Helen Lowe's Blog, page 128

The Curve Of the World

The Curve of the World

Summer breathes
through marram grass, salt-tough
where the southerly whips in
off the Pacific, light &
shadow all the way out
to the distant smudge
of albatross feeding—at night
you see lights dance,
squid boats fishing
the same spot.
The larger ships, too,
follow the albatross road,
tall towers disappearing
beneath the curve
of the world …

The wind sweeps in, recounts
tales of ships, albatross,
men with eyes bleached
to seams … tells
it all to the salt grass
and driftw...

An Avid Reader Special: Paul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads Of 2015

Last week, I kicked off my “avid reader” special, in which some of the most avid readers I know share their Top 5 reads of 2015.

Paul Weimer, book reviewer, podcaster, and a Mind Meld convenor on SF Signal, is unquestionably part of that elite crew — so without further ado, here are his Top 5 picks for 2015.

(Note: I think they are all 2015 releases in Paul’s case, but it is not required. The theme is books read in 2015, not necessarily published this year. Why — because reading is a pastime...

Dispatches From The Book Front: Current News

USA

It’s been a nice (“noi-ce” ) week for bookish news on The Wall of Night series front.

Firstly, The Gathering Of The Lost is being reprinted in the US — with the new cover, which means it won’t just be an e-book only deal: w00t!

Speaking of e-book only deals — just a wee reminder for USA/Canada readers that both The Heir Of Night & The Gathering Of The Lost e-books are only 0.99c through until 28 December. Food for thought for the holiday reading table or the Fantasy readers in your life...

58 Eridani: Episode 2

~ by Andrew Robins
.

Unknown System, Year Unknown. Estimated -14000 Solar Era

Free_Trader_Mistral\ Core\Private_Log_Amelia_Delaware \2397

Three weeks in the tank. In the end it took all of us to maintain gestalt, and we even had to ask for help from the passengers.

I have never seen rift storms that violent before. First time I have ever seen Mademoiselle Chinks lose her enthusiasm for running new analyses in rift space. We were all too busy fighting and just hanging on.

So we made it out, bu...

Fun Blog Fare On The Supernatural Underground

As you know, I hang out on on the Supernatural Underground (SU) on the first of every month — and this month I posted a short story, The Kiss, written for reader, Beth, who won a SU contest earlier this year to give her name to a character in a story written by yours truly.

If you haven’t done so already, you can read it by clicking on:

The Kiss

But my crew of fellow SU authors also regularly serve up some pretty interesting blog fare. Check out:

Kim Falconer on Feng Shui for Your Mind for 20...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series — Nesta

UK/AU/NZ

USA

With the Prologue to Daughter of Blood now unveiled on SF Signal, publication day is beginning to feel close — and that makes it even more fun to spend some time with characters from The Wall Of Night series, in the same way I featured worldbuilding in A Geography Of Haarth.

I’ve been focusing on minor players for now, because: “I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

This week’s character is: —

N...

Big Worlds On Small Screens—Rebecca Fisher Discusses “Sense 8″

~ by Rebecca Fisher

Introduction:

Not since Orphan Black have I been this engrossed with a television show: its premise, its cast and its method of storytelling. Sense8 is the creation of the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) and it’s as inventive and unique as their past projects would imply.

Originally released on Netflix, the twelve-episode first season has been picked up for a second, with five full seasons planned to tell the complete story. Accordin...

A Farewell To The Tuesday Poem

For five years, I have been a member of The Tuesday Poem community, a wonderful network and meeting place of poets as well as a tremendous shop window for poetry.

But even very good things come to an end — and today, after 5 wonderful years, we are laying aside our quills and wrapping up the Tuesday Poem Hub.

The two founding members, Mary McCallum and Claire Beynon have a wonderful farewell post up — which also features a composite poem from all the Tuesday Poets:

“And I know now what I didn...

An Avid Reader Special: Jennifer Lowe’s Top 5 Reads Of 2015

My sister, Jennifer Lowe, is both an avid and eclectic reader, so she was a ‘shoe-in’ when I decided to ask some of the most avid readers I know for their Top 5 recommendations from 2015.

Note: The lists don’t have to comprise books published in 2015, just read this year.

Here’s Jennifer’s list:

—
.

The Seeker, S.G. Maclean

Historical Fiction – Mystery – 17th century England

I loved this book which is an historical thriller set in Oliver Cromwell’s commonwealth. At the heart of this book is t...

58 Eridani: Episode 1

~ by Andrew Robins
.

58 Eridani, Year 29.71 -753 Solar Era (2993 CE).

Free_Trader_Mistral\Ancillary_Core\Passenger\Ramada_Collective_Charter\Survey_log\127

SURVEY STATUS:

Survey GREEN Loading and cataloguing RED (not able to complete) Supply status AMBER (not yet known) Team Status RED Daily Log: Mission Director DiDi Turner*, personal entry:

Today was a disaster

We don’t know if Matty, Staner, Dre, Cat, Sui and Half Moon are still alive. We left them on the surface of Mission Target Three....