On Monday, I talked about my holiday—much needed after the recent years of ‘earthquakiness.’ And there were photos, here. 🙂

Yesterday, another author said: “Wow.  A break from writing!  Are we allowed to do that? ;-)”

Now, although the smiley face suggests that this was tongue in cheek, here’s why my answer was, and is: “Absolutely, yes!”

Not just because, as mentioned on Monday, all work and no play makes for very dull writers indeed–and if that dullness were to carry through into the writing, as one fears it eventually must… (I leave you to join your own dots.)

The Year 2000 memorial on Queenstown Hill

Equally importantly though, as I climbed Queenstown Hill to gaze out over mountains and lake water, or cycled around nearby Lake Hayes, or simply sat in the sun with my coffee and a good book, I felt my perspective on the book I am currently writing shift.

For quite a while now story-wise,  I’ve been right in amongst the trees, eyeballing the detail equivalent of roots and bark, branch structure and the patterning of leaves. It’s important and needs to be done—but over the holiday as I gained time and space from the individual trees, I gained perspective on the whole of the forest. I looked along the full continuum of the story, not just this book Daughter of Blood, but back to its first beginnings in The Heir of Night and forward to where I know it is heading in The Wall of Night Book Four. Story-wise, I saw how the pattern of light and shading fell across the entire ‘forest’—and how I could draw out those effects of light and shadow more clearly in the book I am currently writing.

I had insights, dear readers, and what’s more, I had fresh ideas.

So that’s why I feel that absolutely, writers need to have breaks from writing. It’s not even a luxury, it’s a necessity—the same as with any other kind of work.

And those good books: rest assured, I’m going to be posting all about them very soon!

Lake Hayes

A while back, fellow SpecFicNZ writer Amanda Fitzwater tagged me to do a “The Next Big Thing” post, but at the time I was snowed under so I had to pass on the opportunity. But I always felt a little bit as though I had let the ball drop, so when UK author, Elspeth Cooper, asked if I’d be willing to be tagged again, this time I said “yes.”

In terms of what “The Next Big Thing” is—well, I guess it’s a meme, only in this case it’s a meme that applies specifically to books and writing and is all about authors “hanging together” (in the sense of the first part of the famous Benjamin Franklin quote) and saying: “hey, look what’s happening, not just here, but with other authors over here, and also here.” And there always seems to be something fun and/or interesting happening, which is pretty durned good from where I’m sitting.

But hey, today it’s my turn, so here goes with “The Next Big Thing” meme—“…on Anything, Really” style.

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1. What is the working title of your next book?

Ha! That’s easy: Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three. 🙂

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2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Daughter of Blood is part of a series, so is part of the overall The Wall of Night quartet’s “big idea”, which is basically about an alternate world where an alien people, the Derai, believe themselves to be the champions of good, but are divided by prejudice suspicion and fear.

Where did that particular idea come from—I guess I’m of the school of Ursula Le Guin in the sense that I feel ideas are “just there”, in the ether so to speak, and as authors we simply reach out and pull them into being.

Having said that, the initial idea of a twilit shadowy world (the Wall of Night itself, in this case) first came when I was a kid living in Singapore where the equatorial nightfall always came very swiftly. Experiencing that left a real impression, and at the time I was also reading the Norse myths, with concepts such the twilight of the gods, and books like Alan Garner’s Elidor, about a world that is literally all in darkness. A little later, I was entranced by the Beleriand backstory alluded to in The Lord of the Rings, which is also full of shadow and darkness. So in a world building sense, I kept working with that idea in my head until the Wall of Night environment took more concrete shape.

In terms of the people who believe themselves to be the champions of good, but are divided by prejudice suspicion and fear—I think that idea probably comes out of my passion for history, as well as simply observing human fallibility via current affairs. But it was also sparked by long mulling over the trend I perceived in a great deal of the Fantasy I was reading, for the so-called “good guys” to do a lot of questionable stuff—but that was ok, by implication, simply because they were on the “right” side. I also really missed storytelling where the internal conflict within the protagonists is what really drives the story, not who smites whom and what colour hat they’re wearing when they do it (i.e. “white hats”/”black hats.”)

So I decided that I wanted to write a story where the internal conflict within both the individual protagonists, particularly Malian, the Heir of Night, and her friend Kalan (the two central characters), as well as their society (the Derai) is what the story is really all about.

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3. What genre does your book fall under?

Again, with the “ha!” because I think I already answered this question under 2)–but I see The Wall of Night series as “epic” and/or “high” fantasy in the tradition of works such as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar trilogy. It’s also been described as “Dark Fantasy” which I would agree with to the extent that there is a great deal of darkness in the story and some elements of horror—but it’s definitely not “Horror” in a genre sense.

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4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

This is such a hard question, because with Malian and Kalan I find it hard to pick out characters who really “fit” them, either in terms of how they look or their characters. I wonder of that’s partly because of how stereotyped female characters in particular are in terms of portraying strength of character… Plus there’s the whole young Malian and Kalan in The Heir of Night, and grown up Malian and Kalan in The Gathering of the Lost and now Daughter of Blood. So I really am going to have to pass on this one because there really is no one I can readily point to who seems “right.”

