Last week I heard an interview with a fellow NZ author on National Radio (our main public radio broadcaster) in which she was asked, “Why do you write.”

Her reply was indepth, thoughtful, and inspiring, but listening, I thought: “Well, why do I write?”

The answer was really simple: “I write because I want to tell great stories.”

Why write?

Which made me think, “So what’s a great story then?”

Probably there will be as many definitions as  there are people, but for me a great story is one that:

i) makes readers feel the way I do when I listen to Mozart, or any other great piece of music;

ii) in some way manages to capture what NZ poet, Glenn Colquhoun, has called the ache of being alive and being human; and that

iii) entertains, taking readers out of themselves for the time they are reading it.

Anyway, if you’re a writer and would like to add a comment on why you write; or whatever your background, would like to share what makes a story great for you, then I would love to hear from you in the comments. 🙂

And otherwise, enjoy the week.

UK/Aus/NZ

Recently I’ve resumed my “About the Characters” posts that focus on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series — because “I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

The feature is posting every second Thursday, alternating with A Geography of Haarth.

Note: In terms of being “minor” the characters must at least have a walk-on part and a few lines to say, but “minor” can also simply mean “not a lead protagonist .” So some of the players that feature here will have a reasonable degree of air time in the story — like Sister Korriya on February 16 or Garan in 2015.

Today’s character is Soril, from The Heir Of Night.
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USA

Soril: a guard, serving the (Derai) House of Night

‘Asantir nodded, satisfied, then crossed to the main door and stared into the shadowed hall.  “Oh, yes,” she murmured, “they are close.  It doesn’t need a seeker to know that.”  She looked across the room to Sarus.  “Keep a sharp eye out, old friend.  It may be more than cold steel we have to deal with.”

The sergeant grunted, settling his shield more firmly on his arm, and she smiled slightly, as if that were answer enough.  The guard, Soril, who was from the keep garrison, looked from one to the other doubtfully.  “Are you sure there’s something out there, Captain?”

“Ay,” said Asantir, “and they know we’re here as well.  We are past seekers and shielding now, as far as that goes.”

“How do you know?” asked Ber, another guard from the keep garrison.

Sarus chuckled from the other side of the room.  “How does the raven scent battle?  It’s in the very air.” ‘

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 10 — In The Old Keep

A while ago now, I interviewed my friend and fellow author, Beth Anne Miller, on the Supernatural Underground, celebrating publication of her debut novel, Into the Scottish Mist.

Today I’m delighted to host Beth Anne on the Supernatural Underground again, but also here, celebrating the cover reveal for her forthcoming New Adult novel, A Star To Steer Her By — release date 20 March (not many sleeps to go!)

So here it is (drum roll!): the cover!

And the back cover copy (aka synopsis):

A Star To Steer Her By

I’m scarred. Broken. I’ll never be the same.
But I will take this journey.

Ever since my last dive ended in bloodshed, I’ve been terrified to go back into the water. But the opportunity to spend a semester at sea is too good to pass up. I need to get my life back.

I never expected to love it this much. And I never expected Tristan MacDougall.

Rugged, strong, and with demons of his own, Tristan helps me find the courage I thought I had lost and heals me with every stolen moment we share.  But the rules of the ship mean we can’t be together.  

When a dive excursion goes terribly wrong, our only hope for survival is each other.  

I asked Beth Anne to say a few words from her point of view as the author, too:

“I love this cover for several reasons. The first is that it’s absolutely stunning, from the deep blue of the sea to the beautiful couple staring out at the glittering night sky. The second is that it perfectly captures the key elements of A Star to Steer Her By, which follows the story of a young woman trying to regain her love for the sea following a traumatic experience. Along her journey—both external, as the ship sails throughout the Caribbean, and internal, as she slowly begins to find herself once more—she is accompanied by Tristan, a young man trying to come to terms with his own inner demons. They begin to heal each other in the silent moments in the dark of the night, and this cover image exactly illustrates the essence of their story.

Additionally, the title of the book, A Star to Steer Her By, comes from a poem called “Sea-Fever,” by John Masefield. The first stanza reads “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky/And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by.” I saw the poem for the first time in a maritime museum I visited while on a semester at sea in college, and it perfectly described the feeling of steering a ship across a silent sea under a myriad of stars. This gorgeous cover helps illustrate that feeling, and I couldn’t be happier with it.” ~ Beth Anne Miller

And, of course, a wee reminder for you all about Beth Anne herself:

Beth Anne Miller’s first book, written in elementary school, was bound in pink fabric and was about—what else?—a girl and her horse. She soon began cheating on horses with the sea, becoming an open water scuba diver at age 14. That love of the sea led her to a college semester aboard a schooner. She returned with fond memories of the exhilaration of being on a ship under full sail, less fond memories of hurling over the leeward rail on a daily basis, and a sailing bug she couldn’t quite shake.

