Swarm

Spring again—
bringing
the first yellow nod
of daffodils
among the bricks
of last year’s fallen chimney
………. and a fresh swarm
of earthquakes
building
in intensity

I think about leaving

.
© Helen Lowe, 2011

—

Sunday September 4 marked the first anniversary of the year that saw Christchurch suffer 3 major earthquakes (7.1, September 4; 6.3, February 22nd; 6.3, June 13) and  8543 recorded shakes, which are still ongoing.

—

To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets around the world, click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

Wearable Art, Outside WOW

Yesterday I took a much needed getaway from the everyday writing round and the anniversary of the initial, 7.1 earthquake (yes, it was exactly 12 months yesterday since Christchurch’s ‘year of living dangerously’ began) and went to WOW—the World of Wearable Arts event in Wellington.

And let me tell you, this was a show, with a wonderful array of artistic creations across 7 categories—Children’s, Illumination & Illusion, Creative Excellence, Open, Man Unleashed, Avant Garde, and Kiwi Icons—choreographed together with dance and vocal performance. And many of the entries had a decidedly SFF feel–including a very “steampunk” Commended  entrant in the Avant Garde category, titled ‘When Brunel Met Chanel.’  

WOW has been going for over 20 years now, growing from a small event in Nelson to a major international one in Wellington, and it is the first time I’ve been. But allow me to say—-I was wowed: the World of Wearable Art is an amazing experience and definitely worth every cent of the ticket, imo.

No photos allowed, unfortunately, so I can’t convey the visual spectacle, but you can see all the category winners and commendeds on the WOW website, here.

Just a quick end-of-week round up for today, as I deal to the tail end of the  copyedit—which is al-most done. In fact, there is just the one chapter—16 pages—and the Glossary left to go, plus writing the Acknowledgements. So just about there, and it should all be back in New York by the 12th, which was my original best estimate.

And then I’ll be getting straight into writing Book 3—Daughter of Blood.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about that!

—

And don’t forget, coming up next Sunday September 11 at 2.00 pm, I will be a guest at the  Amberley Writers’ Tea Party, to be held at the Hurunui Memorial Library in Amberley, just north of Christchurch. Together with my fellow guests, James Norcliffe and Joanna Orwin, I will be chatting about my writing, and reading from my books. 

 So if you’re going to be in the area anyway, or fancy enjoying a writer’s tea party, then hie thee to Amberley next weekend. 😉

Because I am currently so busy with the copyedit of The Gathering of the Lost, (The Wall of Night Series, Book Two) reading for pleasure has had to take  back seat. But just before the copyedit manuscript arrived I finally got to read Iain M Banks’ Surface Detail, the latest novel set in his Culture ‘verse, which came out last year.

Now I was probably always going to enjoy this book, because I am a  longtime fan of the Culture ‘verse, ever since I read Consider Phlebus—which may even be Banks’ first novel, not just his first Culture novel.

To me, the ‘verse of the Culture is space opera at its best—and here’s three of the things I really love about it: the ships, the ships, the ships.  (Oh yes, and knife missiles.) The Culture is a super-civilization of humans and AIs, and many/most of the latter take the form of ships. (Space ships, that is.) So the fact that Surface Detail featured several Culture ships, but most particularly the enfant-terrible, Abominator-class warship, Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints, was a fairly certain source of guaranteed happiness. And I was not disappointed—I very much enjoyed my time spent with Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints and its avatar Demeisen.

As with many Banks’ books there were a number of parallel stories running—all of which did come together at the end—and one of which, the idea of virtual Hells, as well as the parallel virtual war to decide whether they should be allowed to continue or not, I found intriguing if not always particularly pleasant.

A note to those who have not read Iain M Banks before—there are always elements that are not particularly pleasant, and may be downright repugnant. Although I sometimes find these difficult, the overall interest of the Culture universe, and above all the fascination of the ships, always brings me back to Banks’ world. In this case—despite a few too many science-y infodumps for my unadulterated enjoyment—I very much enjoyed Surface Detail. And I loved all the ships just as much as ever!

I have my regular Supernatural Underground blog post up today titled:

Where “Does” Time Go?

