A WALL #4 update.

I’ve checked back, and found I was correct last Thursday: I had pencilled in a The Wall of Night #4 (WT: The Chaos Gate) update for April 7. Although there have been a few mini updates, in the three months since I made that commitment, on January 6.

At that time, I advised that “there’s still a large part of the denouement to write.”

Currently, the writing continues apace and the end sequences are coming together. Essentially, the story now comprises only two narrative arcs, with all the point-of-view characters present in either one. So the writing is getting to that “the end is nigh” feeling—but without being quite there yet!

Writing continues apace…

The only way to get there is to stay glued to the writing desk and keep going, especially as now feels like a critical juncture. On which note, I aim to get back to it—but with a promise to keep you updated as soon as anything of moment happens, and/or on July 7, whichever arrives first.

In the meantime, all positive writing vibes are very welcome. 😀 A few libations to the muses “that they may be kind” might not go amiss either!

Apollo and the Muses pentyptych, by Charles Meynier, Cleveland Museum of Art

…there is a photo!

I am “pretty sure” (without actually checking), that I promised a WALL #4 (working title, The Chaos Gate) update today.

But I’ve been so-oo busy writing the book (that’s the best possible reason, right?!), that I ran out of time to put together an update.

The short version is “still writing”, but I’ll strive to bring you a little more detail on that and get it posted Monday.

In the meantime, the weather here has been so wild and windy, that I thought I’d share this photo of some “wild south” action happening with ocean and river, i.e. where they kind of blend into each other…

April 1 may have come and gone, but I did post my second instalment in the “What Makes A Hero?” series on Supernatural Underground.

What Makes A Hero? (Lyra Belacqua)

You may recall that I kicked things off last month with “the call”? This month I’m discussing the importance of circumstance—with reference to works of Fantasy fiction, of course. 😀

Continuing on from last month, you may notice that I’m using examples from The Wall of Night and Thornspell, as well as other works. The reason, of course, is because they are “heroic fantasy” tales, so relevant to the current series.

Heroic Fantasy

Nonetheless, I think you’ll find the discussion and the examples given are reasonably wide-ranging. 🙂

So although this notice is a few days on from first posting, I hope you’ll head on over and check out my (terribly important! 😉 ) thoughts on circumstance and the making of heroes.

“What Makes A Hero?” #2: Circumstance

Non-human heroes: Balisan the Red

As always, enjoy!

2019 already feels like an age ago—although it’s not so long in the life of the “…on Anything, Really” blog—and one of the WALL related features that year was “A Month of Q&A Thursdays.”

Basically, I invited readers to post in questions, and some of you did. 🙂 They were such great questions, too, that I really feel they merit another look, hence initiating this refeature.

I’ll be interested to know what you think of them, if you wish to leave a comment or @ me on Twitter: @helenl0we

In terms of the Q’s and my A’s, I’ll follow the original order and start with Phoebe’s question.

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The Daughter of Blood & WALL Series Q&A (Reprised): Phoebe’s Question

Phoebe: Do you plan your books out in chunks or do you plan out the arc for the entire book at once? They’re pretty hefty – just thinking bc could impact the addition of random side characters for plot progression etc.

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Helen: They are pretty hefty, so no surprises that the writing thereof can be a hefty process too.🙂 In terms of planning, I’ve had a pretty clear idea of the story and the big hits of what’s going to happen since the outset, a statement that’s true of both the series as a whole and the three books completed to date. So there’s always an overarching plan for the story as a whole, with a secondary overarching plan for each book within that, that’s pretty much “whole and compleat” in my head.

The tricky part is always the material between those big hits. I think of it as being on a journey, with all the stops (e.g. cities and points of interest) clearly marked, but there’s often a variety of ways, such as roads or hiking/cycle paths or riverboats, that can get you there. And although I can have an idea of the preferred route between main story events as the characters set out, the route itself can generate unforeseen circumstances that affect how the story is told.

Characters, for example, tend to develop a life of their own, so they can react in ways that surprise me, including how they interact with other characters. Sometimes, too, those interactions can be profound enough that the story must adapt to accommodate them. And because the development of a story is an organic process, no amount of forward planning can anticipate all those potential interactions and adjustments, so I believe its better not to try but give the story space to breathe and grow.

