Helen Lowe's Blog, page 323

"The Heir of Night" F-SF Guest Author Series: Alan Baxter

"The Heir of Night" F-SF Guest Author Series:

On Thursday 6, I announced that, as part of celebrating the launch of The Heir of Night into Australia and New Zealand, a number of my fellow AU/NZ F-SF authors—and one from Canada —would be joining me on the blog for a  F-SF Guest Author Series.

The first of my fellow authors, whom I would like to welcome to Helen Lowe on Anything Really, today, is Australian Dark Fantasy author, Alan Baxter.

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F-SF Guest Series Post: Alan Baxter

Helen was very kind to invite me for a guest post on her blog today about why fantasy and science fiction rocks my world as a writer. That's easy – absolutely limitless scope for storytelling.

I grew up a voracious reader. From the age of three I would sit on my father's knee and read the paper with him. I didn't understand the news, but I loved the concept of the written word, and I could read. I soon graduated to books and discovered the magic of stories.

When I was very young I loved books like Runaway Ralph, Charlotte's Web, Stig Of The Dump. They were all, to some extent, fantasy stories. The constraints of non-genre fiction bored me.

Even back then I loved writing. At seven years old I wrote a story about a guy that goes back in time and has crazy run ins with dinosaurs. My teacher refused to believe I'd written this several page epic and rang my parents. When they told her that it was all my own work I had to read it out to the class. I had discovered two joys – writing fiction and other people enjoying what I'd written. I still remember standing in class, watching the other kids listen as I read. It was an epiphany moment for me.

At around ten or eleven years old I discovered real fantasy. A family member bought me a copy of The Hobbit for my birthday and I was transported beyond anything I'd experienced before. I immediately followed that up with The Lord Of The Rings and everything by Ursula Le Guin and then began consuming fantasy fiction as fast as I was able. I then discovered science fiction and, by about 15 or so, horror introduced me to the darkness available between the pages of a book.

Throughout this time I'd been writing stories, none of which were very good, and started my first (thankfully abandoned) novel at sixteen. It took me a long time to decide to take writing seriously, but by my late twenties I'd decided that I was a writer. It drove me, I couldn't imagine not telling stories. And I couldn't imagine not writing in the speculative genre.

Fantasy, science fiction and horror appeal to me for the complete freedom they give a writer to explore exactly what needs exploring. At the heart of things, any good story is really an exploration of the characters and the ways they grow and develop when presented with the path of life before them. As the characters grow, the world around them is changed. With SF&F that path of life is utterly unlimited. Any situation you can think of can be explored.

My writing always tends to be dark. There are probably many reasons for that – my personal history, my love of horror, the nature of life itself being often rather darker than we'd like – so I don't avoid it. I enjoy exploring the darker side of human nature, and how good people stand up against that. SF&F is an excellent medium for that too.

I'm fascinated by ancient history and mythology. I love to play around with various religious mythologies in my fiction and explore the human need for belief. My novels, RealmShift and MageSign, are based around those very issues, with lots of magic and demons, mayhem and excitement thrown in. I think they're best described as dark fantasy thrillers. That genre definition is probably where I'm most comfortable writing. Those two novels are contemporary urban dark fantasies and I'm working on a third novel now, separate to that duology but in the same version of our world I created with those two. My short fiction covers more of the traditional fantasy and science fiction ground and I'd like to write novel length works within those sub-genres one day too.

There are so many stories to be told. I can't imagine ever getting bored with the massive scope that SF&F allows for creating those stories that I'm compelled to tell. Everything else, by comparison, seems boring.

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Alan Baxter

About Alan Baxter:

Alan is an author living on the south coast of NSW, Australia. He writes dark fantasy, sci fi and horror, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. Read extracts from his novels, a novella and short stories at his website – www.alanbaxteronline.com – and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.

Well, We Did It—We Painted AU/NZ Red for "The Heir of Night"!

You came from all over AU/NZ—with a few from as far afield as the US, Italy and Denmark, just for good measure—over 475 of you in fact, which is "some party" where I come from! All that virtual choclate cake that Mary Victoria brought with herr last night is definitely gone.

And you posted with enthusiasm as well, all to help me celebrate the launch of The Heir of Night into AU/NZ—out simply, you rock and I think we can agree that Heir is now well launched.

But it's not all over yet.

Firstly, I now have to draw the winners of the giveaways and that will happen later today—given this is a big draw I thought it was important to have scrutineers on hand, both to ensure that every eligible name really does go into the "Sorting Hat" and that there is no foul interference (by Slytherin, of course) as the names are drawn out. So do check back because that list will go up today.

Secondly, the FSF Author Guest Series is about to commence with a guest post by Alan Baxter, an Australian writer whom I met at Worldcon—we shared a reading, in fact. I think you will very much enjoy his guest post today and I hope you will show your support by commenting here and/or by clicking through to vist his website and find out more about Alan and his writing.

