Helen Lowe's Blog, page 52
November 18, 2020
“O Frabjous Day” Reprised
Two weeks back, I talked about some of the “frabjous” moments in the writing life, such as when (unexpectedly at the time) I returned to an unsatisfactory chapter ending expecting to do much remedial work, then found I could resolve the difficulty by the simple expedient of removing the final paragraph.
Problem solved — because the preceding paragraph did all that was required. “O frabjous day”, indeed. 
November 15, 2020
Thinking About Juxtapositions
The series that wowed the world 
November 11, 2020
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Lady Sarifa
USA
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 alphabet...
November 8, 2020
It’s A Mystery …
Last week, I got to hear two good friends talking over how very much they loved the novel Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. From which point their conversation shifted to trying to understand why they loved it so much, and why some books generally rock one’s reading world, while another on the same or a similar topic may not work the same magic.
Well, I thought, if I not only had the answer to that but could bottle it, I would never have to fear being a writer starving in a g...
November 4, 2020
Inside The Writing Life: Sometimes It’s A Case Of “Oh Frabjous Day!
A fortnight ago, I discussed some of the Moments of Grr-Argh that beset the writing life from time to time.
It’s not all such tricky and/or downright frustrating moments, however. This week I’ve had the almost directly opposite experience when finishing off a section of the w.i.p. (Yes, another one: giddy stuff, huh?!)
As a spinoff from that section I noticed something was a bit “off-key” with the ending of a precursor chapter, earlier in the manuscript (ms.)
I wasn’t wrong about that, but when...
November 1, 2020
On Supernatural Underground Now: Worldbuilding in Fantasy #10 – A Wealth Of Fabulous Worlds
Yep, it’s November 1 – and the end of the year is rushing my way; yours, too, I bet!
Anyway, realizing that this is my penultimate Worldbuilding in Fantasy post on the Supernatural Underground, I decided to have a quick look at several authors and worlds that have wowed me, deep in my reading past as well as in more recent times.
Although that’s still a far from comprehensive list, I hope you’ll still find something to like.
Something for the long winter nights for those settling down by the ho...
October 28, 2020
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Lady Bonamark
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 alp...
October 25, 2020
“The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy — with a segue to Twitter
On reflection, the post title should probably be: “The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy — with a segue to Twitter… O-o” 
October 21, 2020
Inside The Writing life: Those Moments of “Grr-Argh”
A different sort of “grr argh”
In writing a multi-book story, there are always moments of what I, borrowing from the Buffy ‘verse, describe as moments of “grr-argh”—which in Buffy is what happens when the unwary encounter a vampire. Well, the vampire goes “grr-argh” (or some variant thereof) and the unwary runs away screaming (if they’re lucky…)
Inclusion…
In less elevated environs, such as those surrounding the writing of books, they could also be called moments of hair-tearing, or alternativel...
October 18, 2020
I Love This Quote by Gordon Lish
~ Gordon Lish
—
When I first read this quote, I felt one hundred per cent agreement. I thought, “Wow, that’s so true!”
And then, I thought, “Yes, but the two aren’t wholly disconnected. They can’t be, because in order for something to happen to readers’ hearts and minds, something of reasonable moment does have to happen on the page.”
Nonetheless, the quote speaks to me...