Worth a look, because it may not be quite what you first think … 😉

And yes, there are Dr Who references and a giveaway—so rock on over, check it out, and tell me where you think time goes …

“Fun With Thornspell” has been the first month long feature I’ve run on the blog—and I’ll be honest, when I started I wondered if I could really keep it going over the five Thursdays. Now I’m at that fifth and final Thursday I find it’s more a question of which aspect I should choose to talk about in relation to Thornspell today, because I can think of—well, quite a few!

But firstly, you can still comment today—that is, to tell me the character in Thornspell that you would love  a short story written about—and why that character. And remember, once the judges—introduced here—make their selection I will actually be writing a short story about that character and featuring it here on the blog—with a dedication to the person whose nomination was selected.

So don’t hold back, get in with your preferred character today—and remember, the judges will be looking for the most interesting/intriguing/fun reason why  particular characters are getting put forward.

Secondly, now we have come to the end—what happens next?

First up, the judges will be making their selection and I hope this will happen during the course of next week. So I should be coming back to you with a result sometime between the end of next week, 5-9 September, or early the following, 12-16 September.

And then I will be writing the story! I cannot put a precise timeframe on the when, but I hope to have  it up here on the blog within a month to six weeks of the result being announced.

So that’s roughly what’s going to happen from here. Now thirdly, for my end of the deal today …

About Thornspell: The Boar Hunt

The part of the book comprising the boar hunt and its aftermath is the centre of the Thornspell story, ie it is literally in the middle of the book, and it is also the sequence that completes the first part of the story, which is Sigismund’s childhood, and opens up the second, where the spell of thorns has to be unravelled.

A lot of readers have been kind enough to tell me that they really enjoyed the boar hunt sequence, and that it feels authentic. But a number have also expressed puzzlement, simply because it does feel so authentic and what can I—a middle class gal living in the ‘burbs of a reasonable sized city, actually know about boar hunting?

Well, here’s the thing. I didn’t always live in the ‘burbs of a reasonable sized city. Once upon a time I lived way out on the wild west coast of NZ’s North Island, in a very remote, isolated community with lots of bush and scrub country all around—and there were wild pigs in them thar hills. And a great many people in that small, isolated community went pig hunting. Seeing—mainly—men ride out into the hills early in the day, with guns and dogs, and the clip of their horses’ hooves at night as they returned, with or without pigs slung across the horses’ backs, was just part of the round of daily life.

Obviously, a lot of that experience went into the boar hunt in Thornspell—but I didn’t rely on it completely. I also did a fair bit of reading about the importance of hunting in medieval and renaissance Europe, both as necessity, but especially once the hunt became formalised in courtly life. And I think it’s true to say that is where authenticity comes from—often times research can be really important, especially where your story has an historical setting, but you can’t beat a leavening of real life experience thrown into the mix! 😉

—

So there it is: a little bit about the boar hunt! And now to both leave you for today and to wrap up “Fun With Thornspell” for the month, here’s an excerpt:

.

~ from Chapter 7, The Boar Hunt

…

It was some time before a hound caught the boar’s scent and bayed, a great belling cry, and then the rest of the pack gave voice and hunting horns wound on every side. The wind stung Sigismund’s eyes to tears, and the thunder of his horse’s hooves echoed the blood pounding in his veins. He yelled with the rest as the hunt caught first sight of the boar, but then fell silent, concentrating on keeping his horse on its feet in the difficult terrain.

The boar ran, heading for the roughest brakes and the dark, unbroken line of the deep forest beyond. The hunt surged in pursuit, but as the hours passed and the boar kept on, apparently tireless, both men and horses began to drop behind. Sigismund changed horses when the brown began to slow, then pressed forward again, but he began to doubt as the day lengthened and the cloud cover thickened, fearing that the boar was going to outrun them after all. Their numbers had dwindled significantly by now, so that fewer than half of those who had set out were still following when the boar crossed into the deep woods. Sigismund was impressed at how many of the local hunters had kept up with the horses, tireless as the wolves they resembled, even if they had been able to take shortcuts through the rougher country.

He looked around as they passed beneath the trees and saw Flor, his face a grimy mask as he grinned and raised a hand in salute. Sigismund suspected that his own appearance was little better, and Ban Valensar was muddied from a fall, although he was still riding. His cousin Adrian, however, was amongst those who had fallen behind.