"The Heir of Night" Launched in Australia/New Zealand Today—& I'm Celebratin'!

WOOT–it's finally arrived! Today is Australia/New Zealand launch day for The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night Series Book One)—& there's giveways: positively loads of loot in fact! Keep scrolling down to find out more!

Everyone who posts to celebrate the AU/NZ launch of The Heir of Night today will go in the draw to win (ta da! ta-da-dum!-BIG drum roll!!):

[Note: 1 entry counted per person; no more than 1 giveaway per person]

1. 1 x fantastic gift set of 5 books published by Orbit:

The Heir of Night (of course! )—plus

Death Most Definite – Trent Jamieson

Feed - Mira Grant

Soulless – Gail Carriger

Surface Detail – Iain M. Banks

2. 3 x Helen Lowe gift sets of:

The Heir of Night

Thornspell

3. Posters & Signed Bookplates

2 x "They Came From Orbit" Worldcon posters, plus 10 x The Heir of Night (A3) cover posters, plus
10 x signed 'Helen Lowe' bookplates designed by Peter Fitzpatrick , creator of The Heir of Night map

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plus, Plus, PLUS :

The "Enter the Draw to Give Your Name To A Character in The Wall of Night, Book Two" Competition!

Everyone who posts either today or on any of the posts by guest F-SF writers, running until 24 October, can enter the draw to have their name included as a character name in The Wall of Night Series, Book Two

Provisos:

Each time you comment on a post by an F-SF guest author (in the series starting tomorrow) your name will get an additional entry into the draw (only 1 new entry per F-SF author post, however);
The name included in the book is to be your real name;
I reserve the right to adapt your name to best fit a fantasy character, e.g. "John the Miller" as opposed to "John Miller", but your full name and the winning of this competition will be included in the "Acknowledgments" section of the book.

[Note: If you don't want your name included in the draw, just write "n.i.d." (not in draw) after your comment.]

AU/NZ Cover

Have fun—I look forward to reading your comments and to the "grand giveaway" at the end of today. (And don't forget to check back to see if you're a winner!)

Now let's paint today RED for The Heir of Night AU/NZ!

Celebrating F-SF & "The Heir of Night": F-SF Author Guest Series

As part of celebrating the Australia/New Zealand launch of The Heir of Night tomorrow, Thursday 7, I am also launching a a series of guest posts by fellow F-SF authors, either from Australia/New Zealand or with a connection to Australia/New Zealand, on the topic of: "why F-SF rocks my world".

These authors write in a variety of F-SF genres. I have provided a very broad brush indication of genre beside their name on the (current) blog schedule below—as well as each guest's "country of origin". To find out more information about these authors and their work, click on the writer's name; this should take you to their website or blog.

I note that the schedule may be subject to change, since the series extends over several weeks, but I'll be keeping to it if humanly possible—and will let you know here, on the blog, as soon as I know of any change.

But now—drum roll, off—here it is, The F-SF Guest Post Schedule (Unveiled!):

Friday 8: Alan Baxter (AU: Dark Fantasy)

Saturday 9: Nicole Murphy (AU: Paranormal Urban Fantasy)

Monday 11: Mary Victoria (NZ: Epic Fantasy)

Wednesday 13: Kim Falconer (AU: Epic Fantasy)

Thursday 14: Tracey O'Hara (AU: Paranormal Urban Fantasy)

Friday 15: Marianne de Pierres (AU: Science Fiction)

Saturday 16: Michael Pryor (AU: Fantasy YA)

Sunday 17: Tim Jones (NZ: Science Fiction, Fantasy)

Monday 18: Juliet Marillier (AU: Historical Fantasy)

Wednesday 20: Anne Hamilton (AU: Junior Fantasy)

Thursday 21: Julie Czerneda (CAN: Science Fiction, Fantasy. Although Canadian, Julie has lots of F-SF links to NZ, including being Guest of Honour at the National SFFANZ Convention last year.)

Saturday 23: Gillian Polack (AU: Fantasy)

Sunday 24: James Norcliffe (NZ: Junior/YA Fantasy)

I hope you will support the F-SF series and these authors, who have very generously given their time and support to me and the launch of The Heir of Night.

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And don't forget that tomorrow is AU/NZ LAUNCH DAY–with GIVEAWAYS PLUS–right here on Helen Lowe on Anything Really!

"Fiction Kingdom" Review for The Heir of Night

AU/NZ Cover

USA cover!

Fiction Kingdom book blog has posted a review for "The Heir of Night" and you can read it here. There's also an interview, here.

I'll be posting the schedule of F-SF guest bloggers a little later today.

