Helen Lowe's Blog, page 239

Just Arrived: “Days of Blood and Starlight” by Laini Taylor

I haven’t even gotten around to telling you that I had Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone to read, let alone that I enjoyed it when I actually read it earlier this year, which is something of a mea culpa for a writer’s blog…

But never mind, I hope to make it all up to you very soon because the sequel Days of Blood and Starlight has just arrived (hurrah!) and I shall not only be reading it, but with luck, doing an interview with Laini Taylor—I would love to do one and bring it to you her...

A Few Thoughts on the Nobel Prize for Literature

Not necessarily “terribly important” thoughts, but when I posted Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison’s quote on Saturday, I visited the Nobel Prize website.

The visual context of the site struck me in quite a profound way. Across the top is a header, which reads:

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Physics … Chemistry … Medicine … Literature … Peace … Economics

The fact that Literature was there was “the thing” that struck me—not because I think it is in any way out of place, but because the impression one gets in discussions of higher...

“Just This” Moments: Celebrating Spring ii

On Sunday I promised you some more “just this” photos to celebrate spring and in particular spring/early summer in the garden.

And on Friday I featured the new cookbook from Claudia Roden the Food of Spain that I “just had to have.”

So in the spirit of both posts here is a “Just This” photo featuring the kitchen garden…

(Hmm, you can still see a remnant of liquefaction film over those bricks though…)

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Tuesday Poem: A Poem by E Nesbit from “The Story of the Treasure Seekers”

… a poem on children’s fun

Oh when I wake up in my bed

And see the sun all fat and red,

I’m glad to have another day

For all my different kinds of play.

There are so many things to do–

The things that make a man of you,

If grown-ups did not get so vexed

And wonder what you will do next.

I often wonder whether they

Ever made up our kinds of play–

If they were always good as gold

And only did what they were told.

They like you best to play with tops

And toys in boxes, bought in shops;

They do not even know th...

Look What’s New: “the Food of Spain” (Penguin) by Claudia Roden

Sometimes you see a book and “just have to have it.”

This was one of those books for me.

As you may know by now I am something of a ‘foodie’ and also like to travel a little via my interest in food and books, so this book, with its beautiful photographs and detailing of the cuisine of Spain by region ‘spoke to my heart.’

I also feel, looking at that glorious cover, that it is what Bookman Beattie would call a “handsome” book—and he would be quite right!

I love the cover and the whole wonderful lo...

“Just This” Moments: Celebrating Spring, i

Recently I posted a few photos of the wisteria in bloom in my garden, here and here, including quoting from Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Old Vicarage, Grantchester”, which I then had to post as a Tuesday Poem here.

And because I am enjoying the spring, the garden and the photos, I thought I’d post a few more for you “at random” so you can share in the “just this” moments.

Today’s photo probably speaks for itself, but I love the crimson colour of this rhododendron: enjoy!

A Saturday Writing Quote from Toni Morrison

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“The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange, and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power.”

~ Toni Morrison

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In a way this quote is the antithesis of “write what you know”, but no less than what I would expect of a writer of Morrison’s power. For me , “write what you know” is a good starting point, but this quote of Toni Morrison’s—again for me, but I feel it exemplifies a goal which as writers we strive to attain evey time we pick up a pen, or...

Fellow Author, Courtney Schafer, Reads “The Heir of Night” & “The Gathering of the Lost”

Positive reader feedback is always “the best”—but when another author not only reads and likes your work but tells the world so, that’s always extra special.

Yesterday, I recapped Abhinav Jain’s “Names A New Perspective” guest author series, —and one of the fellow authors whose post I really enjoyed was Courtney Schafer on .

In fact we enjoyed each others posts so much that we agreed to do an author book swap—and you will recall that I posted on Cou...

“Names A New Perspective”: Recapping A Great SpecFic Guest Series

On September 26 I heralded Abhinav Jain’s guest author series to be titled “Names A New Perspective”, .

As noted then, the fuller brief for “Names A New Perspective” was:

“… how the names of characters and places and other things within their novels (and other works where appropriate) fit into their setting, their relevance and their power.”

The “new” perspective was because all the guest authors were new and/or newish authors like myself. I looked forward to reading their thoughts on names...

This Evening With Canterbury Poets: Joanna Preston, Owen Marshall, & Tusiata Avia

I have been very much enjoying the Canterbury Poets’ Collective’s spring season of poetry readings over the past six weeks. The Open Mic readings have been of consistently high quality and we’ve had a programme of great guests as well—but with Joanna Preston, Owen Marshall, and Tusiata Avia as tonight’s featured poets, I feel that the quality is set to continue.

Just to give you a “thumbnail” introduction to each poet:

Joanna Preston won both the inaugural Kathleen Grattan Award (New Zealand) 2...