Hello friends. So you may have noticed, from time to time, we’ve missed a week here or there on the blog. Unfortunately, we’ve found, as a whole, that life in this new world is catching up with us and maintaining this little beastie of ours isn’t as easy as it was in the past.
But. We all still love this space and you dedicated readers who’ve stayed with us through the good and the bad, so we don’t want to give it up entirely.
That being said we are going to be posting less frequently. Instead of weekly posts we’re going to move to dedicated monthly posts and the occasional post when Something Important happens for any of us and we find we want to share it with you.
I know it seems strange to hear that we’re struggling with posting once a month each, but I think we can all understand that things are just different now and life really gets in the way. For example, I usually have my post written and scheduled at the very latest, the day before I’m scheduled, so this post should have gone live a couple of hours ago, but then a family emergency slammed into our day yesterday and stole all my mental bandwidth for the rest of the day and all thoughts of a planned blog post went right out the window. So I’m here now, trying to catch up.
We hope everyone understands our new approach. We’re not even sure how popular blogs are anymore thanks to other, more flashy social media platforms, but we do know that sometimes blogging helps us, so we aren’t quite ready to retire this little space yet. I imagine we’ll see how the next few months go and then re-evaluate things. But for now, we’re still here, we’re still writing, we hope you’re still reading.
That being said, to share something more book related, I was invited to post over at Shepherd to reminisce about my time writing World of Ash and what books inspired me. It was nice to get back to that time Before. If you’re looking for some new-to-you books in the apocalyptic, dystopia, post-apocalyptic genre, head over and have a read!
Your friend wrote a book. Or maybe your sister or cousin. Someone you know and maybe love wrote a book and that’s amazing! You’re so excited for them and proud they accomplished this Big Thing. So many people talk about writing or say they’re a writer but never seem to have any concrete proof of it. But this person does! Amazing!
And they want you to read it.
Or maybe you got a little too excited and offered to read it for them. You love them and want to support them, so why wouldn’t you offer or agree? Here’s the thing. Maybe you shouldn’t offer. Just because you’re related or friends and you may have things in common, enjoy a lot of the same stuff, you might not enjoy their writing. Hopefully it’s just a matter of taste and not a comment on their talent, but there’s nothing so awkward as getting your hands on a loved-one’s book only to realize you’ve made a mistake.
It’s one thing to wait until said book is published and you’ve bought it–buying a book is definitely supporting it and you never have to get around to reading it to show that support. Sales are very important. But so are reviews, so you could just quickly spit out a general, “It was an amazing book! I read it in one sitting. You should buy it too!” review and look like the best friend ever.
But no, you offered to read it in a raw, rough draft form. Now you have to tell your loved one what you thought. But what if you couldn’t get through it? What if it wasn’t your cuppa? I’m not going to address if the work is “bad” because that’s a whole different issue. This is about struggling with a book you’re not enjoying.
The book I’ve been working on over the past year is a fairly dark book. I meant for it to be. I decided to have an MC with a skewed center of morality, who made choices based on what she wanted, not what she was expected to do. She is angry, betrayed, and ready for vengeance. It’s heavy in a lot of places. But it’s still fantasy with magic and mystery. So, if you’re a fantasy fan and enjoy witches and magic, you might think it’s right up your alley.
My mom thought so.
My mom is a big fan of mine and not just in the way moms are supposed to be, she has actually read every book I’ve published. But I don’t usually give her rough drafts. Like most moms she just wants to tell me that she liked it and maybe proof read a little bit. But when you’re a writer and you let your beta readers read your rough drafts, you’re not looking for that kind of feedback. You need details, what worked, what didn’t, why on both counts. What they thought about characters–did they hate a protagonist or love interest? Was the plot too confusing or too easy? Things like this. Yeah, we want to hear “I liked it!” but then we need the meat.
My mom is a fast reader. She’s one of those readers authors love and hate. We spend six months to two years on a book only to have her read it in a day or two. It’s awesome that reader can love and enjoy something so much they can’t help but consume it, but also… slow down? I can’t write that fast?
