Merry Christmas, dear “…On Anything, Really” readers.

I hope the day brings you joy and “all & only good things.”

a star
to light our path
for the journey home

© Helen Lowe

 “A Memory of Light” Giveaway—the Draw for The First Book is Done!

Note to Commenters & Readers:

The second of the 3 x copies of “A Memory of Light” provided by Hachette NZ for giveaway to Australian & New Zealand readers has now been drawn ad the result is Here.

But there is still 1 copy left to give away, with the result to be drawn & result posted on January 7 (the day before A Memory of Light’s worldwide release.)

All entries on both this post, as well as the original 17 December post, will go forward for the 3rd draw, but to get your name in one last time , or just to enter for the first time, post a comment on the Wheel of Time character you most love to hate, Here.

* All dates are New Zealand time.

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As promised, the giveaway— for Australian & New Zealand readers—of the first of 3 copies of A Memory of Light, being supplied by Hachette New Zealand, has now been made.

Everyone who commented on last Monday’s post, here, to tell me “why you are a fan of the Wheel of Time series”—and the comments were wonderful!—has now been entered in the ongoing draw.

[Drum Roll!] And the winner is:

Sam (the 8th commenter)

Congratulations, Sam!

Sam, if you email me via my website on contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info with your postal address, I will pass it on to HachetteNZ so they can forward you the book. 🙂

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But It’s Not Over Yet—The Draw for Copies 2 & 3 Continues!

As I said last week, A Memory of Light marks completion of such a major epic fantasy series that I want to maximize your opportunities to win, so here’s what I’m doing:

• I’m making the draw for 1 of the 3 copies each week over 3 weeks (from the first post until January 7): so the first winner has been drawn today and a second draw will be made on 31 December, with the third and final draw  on Monday, January 7 — just 1 day ahead of A Memory of Light‘s worldwide release.

• If you’ve already commented on the first, December 17 post then fear not—your name will still be automatically entered into the 31 December and January 7 draws. So you need do nothing more. But if you would like your name to be entered a second time, or you have just discovered the giveaway and wish to enter, then just answer the (again: easy-peasy!) question below.

• And remember—you will get a third opportunity to enter your name for the final draw (on January 7) next Monday. 🙂

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And Now, Here’s Your Next Question:

Who is your absolutely favourite character in the Wheel of Time series—and why?

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I must admit, I am really hoping some of you will comment again, because I really enjoyed your comments on the reasons why you love the series. I found your enthusiasm inspiring, and I also felt very moved at the profound and positive part the series has played in so many of your lives.

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Notes re the Giveaway:

• The giveaway is resticted to readers resident in Australia and New Zealand only.
• Each draw will be made using Random.Org with the results posted on the blog on 24 and 31 December, and 7 January respectively.
• If the winners have not contacted me by Friday 11 January at the latest, I shall re-draw for any of the books that are unclaimed.
• Hachette NZ have confirmed that the books are heavily embargoed until January 8, but  they will forward the winning copies after that date.

“Nobody gets to be you, except you. Nobody has your point of view, except you. Nobody gets to bring to the worlds the things that you get to bring to the world – uniquely get to bring to the world – except you.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done an astronomy post, or more correctly, an “images of awesome stars post” because I’m going to give you a link to get the full—and fascinating—astronomical explanation.

But in brief, this panorama is of the Cygnus Loop, a remnant supernova located in the Cygnus constellation. And apparently the original astronomical image is also one of the largest ever made, at (a mind-blowing) 600 million pizels in size.

The image was taken by the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona and a fuller astronomical  explanation of the image is provided by Jason Major on the Universe Today site, here. It’s extremely interesting and well worth a read, so do click through.

But for today, I’m just enjoyng the “awesome” of this image. And to quote astronomer, Dr Richard Cool, from the Universe Today article:

“Images like this are amazing because they can remind you of the big picture and beauty that surrounds us.”

Review: Aralorn: Masques & Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs (Orbit, 2012; 595 pp.)

Reviewed by: Andrew Robins

I am a fan of Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson Urban Fantasy series, so when the opportunity came up to take a look at some of her earlier work in the Epic Fantasy genre I was keen.

Aralorn is a two volume compendium, consisting of the first novel Patricia Briggs ever published, Masques, and a till now unpublished follow up novel (written later), Wolfsbane.

In the preface to each book within the compendium, the author outlines the journey she has been on with these novels and talks a little about what they have meant to her as writer. I found this to be well worth reading.

These books share characters, settings, and plot lines – and yet are very different books. The preface explains why in a way that engaged me as a reader.

