Category Archives: guest speaker

Building the Underdog: author panel with Brielle D. Porter and Madison Lawson

May 2024

Welcome to May’s newsletter. If you showed up by accident but want to receive monthly content, please subscribe below:

In this month’s newsletter, click the headings or scroll down to find:

And the winner is…

Queen’s Catacombs won a silver IPPY award in the Best Series: Fiction category. That’s the second silver IPPY this series has won, and the first award won by Queen’s Catacombs! I am ecstatic! Over the moon! And so mumma-bear proud of this series!

Author Nook: Building the Underdog with Brielle D. Porter and Madison Lawson

Welcome to my Author Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children. Find it on Spotify here, and Youtube here.

This month I am joined today by not one, but two fantastic authors: Madison Lawson, author of The Registration and The Registration Rewritten; and Brielle D. Porter, author of Jester. Today we talk all about building the underdog, how to write a believable down-trodden character, how to make the rules of a new world work, and the true meaning of family. So bring your trust issues and settle in to add a few wolves to your lone wolf pack.

Jester

What happens in Oasis, stays in Oasis.

Lisette’s father killed the King. His execution leaves Lisette alone, disgraced, and without the magic he intended to pass on to her. In Oasis, that’s a problem. Glutted with enchanted performers, Oasis is a sin city where courtiers pay in gold to drink, gamble, and above all, be entertained. To survive on its competitive streets, Lisette peddles paltry illusions in place of magic.

Desperate to prove herself, Lisette enters into a deadly competition to be chosen as the highest-ranked magician in the world, the Queen’s Jester. But her rival, the irritatingly handsome Luc, possesses the one thing Lisette does not— real magic. Lisette will do anything to win, but when evidence implicating the Queen in her husband’s murder surfaces, Lisette must choose between redeeming her family name, or seizing the fame she’s hungered for her entire life.

The Registration

You can’t outrun the Registration.

Imagine it’s legal to commit one murder in your lifetime⎯if you Register the victim and accomplish the kill within fourteen days. So when Lynell Mize stands in line to Register the man who abused her as a child, she’s shocked to hear a stranger Register her to be killed. Why would anyone who doesn’t know her squander his one legal murder on her? Desperate to survive the next two weeks, she must find out who wants to kill her⎯and why.

Easier said than done as Lynell soon discovers that multiple strangers have used their Registration on her. Along the way, she reunites with her estranged husband who is determined to dig up a past Lynell prefers to keep buried. With only days left to live, Lynell fights to uncover the truth and survive a destiny not of her choosing.

The Registration Rewritten


When your greatest enemy is your best chance of survival.

Still bearing wounds from barely surviving the Registration, Lynell struggles to fill her new role as the heir and leader of the very system that aimed to kill her. She must convince the Registration committee and the country’s oligarchs that she can fill her uncle’s shoes, while simultaneously proving to the country’s largest rebel group that she is nothing like her uncle—ruthless and greedy . When Sawyer, the leader of the Resurrection, reaches out with proof that they are both on the hitlist of powerful people who wish to destroy the rebels and take over the Registration, the two women form an uneasy alliance.

With mere days until the committee announces a policy change that will increase the Registration’s lethal power, Lynell and Sawyer must find out who wants them dead—and all signs point to someone close.

Critical Hit: Campaign Complete

It’s out! It’s over! What bittersweet news for the world. If you’re new here, allow me to explain, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a four episode Dungeons and Dragons podcast with our incredible MC Smitherman, Alexander James (The Woodkin), Elijah Menchaca (The Glintchasers Series), and Jessica Homami as we play our leading lads and ladies and fight to restore our worlds and be the heroes we wrote about!

It was honestly an absolute blast, I’m so excited that the final episode is out because it’s a goodie! Here is a sneak peek at my favourite moment:

https://youtu.be/lHbPGvx-PZ4?si=w1to2-t22qvp97Qf

Here are the Spotify links if you’d prefer to listen to the adventure. All episodes as well as audiobooks and exclusive author interviews can be found on CamCat Unwrapped’s channel.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

Captain’s Log: From Sea to Sky and Back for Tea

Icy Paddle

I absolutely adore my kayak, the HMS Flounder, and have been chomping at the bit to get her out on the open waterways once again. I think the stars all decided to align for my first paddle as it was the most surreal/stunning/special trips of my life. I went out to Two Jack lake and discovered that the ice sheets were still floating around. The next two hours were spent in exploration bliss as I navigated the water maze between these giant sheets of ice and realized that the wind kept changing their position so where once was an exit now became a dead end and at one point I had to hack my way through the ice.

It was made extra special when I realized the ice was made up of thin spears that broke apart into these long crystals at the slightest touch. Talk about Elsa’s paradise! It was such a magical day.

Taking Flight

I’ve mentioned before than my favourite scenes to write in the Frean Chronicles are the flights with the Griffins- maybe it’s no coincidence that each book includes a weightless, gravity defying scene. There’s something about being level with the clouds, seeing how small we all are from above, and how vast and beautiful this world really is.

My dad has been flying since before I was born, so maybe it’s just in my veins, but whatever it is, any chance I get to dance among the clouds is one I’ll take. Especially with the world’s best pilot at the helm.

Readying for a Swoon

If you’re anyone with a pulse and a love of carriage rides, you were awaiting the Bridgerton season 3 release like I was. While it could never top the Queen Charlotte season, it had just the right amount of fan-fluttering moments to appease this gentle reader. I would highly recommend a high-tea viewing party for when the second half drops in June as it made the experience quite charming, filled the room with gasps and giggles, and involved much debriefing.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review!

Check out this stunning review! I am so so blown away!

x live magically

feature image: https://saxonhenry.com/cinderella-in-the-south-of-france/

Just a Guy in the Woods Escaping an Eldritch Horror: author talk with Alexander James

April 2024

Welcome to April’s newsletter. If you showed up by accident but want to receive monthly content, please subscribe below:

In this month’s newsletter, click the headings or scroll down to find:

  1. Podcast: Author Nook with Alexander James
  2. Dungeons and Dragons Podcast
  3. Captain’s Log: The UK can’t keep me away
  4. Review Corner

Podcast: Author Nook with Alexander James

Welcome to my Author Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children. Find it on Spotify here, and Youtube here.

This month I am joined by the wonderful Alexander James to talk about his debut novel, The Woodkin. We chat about hiking, finding a character’s voice, Dungeons and Dragons, and the darkness with teeth and a hair-raising giggle. So turn on all the lights, check behind the curtain, and settle in for a spooky-adjacent chat.

