Helen Lowe's Blog, page 326
September 12, 2010
Carrying On
Local Landmark
It's over a week now since the 7.1 earthquake hit Christchurch, and 5 days since I returned home form Aussiecon to be greeted by another 5.1 'quake. So ok, we're still getting "aftershocks", which vary between a sharp jolt with a bit of shake and rattle thrown in, to what I call the "long roll", which feels quite a bit like being caught in a deep swell at sea. Since the experts say that the original 'quake was very much like a big wave rolling through the earth, perhaps it's n...
September 11, 2010
The Big Idea: John Scalzi's "Whatever" Blog
The Heir of Night is being launched in the US on 1 October—and very cool news, John Scalzi has offered me a Big Idea slot on his Whatever blog on 21 October!
There is a "big idea" behind Heir and The Wall of Night series, one that has driven the writing of the book "from the beginning" —as my friend Ruth will bear witness given that I used to talk to her endlessly about it over coffee when we both lived in Dunedin–oh my goodness—a decade ago now. It took me a little longer to actually get...
September 10, 2010
What I'm Reading
You may recall that I had the Booker longlisted Room, by Emma Donoghue to read two weeks back—and I loved it. I was doubtful when I read the back, because the "room" in question is one of those ones where women and children are kidnapped and held captive for years on end. (And no, that's not a spoiler, it really is right there on the back cover.) But I found it a wonderful read and so was delighted to see that it has made it onto the Booker Short List this week, together with Andrea Levy's
September 9, 2010
A Few Worldcon Photos
Firstly, apologies because some of these are definitely "snaps"–but I still think they give you a bit of a feel for my Worldcon and some of the people and events happening. (Click on the images to enlarge.) For a more comprehensive — and in focus 
— range of photographs, please visit the gallery of my friend, Joffre Horlor: you can see his Worldcon photos here.
Voyager Party
At the Orbit Table
Star Wars Still Rules!
WorldCon Logo
"Writing Strange Lands" Panel
Interview with S Litton, SFFANZ
September 8, 2010
Orbit Interview: Building The Wall of Night
Stuff happens while you're away and "offline" for long periods—not just Big Bad stuff, like earthquakes, but fun stuff as well, like publication of a recent blog interview I did with Bella Pagan, my editor at Orbit UK. You can check it out here.
To come, just to focus on the fun stuff and get away from earthquake aftermath and 'shaky city' some more, I'll be posting some more Worldcon photos.
Living on the Back of the Dragon
Yesterday evening, I flew out of a Melbourne spangled by lights, and back across the dark Tasman Sea to New Zealand. We arrived in Christchurch at midnight to misting rain and a city that has been riven by over a hundred aftershocks from the 7.1 earthquake early Saturday morning (NZ time)—several of them major earthquakes in their own right.
It was hard to see much by night, but the friend who met me at the airport (the same friend who secured my fallen chimney on Saturday) drove home past...
September 6, 2010
Tuesday Poem: "Outback"
Outback
red dirt drifts
along narrow tyre
tracks
heat shimmers
against bleached
sky
a homestead settles
into earth, its last
neighbour
a solitary chimney
– the car slows,
stops
ochre dust
filters through air
conditioning
coats everything:
clothes, shoes,
skin
the screen door sags
on its hinges, hello
echoes
through empty rooms
—
(c) Helen Lowe 2008
Published in Poetry NZ (September 2008)
Having been in Australia for the past week—albeit very much on the coast, here in Melbourne—I thought the Tuesday...
Worldcon: It's All Over Now
Reading, Worldcon 68
To be honest, being here has been a little stressful since waking up to news of the earthquake in my home town of Christchurch on Saturday morning, but I have tried to carry on and enjoy Worldcon as much as possible under the circumstances—and it has been a lot of fun. I have caught up with friends from last year's New Zealand Natcon, and with buddies such as Tracey O'Hara from the Supernatural Underground, but also met a whole lot of new people: pretty much from all...
September 4, 2010
Christchurch Earthquake
Many of you will have heard that there has been a major, 7.1 earthquake in my home city of Christchurch, with a civil defence emergency declared and major infrastructural damage, but no loss of life—so friends and family all well, which is simply the best news.
In terms of my home, there has been some damage. The house is 90 years old and the brick chimney came down, doing some damage to the roof. But a friend and a neighbour, working with a local builder have secured it already. Otherwise...
"Thornspell" Review from Finland: 5 Stars
Recently, I mentioned that I had been approached by Finnish reviewer, pseudonym "Seregil of Rhiminee", of RisingShadow, about the possibility of reviewing The Heir of Night and Thornspell. The review for Thornspell has just come through and I am thrilled to see that Seregil has rated it 5 stars:
"Thornspell is a charming, rich and well imagined retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story … I think that everybody who likes beautiful prose, romantic adventures and good stories, will love this book...
