podcast – Page 2 – Jordan H. Bartlett

Peace, Love, and Serial Killers, an author talk with Marcy McCreary

September 2024

Welcome to September’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:

Release Radar: Le Tournoi des Reines
Podcast: Author Nook with Marcy McCreary
Embracing Autumn – fun recipes to try
Captain’s Log: 1000 Islands and at least 1 Castle
Review Corner

French Translation Release

Mark your calendars for November 6th, 2024: Le Tournoi des Reines hits the shelves! You can preorder your copy here, and if you want to purchase a limited edition box set, you can do that here. Along with the novel, the box set includes: writing paper, envelopes, seals to close envelopes, a box-shaped necklace to hide secrets, a reading ring, and a hand-sewn book cover. It’s such a stunning gift set, and it is so perfect for my letter-writing realm-crossing lovers!

I’m beyond excited to see my baby become bilingual, and as a language nerd I adored the process of finding French words to replace some of my Queendom’s vocabulary.

Maïlys, the editor I had the privilege of working with at Lux et Nox, went above and beyond looking into French etymology and historical word usage to make sure we found all the best terms.

Have a sneaky peek at the first few chapters here:

Author Nook with Marcy McCreary

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.

Join me this month with repeat offender, Marcy McCreary, author of the Ford Family Mysteries series: The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon; The Murder of Madison Garcia, and the latest installment we’ll be chatting about today: The Summer of Love and Death. So don your fringe jackets, hold up a couple peace signs, and get ready to chat all things Woodstock ’69, intergenerational trauma, and writing tips on how to keep your time lines straight (even if they’re groovy).

If you want to hear more from Marcy McCreary, have a look or a listen to our podcast episode from earlier this year with Terry Friedman: Murder She Wrote found here on Youtube, or here on Spotify.

The Summer of Love and Death

The summer of ’69: memorable for some, murder for others.

Detective Susan Ford and her new partner, Detective Jack Tomelli, are called to a crime scene at the local summer stock theater where they find the director of Murder on the Orient Express gruesomely murdered—naked, face caked in makeup, pillow at his feet, wrists and ankles bound by rope. When Susan describes the murder to her dad, retired detective Will Ford, he recognizes the MO of a 1969 serial killer . . . a case he worked fifty years ago.

Will remembers a lot of things about that summer—the Woodstock Festival, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Miracle Mets—yet he is fuzzy on the details of the decades-old case. But when Susan and Jack discover the old case files, his memories start trickling back. And with each old and new clue, Susan, Jack, and Will must narrow down the pool of suspects before the killer strikes again.

Embracing Autumn

Who doesn’t love Autumn? Honestly? Cozy sweaters, scarves, ankle boots, tights and skirts, dusk color palates, wrapping your fingers around a steaming mug of tea, watching the trees go through their sunset era, the smell of crisp cold mornings, pumpkin spice everything, baking, knitting, cuddles and heavy duvets. The list is endless and here in Banff, Canada we really only get two solid weeks of it… so we must make the most of it!

Here are some delicious autumnal recipes I’ve discovered that I wanted to share.

Pumpkin Cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
When I tell you I’m obsessed… I made this into cupcakes and a loaf. It is ridiculously (brace yourself) moist, and the cream cheese frosting really takes the cake.

This Autumn Aperol Spritz from Instagram that I cannot embed for reasons but you can follow their page @cocktails and they have an entire highlight reel dedicated to Fall cocktails.

Actually, flicking through it there are another couple I’d like to try – the pumpkin spice espresso martini almost sounds too good to be true!

Pumpkin butter.
I’ve always liked the idea of a PSL more than the thing itself (much too sweet for me), but then I discovered pumpkin butter and I’ve been adding it to my morning lattes and it has changed. the. game. You can put it on bread, mix it into your oatmeal, the whole nine yards, but it is basically an instant Autumn maker.

Enjoy! I’d love to hear if you made any of these, or if you have any recipe recommendations of your own. Let me know here.

Captain’s Log

1000 Islands and at least 1 Castle

This month, my mum and I jumped across to the other side of the country and set out on an island-hopping, castle-exploration quest.