Put bluntly, Masques, the first book is “well enough”. The main character, Aralorn, is interesting and basically carries the story. There is also some good world building, but most of the secondary characters are pretty flat. I enjoyed the story enough to be motivated to read Wolfsbane – and am very glad that I did.

Wolfsbane was still written reasonably early on Patricia Briggs’ career, but it contains many more of the qualities that I have found in her later work. In short it is a very clever story that riffs extremely well off the first novel, even to the point of brilliantly exploiting some of that book’s flaws.

Hats off to Patricia Briggs for that.

The first novel finishes with a reasonably classic trope, i.e. “The characters do something unconvincingly stupid that obviously sets up some dramatic tension that could be exploited in a follow up novel”. Briggs DOES exploit this dramatic tension in Wolfsbane – but shows some respect for readers by not doing this in an obvious  way. I loved the way the author handled this. The story is layered, and does not necessarily go where you expect it to go. If you have read any of the Mercy Thompson books you will know what I mean.

The secondary characters are also allowed some space of their own, and are much better fleshed out second time around. I am probably going to display a huge amount of geekery here, but to me the opportunity to see the progression in a writers style that his compendium provided was really interesting.

If you like Patricia Briggs’ other books, you will very likely enjoy the Aralorn compendium as well.  And if you also enjoy books like Robin McKinley’s Deerskin and Beauty, or Juliet Marillier’s Heartsblood, or any at all of Barbara Hambly’s books, then you should probably also give Aralorn a try.

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About the Reviewer:

Andrew Robins is a long time reader – and sometime reviewer – of science fiction, fantasy and history. People pay him to test stuff, mainly radios, which most of the time is more fun than it has any right to be. Any and all views expressed in this review are entirely his own.

Recent reviews by Andrew include:

• “2312″ by Kim Stanley Robinson, here.

• “Redshirts” by John Scalzi, here.

• “The Hydrogen Sonata” by Iain M Banks, here.

First off, as I intimated yesterday, I’ve seen it: that’s one for our team! 😉

And secondly, I saw it in plain old-fashioned 2-D/24fps, none of this ultra fast—I mean, 3-D/45fps malarkey! (And from what I’ve read around t’interwebs, I made exactly the right choice. But hey, call me Luddite et al if you will; I’m good with that.)

Third and most importantly, I really enjoyed it. Certainly, the film was both an older age group, and more The Lord of the Rings (LoTR) compatible, interpretation of the story, delving deeply into the LoTR appendices to bring in story aspects not covered in the original kids’ book. These include the White Council meeting, plus Radogast the Brown’s contribution (although  that was more ‘springboarded’ from the books, to be honest)—but as an appendices afficionado, I’m good with the slant taken.

Some of the highlights for me included the leading characters: Martin’s Freeman’s Bilbo is really very good, as is Ian McKellen’s Gandalf (with more hands-on magic and sword-wielding action than in The Lord of the Rings films), plus Andy Serkis reprising his role as Gollum, but giving it added nuance and depth. I also really liked Richard Armitage as Thorin—am not convinced yet that he is another Aragorn as asserted by some, but The Hobbit film is certainly bringing out both the inherent flaws, as well as the nobler qualities of his character, which were an important part of the book.

I also really liked Radogast the Brown and his rabbits. I wasn’t at all sure I was going to like the rabbits, I feared they might just be twee, but for me they worked. (This may, of course, ultimately reflect badly on my worth as an “‘uman bean” but nonetheless: enjoyed Radogast and the rabbits of Rhosgobel immensely! 😉 ) Also, for those who missed Tom Bombadil in the LoTR films, I feel Radogast’s interpretation is in the spirit of that character.

And yes, Barry Humphries’ the Great Goblin, and Manu Bennett as Azog, also good.

I did have my doubts about the three movie split going into this first film, but once in it I enjoyed the build to the story, with the Lonely Mountain/Dale backstory and also the Shire scenes, effectively connecting The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings films. And taking the time to really do the story justice, so… So far, so good on that score.

Favourite sequence in the story: I think that would have to be Bilbo, Gollum and the riddle game. Standout stuff. But I did also like Radogast’s solitary venture in Dol Goldur, and the interplay between Gandalf and Galadriel, juxtaposed with Saruman, in the meeting of the Council.

Another thing that really worked for me was the way you did not actually see Smaug at the beginning—just the devastating effects of his assault on Dale and The Lonely Mountain. A ‘less really is more’ moment.

