Well, I mulled (as per my Happy New Year post) and I have decided on a theme for 2023 on Supernatural Underground (SU) — which as the title has doubtless already conveyed, is a closer look at the “band of brothers” in fantasy fiction.

Unfortunately I wasn’t in a good spot for loading blog posts on February 1, so postponed the initial post until Monday 6, but it’s definitely at the top o’ the SU masthead currently:

Honing In On 2023 — & Celebrating the “Band of Brothers” in Fantasy.

Tom Hiddleston as Henry V

I suspect the “happy few, we band of brothers” is a trope that could rightly be included in the Having Fun With Epic Fantasy post series — but its sibling, the “Scooby gang” is equally entrenched in the wider genre so a dedicated post series is probably justified. 😀

The Crows (Shadow and Bone)

Anyway, to find out more, just click on the link above and dive in. Enjoy!

Today being Waitangi Day, it seems very fitting to be posting on a book by Patricia Grace.

I have talked about her writing here before, including in several other Waitangi Day posts over the years — unsurprisingly given she is one of New Zealand’s most well-known authors.

The book I’m focusing on today is Dogside Story, but I have been an enthusiast for Patricia Grace’s writing since reading her first novel, Mutuwhenua: the Moon Sleeps. I loved both the story and storytelling, but one of the reasons it had a profound effect was my feeling that it was one of the first novels I had read that really spoke to me of a New Zealand I recognized.

Since then, I’ve read other novels by Patrica Grace, notably Potiki and Tu, but not Dogside Story, so I was pleased to have the opportunity when a friend recommended it to me.

Whanau (family and extended family) and community, specifically Maori communities, are the core of every Patricia Grace novel I’ve read, and this is the case with Dogside Story as well. The story centres on the parentage and custody of Kid (Kiri), a process that ends exposing family secrets, threatens to divide the whanau, and eventually involves the entire community.

It’s also a story of a small community struggling to survive, and of the new millennium—but it’s heart is the people, not just the central characters, but all the people that comprise the Dogside whanau. By the way, if you’re wondering “why Dogside?”, readers quickly learn there are two connected whanau, one nicknamed “Godside”, the other “Dogside” — but this book is a Dogside story. 😀

The main point-of-view character is Rua, Kid’s father. Yet in many ways, I felt that real main character was the whanau itself, and the interwoven lives of all those affected by Kiri’s lineage and the custody dispute.

Dogside Story offers insight into the intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses of whanau and small Maori communities, although I suspect these can only be truly understood from the inside. Yet it’s also a very human story of love and grief, cruelty and generosity, division and healing, which connects to us all.

I enjoyed Dogside Story and can understand why it’s a favourite in my friend’s library (if not the favourite) but I suspect Mutuwhenua will always hold first place in my heart—and it’s very hard to go past Tu. 😀

Whenever I post on a book I’ve enjoyed reading, I try and link it to works of like type, to offer  potential readers further insight into the kind of story being told. I found this challenging with Dogside Story, because the work is so uniquely Patricia Grace and a story with deep roots in Aotearoa (New Zealand.) The only immediately obvious companions are Witi Ihmaera novels such as Whanau, Tangi, and Bulibasha.

However, after much consideration, I believe those who’ve enjoyed books such as Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, with its focus on an impoverished, closeknit, but also fractious Italian community, or Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer, which turns a similar lens on contemporary rural Appalachian communites, may also enjoy Dogside Story.

I read my friend’s copy, which is the mass market paperback edition, 301 pages, published by Penguin Books NZ in 2001.

Marion Drolsbach

On January 19, I commenced a mini post series featuring photos by Marion Drolsbach, The Heir of Night’s Dutch translator, taken on a recent visit to NZ.

We got to spend some time together, which was great, and these particular photos were taken at the mouth of one of Canterbury’s braided rivers.

It’s a favoured spot of mine, and one of the things I particularly like about it is the bird life. In that spirit, today’s photo is of a shore wading bird, the pied stilt.

Enjoy!