Besides the vineyards in Prince Edward County (and the lavender farm, and the cocktail farms), the highlight of the trip was definitely Boldt Castle:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jordan H. Bartlett (@jordanhbartlett)

We stayed in the most beautiful Victorian-style inn: The Trinity House Inn in Gananoque where our host fed us croissants every morning and gave us the low down on the best places to eat, walk, visit and the local characters to look out for. I’m still dreaming about our dinner at Riva (the caprese salad had me in raptures), and the river! The wee islands! It was such a picturesque place to visit.

Mary’s Wedding and the Power of Live Theatre

While staying in Gananoque, we went to the river-side play house (1000 Island Playhouse) to see Mary’s Wedding. I don’t quite have the words to describe just how moving this play was, but what I will say is that I was glad we were sitting behind the mother of the playwright who recommended we had a tissue handy (turns out I needed more than one..).

Set between 1914 and 1920, Mary is balancing on the edge of the tomorrow that will bring her wedding day. However, before she sets her feet on the aisle, she dreams of her first love who went away to war (now do you see where the tissues come in handy?). The writing was absolutely breathtaking. Such beautiful dialogue. There was a scene where Mary was riding a horse, describing the feeling of riding the horse, and I, in the audience, was swept away to the first time I ever rode a horse and it was as though I were right there with her, galloping across the plains. Just stunning.

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! This one from Lou Kemp is so lovely (and I’m glad she gave us some Connor love!)

I am absolutely blown away with this review from H. J. Reynolds. Read it below or check it out here.

x live magically

feature image: https://wallpapers.com/images/hd/woodstock-hippie-van-2aqstczq385c6cdn.jpg

Magic and Malady: author nook with J. G. Gardner

August 2024

Welcome to August’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:

Banff Library Character Workshop
Release dates update
Podcast: Author Nook with Jeffrey Gardner
Captain’s Log: All Blacks are the best, and a whole lot of water
Review Corner

Banff Library Character Workshop

I had an absolute blast with the Banff Public Library presenting at their teen book binding workshop – I’m always blown away with the creativity of the contributions that come out of these workshops and hopefully we’ll see some of the attendee’s names on bookshelves in a decade or so. Just incredible! Thank you so much for the wonderful BPL staff, especially Emily who just went above and beyond making this a fun and engaging afternoon.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Banff Public Library (@banffpubliclibrary)

Author Nook with Jeffrey Gardner

Welcome to this month’s Author Nook! I am joined by J. G. Gardner, author of The Magic of Deceit to talk about how with great magic, comes great consequence. So pour yourself a cup of tea and get ready to discuss magic systems, lone wolf syndrome, and how to balance a character’s power.

The Magic of Deceit

As part of the secret Paragon program, Thorne is a mage trained to summon his mana as a weapon. However, as he chose to have his mind unlocked to magic, rather than being someone born with arcane talent, Thorne is looked down upon by more powerful mages. While he completes menial courier tasks within the city, his comrades are dispatched across the continent as influential agents of the Archive.

When Esen, a frontier farmer, arrives desperately seeking help, Thorne finally sees an opportunity to prove himself. Esen claims that his wife was kidnapped by a mage, but Thorne is skeptical. After he prevents an assassination attempt on Esen, Thorne realizes that the abduction is part of a larger scheme. Deserting his Paragon duties, Thorne and Esen leave the city to search for the kidnappers.

During their pursuit, they discover that Esen’s wife is the lynchpin in a plot to upset the tenuous balance of power between the provincial princes and the influential merchant guilds. More worrisome to Thorne is that some of his fellow Paragons may be involved. Now questioning the true intentions of the Paragon program, Thorne’s impulsive attempt to distinguish himself leads him on a bloody quest for revenge.

Captain’s Log

San Diego Victory

As a born and raised Kiwi, it is within my DNA to support our boys in black whenever they toss the ol’ pigskin around. It also doesn’t hurt when it’s your birth right to cheer for the best in the world. All Blacks vs. Fiji, and while I wish I could say Fiji put up a fight, the final score was 47 – 5 so… XD no, but honestly it was one heck of a game and I adored having two hakas at the beginning, the Fijian haka I’d never seen before and it was fantastic!