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The Woodkin

The Woodkin

On the trail, anything can happen.

After secrets and betrayal shatter his marriage, Josh Mallory seeks solace on the Pacific Crest Trail, in the mountains of Washington. On the trail, he’s just another hiker. On the trail, he can outrun the memories.

But this backpacking trip swiftly turns grisly when he comes across the body of another hiker who seems to have fallen to his death. Josh is forced to detour through a small mountain town, where missing hiker posters flutter in the windows, and residents show no interest in hearing about the dead hiker. Unease that something is not quite right chases him back to the trail.

But night falls too quickly and in his haste to get away, he becomes trapped on a mountain ridge beneath the light of a full moon. Feeling more and more uneasy, Josh soon realizes that he may not be alone on the mountain, and begins to fear that, like the missing hikers, he won’t make it out alive.

Get your copy here

Dungeons and Dragons Podcast

The first three (of four) episodes of the Dungeons and Dragons podcast I was fortunate enough to be a part of are out for your viewing pleasure! Join MC, Alexander James (The Woodkin), Elijah Menchaca (The Glintchasers Series), me, and Jess as we play our leading lads and ladies and fight to restore our worlds and be the heroes we wrote about!

It was honestly an absolute blast, I’m so excited for the final episode to come out because it’s a goodie, but until then, enjoy!

Here are the Spotify links if you’d prefer to listen to the adventure. All episodes as well as audiobooks and exclusive author interviews can be found on CamCat Unwrapped’s channel.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3

Captain’s Log: The UK can’t keep me away

Hay-on-Wye? more like “Yay”-on Wye

As many book lovers know, there is a book town. There is. It’s in Wales, and it was established by a guy (Richard Booth) who pronounced himself King on April Fool’s day some time in the 1960s and it stuck. His Majesty ruled his Kingdom with a kind heart and trusted bookmark, and the land was peaceful. Over the years, dozens of second hand bookshops cropped up and defined this Kingdom as one land full of a thousand worlds. For, as King Richard Booth decreed:

And when I say this was a town full of bookshops, I mean it. These weren’t even all of them, nor were they all of my favourites:

The Stone of Destiny

Speaking of Kings, I visited the stone that has witnessed the crowning of Kings since biblical times.

I’d like to say I did my research, but I went up to Perth, Scotland for a night on a whim and it was a three minute walk from my hotel. Some may call it fate, others destiny I suppose. Honestly, it was the most emotional I’ve ever been about a chunk of sandstone in my life. Do I have a picture of it? No, they didn’t allow photography so you’ll have to google it to see what I’m talking about.
Otherwise just imagine a weather-worn, time-stained sandstone block with two ancient iron rings on either side.

But, what is the Stone of Destiny/Stone of Scone, I hear you ask? Well, it’s the Stone that, legend has it, John used as a pillow in the Bible. The Stone that witnessed Egyptian royalty rise and fall. The Stone that was present for the coronation of Scottish Kings of old, and ever since the 13th century is now a key participant in all English monarch coronations – having a pride of place at the recent King Charles’s crowning.

This Stone is a symbol of power, monarchy, and Scotland.

It was stolen and smuggled across the border by four university students on Christmas 1950 when trapped in England for too long. It rallied a nation.

It is what I love about the UK: the tradition, the weight and majesty given to time-honored symbols, and the community drawn together by them.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review!

x live magically

feature image: https://steemit.com/poetry/@skyefox/a-man-in-the-woods-an-original-poem

Exploding Gowns and Interdimensional Travel: author spotlight with Elizabeth Chatsworth

March 2024

Welcome to March’s newsletter. If you showed up by accident but want to receive monthly content, please subscribe below:

Scroll down to find:

  • This Queen’s on Tour
  • Dungeons and Dragons Podcast
  • Podcast: Author Nook with Elizabeth Chatsworth
  • Captain’s Log: Flowers in her Hair
  • Biblioccult Feature
  • Interview by Elizabeth Chatsworth
  • Review Corner

This Queen’s on Tour

I went on a four-city book tour to celebrate the paperback release of Queen’s Catacombs, and I am so thankful to all who attended and all who helped pull these events off! These were the stops of my tour:

  • Canmore Public Library: Author Fireside Chat
    – books supplied by CafeBooks
  • Banff Public Library: Author event and exclusive pre-release of Queen’s Catacombs as well as a coloring competition.
    – books supplied by the Whyte Museum
  • Invermere High School guest lecture
  • SlowBurn Books author event: interview and signing

And here are some posts and pictures from the events!

A huge thank you to Slow Burn Books – the spiciest bookstore in Calgary – for hosting a series giveaway, a signing, and interviewing me for their blog! It always feels like going for a chat with dear friends when I pop in for a visit, so maybe next time I’ll bring the bubbly!

Dungeons and Dragons Podcast

As a long time DnD lover, this was an absolute dream come true. The ridiculously talented MC with CamCat Unwrapped created a Dungeons and Dragons mini series where myself and two other authors play our main characters to save their worlds with the help of the day-saving Jess! Never have I ever been more nervous or more excited.

It’s a four part series and so far the first episode is out. Check out the trailer below and then I’ve added the Youtube link and the Spotify link to episode 1: Into the Margins. I cannot believe the amount of work and heart that was put into this project, and it was such an honor to play along side such masterminds!

Podcast: Author Nook with Elizabeth Chatsworth

Welcome to my Author Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children. Find it on Spotify here, and Youtube here.

This month I am joined yet again by the incredible Elizabeth Chatsworth to discuss Grand Tour, the sequel to her gaslamp fantasy novel: The Brass Queen. If you haven’t seen or listened to our first chat yet, never fear! You can do so here:

Okay, all caught up? Excellent. Now, boil the kettle, lace up your corset (or straighten your Stetson) and join us as we talk sequels, exploding gowns, attracting opposites, and the feminine way to reclaim the globe.

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Grand Tour

The grass was always greener in another dimension.

In a fantastical steam-powered world, eccentric aristocrat and secret arms dealer, Miss Constance Haltwhistle, has been blackmailed into stealing alien artifacts from the crown heads of Europe. Only the shady but annoyingly handsome US spy, “Liberty” Trusdale, can help her execute her perfect palace heists. As Constance creates chaos and mayhem across the Continent, monstrous creatures are plotting an interdimensional invasion of Earth. Will Constance and Trusdale stop bickering long enough to end the war of the worlds before it starts?

