“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

~ Sylvia Plath, 1932 – 1963

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments. 😀

We’re easing into things for the Supernatural Underground new year, but there are still great postss to read.

Starting with a 2025 Wrap-Up from both Kim Falconer and me.

Kim’s theme for 2025 was the Art of Adaptation, particularly as it relates to the books and writing life, and she wrapped it up here:

Art of Adaptation — 11 Ways Authors Must Adapt

From book to screen — one form of adaptation

While I (as you doubtless know 😉 ) focused on examples of great leaders in the Fantasy and SciFi genres — again, wrapped up here:

Great Leaders in Speculative Fiction ~ Where To Find ‘Em & Why They Rock

A great leader, LoTR style

We also have two excellent Backlist posts featured, including Teresa Frohock on:

Writing Resolutions for the New Year

From business plans to taking more risks, there’s something here for everyone.

Resolved & ready to write!

and Dakota Banks’ insight into :

Making A Book Trailer

https://www.instagram.com/reels/C6dsoQDroRI/

Plus, plus, plus, I’ve saved the best until last, because Kim has already kicked off 2026 with a new theme, fiction predictions, and a new post:

Fiction Predictions: When Writers Become Seers

If you haven’t read it already, then I recommend checking it out. I believe this will be another insightful and entertaining series from Kim.

Something for everyone and plenty to enjoy. 😀 Have fun!

UK/AU/NZ

One of the fun aspects of having pressed ‘send’ on The Wall Of Night series’ finale is knowing that at some point in the now-foreseeable future, I shall be able to feature the characters from that book here as well.

And since it is the finale, I am also contemplating a Major Characters post series as well — words I have been waiting a very long time to type! 😀

In the meantime, let us continue on with our current series, which features the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series to date.

One of the reasons for posting it is because the major characters always get featured and discussed, but: —

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that (also) “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ Helen Lowe (from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview)

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!

~*~

USA

Rayn: a shipping clerk from the port town of Grayharbor 

The nearest shipping office was little different from the one in Port Farewell, a small room just inside the wide double doors of a ship chandler’s warehouse. The names of ships were chalked onto a blackboard beside the office door, but the clerk pursed his lips, assessing Kalan much as the Halcyon’s bosun had done. He looked like he might have been a sailor himself once, with a silver ring in one ear and calloused hands that reached for a leather-bound ledger. “You’ll be wanting a Derai ship then? I take it you’re going north?”

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 5 — Blood Warrior

As promised last week, when I shared having pressed ‘Send’ on WALL #4, I’ll  run through the process from here so you have an idea what to expect. (Those of you who don’t already know, that is. 🙂 )

Where to from here?

First-off, by delivering the manuscript (ms) it means we’re now in the first stage of the road to publication, known as D & A, short for Delivery and Acceptance. Basically, once the author sends the ms (Delivery) the editor, on behalf of the publisher, then decides whether or not they will accept it.

If they do, then the process, and the ms, goes straight to edit. If not, the editor and publisher may ask for major revisions before that occurs, after which they will either i) accept the manuscript, in which case it goes to edit; or ii) reject it altogether.

The road goes ever on, but there’s still a journey to complete on this adventure.

Obviously I’ve got all my digits pretzelled for acceptance upfront, because at that stage there’s highly likely to be a publication date to share with you.

The edit, of course, can still be a major exercise, even when the ms is accepted straightaway. It’s also my last chance, as author, to make any tweaks of significance to the work

More of this to come — probably with way less paper, tho’ 😉

Once it’s done, the copyedit and proofs follow, but they’re  about continuity, consistency, and errors, rather than major rewriting.

All leading to publication, although that may follow some time after all the production phases are wrapped up. In terms of when this happy day is likely to occur, the worst case scenario is that it may still be years away. Having taken so long in the writing thereof, it all depends on when there is a slot on the publisher’s schedule.

However, Voyager did indicate that it I got the ms to them first thing in the new year, then they would strive to publish in 2027. So again, I have every finger crossed that all will go smoothly and that will prove to be the case.

Looking forward to a launch ahead –where even the author gets to have some fun!

So at this stage, it’s all wait-and-see — but I have plenty of tweaks to do, so won’t be putting my feet up just yet. 😀

Yes, that’s right, you did read the title correctly. As of yesterday, I pressed “send” on The Wall of Night #4 manuscript, working title The Chaos Gate. So it is now with the series’ publisher, Harper Voyager.

Yes, I did type “the end.” 🙂

On Monday, I’ll run through the stages from this point, so you know what’s involved in getting to a publication date, which I imagine will be in all your minds.

For the moment, though, I am pressing pause to celebrate, because it’s been a very long road to this day, both for me and thee. 😀

Hats in the air, Hogwarts style.

And you’ve all been amazingly supportive and patient, which I have really appreciated, so thank you for that. Gassho.

It may be worth checking in again on Monday, so you do know what to expect from this point — but for now, I’d just like to celebrate this milestone with you, because it really does feel “huge.”

Hmm, how many times have I said, “Not this day”, in the best LoTR fashion? Well today (or yesterday, really) it is finally, “this day.”

Aragorn as King Elessar

Previous WALL #4, Part 2 Updates, to Reach “This Day”:

June 9: Part 1 Done

August 11: Section 1,

September 25: Section 2

October 13: Section 3

December 1: Section 4

December 22: Section 5

Argos
..
Lying nose to paws in the shadow of the arched gate,

eyes fixed on the white, twisting road to the sea,

listening for the familiar footstep, the beloved voice

that urged me on as we raced together, over

the rocky mountainside, both young, both strong

of heart – how my voice echoed in the craggy

heights, belling out for stag, or wild boar:  all done,

all done with now as I twitch in half-dreams,

remembering, feeling that intoxicating rush again,

while the young men shout their curses – mangy cur,

flea-ridden beast, kicking me from the sunlit door,

throwing bones or stones when they see me lying,

patient in a patch of shade.  Age has crept up on me,

dimming my eyes but never the hope that draws

me to the open gate, watching, always waiting –

but I do not know now, how much longer I can wait;

I fear that soon, for me, there will be no more time.
.

