Last night I got to go and hear Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins in concert with the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Kohn—and it was ah-maz-ing! Words really can’t express the wonderfulness of the evening—the colour, the music, the voices—but I might try a little later in the day! 🙂 For the moment though, I’m still in wow mode!

2 pm: OK, back again, although I plan to keep it pretty simple. But last night’s event worked for me on a great many levels:

• firstly, even at (almost) 70, Placido Domingo still has a great voice. And as was so rightly mentioned in the programme, his has been one of the defining voices of world opera for 50 years. So what a tremendous privilege to be able to hear a singer of such calibre and gravitas live.
• I loved the generoisty with which he and Katherine Jenkins shared the stage with each other and the orchestra. Ms Jenkins has a very beautiful voice—and an impressive array of beautiful and colourful dresses!—but what really shone through was her personality and grace.
• I can only imagine what a thrill it must have been for the National Youth Orchestra to have the opportunity to work, not just with singers like Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins, but with a conductor of the calibre of Eugene Kohn. Although the young musicians’ performance was not flawless, overall I thought they played tremendously well and did themselves and their country proud—and several of their orchestral features were highlights for me.
• Most of all it was just the event. The auditorium—a sports stadium, but then this is post-earthquake Christchurch—was full to its 8000-seat capacity and everyone was there to celebrate and enjoy. And judging by the smiles on every face as we finally left (after a prolonged encore!) no one went away disappointed.

To celebrate what? Well, after the year we’ve had, I would simply have to say: ‘being here.’ And listening to last night’s combination of voice and music made me feel that was more than worthwhile.

Also, it was a benefit concert—with over $300,000 raised to rebuild the Court Theatre and for the Canterbury Symphony Orchestra. Good news all round—and a huge thank you to everyone involved in achieving that.

"The Heir Of Night" map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

You know, I was going to start this post and say, “Last week I talked about …” But then I looked back and found that it wasn’t last week at all, but in fact September 21—two weeks ago yesterday!—that I posted on “Celebrating the Seasons in The Gathering of the Lost.” As I so succinctly phrased it in my September 1 post on the Supernatural Underground: “Where Does Time Go?” (And don’t even get me started on the impending doom that is Christmas!)

Anyway, back to core business! September 21 was the spring equinox—autumn in the northern hemisphere—and that got me thinking about the influence of seasonal change, and cultural celebrations associated with that, on The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night Book Two) story. To find out more than that, you’ll have to read the post, here. 😉

Jaransor; art by Peter Fitzpatrick

As I’ve also mentioned over the past few weeks, part of my prep. for getting into Daughter of Blood (The Wall of Night Book Three) has been going through Gathering and picking up story threads. In doing this, I’ve also noticed that sense of place is also a very strong influence on the evolving story. In The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night Book One) I explored four main environments: the Wall of Night itself, the adjoining Gray Lands, the hills of Jaransor, and of course the Gate of Dreams—each with its own distinctive character. And even then, there is often reference to the wider world of Haarth:

” … Malian rested one forefinger on the table that was one of the greatest treasures … in the Earl’s quarter of the New Keep.  A map of the Wall and all the known lands of Haarth had been etched into the wood and inlaid with precious metals to show the salient details of each country.  A sinuous vein of gold marked the River, the mighty Ijir with its two great tributaries and multitude of prosperous city states, all built on the back of the river trade.  Each city was picked out in a minute precision of turrets or minarets or spires, depending on its character, and in whatever heraldic colors had belonged to it when the table was made.

Malian’s dark, slender brows were drawn together, the set of her young mouth thoughtful as she spun the table surface slowly round, so that the Wall and surrounding Gray Lands gave way to the Barren Hills, then to the River and all the countries to the south.  A line of pewter marked the thousand leagues of road that ran from Emer to fabled Ishnapur and beyond that again was the vast and unknown desert, a sea of dunes wrought in jasper, topaz and bronze.