Lake, Land, Sea and Sky

The summer months living in Canada always come with a kind of frenzy, a madness, a compulsion to soak up as much fresh air and sunshine as humanly possible before the white stuff comes again. I have definitely had a blast hopping between Banff and BC exploring rivers, lakes, oceans and getting lost (while firmly planted on the trail) in the beauty of the forests.

While in Tofino on Vancouver Island, I explored the cutest little bookshop: Mermaid Tales.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jordan H. Bartlett (@jordanhbartlett)

Review Corner

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! Check out this gorgeous review feature by @bookishlaboratory.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-lCMsTxG23/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

x live magically

Putting the Gen Z in Regency: author talk with Aamna Qureshi

July 2024

Welcome to July’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:

First Friday’s Author Event
Release dates update
Podcast: Author Nook with Aamna Qureshi
Captain’s Log: Islands and Inland
Review Corner

First Friday’s Author Event at Four Points Books

Four Points Books in Invermere, BC were kind enough to invite me to their First Friday Author event where I signed books and chatted all things Frea.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jordan H. Bartlett (@jordanhbartlett)

Release Dates Updates

I guess it’s been a while since we did one of these so I thought I’d loop you in. I have two books coming out and one in the works.

The French edition of Contest of Queens (Le Tournoi des Reines) published by Lux et Nox is set to release October 19, 2024 in paperback and ebook. Click here for more information.

Queendom Come, the finale in the Frean Chronicles trilogy is set to release March 11, 2025. Click here for more information.

Mysteriously titled Pirate Novel. Manuscript is complete and I’m in the process of pitching it to publishers.

Author Nook: Putting the Gen Z in Regency with Aamna Qureshi

Welcome to this month’s Author Nook! I am joined by the lovely Aamna Qureshi, author of If I Loved You Less, a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma with a Pakistani twist. So pour yourself a cup of chai and clear your dance card, because we’re going to be talking about retellings, regency, romance, and recipes!

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

If I Loved You Less

A joyful romantic comedy retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma!

I know what you’re thinking: poor little rich girl, she has everything, what else could she possibly need? Well, I’m looking for the great love of my life, thank you very much.

For Long Island native Humaira Mirza, it’s always been about love – and she has the matchmaking track record to prove it. Having successfully found ‘the one’ for both her aunt and her sister, the twenty-three-year-old is ready to claim a bit of romance for herself.

The perfect candidate? The gorgeous Rizwan Ali. But as Humaira employs her unique skills to obtain the perfect match with Rizwan, she’s forced to endure the disapproval of family friend Fawad Sheikh who she’s known forever. Fawad and Humaira have long traded barbs but as her romantic meddling leads to unintentional misadventures, she realises something shocking – is she starting to care what Fawad thinks?

Check out our other chats here:

Captain’s Log: Islands and Inlands

Island Hopping

The heart and backbone of Contest of Queens is the amazing cast of women who shore up Jacs as she strives to save the Queendom. I have a good imagination, but could never dream up this wonderful group of gals who inspired them. Once a year we (try) to get together for an epic adventure and this year we leaned more into the relaxation side of things and stayed in little barrel cabins on the Sunshine Coast in BC. It was an absolute dream. We sailed, swam, saunaed, hiked, ate delicious food and drank many bottles of rose… all in all, it was one heck of a trip and I’m so fortunate to know these ladies.

Inland Popping

Probably had the best Canada day long weekend to date traveling through Golden to Nelson, BC. We went golfing in Golden and I didn’t do half bad, went ziplining, luging, and see-sawing, and the drive! The drive was stunning. It involved a ferry crossing (which, the only thing that can make a road trip better is to start floating), and so many beautiful waterfalls.

I’d never been to Nelson before and that was a treat and a half. It has a wee streetcar that runs along the water front and the conductor is kind enough to let you ring the bell (if you’re 8years or younger). I would also highly recommend the cocktail bar: The Black Cauldron, it’s got some serious magic vibes and their concoctions were so fun – some even came out in a smoke bowl.