Pied stilt: Photo Credit — Marion Drolsbach

Marching on…

“Mini” because basically ’tis very short! The guts is that I’m still writing, still wrangling with muses and manuscript, and still in the “final boss fight and aftermath” stage, so although things are definitely happening I’m not at the tangible news stage yet.

As soon as I am, though, you can be sure I’ll report it here.

Otherwise it’s a case of head down and keep going. To paraphrase a Zen aphorism (which I believe may be Confucian in origin):

“The writing is easy: keep going; the writing is hard: keep going. Keep going!”

So on that note, I shall hie me to the writing desk in the metaphorical high tower, and write on!

Art Credit: PJ Fitzpatrick

Recently, author Kate Forsyth was asked how long it took her to write a book. This is her answer:

“It depends on the length of the book & on what challenges are thrown up by each story … One of my books took thirty years of writing, re-writing, discarding it, resurrecting it, re-writing it again…”

Needless to say I found this immensely reassuring, at the same time as I was thinking, “thirty years: wow!” Then again, the WALL world has been with me for at least that long (in fact, it’s longer), but I didn’t embark on writing it until years later.

Two Mondays ago, I posted on the book booty that came my way over the holiday break, including Haruki Murakami’s Novelist As A Vocation.

Unfortunately I haven’t yet had a chance to dip further into the book’s series of collected essays, but the whole notion of writing as vocation put me in mind of some reflections that I posted some years ago — and am revisiting today.

On Writing As A Vocation

In 2010, Zadie Smith published her Rules for Writers in The Guardian newspaper, one of which was:

“Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation.’ You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle.’ All that matters is what you leave on the page.”

I completely agree that in terms of writing, all that matters is what you leave on the page. And certainly there is no one writer’s lifestyle—the lifestyles will be as diverse as the writers themselves. I also agree that it does aspiring writers no favours to romanticize the art.

….inside the writing life…

However, I do believe that writing is a vocation. A vocation, deriving from the Latin vocare, to call, is by definition something one feels called upon to do. Traditionally, the implication was of divine calling, for example, to a  religious life.

Dedicated pursuit of any occupation that is as artistically and economically uncertain as writing can only be regarded as a vocation—something the writer feels called upon to do. And my own experience of consistently waking up at nights, haunted by the recurring: “Why aren’t you writing? You should be writing!” is certainly in the nature of a “calling” or “summons”, whether one chooses to regard the source as an external muse or inner creative drive.

Photo credit: Andi Buchanan

I think such callings contain an element of mystery, but not necessarily one that is restricted to creative occupations: I have met  people who feel equally called—or compelled—to practice medicine, to teach, and to cook, for example.  In acknowledging that sense of vocation in relation to writing, one is no more romanticizing one’s pursuit and practice of the art, than a doctor or nurse, teacher or chef, would be.

Nonetheless, I have experienced the process of writing as “mystery.” Mostly, as has been famously said, although the creative process needs inspiration, the bulk of what follows is perspiration, ie sheer hard work. But there are still transcendent moments: e.g. when an impossible plot conundrum suddenly falls into place; when a detail that seemed small in Book 1 suddenly becomes vital in Book 3 or 4; when you alter your original idea to remain true to the way a character has developed—and simultaneously illuminate previously obscure motivations and behaviours. Sometimes, too, the mystery can be as simple as why a name change alters not only the character but also their part in the story.

More hard work, than romance.

I suspect many of those practicing other occupations, such as the medical practitioners, the teachers, and the chefs, can point to similar experiences: the “eureka” moments that are often the source of breakthroughs in skill, learning, or knowledge.  My own experience suggests that wherever there is inspiration, hard work, and creativity, there will also be “mystery.” And to the extent that breakthroughs and eureka moments are serendipitous and exciting and amazing, I think it’s OK to romanticize a little–while still keeping one’s feet firmly on the ground.

Because Zadie Smith is still 100% right: no matter how hard one may work or how many moments of mystery one may experience, in terms of the writing, all that counts, in the end, is what is left on the page.

