Welcome to 2012---& “The Gathering of The Lost”, US Cover & Quote!

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Giveaway Now Closed:
Thank you for your positive comments on the new cover! Amanda's post is up so my giveaway has now closed—& because I have 10 cover flats to give away and eight commenters that means everyone gets one, which is very nice. :) Now I know some of you have had giveaways from me before so I already have your postal address, but if this is a first off then just drop me a line through my website, contact[at]helenlowe[dot]info, so I can get the cover flat in the mail to you. Happy New Year and see you again on 1 February!


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The thing about posting on the first of the month is that I get New Year’s Day—plus April Fool’s Day, and May Day as well, which I have to say is very cool!—and a year ago today I posted: “Happy, Happy New Year: The Wall of Night Book Two—Finished!”

And so it was—in terms of getting to the final line. But a year of revision, editing and copyediting, plus proofing has followed, proving that it is indeed a long slow road from first putting pen to paper to getting a book to readers.

There are still highlight moments though—and with The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night Book Two) due for publication on 27 March (USA) and 4 April (UK/AUS/NZ) I am delighted to welcome the New Year in by sharing two of those highlights with you today.

The first is always a very exciting moment for every book—The Great Cover Reveal. So here it is, seen for the first time here on the Supernatural Underground, the US cover for The Gathering of the Lost, designed by the mighty Greg Bridges:

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But there is more—a more that is probably the highest honor one author can pay another. As you can probably imagine, I was both delighted and humbled when Juliet Marillier, author of the marvelous Sevenwaters series and the wonderful Wildwood Dancing, agreed to advance read The Gathering of the Lost. And felt greatly honored when she said:

“Helen Lowe's writing moves from strength to strength. Powerful story lines, memorable characters and a vividly imagined world.” ~ Juliet Marillier

As you may imagine, the cover and quote together make the very best start to 2012, which I hope will bring us all many good things.

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But what’s that—you haven’t yet read The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night Book One)? Do you have an e-reader? Then no need to worry—by way of an additional ‘Happy New Year’ Harper Voyager have a bunch of great e-book titles on a super $1.99 special. You can read the full list here, but it includes titles by Robin Hobb, Vicki Pettersson, Kim Harrison, Kylie Chan—and yes, Helen Lowe! So you see, it’s never been easier to read The Heir of Night before The Gathering of the Lost comes out.

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And Yes, There Is A Giveaway!
Covers, cover quotes, and e-book super deals all make for a very happy new year from where I’m sitting—but of course there’s a giveaway as well! What better to mark the New Year cover reveal than 10 signed cover flats of The Gathering of the Lost, together with a personalised book plate. Just comment here to let me know what you (yes, you!) are really looking forward to in 2012 in order to be in the draw. (The draw will close when the next post goes up on the 3rd.)

And a very happy New Year to you all!

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Supernatural Underground author Helen Lowe is a novelist, poet and interviewer. Her latest novel, The Heir of Night, the first of THE WALL OF NIGHT quartet, is published in the USA, UK, and internationally and recently won the Sir Julius Vogel Award 2011 for Best Novel. Her first novel, Thornspell, is published in the US by Knopf. Helen blogs every day on her Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site and on the first day of every month right here on the Supernatural Underground.
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