Helen Lowe's Blog, page 77
July 22, 2018
Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes #8: We’re All Going On A MacGuffin Hunt
Wikipedia (aka ‘the font of all wisdom’ ) describes a “MacGuffin” as a “plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or another motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The MacGuffin’s importance to the plot is not the object itself, but rather its effect on the characters and their motivations.”
The Hitchcock film closely associated with the idea of a “MacGuffin”
If you dig a little deeper,...
July 18, 2018
A Geography of Haarth: Normarch (Updated)
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.
From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.
Now it’s returned to gazette the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.) The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.
—...
July 15, 2018
What I’ve Been Reading: Seven Short Reviews
The real title of this post should be: “What I’ve Been Reading but Haven’t Reported Back On Here” — or anywhere for that matter, because of the time it takes to pen a decent review.
But then I remembered my own advice, which may or may not be on public record (before–but will be now! 
July 11, 2018
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Elite Cairon
USA
UK/AU/NZ
Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because :
“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”
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 Daug...
July 8, 2018
Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes #7: “Fortunately There Was A Portal.”
The origins of the “Fortunately There Was…” heading stems from my early adventures in Sci Fi rather than Fantasy, so the original construction (coined by myself, as far as I know) was “Fortunately There Was A Wormhole.”
The context was that of Faster Than Light travel, which is still (to the best of our knowledge) not possible. From a SF point of view this is problematic since it makes zipping around the galaxy, Star Wars and Star Trek style, impossible. And Slower Than Light travel is just...
July 4, 2018
A Geography of Haarth: New Keep (Updated)
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.
From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.
Now it’s returned to gazette the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.) The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.
—...
July 1, 2018
Artefacts of the Writing Life #7: Laptop
Desk, chair — & laptop!
Over the past six months, I’ve been sharing a few artefacts* of the writing life with you. You can find the previous entries under “About Writing” — just look below “Categories” in the far right-hand side bar. 
June 27, 2018
About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Eanar
USA
USA
In 2017, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because :
“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”
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...
June 24, 2018
A Midwinter Feast
As those who’re The Wall Of Night series readers may have picked up, festivals and to a lesser extent the food associated with them, are a minor but (to my mind, anyway) still significant part of the world-building for the story.
Proof pictorial of August snow…
As something of a “foodie” in my everyday life, I’m also into seasonality and celebrating that through making and sharing meals whenever opportunity arises. Midwinter is no exception, and since it’s the darkest if not necessarily the c...
June 20, 2018
A Geography of Haarth: Marlinspike
The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick
The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.
From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.
Now it’s returned to gazette the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.) The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.
—...
