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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Today is the 10th anniversary of the February 22nd, 2011, earthquake that devastated my home city of Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury area.

Dust over Christchurch: in this case, minutes after the February 22nd quake

The period from 4 September 2010 through to the first quarter of 2012 was one of continuous seismic activity, with over ten thousand events recorded, four major earthquakes and an additional three to four that were also significant in terms of damage. The most significant event, however, in terms of loss of life, injury, physical devastation, and human and economic cost, was the February 22nd event.

This was a friend’s neighbour’s home

The aftereffects of the earthquake were years of disaster recovery slowly transforming to the rebuilding process that is still ongoing, along with ongoing insurance processes that were as traumatic as the preceding natural disaster; a failure of leadership at the government level, and widespread hardship for many, including unprecedented demands on mental health services. This is, of course, only my personal summation, but reading some of the material appearing in national and local news media in the leadup to this 10-year anniversary, I am not alone in my view.

A close friend’s car: fortunately he wasn’t in it.

In posting on the tenth anniversary today, I was intending to look in more depth at some of these factors and also to note some of the positives that helped me and others to keep going through the past decade. Short version: the people, the people, the people at personal, neighbourhood, and the wider community level. All these matters are addressed, to some degree or other, in the Categories Earthquake Reports and Earthquake Poems, right here on the blog. (Look in the far-right side bar 🙂 )

The people, the people, the people: helping dig out at our place, which took a week all up.

This past week, though, led me to understand that while I could have written such a post, my heart just wasn’t in it. The beginning of that understanding was last Sunday, 14 February, while listening to the Sunday Morning programme on Radio New Zealand. (That’s NZ’s main public radio broadcaster, for those of you who are not NZ-ers.) The host was talking to a documentary filmmaker, Gerard Smyth, about the about-to-be-released sequel to his 2011 documentary, When A City Falls. The new documentary is called When A City Rises: The Peoples’ Story, and no doubt charts the course of the past decade.

I say “no doubt”, because the moment host and filmmaker began talking I found I could not listen. I had to get up and switch the radio off.

The moment was painful, both because of the door it blasted open onto all the difficulties of the past decade, but because it illuminated that for me, those much vaunted processes of “healing” and “moving on” are—at best—still very much a work in progress.

I believe this realization began toward the end of last year, when visiting friends said, “You’ve got on with your life. You’ve moved on.” To which I replied “Sort of.” I could not be more positive than that, because in the moment of replying, I realized that having moved on was not my truth.

An anthology of poems from the earthquake era

My truth is that the past decade has left a faultline through my life, one that begins with February 22nd and the damage to my home, and ends in my heart. Rather than narrowing as the decade progressed, it was significantly widened in places, not only by the government-led*  “recovery” and “rebuild”, but chiefly the brutality of the insurance process. Perhaps not surprisingly, once so major a faultline occurs, subsequent life events that are not directly connected to it, from terminal illness among close family and friends, through the massacres at two Christchurch mosques on March 15 2019, to Covid-19, all become fractures off the main fault.

Hearts on trees, March 2015

“All right?” became a catchphrase for mental health and community wellbeing promotion in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. When I apply its lens to my personal journey through the past decade, my truth can’t manage more than that “sort of.” Then again, maybe that’s what surviving looks like: it may always be a process rather than an endpoint.

Keeping Going: awhi-ing** Christchurch’s Sir Julius Vogel Award finalists & winners, 2015; Photo :Wei Li

And if you’ve read to the end, thanks for bearing with me, and for being here. 🙂

Still smiling — it must be OK… 😀 WORDChristchurch 2016

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*For me, there must always be a question mark over the "led", as in my view leadership 
at that level has been almost entirely missing-in-action.

** "Awhi" means to embrace and cherish, with a strong nuance of emotional support, 
in the Maori language.

Whoosh! Yep, that was the first six weeks of 2021 vanishing into the past as I registered it was Mid-February “already”!