What didn’t I like? Well, I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of the action set pieces riffed off The Lord of the Rings films in quite an obvious way. For example, compare Arwen & Frodo’s ride to the ford with Radogast leading off the warg riders while the dwarves dash for Rivendell. There were also strong similarities between aspects of the flight through Moria with both the mountain gaints’ battle (i.e. walls of rock crashing together and then apart with protagonists on either side) and the escape from beneath the Misty Mountains–including the race down the mountain slope when our party emerges. Perhaps it was intentional to echo LoTR, but the similarities were a little too close for my complete enjoyment.

And yes, although Thorin and Balin may be serious characters, with Fili and Kili (enjoyably played by Dean O’Gorman and Aidan Turner) as the Merry and Pippin stand-ins for this movie sequence, we do still have—deep sigh—“comic relief dwarf” characters: Nori and Bombur (who is of course the “fat” one: deeper sigh) particularly stand out. While I duly note that The Hobbit was largely a comic story, with a strong love of the ridiculous to many aspects, the fact that there has been scope to move to an older darker take on the book, suggests there could equally readily have been less emphasis on such trite stereotypes.

But while noting these quibbles, my overall experience of the film (Instalment the First) was extremely enjoyable. Adventure, magic, wonder, characters—it checked all my boxes for good Fantasy storytelling and I shall certainly be back for more.

Yup, I’ve finally done it—last night I went and saw “The Hobbit”, a compleat ‘There and Back Again’ expereince—and I really enjoyed it. I shall try for a more complete sharing of my “terribly important thoughts” tomorrow, but just wanted to say: yes, seen it, enjoyed it.  (In regular 2D, not any of this 3D 48 fps malarkey 😉 )

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In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the epic Wheel of Time Giveaway that’s currently on the go.

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Or if poetry’s more your thing:

— my feature of Sarah Broom’s “All my life” on the Tuesday Poem Hub; and/or
— Riemke Ensing’s “O lucky man” here on “…Anything, Really”

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Or Ripley Patton’s great guest post on “Becoming Olivia Black”

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And back to the epic theme, last week’s guest posts on my Top 10 Epic Fantasy Series — the second instalment is here.

O lucky man

Eight or nine small poems before breakfast, you record.
Oh lucky man! Here it’s a wonder
there’s any writing at all with the light slowly failing
and such clouds inexorably dark across the moon.

Rilke had one of his characters admit to maybe ten good lines
at the end of a long life. It has to be better than that
but everyday the horizon is closing in —
‘life’ and ‘art’ — the two unequal parts of the equation
never finding the balance to make that perfect symmetry.

This morning though, three blackbirds
at the bowl of persimmons on the outside table.
Poem enough itself
and a Chinese painting to break the fast.

© Riemke Ensing
From: O lucky man by Riemke Ensing, Otakou Press, 2009.

Reproduced here with permission

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Image by Inge Doesburg

About the Poem:

The poem, “Oh lucky man”, first appeared in Riemke Ensing’s volume of the same name, published in 2009 by the Unversity of Otago’s Otakou Press to commemorate the centenary of Charles Brasch in 2009. The image was created by Otago artist Inge Doesburg to accompany this poem.

I first heard the poem at the Christchurch Writers’ Festival earlier this year, when Riemke Ensing read it as part of the festival’s concluding “Five Poets” event. At that same event, Riemke received the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award—awarded jointly by the Lauris Edmond Literary Estate and the New Zealand Poetry Society—for Distinguished Contribution to Poetry in New Zealand.

I enjoyed the poem very much and thought it would be wonderful to celebrate the poem—and Riemke—by means of a Tuesday Poem feature. I am delighted, therefore, to bring “O lucky man” to you today, to round off the Tuesday Poem year.

You may recall that Riemke was also featured on the Tuesday Poem Hub just over a month ago, with guest editor Renee Liang presenting both the poem, “Transport” and a wonderful interview with Riemke to accompany it. No words I could say today could add to that, so I shall simply refer you to that recent, excellent feature, here.

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About the Poet:

Photo credit: James Ensing -Trussell

“Riemke Ensing’s first book of poems Letters – Selected Poems (1980) was beautifully designed & printed by Philip Ridge on what was then thought to be the old Lowry press in the basement of the University of Auckland Library. The cover was a drawing from Albrecht’s Durer’s calligraphic construction of the alphabet.

Her most recent volume, O Lucky Man – (images by Inge Doesburg) was similarly composed in handset metal types by the then Printer-in Residence, Tara McLeod, at Otakou Press at the University of Otago Special Collections Library in 2009.

