Ask the Author: Helen Lowe
Answered Questions (8)
Helen Lowe
Hi Conrad,
Thank you for your inquiry and for the good wishes. :)
The short answer is "No. No publishing date yet." The slightly longer one is that you have missed a couple of updates, on January 30, but more importantly on April 27 ("Real News") and May 1 ("Revision Ho!"). Here are the links:
http://helenlowe.info/blog/2023/04/27...
http://helenlowe.info/blog/2023/05/01...
The gist is that I've completed the w.i.p. from go-to-whoa but I now need to revise before the manuscript will be fit to send to my editor and get that all-important publication date.
So-o, not quite there yet but definitely moving in that direction, and with the "the end" milestone now passed.
warm regards,
HelenL
Thank you for your inquiry and for the good wishes. :)
The short answer is "No. No publishing date yet." The slightly longer one is that you have missed a couple of updates, on January 30, but more importantly on April 27 ("Real News") and May 1 ("Revision Ho!"). Here are the links:
http://helenlowe.info/blog/2023/04/27...
http://helenlowe.info/blog/2023/05/01...
The gist is that I've completed the w.i.p. from go-to-whoa but I now need to revise before the manuscript will be fit to send to my editor and get that all-important publication date.
So-o, not quite there yet but definitely moving in that direction, and with the "the end" milestone now passed.
warm regards,
HelenL
Helen Lowe
Hi Katie,
Thank you for taking the time to inquire. I have only recently learned that WALL #4 was tagged for publication in December 2020 in the UK, under the title The Golden Fire.
You may not be aware, but it is the publisher, rather than the author, that sets the publication date, usually once the manuscript is finished. As I am currently completing WALL #4 (under the working title The Chaos Gate, as set out at the end of Book 3, Daughter of Blood) I cannot readily explain how this occurred. I do apologise however, most sincerely, for any inconvenience and disappointment caused to yourself and other readers.
With respect to the series having been tagged as abandoned on the Waterstones site, I would firstly like to assure you that I remain committed to completion of the book and the series. I hope to reach ‘the end’ in the midpart of this year, at which point the publisher will set a definitive publication date. In the meantime, I am providing semi-regular updates on my blog, with another due at the end of this month. The place to look is: www.helenlowe.info/blog. If the update is not on the front page, go to Categories in the far-right-hand sidebar and look under either “About My Books” or “About What I’m Doing.”
As regards whether living in the UK will affect things, there have been difficulties around UK publication, which together with the incorrect December publication date may have led to the Waterstones notice. I can confirm, though, that both print and e-editions of The Chaos Gate will be available in the UK via HarperVoyager, the series’ US publisher. These UK distribution arrangements are of very recent duration, but I hope will flow through to retailers in the near future and provide reassurance to readers such as yourself.
In the meantime, I do hope you will continue to check in with me on my blog from time to time. I am very conscious that my chief part is to get the book finished so publication and distribution can then follow. I can only assure you that I am doing my utmost both to reach ‘the end’, but also to write a book that is a satisfying conclusion to the series.
Best Wishes,
HelenL
Thank you for taking the time to inquire. I have only recently learned that WALL #4 was tagged for publication in December 2020 in the UK, under the title The Golden Fire.
You may not be aware, but it is the publisher, rather than the author, that sets the publication date, usually once the manuscript is finished. As I am currently completing WALL #4 (under the working title The Chaos Gate, as set out at the end of Book 3, Daughter of Blood) I cannot readily explain how this occurred. I do apologise however, most sincerely, for any inconvenience and disappointment caused to yourself and other readers.
With respect to the series having been tagged as abandoned on the Waterstones site, I would firstly like to assure you that I remain committed to completion of the book and the series. I hope to reach ‘the end’ in the midpart of this year, at which point the publisher will set a definitive publication date. In the meantime, I am providing semi-regular updates on my blog, with another due at the end of this month. The place to look is: www.helenlowe.info/blog. If the update is not on the front page, go to Categories in the far-right-hand sidebar and look under either “About My Books” or “About What I’m Doing.”
As regards whether living in the UK will affect things, there have been difficulties around UK publication, which together with the incorrect December publication date may have led to the Waterstones notice. I can confirm, though, that both print and e-editions of The Chaos Gate will be available in the UK via HarperVoyager, the series’ US publisher. These UK distribution arrangements are of very recent duration, but I hope will flow through to retailers in the near future and provide reassurance to readers such as yourself.
In the meantime, I do hope you will continue to check in with me on my blog from time to time. I am very conscious that my chief part is to get the book finished so publication and distribution can then follow. I can only assure you that I am doing my utmost both to reach ‘the end’, but also to write a book that is a satisfying conclusion to the series.
