Helen Lowe's Blog, page 55
August 5, 2020
What I’m Watching: “Warrior Nun”
Initially, I thought a series titled Warrior Nun had to be a spoof, but I quickly found out my error with an action-packed, high drama opening. I’ll confess, too, that I was a tad doubtful even so, but overall I ended enjoying the first season of the Netflix series, Warrior Nun, which is set in Spain (with use of some spectacular landscapes and built-heritage settings.)
Here’s the premise: Ava, a recently deceased, tetraplegic orphan has a supernatural halo thrust into her body during a firefigh...
August 2, 2020
On Supernatural Underground Now: Worldbuilding in Fantasy #7 — “Tymon’s Flight” by Mary Victoria
“Double author trouble” — Mary Victoria ‘n’ me at Natcon 2012
As those of you who visit here regularly may have picked up, Mary Victoria is a longtime friend-in-writing.
So I was pleased to be able to revisit Tymon’s Flight, Book One in Mary’s Chronicles of the Tree series, on August 1. All part of my current post series on the Supernatural Underground, in which I’m shining the spotlight on worldbuilding in Fantasy.
Mary Victoria’s world Tree; art by Frank Victoria
As said in the SU post, I’ve a...
July 29, 2020
About The Characters: Meet the Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Kharalthor
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...
July 26, 2020
A Few More Reflections on Irwin Shaw’s “The Young Lions”
Having posted on my The Young Lions read last week, I realized that I had a few more “terribly important observations” to share, so here we are for “m’thoughts”, Take 2. 
July 22, 2020
Inside the Writing Life: Another Milestone Ticked Off
Open for some serious writing business…
Today I ticked off another plot milestone for WALL#4 and the series, one that has been causing me quite a few headaches as I’ve jigged and rejigged the current section, endeavouring to get the denouement to “work.”
With anything that’s important to the resolution of the book and/or series, I have to get it right, otherwise everything associated with it, especially the storyline going forward, tends not to work. Absolutely no pressure, you understand!
Somet...
July 19, 2020
What I’m Reading: “The Young Lions” by Irwin Shaw
The Young Lions (1949) by Irwin Shaw is one of those books that I’ve “known about” for a very long time, but never quite gotten around to reading. So when a tattered paperback copy (“slightly abridged” according to the legend) arrived in the house a few weeks back, I decided it was time to take the plunge, particularly as The Young Lions is regarded as one of the defining novels dealing with World War 2.
The story follows three soldiers from immediately before the war to its end. Christian, for...
July 15, 2020
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series—Meet Keron
The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick
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 Gather...
July 12, 2020
The Fantasy Hive: Women In SFF Author Spotlight Series
The Fantasy Hive is a collaborative UK-based site that describes itself as “a hub for all things fantasy. Book reviews, games, author interviews, features, serial fiction.”
‘Fantasy, together’ is their motto, and they aim to “unify fans of speculative fiction through shared enthusiasm and appreciation of the genre.”
So I was very pleased to be interviewed as part of The Fantasy Hive’s current Women In SFF Author Spotlight feature — and enjoyed answering their questions.
July 8, 2020
This Saturday: Children’s Literature Hub
‘Talking to’ the writing life in times past.
This weekend, I’ll be talking to the (Christchurch) Children’s Literature Hub, a subgroup of the NZ Society of Authors and a support network for those who want to create, edit and market books for children through to YA readers.
I’ll be talking to the Hub from “inside the writing life”, chiefly about my journey as a writer and adding in any tips and wisdom I may’ve managed to glean along the way. 
July 5, 2020
A Decade of International Award Success for NZ Speculative Fiction
Last week, I celebrated NZ author Tamsyn Muir’s Locus Award 2020 for First Novel, received for her debut book, Gideon The Ninth.
In the comments, Liz was kind enough to cite my own Morningstar Award with approval and asked if many other NZ writers had won similar international awards for speculative fiction.
I promised to put on my thinking cap and do a bit of google-fu, then answer this week.
While I can’t speak for “all time” on this topic, these are the other NZ speculative authors that I’m a...