Tuesday Poem: Ithaca Conversations—Argos

Argos

Lying nose to paws in the shadow of the arched gate,

eyes fixed on the white, twisting road to the sea,

listening for the familiar footstep, the beloved voice

that urged me on as we raced together, over

the rocky mountainside, both young, both strong

of heart – how my voice echoed in the craggy

heights, belling out for stag, or wild boar:  all done,

all done with now as I twitch in half-dreams,

remembering, feeling that intoxicating rush again,

while the young men shout their curses – mangy cur,

flea-ridden beast, kicking me from the sunlit door,

throwing bones or stones when they see me lying,

patient in a patch of shade.  Age has crept up on me,

dimming my eyes but never the hope that draws

me to the open gate, watching, always waiting –

but I do not know now, how much longer I can wait;

I fear that soon, for me, there will be no more time.

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(c) Helen Lowe 2007

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Argos forms part of my Ithaca Conversations sequence, which I discussed in more detail when I posted another poem from the sequence, The Wayfarer on June 15.

Argos was the favourite hound of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who was absent from home for twenty years because of the Trojan war.  When Odysseus finally returned home, disguised as a beggar, the old hound still knew him, even after so long – but died on the night of his return. As a child I always found the story particularlyy moving, so was not surprised when the voice of Argos emerged through the Ithaca Conversations sequence.

Although one fellow poet locally opined that "it seemed an odd subject to write a poem about", Argos subsequently won Australia's A2O poetry competition in 2007 and was published in the Writerlynks anthology Grow, which showcased poetry and fiction for young Australian readers—with the most wonderful accompanying illustration by Rowena Evans.

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To see 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.

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Painting It Red: AU/NZ Launch of "The Heir of Night" Thursday 7

Last week my world turned blue for the USA launch of The Heir of Night (the blue cover version) but this week I'm "painting it red" for the red cover launch of Heir into Australia and New Zealand.

So again I'm celebratin', right here on the blog and Downunder style with a mix of jandals, eskis and … No, I mean GIVEAWAYS!

As part of the celebrations, I'll also be launching a series of guest posts by fellow F-SF authors, either from Australia/New Zealand or with a connection to Australia/New Zealand, on the topic of why F-SF rocks their world. (Pause for wild cheers—but definitely check back Wednesday for more on this!)

Oh, the GIVEAWAYS, I hear you cry! You want to know what they are? OK here goes:

1. Firstly, my AU/NZ publisher Orbit has put up a fantastic gift set of 5 books:

The Heir of Night (of course!)—plus books from 4 other Orbit authors

Death Most Definite – Trent Jamieson

Feed - Mira Grant

Soulless – Gail Carriger

Surface Detail – Iain M. Banks

2. Secondly, there are 3 x  Helen Lowe gift sets of:

The Heir of Night

Thornspell

3. As well as Heir of Night (red cover) posters and signed bookplates (designed by Peter Fitzpatrick who drew The Wall of Night series map featured in Heir) to giveaway

4. AND—Last But Not Least—enter the draw to give your name to a character in The Wall of Night, Book Two (Note: this comeptiton may run through the guest series, but I'll confirm that on Thursday. Otherwise—)

All you have to do to be up for a giveaway or enter the name competition is post a comment on my blog on Thursday 7 (that's Wednesday 6 for Northern Hemisphere folk)—Australia/New Zealand launch day!

I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

Mary Victoria Says: I'm A "Versatile Blogger"

Fellow F-SF author Mary Victoria recently posted identifying me as a "versatile blogger", so of course—besides being very flattered, naturally—I thought I had better find out what being a versatile blogger was all about.

So here's the "gen": Mary, who is the author of Tymon's Flight, by the way, received the award from Tarran at Angus & Robertson, Edwardstown in Adelaide (who had herself received it from blogger and reviewer Kate Evangelista). Once you receive the award, the idea is to pass it forward, as follows:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers that you have recently discovered and think are fantastic.
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.
So—a little bit of work to do, but as I said to Mary when I contacted her to say thank you for the Versatile Blogger accolade: "Thank you so much for this … I feel very honoured in fact."

So, here's 7 things about myself (that you may or may not know already from reading this blog):

My first novel Thornspell (Knopf, USA) was published in 2008 and is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story from the perspective of the prince;
I have a second dan black belt in the martial art aikido;
My cat's name is Ignatz (Iggy for short), named for the cartoon series "Ignatz and Crazy Cat";
I live in a 90 year old wooden house, early California-bungalow style, with a woodland garden;
I love all cooking, but especially baking—desserts, cakes and biscuits (cookies in US parlance) are my speciality;
I am fascinated by history and read historical non fiction "for fun";
I can read maps

And as Kate Evangelista put it: here are The Chosen Ones [in alphabetical order---please note also, I am not including anyone already on Mary Victoria's list]:

A Dark Feathered Art
Bad Astronomy
Beatties Bookblog
Books in the Trees
Icelines
Nalini Singh
O Audacious Book
Orbit
Out of this Eos
SFFANZ
SpecFicNZ
Supernatural Underground
Theatre Notes
The Tuesday Poem Blog
Tor.com


(I would have put down "John Scalzi's Whatever"—except I'm too shy!) And now I have a lot of emails to send!

