ratings more than 9 stars out of 10 on Russian book selling websites! Click the screenshot below to see the listing for yourself! Screenshot taken 21 June 2018. #GenerationIcarus #AirBorn #internationaleditions #Russiantranslation

Following the great success of J L Pawley's visit to Howick College, a wonderful article was published about it in the Botany & Ormiston Times and the Howick & Pakuranga Times in East Auckland. "Geraldine Jamieson, English teacher and supporter of the school’s creative writing group, said it was a school trip to the recent Auckland Writers Festival that spurred her to set up the visit. 'The students were so intrigued by Pawley’s presentation (and her wings of course) that w

Jessica was thrilled to visit Auckland high school Howick College in May, not only sharing her inspirational story from childhood writer to published author, but also taking an intensive creative writing workshop with a dedicated writing club. Photos courtesy of the staff at Howick College. #Booktalk #schoolvisits #wings #writingworkshops

On 16 & 17 May, Jessica featured during the Auckland Writers Festival Schools programme. Presenting on stage at the Aotea Centre in central Auckland, Jessica took the audience on her journey from her first rejection letter, aged 12, to the latest news regarding the release of her second book in the Generation Icarus series, Take Flight. Photo of the first session in the ASB Theatre, courtesy of the staff at Howick College. #publicappearance #Auckland #Booktalk #cosplay #Ge

CLICK HERE FOR FULL VLOG PLAYLIST (Youtube link) English subtitles available under YouTube CC settings. Day 1, Monday 9 April 2018:...

Thank you to Magpies Magazine for reviewing Air Born! "The premise is enticing, the writing solid, the characters engaging, the plot moves swiftly, there is plenty of action as well as necessary introspection. The original novels gained a wide online following and these new, revised editions are sure to find a very enthusiastic audience. Recommend it to fans of Rachael Craw’s Spark trilogy." - Bill Nagelkerke, Christchurch Full review on page 7 of Vol. 33, No. 1, March 2018