Helen Lowe's Blog, page 299

Update—Plus "Just Arrived"

I said yesterday that I'd let you know whether I got the section of the Great Revision that I've been working on completed yesterday—and I did!  Although I was just feeling all smug at about 3.30 pm  and thinking, "today went pretty smoothly" when I remembered: uh-oh, there's  a prologue too. Several hours again later …

But today is pretty much down for the 'big day off', although I am going to write an update for my editor, just so she knows that it's not all smoke and mirrors—I really am doing stuff here!  I may be inside my "black hole" right now, but it's still good to get the occasional signal out beyond the event horizon.

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And for the "just arrived"—that's Cassandra Clare's City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instrument Series, Book 4.)  And because I'm feeling a bit—well, not to put to fine a point on it, knackered—by the Great Revision, it's great to have a good amount of lead time to read it properly ahead of my radio interview with Ms Clare on the 19th.

This 'n' That Again

Mainly, I'm still working on the Great Revision and hope to get the section I've been working on all this week completed, so no time for big blog posts—but I'll let you know tomorrow how its gone!

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A friend emailed to say that she was doing some proofing of some of the Tales for Canterbury stories and how wonderful they are—I am very much looking forward to this anthology. And if you haven't ordered your copy yet—hey you gotta do it, support the cause and get to read some great stories by authors such as … well, you can read the full list here. And order here. (Go on, do it–you know you want to!)

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& Guess What—at the end of this month I'll have been blogging for a year! And I've only missed one day—February 23, the day after the Feb 22 earthquake when there was no power at all. So I think that counts as extenuating circumstances rather than lack of commitment on my part. Anyway, might have to try and think of something on-blog to celebrate the first anniversary … Ideas, team?

The Auckland Writers' & Readers' Festival 2011–Almost Here!

The Auckland Writers' & Readers' Festival runs from 11-15 May, so it's almost here. My friend, poet Joanna Preston is on the programme & if you're in Auckland and have the chance to get along and hear her: do! Jo is an absolutely fabulous poet and you definitely won't regret it.:)

But the thing that really struck a chord for me, was "Bronnypop's" post, "Truth is stranger than fiction …" on the Christchurch City Libraries' blog yesterday, especially the part where she wrote:

" … Last year I was looking forward to airplane snacks and pillow menus and meeting amazing writers and speakers.  This year I'm so looking forward to all of this, but I am also looking forward to reliably flushing toilets, buildings that don't move around, and talking to people who can't spell 'liquefaction', and who don't know the geonet and crowe quake website addresses off by heart …

… This year I am a little scared I will get weepy in some of the sessions, not be able to remember where I am supposed to be, or even remember how to write about things other than portaloos and potholes.

I "so" hear Bronnypop on this one. I also really hope that she enjoys the festival—from what I've skimmed of the programme, it looks like a good one.

To read Bronnypop's full post and maybe follow her posts from the festival, click here.

Tuesday Poem: Haiku—"the world of dew" by Kobayashi Issa

the world of dew

is the world of dew

and yet, and yet…

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Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827

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On January 25 I posted the haiku spring rain, also by Kobayashi Issa, as my Tuesday poem. You are probably receiving the impression—correct as it happens—that I very much admire Issa as a haijin. the world of dew is another of my Issa favourites. I think we all intuitively understand the inherent dichotomy between reality and possibility inherent in this poem. Yet even apparent reality is ephemeral: it is, after all, the world of dew. And yet again, maybe …

The reason I chose to feature Issa again today is because on April 24, Toni Bernhard commented on the spring rain post to draw my attention to her essay about Issa on PsychologyToday.com. I enjoyed reading the essay and wanted to draw it to the attention of Tuesday Blog readers so featuring Issa again—and the world of dew haiku in particular since it also appears in Toni's essay—seemed like the right choice for this Tuesday, 3 May.

To read Toni's essay, Turning Straw Into Gold, click here.

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Blog—and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world—either click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

The Supernatural Underground: "When The Going Gets Tough—What're You Gonna Reach For?"

I have my regular Supernatural Underground blog post up today titled:

"When The Going Gets Tough—What're You Gonna Reach For?

The traditional answer may be "the top shelf" and whatever liquourous substance there looks up for the job. Alternatively, scrambling around for the ghostbusters' direct dial may seem like the right option. While I do not disregard either option, I have to confess that when the going gets really tough for me, I tend to go all out: I reach for the comfort read.

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To read the full post, click here.

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And please do drop on by and leave a comment about your enduring "comfort reads."

