![\"daughter-of-blood-by-helen-lowe\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Daughter-of-Blood_Front-Cover-186x300.jpg\")
USA<\/p><\/div>\n
Josh:<\/strong> Do you have a favorite moment in Daughter of Blood<\/em>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I’m not sure authors <\/em>should admit to favourite scenes or characters, in the same way parents are not *meant* to have favourites among their children. \ud83d\ude09 Sometimes, though, I can’t help having a fondness for a particular section in the book, if only because it’s been especially easy to write, or in writing it I realise a higher truth about a character or the plot, or simply because it’s So Much Fun. A scene that fits into the latter category, and for which I can’t help feeling a certain fondness thereby, is the moment when Tirael and the Star Knights charge, using surprise and daring to turn the Swarm flank. I like the way Myr and Faro realise it’s a rescue and the moment when Myr identifies the banner of Stars. Like the banner against the wind, the moment lifts the hearts of the camp’s defenders — as I hope it does readers’ hearts, too.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n As I said in reply to Phoebe’s question in Q&A #1<\/a>, sometimes I may know the broad outline of the story for a long time, but precise details prove elusive. So I knew Taly’s path was going to cross Tirael’s and that he would get involved in the action, but a great deal of “how” depended on the way his character developed. So I was a lot closer to the actual scene when the muses finally lifted their veil aside and I thought, “OMG, he’s going to charge!” And when all’s said and done, who doesn’t love a glorious charge? Definitely So Much Fun!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Shannon:<\/strong> Was there any part of the book or maybe a character that was harder to write?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Two potential answers popped into my head as soon as I read your question, Shannon, so I’m going to give you both of them. \ud83d\ude42 The two characters I had to spend most time on were Malian and Raven, because I felt it was really important to get the balance of their relationship right. They’re both formidable in different ways, but there’s a big gap in age and experience (Raven) that is counterbalanced by Malian’s power and destiny. The alliance they’ve struck is also a major step for both of them, with a huge amount at stake. It represents a significant shift from their Emerian relationship as well. A really important part of writing their characters in <\/em>Daughter of Blood was to show the evolution from the old relationship to the new in a way that was true to both their characters, and most importantly did not empower one by diminishing the other—which turned out to be more challenging than it perhaps sounds. However, given the way their alliance has continued to evolve in WALL #4 (sorry—I know that’s a teaser!) I think I<\/em> may have pulled it off.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The second answer is that I recall the beginning of <\/em>Part VI: No Man’s Land exercising me a great deal because of the various story strands that needed to be woven in. I can’t recall all the permutations now, but I rewrote it five times before finally getting it “right”—and <\/em>that experience is deeply incised on both my memory and my authorial soul.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n UK\/AU\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n Jenny:<\/strong> My question is broader than just Daughter Of Blood<\/em>, but I wondered what inspired you to create the series? And how you keep it all going?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I’ve talked about influences before in a number of places, and there are a lot of them, but usually I hone in on an early love of myth and legend, fairytale and folklore, as well as books, reading, and storytelling generally. The more specific “sparks” for the The Wall Of Night<\/strong> series are diverse, but in thinking about your question today, I think I would point to a passion for epic fantasy and fascination for history that flowed together into this story. I specifically wanted to tell a story that was “classic epic fantasy”, too, at least in its outward trappings (which is why I’ve deployed so many of those outward trappings \ud83d\ude09 ) but also explored the motivations, allegiances, and behaviours of individuals and peoples caught up in major events. I know that’s pretty ambitious stuff and I don’t know if I’m pulling it off at all, let alone “ripping” it — but if I tell a great story along the way, that people have fun reading and get something out of, then I’m happy with that.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n From another perspective, I believe why I started writing and how I keep going have the same answer: I love storytelling and writing, I love the characters and how they evolve and acquire a life of their own within the story. Without that, when the going gets particularly gnarly and the whole matter of writing the book (because in a sense the WALL series is one story, told in four parts) takes me to dark places, I don’t think I could keep going.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Tom:<\/strong> Your blog and Twitter peg you as a foodie, but it doesn’t come through in Daughter Of Blood<\/em> and your other books. Not like the feasts in “Harry Potter”. Why is that?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I <\/em>am a foodie, so you’ve definitely pegged me right there. \ud83d\ude00<\/em> And the feats of feast-dom in Harry Potter are certainly stupendous. When it comes to The Wall Of Night<\/strong>, though, the story has to be about the characters and the world they live in. In this case, it’s not a story centered on food and drink: for example, unlike Joanne Harris’s early novels, <\/em>Chocolat and<\/em> Blackberry Wine. So the references to food and drink have to derive from and support the story being told, in the same way <\/em>lembas bread supports <\/em>The Lord Of The Rings’ story and the Hogwarts feasts support the story being told in Harry Potter. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In WALL such references are fleeting but I hope aid the worldbuilding and \/or scene setting. For example, in <\/em>The Heir of Night’s Feast of Returning, early in the book, Malian is eating (or not eating, in fact) “a piece of dried fruit”, as opposed to fresh fruit—a small detail but consistent with the Wall environment. In<\/em> The Gathering of the Lost, though, in the more clement if not less dangerous environment of Ij, Haimyr the Golden offers the heralds white wine from Emer and candied fruit—an echo of the refreshments offered in fairytales. Later, in the wild country of Northern Emer, a starving, exhausted Carick thinks a stale pie tastes marvelous. In other words, food is present in the series as the circumstances of the story dictate: a supporting actor rather than a player in its own right. I feel that being a foodie, though, helps me to choose the details that count.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Just email to my webmail: contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info<\/p>\n I\u2019ll take it from there!<\/p>\n See you back here next Thursday — Thanksgiving, as aforesaid!<\/p>\n Get it while it’s smokin’ hot \ud83d\ude09<\/p><\/div>\n Also-z: the reason I’ve dedicated this month to Daughter Of Blood <\/em>is because it’s a Kindle Monthly Deal at US$1.99 for November, courtesy of my US publisher, HarperCollins. USA\/Canada & territories only, but if you know potential readers in that area it could be the perfect heads-up time:<\/p>\n Any and all recommendations get the thumbs-up from me. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As noted on Monday, we’re past the half-way point for November, and our next Thursday will be Thanksgiving. Who knows, together we might be able to make the questions for Q&A #4 reflect that? For now, though, it’s time for more Q&A #fun with Instalment #3. And thank you, as always, to our questioneers. \ud83d\ude00 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-my-books","category-funstuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37232"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37251,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37232\/revisions\/37251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Daughter-of-Blood-by-Helen-Lowe-190x300.png\")
To Keep The Questions Coming:<\/h4>\n
![\"daughter-of-blood-by-helen-lowe\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Daughter-of-Blood_Front-Cover-93x150.jpg\")
Daughter Of Blood<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n
Kindle Monthly Deals<\/a><\/h4>\n