In between these dates there have been 9 other volumes, including Talking Pictures – Selected Poems (introduced by Lawrence Jones) put together by Mark Pirie at HeadworX. The cover for that particular book was designed by poet and librarian Judith Haswell.

Riemke enjoys collaboration and volumes such as ‘Like I have seen the dark green ladder climbing’, ‘Tarawera Te Maunga Tapu’, and ‘Storm Warning’ are responses to art works by painters such as Eion Stevens, Margaret Lawlor Bartlett, Colin McCahon and others artists who were working primarily in the Waitakere area at the time of that particular exhibition which she curated (2003).

She has written numerous articles for Art New Zealand and produced essays and poems for several exhibition catalogues.

Riemke recently won the NZSA Kevin Ireland 2012 Poetry Competition, and received the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for Poetry for her ‘unassuming and long standing mentorship and support for other writers, both as a teacher and an editor and that the outstanding merit of her poetry is recognized in New Zealand and internationally.‘”

For further details, please see Riemke’s website: www.ensing.co.nz

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On the Tuesday Poem Hub Today: Featuring Sarah Broom & “All my life”:

I am also the guest editor on the Tuesday Poem Hub today where I am featuring Sarah Broom’s poem “All my life” from her debut collection Tigers at Awhitu ( 2010: Auckland University Press, NZ; Carcanet Press, UK.)

When you have read and enjoyed “O lucky man” I hope you will also click through to the Hub and read: “All my life.”

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And don’t forget to  check out the poems posted in the left-hand sidebar, all either chosen or written by our international community of Tuesday Poets. Just click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

Note to Commenters & Readers:

The first of the 3 x copies of “A Memory of Light” provided by Hachette NZ for giveaway to Australian & New Zealand readers has now been drawn,  Here.

But there are still 2 copies left to give away: 1 to be drawn & the result posted on New Year’s Eve, December 31st, and the 3rd and final draw on January 7, the day before worldwide release.

All entries on this post will go forward for the 2nd and 3rd draws, but to get your name in a second time , or just to enter for the first time, post a comment on your favourite Wheel of Time character, Here.

* All dates are New Zealand time.

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I am very pleased to confirm that my NZ publisher, Hachette, has given me the opportunity to giveaway not 1, but 3 copies of A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson—to Australian and New Zealand readers.

A Memory of Light is the 14th novel in Robert Jordan’s epic The Wheel of Time (WoT) series that began in 1990 with publication of The Eye of the World. The subsequent instalments in the series continued to be published over the next 22 years, generating a committed fan base, and surviving the death of Robert Jordan in 2007. Using Jordan’s extensive notes, Brandon Sanderson picked up authorship of the series and has written the final 3 novels.

Now the 14th and final novel, A Memory of Light, will be released on 8 January, 2013 — and I have 3 copies available for giveaway to Australian and New Zealand readers.

But because this book marks completion of such a major epic fantasy series, I want to maximize your opportunities to win, so…

Here’s How the Giveaway for the 3 Copies of A Memory of Light Will Work:

• I’m going to be making the draw for 1 of the 3 copies each week for the next 3 weeks: so the first winner will be drawn a week from now on 24 December; the second draw will be made on 31 January; and the third and final draw will be on Monday January 7 — just 1 day ahead of A Memory of Light‘s release.

• I will be featuring a Giveaway post both today and the following two Mondays (24th and 31st respectively)—& all you have to do to enter the draw is post a comment on any or all of these posts, answering the (easy-peasy!) question I shall pose each time.

• If you comment today and are not successful on the first draw, your name will go through automatically into the subsequent draws (and so on.) And if you comment again on the 24th, that comment will count as an additional entry for the second draw; ditto for the 31st and the third and final draw (on January 7.)

Note: Each draw will be made using Random.Org with the results posted on the blog on 24 and 31 December, and 7 January respectively. If the winners have not contacted me by Friday 11 January at the latest, I shall re-draw for any of the books that are unclaimed. The books will be forwarded by Hachette NZ.

And Here’s Today’s Question:

Why are you a  fan of the Wheel of Time series?

I look forward to seeing your comments. 🙂

Introduction:

Ripley Patton is a friend and fellow speculative fiction author. We first met when Ripley was living in Christchurch and setting up SpecFicNZ. She was also busy writing her first novel, Ghost Hand, and although she and her family have since moved back to the United States, we have continued to correspond and I have watched with interest as Ripley has moved Ghost Hand from work-in-progress through to publication. She has done this by way of the Kickstarter process and although the e-book was released just a little earlier, today is the official publication day for the print version.