About Revision: One Vital Part of My Process.

As you've probably gathered, I'm deep in revisions territory and as I've said before, I like revising. For me, it's the part where I take what is basically raw material and refine and shape.   If the Muses are kind, one may even end making one's manuscript sing with a music reminscent of the celestial spheres … It's always good to aspire, right?  Right!

One very important part of this process for me  is what I call "morning pages." The term "morning pages" originates (I believe) from a book by Julia Cameron called The Artist's Way. I personally found this to be a great book, one every artist "should" have. Years ago I read through the whole book from cover to cover and did most if not all the exercises. But "morning pages" is one of the creative exercises that really stuck.

Basically, what "morning pages" means is that the very first thing you do every day is wake up and write three pages long hand. I do 3 x A4 pages, but I guess A5 or foolscape would be equally okay.

A very important part of the exercise is that you try very hard not to think or lift your pen from the page until you're done. You just write. Sometimes what you write is pretty much rubbish—and that's okay. The important point is that you write. I've done the 3 pages of pretty much blah-blah-blah—but I've also written poems, developed characters, created worlds and ended books as part of those 3 little pages. It's a discipline, sure, but everything about writing is a  discipline (so what else is new?)

Right now, as I'm working through the Gathering manuscript and dealing with issues of plot and character development, continuity and consistency—including threads that go back to The Heir of Night and forward into the next two books in the series—the morning pages are my invaluable ally. Quite literally, they are where my subconscious tells me what its resolved while I've been sleeping (That's why it's really important to do the pages as soon as you wake up.) . I find the process a great start to another day of revision and seriously, if you haven't heard about morning pages or tried them already, give them a go. They may not end up being for you, but you never know—they just might be, too.

What I'm Reading: "Baggage"

I haven't been doing a great deal of reading lately as my life has been caught up between giving my best efforts to making The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night, Book Two) a "gotta stick with it–things are a happenin' fast–don't stop reading–don't ansa the phone–don't move–don't skip a beat"* read for you all 'out thar', and dealing with all the usual round of earthquake aftermath: you know, insurance claims, calling tradespersons (mostly men, but every now and then … so let's be gender neutral here), persuading said tradespersons to come at all (needless to say they are currently much in demand) and answering their queries and assisting as required when they do finally arrive. Not a great deal of time for sitting in the sun reading a book during all of that.

But there's still the sandwich-at-lunchtime-at-the-kitchen-bench pause (although of course, some of the said tradespersons do seem to have a knack for turning up just as I've got my pinny on and am embarking on my first bite of the sandwich: very sigh inducing) which is particularly conducive to certain kinds of reading. Like short stories. Generally speaking I am not a huge reader of short fiction, novels are more my cup of tea (with the sandwich, preferably, and maybe a choccy biccy or two thrown in), but they are very good for short byte reading—and even better when you find a good collection or anthology.

And a good one is what I've been reading over the past few days. The anthology is Baggage, edited by Gillian Polack and published by Eneit Press (Australia.)** The first clue to the anthology lies in the title Baggage and when we turn to the back cover we learn that this refers to cultural baggage as much as anything else, the invisible baggage that we all carry, much of which may be intergenerational. In particular, this is Australian baggage, although there is one story that is set in New Zealand, at Franz Josef glacier on the West Coast.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection, with some standout stories (for me) being Hive of Glass by Kaaron Warren, Albert & Victoria/Slow Dreams by Lucy Sussex, Macreadie v The Love Machine by Jennifer Fallon, and Welcome, Farewell by Simon Brown—although in fact there were at least another four that I enjoyed almost as much. The anthology also includes an "Afterwords" section at the back where each writer talks about the process of/ideas behind creating their story, which I thought was  a nice touch.

Recently I discussed whether there was a uniquely New Zealand speculative fiction, here, and in particular discussed how the themes of environmental dystopia and to a lesser, but still noticeable, extent reproductive scifi, occurred within the anthology A Foreign Country (Eds. K. Buchanan & A. Caro, Random Static.) Tim Jones, in commenting, wondered whether this focus might not, to a certain extent, have been driven by the title itself, both by the writers when addressing the story and the editors when making their selection. The same is quite possible with the title Baggage, but nonetheless I was intrigued to notice that a strong theme emerged through what were very different stories. Australia as landscape and environment was strongly present in all the stories (except the one about Franz Josef glacier, where environment/landscape was nonetheless a defining factor in the story.) The response of diverse cultures, whether positive or hostile, to that landscape, defined the anthology for me.

