I’ve got two books on the go this week, both from the early 1990s. The first is an old favourite, Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song for Arbonne (1992), which I have not re-read for some years—but which I am really enjoying all over again. It’s High Fantasy, set in a world based around the medieval Provence of the troubadors, i.e. think Aquitaine. Although Tigana is probably my favourite Guy Gavriel Kay novel, Arbonne comes a close second—I really like the mix of characters and the layers of plot and political manoeuverings/machinations to the story.  In the end though, it’s a story about people, their joys and sorrows and struggles, which is the kind of tale-telling that I enjoy.

The second book, and one I have been meaning to read for-ever (ok, exaggeration, for quite a few years now) is John Marsden’s classic YA tale  Tomorrow, When the War Began. Such a great title, isn’t it?  So far I’m only a few chapters in, but it’s reading really well. It’s also about to be a movie really soon, which is why I’m keen to get in and read the book right now.

So how about you? What are you reading this week and how are you finding it?

Tomorrow, Saturday 7 August, I’ll be interviewing Ripley Patton for Women on Air, Plains 96.9 FM.

Ripley Patton is an American speculative author living in Christchurch. Best known for her short fiction, Ripley has been widely published in both NZ and internationally and currently has both a short story and a novella short listed for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, which will be announced on August 27-29. Ripley is also the founder of SpecFicNZ, the first association for New Zealand writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror, which will be launched officially on August 28th, 2010 at Au Contraire, the 31st New Zealand National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Wellington. I’ll be talking with Ripley about both her own success as an author and her drive to establish the first association for New Zealand speculative fiction writers, 120 years after Sir Julius Vogel published NZ’s first ‘officially’ speculative fiction novel, Anno Domini 2000 – A Woman’s Destiny. (Although I believe Samuel Butler’s Erewhon, 1872, may also have some claims in this respect.)

Solar explosion

Our very own G2V star is the sun, or Sol, by the way.  And as astronomers around the world are reporting, it’s getting kind of active with several large explosions of energy, called Coronal Mass Ejections, after a period of relative quiet. As Phil Plait says on his Bad Astronomy blog,  “NASA’s recently-launched Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the action mid-eruption” and this photo is the result. Apparently there’s more Sol explode-y fun on the way over the next few years, as well.

If you want to find out more you can start here on Bad Astronomer, but there are also links to other astronomy sites blogging about the phenomenon, where you can also find good information. Myself, I’m just saying, “wow!’ And maybe, “awesome!”

Just an update on Sunday, when I got my first look at the Orbit (Little, Brown/Hachette) cover for the Australia/New Zealand editon of The Heir of Night. I got my second look today, at the “first visual with type” (i.e. the title and my name etc all together with the cover image) and it looks a-maz-ing!

I know, I know— I’m playing the tantalize game because I can’t show it to you yet—but I should be able to very soon and I’m very much looking forward to that moment.  I really do think you will like.

Someone asked how it compares with the USA cover (which you can see in the sidebar.) Mainly they are very different—even down to the colour schemes—but interestingly they both capture part of what I think is important to the “feel” of the book. The US cover is dark and brooding and mysterious, capturing that feel of what Robin Hobb calls “strange magic [and] dark treachery”, whereas the Australia/New Zealand cover still has the sense of darkness but focuses more on the powerful and adventurous aspects of the “richly told tale” (again—from Robin Hobb.)

But very soon I will have them both up here for you to see for yourself and decide whether you prefer one or t’other, or like them both equally. (I’m definitely in the latter camp—I really do like them both.)

Well, I’ve been hoping and planning and working toward going for some time, but yesterday I actually booked my plane tickets so you can’t get more ‘official’ than that.

I expect most people know—but just in case—Worldcon is the  World Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention (or more correctly, the convention of the World Science Fiction Society) and this year the 68th convention is being held in Melbourne, Australia—just a brief 1500 mile (2404 kilometre) hop across the Tasman from New Zealand. (But still, a lot closer than the 10,000 miles to North America, so I am impressed at how many attendees are coming from both the Americas and Europe.)

The guests of honour are Kim Stanley Robinson, Shaun Tan and Robin Johnson.

Worldcon is also where the winners of the Hugo Awards are announced.  The awards ceremony will be of particular interest to me this year, firstly because it’s the first time I have been eligible to vote and secondly because I have actually read and voted on all the fiction finalists: five short stories, and six each novelettes, novellas and novels respectively. I have also blogged twice about the process of “reading for the Hugos” on the Out of this Eos blog: both on 20 July and more recently on 30 July—just before voting closed on the 31st.

