As noted last Thursday, it has recently come to my attention that questions have arisen around the availability of The Wall Of Night Book #4 (The Chaos Gate) in the UK & Commonwealth.

To reiterate what I said then, thank you to everyone who has gotten in touch to seek clarification. If you had not done so I would still be writing on, blissfully unaware. O-o.

As is often the way, there are several wrinkles to be ironed out. So let’s take them from the top.

1. The Wall Of Night Book #4, “The Golden Fire”?

Apparently some UK sites showed The Wall Of Night Book #4, under the title “The Golden Fire“, being published on December 10, 2020.

As I have explained to inquirers, readers may not be aware of this, but in traditional publishing it is the publisher, rather than the author, that sets the publication date, usually once the manuscript is finished and has been accepted by the editor.

As I am currently completing WALL #4 — which has the working title The Chaos Gate, as set out at the end of Book 3, Daughter of Blood — I cannot readily explain how a publication date of 10 December 2020, for a book titled The Golden Fire, came about. I do apologise however, most sincerely, for any inconvenience and disappointment caused to readers.

2. Has Book #4 and Completion Of The Wall Of Night Series Been Abandoned?

This question arises because I understand Book #4 (The Chaos Gate) has subsequently been tagged as “abandoned” on a UK retail site.

Firstly, I would like to assure you that I remain committed to completion of the book and the series. I hope to reach ‘the end’ in the midpart of this year, at which point the publisher will set a definitive publication date.

As promised last week, my ‘life in Haarth’ is predicated upon writing on.

In the meantime, as those of you who check in here regularly will already know, I am providing semi-regular updates on this blog. If the update is not on the front page, the place to look is under Categories, which is located in the far-right-hand sidebar. The two most relevant categories are About My Books or About What I’m Doing.

As also noted last Thursday, I’ll be doing another update next Monday, April 5. 😀

3. Will The Wall Of Night Book #4, The Chaos Gate, Be Available In The UK and Commonwealth?

The answer, dear readers, is yes.

While there have been difficulties around UK publication (which together with the incorrect December publication date may have led to the “abandoned” notice), I can confirm that both paperback and e-editions of The Chaos Gate will be available in the UK. The books will be distributed via The Wall Of Night’s US publisher, HarperVoyager, through the good offices of the series’ editor there, Kate Nintzel.

These UK distribution arrangements are of very recent duration, but I hope will flow through to retailers in the near future and provide reassurance to readers.

The HarperVoyager Editions

4. Going Forward

In the meantime, I do hope you will check in on my updates “at the source.” 😀

I am aware that many of you are keenly waiting, which is why I am making an effort to do more updates, and also to post a greater number of general bulletins from Inside the Writing Life. (The most recent one that contains links to all its predecessors, is here:  Sometimes It’s A Case of ‘O Frabjous Day.’ )

I am also mindful that my chief part is to get the book finished so publication dates can be set, publication happen, and distribution follow. I can only assure you that I am doing my utmost both to reach ‘the end’, but also to write a book that is a satisfying conclusion to the series.

Well, quite a lot, is the short answer! Now for the detail. 🙂

The Wall Of Night Book #4 (The Chaos Gate) Availability in the UK & Commonwealth

It has recently come to my attention – so thank you, everyone that got in touch to clarify! – that rumors are circulating around the availability of The Chaos Gate (The Wall Of Night Book #4) in the UK and Commonwealth.

So I’ll be posting a “statement from the source” clarification next Monday, 29 March, which I hope will clear this up and provide reassurance for readers. Please note the “reassurance”, i.e. it’s good news. But I do want it to be a standalone post so everything can be covered in one place and linked to directly thereafter, hence the delay until Monday for more detail.

