Harper Voyager Books

Over at the Avon blog they're talking about the gorgeous Harry Potter Film Wizardy book, including interior art! Check it out!

http://www.avonromance.com/2010/10/28/harry-potter-film-wizardry/

The Heir of Night—& Characters Under Pressure

Last week, I had a guest post on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, talking about the “Big Idea” behind The Heir of Night, which centers around how good and evil are often portrayed in fantasy, particularly epic fantasy.  Writing that post got me thinking about how, as an author, a big idea gets to “work its way out” through your story. In The Heir of Night (Heir) it’s definitely all about the characters, who they are, what code of values they subscribe to—and how they behave in relation to those values when the chips are down. So I guess that’s why Heir is quite an adventurous story (OK, it’s also because I like treks into dangerous territory, sword fights and hunts and battles with demons, to be strictly honest!) as well as being character driven:  because it’s only when the going gets tough that the person you believe you are gets tested.

In this first book in the series, the two central characters of Malian, the Heir of Night herself, and Kalan, are both young (not unlike the five Stark children in George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones), but dark events are thrust upon them. How they deal with that is very much part of the story, so that Malian at the beginning of Part 2, despite her youth, already has a harder edge than the girl in the opening scenes of the book. By the end of Heir, she is presented with a request—and how she responds, based on the values she adheres to—or doesn’t— will cast its shadow over the play of events in Books 2 to 4 of the quartet.

But perhaps one of the more complex characters, in terms of values and being tested, is Malian’s father, the Earl of Night. Last weekend, someone who had recently read the book said: “Oh you can just feel the weight resting on him.” I have to say, this pleased me, because it is very much how I hoped that the Earl would come across: not as a straightforward personality, but as a man caught between opposing forces and conflicting values—between his personal inclination and difficult circumstances. The responsibility of leading not just his own house of Night, but the Derai Alliance itself, through those circumstances does rest very much on him—which means that his personal inclinations are tested, sometimes even severely tested. Needless to say, he is not necessarily an easily likeable man—but I hope that you will find him an interesting one!

Big ideas, big story, characters under pressure—or a tale of adventure, battles and hunts? I love stories that weave the two elements together, so it’s probably not surprising that The Heir of Night works at both levels.

--

Helen Lowe is a New Zealand based, speculative fiction writer. Her first novel Thornspell (Knopf, 2008) won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for “Best Novel: Young Adult” 2009, and Helen won the Award for “Best New Talent” in the same year. Helen’s second novel, The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, Book One) is now on sale in the USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand and will launch in the UK in March 2011. She also blogs on the first of every month on the Supernatural Underground and every day on her own Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site.

For more on The Heir of Night, you can check out a new 5-star review on One Librarian’s Book Reviews—and there’s two great interviews with Helen, one at Over the Edge Books and the second on podcast here. (An added bonus with the podcast—you get to hear cute “Kiwi” (NZ) accents!)

 

Halloween is fast approaching, and there's no better way to celebrate than by reading something spooky and creepy, whether it's M.R. James, Shirley Jackson, or more contemporary works (we're partial to our books by Brom, Sarah Langan and Joe Hill, of course, but there are tons of others as well).

A couple of years ago I finally watched 'The Shining,' after steadfastly avoiding it for years. This year I might rewatch 'The Pit and the Pendulum,' and 'House of Wax,' or go for funny with 'Shaun of the Dead' or 'Zombieland.'

What are your favorite scary books and movies?

-- Diana

We love scary novels here--as shown by our books with Brom, Sarah Langan, Joe Hill

Helen Lowe is on the Big Idea over at John Scalzi's Whatever blog, talking about good and evil--check it out!

http://tinyurl.com/23b6rw8

Over at the Greenwillow blog, they're talking about backlist obsession books, and today is a book we all love: THE HERO AND THE CROWN by Robin McKinley. Go check it out!

http://greenwillowblog.com/?p=2519

Cover Love

by Helen Lowe

 

Getting a novel from manuscript to the shelf is a big process—but in that process, I don’t think there is a moment that any author awaits with more anticipation and trepidation—yes, simultaneously!—than the big reveal on the cover. "Will I like it?" the author wonders. "Will it speak to my idea of the book? Or will I regard it with the sinking feeling that really, this cover was designed for some other author’s story and there has been some dreadful, and unresolvable mix-up in production?" More than a little reminiscent, in fact, of that recurring dream where you leave the hospital with the wrong baby …

But I am very happy to report that none of these midnight fears came to pass with either the USA/Canada or the AU/NZ cover for The Heir of Night. That’s right, I am one of those lucky authors who gets not one, but two covers for the one book—in my case the blue US/Canada cover designed by Australian artist Greg Bridges, and the red Australia/New Zealand cover. Two very different "looks", as you can see when you put them side by side, but each "speaking" to different aspects of the book.

