The last few months of my life have been taken up by Kete Ukulele: The Kiwi Ukulele Companion. This is coming out in July from AUT Media, 64pp, $NZ19.99, lots of illustrations and Kiwi songs (here’s a publicity handout); the book I wish I’d had when I was teaching myself the uke. My world-famous ukulele page, currently the 11th-most-popular ukulele page on the internet, Lord knows why, is going to morph into the book’s supporting site: it’ll have page-preview PDFs, and ordering information for those of you not in New Zealand.

This is my first book, and it’s impressed upon me the importance of having your own writing space, a good gung-ho editor, supportive friends who chivvy you along, and big dedicated blocks of time in a quiet house. You also have to love what you’re doing and believe that the book is truly worth writing, because you’re not going to get rich from it in New Zealand. So I’ve been cautiously exploring the world of royalties, copyright, proofs, publication schedules, and the all-important advance. The advance’s importance lies in the expectation that the author comes up with all the book’s content, including illustrations (more on the trials and tribulations of using freelance illustrators in a later post).

Back in May 2007, having just defended my PhD, would I have imagined that in a year I would be described as “Lyttelton musician Mike Dickison” by the local community newspaper? (The Bay Harbour News isn’t online but I scanned the article as a monstrous great JPEG.) Yes, I’m now living in the scenic seaside village of Lyttelton—pictured is the view from my patio. It has all the advantages of a very small town without being plagued by annoying open space and sunshine. I love it here.

I’ve also been working with the Museum Detective, whose website I redesigned in time for the New Zealand Radio Awards—she’s a finalist for Best Spoken Programme (Access) (Update May 3: she won!). We were simultaneously in Wellington a couple of months ago, so I introduced her to the visiting Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, a splendid bunch who contributed lots of tips to the book. She was so taken with them that a Museum Detective episode resulted, in which the UOGB and I perform “Anarchy in the UK”. That’s my ukulele you can hear, but I’m only playing the brushes and singing backup. And I fear that if any singing is out of tune, that could be me too.

The article I wrote on museum websites has finally appeared online in Te Ara, the New Zealand museums journal. Unfortunately there are more than a few typographical and web display problems, which make it look like I don’t follow my own advice, so I’ll post a better-designed version on the Adzebill site in the near future. I’ve also been working with Rowan Carroll at the North Otago Museum on their site, and am interested in trialling WordPress and the new museum content-management system Omeka with her. There’s lots that needs doing with museum websites; listen to Episode 14 of Digital Campus for an invigorating discussion.

Thanks to all my friends, here and overseas, who wondered where I had disappeared to. I’m back.