sarah connor
“Replace When Empty” Annual 3
I grew up on a farm between Hastings and Taihape on the Ngaruroro River, not far from the Kaweka Ranges.
My family’s hallway was lined with books, my country school had a tiny library, and every Friday my siblings and I borrowed bundles of books from the Hastings Library.
I read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, over and over. I didn’t call my mum and dad Ma and Pa and I didn’t live in a log cabin, but in my mind I was Laura. I even had a middle parting and two long plaits. I was a big fan of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, and Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking too.
Writing was my favourite part of English classes at school, and I was in awe of the photos in my dad’s National Geographic magazines. Ever since I owned my first camera, I’ve enjoyed taking photos of everyday things. But I never imagined anyone being a writer or being a photographer – not as a job at least.
After many years working in branding, marketing, and communications, I realised that I liked writing more than anything else. That’s when I became a freelance content writer. Most of the stories I create – usually with words but sometimes with photographs – end up on my clients’ websites and social media.
A few of my stories have been published in the School Journal. “Replace When Empty” is the first story I’ve had published in an annual.
I love living in Wellington with my partner and two children, our guinea pigs, and a label maker.