Well. A month had passed and she hadn’t said one word. I don’t like to nudge people. I tell friends and family not to tell me if they’ve bought one of my books because I don’t want to wonder if they’ve read it and hated it and that’s why I haven’t heard from them. I’d rather think they’re like me and yes, they bought the book, but like so many other titles, I was excited to buy it but it’s been added to my very tall TBR pile. A very prestigious place to be.
But I finally asked her if she’d read it. Turns out, she’d gotten to about the half-way mark and stopped.
“It’s too dark for me.” She hadn’t said anything because she thought that comment would hurt my feelings. When, really, since I tried to write a dark book (which I felt like I could push it farther), that was a compliment. It was a good note. It means I did accomplish what I was going for.
“The writing is good, but I don’t think I’m in the right headspace for it.”
Now, obviously it’s a bummer she couldn’t finish it, but that’s okay. I have a book by an author I like and I’ve been reading it for over a year. A few pages here and there. It’s a heavy book and it was too close to the current world-affairs so I had to put it down for a while. It doesn’t mean the book is bad.
So your friend wrote a book and it didn’t work for you but you gotta tell them something. You have to not be afraid to tell them the truth. So long as what you have to say is constructive, it shouldn’t crush them. And if your friend can’t take a note like their dark book is too dark for them to finish, then they’re not ready for real-world publishing criticism.
Do not offer to read for a loved one if you’re worried their ego is too fragile for real feedback, but also be ready with something substantial that they can take away.
I didn’t think my book was too dark, one of my readers didn’t either, one thought it was fairly dark and I was in a dark place when I wrote it (I wasn’t), one enjoyed it but said they hoped teenagers weren’t that dark, and one couldn’t finish it because it was too dark. All different readers, all different takeaways on the same theme.
So your friend wrote a book and they want you to beta read it. Ask them what it’s about, get some real details from them and decide if it’s the kind of book you would have bought on your own even if you didn’t know them. I offer professional manuscript critique services, but on my website I say that I won’t take on genres I don’t enjoy as a reader because I don’t think I could judge them appropriately. You can say the same thing to your friend. “I think it’s awesome you wrote a novel, and Space Opera?! That sounds great! But I’m not generally a fan of sci-fi so I don’t think I’d be a good fit to read it for you.”
Or, if you didn’t know you wouldn’t be into it, like my mom, until you got into it, just be kind and honest. Believe it or not, even explaining why you couldn’t get through something can be very helpful.
The other week, I came across this article: It’s OK to be horny for the villain by Lena Barkin. And I am fucking here for it. She talks about the love so many of us female presenting people have for our Lokis, Jareths, Draculas, and more damaged, beautiful villains and the hate and derision we female presenting people get for that love.
I fucking love villains. I have loved them since I first fell in love with the Goblin King when I was a wee tot.
I love a good anti-hero (hello Jessica Jones). And I know that we’ve all been teased and even shamed into being quiet about our love. But you know what? No.
In the article Barkin says, “Fans of complex and morally ambiguous characters are often a sign of a classic work in the making.” Complex and morally ambiguous characters, do you know what I think of when I hear that? Fully formed. Four dimensional. Real.
The article focuses a lot on young women and queer folk and how we’re viewed and treated for what we like. Young women and queer folk are, themselves, complex and more in tuned with emotions and pain and scars–both physical and emotional. Often, when we hate someone, it’s because they show us a mirror, but I think the same can be true when we love someone damaged and dangerous. How many of us are damaged and therefore dangerous? Can you see your pain and anger in the face of your favorite villain? Can you hear the same song you heart sings in their voice when they launch into their world-domination soliloquy?
It’s fine to love Captain America or to root for the genuine Good Guy in the story. After all, we need Good Guys in the world and Cap is genuinely a good guy, not a monster in sheep’s clothing. We want people like them to exist because we are so often let down by that guy in real life. So often they’re actually judgmental, controlling, or just a goddamn let down. So often That Guy is just wearing a mask and when it slips, we’re disappointed at best, devastated and hurt at worst.