The Wall Of Night Book #4 (The Chaos Gate) Progress Update

I *did* have this pencilled in for 29 March, but because I want the clarification to be a standalone (as above), the update will follow a week later, on April 5 – yes, that is Easter Monday, so the bonus is that readers can peruse it with chocolate eggs to hand. 😉

Life In Haarth: writing, writing, writing on…

A “Magic Systems In Fantasy” Interview with Kristin Cashore on the Supernatural Underground: 1 April — Plus A Local Giveaway!

I am really looking forward to bringing you all this Supernatural Underground interview with Kristin, looking at the magic of her Graceling Realms series. We’re working on it now and I am “pretty sure” you’ll enjoy it.

Plus there’s a bonus for NZ readers – we’re going to be doing a giveaway of Kristin’s latest novel, Winterkeep, right here “…on Anything, Really.”

I apologise to international readers that it has to be NZ only, but I only have the one copy, and international post is so crazy right now, amid these Covid times, that I have to keep this one local. :-/

And that’s it for now – but roll on March 29, April 1, and April 5! 😀

UK cover

A few weeks back I shared that John Preston’s The Dig had arrived on my TBR table.

In the meantime, yes, I have been reading it and yes again, it’s full of gorgeous words. The Suffolk countryside is very much a presence in the story and the related writing is always evocative.

The sequence that struck me most profoundly, though, was the concluding paragraphs of the main story (as opposed to the epilogue that follows.)

“Beyond Rendlesham, they were burning stubble. The columns of smoke were visible from miles away. Around the edges of the fields avenues had been ploughed to stop the flames from spreading. Even so, a number of hedgerows had already caught fire.

Everything crackled as the wood and dry stalks burned. Along with the smell of the burning stubble, there was a deeper, darker smell of charred earth. Partridges rose wildly into the air, screeching as their nests were consumed. Rabbits and hares, terrified by the flames, ran across the road. But they were only escaping from one inferno into another. The whole landscape was ablaze. There was no longer any sign of the sun.

Ahead of me, the road rose and disappeared into a bank of grey smoke. As I rode towards it along the ash-covered tarmac, my wheels made no sound at all.”

2008 edition

The passage is compelling in its own right, but the year of the Sutton Hoo archaeological discovery was 1939 — and four days before this passage takes place, the UK had declared war on Germany. The reader knows, therefore, that the stubble fires are also a direct analogy to a Europe that is about to also go up in flames, with effects on people similar to those of the stubble burning on the Suffolk wildlife.

Needless to say, given the larger connections but also themes such as time, history, and the impressions we do or do not leave on it, these final paragraphs made for a satisfying ending.

UK cover

As recently as March 1, I believe I may have said that: “When I’m writing, I often don’t like reading in the same genre, particularly the precise subgenre of epic fantasy…”

The qualifying phrase is my out, because Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore has not only arrived on my TBR table but is clearly fantasy. I would argue, however, that it is not epic fantasy and therefore I am not departing from my writing regime — because, dear readers, I not only fully intend to read it but to do so soon. In fact, I must do so…

“ ‘Must’,” you may cry, “what is this ‘must’ you speak of?” A not unreasonable plaint given my recent words, but the reason is simply this: on 1 April I hope to interview Kristin on Supernatural Underground for the “Magic Systems in Fantasy” post series.

While I could undertake such an interview on the strength of having read Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue, I still feel that it will be a more satisfying interview for all involved if I’ve read Winterkeep as well.

USA

Besides, there is the beginning of a tradition to consider since I interviewed Kristin in 2012 as well, when Bitterblue was published – which you can read here.

Otherwise, it’s also tradition for me to include the back cover synopsis, so here goes:

Something is rotten in the heart of Winterkeep…

Four years after the events of Bitterblue, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla, and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half-sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth – putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterblue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of Winterkeep.

Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.”

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? And like there’s a lot going on – so naturally I’m keen to read, and to find out more about the magic that informs this book in the Graceling Realm series.

Hearts on trees, Linwood Avenue, for March 15

Only three weeks ago, I was reflecting on the tenth anniversary of the February 22^nd, 2011, earthquake that devastated Christchurch and the adjoining Canterbury region.

