Helen Lowe's Blog, page 255
June 18, 2012
Tuesday Poem: “Learning Italian” by Catherine Fitchett
Learning Italian
Pizza, pasta, cappuccino
weren’t in the dictionary when Harry signed up
By the time he arrived in England,
the war was almost over, so Harry
never got to Italy. Besides, that was another war
and Harry was more of a meat and potatoes man, anyway.
Fifty years later there would be
espresso, prosciutto, ravioli
but the soldiers already returning
while Harry drilled in sling camp
took other souvenirs – not mala aria
- bad air – but shell shock, scars,
and flu, spreading faster than rifle fire....
June 17, 2012
A New Review For “The Heir of Night” from AurealisXpress
UK/AU/NZ mass market paperback
The timing, I imagine, is pure coincidence, but on the same day The Heir of Night won the Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012, it also got a new review in AurealisXpress:
“I was completely and unexpectedly drawn into this first novel in Lowe’s Wall of Night series. Having missed it on its release a couple of years ago, I read it in preparation for reading and reviewing the second book, released in April of this year. Upon finishing it, I decided it really deserved a re...
June 16, 2012
“The Heir of Night” Wins The Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012: My Acceptance Speech
UK/AU/NZ mass market paperback
Yesterday, I was absolutely delighted to learn that the The Heir of Night, The Wall of Night Book One, has won the 2012 Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.
Although unable to attend the ceremony, my Orbit UK editor, Jenni Hill, was present with an acceptance speech in her back pocket that could be deployed at need. “In the case of emergency” I felt sure that she would “know what to do!” 
But for all those of you who, like me, could not be there in...
June 15, 2012
The Heir of Night Wins — Yes, Wins! — the 2012 Gemmell Morningstar Award!
UK trade paperback
I am thrilled to announce that The Heir of Night, The Wall of Night Book One, has won the 2012 Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.
You can read the official announcement on the Gemmell Award site Here.
I found out this morning, via a telephone call from my Orbit UK editor, Jenni Hill. I believe my first words were “I don’t believe it” but I’ve been working on trying to believe it ever since!
The winners in the other two categories were:
The Legend Award for Best...
Just Arrived: “Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier
I have had this book for a few weeks now but because of trips away to Natcon, returning home to ‘heap big snow’, together with the general blog round, I have only gotten round to featuring it now.
Winter be My Shield (Harper Voyager) is the debut novel of Australian author, Jo Spurrier, and the first in her “Children of the Black Sun” series. The back cover describes it as epic fantasy and in addition to the title, the cover art and backcover blurb make it clear that this is a winter world.
Han...
June 14, 2012
Last Chance To Acquire “Tales for Canterbury” (Random Static)
Recently, at the Sir Julius Vogel Award ceremony in Auckland, I was thrilled to see Tales for Canterbury (Random Static, 2011) , edited by Anna Caro and Cassie Hart, receive the award for “Best Collected Work.”
This meant a lot to me for a number of reasons. Those of you who followed the ‘A Peak Inside Tales for Canterbury’ series on the blog will know that there were some very fine stories, a few even but rather famous authors , contained therein. So that’s one reason.
The second reason is th...
June 13, 2012
Introducing Melvin Sterne & His Debut Novel “Zara” (Ink Brush Press)
Welcome, Melvin Sterne:
Melvin Sterne
Way back in 2005, I had just completed the manuscript for my first novel and was also writing short fiction. One of the very first stories I sent out into the world was The Brother King, which I entered in the international (but US-based) Carve short story competition. You may imagine my delight when The Brother King was longlisted for the award. Although it did not proceed further, I was even more delighted when it was subsequently selected for publication...
June 12, 2012
What’s Being Said About “The Gathering of the Lost”
UK/AUS/NZ
By which I mean, there’ve been a few more reviews come in, so I thought I’d share a few of the quotes:
Fantasy Book Review UK:
“Returning to this world was a wonderful experience for me. I enjoyed Lowe’s first instalment in her ‘The Wall of Night Series’ and was eagerly anticipating the return. The characters and ideas portrayed in Lowe’s writing enthrall me and capture my imagination like very few other books. … The Gathering of the Lost returns the reader to a world of hidden history...
June 11, 2012
Tuesday Poem: “at Fossil Gorge” by James Norcliffe
at Fossil Gorge
That time of the year when the leaves fall,
branches emerge in the rocks below:
brachiopods, coral from an ancient sea.
The leaves are brown, yellow, the fossils
are white as time, but the turkey
buzzards are black and do not fall.
Instead they hover like silent blowflies,
wait and dip as funerary fishhooks or
gently flapping scissors wrapped in black
crepe, festooning the sky with menace.
A scatter of iron filings but purposeful;
black fillings in the mouth of the sky.
There is something...
June 10, 2012
What’s Coming Up
Storm on the Wall of Night
After 10 days away it seems like time for taking stock and maybe even doing a bit of a head count on what’s coming up.
.Firstly, after all this book launch and blog tour carry on, not to mention Natcon, the main focus now is knuckling down for a writing blast on Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book 3. At least the icy blast out-o’-doors is conducive to spending time indoors and at the writing desk.
In terms of what’s happening here on the blog, this Thursday 14...