But a villain in a story? He’s honest about who he is once you know who he is. Maybe he’s trying to be better, but he doesn’t hide his backstory, he doesn’t promise you forever, and he doesn’t judge you for your demons. If anything, Dracula embraces them, Loki revels in them, Jareth grants those wishes without judgement. Maybe we all love the villain because he can love the darkest parts of us and doesn’t make us shove them down into a box we keep locked in the darkest corner of our hearts. We get to be complex and morally ambiguous. Hell, we get to be fucking human, unashamedly, unabashedly, completely whole with the villain.
And I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound wholly toxic and unhealthy to me. Sure, we can debate about trying to be better people, but how can we be better people if we can’t love all of ourselves first? How can we accept others if we don’t accept ourselves? Villains are often looking for their own happy ending, just like the good guys, they’re just also dragging a tragic backstory along with them, trying to heal from it, while being judged and punished for it.
Sound a little familiar?
I love a villain. I love writing them. I just wrote a book and the MC is probably more villain than hero and it was refreshing to have that freedom and write from her perspective. It was fun to write her love interest who was even more broken than she. They accept each other and want to rule the kingdom together.
So I say it’s okay to love the villain too. Love that complex, morally ambiguous character and do it proudly.
The other night I took part in an author panel for the ConTinual: the Con that Never Ends Facebook page and the topic was beach reads. Since it seems like we’ll actually be able to go to the beach this summer – even those who don’t live near one because travel is opening back up – I thought it would be fun to share ideas about what makes a good beach read and maybe suggest one or two.
When I say “beach read”, what kind of book do you think of?
Tbh, my own definition is fairly broad: books that have words strung together in sentences. (That’d be all books, lol.) Maybe it comes from having attended the University of Hawaii, where it’s possible I lugged nursing textbooks onto the sand to “study”, but I’ll read just about anything on the beach.
Elaine Pagels The Gnostic Gospels? Yup. Read that one on the beach. I’m weird.
Having done this panel, though, I know some of you have higher standards. The general theme of our discussion was that beach reads should be both low angst and escapist. Fluffy, if you will. Or if not fluffy, at least not so demanding that you can’t put it aside when it’s time to take a dip or to order another one of those little umbrella drinks.
Based on the (highly unscientific) panel, I can confidently say that the best Beach Reads fall into a handful of categories. Ymmv, but here’s what I learned, along with a suggestion or two for each one…
Romance!
My first suggestion in the Romance category is Totally Folked by Penny Reid. She’s a fantastic writer and a very cool person, and while I haven’t read all of her books, this one looks like fun. I’m always here for intelligent characters acting naughty and falling in love. (lol!) Totally Forked doesn’t come out until July 20th, which’ll be great timing for a late summer getaway!
For those of you who like historical romances, I can absolutely recommend The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish by Joanna Chambers. It’s actually the 4th book in her Winterbourne series, but it’s the first featuring a pair of side characters from the earlier books, so it reads like a stand-alone. If you’re intrigued by the idea of a Regency cinnamon roll hero falling for a fussy artist, this is your book!
Urban fantasy!
Urban fantasy series make good beach reads because they definitely take you to an altered version of reality and they’re spooky but not too scary. Tbh I haven’t stumbled on a new UF series in a while, so I’m going to recommend a classic of the genre. The Hollows series by Kim Harrison features the witch Rachel Morgan and a whole host of other paranormal creatures. The worldbuilding for the series is complex and interesting, and I’m still angry about a certain death which tells you how real these characters are to me. Highly recommend!
And while we’re at it, my fellow Scribe Shauna Granger writes urban fantasy-adjacent stories. Check out her Elemental books or her Matilda Kavanaugh series, because girlfriend knows her way around the paranormal and her books are a whole lot of fun!
Mystery!
