{"id":37266,"date":"2019-11-28T06:30:04","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T17:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=37266"},"modified":"2019-11-27T23:39:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T10:39:32","slug":"daughter-of-blood-the-wall-of-night-3-qa-thursday-fourth-final-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2019\/11\/28\/daughter-of-blood-the-wall-of-night-3-qa-thursday-fourth-final-round\/","title":{"rendered":"“Daughter Of Blood” (The Wall Of Night #3) Q&A Thursday — Fourth & Final Round!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know, I know, how can it be over already? And yes, of course if a few late comers arrive at contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info over the weekend, I’ll answer them next week. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

But now for the questions at hand—I’m rolling up my sleeves as I say that, because we’ve crept up to six for today (gulps — but only in jest!)<\/p>\n

Oh, yes, I almost forgot until Adrian’s question reminded me: it’s Thanksgiving in the USA today, so Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. And to everyone else, have some real or virtual pumpkin pie anywayz. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

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UK\/AU\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n

Ashley:<\/strong> You were writing Daughter of Blood<\/em> during the Christchurch earthquakes. Did they influence the story in any way?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I began writing <\/em>Daughter during the period of the earthquakes themselves, which extended from September 2010 through until December 2011, with the last big earthquake on 23 December of that month (although aftershocks always continue for a period afterward, but that’s the generally accepted endpoint of the major events.) Mostly, though, I would say the book was written during the period of initial aftermath when everything was still in devastation mode and generally at at sixes-and-sevens for a long time. The insurance and rebuild phase had momentum by the time I finished in early 2014 but really only kicked off for me at the end of that year. That period, which continued for me until 2017, was also hugely disruptive, just in a different way—but any influence would be on WALL #4 (<\/em>The Chaos Gate) rather than <\/em>Daughter.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

As for whether the earthquakes and the initial aftermath period had an influence on the story of <\/span><\/em>Daughter of Blood<\/span>, as opposed to the writing process, I find it really hard to point to any direct correlation. However, the <\/span><\/em>Wall of Night<\/span> story is about people under pressure, in circumstances that are often traumatic, so having “lived” that (albeit in a particular circumstance—i.e.natural disaster—that is not reflected in the book), it may help the characters responses to feel more authentic. One point I made in an Australian interview, though (after <\/span><\/em>The Gathering of the Lost<\/span> was published), was that it may be years before the full effects of the earthquakes are known, so may also take a more objective observer, looking back, to identify influences in my writing.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Bethany: The Swarm prince at the beginning of Daughter of Blood<\/em> has snake hair. If you did it to make him creepy, it worked!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted Aranraith to stand out, and not in a good way, so the serpent hair was part of achieving that effect. Arguably, snakes get a raw deal in religion and storytelling, but that also means they convey a lot of unspoken messages to readers. The Biblical serpent is a clear manifestation of evil, while Medusa in Greek myth, who has the original serpent hair, is an ambiguous character depending on which story you read—but with a gaze that turns people to stone, unquestionably she’s powerful. Serpents are closely associated with poison, which is clearly dangerous but also often an underhand or secretive way of killing. The phrase “snake pit” conveys a sense of danger, too, but also hostility and competitiveness—and snake pits are a staple of the horror movie genre. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So yes, I did intend it to make Aranraith creepy, but so much more, too. \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Andrew:<\/strong> Is there a difference between the “black blades”, which are swords, and the black spear?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is there may be, in terms of origin, because their origins are as yet unclear. I think readers may detect something of this in the way Kalan’s black spear has more of a “personality” than Asantir’s black swords. However, in terms of how they function, the “black blades” of the swords and the blade, or head, of the spear are (reasonably clearly,\u00a0I hope!) next to identical. And when you get the three of them together, they may not be indomitable but they <\/em>are a force to be reckoned with.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Forrest:<\/strong> You said In Q&A 1 that you did a lot of research into battles and sieges. Was there anything else in the book that you researched as much?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes: medicine! You’ll recall Myr has an interest in healing and there are injuries associated with the Honor Contest in the first part of the book and then again with the siege in the second half. So I did a lot of reading about warfare injuries and how they were treated in the ancient and medieval worlds, then looked at the (increasingly rapid) evolution of treatments over more recent centuries. I also checked in with two doctors over the finer details. I wanted that aspect of the book to be authentic, but the final bridge between our modern understanding and the world of the book had to be “healing magic.” \ud83d\ude09 Although the magic healers, like Kion of Sea and Vael of Stars, and Myr herself (albeit without the magic), still had to have training: they couldn’t just magically wave their hands about and “hey presto”—because that’s part of the authenticity, too, you see. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"daughter-of-blood-by-helen-lowe\"