It was all so vast.  Even the Winter Country, which was considered close, was a very long way from the Keep of Winds, with both the Wall mountains and league on league of Gray Lands in between … ”

The Gathering of the Lost brings in new environments from places marked on that map—and reading through the manuscript, I like to think that they are as distinctive, in terms of ‘sense of place’ as the original four from The Heir of Night (which do still come into the new book.) In fact, the 5 parts of the Gathering story are named either for one of the seasonal festivals discussed on September 21—or for a place or region in the Haarth world. One of them at least you ‘should’ recognise from Heir: it’s The Border Mark.

But reading that map extract from Heir—is there anywhere in the Haarth world where you’d like to find out more in terms of “sense of place?”

Last Friday I posted about comfort reading—how we turn to certain books and authors just because they’re familiar and we know we’re not going to go wrongwith any of their stories.

The converse situation is when there are books and authors you’ve just taken far too long to get around to reading. Jennifer Fallon is one of those authors, Lion of Senet one of those books.

And yes, “I know”—Lion of Senet first came out in 2002, so I’m definitely behind the times. But better late than never, I say!

At any rate, I had the opportunity to read it recently and enjoyed the ride.  I liked the SciFi elements to what is essentially a Fantasy story, with the world that has two suns—one a dwarf, if I have understood the book correctly, orbiting a larger star. Plus the backstory of science versus religion. I also enjoyed the characters—well, except for Tia who really was a very annoying girl, but then, I think she was meant to be so I don’t think that can be held up as a criticism of the book!

The character I enjoyed most though, was Antonov Latanya, the “Lion of Senet” for whom the book is named—mainly because of the layers to his personality. He is a sincerely religious zealot who nonetheless uses religion to further his worldly political purposes; charming and generous when it pleases him, cruel and sadistic when it suits. Singleminded and ruthless, certainly; also clever. In many ways he is typical of princes of the renaissance era, but I enjoyed that duality being brought to the page of a fantasy novel where there is a tendency to paint characters in black and white.

And characters aside, I’m definitely interested enough in the twists and turns of the story to be hunting out the next book, which I think is Eye of the Labyrinth. Yes indeed, I want to know what happens next!

Windowpane

The cat rasps her claws on cabbage tree bark,
a note of bird, full chorus done.
Grasses wear a soft embalm. Twilight
could be ripped with engine roar
or the slam of a door, could be
pre-earthquake crackling. At the window
seeing through then seeing the through
— waved rippled glass
bubbled, a larger lozenge
you press your eye to:
edges fur, earth and tree,
all the old familiar ground
made queer. You live a moment of between
opened in a distraught glass. The glazier
left a perfect tear.
.
© Rhian Gallagher
~ published in Shift, Auckland University Press, 2011

Reproduced here with permission.

—

On August 23, I featured Butterfly, from Rhian Gallagher’s new collection Shift (AUP) on the Tuesday Poem Hub. Since then I have been slowly working my way through the collection, chiefly because these are not poems you zip through. Each one demands time, effort, thought—and very often compels a swift return to re-read.

Shift is divided into three parts: Shift, Butterfly, and Shore. To date, I have completed reading the first section, Shift, which I feel deals with: place—the shift between New Zealand and England and associated journeys; with time—the shift between childhood and adulthood, experience and recollection; and family—the subtleties and shift of the emotional currents that shape our lives.

I asked Rhian if I could feature Windowpane as my Tuesday Poem today because for me it has a strongly New Zealand feel, but also because of the deeply observational nature of the poem, and the way it captures that sense of experience and recollection, “now” and—in the same moment— “then.”

—

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.

OK, it’s official—today I am at work on Daughter of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three. I did a little bit of work over the past few weeks, picking up story threads from The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night Book Two) but as of today I am officially “on the job.” There’s no turning back now!

.

—

Images by Peter Fitzpatrick

.

Mary Victoria’s Oracle’s Fire On Sale Today!

Oracle’s Fire, the third and final book in Mary Victoria’s Chronicles of the Tree series (Harper Voyager) is on sale today—in bricks and mortar bookstores throughout Australia and New Zealand and several online booksellers as well. There’s a launch post from Mary on her blog, here, which contains information about “where to buy.”

