Helen Lowe's Blog, page 183
May 30, 2014
Happy 4th Birthday “On Anything, Really” :)
Yes, today’s the day at last — the fourth birthday of the blog.
During that time, I have done approximately 1545 posts, on the variety of topics under Categories, from the “A Geography Of Haarth” series to “Worldcon 2010″, “Earthquake Reports” and “Earthquake Poems”, “Epic Fantasy” to “Tales For Canterbury.”
There are also the guest spots, from Rebeccca Fisher’s “Big Worlds On Small Screens”, through the ad hoc “Book Reviews” for the blog, to “Guest Interviews” with fellow SFF authors, from Bra...
May 29, 2014
A Geography Of Haarth: Southern Realms
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
The A Geography of Haarth post series is traversing the full range of locales and places from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each locale is accompanied by a quote from either The Heir Of Night, The Gathering Of The Lost, or both.
Currently, the series is traversing places beginning with “S.”
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Southern Realms: lands of the world of Haarth that lie between the River and the great deserts beyond Ishnapur
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“The horizon was primrose, the lo...
May 28, 2014
Reading M’Own Books: How That Went
On May 8 I shared that I was reading m’own books — not because there aren’t a multitude of other books out there to read, but because I wanted to ensure that “…plot threads sown in the earlier books are being picked up as required in WALL3, or being set up for WALL4. Not to mention a general continuity check back through the earlier books.”
I’m pleased to say that overall, it went pretty well. I found a couple of minor continuity errors to set right in WALL3 (aka Daughter Of Blood) but nothing...
May 27, 2014
I Am Interviewed By Ashley Capes On “City Of Masks”
I have a new interview up on Ashley Capes’ “City of Masks” blog.
The interview focuses on the relationship between poetry and prose in my writing. Ashley, who is a poet and prose writer himself, had been wanting to do this interview for some time, so when Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three) was finally done, the time seemed right.
It’s a slightly different interview take, so please do take a look—and enjoy!
Here’s the intro:
“Ashley Capes: As both a poet and a prose writer, do you fi...
May 26, 2014
Tuesday Poem: “Finland” by Victoria Broome
Finland
She returned to Finland with her children
wrapped tight against the ice of the night.
So blue their throats ached.
It was a return to the old times, familiar pain,
the first crack of a river in thaw, black haunting
of spindly trees, skeletal white morning sky.
Air so sharp it sliced their hearts with grief.
Her family never sent the gold they had promised,
her husband bought book after book
that would not feed them.
Her children became jewelled possessions
lining her soul with love like the map o...
May 25, 2014
More Changes On The Blog
On Thursday I posted on the imminent 4th birthday of my “…on Anything, Really” blog, which falls on 31 May, and my proposal to dial back on the posting commitment from every day to 3-4 days a week — 4 days initially while the “A Geography Of Haarth” series is running, with the possibility of reducing to 3 after that.
Mainly I plan to see how it all goes. 
But in any case, the change will take effect from 1 June. After four years it’s in the nature of a large-ish change, but there are a few sma...
May 24, 2014
Comment Of The Week: From Fellow Author Kate Forsyth
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Kate Forsyth made this comment in her review of Thornspell, posted last week.
May 23, 2014
Tuesday Poets & Poems On “…Anything, Really”
Last weekend I discussed how I have begun re-featuring Tuesday poems and poets from the past four years on the blog. The re-feature series is focusing on the still-living poets, the majority of whom are from NZ or associated with NZ in some way.
Anyway, I did a count up and it turns out that over the past four years I’ve featured around 44 poets that fall into this category, and a total of 75 of their poems.
At this stage, I am only re-featuring those poets who’ve had two or more poems posted,...
May 22, 2014
A Geography Of Haarth: Sirith
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
The A Geography of Haarth post series is traversing the full range of locales and places from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each locale is accompanied by a quote from either The Heir Of Night, The Gathering Of The Lost, or both.
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Sirith: a city of the River, feuding with Emaln
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“Beneath the apparent calm, her thoughts churned: she had heard of unlicensed assassinations happening before, but … an unlicensed attack should mean one rogu...
May 21, 2014
Coming Up: the 4th Birthday of The Blog — & Time for Reflection
What it's "really" all about...
Yes indeed, on 31 May 2014 I will have been blogging for four years. It feels like no time at all, but during that time I have blogged every day, missing only one — the day immediately following the February 22nd earthquake of 2011 when the absence of power meant no internet and therefore no post.
So coming up on the fourth anniversary seems like a very good time for reflection and “where to from here.” So far, this is where my ponderings have taken me:
I really e...