If you enjoy stories inspired by HG Wells’s War of the Worlds, you’ll love this gaslamp romp across an alternate 1890s Europe where our bickering heroes may just be the bad guys.

order your copy here

Captain’s Log:

San Francisco

The flowers were in my hair this month as I stomped the San Francisco pavements with a dear friend of mine. We ate chowder in bread bowls, drank mai thais, explored Azkaban – sorry – Alcatraz, rode cable cars, and clocked at least a half marathon in steps each day. It was so wonderful to have the sun on my face again after this Canadian winter.

booksbooksbooks

I visited these two gorgeous bookstores while in San Fran

Biblioccult Feature

Interview by Elizabeth Chatsworth

Queens gotta stick together! Check out the delightful interview conducted by Elizabeth Chatsworth to celebrate the paperback release of Queen’s Catacombs here.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review!

x live magically

feature image: https://i0.wp.com/elizabethchatsworth.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/constancehires-878×1024-1.jpg?ssl=1

Murder she wrote: author panel with Terry Friedman and Marcy McCreary

February 2024

Happy love month one and all! Welcome to February’s newsletter. If you showed up by accident but want to receive monthly content, please subscribe below:

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Bookbub feature and free ebook deal
  • Queens on tour
  • Podcast: Author Nook
  • Captain’s Log: Snow Way!
  • Review Corner

Bookbub Feature

Bookbub has chosen Contest of Queens as their feature title this month and are offering the eBook for free from February 28th to March 5th! Click here for your copy.

Queens on tour

For all of you who are unaware, Queen’s Catacombs comes out on paperback March 12, 2024! This is very exciting if you’re a person like me because paperbacks fit much better in purses, and then they all match on your shelf just so. In celebration, I’m going on a bit of a tour across four towns/cities so if you’re in the area and would like a paperback copy, some free swag, or to show your support, please come on down and say hi!

Canmore – Fireside chat with local authors at Canmore Public Library
February 13th at 6:30pm

Banff – Author night at Banff Public Library
March 8th at 7:30pm
Also, from February 20th – March 8th we’ll be running a colouring competition thought Banff Public Library, so get your submissions in before the draw on March 8th!

Calgary – Author signing at Slowburn Books
March 13th at noon

Invermere – Author signing at Four Points Books – date TBD
Collaboration with Invermere public library and highschool.
March 1st at noon

Podcast: Author Nook

Welcome to my Author Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children.

I have an exciting announcement to make! I finally sat down and figured out how to get my podcast on Spotify, so all past and all future episodes will feature on both platforms. Listen in! If you have a minute to rate and follow, please do as it really helps!

Confused about the name change? Well Spotify had a thousand Book Nook named Podcasts so I figured this would make it easier to find.

Today, in the month of love, I’m joined by not one, but two incredible authors to talk all about murder! So lock the door, turn on all the lights, and huddle under the covers with me as we discuss murder most foul with Terry S. Friedman, author of Bone Pendant Girls and Marcy McCreary, author of The Murder of Madison Garcia. Click below to watch:


Beware the Fisherman.

Andi Wyndham has communicated with spirits since she was a kid. When a bone pendant carved into the likeness of a girl’s face calls to her at a gem show in Pennsylvania, she can’t resist buying it and a sister piece. When she discovers the girls are missing runaways and the pendants are made of human bone, Andi is drawn into a mystery that will force her to confront her gifts, her guilt, and the ghosts haunting her.

Pendant Girls Mariah and Bennie urge Andi to find a man they call “Fisherman,” a master of disguise. Teaming up with a handsome private eye and a South Carolina sheriff, Andi must find the girls’ bodies and put their souls to rest, before the Fisherman casts his deadly net to trap Andi.


Sometimes the truth doesn’t set you free—it gets you killed.

Detective Susan Ford notices a missed call on her phone from a number she doesn’t recognize, and when Madison Garcia, a woman with past ties to the town of Monticello, New York, is found stabbed to death the next morning, Susan realizes that Madison was the one who had called her. But why?

Susan teams up with her father, retired Detective Will Ford, to find the killer, and their investigation soon threatens to uncover Madison’s family secrets—an inheritance, accidental death, money laundering, extramarital affairs, and family rivalries, just to name a few—and they don’t appreciate the Fords digging into their business.

As the investigation twists and turns, the Fords discover that Madison was planning to confess to a long-kept secret, but someone brutally silenced her. Everyone she knew is a suspect. Anyone could be her killer.

Captain’s Log

Snow Way!

This part of the year in Canada is a time I usually dread because it’s the coldest, grimmest, darkest part. HOWEVER, thanks to El Nino and climate change it has been unseasonably warm! We had snow, then lost it, now we have it again. While usually February sees me huddling indoors, I’ve been lucky enough to take advantage of the white stuff. I bought a new set of cross country skis and tested my mettle out in Kananaskis, and skated the WhiteWay in Invermere (all 12km of it).

I hope wherever you are that you’re cozy!

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review!

x live magically

Shadow Weavers and Non-Believers: author talk with H.J.Reynolds

January 2024

Happy New Year, one and all! I hope 2024 finds you safe, healthy, and happy. I’m currently writing this wrapped up in blankets in front of the fire, doing my best to ward of the -30 degrees C snap we’ve got outside. It’s just too cold… so have a cuppa tea with me and let’s stay warm together.

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Rose Petal Princess
  • Queen’s progress report
  • Queens on tour
  • Book Nook- Shadow Weavers and Non-Believers: author talk with H.J.Reynolds
  • Captain’s Log: Four Legged Friends and … Foes?
  • Review Corner

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Rose Petal Princess

The response has been amazing to this little book and now I’m able to keep the price at the reduced rate!

$10.00 CAD and free shipping worldwide!

Woohoo!

So if you would like a signed copy, please contact me here and I will get one on its way to you lickety split.

I would recommend this collection for 9+ year olds as the themes and stories are a tad on the dark side… (mwahahaha)

Queen’s Progress Report

A lot has happened in the last few years and a lot is on the way so I thought I’d give you a bit of an insight into the timeline I’m working with so you know when to fasten your seatbelts!