Are you into podcasts? One of my favorites is Shedunnit, by Caroline Crampton. She’s a huge fan of Golden Age mysteries, books that were written between WW1 and WW2. (Think Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers and other authors of their era, and you’ll be right on.) The podcast slices and dices all angles of those Golden Age books, and I generally end up hitting Amazon or Powells Books after each episode. (lol!)
Somehow I managed to get to a fairly advanced age before reading my first Lord Peter Wimsey book, and I regret not having started before now! Whose Body is thoroughly entertaining, and an excellent introduction to both the character and to the Golden Age sub-genre. I also really liked Patricia Wentworth’s The Black Cabinet, because her language is so good and the characters are so vibrant. Spend your vacation getting busy with the classics!!
Horror!
Okay, so, is there a better time to read a Stephen King novel about a beach then when you’re actually on a beach? I don’t think so. (lol!) I’m too much of a wimp to read Stephen King any time, anywhere, but for those of you who are braver, Duma Key is an excellent choice…especially if you happen to be on a beach in Florida.
(And fwiw, my fear of SKing stems from having read The Shining while living in a big old house with lots of shadows and creaking floors and whatnot, during November when the sun sets before 5pm. This was in 1980. I promised myself I’d never do that again, and I’ve kept that promise!)
So there you have it! Books I’ve read, books I’m going to read, and books I’m terrified of reading. (lol!) I hope you have plans for a vacation this summer, and even if it’s not on the beach, that you’ll have some time for a relaxing read!
Leave me a comment with your favorite beach read. I’m always up for suggestion!!
And fyi, click HERE to check out the ConTinualFacebook page. There are all kinds of panels and discussions about books & reading, and while our beach reads panel isn’t up yet, there are lots of others worth watching.
The big deal in the book world (at the moment) is the Netfilx adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s awesome series, Shadow and Bone.
I was lucky enough to discover this series early on and even got to meet Leigh at the Burbank Library just at the release of the second book in the series. And let me tell you, that author event was NOTHING compared to the release of the third book in the series when the events became actual spectacles like, at The Last Bookstore, where there were passed hors d’oeuvres by waiters dressed in Russian-inspired garb.
The library event was much more intimate, Leigh had more time to talk to those present and even do selfies with those of us brave enough to ask. Let me just say, as nice as Leigh seems online, she is better in person. She really is kind, approachable, and funny. If you get the chance to meet her, do it.
Blurry because my hand was shaking from fangirling when she complimented my jacket after I complimented her pants.
But, back to the series adaptation.
I think most readers are a mixture of excited and nervous when our favorite stories are picked up for screen adaptations. We love getting lost in these books, we love being transported somewhere different, we love imagining joining these characters on their adventures, so getting to see, hear, and experience them in a new medium is great! But what if they get it wrong? What if they edit too heavily? What if they pick an actor that doesn’t fit the character? What if what if what if!
I used to be the kind of reader who was very critical of adaptations when they strayed too far from the source material. After all, if the book was good enough to get optioned and make it to screen, why change it? And I had to really adjust my way of thinking in order to truly enjoy these new interpretations.
Because, that’s really what an adaptation is, an interpretation.
And, if you look at it that way, it makes it easier to let go of your need for something to be perfectly translated. Hunger Games did a great job of following closely to the source material. But as the Harry Potter films went on, they started to deviate and edit, much to the chagrin of longtime fans.
I remember staying up late into the night to finish reading Beautiful Creatures before seeing the movie the next day. The source material was so fresh in my mind that I knew every single detail they changed, both small and huge. It was incredibly frustrating trying to enjoy the movie because I kept focusing on how different it was from the book–and it was incredibly different. I think that was the last time I read something right before watching it.
I told myself, it’s not the book. And they can’t get every omnipresent detail in a movie like they can in the narration of a book. So they have to leave some stuff out and sometimes that means making changes. So it’s not an exact duplicate of a story, but instead, an interpretation.
So, if you’re wondering, no, I haven’t mainlined Shadow and Bone yet. I’ve watched the first episode and then decided to save the rest. My husband and I are getting our second vaccine shots Friday afternoon and have already planned a whole weekend of nothing just to be safe so I decided it was best to save the show as something to keep us on the couch while we deal with possible side-effects.