I hope to bring you an interview with Mary, focusing on Oracle’s Fire, sometime in the next month. In the meantime, you can read my Samiha’s Song (The Chronicles of the Tree, Book Two) interview with Mary here, and a more recent interview on Beauty and Lace, here.

.

—

Arts on Sunday: Lynn Freeman Discusses Shift with Poet, Rhian Gallagher

You may recall that on August 23 I was guest editor on the Tuesday Poem hub and featured the poem Butterfly, by Rhian Gallagher, from her newly released collection Shift (Auckland University Press.)

Yesterday, Radio New Zealand presenter, Lynn Freeman, interviewed Rhian on the Arts on Sunday programme. If you missed this thoughtful interview live, you can listen to it on podcast here.

I’m posting on the Supernatural Underground today and my guest post is:

Heroines & Villainesses—Which Do We Prefer?

To find out and/or make your preference known, head on over to the Supernatural Underground and post a comment, here.

.

.

And there’s a giveaway, with two books up for grabs:

• Feed by Mira Grant

• Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris. (And you can read my recent interview with Pip & Tee, here.)

To enter the draw you do have to post on the Supernatural Underground—but you can gain extra points by commenting here as well. 😉

The draw will be open for comments until 12 midnight, 2 October US Eastern Standard Time.

Besides, that is, grrgh-aarrghing over Earthquake Commission and related insurance claimery as per my Thursday post …

Well, firstly, I have just updated my website. No big new look or stunning new art, but just keeping all the news and events etc up to date. I know it’s important, but sometimes it is hard to keep up with, especially when I’m “on deadline.”

But now ’tis done—and one important piece of news (having fielded several recent queries via blog & webmail!) that you should find on the “Home”,  “Books”, “The Wall of Night Series”, and “News” pages is that there is now an official publication date for The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Series Book Two) in both  the USA and UK/AU/NZ. It’s 27 March in the US;  7 April for UK/AU/NZ.  So there you are, something specific/definite to look forward to! 😉

Although still early days, one of the things that I’ve been doing over the past week is providing feedback on, and input into, the cover for the UK mass market edition of Heir and the UK trade cover for The Gathering of the Lost. I “always” have feedback to give (both my agent and editors would be rolling their eyes about now if they were reading this 😉 ), but I have to say that overall I am very pleased with the cover concepts I’ve currently seen—and the last time I saw the mock-ups for the USA cover, that was looking absolutely fabulous as well.

"Red cover, blue cover ..."

Just as with the blue and red covers though, they’re very different in style so I’ll look forward to getting your feedback once they’re finalised. I’ll be very interested to hear what “speaks” to you as readers.

I indicated last week that I’d begun work on The Wall of Night Book Three—working title, Daughter of Blood. Although I had to press ‘pause’ to do the earthquake stuff I am now getting back to it and have set myself an ambitious writing schedule for the months to come. So we’ll see how that goes …

I also indicated last week that I hoped to be able to bring you an interview with Daniel Abraham, author of  the new epic Fantasy series, The Path of Dragons. That interview has now been confirmed so I hope to bring it to you either late next week or the following. I’m quite excited about it and hope that you will be, too, once you get to read it.

I’m also thinking about new things to post about on the blog, maybe even as regular features—but before I launch into anything, what do you (yes, you!) think? Is there anything you would like to hear more of? Or simply hear about full stop? (ie That I’m not posting about right now.)  I’d love to hear your ideas!

On 1 May of this year I talked about “comfort reading” on the Supernatural Underground.

In that post, I discussed the comfort read in terms of ” … books that are like old friends. I can just pick them up, put my feet up and enjoy. I know I am going to be entertained—I have, after all, known and loved these particular friends for many years—and there is something deeply relaxing about spending quality time in company with a story like that. Sure, a new release or new-to-me book may be just as good. But then again, it may not. And when the going gets tough, I like to know I’m turning to friends I can rely on.”

