Yesterday—well, Saturday night really—we put our clocks back: we are now no longer on daylight saving (summer) time. So although we can kid ourselves that we’ve got autumn in reserve, we know in our bones that “winter is coming …”

The signs have been there anyway: that decided coolness in the air at morning and evening and the first trees starting to turn colour (more noticeable when I was in Wakatipu and Southland the week before last), but the end of daylight saving sounds that final knell. The evenings are going to draw in dark and close, and although the mornings will be lighter for a few weeks, that too will quickly pass.

Great for writing, of course, and also for watching a good TV series during those lengthening evenings. On which note …

Sean Bean as Ned Stark

“Winter is coming” has a whole new meaning this year because the HBO series of “A Game of Thrones”, based on the book of the same name by George RR Martin, is also coming our way. A Game of Thrones is the first in Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, which currently stands at 4 books with a 5th promised to coincide with release of the HBO series. The central characters in the book are the Stark family of Winterfell and their motto is–you’ve guessed it—“Winter is coming.”

When I first read A Game of Thrones way back in the late 1990s I thought it was one of the best Fantasy novels I had read in a long, long time. Martin has set up a rich, complex and dangerous world where the onset of winter means not just many years (seasons run in years in this world, not months) of physical privation but also the awakening of old, dark forces. The characters are human, flawed—and fascinating, and I am both excited and apprehensive as to what HBO will have made of so complex a story. The initial stills are encouraging in that the casting seems to be very good—and the trailers have caught the “winter is coming” atmosphere.

Here’s a couple of trailer links for you to check out for yourself:

“The Raven”

and

“Winter is Coming”

The series is scheduled for release in the States on 17 April and in the UK on April 18. I hope it will not be too much longer before it shows here in NZ, but in any case, not many sleeps now until I find out whether HBO have captured the power of the book.

Since I last posted on March 26, I am still reading Ian McDonald’s River of Gods. As I said then, normally this is the kind of book I would love and race through—it’s cyberpunk scifi with an array of characters and layers of complexity to the plot. Intellectually, I know it’s a good read but emotionally I just can’t connect with the story.  I suspect this is because the February 22nd earthquake and its aftermath have been such an emotionally draining time that stories that demand concentration and emotional energy are not the right reading “fit.” So if I don’t get it finished this week I may put it aside and come back to it a little later in the year.

A book I have completed recently was Daniel Abrahams’ A Betrayal in Winter, the second in his “The Long Price” quartet. You may recall that I had just enjoyed the first book, A Shadow in Summer, when I posted on February 6. I was intrigued by the world, which has a decidedly Sino-Japanese “feel” to it and also by the characters and depth of the story.  A Betrayal in Winter built on those strengths and I enjoyed the story even more—possibly because I’m also getting more “into” the world and the characters. Betrayal is what I would call “political-cultural SFF”, where the story revolves around intrigue and personalities rather than sword-swinging action, but it definitely doesn’t feel “slow.”

And just by the way, for those of you who followed Mary Victoria’s Writing Strong Women guest blog series—Daniel Abrahams writes great female characters. I think the accountant (yes, I know, a bean-counter, but …) Amat Kyaan in A Shadow in Summer, and the princess Idaan Machi in A Betrayal in Winter are two of the most interesting women I’ve encountered in SFF for some time.

So how about you, what are you reading right now?

On the first of every month I post on the Supernatural Underground, a blog for writers of speculative fiction published by HarperCollinsUSA.

1 April (it’s still 1 April in the USA) being my mother’s birthday, I have focused today’s post on three characters that I consider to be among the great “moms” of SciFi-Fantasy.  (And yup, writing the post made me realise just how few there are who feature as major characters. And yes again, even in books written by women.)

So do go on over, have a read and leave a comment. I’d love to see you there.

On Monday 21 I put up my NZ Book Month, Here I Come post, letting you all know that I was off to Queenstown and Southland, as a guest of the Dan Davin Literary Foundation, to do my bit for NZ Book Month.

I decided to pre-schedule posts for the week I was away, partly because I already knew that my schedule was very heavy and I might be too tired to do daily posts, but also because I suspected that internet coverage might be intermittent in some areas—and in fact both scenarios turned out to be correct, so hurrah for the ability to pre-schedule. (After all, I would not like to fail in my commitment to posting every day … )

I have been a little dilatory in writing up my Book Month week away though, for some of the reasons canvassed in yesterday’s post, i.e. arriving back to find out that we were next up on the EQC list to have our chimney removed etc—not a zero sum game in terms of either physical or emotional energy. And the Book Month tour was a heavy schedule, so I didn’t have a great deal of gas left in the tank when I did get back.

