Helen Lowe's Blog, page 20

What’s Coming Up

Do you recall I mentioned that FB Group Haarth have embarked on a Wall series readalong, first on August 17, with a reminder on September 14?

What I didn’t mention was that the readalong coordinator, Rosie, also proposed writing regular Read-Along updates from time to time. So I’ll be posting the first one next Monday.

Revision printouts

Which is timely, since I’m also aware that I’m overdue a revision update, so I’ll post that either the following Thursday or Monday, depending on how the week...

On Supernatural Underground: Bromance & Bands-of-Brothers in “Daughter Of Blood”

1 December has rolled around, which means I’ve just posted the last instalment of my 2023 theme on the band-of-brothers trope in Fantasy fiction — and the spotlight’s on Daughter of Blood.

USA

If you’re pondering whether there are bands of brothers in Daughter, the answer is yes, there definitely are! And at least one bromance — imho, anyway.

To find out moar, you know the drill: click on the following link and rock on over to Supernatural Underground:

Bromance and the Band of Brothers in Daugh...

Monday’s Kate Forsyth Quote In Full — Plus Scorecard!

On Monday, in my Kicking For Touch post, I only supplied half (the most-apposite-to-the-post half) of the quote.

The full text is this:

Read as much and as widely as you can.
Make writing a part of your daily routine.
Be steadfast and unshakeable in both yourself and your story.
Have courage in both your writing and your life.
~ Kate Forsyth,

In do heart this quote in terms of capturing a flavour of the writing life, but in terms of how I actually live up to it… Let’s go line-by-line for the sco...

Kicking For Touch — With Added Writing Quote Goodness

That w.i.p is go-go-go

Yep, I am kicking for touch today, dear readers. That’s because I have two separate parts of the w.i.p. on the go at once!

How did that happen? you may ponder. Welp, it goes like this: there’s the part I’m currently working on, which is straight-out revision involving much careful unravelling and restitching to make the zig and zag of story into a cohesive narrative route: O-o!

Then there’s the other part, where I pop out for a walk to clear the authorial mind and a comple...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Nherenor

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

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

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical...

Two For One: “The Two Tailed Snake” by Nod Ghosh; Plus An Extra SU Post

Yep, it’s a two-for-one Monday, with a “Just Arrived” shoutout for Nod Ghosh’s The Two-Tailed Snake (Fairlight Books), plus a quick mention of the latest post on Supernatural Underground.

Just Arrived: The Two-Tailed Snake by Nod Ghosh

Although I am sometimes slow to the reading party, this arrival is hot off the press as the launch was only last Tuesday (at the University Bookshop on a glorious summer evening.)

I haven’t been to a book launch for a considerable period, so I enjoyed the vibranc...

A Final Riff On Reading “The Axeman’s Carnival”

One anecdote I didn’t mention last week, when posting on reading The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey, and then again when I looked more closely at some of the gorgeous words and turns of phrase that characterize the book, was that I read it when on my recent Auckland residency.

The residency, as I omitted to mention here, was in the realm of city lights and cafes on the doorstep (pretty much.) What I did mention was that while there I adopted a “ninja author” approach because “I wanted t...

Evocative Music

Sometimes, when watching a TV series or film, whether short or long, a song used in the show will strike a particular chord and stay with me. Perhaps not quite the “…melody that haunts you night and day”, but creating a positive recollection of what I’ve viewed.

I’m being careful to say positive here, because if negative it would be an earworm!

Here are a few that have struck that chord in recent times.

With or Without You (U2) as played at a funeral in Sex Education, Season 4:

Note: I’ve chose...

Gorgeous Words: Catherine Chidgey & “The Axeman’s Carnival”

I always consider writing style when reading and posting on books. And in Monday’s post on The Axeman’s Carnival, I mentioned that I loved the rhythm of the author’s prose and also the use of techniques such as repetition.

An early example of rhythm that caught my eye was this:

“Then, high above, a cawing and a screeching, and wide black wings that flashed with white, and rust eyes that fixed on Marnie, and Get out of here, get out get out get out, I’ll pierce your eyes and drink your blood and...

What I’m Reading: “The Axeman’s Carnival” by Catherine Chidgey

On October 5, as part of a Just Arrived post for Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival, I mentioned that this book is both a popular and critically acclaimed work, and won this year’s Ockham NZ Book Award—aka the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize–for Fiction.

By implication, I am clearly late to the reading party! Nonetheless, herewith m’terribly important thoughts on The Axeman’s Carnival.

Short version: I liked it a lot.

The reasons why are numerous, but I’m going to start with what it’s all ab...