In addition to horses and the sea, she has a fascination for all things Scottish (including, but not limited to, men in kilts), which she explored with her first novel, INTO THE SCOTTISH MIST (The Wild Rose Press, 2011), and carried into her new novel, A STAR TO STEER HER BY (Entangled Embrace, March 2017). A native New Yorker, Beth Anne works in the publishing industry and is always looking ahead to her next voyage, whether a short one on a dive boat or whale watch, or, with luck, a longer one on a tall ship.

If you want to find out more and stay posted for A Star To Steer Her By news & updates, Beth Anne is everywhere — well, a lot of places on t’interwebs:

Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

(If you sign up for the newsletter you’ll get the first sneak preview of the story as well.)

Giveaway:

OK, the giveaway: it’s  a $10 Amazon voucher and you can sign up by crossing live to the Supernatural Underground or by using this link:

Giveaway Fun Right Here!

And if it all sounds so good you’ve just gotta preorder, hop across to Amazon:

A Star To Steer Her By

All messages of support for Beth Anne and STAR also very welcome. 🙂

I am one of those writers who believes that to be a writer one must also, de facto, be an avid reader.

Over the years a huge number of books have rocked my reading world, but here are 10, some quite new, others of slightly longer standing, that sprang to mind when I thought of making a “more recent” list of favourites. (I note that some books may not be recent at all in terms of publication date; I may just have read them more recently. 😉 )

I’ve tried to provide at least one reason, too, as to why I found them awesome.

1. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman — what did I love? Why just about everything: dust, the alternate Oxford, daemons (aka souls-on-the-outside), armor-wearing sentient polar bears, Finnish witches. Perhaps most of all, the dichotomy between Lyra’s parents, one of whom epitomises responsibility without freewill and self-determination, the other freewill without responsibility.

2. A Game Of Thrones by George RR Martin — I was struck by the sheer magnitude of the worldbuilding and mythology, as well as the texture of the characters, regardless of whether they were good, bad, or (mostly) in-between. Oh yes, and impressed by the realization that main characters weren’t exempt from hazard, including death. Although this latter aspect has become somewhat overdone in the series as a whole (imho), in this first book it was just about perfect.

3. New Moon by Midori Snyder — I don’t see or hear people talking about this series much, which is a shame, because it’s brilliant. New Moon is the opening book and introduces a great cast of “all sorts and conditions” of women characters in particular. And a wonderful magic system based on the four elements of earth, air, fire and water.

4. The Beacon At Alexandria by Gillian Bradshaw — as a kid  I devoured Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical fiction and Gillian Bradshaw’s Beacon was the natural progression in YA and New Adult style reading. Like Sutcliff (and Renault) Bradshaw has real historical depth but it’s always the characters and the story that speak, not her research. And the two leading characters in Beacon are just wonderful. (It might take you a while to figure out who the second one is but that’s all part of the fun.)

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — Dare to be different and all that but I’m definitely one of the crowd on this one. I loved Katniss’s voice and how as a reader I felt her agony through the emotional, physical and psychological brutality of the Hunger Games. I also really liked the story’s juxtaposition of the classical myth of Theseus and the tributes alongside our own era’s obsession with reality TV. Brilliant.

6. Station 11 by Emily St John Mandel — A different sort of post-apocalyptic novel, I loved the way this story spanned the pre and post apocalypse worlds and explored the effects of the loss of so many people, and civilization as we know it, in an emotional and human way, rather than focusing on violence and physical survival alone.

7. Hild by Nicola Griffiths — Another great historical read that opens up a seldom featured period of history—Anglo-Saxon Britain at the beginning of the Christian period—and major personality of the era, St Hilda of Whitby. Hild offers an absorbing and convincing interpretation of the early events that shaped the woman who later became St Hilda. Hild is an awesome character, too: a total 10, you’ll love her. 😉

8. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi — I know a lot of readers struggled with the brutality of this story, but I thought it was part of the realism of  a dystopian future where corporations dominate governments, particularly in terms of genetic engineering and food production. I also liked the way cultural and religious influences were intertwined with politics, both positively and negatively.