It’s always one word & one page at a time…

Some of those other matters may still matter a great deal, of course, in terms of the satisfaction in living one’s own life well, regardless of the writing outcome—but that’s another matter entirely.

“The Heir of Night” :– Morningstar Award

Toward the end of last year, I was delighted to be visited by Marion Drolsbach, who translated The Heir of Night (The Wall Of Night #1) into Dutch.

Marion Drolsbach, translator extraordinaire 🙂

As well as being a professional translator, Marion is also a dab hand at photography, so over the next while I’ll be sharing some of her photos, taken at one of Canterbury’s braided river mouths.

All in the spirit of continuing the “inside Middle Earth” theme that I kicked off in my New Year’s Day post on Supernatural Underground. Those were my photos — but now, I feel, it’s time for some fun with friends. 😀

I can think of no better place to start than with a sunrise image. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Marion Drolsbach

…chiefly because I forgot one of the holiday season arrivals last week! Too many books in too short a space of time, clearly. 😀

The omitted book is The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, which was first published in 2015.

First edition cover

I recall it being a little bit contentious at the time (among some readers, anyway) because of the way it bridged the fantasy and literary fiction genres. Not surprisingly, I’m interested to read it to find out more, and am only sorry it’s taken this long to get around to it.

Not that I have gotten around to it yet, but it is now on the TBR table—although as last week no doubt made clear, there are a few ahead of it in the queue.

Plus books to be written, as well as all the usual swings and roundabouts of everyday life to be navigated, but it’s always good to have new tales to look forward to reading. 🙂

Audio book cover

USA

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical order, by name, of course!

And I “think” the end may be nigh in terms of the letter “M”! 😉

—

UK/AU/NZ

Murn: secretary to Lord Nimor, the Sea House envoy

...the activity—and curses—around the foundered vehicle were not a repair attempt. Instead, the Sea Keepers were endeavoring to prevent the wagon tipping the rest of the way into the riverbed and smashing apart, while they removed its contents. These appeared to be necessities for the road, together with personal possessions, which were being ferried to waiting mules. …“The envoy’s state robes.” Murn, Nimor’s secretary, winked as they helped him with a particularly unwieldy sailbag…although Kalan thought the bag was too heavy for clothes.

~ from © Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 40, Shadow Moon

When it comes to holiday season booty, my haul was decidedly bookilicious. I’ve already mentioned AK Wilder’s much-awaited Curse of Shadows arriving immediately pre-Christmas.

Now, here’s what Santa, along with various other friends and wellwishers, have brought–and bought!—me since:

Something Old:

Dogside Story by Patricia Grace (first published 2001.) Those who visit here regularly probably already know I’m a Patrica Grace fan. Yes, right from here very first book, Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps.

I haven’t read Dogside Story, though, and a friend in reading has been telling me it’s her favourite — so now I have my opportunity to find out for myself.

Something New:

OK, several somethings new, but first and foremost there’s Novelist As A Vocation (2022 in translation; 2015 in Japan) by Haruki Murakami, who is another author whose work and philosophy I heart greatly. So as you can probably imagine, I’ve already dipped into the series of collected essays that make up this work.

And yes, so far it’s just as good as I expected it to be. 😀

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, published in 2019, is considerably less new than Novelist As A Vocation, but as fan of the Crows duology and Leigh Bradugo’s writing generally, I was pleased to find it in my Christmas stocking. Definitely a new-to-me read!

Something Borrowed:

A friend felt my holiday would be enriched by the company of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club novels, so kindly loaned me Books 2 and 3, The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed respectively.

I can confirm that she was not wrong and that they are highly entertaining light reading.

Something Blue:

That would be Demon Copperhead by the great Barbara Kingsolver, which comes with a gorgeous royal blue cover (here in NuZild, anyways!) It also ticks the Something New box, being a just-out, 2023 publication, I believe.

Am I looking forward to reading it? Given her much earlier (2000) novel,  Prodigal Summer, was my top read of 2021, you bet I am!

So as you can see, I now have lots of reading to do! 😀