INTERVIEW: Helen Lowe author of Thornspell

Please welcome Helen Lowe, author of the magical Thornspell!

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Are you a daydreamer too?



I definitely was as a kid, less so since I entered the adult world with its imperative to stay "on task."





Have you always wanted to be a writer?



Yes, pretty much ever since I was able to read independently. I began writing very soon after that.





Tell me a little about yourself – where were you born, where do you live, what do you like to do?



I was born in Wellington, New Zealand (NZ) although my family did not live there long, and since then have lived in several different locales within NZ, as well as in Singapore and Sweden at different times. I currently live in Christchurch, in the South Island of NZ where I enjoy walking and hiking, and spending time with friends. And because I’m a foodie and interested in wine, making and sharing food is a big part of that spending time.





How did you get the first flash of inspiration for this book?



Thornspell is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the prince’s perspective and the first inspiration came when I was at the ballet of Sleeping Beauty, with its wonderful Tchaikovsky score. I remember sitting up in my seat when the prince first came leaping onto the stage and thinking: "What about the prince? What’s his story?” The novel developed very quickly from there, especially once I started thinking about the wicked fairy’s motivation and what she would do when her death spell was thwarted.



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How extensively do you plan your novels?



I think it would be fair to say that I am an evolver, rather than a planner, so much so that actively trying to plan can mitigate against my creative process. But I always have the arc in my head, including the main story elements and the beginning and end.





Do you ever use dreams as a source of inspiration?



Not directly know, although sometimes the emotion of a particularly “cinematic” dream will stay with me and I may draw on that when writing. And I have used the experience of dreams and the way they work to influence the magic of both Thornspell and The Heir of Night series.





Did you make any astonishing serendipitous discoveries while writing this book?



Not that I can recall, no.





Where do you write, and when?



I write from home and have an official ‘study’, but having a laptop means I usually write from whichever part of the house is pleasantest. In terms of ‘when’, the times I write depend on circumstance, so I can write from 9 am to 5 pm, but there are other times when it will be something like 6 pm to midnight. Usually though, I try to get started no later than 9.30 am and will finish any time from mid-afternoon to early evening.





What is your favourite part of writing?



You know, I really do love every stage of the creative process, even though they all have me gnashing my teeth and tearing my hair at different times. But I think there is also something special about the second draft of a story: when you have the essential arc “down” and can then shape and refine, adding greater nuance, texture and subtlety. 





What do you do when you get blocked?



Sometimes even getting up and making a cup of coffee can be enough to ‘reboot’ the creative process. Going for a walk or doing something manual but still creative, like gardening or cooking, can help—although often I think it’s the least creative parts like weeding, or peeling and chopping vegetables, that are most therapeutic for the muse. When I’m really wrangling a gnarly part of a story I like to do regular longhand writing. A complete change of scene is also always beneficial for the muse.





How do you keep your well of inspiration full?



I think that’s usually via regular deployment of the methods immediately above.





Do you have any rituals that help you to write?



No specific rituals, but I do like to do the regular longhand pages when I’m working on a book as I find it an excellent way of wrangling everything from plot issues to character development.





Who are ten of your favourite writers?



Ah, restricted to ten…  Also, I find that the prominence given to particular ‘favourites’ can shift around a fair bit in relation to my reading focus or simply what’s happening in my life. 



But to approach the question in small bites, three books that I often cite as being “extremely influential” for me as both a reader and writer are (in alphabetical order by author surname):





• Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

• Aldous Huxley’s Eyeless In Gaza.

• JRR Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings.





Three very formative children’s authors (again in alphabetical order), because more than one novel proved a firm favourite, were—and are, since I still love them:




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• Alan Garner, particularly for Elidor, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and The Moon Of Gomrath.

• CS Lewis (of course!) for the Narnia series, although The Horse & His Boy is probably my most dog-eared edition.

• Joyce West, a NZ author, for the classic Drover’s Road trilogy and The Year Of The Shining Cuckoo. 



Three very influential YA authors (again in alphabetical order) I regard as having shaped my reading awareness include:





• Melina Marchetta, for her wonderful contemporary realism novels. On the Jellicoe Road may be the best known outside Asutralia, but I have enjoyed them all from Looking For Alibrandi to the more recent The Piper's Son. 

• Patricia McKillip for so very many wonderful books, although The Riddlemaster Of Hed trilogy, The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld and Ombria In Shadow are particular favourites.

• Robin McKinley for Beauty, the very first fairytale retelling I think I ever read and which “blew my mind.” I then went on to read The Blue Sword (and many others since), which I also loved.





I really deliberated over the tenth place, but decided to go with non-fiction and something that has always spoken to me as both a woman and a writer:





• Virginia Woolf's A Room Of One's Own. 





Very well worth a read for those who have not done so already.





What do you consider to be good writing? 



A 'big" question indeed! The first criteria will always be that the writing, whether fiction or non fiction, must snare my attention and refuse to let it go. And when I reach "the end" I must both feel satisfied and long for more at the same time. Within that, I really appreciate writing where the language and construction is both beautiful and elegant, and I will always respond most strongly to writing that delivers an emotional pay-off. 





What is your advice for someone dreaming of being a writer too?



Stop dreaming and get writing! 





What are you working on now?



I have just completed the manuscript for Daughter Of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three, which is currently with my US and UK editors, and having a much-needed holiday. When the edit is done, I'll commence work on the fourth and final book in the WALL series, which I've given the working title The Chaos Gate. 




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