Click on image to hear the 6 October 2026 Nine to Noon RNZ interview in connection with this illustration by editor and live illustrator Anne Taylor.
Anne Taylor live-illustrated in a “sketch journal style” this RNZ interview on a one-page spread. The focus is on how I wrote And How Are Things With You and the storyline.
I love:
the wee plane on its way to Aotearoa
the drama masks of tragedy and comedy
the tiny Franny on puppet strings, illustrating an aspect the author-character relationship
the Wellington street (with a bookshop)
the bookshelves (crucial for Franny)
the dotted lines linking thoughts and ideas in the writing process.
the cover of Rory O’Connor’s important book (note the half sun, with the rays coming down the page)
and the Beehive.
Anne has imagined Franny in a long winter coat for London (feels apt).
Hannah Gadsby looks fittingly humorous-cool to me.
Dorothy Parker’s wit is captured (in how she is cupping a cigarette).
Rory O’Connor’s compassion comes across through his slight smile and the lines in his forehead.
I am so touched by the care Anne has taken, her attention to detail. This list shows how Anne has captured the storyline and writing process:
it’s set in London and Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
it begins with the question: ‘why do people die by suicide?’
in response to that question, the protagonist Franny appears, along with the dark humour.
I went round with / as Franny various places …
including bookshops, where I bought books (awkward moment) on behalf of / as Franny.
and to Parliament — for the End of Life Choice bill debates.
my first book was likened by British broadcaster Bidisha to Dorothy Parker’s writing.
And How Are Things With You is likened by RNZ reviewer Holly Walker to Meg Mason’s Sorrow and Bliss.
as a writer, I feel an affinity with Hannah Gadsby in how she uses humour.
talking about suicide and not talking about it.
I’d highly recommend Anne Taylor illustrator to anyone who’d love their event live illustrated.
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