And no, I haven’t re-read the books. I thought about it, but there’s been enough distance in my mind from when I first read them, that the show will be something totally new for me. I will admit, I am already disappointed by one casting choice–not because I don’t like the actor or think they aren’t a good actor, but because they don’t look like what I had in my mind (no, not Alina) and so it’s already coloring my opinion, the last thing I want is to re-read these books I so enjoyed just to sit and nit-pick at the show. I want to just enjoy the show as a separate part of this universe.
I don’t know if I always wont re-read before something makes it to screen, but I know I have had a much more enjoyable time with shows and movies now that I don’t.
So, do you re-read before you watch an adaptation? Or do you wait and see what it brings to its literary universe?
It seems to me there are two kinds of readers. Those who MUST FINISH EVERY BOOK they start, and those who will drop a book like a hot tomato if they’re not impressed.
I’d hazard a guess that it’s impossible for one group to understand the other’s point a view. (lol)
I’m definitely in Camp Drop-it-if-it-sucks. Ouch. That sounds kinda harsh, but Camp Drop-it-if-it’s-not-working-for-you doesn’t have the same rhythm. And you know how I am about rhythm.
(Jump HEREif you want to read my post about rhythm in writing.)
This post was prompted by a chat I had recently. My friend Sheryl messaged me about a book she was reading, a contemporary romance where the author seriously misjudged how real life works. I don’t want to point fingers at any particular author, so let’s just say that most bands don’t make enough money for each member to have their own touring bus.
Even Mick & Keith have to share, y’all.
That’s the kind of error that would make me doubt every other word the author put on the page. It turns on my inner editor, and once she starts, there’s no way I’m going to be able to relax and enjoy the rest of the book.
Factual errors might be the biggest bump for me – like the book where the heroes went home to Canada in late November to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Um….Canadian Thanksgiving is in October.
Then there was the book where a character was supposed to be in a hospital on a ventilator and he had a conversation with another character. Can’t be done, but for some reason I kept reading that one and mostly enjoyed it.
I could come up with other examples, though to be honest, I’m guilty of a mistake or two myself. One of the reviews for my book Aqua Follies pointed out that Skip could not have worked at the Everett Boeing plant in 1955, because that site didn’t open until the late ’60s.
Oops.
My friend Sheryl says she’s going to finish the book that prompted our chat, because it’s one of a series and she wants to see it through. Others might say they want to finish out of respect for the author’s work, which I can’t really argue with.
Still, I pretty much adhere to Nancy Pearl’s Rule of Fifty. For those of you who haven’t heard of Nancy, she’s a librarian and best-selling author, and her book reviews on NPR have guided many readers for years. (Jump HERE to see all her books.)
Nancy’s Rule of Fifty goes something like this…
Give a book 50 pages. When you get to the bottom of Page 50, ask yourself if you’re really liking the book. If you are, of course, then great, keep on reading. But if you’re not, then put it down and look for another….And if, at the bottom of Page 50, all you’re really interested in is who marries whom, or who the murderer is, then turn to the last page and find out. If it’s not on the last page, turn to the penultimate page, or the antepenultimate page, or however far back you have to go to discover what you want to know.
Even better, she’s modified her rule for those of us over the age of 50. It’s a variation of “So many books, so little time” (Which is apparently a Frank Zappa quote. The things you learn on google!) If you’re over 50, subtract your age from 100 and that’s the number of pages you get to read before deciding whether or not to put the book down.
By adhering to this rule, I mean no disrespect to authors. If you start one of my books and it’s not working for you, you have my permission to put it down and pick up something else. Scan the Amazon or Goodreads reviews for any book, and you’ll see a range of opinions. The same book might get 5-star reviews from some and 1-star reviews from others.
Reading should be fun and moving, and it should feed your soul. I mean, it motivated Sheryl to message me because she cared enough about the book to want to talk about it.