But sometimes the comfort read category broadens out from particular books that you know and love, to authors themselves. These are the writers where you know, whenever you pick out one of their titles, that you are going to enjoy the ride. This particular book may not be your top read ever, or even the best story you’ve read by that particular author,  but you still know that whatever happens it won’t be bad, and far more likely you’re in for a good time.

In between the “grrgh-aarghing” of EQC forms and insurance claims (discussed yesterday) I have been sneaking in a read by one such author—Tamora Pierce.

Well, to be honest, several reads, because I was lucky enough to acquire the first three books in her “Protector of the Small” series recently: First Test, Page, and Squire.

I have been really enjoying them, for a number of reasons. First there’s a pleasant sense of homecoming, because the very first Tamora Pierce book I read was Alanna: the First Adventure, all about a girl, Alanna, who disguises herself as a boy in order to become a knight in the Fantasy kingdom of Tortall. The “Protector” series is also about a girl—Keladry—who wants to become a knight of Tortall—but Tamora Pierce is much too good a writer to just retell the same story over again. The Protector series is very much its own story and there is no sense in which Keladry is just Alanna with a change of name. For a start, Keladry is not disguised as a boy, but flying under her true colours as a girl trying to make it in a man’s world.

The rest of the story you will have to find out for yourself by reading the books, if you have not done so already. But one thing I have really appreciated in making my way through the three books, is just what very good stories they are. As the reader, I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy …

So what makes them such good stories—after all, the basic premise is ‘just-another-coming-of-age-tale’, right? Well, not quite … While to an extent the premise holds true, i.e. the “Protector” series is a coming-of-age tale, it also has the following Tamora Pierce hallmarks:

• an engaging plot;
• likeable interesting characters who “live and breathe” on the page;
• good pace, structure and continuity (so you’re never saying—“now, hold on a minute …”);
• although these are Junior/YA fiction, Ms Pierce never talks down to her readers, so her books are still enjoyable for an adult reader (I suspect this may make them more enjoyable for junior/YA readers as well);
• the books always appeal to me, because however adventurous—and I do love adventurous stories—there are always more serious issues to be traversed, which give the stories depth.

The simple truth, I believe, is that Tamora Pierce is a master storyteller, so that’s why, if I’m looking for the comfort of an assured good read, I never have any problem in picking up one of her titles. Even if I haven’t read it before, I know I’m in safe hands.

Yesterday I posted an earthquake report on the general situation in Christchurch one year on from the first major earthquake (7.1) on September 4, seven months from the devastating 6.3 on 22 February, and three months from the ‘deja vu’ 6.3 shock of June 13—assuming, for this purpose, my guise of your “’embedded’ reporter from the suburban rear lines.” 😉

But as one friend emailed me “off air” to say: “you didn’t mention anything about your personal situation.”

“Oh, that!” I replied.

“Yes,” she said. “That. Exactly.”

So, here goes with exactly that …

Overall, what I’d say is “we’re ok.” Our property has been zoned what’s called “green,” meaning that I’m not in an area that’s being “written off.” The house has taken a fair bit of damage, mostly in the area of the foundations, but is still perfectly livable—so when I talk about those twisted and broken houses that I see on my walks about the city, well I definitely count my blessings, then.

A lot of other things need fixing, too, like the sewer line, which now features an interesting crackle glaze effect courtesy of June 13—and this, like the house foundations, makes it likely that large parts of my garden, which I love, will have to be torn out to accommodate the repairs. Needless to say, even though I know that gardens can be replanted, that still hurts quite a bit.

And yes, half our life is still currently stored in boxes, and there’s likely to be a fair amount of stress and turmoil in future when the repairs eventually happen, particularly given that doing the foundations means that the house will have to be completely repainted and decorated afterward—yes, inside and out—as well as  the garden being re-planted, which will require moving out for a period. And right now I’m wrasslin’ with Earthquake Commission froms, and insurance forms—all the while emulating the “grrrgh-aarrgh” from the end of Buffy shows on a regular basis!—and cataloguing broken stuff (yes, you have to keep  all the debris until your contents claim is settled) and getting quotes, and it is stressful, but …

But, here’s the important thing, overall I have a place to live that’s weathertight and livable enough, and slowly, the threads of everyday life are starting to re-knit together—mainly in small ways, touching base with people I haven’t seen since before February 22nd, making plans for book-related activities again, seeing old businesses re-open and new ones tentatively hang out their shingle. I guess in that sense, spring really is on the move everywhere …

So although I know that saying, “Oh, I know there’s an awful ot of people who are worse off than me” can be hackneyed, I also feel that in this case, there really are—many, many more. And Pollyanna-ish though it may be—and despite not infrequent moments of grrrgh-aarrgh—I really do try and stay focused on that glass half full.