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5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I’m going to go with Daughter of Blood on its own for this one, since I’ve already given you the one sentence for The Wall of Night series—so here goes…

“Fearing that the Darkswarm is poised to rise, Malian and Kalan risk their freedom by returning to the Wall of Night—only to find that rather than uniting against external threat, the already dangerously weak Derai Alliance is focused on internal power plays and risks fracturing apart.”

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6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The Wall of Night series is published by HarperCollins in the USA, and Orbit in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. My work is represented by Robin Rue of Writers House Literary Agency.

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7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I am still writing Daughter of Blood and have been working on it for just on a year now.

It took me 5 years to complete The Heir of Night (145,000 words), writing very much as and when I could snatch the time. My second novel, Thornspell (70,000 words), took seven months, and The Gathering of the Lost (200,000 words) took just on two years to complete.

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8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

As above, I think the Wall series is epic Fantasy that sits in the same broad quadrant of the Fantasy universe as The Lord of the Rings and Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar trilogy. Other stories I see as sitting in the same broad quadrant include:

• CJ Cherryh’s “Morgaine” chronicles
• Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts’ “Empire” trilogy
• Robin Hobb’s “Assassin” and “Liveship” series
• Brandon Sanderson’s “The Way of Kings” series (although it’s only just begun, of course)
• Kate Elliott’s “Crown of Stars” series
• Tad Williams’ “Memory Sorrow and Thorn” series
• Patricia McKillip’s “Riddlemaster “ trilogy
• David Gemmell’s “Drenai” novels

(And probably many more, but that should give an ‘idea.’:) )

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9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Obviously I answered 2) far too comprehensively! 😉

In addition to my answer there though, I will add that every really good book I’ve ever read inspired me in some way to write–and in that sense to write the WALL story, too.

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10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

In addition to what I’ve already said about both The Wall of Night series and Daughter of Blood, readers may also enjoy the series if they like stories that are:

• Adventurous—this is a tale of quests and journeys, dungeon crawls and rooftop chases, battles, melees and contests of arms.

• Magical—the WALL series is also an intensely magical story, in fact Robin Hobb described HEIR as being imbued with “strange magic” and I think that’s a fair enough description…

• Twist-y and Turn-y—this is definitely not a story where, however classical the epic frame, you can ever rely on things always remaining as they initially seem…

And are also about:

• Friendship—and the conflicts of loyalty and honor that may arise from this, both within and external to the “band of brothers”, is one of the strongest themes that runs through the series.

• (And yes) Love—which began to enter the series in The Gathering of the Lost and evolves further in Daughter of Blood. (I’m not saying any more though, because that would be a—boo, hiss—Spoiler!)

As well as being:

• Character-driven—this is a story that is very much driven by the characters. The touchstone question for me is always: “will the character, given how she/he has evolved, do this?” If the answer is no (and it was several times in The Gathering of the Lost) then it’s the story that has to change rather than having the characters do something ‘out of character’ just to make the plot work.

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Now I have to tag 5 other authors for you to check out and enjoy—so I am delighted to say that the following excellent authors (listed in alphabetical order by surname 😉 ) have all agreed to do a “The Next Big Thing” post next week on Wednesday 5 December. Just click on the author’s name to go to their site:

• Julie Czerneda – author of SF such as the Trade Pact series, and the forthcoming Fantasy novel, Turn of Light

• Kate Elliott – author of Fantasy series such as the Crown of Stars sequence and Spirit Walker trilogy

• Kim Falconer – author of the Quantum Enchantment & Quantum Encryption Fantasy-SciFi series

• Stina Leicht – author of the Fey And The Fallen series

• Mary Victoria – author of The Chronicles of the Tree trilogy

There, that’s it: all done! Hope you enjoy!

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PS: If you’ve enjoyed “The Next Big Thing” two other authors have told me they may be doing posts this week (or next)—they are John R Fultz (of the Seven series) and Teresa Frohock (Miserere) so keep an eye on their sites, too.

I Interview Elizabeth Knox on SF Signal

First up, my lastest “Fun with Friends” interview, which is with Elizabeth Knox, has posted on SF Signal—and as always Elizabeth has some insightful things to say, so do head on over and take  a look.

To read the interview, click Here

(PS You can leave a comment too, if you like… )

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OH, to be in England
Now that April ’s there
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the white-throat builds, and all the swallows –
Hark! where my blossom’d pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops – at the bent spray’s edge –
That ’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over
Lest you should think he never could re-capture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower,
– Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning, 1812 – 1889

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About the Poem:

Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess was one of the first poems I posted as a Tuesday Poem—on July 6, 2010 in fact—so it’s been feeling about time for another. So why Home Thoughts, From Abroad—firstly, just because I like it. (We likes it we does, yes-s, preciouss-s-s… ;-)) It also fits with two themes I’ve been running on the blog lately: the first is about celebrating spring, which I’ve been doing chiefly via photos from my garden (wisteria, rhododendron, globe artichokes, and poppies.) The second is poems either yearning for home or returnng home: Rupert Brooke’s The Old Vicaridge, Grantchester and Johanna Aitchison’s is anybody in there? Browning’s Home Thoughts speaks to that same yearning/nostalgia for home and also celebrates spring/early summer, as does Brooke’s poem—in fact there is quite an echo between the two, which was doubtless deliberate on Brooke’s part. At any rate, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I always do—especially now after a holiday enjoying spring sunshine, although it was “blossomed [hawthorne] in the hedge” rather than pear blossom, and wild thyme and Californian poppies down Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes way, rather than clover and buttercups. 🙂

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub—and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world—either click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

Yes, for the last ten days I’ve been officially en vacance and it’s been fabulous.

