You can buy my novel for only $5 a copy!

Step aboard ... the glide will take you there

Petrol prices are sky high ... might there be a better way of moving people around? Indeed there is – the glideway system. It doesn't exist in the world we know, but my newly released New Zealand novel will tell you all about it. And you can order it here.

I'm Pat Reesby, and I wrote The Glideway. Years ago as a child in New Plymouth, New Zealand, I grew up with cars. At varying times my parents owned an Austin A7, a Singer and a Bradford van (which gives you an idea how old I am!), and apparently the first words I put together were “car go”.

But some years ago, living in Wellington, I sold my own car. It was old and rusty and every time the warrant of fitness came around, I dreaded having to spend more money on it. And at the back of my mind I didn't really like the feeling that I was adding to Wellington's congestion and air pollution. Cars were still a bit of a novelty in New Plymouth in the 1940s and '50s but these days they're everywhere.

And I remembered that when I was young I used to wonder what transport of the 'future' might be like. It seemed odd that in the new millennium, cars, trucks and buses were still running on four wheels and causing accidents. Somehow I'd thought some other system would have been invented by now.

Sitting in city buses and observing passing traffic (so many cars with just the driver inside) gave me plenty of time to think up a better - fictitious - system. I may lack the technical know-how to devise ideal public transport – but at least I can dream.

And the future may be closer than we think. The novel's imaginary glides operate without drivers – and just as I completed my novel, I read that driverless buses that can be summoned on demand may become a reality, at least in London. Even in Wellington, the Urban Light Transport (ULTra) system, which would feature small electric 'pods', is being considered.

Well, that might be so ... but what is the novel actually ABOUT?

For young mother Venna, heroine of The Glideway, it's roads and motor cars that are only in story books. With her partner Tim and daughter Grace, she lives in a very different Wellington from the one we might know. It's a seemingly ideal city with no crime, poverty or pollution, let alone traffic congestion. Glides take people wherever they want to go.

Actually, Venna has never been north of Otaki. Why would she want to? Wellington meets all her needs, even if there are chinks in the perfection. City authorities control most aspects of people's lives – including their fertility. And there are rumours that all is not well and good in other parts of the North Island. Maybe Venna will have to go and see for herself.

Before she does so, Tim has his own hero's journey. A professional interest in dolphin communication takes him to Marlborough Sounds, where he finds the dolphins but gets a bit close for comfort. Not to be outdone, Grace chooses a new soft toy ... which isn't all it seems. These three innocents have many surprises ahead, including the harrowing new experience of hitch hiking.

Dolphins play a prominent role in The Glideway, highlighting the contrast between our 'natural' state and the man-made objects on which we now depend. Are machines becoming more like people?

People have said it's a book they can't put down ... so hopefully you'll find it an entertaining read. I've sold copies to libraries around New Zealand ... if your local library doesn't have it in stock, you might like to suggest it.

Have a look at Chapter 1:

And something about me:

I wrote broadcast scripts for the Consumers' Institute (Wellington) 1965-'66, and after some years bringing up children was sole journalist for the Kapiti Observer and then Kapi-Mana News. I was Pat Campbell at that time; I've since gone back to my maiden name. I have had three children and (so far) three grandchildren.

In 1990 I set up a secondhand bookshop, Archway Books, at Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington. The shop is still thriving under new owners. I've published various short non-fiction but The Glideway is my first novel. I chose self-publishing (a whole new story), and the book was printed by Copy Press of Nelson, with the cover design by Neil Smith. I'm very pleased with their work.

RRP is $24.95 but you can order The Glideway from:

Patricia Reesby

49 Box Hill

Khandallah

Wellington 6035

New Zealand

Purchased direct from the author, or via the Trade Me website, the book costs only $NZ 5 plus $2 (within New Zealand) for postage/packing.

I can also be contacted on reesby@actrix.co.nz.


ISBN 0-473-11273-6

And I recommend this Wetpaint website scheme ... it's great for amateurs like me. I used it for what I wrote on my adventures in the secondhand book trade, and also for my trip to Nepal in late 2007.

Here's a link to my trip to Nepal

And another to 'The Keys to my Shop'

Poems and stories I've written in 2009

And a link to my 'Outdoors' stories ...