  • Queendom Come
    • Edits: as of this week it has just finished one round of edits so I am looking forward to gets those back (each book typically gets 3 rounds of edits with each round focusing on a different aspect of the novel).
    • Cover: We’ve also gone through the first round of cover design selection and I’ve sent back my feedback so we should have a cover within the next few months if all goes to plan!
    • Release Date: early 2025 with an official date announcement coming soon.
  • Le Tournoi des Reines (French translation of Contest of Queens)
    • Release Date: October 16, 2024
  • Mysteriously Titled Pirate Novel
    • Progress: Manuscript finished and currently editing and sharing with beta readers so that it’s good enough to send off to the publisher

Queens on tour

For all of you who are unaware, Queen’s Catacombs comes out on paperback March 12, 2024! This is very exciting if you’re a person like me because paperbacks fit much better in purses, and then they all match on your shelf just so. In celebration, I’m going on a bit of a tour across four towns/cities so if you’re in the area and would like a paperback copy, some free swag, or to show your support, please come on down and say hi!

Canmore – Fireside chat with local authors at Canmore Public Library
February 13th at 6:30pm

Banff – Author night at Banff Public Library
March 8th at 7:30pm
Also, from February 20th – March 8th we’ll be running a colouring competition thought Banff Public Library, so get your submissions in before the draw on March 8th!

Calgary – Author signing at Slowburn Books
March 13th at noon

Invermere – Author signing at Four Points Books and Collaboration with Invermere public library and highschool.
dates TBD

Book Nook

Welcome to my Book Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children.

Grab a cup of tea and listen in as I chat with H.J.Reynolds about her debut novel Without a Shadow. Without a Shadow is a desert fantasy with shadow magic and those desperate to wield it. We chat about magic, science, and how to capture the moral greyness that is being human.

Without a Shadow officially hits the shelves April 9th 2024

Netgalley
Preorder

Without a Shadow


You can only teach your shadow one trick

Adlai Bringer remembers going to the desert market with her father: The colorful tents, the wink of gold, and her father’s shadow, black as night, as it moved of its own accord and stole whatever trinket she wanted. He called it the Shadow Game.

After her father disappears, Adlai keeps going back to the market determined to find some trace of him and stealing what she can with her shadow. Until one day she picks the wrong mark—someone who knows her little trick and tries to take her shadow for himself.

Everything Adlai thought she knew about her shadow is turned upside down, and her father’s disappearance takes on a new light as she’s forced to flee the city or risk being hunted. From the desert to the Shadow World to even more unlikely places, Adlai knows one thing for certain: her shadow is a gift worth killing for.

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Captain’s Log

Four Legged Friends

Dogs are the best.
As the new year ticked over and I started getting stuck into 2024, I had the privilege of hanging out with my brother’s dog, Billie. I know everyone says their dog is the best, but Billie really is the best. She came out skating with us and was getting the hang of some ice hockey moves.

I spent a few days out in Invermere and the entire lake froze solid. We had a few gorgeous days where we could skate for miles and miles before the snow set it. There’s nothing quite like it.

Coyotes are great at a distance.
This curious little guy followed me on my morning walk and made me realize I really need to brush up on my coyote knowledge. He seemed more playful than menacing, but I’ve seen the Road Runner cartoons and I know not to trust a coyote’s smile!

Nature: Breath’s Taker

I have a feeling 2024 is going to be a great year, and I hope it’s going well wherever you are. There is a lot to be thankful for already, and I hope you’ve found some moments of magic. If not, please borrow one of mine. My mum always said sharing was caring.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! I got some great reviews this month, and another person with beef around Connor’s name… Maybe there’s a Connor Society I forgot to speak with before christening the character? Who knows!

x live magically

featured image from: https://wiccanow.com/

Clinging to Spooky Season

November 2023

You may be of the mind to let the sleigh bells and Mariah Carey’s whistle notes ring out as soon as November 1st rolls over, or you may not. I pass no judgement either way, but I will say the theme of this month’s newsletter is ghosties and phantoms as we cling to the last dregs of the spooky season.

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Mastering the Power Within booth chat
  • Book Nook- author talk with Meredith Lyons and Helen Power
  • Captain’s Log: Eating the Big Apple
  • Website Feature: Top 3 Reads of 2023
  • Review Corner

Consider this panel moderated!

I had so much fun moderating the CamCat panel: Master the Power Within at this year’s School Library Journal’s Day of Dialogue! Check out the panel below/ I chat magic systems and how to break them with H. J. Reynolds (Without a Shadow), Morgan Shamy (The Stricken), and Brielle D. Porter (Jester).

Book Nook

I see dead people: Meddling phantoms and not-always-friendly ghosts, an author talk with Meredith Lyons and Helen Power

Leave the light on and snuggle under your blankets because today’s chat is going to get a wee bit spooky.

I’m joined today by Helen Power, author of Phantom; and Meredith Lyons, author of Ghost Tamer and we’re talking all things supernatural whether it’s a phantom limb that shows its previous owner the nefarious deeds of the new owner, or a woman who suddenly discovers she can see the dead. Want a copy to take home?

They’re available where all books are sold, or check out CamCatBooks publishing http://www.camcatbooks.com and get 25% off until November 27th 2023.

Captain’s Log

Eating the Big Apple

I feel like I have unlocked an adulting achievement: driving during rush hour in New York City. What a rush. What a lawless land it is. And yet, what was most wild, was that there was a method to the madness, laws within the lawless. It was every woman for herself, yet without any of the malicious sting that I was expecting. If you hesitated, you were left behind. If you let someone in, five more would flood through your lowered defenses.

Also, it was very cool driving through neighbourhoods and thinking, “Hey, this is where Spiderman lives,” or “Oh, this is where that scene from Hitch was.”

It was wild. I feel like I have completed my hero’s journey and can now return home armed with the lessons I learned.

Also, I went apple picking in Hudson.

It turns out I did, in fact, like them apples.

Winter Came

It happens every year, but somehow this still comes as a shock. I’m determined to love the white stuff though, and there is a majesty in the way it cloaks the valley.

Top 3 Reads of 2023

Shepherd.com was kind enough to ask my opinion of my favourite books I read this year – a harder task than I thought it would be but I managed to whittle it down to three.

Click here to read the full article.

And if you’d like to watch the podcast episode with Elijah Menchaca we did about They Split the Party, check it out here.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review!

x live magically

feature image from here

Fleeing and Flying: featuring Aamna Qureshi and a pair of borrowed wings

September 2023

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Exciting News: Podcasts and September Ebook sale
  • Guest Post by Aamna Qureshi: Choose the Light
  • Travel Log: Gaining Altitude
  • Book club kits and queenly sips
  • Review Corner

Exciting News: Podcasts and September Ebook sale

Podcast

You heard it here first, folks. I’ve now turned my author interviews into a podcast. So far they only exist on Youtube, but soon I’ll be uploading them to Spotify and beyond! In the meantime, here’s the graphic for my podcast: Book Nook – author talks with Jordan H. Bartlett.

