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Haere Ra, SF Signal – A SFF Genre Site That Has Rocked My World

by Helen Lowe

I live not only on the far side of the world, but somewhere close to the bottom (or the top depending on your point of view!) A locale far, far away, in any event…So in 2010, when The Heir of Night, the first novel in my epic The Wall Of Night series was published, I was thrilled when a genre site called SF Signal linked to the event. (I’m going to really miss those link posts, aren’t you?)

Thrilled – and sufficiently encouraged by subsequent friendly conversations with John DeNardo to pitch a mini post series on epic fantasy the following year: first Looking at the Stars: Why Epic Fantasy Keeps ‘Speaking’ To Us, to three lighthearted posts on Having Fun With Epic Fantasy. In 2012 I commenced a new and longer series, Fun With Friends, where I interviewed fellow SFF authors from Australia and New Zealand. This series ran from June 2012 until October 2013, during which time I featured thirteen antipodean authors, courtesy of John and da Signal.

I also launched The Gathering Of The Lost, the second book in The Wall of Night series, right here on SF Signal on March 27, 2012 – not least because by that stage I considered myself a Signal Irregular, so there was nowhere else I going to launch it!

Aside from the occasional Mind Meld appearance, a hiatus did ensue between October 2013 and March 2015, to enable me to finish Daughter of Blood (The Wall Of Night #3) – but John and Kristin welcomed me back with the series I’ve been penning from then until now: Fantasy Heroines That Rock My World. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these posts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.

Most of all, though, I’ve loved being part of the SF Signal community. I would like to thank all the regulars, including Paul, Patrick, JP, and Kristin, to name just a few, for supporting my more irregular contributions throughout that time. Most of all, though, I’d like to thank John, for his unfailing friendliness and openness to my ideas for posts on a fantastic theme – but also for his support for a SFF newcomer from the far side of the world.

Thank you, John, for SF Signal, a SFF site that has rocked my world for the past six years.

As we say where I come from: haere ra – farewell.