In her cover quote, Robin Hobb decribes The Heir of Night as “a richly told tale of strange magic, dark treachery, and conflicting loyalties.” To me, the blue cover speaks strongly to the “strange magic” of the story, as well as its darkness, and the compelling physical presence of realms within the Wall of Night world, such as the Keep of Winds and the Gate of Dreams with its dark, mist-wreathed woods.

The red cover speaks to different aspects of the book—to the strength and vulnerability of Malian, the Heir of Night, and the “conflicting loyalties” that surround her. There is also a sense of the “inchoate darkness” referenced in the Library Journal review and the adventurousness of a story where the call to arms is: “Awake! 'Ware foes! 'Ware blood! 'Ware ruin in the night!"

Of course everyone wants to know which is my favorite—the blue or the red? Quite truthfully though, I can say that I really don't have a favorite: one speaks to the power of the world, the other to the character of Malian—and each to different qualities of a story that I feel is layered enough to spark two very distinct cover treatments.

Me, I love them both!

 

---

Helen Lowe is a New Zealand based, speculative fiction writer. Her first novel Thornspell (Knopf, 2008) won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for “Best Novel: Young Adult” 2009, and Helen won the Award for “Best New Talent” in the same year. Helen’s second novel, The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, Book One) is now on sale in the USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand and will launch in the UK in March 2011. Helen also blogs on the first of every month on the Supernatural Underground and every day on her own Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site.
 

For more on The Heir of Night, you can check out new reviews on SF REVU and SFFANZ--and there's another excellent interview with Helen on Christchurch City Libraries Blog.

LAST DAY for free e-book of Richard Kadrey's SANDMAN SLIM

It's the last day you can download a free e-book of Richard Kadrey's fabulous SANDMAN SLIM--don't miss out!

Here's the free Sony e-reader version of SANDMAN SLIM.

Here's the free Kindle version of SANDMAN SLIM.

UPDATED: Here's the free B&N Nook version of SANDMAN SLIM.

This ends today, Tuesday 10/26, so download now!

-- Diana

Crazy Times at New York ComicCon 2010

• 

Eos, Avon Books and William Morrow set up shop in the Publisher's Alley area of ComicCon New York (Oct 8 - 10, 2010)...gotta say, it was the most fun we've had in a while -- and we're still recovering!

We had some great panels -- Jeaniene Frost, Marjorie M. Liu, Pamela Palmer, Jocelynn Drake, Margaret Ronald, and Juliana Stone let the fur fly at Friday's "Fighting Like Cats and Dogs" panel.  And we were amazed to see our room was standing room only for Saturday's much-too-early publisher spotlight session, focusing on what Avon/Eos (soon to be Voyager!)/Morrow had coming forth in 2010 and early 2011.  Then, Richard Kadrey (KILL THE DEAD) and Robin Becker (BRAINS) closed down the house Saturday night with the epic "Do Zombies Dream of Dead Sheep" late night panel.

We all had absolutely amazing experiences -- thought it would be fun to share our top moments with you, in case you wanted to experience #NYCC vicariously through your friends here at Harper! (And authors and readers, please chime in and share -- you had some funny-as-hell moments as well!)

Diana Gill:
•Meeting Richard Hatch (Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica)—my entire family would watch the original BSG repeats when I was growing up, and I’m fairly certain that helped my love for sf/f. And I still want a viper jacket.
•As always, seeing my authors (this time, Richard Kadrey and Jocelynn Drake—thanks for coming!).
•Seeing friends I hadn’t seen in months because we were all at NYCC.

Erika Tsang:
•Our Publisher Spotlight, especially after I said to Diana Gill, “People come to these?” And then to have the room already half full when we walked in 30 minutes before the start time…and for it to be standing room halfway through our presentation.
•Our authors filling out the raffle to win the giant stuffed animals at the “Fighting Like Cats and Dogs” panel…and each of their disappointed faces when someone else’s name gets drawn.
•The autographing where our authors had lines longer than the Hulk, the original Apollo, AND the Three’s Company gals combined.

 

Esi Sogah:
•Pam Jaffee cozying up to Animal Planet’s Yeti (for a chance to win an iPad, she’ll do anything);
•The "Cats and Dogs" panel speedily and gleefully jumping into the gutter;
•Meeting Lou Ferrigno (aka The Hulk. Yes, he's that big, still)!

Jean Marie Kelly:

• Personally my fave moment was when the hackey sack dude with the Mohawk tried to pick up Christine Maddalena!
• I think the Cats and Dogs panel was my favorite especially when Mer-sex was alluded to but never described. And the look on Marjorie’s face was priceless!
• The delight with which our shot gun shells were greeted and the many guesses at what they were: gum dispensers, whistles, kaleidoscopes…
• Watching folks as the “got” the “Eat Prey Love” title twist; they loved it!

Christine Maddalena:

•Watching people’s complete and utter fascination with the unprimed shotgun shells.
•Learning how to hacky-sack with my hands.
•Talking to the Avatar girls who were covered in blue body paint.

