Helen Lowe's Blog, page 176

Link Fun: To “Supernaturally” Plus An Interview With Laini Taylor

Last Monday I posted on chairing the WORDChristchurch “Supernaturally” event with Laini Taylor and Elizabeth Knox.

But to go one better, Rebecca Fisher of “Big Worlds On Small Screens” renown recorded the event and you can now check it out for yourselves, either by:

Going to Rebecca’s It’s All Fictional blog and checking out the links she’s embedded there. Here’s the link:

‘It’s All Fictional’ Reports on WordChristchurch and “Supernaturally”

or

Go directly to the YouTube Playlist by clicking on th...

A Geography Of Haarth: Towers Of Morning

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series is exploring the full range of locales and places from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each entry is accompanied by a quote from the books in which the place appears, currently either The Heir Of Night or The Gathering Of The Lost, or both.

I really and truly believe this is the final entry for our extensive traverse of “T” in the travelogue of Haarth!

—

Towers of Morning: principal stronghold of th...

September 4, 2010: Four Years On From The Initial Canterbury Earthquake

Today is the fourth anniversary of the 7.1 earthquake on September 4, 2010 that initiated what I mentally term the “Year of Awful” for Christchurch and surrounding area’s: from that first earthquake through the major events of Boxing Day 2010, February 22nd, June 13, and December 21, 2011—and over 10,000 lesser events.

Although September 4 was the beginning, to date I have tended to focus my reflections on February 22nd, which was the event that resulted in loss of life (185 dead) and major in...

“Supernaturally” Tips For Aspiring Writers: Featured Now On The Supernatural Underground

My 1 September post on the Supernatural Underground features 5 tips for aspiring writers—with a little Laini Taylor and Elizabeth Knox help from last Sunday’s “Supernaturally” event at the WORD Christchurch festival.

Here’s a look at Tip 3:

“Write, not necessarily what you know (in which case no Fantasy would ever be written—a point both Laini and Elizabeth also made!) but what you love because…”

To read the post in full, go to:

“Supernaturally” Tips For Aspiring Writers

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The Tuesday Poem: “The Author to her Book” by Anne Bradstreet

The Author to her Book

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,

Who after birth didst by my side remain,

Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,

Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,

Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,

Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).

At thy return my blushing was not small,

My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,

I cast thee by as one unfit for light,

The visage was so irksome in my sight;

Yet being mine own, at length af...

“Supernaturally” Was Super!

Well, it’s all over… The captains and the kings have departed, the shouting and tumult died away—but while it lasted, the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers’ festival was all go.

I didn’t get to participate anywhere near as much as I would have liked, but I did get to chair/compere the “Supernaturally” event with Laini Taylor and Elizabeth Knox—and since these authors are both lively speakers, it was a lot of fun.

L-R: Laini, Elizabeth, myself

As I told the audience, I had “eleventy-one” questi...

WORDChristchurch Excitement Continues: I Welcome Fellow Hachette Author, Laini Taylor

The WORDChristchurch Writers and Readers Festival is in full swing and there’s no let up in the giddy whirl!

This week, I’ve welcomed welcome fellow Hachette authors, Diane Setterfield (Monday) and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (Thursday), to NZ and the festival.

Today I anticipate Sunday’s “Supernaturally” event—and also extend the same warm welcome to my third and final fellow Hachette author, Laini Taylor.

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WelcomingLaini Taylor to WORDChristchurch

Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor is the Portland, Oregon auth...

WORDChristchurch Excitement Is On: I Welcome Fellow Hachette Author, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

The WORDChristchurch Writers and Readers Festival kicked off yesterday, Wednesday 27—and the excitement is on!

On Monday, I welcomed fellow Hachette author, Diane Setterfield, to NZ and the festival. Today I am delighted to extend the same warm welcome to crime writer, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir.

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WelcomingYrsa Sigurðardóttir to WORDChristchurch

Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir wrote prize-winning children’s novels before writing Last Rituals, her first adult novel and described as a “chilling, gri...

Big Worlds On Small Screens: Rebecca Fisher Discusses “Lost”

~ by Rebecca Fisher

Introduction:

I well remember the lead-up to the premiere of LOST. It was something of an event. For weeks everyone had been speculating on the advertising spread over billboards and the backs of buses, all designed to resemble missing posters with the characters’ faces on them. Bits and pieces of information trickled down, most of it through word of mouth. The show apparently involving an airplane crash, a mysterious island, a twisty plot – no one seemed to know quite what...

The Tuesday Poem: Poetry At The Forefront—WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers’ Festival, 27 – 31 August

This week, from Wednesday 27 – Sunday 31, my home town will be coming alive for the biennial WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers’ Festival — and poetry is going to be well to the fore from the get-go.

So for the Tuesday Poem feature today, I thought I’d run through the poetry programme for you. If a poet has been featured here on the blog, I’ll link through to that, too: just click on the link embedded in the poet’s name

And click on the link in the event title to find out more details, inclu...