USA

Daughter Of Blood On USA/ Canada Special

On which note, that also means we’re halfway through the month of the Daughter of Blood e-book being a Kindle Monthly Deal in the USA/Canada, at the smokin’ hot price of 0.99c. There is more info available through the link, and I’ll do another reminder before it closes, just icymi. 😀
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Supernatural Underground

Also by way of a round up on those first six months, I now have two Magic Systems in Fantasy posts up on the Supernatural Underground — and both are author interviews, too. So if you havena checked them out, here are those links again:

Magic Systems in Fantasy: AK Wilder Talks Crown Of Bones with Helen Lowe on the Supernatural Underground

An Interview with T Frohock — Talking Magic in A Song With Teeth & the Los Nefilim Series
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Oh Yes, WALL #4…

Otherwise, besides keeping up with my blogging on the Supernatural Underground and here, pretty much all I’ve been doing is writing, writing on WALL #4 (The Chaos Gate) and I’m pleased to report that I am making steady inroads into the endgame (which I reported having just embarked upon, shortly before the end of the year.)

This may all add up to making t’author a dull sort of gal — but in fact I do not feel dull when I’m writing, even though it is (proverbially) often as much if not more about sweat and cussedness, than inspiration. And if readers conclude the end result is not dull, then it doesna matter, after all, if the author may be, from time to time. 😉

Over the last few weeks I’ve posted about some of my Christmas – New Year viewing and reading. Obviously the holiday’s been over for some time now, but it’s still appropriate to talk about Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed (first published in 1974) in that context, because I picked it up in a secondhand bookshop in Picton, while waiting to cross from the South Island to the North on the Cook Strait ferry.

A fact that resonated when I began reading, because The Dispossessed is a tale of two worlds, Anarres and Urras, that lie in close proximity (Anarres is, in fact, the moon of Urras) and whose people were originally one. Now, by choice and treaty, dealings between the two are restricted to a closely controlled trade, all of which is limited to one spaceport. In terms of a setting, it’s as if NZ’s North and South Islands decided to limit all their dealings to a trade that could only occur in Picton, and where the traders and sailors from the North Island could never go beyond the port limits.

The reasons for this division in The Dispossessed is political, with the people of Anarres having departed persecution in Urras to establish a libertarian-anarchist society on its moon, with the basis of the agreement being that they would never return. For those who associate libertarianism with the thought and writings of Ayn Rand, I note that the society of Anarres is modeled more closely on the ideas of William Godwin and Prince Kropotkin’s famous treatise, Mutual Aid.

The Dispossessed is centered on the character of Shevek, an Anarres’ physicist whose work on the Principle of Simultaneity offers the potential to revolutionize interstellar communication and travel. It is written in alternating sections. Those in Anarres chart the course of Shevek’s life, leading to his revolutionary decision to self-exile to Urras in order to develop his work more fully. The second storyline is set in Urras, following that fateful decision.

The Dispossessed is a character study, exploring the personality and thought and influences that shape Shevek and his work. It is also an exploration of social and political difference, including how those differences shape and are shaped by misogyny, sexism, and sexual mores. The book also establishes two distinct worlds within Ursula Le Guin’s larger interstellar civilization, a loose affiliation of worlds that will become known as the Ekumen. In addition, the narrative explores the scientific thought underpinning the Principle of Simultaneity.

In other words, The Dispossessed works at several different narrative levels and in my view represents Ursula Le Guin at the height of her powers, as does her equally famous novel The Left Hand of Darkness. The latter has been one of my favourite books for a long time, but The Dispossessed has now joined it on the favourites’ shelf.

The edition I bought was published as part of Gollancz’s SF Masterworks series, a title that is apposite to the work, imho. I also note that The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed both won the Hugo and the Nebula Awards for Best Novel, deservedly in my view, as both are outstanding works of fiction.

The edition I acquired in the Picton secondhand bookshop was a paperback, 336 pages, brought out in 1999.

UK/AU/NZ

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” – a popular one for names in the Haarth world. 😉

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USA

Ler: a marine escorting Lord Nimor, the Sea House envoy

Kalan laid about him with the longer of the black blades … Reith was fighting alongside him for a time, then Ler took his place, covering the retreat until the Darksworn horn sounded again and more cavalry swept forward.