(c) Helen Lowe

Previously published in Grow, Australia 2007

—

Argos is another poem from my Ithaca Conversation sequence, as is One Day, shared here on December 16.

As I first posted over a decade ago now, this poetry sequence reflects my long held love of myth and legend—and The Iliad and The Odyssey were among my earliest favourites. The power they exerted over my imagination is best evidenced by the way they continue to infiltrate my poetry and short fiction—and that the novels I write are centred around epic, legend and myth, both in what is loosely our world (Thornspell) and alternate worlds (The Wall of Night Series.)

Odysseus and Argos in “The Return” film

Argos (for those who may not know) was the favourite hound of Odysseus (also known as Ulysses among the Romans), King of Ithaca, who was absent from home for twenty years because of the Trojan war.  When Odysseus finally returned home, disguised as a beggar, the old hound still knew him, even after so long – but died on the night of his return. As a child I always found the story particularly moving, so was not surprised when the voice of Argos emerged through the Ithaca Conversations sequence.

2026! Made it into (what will very soon be) the Year of the Fire Horse, which t’interwebs assure me brings “energy, passion, and a call for bold action, adventure, and personal growth.”

Shadowfax from LoTR — fiery, if not a “fire horse”

All of which sounds pretty good to me, as I channel energy and passion into the final stage of the WALL finale revision. 😀

In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope that our collective new year resolutions and hopes for 2026 come to pass.

The sun rises on a new year

Yep, back from my Christmas mini-break with family and back into it, although I will confess to finding it a tad hard to refind the writing momentum with so many others on holiday around me. Oi! & ack! & all the other attendant exclamations. 😀

NZ’s ‘tree-of-summer’ – Pohutakawa flower close-up

However, having been through this many times before, I know what to do, Chiefly, set the routine and stick with it, rinseing and repeating until refocus is achieved. Plus closing the door and using headphones as required!

Y’know what the closed shutters mean…

In terms of blog routine, this is the time when I list my Top 10 posts for the year that’s ending — but I’m going to have to do things a bit differently this year, because when I compiled my list it was Really Very Clear what readers and followers are interested in. 😉 Namely, book progress updates!

Although I have known this for some time, the fact they’ve been coming thick and fast from mid year(ish) means that the Top 10 basically consists of most (if not all) the updates, plus one “Inside the Revision” post (with a couple more of the same just below the cut-off.)

Not *quite* this much left to go…

So I have decided not to list out all the updates again, particularly as the five most significant precursors are listed in the latest update, on December 22.

I shall, however, give the one outlier in this array of book updates a shoutout. The ninth most-read post of 2025 on “…Anything, Really”, posted on march 14, was (ta-da!):

Gorgeous Words from Charles Dickens

They really are gorgeous, too, so I’m going to post them again, just for your delectation*:

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

~ from Great Expectations (1861)

—

* “I know”, I could just have written,  “your enjoyment”, or “your reading pleasure”, but I think “delectation” is a gorgeous word in its own right and deserves a little bloggish time in the sun. 🙂

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate today.

And Happy Holidays to all for whom it is a holiday. I hope there’s a beach or a park somewhere in your today.

Pohutakawa: the NZ “Christmas” tree

For all those for whom it is “business as usual” today, then a very good day to you all: “tips (metaphorical) hat.”

Go wild; have fun 😉

“I know” — what’s with this? Only three weeks since I posted on Section 4 (of WALL finale, Part the Second) being done and dusted, and I’m already calling it a wrap on Section 5.

But so indeed it is, although I have toiled mightily in those three weeks to bring you this post. So much so that I have also dealt with the first three chapters of Section 6, chiefly because they clearly, on review, belong in 5.

The reason for the ‘quick’ is not because Section 5 is shorter than 4. It actually was, and still is, longer (by ca. 75%) — but as I mentioned awa’-aways back on August 14, “length alone may not determine how long revision will take: it’s always far more about what’s happening with the narrative and the characters.”

Back to this…

So Section 5 was far more straightforward in that sense than any of the preceding sections, very probably because—being the penultimate section* of the whole shebang—at this stage of the tale all the story threads are coming together. (*Although having said that, there was a very good reason I started the revision with the final section, and it wasn’t because everything in it was cut and dried…)

Now what’s left to do? As also noted on August 14, “although you may recall that I revised the final section first (because it needed major changes that I wanted to capture while they were fresh in my mind), it must stay on the list. That’s because it will still need consequential changes, whether tweaks or more substantive, to fit with the rest of the revision.”

Knocking off those sections, one by one…

Consequently, I shall now dive into the sixth and final section of Part 2, which is (of course!) the final section of the whole grand finale. I’m feeling just a tiny tad excited as I type this, but am striving to keep my feet on the ground, because it’s not quite time to close the keyboard and lay down the pen yet.

In addition to the consequential changes and final checking over of Section 6, I shall be starting with some new material. As with Section 4, this is also necessitated by changes made earlier in the manuscript.

To get to this … fingers crossed!

So let’s see how this goes — but as promised throughout, I shall not be taking my foot off the pedal, except for Christmas Day and the two either side, for a long-awaited family gathering.

On which note, Merry Merry — Happy Happy to you all, just in case I miss saying it on the 25th, for any reason. 😀

Previous WALL #4, Part 2 Updates:

June 9: Part 1 Done

August 11: Section 1,

September 25: Section 2

October 13: Section 3

December 1: Section 4