Helen Lowe's Blog, page 2

What’s Up On The SU?

SU being the Supernatural Underground, of course!

And the answer, even better, is quite a lot.

In addition to my August “Great Leaders” post on Signe de Barbentain in Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song For Arbonne, that is!

Starting with two great, The Art of Adaptation posts from the one, the only, the legendary Kim Falconer:

Alternate History

and

AI: A New Chapter for Writers

Plus a great Backlist refeature from Melissa Marr of Wicked Lovely fame:

What If? Folklore As A Source

 

While Stina Leicht ...

Meet The Prince of Lightning: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall of Night” Series

USA

As you know, the “Meet the Minor Players” post features the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series. One of the reasons for posting this series is because the major characters always get featured and discussed, but: —

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that (also) “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ Helen Lowe (from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview)

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but ...

What’s Up With The HL?

The HL being moi, aka Helen Lowe, of course.

Closed for Writing Work

Not much as the short answer — other than pushing hard on the second section of the Part 2 revision, as per here and here. So in order to maintain momentum I’m going to stick with that “mini update” as m’ post-de-jour.

Carl Sagan On Books: A Quote for Your Thursday :)

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books brea...

What I’m Reading: “The Bookbinder of Jericho” by Pip Williams

As you can see, I’m making an effort to close the gap between my “Just Arrived” and “just read” posts for the books that cross my path — which was easy to do with The Bookbinder of Jericho, written by Pip Williams, because for those who enjoy historical fiction, it’s a very readable book.

As indicated in my Just Arrived post, the story is centered on the Oxford University Press book bindery through the World War One period. Peggy Jones and her twin sister, Maude, both work in the bindery, but P...

“How Many Sections?”: A Reader Question Answered

So-o, way-aways back on Monday, I posted an update on WALL #4 revision progress, namely that I had completed the revision of the first section in Part 2 (of the manuscript of two distinct parts. I reported on completing Part 1, here.)

But as Gail’s question on the update highlighted, it’s also helpful to know how many sections Part 2 contains — so thank you, Gail, for prompting me to say.

I know, it looks like a LOT of sections… (That’s Gathering, by the way.)

I did have to do a quick review an...

Work In Progress: Part 2 Update

I wrote, on June 9, that: “Future updates will be on each section of Part 2 as I complete them. I’ll report on them here, under About My Books and About What I’m Doing, as that occurs.”

In keeping with that commitment, I confirm that Section 1 of Part 2 of the work-in-progress is now a wrap, so it’s onward to Section 2. In fact, I’ve already made a start.

I’m pleased with how this last section went, but by way of sounding a caution, it’s also one of the shorter sections in the work-in-progress...

Inside the Writing Life: Snippets From The Revision Front

I did hope for a ‘milestone’ post today, but am not quite there, so instead will share a “moment of eye-roll” from the revision front.

Doorstop, or revision manuscript?

Very often, revision involves big ticket decisions like “Does the narrative need this section at all, in order to ‘work’?” or “Is this part written in the right character’s point-of-view?” and “have I gotten all the action in the right, let alone the best (as per Coleridge’s observation on poetry) order.”

By ‘right’, of course, I...

New On Supernatural Underground: It’s #7 in the Leadership Series

Yes, indeed — it’s August and that means a post for Supernatural Underground. But not just any post, I’m up to #7 — seven dear readers! — in the Great Leaders of Speculative Fiction series.

Great leaders in my humble opinion anyway, although I do endeavour to back my picks up with a few “terribly important thoughts” ( ) on wherein their greatness, and leadership chops, lie.

This month’s pick is Signe de Barbentain from the awesome (again, imho!) A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay. Now, I h...

Just Arrived” “The Bookbinder of Jericho” by Pip Williams

A few years ago I read and enjoyed The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, so I’m pleased to have the opportunity to read her follow up novel, The Bookbinder of Jericho, which won the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) General Fiction Book of the Year for 2024.

 

Here’s what the backcover has to say about what’s “inside the book”:

“The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge – who makes it, who can access it, and what is lost when it is withheld.

In 1914, when the war draws t...