Best Wishes,
HelenL
Helen Lowe
No question, Iain M Banks' The Culture universe, because it's utopian, civilized, and post-scarcity: a pretty cool place to hang out, I reckon, especially if I could get to interact with some of the Ships. That would be awesome. I might *quite* like to bring a Culture knife missile home with me, too, but The Culture being what it is, I doubt that would be permitted. :)
Helen Lowe
I'm more of a reader-of-opportunity than a plan-ahead reader, so there's no list as such. However, I'm about to receive a copy of WHERE OBLIVION LIVES by my friend and fellow author, Teresa Frohock, which I've been wanting to read for some time. I also have a novella, WHERE WE LAND, by another friend and fellow author, Tim Jones, that I'm about to start. Another book that's been creeping up the list is Simon Winchester's THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, because like any self-respecting Fantasy author (& Epic Fantasy in particular) we loves mapsess yesss we doess, precioussss... And I think that will do for going on with. :)
Helen Lowe
Hi Hannah,
I apologise for the delay in replying but I have been away with only limited access to the interwebz.
Your story idea sounds super interesting and I hope writing it goes da bomb for you. ;-) But because my series is not quite done yet, I feel I should wait until the fourth and final WALL book is published before finally determining what's in or what's out, especially as I don't want to rule out supporting short stories or novellas at this stage. So I shall have to pass on contributing to your project this time, but I do wish you all the very best for it. warm regards, HelenL
I apologise for the delay in replying but I have been away with only limited access to the interwebz.
Your story idea sounds super interesting and I hope writing it goes da bomb for you. ;-) But because my series is not quite done yet, I feel I should wait until the fourth and final WALL book is published before finally determining what's in or what's out, especially as I don't want to rule out supporting short stories or novellas at this stage. So I shall have to pass on contributing to your project this time, but I do wish you all the very best for it. warm regards, HelenL
Helen Lowe
Hi Zainab, I'm glad you like the WALL series worldbuilding. In terms of your question, the reply will be longish, so leave it with me a little longer and I'll get back to you with a reply that I hope will be useful. Dear not, though, I shall reply again.🙂 Regards, HelenL
Helen Lowe
Hi Jesslyn,
Thank you for your question regarding the "when" for WALL#4 (working title, The Chaos Gate.)
The book is currently "in progress" on the authorial front but has suffered from delays that have chiefly arisen from my mother-in-law's terminal illness and recent passing. As I am sure you can imagine it has been a difficult time on the family front and much as I wish the writing was not affected by such big life events, unfortunately it is not immune.
As an avid reader myself, I very much appreciate how tough it is to become engaged with a series and then have to wait for the next installment. So I am always conscious of "readers waiting" as I work on the next book and also aware that a delay is not good news, for which I can only apologize, most sincerely.
As well as assuring you that writing is progressing, however, I'm also committed to ensuring that the story is the best it can be, which can also take time -- but with the hope that it will ultimately deliver on reader experience.
warm regards, HelenL
Thank you for your question regarding the "when" for WALL#4 (working title, The Chaos Gate.)
The book is currently "in progress" on the authorial front but has suffered from delays that have chiefly arisen from my mother-in-law's terminal illness and recent passing. As I am sure you can imagine it has been a difficult time on the family front and much as I wish the writing was not affected by such big life events, unfortunately it is not immune.
As an avid reader myself, I very much appreciate how tough it is to become engaged with a series and then have to wait for the next installment. So I am always conscious of "readers waiting" as I work on the next book and also aware that a delay is not good news, for which I can only apologize, most sincerely.
As well as assuring you that writing is progressing, however, I'm also committed to ensuring that the story is the best it can be, which can also take time -- but with the hope that it will ultimately deliver on reader experience.
warm regards, HelenL
Helen Lowe
Well, it's definitely not Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings, because unlike the movie version, Arwen is barely present in the book, with only the slenderest of hints that she and Aragorn are an item until the very end.
However there are a few fictional couples out there that have rocked my reading world. Sun Wolf and Star Hawk, both swords-for-hire so comrades-in-arms as well as lovers, are a great couple in Barbara Hambly's trio of novels that tell their story. (It's not exactly a trilogy as each of the story's is separate from the others.)
I also love Kat and Hanshiro in Lucia St Clair Robson's "Tokaido Road" and Charis and Athanaric in Gillian Bradshaw's "The Beacon At Alexandria."
However there are a few fictional couples out there that have rocked my reading world. Sun Wolf and Star Hawk, both swords-for-hire so comrades-in-arms as well as lovers, are a great couple in Barbara Hambly's trio of novels that tell their story. (It's not exactly a trilogy as each of the story's is separate from the others.)
I also love Kat and Hanshiro in Lucia St Clair Robson's "Tokaido Road" and Charis and Athanaric in Gillian Bradshaw's "The Beacon At Alexandria."
Helen Lowe
I'm currently writing "The Chaos Gate", which is the fourth and final novel of The Wall Of Night quartet.
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