Helen Lowe's Blog, page 274

The Best of '… on Anything Really' 2011: "Why Write Epic Fantasy?"

This year I've completed a number of posts on epic fantasy, which you will find collected under Categories: Epic Fantasy in the right hand side bar. But this is one of the early posts, from April 16,  and I feel worthy, on behalf of what has become a series, for a place in "… on Anything Really's" the 'Best of 2011′ pantheon

So without further ado, here it is:

"Why Write Epic Fantasy?

The Keep of Winds, from "The Heir of Night" -- art by PJ Fitzpatrick

Having started to reflect on epic fantasy...

The Best of '… on Anything Really' 2011: An Interview with Mary Victoria, Author of "Samiha's Song"

Last year, I was privileged to read an advanced reader copy of Tymon's Flight, the first in Mary Victoria's Chronicles of the Tree series, published by HarperVoyager. I subsequently interviewed Mary on Women on Air, Plains 96.9 FM—a fun and lively exchange. Having recently read the newly released Samiha's Song, the second novel in the series, I was very keen to have Mary here for another interview on " … Anything, Really"—an interview that I am very pleased to be able to bring to you today.

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The Best of '… on Anything Really' 2011: The Tuesday Poem—"Knowing" (for Valentine's Day)

Knowing

You're lucky,

my mother said

in her long dying,

that you have

someone

who loves you.

So much left unsaid

about her life.

But she was right in this:

I am.     I do.

Wake every day

to your warm

breathing.

Wonder.

© Helen Lowe

Published in foam:e 1 March 2008

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Knowing was featured as the " … on Anything, Really" Tuesday Poem on February 15, here.

And in the year when we came to measure everything in these terms, just a week before the devastating February 22nd earthquake.

Boxing Day—& Why I Never Do The Big Sales

Da Big Bird!

Christmas Day here turned out to be a really nice day, brightly sunny but not too hot, and with a considerable reduction of earthshaking activity, ie from 46 and 45 respectively on the previous two days, down to 'only' 29 on the 25th. Needless to say, it was very nice to be able to focus on family and friends in a positive way and duly observe all the usual rituals of phone calls, visits, and presents, food and drink.

The cake: chocolate, almond & orange

Today is very much the...

Merry Christmas to You All!

Merry Christmas to you all &
A Happy, Peaceful & Prosperous 2012

 

Today I'm posting as part of the Supernatural Underground's "Christmas Memories" series, on "Books for Christmas: A Celebration of Story", here—I'd love it if you checked it out and/or left a comment.

Last year I posted Howard Thurman's words on Christmas & I still can't think of many that speak to the day better, so I invite you to read them again here.

More Earthquakes: Not The Start To Christmas We'd All Hoped For …

As some of you may already know, Christchurch is currently being rocked (and rolled!) by another round of earthquakes, which began with a 5.8 shock just before 2 pm yesterday afternoon, followed by a 6.0 magnitude just after 3 pm. The seismic activity is ongoing and constant and there have also been several plus 5.0 (on the Richter scale) aftershocks in addition to the original earthquakes.

As you can imagine, this was not the Christmas we were all hoping for after over a year of...

Just Arrived: "Sacrifice" by Joanna Orwin—Plus Reading for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards

On December 1, here,  I was shaking my head over the Nebula Awards nomination process for 2012 already being open—but I'm expecting the Sir Julius Vogel Awards to be open again very soon as well. The dates haven't been posted yet, but the nomination period last year was 1 January to 31 March—and I'd like to make some nominations if I can, so I'm starting to get together some NZ authored fiction to read over the next few months.

So I'm really pleased that Joanna Orwin's Sacrifice (a YA book...

Putting In A Good Word for Epic & Genre

Only a few more days now until the end-of-year holiday is upon us all. (And am I ready? No! It's coming though, all the same … Like winter—you know, A Game of Thrones, the Starks of Winterfell and the dreaded 'winter is coming' … )

This means that it's the time of year when it's traditional (as I alluded to on Monday) to begin reflecting a little and looking back over the year that's been. I'm sure I'll get around to another "E" word (as in E is for Earthquakes, over 9000 so far since 4...

Guest Blog Post on SF Signal: "Having fun With Epic Fantasy—The Soul-Sucking Sword"

I have a guest post up on SF-Signal again today—the third and final (for the moment!)  in my "Having Fun with Epic Fantasy" mini-series. Here's how it begins:

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"Having Fun with Epic Fantasy: The Soul-Sucking Sword

So over the past couple of weeks, to help get through that run-up to Christmas-New Year craziness, I've been having some fun with epic fantasy, first "Making the Grand Tour" (aka the quest-journey) and secondly looking at the importance of the "Band of Brothers" when embarking on...

Tuesday Poem: "Winter Light" by Kathleen Jones

Winter Light

Horizontal strobes

across the russeting slope

disclose the contours of the land

the fierce geography of rock

the patterning of sheep through bracken

lipped water-marks on sand

The mountain's shadow

bruises the lake.

The season is wintering in

and the cold is like loss:

a cramping hold on bone

muscle, thought,  spilling in

from the east.

The air tastes metallic

like snow dissolving on the tongue.

This is the death month;

December's Druid alphabet

that signified

the rebirth of the spirit.

Ash...