Helen Lowe's Blog, page 43

Hey, I’m Now Fully Vaxxed…

Fully Jabbed & Good-To-Go!

…against Covid-19, having gotten my second jab last Wednesday.

I can also report that both first and second jabs were pretty much side-effect free, which was nice as I know that’s not the case for everybody.

What do I mean by “pretty much”? Well, I did feel quite tired for a few days after getting the second shot, but “tbh” I’m not sure whether that had anything to do with the vaccine or was just because I was having a very full-on week.

Anyway, I am grateful to have h...

Favourite Quotes From Group Haarth: Rosie’s Choice

Goodness, we’re already up to Quote #3 in the sequence chosen by members of Group HAARTH — from The Wall Of Night series, of course.

Group Haarth is a private Facebook group, established by readers some years back, as a forum where they and others could meet to discuss the WALL series.

Today’s Group Haarth guest is Rosie, the group’s founder, and her quote is from Book 2, The Gathering Of The Lost.

USA

In line with the series format, Rosie has also shared her reasons for choosing this particul...

Albert Camus’ “The Plague” Amid These Covid Times: A Deep Reading Series

A month ago, I posted a short list of pandemic-themed reads, including The Plague, the classic novel by Albert Camus.

Since then, I have been in correspondence with Matthew Lamb, who is currently publishing a series on the newsletter platform, Substack, dedicated to: Reading Albert Camus’ The Plague During COVID, Climate Change, and Various Political Crises.

The stimulus for Matthew’s newsletter is a forthcoming new translation of The Plague from the US imprint, Knopf. The translation is by Laur...

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

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 Writing Quote From Charles De Lint

“Every book tells a different story to the person who reads it … How they perceive that book will depend on who they are. A good book reflects the reader, as much as it illuminates the author’s text.”

~ Charles De Lint, The Little Country (1991)

~*~

“Yes,” I said, on reading these lines in Charles de Lint’s The Little Country. For me, the quote resonated with others that see reading as an interactive process between writer and reader—like the AS Byatt quote here, or the very salient observation...

Favourite Quotes From Group Haarth: Tricia’s Choice

Roll up, roll up – because today we get to enjoy the second quote from The Wall Of Night series, chosen by a member of Group Haarth – a private Facebook group where readers can meet and discuss the books.

Our second guest is Tricia — and her featured quote, from The Heir Of Night, is one that turned out to be a favourite with quite a few members of the group. Although as with Highlander, there can be only one.

UK/AU/NZ

As with the first quote, Tricia has also provided some insight into why sh...

Inside the Writing Life: It’s Plum Blossom Time

Plum is among the earliest blossoms in New Zealand’s temperate climate, appearing at the end of winter and heralding the imminent arrival of spring proper — and that, dear readers, is pretty much now.

It’s very similar in Japan, I understand, with ume-matsuri, the celebration of plum blossom’s appearance, occurring from around 20 February through early March — and acting as harbinger for the eagerly awaited (and much more famous) sakura, the cherry blossom.

(Japan’s late winter/early spring plu...

On Supernatural Underground Now: Magic In Fantasy #9 — Drawing on Fairytale, Folklore & Myth

Here we are in September, the first of spring here in the Southern Hemisphere, while it’s autumn—or fall—for those  in the north.

Definitely time for some more magic, Supernatural Undergound style.

Not to disappoint, this month’s post features three YA novels where the magic is grounded in fairytale, folklore and myth. While that applies to all Fantasy, to some degree or other, these are books where the grounding really caught my attention.

 

 

 

 

 

To find out more, head on over to the SU an...

Brought To You From Inside the Writing Life & Lockdown Cave NZ :-)

As you may know from last week, NZ’s currently in another hard lockdown, trying to get on top of a Delta Covid-19 outbreak.

On the beach.

As you may also know from other posts (and last week’s mention, not that I repeat myself at all! :D), lockdown and the normal writing life don’t look that different.

Driftwood

Hence these photos coming to you from inside the writing life and Lockdown Cave NZ! The cave reference originates with Australia’s PM, Scott Morrison, I believe – apparently he felt it b...

Favourite Quotes From Group Haarth: Mansi’s Choice

Today, I’m really pleased to bring you the first quote from The Wall Of Night series, chosen by a member of Haarth – the private Facebook group where readers can meet and discuss the books.

Our first guest is Mansi — and her featured quote is the same text that Kate, the series’ editor, chose to feature as the inside cover text for The Heir of Night (The Wall Of Night #1) – which I think is very cool and am sure Kate will, too.

USA

Each person who is contributing a post will also share why the...