Having said that, that doesn’t mean I can’t and don’t/won’t firmly rein in characters and plot lines when they seem bent on developing a “side story” that does not advance the main storyline. In fact, realizing I’m being “pixie-led” by a plot thread or characters is a major tool in my Author Survival Toolbox.🙂

A Daughter specific example that I hope may illustrate the evolutionary process and the role of minor characters is the Grayharbor section where Kalan and Faro’s paths intersect. The fact that they would meet there, that the meeting would involve the Sea fleet and Kalan returning to the Wall by ship, and that the interactions would also include ill-disposed warrior kind, was part of the story arc from the outset.

Elements that evolved out of the previous book, The Gathering of the Lost, included that Kalan would be travelling with two Emerian warhorses, and that the ill-disposed warrior kind would be the Sword warriors returning home: my initial story arc was undecided as to whether the warriors would be Night, Blood, or Swords but the evolution of the story pretty much decided the matter.

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And although I knew Kalan would interact with minor characters such as innkeepers, port workers, and the Sea Keepers, the ‘who exactly’, their dispositions, and the parts they played, all evolved out of the story, the town, and its culture.

You may recall that when I embarked on this worldbuilding sequence early in the new year, I quickly discovered that I had already done a great many worldbuilding posts over the life of this blog: O-o.

The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick

Since then, I’ve refeatured the most significant ones here, and also here, as well as pulling others into a recent listicle and reminded readers and followers about the delights of A Geography of Haarth.

In terms of new material, I lauded the wisdom of Ursula Le Guin and pointed aspiring worldbuilders to her “how to” book on writing, Steering The Craft. Subsequently, I contributed my own flow-on reckons in a post titled Beware The Expository Lump.

What I may have mentioned in passing, but haven’t yet re-linked to, is my year of featuring Worldbuilding in Fantasy on the Supernatural Underground. A post listing all twelve instalments in that series, with links provided, is here:

Wrapping Up A Year of Worldbuilding in Fantasy, on the Supernatural Underground Blog

When I reviewed my initial list, however, I discovered there was still more material, as yet unreprised. Most, if not all, of it relates to different aspects of the Wall of Night world: history, landscape, technology, weapons et al — much of it written to support the releases of The Gathering of the Lost and Daughter of Blood respectively. So upon reflection, I feel that much the best time to reprise it will be in advance of The Chaos Gate, at which point I can update the entries with hints about the new book and its worldbuilding,

Overall, though, if worldbuilding generally is your interest, then On Worldbuilding is definitely the go-to post. If the Wall of Night is your reason for dropping by, then My Worldbuilding — A Few Thoughts on Guiding Influences may repay your time.

BUT — The 2019 Q&A Series

(Just to prove that “Buts” aren’t always negative :D), although I’m deferring the worldbuilding at this point, what I will be re-featuring is a 2019 Q&A in which I answered reader questions about Daughter of Blood and the WALL series. I rediscovered the material when looking at the worldbuilding posts and I really do feel that they’re interesting enough to warrant posting again.

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So as of this Thursday, I’ll be posting a question and answer, every other week, interspersed with other series like About The Characters. I’ll be interested to know what you think, once you re-read. 🙂

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KimFalconer

The latest post on Supernatural Underground by my friend and fellow SU author, Kim Falconer, is titled:

What Readers’ Want — Series or Standalone?

In order to share your perspective on What Readers’ Want, you can either leave a comment for Kim, or click on the poll.

A few readers have reported problems opening the poll link, but I accessed it via Firefox and was able to do so, by opening it in a new tab.

As mentioned, though, comments will work, and I’m sure Kim would love it if you left one. 😀

Single titles

… vs series

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And I’ll back on SU myself on April 1, with another post on my Heroes theme.

Well, it’s taken a while, but my very own copy of Maus, subtitled A Survivor’s Tale, has finally arrived. I understand the work was originally published in two parts, I believe subtitled My Father Bleeds History (1986) and  And Here My Troubles Began (1992), respectively.

As you’re probably all aware, in early January, a country school board in Tennessee removed the book from its curriculum, allegedly for reasons of content and age appropriateness.