Intriguingly, the only story that contained even a breath of environmental dystopia was Albert & Victoria/Slow Dreams, the story set in NZ.  And it was only a breath, compared to the stories contained in A Foreign Country. (Many of which I also enjoyed very much, by the way, but my preoccupation is whether there are cultural themes that are distinctively Australian/New Zealand that emerge through our speculative fiction.)

So if you like short fiction and enjoy explorations of culture with speculative fiction overtones and a strong sense of "Australia" (without being self-consciously Australian)  then I think you will enjoy Baggage. I definitely believe that it will repay a read.

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* Comment from EJ Kerr on first reading The Heir of Night.

** To read a heartbreaking story about what can happen to small presses like Eneit when big chains like Borders go into statutory management, read this post on Mary Victoria's blog.

It's Friday & "Gathering" Progress

And still no 'big' blog post because I want to stick with The Gathering of the Lost—I'm having so much fun with the story that I really want to hurry-hurry-hurry to get it to you as soon as I possibly can. (Shakes fist at the earthquake(s) for throwing a roadblock onto the 'time-to-readers' superhighway!)

Yesterday I finished revising an Asantir and Haimyr chapter and as readers of The Heir of Night will know, when Asantir and Haimyr get involved things happen. I shall not say more—my authorial lips are sealed—other than that some serious story building was going down, not just for the current book but for the series. I have to say, I'm loving it and I seriously hope you will, too.

And today is not only Friday, but after four days of wild weather—rain of the "cats'n'dogs" variety and literally howling winds, if not so bad where I am as otherwhere in the country—today is brilliantly sunny and clear. Blue skies, as the song says, are smiling at me … So I am off for a walk to enjoy the day and then back again to the world of Haarth and  I think, probably a litte revisit to the Midsummer tourney in Caer Argent: "Arms and the man I sing …" Or woman since this is an equal opportunity story in that respect.

OK, because the sky is so blue and the sun so bright, the first person to tell me the source of the quote 'Arms and the man, I sing' (preferably without using a search engine!) gets some signed "Helen Lowe" swag: an "Heir of Night' cover flat;  a bookplate (you can choose whether you want the mass market or trade version); a postcard; and a copy of the Sir Julius Vogel Award nomination poster for Thornspell in 2009, designed by Peter Fitzpatrick.

No Big Post Today …

Because I'm working on The Gathering of the Lost!

But there is good news. My friend, Mary Victoria's novel Tymon's Flight, the first in the Chronicles of the Tree series, has made it into the final round of the Morningstar Category of the Gemmell Awards. The Morningstar Award is a UK-based award for the Best Fantasy Newcomer/debut. Way to go, Mary Victoria!

Requiem for a Bookshop

Yesterday afternoon I was out at Christchurch Airport. Now admittedly the terminal has been in upheaval for months as the airport company complete their big revamp, so I've become used to change—but I was completely devastated to walk into the domestic concourse and find that the wonderful Christchurch Airport bookshop was gone.

An airport bookshop, I hear you query—aren't they usually lacklustre and meagre? To which I reply: yes, usually. But not this bookshop. This was a real bookshop with selection and range and staff who—if they weren't run off their feet—would actually ask me what I was interested in/looking for/liked and would almost always have some suggestions for me to consider. I have bought so many books there over the years: Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass (although it was the edition published as Northern Lights); Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise; Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife; Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book; and Cormc McCarthy's All The Pretty Horses, to name just a few.

And yes, there was a 'bookshop' in its place yesterday, but only offering the usual airport fare of magazines, other assorted merchandise and one meagre row of actual books along the back wall. Needless to say, my money remained in my pocket.

I know that some people out there may say: "but you don't need actual books and bookshops anyway when you could have an e-reader and travel with your library on the plane."

While I don't discount the value of this, especially when travelling for a long time, I do think it misses the essential experience of bookshop, which is the tangible reality of being in the same space as all those new possiblilties for book choice. And as the potential purchaser, I don't have to know what I'm looking for—I can just move from one book to the next since they are physically collected together in that one space. The other aspect of 'possibility' about being in a good airport bookshop is having book selection become part of the 'journey': having the circumstance and venue of travel encourage trying something new, whether a new author or new genre.

But looking at what is now on offer at Christchurch airport, as I did yesterday—well, I suspect book selection adventure is not an experience I'm likely to have there again, certainly not in the immediate future.

Haere ra Christchurch airport bookshop: I already miss you.