So just what did the heavy schedule involve? Basically I did four x 6-hour workshops for high school students over five days, flying to Queenstown on the Monday and taking the first workshop at Wakatipu High School on Tuesday 22. When that was over, I had to pack up and drive to Gore (fortunately the map lied: it said the drive took 2.5 hours but even for me, the world’s slowest driver, it was only 2) for the second workshop on the 23rd. Following that it was straight on to Invercargill, a much shorter, 3/4 hour drive and with no workshop following on the Thursday, although I did do an evening presentation for the general public at the Invercargill Public Library.  And then another two workshops on Friday and Saturday respectively, before returning home on Sunday.

I really enjoyed meeting the workshop participants and listening to their writing. (Yes, we did several exercises and I did ask participants to share what they wrote.) In general, I would say that everyone did well at the exercises, although there were always participants who stood out with each one (although not always the same students for each exercise, interestingly.)  And the groups were all fun and everyone was friendly and welcoming, which was great. I enjoyed meeting Rebecca, the Dan Davin organiser in Invercargill, in person at last, as well as having the opportunity to meet members of some of the adult writing groups there—one of which is specifically focused on speculative fiction ( 🙂 )

I kept the focus of the workshops on the elements of effective (fiction) writing generally, as I believe these are the same no matter what ‘flavour’ of fiction one writes and I guessed (rightly again) that the writing interests of the students would be varied. At the request of the Dan Davin Literary Foundation though, I did include a component on “world building”, which I feel is probably the main point-of-difference between science fiction-fantasy and all other types of fiction, as the latter always take place in some version of our “real” world. And although some participants were not familiar with the world building concept, I think I encouraged most of them to have some fun with it.

My “world building” component was only a brief ‘taste’ however—I think the main course will be provided through Tim Jones’ half day workshop on the same (or very similar) topic on 30 April.

Overall, I was impressed by the enthusiasm and talent of the participants—and very impressed by the literary programmes that the Dan Davin Literary Foundation is pulling together. Not just the Student Writing Workshops, although I think these are a fabulous initiative, but also the Readers and Writers Alive! events. I have already mentioned Tim Jones’s workshop, but my friend and fellow poet, Joanna Preston, will also be running her excellent “Reading for Writing” workshop as part of the same series. Two great writers and I’m sure, two equally great workshops—and then there’s “Story Time with Joy Cowley” and a dinner with historical novelist Jenny Pattrick. In fact, looking at the programme, I feel that NZ-ers with literary aspirations and/or enthusiasm might have to seriously consider moving to Southland!

(And may I mention, my fellow Christchurch residents—no earthquakes while I was there … )

So—lots of positives. In terms of negatives, there was really only one, which was that this tour came only one month after the major Christchurch earthquake on February 22nd and I had already dug deep to keep myself going through that. So although I set out for Wakatipu-Southland and NZ Book Month with enthusiasm, I didn’t have quite as much gas in the tank as I had hoped and the schedule was heavy, so I did find that to get through it I had to dig even deeper. Basically, it wasn’t until I left Christchurch that I realised how very tired I was (and am)—but I hope that neither the workshop participants nor the people who attended the Invercargill Public Library on the Thursday evening rumbled me on that one. I did my best to deliver a quality experience and hope that I succeeded.

Because as I said on the 21st—or if I didn’t, I should have—writing and NZ Book Month matter to me and ‘quaked or not, I welcome the opportunity to make a positive contribution.

I haven’t done one of these for a while—I have been focusing on trying to get back into some sort of everyday routine, as well as completing a very intensive Book Month tour to Wakatipu and Southland as a guest of the Dan Davin Literary Foundation (but more on that tomorrow.)

The thing about going away is that it brings everything you’ve been doing and—to be honest—enduring, into sharp focus. The afternoon I arrived in Queenstown I felt dislocated, lost … I dropped keys and papers and took wrong turns—not like me at all—and shied away from the cheerful, noisy flocks of people along the Lake Wakatipu waterfront.

Coming back to Christchurch was hard, too, because of course nothing had changed. The road still boasts all the dips and rises of an old river bed, as does my driveway; the sewer is still “missing in action” and I heard today that up to 1/3 of Christchurch’s fulltime workfoce could be out of a job as a direct result of the quake.

One third—and this is NZ’s second largest urban area. Scary stuff, indeed, particularly given the international economic situtaion.