9. Tokaido by Lucia St Clair Robson — this is one of those-not-so recently published books that it took me quite a while to get around to reading, but once I did I could only wonder why I’d waited so long. Tokaido is based around the famous history of the Forty-Seven Ronin, although it is told through fictional characters. The author not only brings the Shogunate era and the world of the famous Tokaido Road together, but like Gillian Bradshaw her characters — Cat, Hanshiro, and Kasane — and their stories are vivid and compelling.

10. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett — this was an amazing book for me, one that totally blew me away on first reading. It starts out with an attack by guerillas and I’ll admit to thinking then, “I know what kind of story this is.” Only it fooled me by being a totally different story, one that stretches you as a reader, and illuminates and saddens at the same time. In fact, “luminous” might just be the best single adjective in describing this story.

“The Heir Of Night” map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series explores the full range of locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the posts traversed locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now the series returns to gazette the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series will include updates of previous entries as well as new listings. Today we have a new listing. 😉

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The Anchor: a Grayharbor inn

The Anchor was comfortable, rather than well-appointed, but the innwife looked him over with care before confirming that she had both a room and stabling for the horses. The tariff fitted the unpretentious style of the accommodation, but Kalan was grateful to have both his share of the Caer Argent tourney prize and the journey money Lord Falk had given him. He had known the castellan was being generous, paying him a knight’s fee for his service between Summer’s Eve and Midsummer, on top of the Aldermere revenue that was his by right. Nonetheless, he would need to be careful if he had to wait long for a Sea House vessel, then buy passage to the Wall for himself and two horses.

“We’re plain here, both the rooms and the food, which comes at set hours if you want it.” The innwife’s look sharpened as she handed him a room key. “And we’re no Marlinspike. We’ll not have abuse or brawling in common room or yard.”

Kalan thought she looked brawny enough to deal with disorderly guests at need, although he was also forming an unflattering picture of the Derai warriors who had arrived in port before him. 

~ from Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three; Chapter 6 — The Pastry Thief

UK/AU/NZ

USA

Go “Daughter”!

The annual Gemmell Legend Award longlist was announced last Friday and Daughter of Blood is on it, which is very exciting. 🙂

As you may know, the Gemmell Awards are reader-voted, which means that the 5 books that make the shortlist depend on reader votes.

So if you have read and enjoyed Daughter of Blood and feel you can in good conscience support it, then I would love you to register your vote. The process is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Click on the following link to the award voting page:

Gemmell Award Voting Page www.gemmellawards.com/award-voting-2017/

2. See the heading “Vote for your favorite Legend award nominee (2017 longlist)” and:

i) scroll down the list of titles until you reach “Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe” (about half way down the list); & then
ii)  click in the circle to the left of the title.

3. Go the bottom of the Legend Award list of titles and click “Vote.”

And you’re done: easy-peasy! 🙂

UK/AU/NZ

Unless that is, you love book covers, too, in which case you may want to check out the Ravenheart Award for Best Cover Art. If you do happen to love the UK cover for Daughter Of Blood, voting for it would be an excellent way to show your enthusiasm. 😉

USA

Today I’m resuming the “About the Characters” posts that focus on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series — because “I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

The feature will post every second Thursday, alternating with A Geography of Haarth.

In terms of being “minor” the characters must at least have a walk-on part and a few lines to say, but “minor” can also simply mean “not major”, so some of the players that feature here will have a reasonable degree of air time in the story.

And now I shall resume were we left off in December 2015, with characters from The Heir of Night (the first book in the series) whose names begin with “S”.

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Sister Korriya: a senior priestess in the Temple of Night and First Kinswoman to the Earl of Night.  

UK/AU/NZ

The watcher, swathed in a gray, hooded cloak, was concealed in the shadow of the gatehouse opposite, on its temple side.  The cloak blended with the surrounding walls and the watcher stood so still that for a moment Nhairin thought the silent figure was stone.  Her skin prickled, sensing a keen scrutiny from within the shadowing hood.  “Who are you?” she demanded.  “What are you doing here?”

“I might ask you the same questions,” the watcher replied, in a woman’s voice.  “Except that I know the answers to both, Steward Nhairin.”  As she spoke, the watcher lifted the hood back, revealing a face of indeterminate age.  Deep lines tracked the corners of eyes and mouth, and like every face that morning, the watcher’s was etched with exhaustion. 