Given this is the only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, I decided this was clearly a book I needed to read for myself and make up my own mind about the merits, or otherwise, of the school board’s position. Unlike one member of the board who “…stated that he had not “seen the book [or] read the whole book,” instead admitting that he’d only “read the reviews.” “ (Source: “Banned by Tennessee School Board, ‘Maus’ Soars to the Top of Bestseller Charts”, McGreevy, N., Smithsonian Magazine, February 2, 2022.)

The Smithsonian Magazine article summarises the content of Maus, as well as the recent controversy, but here’s the GoodReads summary as well:

“…the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler’s Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival – and how the children of survivors are in their own way affected by the trials of their parents. A contemporary classic of immeasurable significance.“

I shall share my own Maus experience here soon.

On Monday, I posted a list of previous worldbuilding posts that specifically focused on my own books, only to realize afterward that when it comes to these two topics, the bullseye category is probably A Geography of Haarth.

The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick

I posted the series in two instalments, the first over 2013 – 2014, and focused on locales in  The Heir of Night and The Gathering of the Lost.

The second instalment ran from February 2017 through until December 2019, and basically updated the series to accommodate Daughter of Blood.

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Since it has its own  title under Categories in the far-right-hand sidebar, those who’re interested can peruse it at their leisure, from Academy Island to Wymark, Aeris to the Winter Country:

A Geography of Haarth

The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick

I’ve realized I’ve let the worldbuilding focus slip a little bit over the past month, with the last post featuring on February 14:

Open for some serious worldbuilding business…

Beware The Expository Lump

No valentines included tho’ — unless a few worldbuilding tips fit the bill. 😀

When starting, I quickly realized I had done a considerable number of worldbuilding posts before and promised a few lists. The idea being that this would pull the links into one (or several) place(s) and give readers the opportunity to delve in or out of material “as they wish.”

Today, I thought I’d start with the previous posts that focused on my own writing. Starting with more recent posts and working back to those first penned in “…on Anything Really, the Early Years.” 😉
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Listicle 1: Worldbuilding Posts Focused On My Books
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1. In August 2016, I wrote three linked posts on how names can support fantasy worldbuilding:

• August 10: Use of Names–Worldbuilding, Part 1 — with particular reference to The Gathering of the Lost 
• August 15: Use of Names–Worldbuilding, Part 2 — with specific reference to Thornspell
• August 22: Use of Names–Character & Identity — When Names Have Deeper Meanings This post references to all my books to date and is also more of a spinoff into general storytelling rather than worldbuilding per se, but having been penned a a trio, the trio is what you get!

2. Earlier in 2016, I honed in on another very important element in epic worldbuilding: armour and weapons — again, focused on the WALL series and Thornspell.

• March 21, 2016: Keeping It Real With Armour and Weapons

3. Back in August 2015 I had another worldbuilding binge, including:

• August 31: “Here Be Dragons” — The Magic and Power of Maps
• August 14: Worldbuilding in The Wall Of Night Series — the Medieval European Setting, 1
• August 15: Worldbuilding in The Wall Of Night Series — the Medieval European Setting, 2
• August 16: Worldbuilding in The Wall Of Night Series — the Medieval European Setting, 3 — this final post also contains links to related posts. not necessarily on worldbuilding.

4. To conclude (for today), I’ll take a larger, if not precisely giant, leap back to October 2011 and posts focusing on worldbuilding in The Heir of Night and Thornspell respectively:

• October 28: Worldbuilding in Thornspell
• October 29: Worldbuilding in The Heir of Night

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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: 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 although we are coming to the end of entries under “L”, today is “not this day!”

“Not this day.”

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Luin:  a page at the ducal court in Caer Argent (the capital of Emer.)

“Malian blinked at the brightness, taking in the few, brightly clad courtiers strolling on a lawn outside, and the halberdiers in ducal uniform at the far end of the gallery. … [She] … fished in her wallet for a coin and handed it to the page. “What’s your name?” she asked, pausing on the threshold while the halberdiers looked on, expressionless.

“Hirluin,” he said, slipping the coin inside his tunic rather than the wallet at his belt. “Because I was born on Lord Hirluin’s birthday—but everyone calls me Luin.”

“Or trouble,” a halberdier muttered, but Luin had already started back down the red-and-yellow hall, waving a cheerful farewell.

~ from © The Gathering of The Lost, The Wall Of Night Book Two – Chapter 35, Caer Argent