On a more personal note, although nothing changed while I was away, something has happened this week—an EQC building team is coming tomorrow to take down our chimney and weatherproof/secure the gap it leaves (full repair will happen later.) I do think this is a good thing, on balance, one that needs to happen, but it took pretty much the whole day to clear the affected room ( I have been warned that there will be a lot of dust) and during that time my mood swung between ‘grumpy’ and ‘down.’ I am tired of packing up my life. I know the chimney needs to come down but I also know that I’m going to have to live with the ‘patch’ in my living room wall for a considerable time to come. It just felt tough, and very wearing—and knowing that the chimney is only the tip of the earthquake repair iceberg doesn’t help.

I know we all want to return to “normal”—yet normal as we once knew it is now a foreign country. We here rumours, but so far no one has a visa to go there and return with accurate reports.

On 6 June 2010, in response to the news that Diana Wynne Jones had decided to cease chemotherapy treatment for cancer, I spoke of how I had: ” … known, loved and valued her work since my early teens.  The first book I recall reading was A Power of Three—and I loved it.  Within the next few years I read both Eight Days of Luke and Cart and Cwidder, which together are possibly still my favourite of all her books. But it is hard to say, because I don’t believe I have ever read a Diana Wynne Jones novel that I didn’t like and sometimes the book one likes best can depend on reading mood.”

I also said, in answer to the rhetorical question as to whether Diana Wynne Jones had influenced my own development as a writer, that the answer had to be a resounding “yes.”  In particular, I have always admired the way:

• she draws the reader in through juxtaposing a sense of wonder with the completely everyday; and
• explores the furthest boundaries of imagination;
• her youthful heroes and heroines never lose their realism, no matter how extraordinary their adventures;
• she managed to write stories with layers of meaning that nonetheless never “preached” at her readers; and
• sustained the quality of her writing over such a prolonged period.

In short, as I also said on June 6, I love both her stories and the way in which she told her stories and I felt immeasurably sad when I learned that she had left us on Saturday 26 March.

Haere ra, Diana Wynne Jones: you’ve left some pretty big shoes to fill.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert …  Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

.

by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1892-1922

This version from The Penguin Book of English Verse, ed. John Hayward, Penguin Books, 1956

—

About the Poem: The sonnet Ozymandius has always been one of my favourite poems since I first read it as a teen and enjoyed the understated irony, concerning human hubris, of the final three lines.  Shelley is regarded as a major English Romantic poet and Oyzmandias is amongst his most well-known works.

—

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

I have donated a short story, The Fountain, to the “Tales for Canterbury” anthology being put together by Cassie Hart and Anna Caro as a fundraiser for the Canterbury earthquake.

The latest news on this exciting project is that pre-orders are now open with a digital version projected to be available from mid-April, and the print edition closer to the end of April.  To pre-order, head over to Random Static, where you will find the pre-order information.

To keep track of updates on publication, check in on the “Tales for Canterbury” website and Facebook page for regular updates:

Website: http://talesforcanterbury.wordpress.com/

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/talesforcanterbury

I understand “Tales for Canterbury”will comprise an impressive line-up of New Zealand and overseas writers—and this is also a fundraiser for earthquake-riven Christchurch so get in there, pre-order, and support Christchurch getting back on its feet.

The Sir Julus Vogel Award

On January 13, back in those untroubled halcyon days “before earthquake”, I posted about the Sir Julius Vogel Awards being open for nomination from 1 January.

The nomination period closes on 31 March, 2011 so if there’s a Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror work by a New Zealander or NZ resident that came out in 2010, and that you loved—well, now’s your final chance to nominate.

So do not hold back: get nominating! 🙂

For details of the Sir Julius Vogel award categories and “how to” nominate, read my original post, here.

I’m finally getting back into reading after the earthquake, when between all that heavy digging and everything else going on, I just didn’t feel like sitting down with a book. The turnaround  began on March 18 when  I had my “much-needed day off” and read and enjoyed  Dragonfly Falling, the second in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series.

Since then I have picked up Ian McDonald’s River of Gods again and am starting to get into it. I suspect I would probably be enjoying this book a lot more if not for the earthquake and its aftermath. It’s a fascinating premise with a lot going on, usually the kind of book I absolutely love—but which, of course, demands energy, and energy has been in short supply of late. So I’m enjoying it so far, but maybe not loving it as much as I would under more normal reading circumstances.

How about you—what are you reading right now? What’s “hot” on your bookshelf? Or e-reader?