Helen Lowe's Blog, page 30

Deferring A WALL #4 Update — Plus A Seasonal Poem

A poem that’s seasonal for the Southern Hemisphere, at any rate — but first, the WALL (#4) update. Or rather, the deferring thereof (as am “pretty sure” I’m due one.)

However, not only is it the season of frenetic and ridiculously busy, but I’m in the throes of writing the final boss fight between Malian (& friends) and the Big Bads, so prefer to wait on updates until it’s a wrap. Hence, deferral!

In the meantime, with only three sleeps to go now, here’s a poem that speaks to the Kiwi (NZ) Chris...

Currently Re-Reading: “Count Zero” by William Gibson

Recently, I caught some of The Peripheral (television) series, which is based on a novel by William Gibson — and motivated me to reread Count Zero, which is one of his much older works.

Published in 1986, Count Zero is the second in what I think of as William Gibson’s Neuromancer trilogy, i.e. Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, which are credited with creating Cyberpunk, a science fiction subgenre centered on a dystopian near-future.

Although each story is linked, the stories eff...

Q&A Thursdays #10: Shannon’s Question

Intermittently through this year, I’ve been reprising a Daughter of Blood  (and by extension The Wall Of Night ) Q&A series that first featured in 2019. I’ve been enjoying rereading the Q’s and my A’s so hope you’re doing the same. 😀

Today it’s Shannon’s Question that’s in the limelight.

UK/AU/NZ

Shannon:  Was there any part of the book or maybe a character that was harder to write?

Two potential answers popped into my head as soon as I read your question, Shannon, so I’m going to give you both ...

High Romantic Fantasy & “The Wall Of Night” Series

On 1 December, when Kim Falconer (currently writing as AK Wilder) and I joined forces to post the final instalment in the What Makes A Hero? series on the Supernatural Underground blog, I wrote that:

“Epic or High Fantasy is often termed Heroic as well, and The Wall of Night series is firmly in that quadrant of the Fantasy ’verse.”

All of which still stands, but sometimes I refer to the WALL series as “High Romantic Fantasy” as well.

The Wall of Night series

“I know” — so many terms for what’s ...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Morin

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical ...

A Quote To Start Your Week: Nick Cave on Inspiration

‘I undertake it through the good times and the bad, through the dry periods and the periods of abundance, and I keep on going regardless of my successes or failures. Inspiration comes because I put in the work.’ — Nick Cave

~*~

I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more — so can think of few better ways to focus the mind and spirit at the beginning of a new week, than sharing it with you.

Victory Beach, Otago Peninsular

On Supernatural Underground Now: “What Makes A Hero?” #10 – Camaraderie & Characters

Not only is it 1 December with the end-of-year looming, but it’s the final post in the What Makes A Hero in Fantasy series on Supernatural Underground.

To celebrate reaching the end—and sticking to “C” for my secondary titles all the way through!—Kim Falconer and I are channeling a lil authorial camaraderie via a joint post.

The topic? The characters in our Amassia and The Wall of Night series respectively, viewed through the lens of the “What Makes A Hero?” series—from the first instalment’s ...

A Quote for Our Times From Ursula K. Le Guin, 1929 – 2018

“Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope. We’ll need writers who can remember freedom — poets, visionaries — realists of a larger reality.”

~ Ursula K Le Guin, 1929 – 2018

~*~

I’m at a critical stage with the WALL #4 writing right now, hence no profound or indepth post today — but when it co...

Q&A Thursdays #9: Josh’s Question

This year, I’ve been reprising a Daughter of Blood  (and by extension The Wall Of Night ) Q&A series that first featured in 2019. I felt the questions merited another look so do hope you’re agreeing with that sentiment as you read along.

Today the spotlight is on Josh’s Question.

USA

Josh: Do you have a favorite moment in Daughter of Blood?

I’m not sure authors should admit to favourite scenes or characters, in the same way parents are not *meant* to have favourites among their children. Somet...

Just arrived: Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

As those who follow me here and on Supernatural Underground probably know, I have read and enjoyed both Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth in the Locked Tomb series by fellow NZ author, Tamsyn Muir.

So I’m very pleased to have the third instalment, Nona the Ninth, arrive on my TBR table.

I understand that Nona was a somewhat unexpected, but welcome, arrival in a series that was originally conceived as a trilogy, as the TOR.COM announcement on 30 July 2021 — I was going to write “implies”, bu...