Life’s too short to read past page 42 if the book’s a clunker. One person’s clunker is another’s lifetime top ten.
Hello my darlings, I hope you’re all staying safe, wearing your masks, and washing your hands. Please don’t end up an infamous internet sensation because you won’t use curbside service or wear a mask. But, if you’re here, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. Moving on!
So, this week, we’re lending our blog to help boost the voice of a friend who has their debut novel coming out! So exciting!
We’ve got an awesome cover reveal, blurb, AND pre-order links to share with you today. Is it tacky to say the cover is awesome if I helped create it? Well, if it is, then I’m tacky af.
I gotta say, I’ve had quite the creative block for some time now and when I Kool-Aid-Man’d my way into helping Drew with his cover (no, he didn’t ask, yes, I just said “HEY LOOKIT I MAKE THINGS! DO YOU LIKE IT?”) it really shook something loose inside of me. I actually enjoyed making something again. So as much as I wanted to help a debut author, because goodness knows I’ve been there, I am grateful I got to do this for myself too.
I remember Lyra once talking about getting past a creative block by doing something other than your normal art and you know? I think she’s on to something!
Seventeen-year-old Julius Monroe hates his life. He hides the truth of his father’s abuse with careful lies and a kick-ass jacket that keeps everyone at bay. But Julius’ careful facade crumbles after a run-in with the school administration puts him on a collision course with his best friend’s sister and her jealous boyfriend.
But escaping the school bully and his father’s abuse isn’t his only worry. The worst monster is Lela, whose manipulations threaten to expose every secret that Julius is so desperate to hide.
When his worlds collide, Julius must make a choice. Live with the monsters he knows, or take a chance on being free.
About the Author
Andrew didn’t realize he wanted to be an author until he wrote his first words on his step-father’s Apple IIe. Fast forward 30 years and that story still isn’t finished. He keeps claiming he’ll write it…just after he finishes the four hundred other ones in his head.
Born in California, on a now decommissioned army base, Andrew then spent the next four years in Germany before moving to Kansas where he has been ever since. Coming from a long line of librarians, Andrew didn’t expect to continue the family trend. Instead, he received his bachelor’s in Music Theory from the University of Kansas in 1997. It was during that time that he ended up working in the university library as a student. He found he liked being around the old books and has been hanging around dusty old tomes for the entirety of his adult life.
After 20 years, he decided that he wasn’t leaving the world of libraries and received his Masters in Library Science from Emporia State University in 2015. But life changes and Andrew took a leap into the real world and now works as a software developer for a digital marketing firm.
When he’s not working or writing, Andrew is an avid gamer, reader, and occasional maker. He currently lives in Olathe, KS with his wife, their combined six children, and a tortoiseshell cat named Lili. She’s a princess.
As you may have heard if you’re plugged into the literary community, there’s currently a movement going on between the dates of June 14th and June 20th, 2020 to “black out” the bestseller lists with black authors. To do this, folks are encouraged to purchase any two books by black writers. Shauna wrote a great post last week about new releases by black authors; I thought I would follow that up with another post about some great books I’ve read and loved that may be less new but no less important.
Please note: this list is by no means exhaustive! These are simply a number of black-authored books that I personally have read and enjoyed. I hope you’ll do your own research to find authors you love, and continue to support black authors even after this week comes to a close.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
I read this classic of the Harlem Renaissance for the first time as required reading in high school. I enjoyed it the first time, but as my paperback copy followed me from apartment to apartment, I’ve reread it several times and come to love it even more with each reread. Janie’s coming-of-age from beautiful but voiceless girl to powerful and vibrant woman feels as turbulent and powerful as the wild storm against which the latter part of the novel is set. Also, as a central Florida native, the potent descriptions of the South speak to me almost as much as Janie’s journey.