Eight years and three weeks later, the terror attack on two Christchurch mosques was equally devastating, particularly for the immediate families and community of those who died or were severely injured, but also for the entire Christchurch and NZ communities.

Today, my thoughts are very much with the survivors and their families, and with the families of those whose loved ones were murdered at the mosques or did not survive their wounds. The pain and trauma and loss may lessen with time, but I suspect that it will always be part of their lives, as it will for both mosque communities: Linwood, and El Noor.

Today may be two years on, but two years is not a long time when lives have been ripped apart. In all likelihood, too, everything the affected families and communities are dealing with will have been compounded by Covid-19 and last year’s lockdown.

So yes, today my thoughts are very much centered on the individuals, families and communities most directly affected. My heart aches, too, for everything they have been through and must continue to endure: loss, grief, terror, physical and emotional pain, and post-traumatic stress.

Floral tributes near Linwood mosque

I hope, too, that the wider “we” of the Christchurch community and New Zealand society continue to support all those affected and also remain committed to doing all we can to ensure a similar atrocity never happens again.

Sometimes it can be hard to know what we can do, as ordinary people “serving” on the suburban rear lines, or in communities, whether large or small, a long way from Christchurch.

My view is that if we take time to remember and reflect, both on the events of March 15 and the humanity of those affected, particularly how we would feel in their place, that’s a start. Going forward, too, we can strive to keep our minds, hearts, and spirits open to all others in our society, and look for ways, however small, to give effect to the theme of the weekend’s National Remembrance Service: Ko Tatou, Tatou, We Are One.

In the same spirit as that theme, at such times I always find myself returning to the words from John Donne’s famous Meditation XVII. I believe they are equally relevant today, when reflecting upon the March 15 attack and its ramifications:

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

~ John Donne, 1572 – 1631

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!

At present, we’re currently in the realms of “L” – as mentioned last time, a popular one for names in the Haarth world. 😀

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UK/AU/NZ

Leti: a daughter of the inn keeper at Grayharbor’s Anchor inn

Kalan woke in darkness to collect up his gear and prepare the horses for the voyage. A tousled, sleepy Leti let him out the inn gate and she was still in the entrance when he looked back from the street corner. A fine, misting rain haloed the night lantern above her head as they both lifted a hand in farewell.

~ from Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 9, Sepulchre

Over the weekend I went to see the interactive show Van Gogh Alive, which is currently here in Christchurch.

It really was amazing and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is able to get along. The show immerses the viewer in both Van Gogh’s art, as it evolved over his lifetime, and also in his life — including his words, which wowed and moved me as much as his art.

Here are three quotes that really resonated with me. The first is on the essentials of the writing life:

“To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one’s fling from time to time, smoke one’s pipe, and drink one’s coffee in peace”

I particularly heart the piece about drinking one’s coffee in peace. 😉

The second concerns the importance of connection to people and the world, which I often refer to in the context of John Donne’s famous meditation that “no man is an island”:

“. . . The more I think about it the more I feel that there’s nothing more genuinely artistic than to love people.”

The third is the most poignant:

“I cannot change the fact that my paintings do not sell. But the time will come when people will recognize they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”

Courtney Schafer

On Monday, March 1, I posted the third in this year’s Magic Systems in Fantasy series on the Supernatural Underground — this month featuring friend and fellow author, Courtney Schafer discussing the magic in her Shattered Sigil series.

As I say in the introduction:

“When I first read friend and fellow author, Courtney Schafer’s debut Shattered Sigil series I was really impressed by … the depth and intricacy of the magic (without it seeming in any way convoluted) and the way in which Courtney’s magic systems bound the world, the narrative, and the characters into a cohesive whole. “

Shattered Sigil #1

To further encourage you all to head on over and take a read (if you have not done so already 😉 ) here is a taster of Courtney’s insights into the series’ magic systems:

“I do love magic in fantasy, so it’s always fun to geek out about magic systems and how they influence and enrich a story. I know some writers start by working out the magic first and deciding on characters and plot to suit the world they’ve built, but I always start with the characters and build the magic as I figure out what makes my protagonists tick and what problems I want them to face in the story.”