Ebook Sale

CONTEST OF QUEENS ebook is on sale for the month of September for $1.99! Pick up your copy wherever you buy your ebooks, or click the image below.

Guest Post: Choose the Light

Aamna Qureshi is a New York based, Pakistani Muslim American author who has just released her third novel: When a Brown Girl Flees. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Aamna a few times over the years about her books, if you missed any of those newsletters and interviews, don’t fret! Here they are:

In honor of her new release When a Brown Girl Flees, Qureshi has written a segment for my newsletter:

Choose the Light

WHEN A BROWN GIRL FLEES is about a lot of things, but if I had to boil it down to three it would be: hope, kindness, and forgiveness. Three qualities which we know are good and vital, but which we often forget about in our daily lives. And in this forgetting, we lose a little bit of the light each and every day.  

It takes immense strength to hold onto hope. We need constant reminders that as long as there is life, there is hope: for things to change for the better, for us to change for the better. In the beginning of the book, Zahra has pretty much given up; she runs away because she feels she has nothing to lose, that things can’t possibly get worse. She is hopeless; she is in the dark. She has given herself up to despair. But slowly, she learns to fight for herself, to fight for a life she can be happy in. She finds a sliver of hope and holds on, and it carries her from the deepest depths of the dark ocean up toward the light.

It takes immense strength to be kind, not only to others but to yourself. Zahra internalizes a lot of the hatred and meanness that she hears and weaponizes others’ words against herself, until they become her internal monologue. It takes her a lot of time and conscious effort to undo her unkind behavior to herself, and a lot of that is in part due to the kindness of her newfound friends. Never underestimate the impact you can have on someone else. Zahra’s friends save her life just by being kind and by teaching her to be kind to herself.

Never underestimate the impact you can have on someone else.

Aamna Qureshi

And lastly, it takes immense strength to forgive, not only others, but yourself. Zahra has done something she regrets, and the guilt eats away at her. It requires herculean effort to accept what she has done and forgive herself to allow herself to move forward rather than be stuck in the past. She also learns the power of forgiving others, of letting go of all that hurt so that it can no longer harm her. 

I know all of this is hard; Zahra does, too. But everyday we make choices, and in this book, I tried to show that if we choose to have hope, if we choose to be kind, if we choose to forgive, life can become not only simply bearable, but beautiful, too. It can go from a bleak horizon of gray to a glorious technicolor. It doesn’t mean that things will be perfect, that everything will always be okay, that things won’t hurt. Life will always be hard—but if we find the strength to be brave, to hold onto hope, to be kind and forgive ourselves and others, then we will always find the light in the darkness. 

-Aamna Qureshi

Find out more information about Aamna and her other works here:
Website: www.aamnaqureshi.com
Instagram: @aamna_qureshi
Twitter: @aamnaqureshi_

When A Brown Girl Flees

In this powerful novel from new voice Aamna Qureshi, a Muslim teen goes on a breathtaking journey to find her home and–more importantly–herself.

After Zahra Paracha makes a decision at odds with her beliefs, her mother forces Zahra to make an impossible choice about her future. So Zahra runs away. A train and a plane ride later, she finds herself in New York, where she relinquishes her past in favor of a new future. There, she must learn who she is without the marionette strings of control in her mother’s hands. There, she must learn who she wishes to become.

On Long Island, Zahra stays at a bed & breakfast, unsure of her place in the world. Anxious, depressed, and grappling with guilt, she wanders aimlessly. She eventually visits the local masjid, where she is befriended by two sisters and drawn into the welcoming Muslim community there.

It is in this place of safety that Zahra’s healing truly begins–but can she create a home for herself when the foundation is built on lies she’s spun to protect her from the past? When a family friend recognizes her, will everything come crashing down? As Zahra tries to build a life for herself in this new place, the heart of the matter becomes clear: she can’t run away forever. Can she close the rift in her family and truly, fully heal?

Find it here

Travel Log

Gaining Altitude

Home at last and you thought I was done?

Coming back home was bittersweet in the same way leaving Edinburgh was. It’s hard, it’s messy, it’s exciting, it’s painful and I’ve dealt with these feelings ever since the first time mum and dad moved our family across the world to try something different. Every new chapter means leaving something behind (and unfortunately for me, I have a difficult time letting go).

But home I have come and whether it was clever or not, I hit the ground running. The family took a trip to Waterton for my brother’s birthday. Waterton is a gorgeous little hamlet in southern Alberta that boasts the historic Prince of Wales hotel. We had a great view of it from the Bear’s Hump:

But the real feat of the weekend was our hike up to Crypt Lake. This hike had everything. We were transported to and from the trial head by boat, marched consistently uphill, traversed a valley, marveled at waterfalls, balanced on a cliffside goat-track, climbed a ladder, swung from chains, inched through a tunnel, and arrived in one piece to the gorgeous blue waters of Crypt lake.

Take off, Touch down

Speaking of altitude, I have also been dancing in the clouds more recently.

The Fairmont Airstrip had a Fly In event with pancakes and prizes. It was so cool to see all the different planes come in from all over Alberta to show up for pancakes! The stories these pilots shared were incredible. One of them told me how he rescued a baby grizzly bear (whose mother had been killed near the airstrip), caught it, contacted the necessary authorities and when no one else stepped forward with the funds for relocation, flew it up to a rehabilitation center in northern Alberta himself. The matter-of-fact nonchalance of his tale was what blew me away the most. When I asked, “What made you go looking for the cub?” he simply said, “Well… no one else was doing it.”

Book Club Kits

Are you hosting a Book Club for Contest of Queens? or Queen’s Catacombs?
Are you more interested in planning the snacks and feature cocktails than you are in planning the discussion questions for the books?


Fret not, I have you covered!

CONTEST OF QUEENS Book Club Kit
QUEEN’S CATACOMBS Book Club Kit

If you’re lucky, you might have this much fun:

Book Club Sips

I know I said I’d leave the menu to you… but then I went down a Google rabbit hole and found a few fun bevies I thought I’d share for inspiration.

