Helen Lowe's Blog, page 232
January 31, 2013
Interview Mania Continues: I Am Guest of the Month with Karen McMillan
As I posted yesterday, it’s interview time right now in the “…on Anything, Really” ‘verse—only this time I am the interviewee rather than the interviewer. 
As of today I am Guest of the Month with friend and fellow author, Karen McMillan. Please do click on the following link and check it out:
February 2013 — Helen Lowe
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Also, just in case you missed it yesterday, I will be interviewing UK Fantasy author Elspeth Cooper here on Monday, as part of which we’ll be giving away Books 1 and 2 of Elspet...
January 30, 2013
Interview Mania: Marianne De Pierres and Elspeth Cooper
It’s interview time right now in the “…on Anything, Really” ‘verse.
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Marianne de Pierres
First up, my January “Fun with (Australian & NZ) Friends” interview, featuring Australian author Marianne de Pierres, is currently featured on SF Signal.
To check on the goodness click right here: Interview with Marianne De Pierres
And as always, comments are always welcome. 
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Elspeth Cooper
In a recent What I’m Reading post I mentioned reading Elspeth Cooper’s The Wild Hunt series, Songs of the Earth and Tr...
January 29, 2013
My Favourite Fantasy Standalone Novels
On December 13, when I began my two-part post on my Favourite Epic Fantasy series, I promised that I would post on standalone novels “laterz.”
As part of the background to that post, I also explained that the drive to pen lists was partly because I’d received a few communications along the lines of:
“I don’t normally read fantasy but I enjoyed your books (HL: thank you!) and would like to read more, so what would you recommend?”
The best way to recommend seemed to be sharing what I have liked ov...
January 28, 2013
Tuesday Poem: “We Children” by Janine Sowerby
we children
when the days stretched
over the horizon, sprang
from our sleeping bags, threw
on our summer uniform, left
mum and dad dreaming, ran
barefoot through the bush, the river,
to the beach
we children
popped washed up blue
bottles, chased cantankerous
crabs, rescued stubborn sea
creatures from rock pools, buried
each other below sand castles, built
forts manned by katipos, cooked ourselves
in the sun
we children
got seaweed in our hair, sand
in our bum cracks, stranded
by the tide, wrestled th...
January 27, 2013
A Red Letter Day: I Have Upgraded My Website!
So what’s been done:
Updated:
Front page — yes, The Gathering of the Lost now actually gets a mention, eight months after publication (hangs head in shame); as does The Heir of Night’s publication in France
Poetry — this page has now been updated to include 2012 activity
Awards — also updated to include 2012 ‘high notes’: the Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury; and The Heir of Night winning the Gemmell Morningstar Award in June.
Brand New (Drum Roll!):
With...
January 26, 2013
February 14 Isn’t Just Valentine’s Day: It’s International Book Giving Day
Although, come to think about it, I would regard the gift of a book as a pretty good valentine.
But one of the blogs I subscribe to is Christchurch City Libraries and I was very interested to see their post on International Book Giving Day:
“February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day. It is also International Book Giving Day — a day dedicated to getting new, used, and borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible…”
The post lists three ways to get involved:
Give a book to a frien...
January 25, 2013
Speaking of The Tuesday Poem…
…I did, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (!) — there will be a new featured poem up on the Hub this coming Tuesday 29, so now is your very last chance to check out the wonderful All my life by Sarah Broom—from her collection Tigers at Awhitu—while it’s still at the top of the masthead.
As guest editor for the last TP feature post of 2012, you won’t be surprised to learn that I feel it’s very well worth a read. So do click on All my life to read now if you have not done so already.
January 24, 2013
A Geography of Haarth: Announcing A New Post Series
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
What with it being the new year’n’ all I have been thinking of new things I could do on the blog and I will admit I extracted this one from something pioneered by the estimable and excellent Mary Victoria.
As part of the build up to the launch of Oracle’s Fire, the third and final novel in her Chronicles of the Tree series, Mary embarked on a Dictionary of the Tree, which I thought was a lot of fun.
Mary Victoria's world Tree; art by Fran...
January 23, 2013
What’s Coming Up On The Reading Front
Okey–dokey, here’s what I currently have on the go, reading-wise, and should be reporting back to you on in the next wee while:
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Miserere–An Autumn Tale by Teresa FrohockYes, I did the “Just Arrived” recently and am now into the book and reading fast—so should have a report back to you very soon!
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When We Wake by Karen HealeyI did the “Just Arrived” for this book way back in October, but it’s out very soon—in March am pretty sure—so will be reporting back on it soonish now.
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Dearie by Bob SpitzI...
January 22, 2013
What’s Coming Up
Yesterday I posted on writing the novel (an extended nautical metaphor with added poetry goodness ), which is always the biggest part of the pie chart of “what I’m doing”—but there’s often a good deal else on the authorial plate at any one time. And even if it is only the third week in January, I am already hearing the whoosh of the days as they fleet by. ((Nods to Douglas Adams.)
So what is coming up for late January and into February:
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The Tuesday Poem– firstly, as I also mentioned yesterday...