USA<\/p><\/div>\n

Jane:<\/strong> In Game Of Thrones<\/em>, people talked about Daenerys having “hard power” and Sansa “soft power.” Would you say that’s the difference between Malian and Myr in Daughter of Blood<\/em>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I have read some of those discussions, enough to understand the context anyway, including that Daenerys “hard power” is because she commands armies and dragons in her own right and also claims the Iron Throne by right as the Targaryen heir. Whereas Sansa’s “soft power” is said to be because she works through and with others, and is awarded her command and status, chiefly by more powerful men. (I hope I’ve gotten that right from the discussions, because I haven’t watched the TV series, only read the books (to date.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

With that context established,\u00a0 I think there may be some overlaps with Malian and Myr but it’s not absolutely clearcut. I also think that while “hard power” and “soft power” may be good summary phrases for each, it’s not for the same reasons as in<\/em> Game Of Thrones (GoT.)<\/span><\/p>\n

So if we take Malian, she definitely has magical power of her own in spades, which gets used in a “hard power” way. She’s also the chosen champion and the Heir (crown prince\/princess) of Night, so makes a claim to leadership of the Derai on both those grounds. Her “hard power” also includes learning the assassin’s arts through the Shadow Band of Ar. Plus she wields the chosen champion’s weapons of power, which are another aspect of hard power. BUT although Malian may make a claim to lead the Derai, she’s still an exile so doesn’t lead anyone yet. And although she’s made a strategic military alliance, the army that’s brought her isn’t actually hers. So the power she has comes from her personal magical strength, including the personal weapons of power, but not directly from commanding armies. (Alas, too, she has no dragons!)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

On to Myr, who is definitely the “softer” character, in personality as well as power. She has no magical powers and isn’t interested in weapons and fighting although she’s been taught both. In terms of standing in her society, she’s a disregarded youngest daughter, albeit of a ruling house — ALTHOUGH she does claim a leadership role as Daughter of Blood during the siege, which is hers by right. She has to remind others present of that fact, but it’s not the same as them giving her the rights. Overall, though, her power in the story stems from personal integrity and moral suasion, a far “softer” power than Malian wields. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I think, in the best Elven fashion from<\/em> The Lord of the Rings, I have now said both “yes” and “no”—which is a different thing entirely from a Kiwi “YeahNah”, which is really just “Nah.” \ud83d\ude09 Whereas I think in this case it’s a “Yes”, overall, but not quite in the Daenerys\/Sansa mould.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Adrian: Is there a festival like Thanksgiving in your book?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are festivals in<\/em> Daughter of Blood, but not so many as in the second book,<\/em> The Gathering Of The Lost. Most of the festivals in the WALL world are tied to the seasons. So Autumn’s Eve, the Ash Days, and Autumn’s Night, at the very end, are all seasonal festivals, but because of the way the story unfolds, the characters don’t get the chance to focus on the festivities associated with them. Not only no dragons (see Jane’s question above) but also no turkey or pumpkin pie!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"daughter-of-blood-by-helen-lowe\"

USA<\/p><\/div>\n

And there it is, I’m done—and this is the last (official) Thursday Q&A for my “Celebrating Daughter of Blood<\/em> month” of November.<\/p>\n

A huge thank you to everyone who sent in questions: I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the answers even half as much as I’ve enjoyed posting them! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Don’t forget, too, for those who hail from the USA or Canada, that the spark for celebrating Daughter<\/em> for this month was it being on Kindle Monthly Deal at US$1.99. So if you know readers you think may like the book, please do pass the word along. (The close-off is December 2.)<\/p>\n

Daughter Of Blood<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n

Kindle Monthly Deals<\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know, I know, how can it be over already? And yes, of course if a few late comers arrive at contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info over the weekend, I’ll answer them next week. \ud83d\ude42 But now for the questions at hand—I’m rolling up my sleeves as I say that, because we’ve crept up to six for today (gulps […]<\/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-37266","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\/37266","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=37266"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37283,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37266\/revisions\/37283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}