I realised a little while back that I hadn’t had a proper break, ie a complete r’n’r break from the everyday work and routine since before the September 2010 earthquake—and of course it’s been quite the two years since then, with Christchurch’s plus 10,000 earthquakes and all the aftermath of that. (Touched on in the Earthquake Reports in the sidebar, for those who may be new to the blog.)

At any rate, since we all know the adage about ‘all work & no play’ and I didn’t want to risk that awful fate for the writing, I decided that a holiday was called for. And all in all it felt like ‘just what the doctor ordered’ to depart this…

… for this:

Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables behind

Although the holiday had it’s road trip elements, Queenstown—which sits in the shadow of the Remarkable mountain range (and several others, in fact), beside Lake Wakatipu in the alpine area of the South Island’s Otago province—was always the intended destination. Once there the combination of mountains, lakes, sunshine, vineyards and the spectacular great outdoors were enough to make staying a ‘must.’ Although I have to say that there was plenty of sitting around with a good book as well—several good books in fact. (And yes, the ‘reports’ back are coming! 😉 )

In fact, expect several more holiday posts as the week unfolds—but in the meantime, here’s another holiday ‘lakes and mountain’ shot to enjoy:

Lake Wakatipu, looking south & west towards Glenorchy

One of my favourite flowers is the hardy and common Flanders poppy—or ANZAC poppy as it is known here, for the Australian New Zealand Army Corps that served in Flanders & elsewhere throughout World War 1.

So this little series celebrating spring with a few “just this” moments from the garden wouldn’t be complete without some shots of the first poppies coming into bloom—these ones by the very traditional white painted fence! 🙂

The white flower growing alongside the poppies is alyssum, another common flower but still a favourite of mine.

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“Insist on yourself. Never imitate.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I saw this on a friend’s calendar, and liked it so much I had to share, especially as it seemed good for life, not just for writing. 😉

And of course Emerson was an essayist and poet as well as a philosopher—but to find out more about him you can read both what Wikipedia has to say, here, and also the American Transcendentalist Web, here. (Emerson was an—or the—leading American Transcendentalist of the 19th century.)

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I haven’t even gotten around to telling you that I had Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone to read, let alone that I enjoyed it when I actually read it earlier this year, which is something of a mea culpa for a writer’s blog…

But never mind, I hope to make it all up to you very soon because the sequel Days of Blood and Starlight has just arrived (hurrah!) and I shall not only be reading it, but with luck, doing an interview with Laini Taylor—I would love to do one and bring it to you here but it may depend on the author’s availability as well as mine. We shall see. 😉

But in the meantime, I really like the cover—and here’s what the back cover ‘blurb’ has to say:

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“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is–and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?”

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Sounds good, doesn’t it—and having enjoyed the first book, I really hope that it is!

Not necessarily “terribly important” thoughts, but when I posted Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison’s quote on Saturday, I visited the Nobel Prize website.

The visual context of the site struck me in quite a profound way. Across the top is a header, which reads:

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Physics … Chemistry … Medicine … Literature … Peace … Economics

The fact that Literature was there was “the thing” that struck me—not because I think it is in any way out of place, but because the impression one gets in discussions of higher education funding in our modern world is that the humanities are definitely seen as a third or even fourth class citizen to sciences, engineering and commerce.

Yet Alfred Nobel, who according to the site was a “Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite, engineer, armaments manufacturer, [and] business man” endowed one of his 5 original prizes to Literature, alongside Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Peace. (The Economics Prize was endowed later by the Sveriges Riksbank.) In Nobel’s eyes at least, therefore, Literature was perceived as both First Class, and equal…

Perhaps, in our contemporary consideration of what has value in societal and learning terms, we need to ask ourselves why Nobel might have given Literature that standing.

Or perhaps the answer comes from the citation for the very first Nobel Prize for Literature, awarded to the French poet and philosopher Sully Prudhomme, who in his poetry showed the “rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect”.

Heart and intellect—and offering us a lens perhaps, through which to examine ourselves…

Literature, a pursuit of equal value with Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Peace.

Who’d have thought?

On Sunday I promised you some more “just this” photos to celebrate spring and in particular spring/early summer in the garden.

And on Friday I featured the new cookbook from Claudia Roden the Food of Spain that I “just had to have.”

So in the spirit of both posts here is a “Just This” photo featuring the kitchen garden…

(Hmm, you can still see a remnant of liquefaction film over those bricks though…)

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