Pam Jaffee:
•Psychotically running across the convention center, pulling a handcart filled with boxes of books from booth to autographing area..and in doing so, running past Joker and Harley Quinn; running OVER Robin. I apologize profusely, Joker looks at me, shrugs, and says, “He was dead anyway.”
•Hearing that Jeaniene Frost had a full frontal run-in with James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire slayer.). Jealousy!
•OR, having the audience at the “Fighting Like Cats and Dogs” panel scream in laughter – and anticipation – when one author referenced that an upcoming book will feature a shifter snake-man! Chaos ensued :)
•Back at the booth, seven-year old daughter (aka “Amazon Girl”) hard at work, shilling books. “Shapeshifter romance; get your shapeshifter romance. The new Pamela Palmer!”

It was great.  If anyone out there went, please let us know how ComicCon was for you!

Test drive KILL THE DEAD and SANDMAN SLIM

Curious about all the fuss for KILL THE DEAD, the second Sandman Slim book from Richard Kadrey that has authors and bloggers raving?

Read the first few chapters of SANDMAN SLIM here.

Or just dive into KILL THE DEAD.

You won't regret it.

Introducing The Heir of Night Map

by: Helen Lowe and Peter Fitzpatrick

 

Introducing the Map: Helen Lowe

As a kid, I was fascinated by the maps in CS Lewis’s Narnia series, then as a teen graduated to the “real deal”, poring over JRR Tolkien’s maps in The Lord of the Rings. By that time the die was firmly cast: if it was epic fantasy, or pretty much any fantasy really, the book had to have a map!

In The Heir of Night I introduce my own fantasy world of Haarth and from the beginning, there was always a “map”—but definitely not as readers of Tolkien or Lewis would recognise it. My “map” was crudely drawn compass points on a page, with rough scribblings that might, on a fair day and in a good light, be construed as mountain ranges, rivers, and—with considerable stretching of the imagination—keeps. As a writer, I could see the world of The Wall of Night and Haarth vividly in my mind and translate them to the page as words—but I couldn’t draw them. Scale and the cutting of straight lines both elude me: an artist, sadly, I am not.

Fortunately for The Heir of Night and the epic fantasy tradition of “the map”, I know Peter Fitzpatrick, an artist with the talent and skill to transform my hopeful hieroglyphics into the mighty “world of Haarth” map that you see at the beginning of The Heir of Night—and right here on Out of this Eos today. I would now like to introduce you to Peter himself, who will describe the process of developing the map to the professional standard that you see here.

Developing the Map: Peter Fitzpatrick

I got the draft for the map from Helen as a small ballpoint pen sketch. Once we had gone over it together, noting any changes that needed to be made, I transferred the basic forms (coastline, hills, mountains, rivers and roads) to a larger format, about 400mm in diameter; just simple outlines at this stage, painted in indian ink on 300gsm watercolour paper. This basic map was scanned and brought into Photoshop for colouring.

I intended to do most of the work digitally, but I find that best results come from doing any initial designs in traditional media first, and all of the cities, the Keep of Winds, the border marker and so forth were sketched, inked and scanned. Also, I wanted the overall texture of the map to have a natural, organic look, so I made a series of watercolour washes, scanned them, and turned them into Photoshop patterns to overlay on the base map.

All of the shade and highlight modelling was painted digitally on a 50% grey layer over the colour and texture layers. The city sketches were digitally painted separately, then brought into the main image, resized and laid down in their appropriate places.

Place names were the last elements to go in. I created an OpenType font specifically for the purpose, loosely based on a traditional Celtic Roman face used in the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. The letter forms were first created in CorelDraw X3, and the whole font refined and exported to OTF format from Fontlab 4.

When it was decided that the map would be published in greyscale as a double-page spread with a rectangular border, I went back and adjusted all the colour to grey tones, deepening some and lightening others to make the image readable without any colour information. Some elements of the map had to be shifted slightly to accommodate the page fold, as otherwise they would be illegible or even disappear entirely. The decorative border was created in the same way as the map proper: a hand-drawn design, scanned and brought into Photoshop, digitally textured and painted to give it a bas-relief effect.

--

Helen Lowe is a New Zealand based, speculative fiction writer. Her first novel Thornspell (Knopf, 2008) won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for “Best Novel: Young Adult” 2009, and Helen won the Award for “Best New Talent” in the same year. Helen’s second novel, The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, Book One) is now on sale in the USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand and will launch in the UK in March 2011. Helen also blogs on the first of every month on the Supernatural Underground and every day on her own Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site.

Peter Fitzpatrick is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, working from his home in Christchurch, New Zealand. He also contract teaches figure drawing, screenprinting and etching at a local polytechnic institute. He was the winner of the 2006 Leading Edge Award for Design Excellence.

For more on The Heir of Night, you can check out another early review on Fiction Kingdom, and there's another excellent interview with Helen on FantasyLiterature.com.