Mornings With Marie: August 2022
Mornings With Marie: August 2022
FantasyCon, Audiobook Giveaway, Book Reviews, and Tree Singer by Jacci Turner
Sleepy morning, fam 🥱 After a two-day heatwave sometime mid-July, we’re back to the usual cool in this side of England. Definitely a shift for me since back in the Philippines it was summer for most of the year 😂 It’s lovely weather for reading though, which is why I’ve done a lot on top of my BBNYA panelist obligations last month! You can check the book reviews section for my haul, with my book of the month going to We Will Rise by Tim Waggoner.
Writing, however, is another story. Despite my Camp NaNo plans, I only finished 2,616 words and literally wrote only during the first few days 🤣 But it’s not all bleak on the writing front, and soon I will have good news to share, I’m just waiting for the go signal that I can 😉
My only other news (for now) is that I’m part of the jury for the British Fantasy Awards’ Best Film / Television Production! It’s my first time on here too so I’m really excited, plus I get to check out some really cool movies 🥳 Here are the finalists:
The winners will be announced and awarded during FantasyCon at the Radisson Red Hotel and Conference Centre in Heathrow this 17-18 September. I still have to see if I can make it, but if you’re in the UK, you might want to check this out! It will be full of panels, workshops, readings and book launches, and if you’d like to participate — join the panels, give a reading, lead a workshop — feel free to fill out this form.
New Short Stories
Death Note (Audio)
A short story on the complicated mess of love, loss and saying goodbye.Relationship Status: It’s Complicated (Audio)
Three very short stories about couples in different stages of relationships.The Vigil
Fire has no substance, and yet it has shape, making it almost ethereal in nature. Fire is pure energy, which can never be destroyed, only transformed.
Featured Author of the Month
Jacci Turner is an Amazon bestselling author of young adult and middle grade fiction. Her Middle Grade book Bending Willow was chosen to represent Nevada at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C, and both Bending Willow and Cracker were finalists in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, which are selected by teachers and students.
She lives in Northern Nevada with her wonderful husband and their black dog, Rosie. You can often find them hiking in the nearby desert. She loves chocolate in all of its manifestations and if you can’t find her, try looking at the nearest Starbucks.
Her latest book Tree Singer is her first fantasy, and Jacci’s giving away audiobook copies to three lucky winners in the UK! Head on over to my giveaway post on Instagram to enter. 🥳
Fifteen-year-old Mayten loves training as a tree singer, an esteemed position among her clan. But when she feels pain coming from the trees, she finds herself on an unexpected quest, one so dangerous she might never return home.
Now Mayten must use her unfinished training to face betrayal, fear, and a deadly foe. Is she a match for the ancient evil attacking her trees or will the entire kingdom fall to ruin?
Book Reviews
Here’s a little something for the readers on my list: I’ll now share links to the book reviews I’ve posted in the previous month! If you’re looking for new reads, this could be just the place of you. I mostly read fantasy and young adult, but I’ll occasionally throw in a different genre to shake things up. And if you have recommendations of your own, I’ll be happy to check them out sometime! 🥰
My 2022 Books of the Month, Part 1
The mid-year round up!We Will Rise by Tim Waggoner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ HorrorFrom Brick and Darkness by J.L. Sullivan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Young Adult Modern Fantasy RetellingThe Heron Kings’ Flight by Eric Lewis
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Epic FantasyThe Child of Fire and Earth by Barry Ryerson (Audiobook)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure
Diary of an Angry Young Man by Rishi Vohra
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Coming of Age FictionHarley James: The Secret of the Falcon Queen by Leah Cupps
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Middle Grade AdventureDeus Ex by Miles Watson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Military Fiction NovellaJack of Thorns by A.K. Faulkner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ LGBTQ+ Urban FantasyThe Last Feather by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ New Adult Portal FantasyEnchanted Forests Anthology
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⋆ Fantasy Anthology
Writing Opportunities
Chicken Soup For the Soul is now accepting true stories of the funny kind. They want them to be silly, outrageous and hilarious, and they absolutely must brighten people’s day and make everyone laugh! Pays $200. Due 30 August.
Rooster Republic Press is looking for horror short stories for their upcoming 2023 Monday column Two-Thousand Word Terrors. Pays $0.01/word. One submission per author and no simultaneous submissions. Due 31 August.
Dragon Soul Press is now accepting short stories for their Christmas anthology Magick & Mistletoe, for publication in December. Contributing authors will earn royalties. Any genre; as long as Christmas is involved, the story qualifies, and Happily Ever After is not required. Due 31 August.
Writing Resources
ProWritingAid is hosting a free online summit for science fiction writers from 29 August to 2 September! Register now to learn from award-winning authors and educators like Andy Weir (author of The Martian); discover strategies for outlining, editing, publishing, marketing and more; and connect with like-minded writers in the daily networking events.
Thinking about writing non-fiction? Reedsy recently held a live event on How to Write a Memoir with Commercial Appeal and you can still watch the replay! (Or read the transcript if that’s more your thing.)
On episode 341 of the Self Publishing Show podcast, Mary Lee Prescott talks about writing now that she’s ‘retired’ — writing mysteries after encouragement from a son, writing romance with a little spice, adjusting to writing full-time, and thoughts on legacy planning for book series.
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter! I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to write me back. 💕 Thanks for reading and talk to you again soon! 😘
Marie xx