Helen Lowe's Blog, page 260
May 4, 2012
“When The Heroine Swoops In To Save The Day” — A Guest Post By Nicole Murphy
Introduction:
As many of you may know, I am a member of a wonderful collective of international paranormal authors known as the Supernatural Underground.
Although most of my Supernatural Underground colleagues live far away in North America and Canada, several are located just across the Tasman in the Lucky Country, aka Australia. One of these Tasmanauts—given she has crossed that 2000 km stretch of water several times now for conventions and writing retreats—is Nicole Murphy, author of the Dre...
May 3, 2012
Hachette NZ is Giving Away An ARC of 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson!
My publisher, Hachette NZ, is giving away an advanced reading copy of Kim Stanley Robinson’s forthcoming novel, 2312.
But to enter, you have to comment on Hachette NZ’s FaceBook site, The Realm, before 5 pm today, 4 May.
So hie thee to The Realm and enter, Here .
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Just to whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt from the back cover text:
”The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity’s only home; new habitats have...
May 2, 2012
The Gemmell “Ravenheart” Award for Best Cover Art—”Oracle’s Fire” & “Journey By Night” Make the Shortlist
Yesterday, when I talked about The Heir of Night, The Wall of Night Book One making the shortlist for the international Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer I omitted to mention one small but important fact—not only am I the only New Zealander on the shortlist, I am also the only Southern Hemisphere author in either the Legend or Morningstar categories.
But it’s a different story in the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Book Jacket. There are two Southern Hemisphere book covers/...
May 1, 2012
“The Heir of Night” Makes The Final of the Gemmell Morningstar Award—& Voting Is Now Open!
UK trade paperback
On April 9 I posted how thrilled I was to learn that The Heir of Night, The Wall of Night Book One, had made it through to the final shortlist for the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.
Receiving this news was a very exciting moment because it’s very difficult for new authors to get their books to stand out—and making the shortlist meant that readers internationally had not only readThe Heir of Night but voted for it as well. I know I thanked you then—but ag...
April 30, 2012
“Fey” Is This Week’s Feature Poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub
Today’s editor on the Tuesday Poem Hub is Wellington poet and writer Alicia Ponder—and I am very honoured that Alicia has selected Fey as the feature poem on the Hub today.
To read Fey and Alicia’s commentary, please click Here .
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And because Fey was written as part of a sequence of poems I thought I’d re-post one of its companions, backwards, as my Tuesday Poem today:
backwards
tomorrow
I will throw burned toast
to birds that flutter down
from the dying tree
in one corner
of the yard
blackbird
flying ba...
April 29, 2012
I Wrap Up The Blog Tour
UK/AUS/NZ
Well, it’s been a month—with The Gathering of the Lost published in the USA, Australia and New Zealand on 27 March and in the UK on 5 April, plus four weeks of associated Blog Tour.
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The Tour has been a huge amount of fun, but may I say in the immortal phrasing of Willow from the Buffy TV series: “Tired now!”
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But here, to both recap and finally wrap up, is the complete list of Tour stops, each one with a link to the relevant guest blog post or interview:
USA
27 Mar: (aka “Kick-off!”)
SF...
April 28, 2012
Just Arrived: ‘Bitterblue’ by Kristin Cashore
I have been too busy to do much reading lately—and a great deal too busy to report back to you on what I have been reading. I hope though, that with the first flurry of The Gathering of the Lost’s release period over, things will now get back to a more usual pace—and more “Just Arrived” and “What I’m Reading” posts will appear on the blog.
So I am delighted to tell you that a proof copy of Kristin Cashore’s Bitterblue has just arrived on my TBR table—and there is a very good chance I may even...
April 27, 2012
Some Early Reader Feedback on “The Gathering of the Lost”
USA
In the past month since the launch of The Gathering of the Lost in the USA, Australia and New Zealand on 27 March, I been able to share a few early reviews, here, again here, and just yesterday, here.
But it’s always nice to get some early reader feedback, too, so here’s a sample of comments I’ve received either through the blog or my website:
“Have just finished it and it rocked… Already excited by Daughter of the Blood. Just about to sit down and re read it to make sure I haven’t missed an...
April 26, 2012
Two More Reviews: One for “The Heir of Night”; One for “The Gathering of the Lost”
Two more reviews have come in.
USA
UK/AUS/NZ
The Gathering of the Lost was reviewed by Vanda Symon for Afternoons with Jim Mora on Radio New Zealand yesterday.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
The review of Gathering is approximately 5.50 minutes in, but the initial review of policewoman Liz William’s “Five Foot and Fearless”, about her time in the Armed Defenders’ Squad, is also well worth a listen.
And Vanda Symon’s own new novel The Faceless is being launched today in Dunedin!
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USA
UK/AU/NZ
Me...
April 25, 2012
SF Signal Mind Meld: “Great Genre Reads For Teenage Girls”
The last stop on the Blog Tour is still “Building Fantastic Worlds: ‘It’s a Mystery,’” my guest post on Kate Elliott’s I Make Up Worlds blog. There are some great comments and a joint Helen Lowe/Kate Elliott book giveaway happening so be sure to head on over and check it out here. 
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Juliet Marillier's "Wildwood Dancing"
It’s not quite all over yet though, because right now I’m participating in another Mind Meld on SF Signal. Titled “Great Genre Reads for Teenage Girls,” the specific topic is:...