So, lots of books, lots of writers, lots of people from around the world interested in science, science fiction and fantasy, plus the Hugo Awards—and it’s all happening in Melbourne, which is one of my favourite cities.

North

homes
white timbered in the south
give way to brown-red
in mid and north –
avenues of birch trees
serried lakes

an elk
runs through deep winter
the night train flares
through cuttings –
inferno cast across jagged firs
frozen earth

rushes headlong
into spring – a pied crow
solitary
above a grey field

(c) Helen Lowe

—

Published in Bravado 14

On July 19 I posted on my blog about Influences on Story and talked about two journeys into winter country during the time I lived in Sweden.  This poem arises out of one of those two journeys, made by train into the far north of Sweden which still lay gripped in the very heart of winter.

And The Giveaway Results for the 2 x Signed Copies of  Thornspell are (Ta dum! Ta dum!):

Nymfaux; and

Sullivan McPig.

Congratulations to you both–if you email me your postal addresses at contact@helenlowe.info I will arrange to get the books to you.

Congratulations also to Violet, who also commented here (and on Out of this Eos) but won one of the 2 x Thornspell editions in the Supernatural Underground Draw.

And thank you everyone for visiting and participating. There will be plenty more happening around both Thornspell and Heir into the future, so stay tuned.

PS And yes, I did use the Sorting Hat”. 🙂

The Sorting Hat

On the first day of every month I post on the Supernatural Underground, a blog by a group of speculative fiction authors published by HarperCollins USA (The Eos imprint of HarperCollins is publishing The Heir of Night, which is  for adult and crossover readers, in the US on 1 October.)

Today’s post is “All About the Characters”—so do click on the link and have a read.

There’s also a giveaway: My editor at Eos, Kate Nintzel, is giving away two AREs of Heir for blog posters from the USA/Canada only, while I am putting 2 x signed copies of Thornspell into the draw for readers from other parts of the world.

—

But just so visitors here don’t feel left out, if you comment on either this post—or yesterday’s More Australia/New Zealand Cover Excitement—post before midnight, August 2, NZ time, you’ll go in the draw to win one of another 2 x signed copies of Thornspell.  And as you may recall from earlier in the week, the new paperback edition of Thornspell, which was only  released in New Zealand on July 2, “has already just about sold out”. 🙂

If you’d like a second chance to win, just rock on over to the Out of this Eos blog and comment on my article posted there, which is about the Hugo Awards (again before midnight, August 2, NZ time—but don’t forget to check back here to see if you’re one of the winners.)

On July 12, I blogged about getting a call from Bella, my UK editor, about ideas for the Australia/New Zealand cover for The Heir of Night, which will come out here in October. (It’s also out in the USA on 1 October, although Kate at  Eos/HarperCollins is my editor there.)

As posted on the 12th, Bella and the Orbit (Little, Brown) team were keen to get a cover that captures the adventurous feel of the book; also one based around Malian (the central character in Heir)—so we have all had fun over the past few weeks with weapons, armour, clothes, the whole nine yards really re appearance.

Yesterday I got to see the preliminary result (and sadly, it’s embargoed, so I can’t show you yet) but  I think the depiction of Malian looks awesome and all the fun research around amour, weapons, clothes—as well as reflecting on her ‘character’ in the book—has definitely paid off.

So watch this space, because as soon as I can I will be putting up the cover image for you to check out, too. 🙂

—

Meanwhile, I have just posted “All About the Characters” on the Supernatural Underground, (a blog by a group of HarperCollins USA speculative fiction authors). There’s a giveaway for folk who comment there, but just so visitors here don’t feel left out, if you comment on either this or tomorrow’s post before midnight, August 2, NZ time, you’ll go in the draw to win one of 2 x signed copies of Thornspell.

If you’d like a second chance to win, just rock on over to the Out of this Eos blog and comment on my article posted there, which is about the Hugo Awards (again before midnight, August 2, NZ time—but don’t forget to check back here to see if you’re a winner.)

On 20 July, Eos (HarperCollins USA) posted the first of my articles on “The Hugo Awards: The Reading Has Begun!”

The second article in the series, “The Hugo Awards: Going Down to the Wire” has just been posted today. So I’d love you to go over and have a read—and most importantly, enjoy!