Shattered Sigil #2

But as with the previous two interviews, there is a great deal more, all of it well worth your time, both in terms of the creative process and another unique take on magic in fantasy fiction.

An Interview With Courtney Schafer: Talking Magic In The “Shattered Sigil” Series

Shattered Sigil #3

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The Magic Systems In Fantasy Series To Date:

AK Wilder & The Magic of Crown Of Bones (AMASSIA #1)

T Frohock & The Magic of A Song With Teeth (LOS NEFILIM #3)

2021, film tie-in edition

When I’m writing, I often don’t feel like reading in the same genre, particularly the precise subgenre of epic fantasy, which is why I’ve been dipping into crime (The Dry by Jane Harper) and more recently science fiction (The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.)

Historical fiction, though, has always been one of my most enduring loves, which led me recently to The Dig by John Preston, which has been made into a film, starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes,  and Lily James.

The book is a fictionalised account of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo archaeological site, in the months immediately preceding the United Kingdom’s entry into World War 2.

The Sutton Hoo site is one of the UK’s most significant archaeological excavations, one which illuminated and “rewrote” understanding of the early Anglo Saxon era. A significance given greater gravity and urgency, I imagine, by the looming shadow of war.

Needless to say I am very much looking forward to reading it. Here is what the NZ publisher, Penguin NZ, has to say on their site in terms of what the book is about:

2008 edition

“A brilliantly realised account of the most famous archeological dig in British history …

In the long hot summer of 1939 Britain is preparing for war. But on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind: Mrs Pretty, the widowed landowner, has had her hunch proved correct that the strange mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds against a background of mounting national anxiety, it becomes clear though that this is no ordinary find… and pretty soon the discovery leads to all kinds of jealousies and tensions.

John Preston’s recreation of the Sutton Hoo dig – the greatest Anglo-Saxon discovery ever in Britain – brilliantly and comically dramatizes three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure.”

Well, I shall see for myself when reading on…

I also understand the novel was first published in 2008, but republished in 2021 for the film tie-in, which is the edition I bought — yes, from a local bookshop, too: so old school! 😉

As those of you who checked in here on Monday will know, it was the tenth anniversary of the February 22, 2011 earthquake, which did so much damage in Christchurch and Canterbury, and affected all our lives profoundly.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

A National Remembrance Service was held in Christchurch, at the Canterbury National Earthquake Memorial. The leading address was given by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who concluded her speech with the final lines from one of my earthquake poems, The Sparrows.

I felt, and feel, tremendously honoured, humble, and moved, that my words were chosen to play a part in such a significant event: in remembering those who passed away and honouring Christchurch and everyone who has suffered and endured through the past decade.

The poem was included in Leaving The Red Zone: Poems From The Canterbury Earthquake, edited by James Norcliffe and Joanna Preston, and published by Clerestory Press, in 2016.

The full text of the speech, including full audio, is here:

National Remembrance Service: the Prime Minister’s Speech

The Sparrows follows, for those who wish to read it in full. The image below it is of the painting, I meant it to be a poem about sparrows, by Dunedin artist, Claire Beynon, which features the first two lines of the poem:
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The Sparrows

I meant it to be a poem about sparrows
and how the silence that followed
the February 22nd earthquake
included their absent voices —
& not just sparrows but the starlings
and blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes
that normally fill the day with their bustle
about the business of living …
……………………………. all fallen silent,
hidden away, or gone further to find food
since half the city was covered
in a slick of water and mud. I threw
old bread onto the island of grass
in our own grey sea and waited …
…………………………..… and waited.

And then, finally, they came
their wings clouding the sun.
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© Helen Lowe, 2011

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