female leads – Page 3 – Jordan H. Bartlett

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.

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

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?

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

…and back again: the ending of an era.

August 2023

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

FREE Book Club Kits
Upcoming Ebook sale
Travel Log: Happily Ever After
Review Corner
Bookmarks and Playlists

Book Club Kit

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:

Ebook Sale

Exciting news!
CONTEST OF QUEENS ebook is going on sale for the month of September for $1.99! Mark your calendar for September first and pick up your copy wherever you buy your ebooks, or click the image below.

Travel Log: Happily Ever After

Oh nelly.

If you’re new here, the only context you need is that I’m an author who has taken a year off her job in Canada as a Speech Language Pathologist to live in Scotland to finish writing my trilogy.

This year I’ve taken to love, to dream, to write, to explore is swiftly drawing to a close. As you can imagine, I’m feeling a little emotional and reflecting on all I’ve done.

In the book world, I have accomplished so much more than I could have imagined in one year:

Published Queen’s Catacombs
Signed the French translation rights of Contest of Queens to Lux and Nox publishing house (release date: 2024)
Signed Queendom Come with CamCat publishing and begun concluding my first trilogy (release date: 2025)
(almost) finished my mysteriously titled pirate novel

It’s incredible, and I don’t for a moment want to diminish these accomplishments because it’s a nasty habit I’m trying to break, but I do want to acknowledge the proudest achievement of mine this year: That I answered my call to adventure.

It can often be easy to escape into my own or other authors’ stories. To hide between pages, or behind a computer screen, but this year I lived my adventure, and I am so proud of that. I’ve shared a lot of my travels in this newsletter or on my Instagram, so while a part of me wants to provide a colorful recap of my year-long quest, I won’t. This year was mostly for me, and in my heart it will stay.

Instead, I want to say thank you. Thank you to my hustling nose-to-the-grindstone past self whose hard work, resilient mental health, and frugal saving made this year financially possible. Thank you to my parents for giving me wandering feet. Thank you to my dear friends and family who have opened their doors to me when I came knocking and taken the time to show me snapshots of their lives. Thank you to new friends who helped me create such wonderful memories. Thank you to my writing buddy who became so much more. Thank you to fleeting love interests for keeping this year spicy. Thank you to my job for providing me with the security and deadline to return. I am forever grateful for all the many factors and people that made this year possible.

Thank you for this year, this heart, this life.

And like a new convert or newly wed, I feel myself compelled to share advice that might lead you, dear reader, to a similar state. Answer your call to adventure, and if the air is still and silent- be your own call. We are here for such a short time.

Live magically.

13 Countries explored: England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, France, Malta, Sicily, New Zealand, Canada (Alberta and BC), and USA (New York).

Review Corner

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

Bookmarks and Playlists

I love recommendations and you may be interested in mine, so here’s the book I’m reading, the songs I’m listening to, and any thoughts I have of them.

Bookmark:

Incredible. Absolutely loved this and now I’m kicking myself for not looking into Anne Bronte’s works sooner.

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:
Lara – The Arcadian Wild. There’s something about the melody that is so soothing.
Wild Uncharted Waters – Prince Eric from the live action Little Mermaid. Yes. Come at me. This song is fantastic. They decided to give this cape wearing flautist a solo worthy of kings and the way it mingles with Ariel’s siren song is just poetry.
I’m a Rover – Great Big Sea. With my move looming overhead, this song has been a beacon of light and hope. It’s fun, jaunty, and a love song to boot. I’ll be using the tune in a shanty that will pop up in my pirate novel.

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.

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!

Contest of Queens: completed!
Queen’s Catacombs: completed!
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!

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

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

feature image: https://www.deviantart.com/escume/art/Sea-Witch-710097068

Superheroes, Dinosaurs, and Subverting Social Scripts: an interview with Brenna Raney

April 2023

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

Upcoming Event: School Journal
Author Spotlight with Brenna Raney
Travel Log: Butterbeer and Spring Flowers
Review Corner

Upcoming Event: SLJ Day of Dialog

Author Spotlight with Brenna Raney

Holy Velociraptors, Batman!
We’re talking all things absurd with Brenna Raney, author of her debut novel: The Meister of Decimen City. So pull on your super suit and verse yourself in the do’s and don’ts of Dino wrangling as we strap in to discuss writing superheroes, villains, and how their heavily scripted genre leaves room to subvert some scripted norms.