The Master’s horn sounded up ahead, and there was a change in the timber of the hounds’ cries. Flor yelled something, but it was borne away beneath pounding hooves and the blast of Ban’s horn as he blew it in reply. Sigismund was sure the change must mean that the boar had been brought to bay at last, and that the huntsmen would be going in for the kill. As if to confirm his suspicions, the hounds’ cries became frenzied, then broke off in a confusion of baying and shouting. Horns were sounding from every side as he came out of the trees and into a long glade—and saw the black boar charging toward him. It must have doubled back, and although there were hounds harrying it on either side, they were unable to bring it down.

…

Two PC Power: 1 to run the copyeditor's ms; 1 for mine---and there's still all that paper for the marked up copy!

Yes indeed, still working my way through that manuscript and definitely whittling it down!

The process overall is going smoothly, although I have realised that I still have an awful lot to learn about American spelling. I thought I was getting pretty good at it, but as it turns out there are still a very surprises in the mix, like “skeptical” with a “k” instead of “sceptical” with a “c.” Still, it keeps life interesting! 😉

Recently, a few people have asked me to explain the difference between an “edit” and a “copyedit”?

The way I look at it, the “edit” is about the story. For example, is the plot actually working? Are the characters real and believable? Should the end of the story be at the beginning, or the beginning at the end? Is there a giant continuity error lurking in the middle of your fundamental plot premise like an incipient black hole that will never allow your book to escape the event horizon … You know, that kind of thing! The edit process will likely pick up small stuff as well, typos and grammatical errors and so on, but that’s not it’s primary purpose—the edit is about getting the big picture right.

The copyedit, on the other hand, is definitely about sweating the small stuff—and if you find yourself encountering big picture isues still, that’s ‘be afraid, be very afraid’ territory! The small stuff, by and large, is about spelling and grammar, missing words, repetition of words and phrases, and the smaller array of continuity/consistency errors, eg if your hero has black hair in the first chapter and is blond by mid-manuscript (but hasn’t been to the hairdresser and had foils in-between times) then that is the kind of discrepancy that the copyedit process should pick up. And it is important, because an array of small errors may well shake a reader’s confidence in, as well as their enjoyment of the work.

So I take both the edit and copyedit processes very seriously, because they are both vital to the overall quality of the work.

OK, down to business! As of this morning, progress to copyedit completion is:

• Target pages per day to finish this week: 73
• Pages completed to date: 509—which puts me offically over 2/3rds of the way through the total manuscript
• Pages left until completion: 219 (including the glossary)

Plus, at the end of that I will have to write the Acknowledgments section and the dedication, but that should be the easy part!

Enchantress of Numbers
Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
.

One

On the table
is a dancing girl
made of silver, spun by gears
and cogs    she pirouettes
………………….she arabesques
and when she begins to slow
I wind the key again
…….let her go

My father the poet, my mother
the parallelogram
……….two lines
……….that should never have crossed
Passion and
reason, frenzy and logic
………..…….It’s no wonder
it ended as it did

.

Two

She said she was protecting me
from his blood, my blood
and the poison that was waiting there

Sitting at my desk
my books open
she wrapped me, laced me
in numbers, equations
like a whale-bone corset
to keep my back
straight, my spine aligned
and threaded through my mind
little lines of logic
a program for equilibrium

And so you see
…………………it was my mother
who first programmed         me

But maybe the software
doesn’t work
I think, in the dark summerhouse
with my tutor
Maybe a line of code
is incorrect
as I feel the lick
of his eyelashes
against my shoulder

He is dismissed
I walk five miles
to find him
but he has already gone

.

Three

A present from my mother
and today   not even
…………….my birthday
I am twenty years of age
I am safely married
I am waiting
for my own first child
I am no longer an accident
waiting to happen

She sends me
something dangerous, something
explosive
Behind my composure
I faint as I tear
the corner of the paper
rip away
the shield, the protection
and there he is
glowing
within the gilt frame
turban knotted around
his noble head
……………..I see in him
my own eyes, my mouth
the cleft of my chin

and I can see
why she kept this
kept    him
from me

.

Four

I never met him, my father
………… but I grew
in his shadow, in his light
What he was with words
I would be
with numbers
An alchemist, an enchantress
…………….I promised    myself

I first saw the dancing girl
in Babbage’s studio
A toy, a fancy
My eyes lighted
on a plainer set of
cogs and wheels
engraved with numbers
……………..The Difference Engine
The other ladies scattered
their tinkling laughter but I
asked, ‘How does it work?’