On Friday I said that: “I know I “should” do another Earthquake Report update—but quite honestly, mostly I’d rather not even talk about it. Just getting through it day-to-day can be tough enough.”

But when I looked back through the Earthquake Reports folder (under Categories in the far right hand sidebar), I realised that it really had been quite a while since I had given you all a proper update. And although the focus of the world has moved on—and quite rightly, because otherwise we would all be living in a state of vicarious trauma and nothing would ever get done—here the year of earthquakes is still very much the dominant shaper of Christchurch life.

Firstly, although the 5 distinct earthquake events were September 4, January 26, February 22, April 16 and June 13, there have now been over 8500 recorded quakes since September 4 2010—and yes, they are still going on, with earthquakes most days and the most recent “swarm” of activity occurring last Saturday 24. So we’re still being kept on our toes—and stastically, there could still be another big one. (May I say how much I hope that there isn’t?!)

Cashel "Mall" now

As I indicated on September 14—with the photos that accompanied the “peek inside” Neil Gaiman’s Inventing Aladdin, from the Tales for Canterbury anthology—the ongoing demolition of buildings continues, so that a zigzag through the central city—significant parts of which are still cordoned off—shows large areas of cleared ground where there used to be a thriving central area. Sadder still are those buildings yet to come down, like several hotels in the central area where you can see expanses of broken windows with torn curtains flapping through them. Mournful stuff, as are the slumped and twisted homes in areas around the river, with the banks on each side either twisted up or completely collapsed into what was once the bed of the waterway.

Once my gym, currently being demolished

So much completely gone: homes, businesses, churches, halls, sports centres, and of course people—with whole neighbourhoods largely abandoned in places, most obvious at night when you can drive through streets of dark, empty houses. A great many people have already left, both for other parts of New Zealand and Australia; every day you hear of others still weighing up their options.

Still broken ..

Significant areas of the city have also now been zoned “red,” meaning that the land condition is considered incapable of remediation and so both homes and lands are being “written off,” placing large numbers of residents in the situation of having to find other places to live. (There are complications around fair recompense for the written off properties, too, of course, plus market values shooting up in the areas that have survived the earthquakes better.)

On a more positive note, as well as demolition, everywhere you look there’s also repair and rebuilding, chiefly of roads, sewer and stormwater, and other vital public infrastructure. Buildings will generally be slower to come back: many owners are still waiting on insurance money and private investors will likely be wary until there is more surety that the earthquake activity has really died down. And not surprisingly, it’s incredibly difficult to get new insurance right now!

But spring still comes, regardless ...

What else is positive? Well, it’s spring: everywhere you look, amidst and around the ruin, there is blossom, bulbs flowering, and a sense of life springing up again—of continuance. It reminds me, in an indirect way, of the rooster in JRR Tolkien’s The Return of the King, at the end of the seige of Minas Tirith—how the bird senses the dawn coming above the darkness of sorcery and prolonged battle, and crows, “wreaking nothing of wizardry and war.” So, too, with the spring here—it wreaks nothing of earthquakes and destruction of the built environment, but pushes up again, and on, regardless.

I think we will do the same—are already starting to, if not quite with the same verve and elan as spring! The world will right itself, but in the meantime there is still loss—a great deal of it for some people—and a long way to go, the work of years not months and one that will also be influenced by outside forces, such as what is happening in the world economy right now. Serious thoughts indeed, but not without that touch of brightness: the clump of daffodils by the roadside; the arch of blossom across a pale spring sky.