When Life Isn’t All It’s Craic’d Up to Be
Orders live now!
In Ireland we use dark humour to cope with the tough stuff. We call it the craic - and the craic will pull you back from the edge faster than a therapy session. My hero was Billy Connolly; he got me through more rough nights than I care to remember. Therapy matters (I’ve had it and I recommend it). So does a laugh that cuts through the shite.
Life didn’t just throw the book at Nic Russell - it dropped the whole library.
Northern Irish-born, Kiwi by choice, Nic’s lived through cancer, the death of her three-year-old daughter Kenzie, Parkinson’s and a heart transplant - yet, somehow, she still gets up swinging.
Out of that chaos came Kenzie’s Gift, the charity she founded to help children and young people whose parent or sibling has died or is seriously ill. Two decades on, it’s supported thousands across New Zealand.
Bollix is Nic’s no-nonsense and, at times, darkly funny memoir of survival, swearing and starting again when life refuses to play fair. Bold, brave and brilliantly human.
“What the actual fucketyfuck!” I exclaimed.
The hours of wine-fueled brainstorming had passed by without anyone noticing, and Conor and Kimmi were back early. I scrambled to my feet and tried to head them off. Too late.
Conor saw the coffin in all its glory, a bright pink, gleaming spectacle in the sunshine, surrounded by a group of startled and inebriated women covered in pink splotches.
"Oh, look, Mummy!” he said, pointing at our creation. “Can I get in it?”
September 1st 2026
Order on this site! It is also available at some of the usual retailers.
Yes. The first 200 paperback copies ordered directly through this website will be signed by Nic. First in, first served. Once they're gone, all further orders will be unsigned.
A bit. Honest, not performative.
Yes - I’ll share a reading‑group set during pre‑orders.