Non alcoholic

  • Fit for a Courtier Queen.
    Add edible gold glitter to *any* mocktail and call it a day. Watch as the shimmering gold dust dances in your glass and imagine a flight with the gold-dusted griffins.
  • Rosemary for Memory Mocktail. Featured here is a rosemary and clementine sparkler from Fox and Briar that looks divine. Master Leschi would surely approve of this mind-boosting concoction. Click here for the recipe.
  • Tea. I associate most of my characters with a herb/tree/flower, so here are some that would make a nice brew:
    Lena Glowra: rose or rosehips
    Anya Bishop: bergamot
    Amber Everstar: cinnamon or cloves
    Dyna Flent: jasmine and orange
    Maria Tabart: lavender

Alcoholic

  • Champagne
    This is a very important beverage in the novels, mostly because it is a very important beverage to me.
  • In the same vein as the edible glitter mocktail above, here’s a link to an elderflower shimmery champagne cocktail that has Courtier Queen written all over it. Click here for the recipe.
  • Sons of Celos Margarita
    Those purple hooded brutes are good for one thing and one thing only, a tasty color-changing beverage. Here’s another recipe from Fox and Briar.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! Here is an incredibly lovely review from author H. J. Reynolds (her debut novel Without a Shadow comes out next year) that almost didn’t fit in the newsletter!

x live magically

feature image found here: https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-kwefc

Predicting Murder: an interview with Ash Bishop

July 2023

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Finale Reveal
  • Author Spotlight with Ash Bishop
  • Travel Log: Castles, Bards, and Vigilantes
  • Review Corner
  • Bookmarks and Playlists
  • Interviews and Articles

Finale Reveal

I have VERY exciting news. The kind of news that makes you want to swing from a chandelier, climb a mountain, or wrestle a dragon. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve joined me on my publishing journey- and what a wild journey it’s been! I feel like a lifetime has passed in two years and I’m so immensely grateful for every step I’ve been fortunate enough to take.

If you’re new here, a brief summary is, I’ve been writing a trilogy named The Frean Chronicles and so far:
Contest of Queens came out January 2022 (and won a silver IPPY medal in the audiobook fiction category!)
Queen’s Catacombs came out March 2023
And if you know anything about trilogies, you know they come in threes. I am SO THRILLED to announce that the third book has just been signed by CamCat books! Publishing date will be announced shortly, but I just couldn’t wait to share the title of the final installment:

Queendom Come

*dun dun dun*

Ascending the throne a war too late.

The forces of fear, the Sons of Celos, have set their plan in motion and Jacs struggles to stay afloat beneath the weight of her crown. Her loved ones are missing, injured, or worse, her resources are spread thin across the two realms, and the peace between Crown and Court of Griffins is wavering. With so much at stake, does she have the strength to face Celos and save her Queendom from his army of darkness? Or will her vision of a unified Queendom die with her?

Author Spotlight

What would you do if your horoscope read: murder?

Welcome to July’s book nook! Join me with a repeat offender, Ash Bishop as we chat about his new mystery thriller, The Horoscope Writer (out July 18, 2023). We discuss all things horoscopes, fake news, and how to write a murder mystery, so grab a cup of tea and an alibi and let’s jump in.

order your copy here

The Horoscope Writer

Who is The Horoscope Writer? It’s not Bobby Frindley. He’s an ex-Olympic athlete who has fast-talked his way into an entry-level position at a dying newspaper. He’s supposed to be writing horoscopes, but someone has been doing it for him . . .

On his first night on the job, Bobby receives an email with twelve gruesome, highly-detailed horoscopes, along with a chilling ultimatum: print them and one will come true, or ignore them and they all will.

Working with a skeptical co-worker, Bobby investigates the horoscope writer’s true identity, but the closer he gets to the truth, the more the predictions begin to be about him. Has he attracted the attention of a cruel puppeteer? Or is it possible that, like any good horoscope, it’s all in his head?

Find out more information about Ash and his other works here:
Website: ash-bishop.com
Instagram: @ashlbishop
Twitter: @AshLBishop

Travel Log

Short story long,

I have taken a sabbatical from my day job as a Speech Language Pathologist to live in the UK and finish the Frean Chronicles Trilogy!

  1. Contest of Queens: completed!
  2. Queen’s Catacombs: completed!
  3. Queendom Come: editing right this minute! Release date circa 2025
  4. Mysteriously Titled Pirate novel: in progress (65%)

If you’re interested in following along on my travel journey, I recommend following me on Instagram: @jordanhbartlett

Castles

My dear friend Katie came to visit me in Scotland and we had a marvelous adventure! A definite highlight was that I discovered my favourite Scottish castle (and believe me… I’ve seen a fair few at this point). Dunrobin Castle up past Inverness honestly had it all:

  • looks like it belongs in a fairy tale
  • views of the ocean
  • luxurious gardens (Katie and I *gasped* in unison when we saw them)
  • a sun-filled reading parlor
  • a resident ghost
  • delicious mac ‘n’ cheese in the cafe

Bards

After over a year in the UK, I finally made the pilgrimage out to Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home town. It was so beautiful! The river, the gardens, the cobbled streets, the church! I had a hard time choosing my favourite photos, but I think the most profound ones were of Shakespeare’s grave. He’s lined up with his whole family in the most beautiful church, and the inscription on his stone is something straight from one of his plays. Where I was expecting to read: poet, husband, father or: Queen’s bard and absolute legend it actually reads as a rhyming warning:

Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here. 
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

I didn’t think Shakespeare could get any cooler, yet he goes down in history as the man with the coolest gravestone.

We also went to see As Your Like It and I simply have one word for it: indescribable.

(Sarah is a bibliophile, friend, and a trusted beta reader of the Frean Chronicles. She’s into all things spooky if you want to follow her on Instagram: @creepinwithcarpenter)

Vigilantes

On our way back from Shakespeare’s hometown, we stopped in at Sherwood Forest to see Robin Hood. Unfortunately, despite jangling our coinpurses, the Merry Men did not see fit to highway rob us, and we were left to marvel at the oak trees (including the major oak).

Did you know that an oak can be considered an ancient tree when it reaches 400 years of age, and that Sherwood forest is home to over 1000 ancient oaks? The Major Oak is estimated to be between 800-1000 years old, and weighs 23 tonnes (about 4 elephants). It’s a flipping big deal. Look at how mighty it is! It even needs crutches so its branches don’t fall off.

If it came to a fight, I was ready for whatever ol’ Robin had in his quiver.

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! Here are some lovely reviews from this past month:

Bookmarks and Playlists

I love recommendations and you may be interested in mine, so I thought I’d introduce a new section with the book I’m reading, the songs I’m listening to, and any thoughts I have of them.

Bookmark:

Five stars. An absolute masterpiece. Preorder your copy, I cannot stress this enough, read it.
(Make sure you’ve read the Darker Shades trilogy first).