The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin
For lovers of speculative fiction, you need this immediately! Refreshing, original, dark, and ingenious, this book picked me up and swept me away into a dangerous, fragile world of near-constant natural disasters. The plot follows three different women as they navigate different aspects of this savage world, exploring how a catastrophic event happened, why it happened, and how it connected them all together. And if you don’t believe me, believe the three consecutive Hugo awards won by this amazing series.
Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
This was not at all what I expected, but I’m so glad I picked it up. When twenty-something Emira is assumed to have kidnapped the white child she’s babysitting, things get messy between her and her employer, Alix. Incisive, piercing, and at times deeply uncomfortable, this novel deftly explores questions of race, prejudice, white guilt, and the complicated ways they intermingle in our modern world.
The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton
Stunning, imaginative, and eloquent, Clayton’s debut YA fantasy about a glittering society obsessed with beauty was right up my alley. Camellia Beauregard is one of the Belles, a select few known for their ability to magically manipulate Beauty in the city of Orleans. But as Camellia gets pulled deeper into this opulent world, the true ugliness of her surroundings is slowly revealed. A must-read!
Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds
Anything and everything by Reynolds just about kicks me in the gut, so if you haven’t explored his work before, I recommend you catch up. But this novel-in-verse about a boy on the way to avenge his brother’s killer is absolutely wrenching. The entire story takes place in the sixty-second period the young man rides the elevator toward the man who killed his brother, gun in tow, and grapples with whether or not to kill the man. It’s unflinching, troubling, heart-breaking, and will leave you changed.
Kingdom of Souls, by Rena Barron
So many fantasy books are set in worlds inspired by European history or mythology, so I always love a fantasy set in a non-Western milieu. In this epic West-African inspired fantasy, a young woman who is heir to two powerful lines of witchdoctors fails to summon any magic of her own. Desperate to prove her worth to her disapproving mother, Arrah turns to a forbidden ritual, with deadly consequences. Dark, exciting, addictive and wholly original, I loved this book from page one and can’t wait for the sequels.
What books are you reading/buying to support #BlackPublishingPower? Let me know in the comment section below!
Every single one of us here at the Scribes’ blog thinks so. And if you plan to come at us with that all lives matter bullshit, you can unfollow right now. Have a nice life, but we’re not here for that. All lives don’t matter until Black Lives Matter. Full stop.
Now, to something a little more cheery. It is unfortunate that it takes hate and violence for that message to be screamed into the universe. And, while it is incredibly important for us to look at the ugliness of humanity, to watch and bear witness to the pain and destruction we cause others, we also need to uplift the good. Don’t look away when a systematically racist society oppresses and kills Black people, but let’s also put value on their contributions to society. Let’s amplify their beauty and art. Let’s hear their voices, not just crying out, but singing.
So, with that in mind, I have a few new release recommendations for you all. If you follow my writing you know I love writing YA and Fantasy and I hope to write an Epic, or Epic-adjacent book sooner rather than later. So all three of these books are right up my alley and they all released last Tuesday right in the middle of the upheaval of the BLM anti-police brutality protests. Which is not great timing. People are rightfully distracted and may not have been looking for entertainment. But, like I said, we need to celebrate the good even when recognizing the bad. So check these books out! And bask in the cover envy with me.
And, if you’re like me, you probably have some Audible credits just sitting around, racking up, not sure what to spend them on. Well, guess what? They are all on Audible!
Here’s the deal. My two kids are college age, and they’re both the kind of bright, assertive young people who are gathering all over this country to demonstrate against police brutality and in support of #BlackLivesMatter. So far neither has been arrested or caught in any violence, but there have been some scary moments.
You know, I never did think to put, “Mom, I’m at a demonstration for farm workers rights and the Nazis are here and they have guns” on my short list of desired text messages.
So what do I do when the world is burning? I read romance. And how should we celebrate Pride in the year of our Lord 2020?
How about a list of novels featuring queer characters of all kinds by POC authors!
Some of these are old favorites, and some are new discoveries, and I hope you’ll find a story our two that you love, even as they draw you outside of your normal routine….
