NZ cover

The Sorting Hat (aka RANDOM) has sorted and I’m delighted to announce that we have a winner for the giveaway copy of Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore.

My thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway for NZ readers only, leaving comments on my posts of April 2 or April 8. (Entries closed at 12 midnight, NZ time, on Friday 9 April.)

And now (pauses for Drum Roll and Trumpet Fanfare 😀 ) the lucky winner is:

Gabrielle

Congratulations, Gabrielle!

I’ll be emailing you directly, but ‘just in case’ you can also get in contact with me via my webmail: contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info

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And just ICYMI, my recent Supernatural Underground interview with Kristin Cashore, which sparked this giveaway, is here:

Kristin Cashore Talks Magic In Winterkeep and the Graceling Realm Series

NZ cover

Just a wee reminder, as per the heading, that entries to go in the draw for the hard copy of  Kristin Cashore’s Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) close tomorrow:
Friday 9 April, at midnight (NZ time.)

Up until that cutoff, you can still enter the draw by leaving a comment here on this post. 😀

Also by way of a reminder, I’ll make the draw via Sorting Hat (aka Random) over the weekend, and announce the result as my blog post for Monday 12 April. I’ll also contact the winner directly via my webmail to get the posting address.

In the event the prize is not claimed by midnight Wednesday 14 April, I’ll redraw on Thursday 15th.

Last but not least, thank you again to Kristin and Hachette NZ for making a hard copy of Winterkeep available for giveaway here in NZ.

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US cover

Read The Interview on Supernatural Underground 😀

Just in case you missed it last week, my interview with Kristin about the magic in Winterkeep and her Graceling Realm world is available to read on the Supernatural Underground:

Kristin Cashore Discusses Magic…

I don’t *think* you’ll be disappointed if you rock on over and take a look… 😉

Last week I confirmed, among other matters, that:

The Wall Of Night series

1. Yes (evile rumour notwithstanding) I am still working awa’ on WALL #4. (Huzza!)

2. And no, WALL #4 is not titled The Golden Fire, but – as per the end note in Daughter of Blood – its working title is The Chaos Gate (TCG).

1, of course(!), is the key takeaway at this stage but the purpose of today’s post is to give you a little more idea of where I’m at with the “working awa’ ”

The last major update was December 28 (2020) when I told you I had just begun writing the endgame for WALL #4 (TCG), aiming toward a mid-year completion. On February 18, by way of a mini update,  I reported steady progress.

As indicated in December, the endgame involves wrapping up the storylines for the main point-of-view characters ahead of the final denouement – and it’s still moving steadily forward, although the current sequence is proving a little trickier than the others to date.

This could call for a bigger coffee pot!

I think this is because it’s one of the ‘biggest’ of the wrap-up/reveal sections in terms of its implication, and also involves 3-4 central characters. And as friend and fellow author Courtney Schafer said in our Supernatural Underground interview recently, “…the difficulty of writing a scene goes up exponentially with the number of characters involved.”

So in terms of where I’m at with the endgame, it’s always difficult to tell until it’s done, but my informed guesstimate says about halfway through – so eek for that midyear finish goal: hyperventilates, whilst resolving to dig deeper!

Life In Haarth: writing, writing, writing on…

However, steady forward progress still means I’m closing in on “the end” – and the only way to get there is to keep going and keep writing, which are definitely among my superpowers.

Meanwhile, as also indicated last week, I shall keep doing semi-regular updates (aiming for no longer than 3 months intervals) as well as posting more from “Inside the Writing Life” so please do check here if you want news “from/at the source” (literally, ha!) – remembering that “About My Books” & “About What I’m Doing” are the Categories (see far-right-hand sidebar) to look at for updates.

“Inside the Writing Life” posts may also show up under “About Writing” as well as “About What I’m Doing.”

Naturally self-isolating: inside the writing life…

Following on from yesterday, my Magic Systems In Fantasy interview with Kristin Cashore is now live on Supernatural Underground.

Here is the opening salvo, just to increase your eagerness to read on. 😀

“Helen: The Graceling Realm series involves several realms, from the Seven Kingdoms, the Dells and Pikkia, and now the Torla continent that includes Winterkeep. How important is the associated magic in making each realm distinct, but also connected? 

Kristin: It’s true that as I’ve expanded my world to include new realms, I’ve given each part of the world a distinct kind of magic — and you’re absolutely right, I’ve tried to make the different kinds of magic feel connected, or all-of-a-piece. I’ve created thematic links between them, in the hopes that my readers will be more willing to come along for the ride.

With the first book, Graceling…”

And here’s that link to the full interview:

Kristin Cashore Talks Magic In Winterkeep and the Graceling Realm Series

Now for the giveaway details!

NZ cover

Giveaway of Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) for NZ Readers

Firstly, thank you to Kristin and Hachette NZ for making a hard copy of Winterkeep available for giveaway here in NZ.

All you have to do to enter the draw is leave a comment here on this post, or on the reminder post that I’ll run next Thursday 8 April.

Entries will close at midnight, NZ time, on Friday 9 April; I’ll make the draw via Sorting Hat (aka Random) over the weekend, and announce the result as my blog post for Monday 12 April. I’ll also contact the winner directly via my webmail to get the posting address.

In the unlikely event the prize is not claimed by midnight Wednesday 14 April, I’ll redraw on Thursday 15th.

Good Luck!

Later today, when the calendar turns over to April 1 on US Eastern Standard Time, I’ll be posting an interview with Kristin Cashore on the Supernatural Underground (SU.)

The interview will be the fourth of the Magic Systems In Fantasy series that I’m currently posting in my first of the month blog spot. We’ll be talking the magic of Kristin’s Graceling Realm series as well as her recently published Winterkeep, which is the fourth novel in the series.

As the interview will post on the SU reasonably late today in NZ time, I’ll post again here tomorrow to supply the link — PLUS courtesy of Kristin’s publisher Gollancz, I have a copy of Winterkeep to give away to a New Zealand reader.

UK cover

Gorgeous innit? And as you’ll see when the SU interview loads, Kristin has wonderful new covers for all her books, from both the Graceling Realm’s US and UK-based publishers.

I’ll supply all the details for the giveaway with tomorrow’s post, but it will follow the usual format of “comment here to go in a random draw, probably to be made around 7-10 days hence.” I am sure many of you will be very familiar with the drill! Don’t comment yet , though — wait for tomorrow’s post. 😉

I hope you’ll enjoy the interview. I am *pretty sure* you will, because Kristin has some great observations to make about magic in her Graceling world.

Related Interviews from the Backlist:

In the meantime, you might enjoy rereading the interview I did with Kristin in 2012, which coincided with the launch of Bitterblue (Graceling Realm #3):

An Interview With Kristin Cashore—Author of Bitterblue

Plus, Kristin and I collaborated to bring you this insider conversation between Malian and Bitterblue, in 2013, which featured on Kristin’s blog:

Queen Bitterblue of Monsea in Conversation with Heir Malian of Night

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