Playlist:

I will listen to the same few songs on repeat until I’ve drained every last drop of serotonin out of them so these are the three song’s I’ve been wringing out this month:
A Little Bit Happy – TALK — I didn’t think I’d move past Run Away to Mars but this one is just as good. Something about his voice…
What Could Have Been – Arcane Soundtrack — the violin in this song will break your heart and every time the distorted line, “I hope you know we had everything,” hits, I’m transported.
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith — a new car belter favourite a la Katie. This song is most powerful if you hit each and every ‘yeah.’

Interviews and Articles

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by George Michael on his channel Inside Comics:

Check out my recent article on shepherd.com:

x live magically

featured image: Nicole Lourenco on Etsy

Heroes, Villains, and Splitting the Narrative: an interview with Elijah Menchaca

June 2023

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Cover Reveal: Le Tournoi des Reines
  • Author Spotlight with Elijah Menchaca
  • In case you missed it: Compelling Series in YA Booth Chat
  • Travel Log: Queen of the (United) Kingdom
  • Review Corner

Cover Reveal: Le Tournoi des Reines

In case you missed the announcement last month, Contest of Queens has been signed by Editions Lux & Nox and will be translated into French circa 2024!

They recently released the cover and I’m in love! I feel like a proud Mumma.
My baby’s bi-lingual!

It’s also so wonderful that they’ve decided to stay true to the original cover while adding a few tweaks of their own.

Author Spotlight: Elijah Menchaca

Roll for initiative and pour yourself a cuppa tea. Today I chat with Elijah Menchaca about the second installment to the Glintchasers Series: They Split the Party. A master story weaver with a knack for character development, Elijah shares some of his tips and tricks to writing intricate narratives, believable heroes, and dastardly villains.

If you missed it, check out our chat about They Met in a Tavern here.
They Split the Party comes out June 27th, 2023. Order your copy here.

pick up your copy here

They Split the Party

It’s never fun being someone else’s unfinished business.

The Starbreakers were heroes, until a tragedy broke them apart. Only now, years later, have they begun to make peace with each other. The rest of the world is a different story.

There has been a breakout in the prison known as Oblivion, and now the worst of the worst have been turned loose on an unsuspecting world. Desperate to contain the crisis, the right hand of the king has called the disgraced Starbreakers back into service. After all, they were the ones who put most of these villains away in the first place.

As the Starbreakers scatter to face friends and foes of the past, it’s a fight for peace in the kingdom they call home, and a fight to protect the legacy they left behind. It’s also exactly the opportunity their enemies have been waiting for.

Check out Elijah’s
Website
Follow him on Instagram
Twitter: @PhoenixAgent003

School Journal Day of Dialogue Booth Chat

Last month I participated in a booth chat with Aamna Qureshi, Christian Klaver, and Armen Pogharian about writing compelling series in YA. Such a fun event, and such a treat to chat with these talented authors!

Travel Log: Queen of the United Kingdom

Short story long,

I have taken a sabbatical from my day job as a Speech Language Pathologist to live in the UK and finish the Frean Chronicles Trilogy!

  1. Contest of Queens: completed!
  2. Queen’s Catacombs: completed!
  3. Mysteriously Titled Finale: Completed manuscript sent to publisher!
  4. Mysteriously Titled Pirate novel: in progress (40%)

If you’re interested in following along on my travel journey, I recommend following me on Instagram: @jordanhbartlett

Queen of the Kingdom

Ben Nevis (which roughly translates to “Malicious/Venemous Mountain”) is the tallest peak in the UK. It’s 1352meters and, while the hike is beautiful with constant views, it is a four hour uphill climb from the first step. I loved every step of the way, though! It was just stunning.

The forecast was set to be a scorcher so I hit the trail at 7am and am so glad I did. The morning mist and low cloud filled the valley and so by the time I was halfway up the mountain, I had popped above the clouds. Something in the way the light hit the clouds below formed a circular rainbow with me in the middle no matter where I moved (see the picture). Absolutely magical.

Ready to fly!

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! Here are some lovely reviews from this past month:

x live magically

Life in the Bubbles and Penning an Underwater World: an interview with Kristi McManus

May 2023

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Exciting news/nouvelles excitantes
  • Author Spotlight with Kristi McManus
  • Travel Log: A Date with Darcy
  • Upcoming Event: School Journal
  • Review Corner

Exiting news/nouvelles exitantes

I am so excited to announce that Contest of Queens has been signed by Editions Lux & Nox and will be translated into French circa 2024!

Très magnifique!

Author Spotlight: Kristi McManus

Follow Kristi on:
Twitter: @kristimcmanus
Instagram: @kristimcmanus
Website

Our Vengeful Souls

It all started with a curse.

When mermaid Sereia overshadows her brother and the kingdom’s rightful heir, Triton, the position of next ruler of the sea is in question. Determined to keep his throne, Triton banishes Sereia with a warning: if you ever return, you will become a monster.

Left for dead, Sereia washes up on the shores of Atlantis, where she is rescued by a kind merchant with a tragic past. He earns her trust, but Atlanteans fear magic and Sereia must conceal her true identity as her feelings for her savior deepen.

Her skill with a blade finds her a place within the Atlantean army, and Sereia soon wavers between the pull of revenge and the possibility of love on land, but when a friend’s fate is at risk, she must make the hardest decision of all: expose who she truly is and be burned at the stake as a witch, or return to the sea a monster.

Order your copy here

Life in the bubbles: penning an underwater world.

I was lucky enough to take a few minutes of Kristi McManus’ time and pick her brain about her recent debut. So pour yourself a cup of tea and read along as we talk about all things under the sea.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m a Registered Nurse by day, and enthusiastic book nerd 24/7. I dabbled in writing on and off most of my life, but it wasn’t until my mid thirties that I really started writing with purpose. Now, I can’t imagine not writing. Besides that, I love all forms of creativity, including photography, drawing and crafting. I have an entire room dedicated to all things creative. 

Our Vengeful Souls is not so much as a retelling of the beloved fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, as it is a villain origin story for the sea witch. What was your inspiration for this novel, and what did you hope to capture?

The inspiration was actually a meme I saw online one day. It was of the sea witch and sea king, the Disney versions, insinuating that there was a backstory between them and a fallout. The concept stuck with me for weeks, until finally I decided to write it myself. The main premise, for me, was that even a villain has a story. A series of events that directed them on their path, even if that path ultimately becomes one that most would consider evil. For Sereia, she was not born evil. She didn’t seek to bring others down, but after being wronged over and over again by her brother, her obsession with revenge twisted her into the version we all know in the classic tale. 