Nhairin’s brows rose.  “Korriya,” she said, then cleared her throat.  “But that still doesn’t answer my second question.  What are you doing here?”

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 5 — The Broken Gate

Gone writin’

Yup, am writing hard—yes, exactly, on The Chaos Gate, The Wall Of Night Book Four—so no weighty blog post from me today. 🙂

However, so as not to leave you high and dry, here is a sample Q&A from my interview with Mary Victoria last year.
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Mary Victoria

“MARY: … I have been following the Wall books since the first instalment in your series, The Heir of Night, and discovered this newest addition with pleasure. In it we follow the continuing adventures of Malian and her group of friends, in the march towards what looks to be a seriously epic denouement between the various powers at work on Haarth. As the blurb points out: “[t]he Darkswarm is gaining strength, and time is running out—for Malian, for Kalan, and for all of Haarth…”

I must say, I really liked this third book. It gave me a more in-depth glimpse of the diverse cultures in your invented world, and was a chance to understand how the Derai tick, particularly when seen from the point of view of your Daughter of Blood. Without giving too much away, I enjoyed discovering your world through the eyes of someone who was in some ways quite “ordinary”, and lacked the grand powers associated with heroes in general. Was it your intention to approach the storytelling in that fashion, or did it happen as you went along?

HELEN: … I am so glad, too, that you enjoyed the read, Mary, not least because I know you are a discerning reader but also because Daughter of Blood decided to fully live up to ‘novel writing as an endurance event.” …

[Regarding]… your question regarding telling the Daughter story through the eyes of someone quite “ordinary” — in the sense of not having magical powers or being a leader in either politics or war — yes, the character of Myr was present in my original vision for the story. It was always my intention, too, that she should offer a contrasting perspective on what constitutes strength, particularly when juxtaposed with characters such as Malian, the mage, former covert operative, and now emerging political leader, or Asantir, who is both a warrior-hero in her own right and a commander of armies. So I always knew that Myr would be a gentle spirit, but once I actually started telling her story, her character took off and really blossomed in terms of personal integrity and finding her own path — which was as rewarding for me, as the author, as I hope it will be for readers, sharing the journey of the book with her.

To read the full interview, click on:

Mary Victoria: An Interview With Helen Lowe (2016)

“The Heir Of Night” map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series explores the full range of locales and places from The Wall Of Night series’ world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series traversed locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now the series returns to gazette the places that featured in Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series will include updates of previous entries, such as today’s feature on Aeris, as well as new listings.

Enjoy. 🙂

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“Aeris: a city kingdom in the lands beyond the River, in the Southern Realms of Haarth.”
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‘ “The Lost are another reason behind my journey here,” she told Kalan. “At the end of last summer, the Band received a report of strange doings in Aeris. Lightning and thunder out of a clear sky one day; on the next a stone barn caught fire and couldn’t be put out. I investigated and the Lost weren’t there—but they had been.” She watched his eyes widen.

“The Little Pass from Aeris to Emer,” he said. “They must be using that. It’s hardly more than a goat track, but passable in summer. And once in the wilds of Northern Emer they could go anywhere if they had the right guides.” ‘

~ from The Gathering of the Lost: The Wall of Night Book Two; Chapter 27 — Rumor and Doubt
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The daytime heat was still holding in the Aeris basin as evening fell, but later, Malian knew, the night would grow cold enough for frost. A light breeze carried dust and the scent of pine into the trading town with its ancient, ochre walls and sprawl of caravan inns and trading halls, stables and livestock yards. Malian could hear the brisk chime of harness bells from where she sat, high on the wall; a moment later she saw the mule train, making for the city gates in the last of the light. In a town like Aeris, being inside the walls could still mean pickpockets and knives down back alleys, but it also meant hot food, baths, and soft beds for those with money enough to pay.

~ from Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three; Chapter 14 — Crow

USA

UK/AU/NZ

Today’s Waitangi Day, the 177th anniversary of NZ’s founding as a modern nation via the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi /Te Tiriti O Waitangi.

So I thought I’d share several of my favourite NZ things, around and about (Note; this is by no means an exclusive list.)

Victory Beach, Otago Peninsular

Pohutakawa, Wenderholm Beach

Fantail; credit, B Miller

The Giant’s House Garden, Akaroa

Southern Alps

Cabbage trees

Books and readers…

NZ books 1

NZ books, 2

NZ books, 3