~ from Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 49, The Burned Man

Naturally “self-isolating”…

Several times last year, I posted on the solitary aspect to the writing life. (I’ve included the links below in case you would like to take a look, or revisit.)

For me, periods of solitude are a necessary part of the creative process, but within which I sometimes find myself “listening to the silence.” Possibly because I seek my necessary solitude in relatively solitary places.

On almost every occasion, though, I realize that what I am hearing is not silence at all. Being near the sea, the waves are a constant background murmur on even the calmest days. Some days, needless to say, they roar – but I would not describe those days as silent, not in any way. 😉

Amid the solitude

Listening past the sea’s voice, a myriad other constants may be discerned: the tweet and twitter of birds, the hum of insects, and the sound of leaves, moved by the wind. The occasional voice, or car engine, or dog barking, provides a “pop” that marks the contrast.

Whenever I stop and consciously listen, I become aware of how these background sounds create a texture that shapes my perception of milieu just as much, if not as overtly, as what I see.

Unquestionably, I bring this awareness to my writing in order to create atmosphere and to “worldbuild.” The process is not always conscious, any more than experiencing the complexity of apparent silence. Yet just as I occasionally pause to consciously listen to the silence, when writing I will actively consider the sounds – and other attributes – that best support the mood or physical environment I wish to convey.

All of which led me to decide this was an “Inside The Writing Life” post, although it arose, quite simply, out of pausing to listen.

These little guys always have a lot to say — Fantail; credit, B Miller

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Those Earlier Posts:

Writing In A Time of Corona Virus – March 23

Inside The Writing Life: “Naturally Self-Isolating” – May 28

Inside The Writing Life: Fun With Friends – September 17

USA

Hey, hey — my US editor (the wonderful Kate Nintzel) has let me know that Daughter of Blood (The Wall Of Night, Book 3) is a Kindle Monthly Deal for February, so will be available at the ‘bargain basement’ price of 0.99c throughout that time. 😉

The qualifiers are that it’s for the USA/Canada and their related markets only, and being Kindle it’s also ebook only.

But for those of you who’re ‘over there’ it’s a great opportunity, whether buying for y’ownself or as a gift for someone else — and, of course, if you know someone else who may be interested, please do let them know.

I’m working on the assumption, of course, that those of you who follow me here are already convinced it’s a good book. 😀

There’s more info here:

HarperVoyagerUS: Daughter Of Blood

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And here’s a wee excerpt, just to get in the spirit…

Prologue

Tongues of lightning flashed out of a bruised sky, the wildfire flickering along a broken colonnade before splitting apart around a man’s tall figure. Dead leaves drifted to either side as the rift in the air closed, but no ripple disturbed the length of the newcomer’s surcote, white over blue-black mail, or the fall of his long hair as he passed beneath a crumbling arch and into an open court, bounded by twelve paired pillars. A wide pool lay on its far side, with shallow steps leading out onto a stone platform where a woman gazed into the motionless depths. Her gossamer sleeves stirred in a slight breeze, but otherwise she was as still as the surrounding water and did not turn when the man joined her.

…

USA

Later today, the second in my Magic Systems in Fantasy series will be posting on the Supernatural Underground (sometime earlyish on February 1, US Standard Time.)

This month I’m interviewing Teresa Frohock about the magic in her LOS NEFILIM series, with a particular focus on A Song With Teeth, the final novel in the current trilogy, which will be OUT on February 9!

Regulars here have no doubt grokked to the fact I am a Teresa Frohock fan, as well as a friend-in-writing, but even allowing for a certain degree of natural bias, I have to tell you that her A’s to my Q’s are absolutely “stonking.” (With thanks to the excellent Rosie Cooper for adding so evocative a word to my lexicon. 🙂 )

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Meanwhile, here’s a taster:

“TF: For those who haven’t read the series, the nefilim work their magic through music, light, and movement by creating sigils. They experience sound accompanied by color—a form of chromesthesia—that enables them to use the vibrations of color to shape their sigils, which manifest their willpower into reality. 