What drew you to writing about fairy tales?

I think the idea that every story could have a completely different outcome by changing one small component. When I was a child, we were tasked with rewritting a fairy tale for class. I chose Little Red Riding Hood, and rewrote it with the wolf as the misunderstood victim of mistaken identity by Red and her Grandmother. Since then, I love flipping well known tales on their heads. I’ve rewritten Cinderella as well, with the fairy godmother (and faeries in general) as the villain. 

What is it about the sea witch that captured your imagination?

The idea that she maybe wasn’t always the villain. We all look at the sea witch as evil and hateful, but why? Why is she like that, and why does she want to see the Little Mermaid have her heart broken and fail? I’ve always been a person who considers the ‘why’ of every situation and action, so it felt natural to me to question her past that formed her future. In the original story, there isn’t much information on the sea witch provided. She came as a bit of a blank slate, giving me the freedom to create a more sympathetic character in my version. 

Mermaids feature heavily in this novel, with their underwater cities and flashy fins, there are a lot of creative avenues to explore when building an underwater civilization. What was the most fun aspect of writing about mermaids?

Taking what the general public knows about mermaids, and then building on that. Thinking about where they would live, their societies, and how maybe they wouldn’t be that different from us, minus the whole under water thing. There is always a fascination about paranormal creatures, but also a freedom to create different layers to deepen a readers understanding of them. 

What was the most challenging aspect?

Probably finding a balance between what is socially accepted as ‘mermaid’ versus what I wanted to create in my characters. I always write with a set of ‘rules’, whether it is about the character, the world, the magic systems, and once you set those in place, you can’t break them. While fantasy writing has a sense of freedom about it, since the rules are of your own making, there are still expectations to stay within those parameters and the expectations readers already hold about your subjects, which can be a challenge. 

What scene was your favourite to write and why?

Probably the epilogue. Going through the majority of the story, there isn’t much connection to the classic tale. OVS is about Sereia, not the sea witch as we know her. It isn’t until the epilogue that it really ties together; her motivations, her hesitations, and her desperation to finally have her revenge against her brother. All of it is the catalyst for the Little Mermaid story we know. 

What is your favourite quote or passage from your novel?

I have a few, but possibly ‘as your world crumbles and burns, I will rise like a phoenix from your ashes’. It is the first quote that ties OVS to the classic tale and gives depth to her desire for revenge.

What projects are coming up for you next?

My next novel, How to Get Over Your (Best Friend’s) Ex, is coming Summer 2024 from Camcat! It is a YA romance love triangle in which a shy girl tries to help her queen bee best friend get over her recent breakup, while also trying to get over the love interest herself. I think it is a concept that many people can relate to, of forbidden romance and the struggle of being a side kick character in your own life. 

Travel Log: A Date with Darcy

Short story long,

I have taken a sabbatical from my day job as a Speech Language Pathologist to live in the UK and finish the Frean Chronicles Trilogy!

  1. Contest of Queens: completed!
  2. Queen’s Catacombs: completed!
  3. Mysteriously Titled Finale: Completed manuscript sent to publisher!

If you’re interested in following along on my travel journey, I recommend following me on Instagram: @jordanhbartlett

A Date with Darcy

The most controversial opinion I have in the UK is undoubtedly that I prefer the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice to the BBC version. Colin Firth and his wet shirt is fine, but he is no Matthew MacFayden and his unbuttoned linen shirt and long coat billowing in the mist as he walks across the misty moor. Between that, the rain-soaked (albeit poorly worded) first proposal, and the infamous hand-flex scene, poor Mr. Firth doesn’t stand a chance in the halls of my heart.

Feel free to disagree… but know that I will think you are wrong.

I was lucky enough to visit my Darcy’s Pemberly (a.k.a Chatsworth) with a dear friend of mine, and even saw his statue! I think my favourite part was the little plaque beneath the statue that begged visitors not to kiss it.

The house and grounds of Chatsworth easily filled one of the happier days of my life. While the inside was gorgeous, the grounds were mesmerizing. There was a hedge maze, an elaborate rock garden, a collection of the largest red-woods outside California, greenhouses with lilypads and peaches, and so much more! Such a dream.

Rabbits and Daffodils

Next stop on my brief literary pilgrimage was the Lake District. I honestly have so many photographs from the three days I was there and rather than overload you, I shall pick one photograph per highlight, and restrict myself to three highlights. Oof, what a challenge. Are you ready? Here we go!

  1. Visiting Beatrix Potter’s home: Hill Top House and Farm

Hill Top Farm in the Lake District is where Beatrix Potter lived for many years. She bought the property (rats and all) and had to finagle the system a bit to live their as she was an unmarried woman and at the time it was not the thing to do.

It was such a treasure of a place!

It was such a treasure of a place! And she used so many little locations around her house and grounds as backdrops in her books, you felt like you had jumped right into the pages!

Even if you’re not a fan of Peter Rabbit and his gang, I think you’d have been hard pressed not to smile to see the watering can he hid in, or the garden gate Jemima Puddle Duck walks through.

Oh Nelly, walking in the footsteps of such an incredible and talented woman was indescribable.

2. Getting “lost” in Wordsworth’s backyard

I visited Dove cottage and wandered as he once did – although I was not lonely as a cloud. The beauty of Wordsworth is how, centuries later, like souled people flock to his haunts and share like minds. So I wandered with a kind heart named Jennifer until the winds blew us our separate ways through the bluebell fields and rolling hills.

Rather than take the bus back to the ferry in Ambleside, I walked. It’s wonderful the things you find when you take the long way around. These stepping stones, funnily enough, were part of the pathway back to the main road.

3. The peace that water brings

I can see why people flock to the Lake District. Even with dozens of people milling about, you can’t help but find calm.

Whether it was the sound of the waves lapping against the hull of the boat taking me to Ambleside, or the pitter-patter of rain on the trees (and my head) when I accidently got caught in a downpour, the sight, the sound, the smell of it filled my heart right up.

Upcoming Event: SLJ Day of Dialog

This year I’ve been asked to speak at the SLJ DAY of DIALOG on the Compelling Series in YA panel. I’m so excited to chat all things Frean! It is a free virtual event that you just need to register for, so if you’re interested, click the image above (or here) and register!
10:00 to 10:40 EST
See you there!

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! Here are some lovely reviews from this past month:

x live magically

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