He told me
……………….and I understood

.

Five

The Analytical Engine
was harder, because
……. it didn’t exist
except in our minds
.. But I   .can explain it
share it
It will change
everything

I am a prophetess, a seer

In me
the twin streams meet
His blood, not drained
but flowing with her reason
I have watched for it
waited, afraid
of the madness, the badness
the danger, but now
I think I may be
the answer to the equation

Numbers dance
to the beat of the iamb
trochee, spondee
numbers make music
poetry
if you listen
with the right ear

And so you see
……………………. … I am his daughter
after all

.

(c) Helen Rickerby

Published in My Iron Spine, HeadworX, 2008

—

About Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace  (1815–1852)

Daughter of the poet Byron and his wife Annabella Milbanke. Her mother left Byron when Ada was one month old, believing him mad and immoral. He was never allowed to see Ada again. Fond of mathematics herself, Annabella had Ada trained in maths in the hope it would discipline her away from any poetic or deviant nature she may have inherited from her father. Ada is best known for her notes to her translation of a scientific paper explaining Charles Babbage’s design for the Analytical Engine, a precursor to the computer. She has been called the first computer programmer because one of the notes contains what is generally considered to be the first (albeit theoretical) computer program. It was Charles Babbage who called Lovelace the “Enchantress of Numbers”, writing the following in 1843 (Toole 1998, Acknowledgment):

“Forget this world and all its troubles and if possible its multitudinous Charlatans – every thing in short but the Enchantress of Numbers.”

About Helen Rickerby:

Resident in Wellington, New Zealand, Helen Rickerby is a fellow Tuesday Poet, Managing Editor of Seraph Press, and co-managing editor of JAAM with Clare Needham. Helen has published her work in various literary journals, mainly in New Zealand. Her first collection of poetry, Abstract Internal Furniture, was published by HeadworX in 2001 and her second, My Iron Spine, followed in 2008.

Enchantress of Numbers is one of the very many, fine poems in My Iron Spine, which I have recently read and enjoyed very much.

—

To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets around the world, click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

—

And don’t forget: this month’s ” … on Anything, Really” feature is “Fun With Thornspell.” You can find out more here and here.

The copyedit work station, with the "box half full", ie pages yet to be looked at---and the completed chapters at front.

So here it is—the pictorial evidence that I am now officially over half way through the manuscipt. Actually I am now beyond half way as I have completed another 65 pages since the photo was taken yesterday: definitely a wOOt moment!

So here’s the countdown:

– Target pages per day to finish by August 31: 100 (ie so this is not going to happen, given my best single rate to date was 71 pages in a day)

– Pages completed to date: 428

– Pages until completion (including glossary): 300

So although I am not going to meet the original ‘best case’ target of having a completed ms back in New York by Wednesday 31, I am pretty confident I will have the whole shebang en route by the close-of-play Friday 2nd at the latest—a clear week ahead of my ‘worst case’ target.  And I am pretty happy with that!

Just gotta keep up that focused work for another 5 days …

Wanna know the really good part though—so far, that Gathering story is just rocking along! 🙂

You may recall from earlier in the year that I was scheduled to speak to the Christchurch  Friends of the Library on Tuesday 14 June? And then the June 13 earthquakes happened and so of course it had to be postponed while the venue, the South Library, was structurally checked!

Well, not only did the South Library check out for post-earthquake safety goodness, but the Friends of the Library event has now been rescheduled for Tuesday October 18. So here’s the info for those of you who may be geographically and temporally (ha!–can you tell I’ve been reading an Iain M Banks “Culture” novel lately?) able to make it:

Theme: I shall be reading from some of my recent works and speaking about my personal path to international publication & being a NZ fiction author published overseas—as well as why writing SFF is just the best!

Date: Tuesday 18 October

Time: 12.15 pm for a 12.30 pm start (to be confirmed.)

Venue: Christchurch South Library, 66 Colombo St: cnr Colombo and Hunter Terrace

Entry: gold coin fee

And as before, I would love—those geographic & temporal conditions allowing ;-)—to see any and all of you who can make it along.