…

The world the nefilim inhabit is the very real world of the early twentieth century, so their magic is quite often dependent on the science and music of the period. As they learn new things, they incorporate this knowledge into spells. A good example is Carme’s fascination with the Devil’s Fingers [Clathrus archeri], a type of fungus that she mimics with a very nasty spell that she inflicts on her enemies. …”

And there is so much moar, all equally indepth and offering a wonderful insight into the LOS NEFILIM world.
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I’ll be checking in again later this evening to add the specific link for the Q&A — & here it is!

An Interview with T Frohock — Talking Magic in A Song With Teeth & the Los Nefilim Series

But you can also just click on the main Supernatural Underground link. The  Q&A should be at the top of the masthead for a couple of days, if you take that route — and only a very brief scrolldown, after that. 😀

Meanwhile, why not take a look at last month’s interview with AK Wilder, if you havena already:

Magic Systems in Fantasy: AK Wilder Talks Crown Of Bones with Helen Lowe on the Supernatural Underground

Or check out what I had to say about LOS NEFILIM in my Romance in Fantasy series in 2019 (also on the SU):

#8 Teresa Frohock’s Where Oblivion Lives and Endless Love

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.” 🙂

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USA

UK/AU/NZ

Lawr: an honor guard, serving the House of Night
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“[Asha] had been promoted from the Keep garrison after the Swarm attack five years before, one of the few guards who had managed to survive the ambush that killed the former Keep Commander and most of his troop. Her shield comrade, Lawr, another survivor of that disaster, was on watch … in the darkness beyond their camp perimeter.”

~ from The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall Of Night Book Two – Chapter 28, Border Crossing
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USA

UK/AU/NZ

“Doesn’t this place creep you?” Asha asked Garan, “It’s vast, but so empty, too… The only voice you hear in this whole wing, outside our rooms, is the wind?” …

“No wonder they needed nursemaiding,” Lawr said, from his place by the fire. “I don’t think any of the old Lady’s lot had even been outside their towers before.” He paused, frowning. “And there aren’t enough of them to hold even half of this great pile, assuming they know how to do it.”

~ from Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 13, Watch and Ward

Along with film and television viewing, a rainy Christmas – New Year break also presented the opportunity to settle in with a good book.

The standout read was definitely Jane Harper’s The Dry (genre: police procedural/murder mystery.) The protagonist Aaron Falk, an officer with the Australian federal police, returns to his hometown in the rural hinterland, to attend the funeral of his boyhood best friend, who appears to have murdered his family then committed suicide.

Not unexpectedly, plot-wise, the apparent murder-suicide increasingly looks like murder committed by a third party (or parties.) Also, not unexpectedly for the genre, the death of Falk’s friend is tied to another unresolved death from their shared childhood in the same community.

What makes a book standout, though, is not necessarily whether the story steps outside the norms of its genre, but the combination of character interest, narrative depth, and the “texture” of the community of family, friends, and suspects, as well as the cultural and physical landscape within which the story unfolds.

Jane Harper delivers the goods in all these areas. I particularly liked the depth of Aaron Falk’s character. The story not explores the ramifications of the current crime, but also the effect of the past death in shaping his character and relationships, including with his father and with the dead best friend, along with others in their childhood peer group.

On occasion, literature is discussed as if character and plot driven stories are mutually exclusive. In my view, the best stories deliver on both – and The Dry does this “in spades.” (No pun intended. 😉 ) I particularly liked that I did not start to suspect the actual perpetrator, or their motivation, until immediately before the big reveal. I also really liked the way the events of the past and present resolved. In fact, I found the ending, along with every other aspect of the book, extremely satisfying.

I was not at all surprised to learn that The Dry was a New York Times bestseller. As you may have guessed, I’m recommending it highly.

The Dry has also been made into a film, starring Eric Bana. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope to soon.

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Disclosure: I read my sister’s copy of the book, which is the mass market paperback version. The Dry was first published by Macmillan in 2016.