Why this day—well, Ripley tells me that’s because today is her birthday and so both the release and this post are all part of the celebration! Needless to say, I am thrilled to be able to host Ripley here and have “…Anything, Really” be part of the festivities. Ripley has done a fascinating post on the characters in Ghost Hand, particularly her main character, Olivia Black, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did.

And by the way: Happy Release Day and Happy Birthday, Ripley. 🙂

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Ripley Patton on Ghost Hand — “Becoming Olivia Black”

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Am I my main character?

Readers often ask writers if their main character is like them, or is them, written in fictional form. And I’m always surprised when I hear a writer answer no. In my new YA paranormal thriller, Ghost Hand, Olivia Black is very much based on me as a teen girl. I grew up in a sleepy Southern Illinois town, and so did Olivia. I was a shy loner introvert, and so is Olivia. I was strong-willed, independent, and a bit bossy. So is Olivia. I lost a parent when I was in my early teens. So did Olivia. Of course, there are things about Olivia not at all like me. I don’t have a ghost hand made of ethereal energy that can reach into people and pickpocket their souls, which is too bad really, because that would be cool. But the essence of who Olivia is has to reside in me somewhere, because I made her up and made her real.

But I think there is some other magical thing that happens when writers create characters. Yes, we invest ourselves in who they are, but I think we also become them. They aren’t exactly us, but we have to crawl inside their skin and head every time we delve back into writing their story. We have to know intimately what they would do, or say, or how they would act. This is what a character-actor does when he or she takes on a role. They become who there are portraying, and this imbibes their performance with that much more reality. So, yes it is accurate to say that Olivia Black is me, and also that I have become Olivia Black by writing her.

What about all the other characters?

Obviously, Olivia Black is not the only character in my book. There is Emma, her impulsive best friend. Sophie, her mother and the town psychologist. Passion Wainwright, the strange outcast girl that sits in front of Olivia in Calc class. And that’s only the girls. What about Marcus, the handsome, cocky, new guy at Olivia’s high school? What about the mysterious Dark Man that starts following her? What about the band of misfits Olivia meets later on in the book? I can’t be all those characters, can I? Well, if I’m a good writer, I have to be. I have to become them all to write them well. I get to put on a one-woman play, starring me as everyone. That is what writing a book with well-developed characters entails.

What about the reader?

“I just read Ghost Hand, and now I want to be Olivia Black.”

This quote is from my friend and fellow writer, Angel Leigh McCoy, in response to reading Ghost Hand.  It is on the back cover of the book, and I love it because I think it sums up the essence of how good storytelling should make us feel. If I write my characters well, I’m not the only one who gets to become them. Every reader does as well. They get to crawl inside Olivia’s skin and head and be her for the hours or days it takes them to read her story. This is why we don’t want our favorite books to end. Why they haunt us when we’re finished. Why we return to them, trying to recapture the magic of being that favorite someone else.

I recently read an article in Medical Daily describing a study in which psychologists actually proved that readers subconsciously become their favorite fictional characters while reading. “They found that stories, especially ones written in the first-person, can temporarily transform the way readers view the world, themselves, and other social groups, changing their behaviors and thoughts to match those of the fictional character they identify with.” Experts refer to this as “experience-taking”. In the study, they mention being able to influence people to overcome obstacles and exert their right to vote, as well as changed attitudes toward sexual orientation, based on identifying with a sympathetic character.

If I do my job well as a writer, not only am I Olivia, and she is me, but you, the reader, are Olivia too. You don’t have to want to become her. All you have to do is read the book.

How to Become Olivia Black

Want to become Olivia right now? Ghost Hand is a brand new 384-page release and is available as an e-book at Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. It is also available in paperback HERE. Not sure it’s your cup of tea? Be sure to check out the first four-and-a-bit chapters offered for free using Amazon’s “Look Inside” Feature. If that doesn’t hook you, I don’t know what will. And be sure to like Ghost Hand on its Amazon page, and add it to your Goodreads lists.

And thanks so much, Helen, for letting me guest post on your blog for my birthday.

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More About Ripley Patton:

Ripley Patton

Ripley Patton grew up in the wilds of southern Illinois, much like her main character, Olivia Black, and that is where she first began writing. She has had over twenty short stories published in magazines and anthologies and her story “Corrigan’s Exchange” won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story 2009.

Ripley recently spent five years living in New Zealand where she survived two major earthquakes and started a national speculative fiction writers association, SpecFicNZ, because there wasn’t one.

She now lives in Portland, Oregon with two teenagers, one cat, and a man who wants to live on a boat.

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To read an earlier guest post by Ripley, click here for “Why This Story?”