Helen Lowe's Blog, page 256
June 9, 2012
Looks Like Snow—Christchurch Past & Present
Given Christchurch’s recent snow dump, thought a few photos might be in order.
The first one comes courtesy of Christchurch City Libraries and is snow in Christchurch ca. 1862. Rather liked this one & the simplicity of Christchurch of yore.
The rest are what I returned to the other day, having been 10 days away in far more temperate–subtropical even!—climes, with the final day an enforced holiday due to all flights being cancelled (because of the snow.)
Snow in the backyard...
So here are a few s...
June 8, 2012
Civilian Reader Asks: “Should You Read What You Write?”
Civilian Reader is one of the blogs I have been following of recent times—you will find the link in the side bar. It’s newish on the books and genre scene, but then again, so am I… So it seemed suitably serendipitous to answer the Civilian’s call for guest posts on “Should You Read What You Write?”
Nor was I alone—writers as diverse as Gail Carriger, Mark Lawrence, Anne Lyle, and Jon Courtenay-Grimwood, amongst others, have all weighed in.
It would appear though, that I was alone in interpretin...
June 7, 2012
Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012: A Personal Tribute
Yesterday morning, I woke up to the news that Ray Bradbury had died.
Since then tributes have flowed in, from President Obama to Margaret Atwood, Stephen Spielberg to Mia Farrow and Neil Gaiman. The range of tributes and people making them reflects Ray Bradbury’s contribution to literature and the world of ideas: Fahrenheit 451 is arguably his most well known work in this respect.
But I, like many others, have my own small, personal tribute to make, one that relates to my first encounter, in my...
June 6, 2012
And Because A Picture Speaks Those Thousand Words…
… here are a few more photos from UnCONventional, the National Science Fiction Fantasy Convention & Sir Julius Vogel Award ceremony last weekend.
Grace Bridges of Splashdown, with several titles from her list
This time I thought I’d focus on shots of authors in the signing room & a couple more photos from the Sir Julius Vogel Awards.
Beaulah Pragg with her debut novel "Silver Hawk"
Kevin of author duo, KD Berry, with "Dragons Away" (Bluewood Publishing)
Mary Victoria signing...
... havin' some sign...
June 5, 2012
More Photos from the UnCONventional Natcon
A few more photos from the UnCONventional Natcon last weekend, to go along with those I put up on Saturday, here, and Monday, here.
Firstly, a shot of the “Vampire” panel early on Day 3:
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Fan GoH Lorain Clark with "The Gathering of the Lost"
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And a few photos from the Signing and Readings sessions on the afternoon of Day 2:
Mary Victoria with 'Chronicles of the Tree' reader, Ross Temple
Double Author Trouble: Mary Victoria & I share a moment
with Felicia, a young 'Wall of Night' series reader
Autho...
June 4, 2012
Tuesday Poem: Homing
Homing
He hears it, in every slap
of wave against wood,
as the ship cleaves water
like a seabird, hears the word
that he has hungered for
through the lost years,
whispered to him now
by the sea as it bears him up,
speeds him on like a lover
to the consummation
of his long-held dream
of home: home, lilts the sea,
soft as a lullaby, and home,
sings the wind, slipping
through rigging, soothing
him to rest, not to wake
even as a clear dawn
pares away night, reveals
rocky shores and a green crag
rising, not even to s...
Natcon Fun & The Sir Julius Vogel Awards
The "plot hole" panel
It’s taken some time, but here it is at last—the report on my Day 2 at UnCONventional, the national Science Fiction Fantasy convention, and the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror
I started Day 2 by checking in with my partner, Andrew, on the “Plot Holes” panel, chaired by Russell Kirkpatrick, where they were discussing, well, holes, in the plots of movies and books—with some enthusiastic input from the audience. Clearly this was a...
June 3, 2012
Natcon Day 2 — A Blog Marker
This is just to say… that Natcon Day 2 has been a full day of events, including the Sir Julius Vogel Awards—but we’re right on the midnight hour so I’ll bring you the full report some time tomorrow!
Watch this space … 
June 2, 2012
Day 1 at Natcon
Well, I suppose Day 1 was really last night when the Con launched, but today has been the first “full on” day where I both attended and participated in panels, as well as attending a reading by fellow Christchurch author, Beulah Pragg.
L-R: Lyn McConchie, Mary Victoria, Trudi Canavan, moi
The panels I participated in were “Women in Fantasy and SF” with fellow authors Trudi Canavan, Mary Victoria and Lyn McConchie, where we discussed how the roles of women in Fantasy & SF writing have evolved, a...
June 1, 2012
The “Help Baby Jayden” Online Auction Begins Today
On May 21, Wen Baragrey guest posted, here, on the “Help Baby Jayden” fundraising campaign and also discussed the online charity auction to commence on June 2.
And of course it’s now June 2, which means that at some stage today the online auction will commence with all the auction items going up progressively over this coming week.
The auction will take place on Jayden’s blog, so if you check in today things should be starting to happen.
Here’s the link: http://helpbabyjayden.wordpress.com/
