Reading for Push-Up Challenge Mental Health Foundation NZ Fundraiser

I'm completing the equivalent of 2,000 push-ups in 23 days to raise awareness & funds for the Mental Health Foundation NZ.

5-27 Feb - each day I'll spend 87 minutes doing exercise or reading a novel or nonfiction on the theme of suicide awareness (I got the 87 minutes from: 2,000 ÷ 23 days = 87).

Thank you so much to those who have donated already.

Farlane on Writing — see sign up form below — is a newsletter where I showcase others writers’ work and share news about my forthcoming novel, And How Are Things With You (Mākaro Press, Sept 2026).
Book draw gifts: in the lead up to publication, there’ll be opportunities for Farlane on Writing subscribers to win signed books in several book draws across the year. So far, books have included A Counter of Moons (Steele Roberts Aotearoa) by Iona Winter and Loss Adjustment (Awa Press) by Linda Collins. In April the ‘book draw’ book will be a signed copy of Dear Vincent (Random House) by Mandy Hager.

Image below is the novel I read on day one of the Push-Up Challenge. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. The cover illustration (by Abigail Smith) is very significant. What a moving book — sad and funny. I love the humour couched in so much honesty. Grateful to have discovered this novel about a 15-year-old boy in NY, set mainly in a psych unit.
#mentalhealth #suicideprevention #fiction