Helen Lowe's Blog, page 49
March 3, 2021
On Supernatural Underground: Magic Systems In Fantasy #3 — Courtney Schafer & The “Shattered Sigil” Series
Courtney Schafer
On Monday, March 1, I posted the third in this year’s Magic Systems in Fantasy series on the Supernatural Underground — this month featuring friend and fellow author, Courtney Schafer discussing the magic in her Shattered Sigil series.
As I say in the introduction:
“When I first read friend and fellow author, Courtney Schafer’s debut Shattered Sigil series I was really impressed by … the depth and intricacy of the magic (without it seeming in any way convoluted) and the way in w...
February 28, 2021
Just Arrived: “The Dig” by John Preston
2021, film tie-in edition
When I’m writing, I often don’t feel like reading in the same genre, particularly the precise subgenre of epic fantasy, which is why I’ve been dipping into crime (The Dry by Jane Harper) and more recently science fiction (The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.)
Historical fiction, though, has always been one of my most enduring loves, which led me recently to The Dig by John Preston, which has been made into a film, starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James.
...February 24, 2021
The Prime Minister’s February 22nd National Remembrance Speech & “The Sparrows”
As those of you who checked in here on Monday will know, it was the tenth anniversary of the February 22, 2011 earthquake, which did so much damage in Christchurch and Canterbury, and affected all our lives profoundly.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
A National Remembrance Service was in Christchurch, at the Canterbury National Earthquake Memorial. The leading address was given by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who concluded her speech with the final lines from one of my earthquake poems, The...
February 21, 2021
Faultline: My Decade From February 22nd, 2011
Today is the 10th anniversary of the February 22nd, 2011, earthquake that devastated my home city of Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury area.
Dust over Christchurch: in this case, minutes after the February 22nd quake
The period from 4 September 2010 through to the first quarter of 2012 was one of continuous seismic activity, with over ten thousand events recorded, four major earthquakes and an additional three to four that were also significant in terms of damage. The most significant ...
February 17, 2021
This ‘n’ That (Including WALL #4) …
Whoosh! Yep, that was the first six weeks of 2021 vanishing into the past as I registered it was Mid-February “already”!
USA
Daughter Of Blood On USA/ Canada SpecialOn which note, that also means we’re halfway through the month of the Daughter of Blood e-book being a Kindle Monthly Deal in the USA/Canada, at the smokin’ hot price of 0.99c. There is more info available through the link, and I’ll do another reminder before it closes, just icymi. 
.
Also by way of a round...
February 14, 2021
What I’m Reading: “The Dispossessed” by Ursula Le Guin
Over the last few weeks I’ve posted about some of my Christmas – New Year viewing and reading. Obviously the holiday’s been over for some time now, but it’s still appropriate to talk about Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed (first published in 1974) in that context, because I picked it up in a secondhand bookshop in Picton, while waiting to cross from the South Island to the North on the Cook Strait ferry.
A fact that resonated when I began reading, because The Dispossessed is a tale of two world...
February 10, 2021
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Met Ler
UK/AU/NZ
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 alph...
February 7, 2021
Inside the Writing Life: Listening To The Silence
Naturally “self-isolating”…
Several times last year, I posted on the solitary aspect to the writing life. (I’ve included the links below in case you would like to take a look, or revisit.)
For me, periods of solitude are a necessary part of the creative process, but within which I sometimes find myself “listening to the silence.” Possibly because I seek my necessary solitude in relatively solitary places.
On almost every occasion, though, I realize that what I am hearing is not silence at all. B...
February 3, 2021
“Daughter of Blood” Is on Kindle Monthly Deal for February – USA/Canada
USA
Hey, hey — my US editor (the wonderful Kate Nintzel) has let me know that Daughter of Blood (The Wall Of Night, Book 3) is a Kindle Monthly Deal for February, so will be available at the ‘bargain basement’ price of 0.99c throughout that time. 
The qualifiers are that it’s for the USA/Canada and their related markets only, and being Kindle it’s also ebook only.
But for those of you who’re ‘over there’ it’s a great opportunity, whether buying for y’ownself or as a gift for someone else — and, ...
January 31, 2021
On Supernatural Underground Later Today — T Frohock & Magic In “A Song With Teeth” (LOS NEFILIM #3)
Later today, the second in my Magic Systems in Fantasy series will be posting on the Supernatural Underground (sometime earlyish on February 1, US Standard Time.)
This month I’m interviewing Teresa Frohock about the magic in her LOS NEFILIM series, with a particular focus on A Song With Teeth, the final novel in the current trilogy, which will be OUT on February 9!
Regulars here have no doubt grokked to the fact I am a Teresa Frohock fan, as well as a friend-in-writing, but even allowing for a c...