Fun With Food

The first of every month (that's the 2nd, NZ time) I do a regular blog post  on the Supernatural Underground—and this month's post focused on the launch of The Heir of Night (of course!) but I also asked Supe posters to share how they celebrate fantastic events in their lives. And so far a definite theme has emerged, which is that Supernatural Undergrounders like to celebrate by sharing festive food and drink—whether it is at a restaurant or a picnic, or a special meal at home—with family and friends.

I know that is very true for me, too, both because I am a keen cook and enjoy matching food and wine, as well as spending good times with family and friends. This, to paraphrase, the film version of Jane Austen's Persuasion, is the very "best company". But sometimes, at the end of a long and busy week—and last week was very busy indeed—preparing a complex "gourmet" meal, however much I like cooking, can be more than a little daunting. At times like these, it is important to have a fall-back recipe book of the "tried and true".

Orange & strawberry sald with mint: another magic flavour combination

Many of the simplest meals are also the best—and I have found that many of my simplest and best recipes are old, as well: they have come from my grandmother's cookbook, and possibly from her grandmother's before her. Or are recipes that are "traditional" to a particular cultural cuisine–like the combination of oranges and strawberries featured here, or ripe tomato married with fresh basil. (Or, dare I say it, bangers and mash!)

Last night we had a guest, so the end-of-the-busy-week—and in fact very busy day—meal needed to be both easy and quick, but also festive. So of course I reached for the tried and true.

The centre of the meal (no vegetarians at the table last night) were venison medallions or fillets, which are something I can source from the local supermarket, basically seared (browned) quickly either side on the skillet, then set to stand for 8-10 minutes (to let the excess juices bleed out). Then you pop them into the oven at 200 celsius (ca. 350 F, I believe)  for another 2-3 minutes and then hey presto, you're done.

While the venison is standing, I fry finely sliced button muhrooms in the (same) skillet, with a generous grinding of black pepper. I also crumble through a beef stock cube as the mushrooms start to cook down, swirling through a tbsp (or to taste) of sour cream just before they're done–which makes a very tasty mushroom garnish to go on top of the venison medallions. Still focusing on quick and easy for the accompanying vegetables, last night we had corn on the cob (the frozen ones, from the freezer, cooked quickly in boiling water) and a salad of fresh tomatoes, chives and a half tsp of rock salt mixed together with green beans (fresh if they're available, but otherwise snap frozen work just as well) that have been stir fried (in the wok pan this time) with sunflower kernels. Easy-peasy and all brought together in just over half an hour from "go" to "whoa".  And nothing, I may add, left over afterwards!

But what about dessert, you cry—surely that required preparation time? Well, you see, that is where my grandmother's chocolate sauce recipe comes in. Because anyone who has icecream in the house and the makings for this choclate sauce, has a dessert for the gods.

So here's the recipe as handed down to me (although I note that several people I know have one similar from their grandmothers):

Ingredients: 1/2 cup white sugar; 2 tbsp cocoa; 1 tbsp cornflour; 1 cup cold water; 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Stir together the (dry) sugar, cocoa and cornflour in a saucepan until well mixed and relatively lump free;

2. Add the cold water and again stir, using a whisk if necessary, until all ingredients are well blended;

3. Turn on the stovetop element and bring the cold mix to the boil, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens; add the vanilla essence at the last.

Again, hey presto: you have a beautifully rich, thick, dark chocolate sauce to serve with ice cream—I used maple and walnut last night. Easy, quick and totally delicious.

And in this case, shared with the ingredient that can make even the plainest meal special: good company.

It's Friday!

Yes, it's you all this fuss is over!

I have just posted my regular once-a-month-post on the Supernatural Underground blog celebrating "offical release day" for The Heir of Night (as opposed to On Sale day, which was the 28th—when we all partied!). From Worldcon to earthquake to the release of Heir into the wild, it's been a ride!

As part of the celebrations, Eos have put up a 3-book set for giveaway: The Heir of Night (of course!) together with Robin Hobb's Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven duology. 3 sets in fact—but only for USA and Canadian residents, I'm afraid.

For international posters I am putting up a The Heir of Night / Thornspell set as well, plus for everyone, up to 20 signed bookplates (1 per person), designed by Peter Fitzpatrick who also designed the Heir map–which will debut officially on Out of this Eos around October 6.

But you have to go to the Supernatural Underground, to be in the running.

The other thing that's happened today is that the News and The Wall of Night pages on my website have updated—click on the links to check it all out.