All the Things

Pip. PJ. Philippa. All I know is cats like me, and I like writing things.

[woodsia]

Wandered around an old graveyard the other day. 40 years ago the remains and grave stones were salvaged before a motorway was built through the middle

[pipballantine]

Yep, moved a graveyard

[lolshtus]

The Best Librarian Ever

[pipballantine]

Cool and terrifying at the same time

[teapartyunderthestars-blog]

[pipballantine]

This looks like just the repast to inspire!

[pipballantine]

The new Ministry book is out!

The chase is on! After rescuing Queen Victoria from the clutches of the Maestro, Agents Eliza D Braun and Wellington Books are in hot pursuit of Dr Henry Jekyll. While he continues his experiments on the aristocracy of Europe, he leaves a trail of chaos and despair in his wake. However when Eliza and Wellington run him to ground in India, they are forced to come face to face with ghosts from the past, and the realities of empire.

Meanwhile Ministry agents Brandon Hill and Bruce Campbell travel deep into Russia hunting down a rare ingredient to save Queen Victoria's life. Amid the cold they uncover a threat from the revitalized House of Usher that comes directly from their new Chairman.

All in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences will find their allegiances in question, and their mettle tested as a new dastardly era of international intrigue dawns.

Buy direct or from your favourite online book seller.

[teapalm]

(Tasha Marie) | Devil’s Punchbowl, NZ website | instagram | prints

[pipballantine]

Makes you wonder what is at the bottom...

[bodleianlibs]

Bees?

Bees.

Bees!

[pipballantine]

B is for Ballantine....

[orangemoontea]

[pipballantine]

I love Willow pattern...but...HEY NOW!

[pipballantine]

I love writing about Aroha

Manuwatu Gorge, New Zealand, September 1873

Agent Aroha Murphy investigates a series of strange deaths in the wilds of New Zealand in 1873 which have all taken place on one night. Are they suicides or murders? Aroha with her Maori and Italian ancestry, sits awkwardly between two cultures, but the answer is tangled with her own complicated past. heritage of Aotearoa itself.

Tales from the Archives are short stories set in the world of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Phoenix Rising / Das Zeichen des Phönix, and the Janus Affair / Die Janus-Affäre) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. They explore events mentioned in the novels, characters seen and unseen and may include novel teasers of things to come.

Buy direct or from your favourite online bookseller

[mindblowingfactz]

An octopus named Inky escaped into the ocean from New Zealand’s Nat'l Aquarium. He slipped out of his enclosure via a small opening, slid across the floor during the night and squeezed his body through a pipe leading to the ocean. source

image via nationalgeographic

[pipballantine]

Go Inky, go!!

[fashionsfromhistory]

Day Dress

Mme. Lambele de St. Ome

c.1891-1892

Smith College Historic Collection

[pipballantine]

Those sleeves!!

[teapartyunderthestars-blog]

[pipballantine]

I can’t help adoring floral teacups

[pipballantine]

New Zealand like the rest of the world, has been broken and remade by the zombie apocalypse. Humanity is scattered, sheltering as best it can in isolated settlements. However, there is hope, and it rests with one old woman and her machine.

Whakamua, the track laying train's mission is to connect Ngaire's home to the rest of civilization. As they set off for Wellington, where they hope to find more survivors,Ngaire knows it is going to be a long road, but she can't anticipate the dangers that are waiting for them just outside the gate.

A short story by the co-author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, and the author of the Books of the Order.

Buy direct or from your favourite online bookseller

[idiona]

books

[pipballantine]

No one breathe....

[princesslyliving]

[pipballantine]

No macaroon left behind!

[typhlonectes]

New Zealand conservationists celebrate rare parrot breeding success

The kākāpō has had its most successful breeding season since conservation efforts rescued it from the brink of extinction in the 1970s

[pipballantine]

The fact this bird is still alive against the odds shows humans can turn back the clock on the damage they have done!

[pipballantine]

A little stand-alone story I wrote...

The arrival of man to their sacred homes bring challenges to the elves. Most retreat further and further into the peace of the woods, but on one island, elves who worship the goddess of war make a stand. The battles that follow will be epic, but from them something new and unexpected will rise. Something born from fire and love.

Buy as an ebook

[bibliotheca-sanctus]

Shiba Ryōtarō Memorial Museum Library in Higashiosaka, Japan

[pipballantine]

Oh to climb those walls!