This books is AMAZING. It’s an award-winning polyamorous Edwardian romance that’s had incredible reviews and is just so, so good. Behind These Doors is grounded in both emotional truth and historical fact, where the harsh realities of the time period amplify the story’s sweetness and heart.
Holley Trent has created this fantastic trilogy of polyamorous romances that explore the ways men and women love each other. Each book features different characters and different romantic pairings, and if there’s a common theme, it’s that joy can be found in unexpected ways.
Red Envelope is short but lovely, and it proved to me how good own-voices stories can be. Atom Yang’s eye for detail elevated the story and made it one I remember.
True confessions: I have three of these on my kindle but haven’t read them yet. I will, though! I’ve heard so many, many good things about them. Here’s a peak at the author’s blurb for the series:
The Dreamers series follows best friends— Nesto, Camilo, Patrice and Juan Pablo. Four Afro-Latinx men who came up together in the South Bronx, as they chase after their dreams and get unapologetic happy endings.
This book! I’m not quite as old as Bertrice and Violetta, but oh did they resonate for me. I laughed and I cried and I fell a little bit in love with their story. Courtney’s known for writing m/f romance, but she has a couple of stories with queer characters that are definitely worth checking out.
I gotta be honest. Xen/Cole McCade is an excellent wordsmith, whether he’s writing freaky dark stuff as Xen or contemporary romance as Cole. I haven’t yet dared Shatterproof, though my writing partner Irene loved it. She also really liked The Whites of their Eyes: A collection of queer horror, also by Xen. My taste runs closer to His Cocky Valet, book 1 in Cole’s Undue Arrogance series. See? There’s something for everyone!
This book intrigues me. It’s the only f/f story in Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series, and the cover is just so very good. Alyssa’s known for her m/f contemporary romances and especially for her Loyal League series of historical romances, which, hey, I’m a history nerd, so they’re totally my thing.
Talia Hibbert’s another author who’s better known for writing m/f romance. She has such enthusiastic fans that I was jazzed when I heard she’d written an m/m romance. But see, I do this thing where I’ll catch the buzz when a book is coming out and I’ll get all excited and preorder it and then when it finally releases I won’t want to read it because I don’t want to spoil the anticipation. Or thereabouts. Anywhoodle, I’ve had Work for It on my kindle since its release day and between that gorgeous cover and all the great reviews, I really do need to bump it to the top of the pile.
Witchmark is a historical fantasy, and while it’s not technically a romance- romance, there’s a queer love story in an amongst the magic. Here’s a snippet from an enthusiastic review:
“Polk has created an amazing new world with hints of Edwardian glamour, sizzling secrets, and forbidden love that crescendos to a cinematic finish. WITCHMARK is a can’t-miss debut that will enchant readers.” —Booklist, starred review
Rebekah Weatherspoon writes romance and erotic romance and kink. She’s also something of a fireball on twitter (@RdotSpoon), and she organizes WOC in Romance, a website that’s dedicated to promoting books by authors of color. (You can also support WOCIR on Patreon to help them get the word out.) I’ve heard Rebekah speak at a couple of conferences, and while she’s written a number of f/f stories, for this post I wanted to highlight Treasure because her in-person enthusiasm for the book made me want to read it!
This is not a romance (oops!). As the subtitle says, it’s an examination of the first decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the last century of queer life. Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez are two of my very favorite bloggers, and at Tom&Lorenzo.com they go about judging celebrity fashion, television, and life in general with a healthy mix of take-no-bullshit and give-credit-where-its-due. They’ve been writing about RuPaul since Drag Race started, and in Legendary Children they bring wit and insight and compassion to this serious look at queer history that manages to be both informative and very, very funny. Highly recommend!
![SHATTERPROOF: Remastered Edition: The DISSONANT Universe: Countdown -3 by [Xen]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51e4clz1jGL.jpg)
![His Cocky Valet (Undue Arrogance Book 1) by [Cole McCade]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41H+sF1mRVL.jpg)
![Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle Book 1) by [C. L. Polk]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412gnA3pubL.jpg)
Spellbound Scribes 