The Meister of Decimen City

No one cares that you cured cancer if you also cloned a horde of dinosaurs and let them rampage down the street.

Supergenius and quasi-villain Rex normally can’t go a week without accidentally endangering Decimen City with her science shenanigans. It’s been two weeks since her genetically engineered dinosaurs rampaged through town—a good streak for her—but the peace is broken when actual villain Last Dance sets his sights on Decimen. And he wants Rex’s help. Before Rex can say “I didn’t do it,” superheroes who’ve dragged her to jail on her worst days are crowding her lab to conscript her into quasi-herodom.

Rex would rather stay out of it and deal with the dinosaurs that keep calling her Mom, but she can’t ignore that she was somewhat responsible for Last Dance’s villainy. She’d kept a very disorganized lab. And he was such a nosy brother. She failed to help him back then, but maybe if she stops him now—and keeps the heroes fooled—she can finally set things right.

Travel Log: Butterbeer and Spring Flowers

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!

Contest of Queens: completed!
Queen’s Catacombs: comes out March 14th 2023! (order here)
Mysteriously Titled Finale: in progress!

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

Let the Butterbeer Flow

As many of you have likely deduced, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. What is so beautiful about the world Rowling created is that it has taken root in our world in so many incredible ways. Working at the Harry Potter shop in Edinburgh meant that I shared “first wand” moments with children and adults (and believe me when I say I couldn’t tell you which age group were more excited). Scattered around the UK are a number of magical shops that draw heavily from Rowling’s world and add their own little sparkle and I was lucky enough to visit one such shop recently. The Lonely Broomstick. This shop is such a love letter to magic, whimsy, and the butterflies you feel while awaiting your Hogwarts letter. Also, as I have sampled my fair share of butterbeer this past year, their brew currently ranks number 1.

Although I will say, the best presentation has to be from the Department of Magic Potions Room in Edinburgh.

Cheers!

Flowers in my hair makes me wish that you were near…

They say April showers bring May flowers, but it’s been raining all March so I suppose the flowers have jumped ahead of schedule. In Contest and Catacombs Lena is in love with her family’s florist, Anya. One of my favourite things about these characters is they both have a connection to flowers and so I get to go wild with my flower imagery and descriptions. There’s something so indescribably pure and sweet about a love expressed through flowers. Hopefully that shines through in my novels.

Review Corner

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

Queen’s Catacombs Unleashed

March 2023

April Fools! What an incurable prankster I am, releasing my March Newsletter on the most jocular day of the year. Here’s what you’ll find in this month’s newsletter:

Queen’s Catacombs Release
Gorgeous Giveaway
Travel Log: From New York to New Zealand
Review Corner

Queen’s Catacombs Publication Day Celebration

Welcome to the world, Queen’s Catacombs! What a wild adventure it’s been. Writing the sequel to a novel that had been in my head for over a decade was both terrifying and electrifying. I wanted to celebrate its release day with a bang so here’s what I did:

Already it’s been getting some wonderful reviews and I am so thankful for every single reader that has taken the hours to join me in my world. It’s such a surreal and humbling experience!

Order your copy here!

It’s available where all books, ebooks, and audiobooks are sold but I encourage you to order it through your local bookstore. If you do, jump over to my contact page here and let me know and I’d love to send you some book goodies!

Gorgeous Giveaway

A giveaway fit for a queen…

I’ve partnered with the incredible author Brandie June (see our recent interviews for Gold Spun here, Curse Undone here, and Worldbuilding here) for a Frean Chronicles giveaway! Winner receives a crown of their own as well as a signed copy of either Contest of Queens or Queen’s Catacombs.

Click the image or right here to enter.

Travel Log: New York to New Zealand

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!

Contest of Queens: completed!
Queen’s Catacombs: completed!
Mysteriously Titled Finale: in progress!

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

New York Minutes

I was fortunate enough to go to three performances while I was there:

Sleep No More – you take on the role of “watcher” and wander around a three storey complex filled with various sets and different characters. Deliciously creepy.
Chicago – they both reached for the gun, and Jinx stole the show as Mumma.
Comedy Cellar – a lot of laughs.

Three VERY different performances, but holy Hera, each one was absolutely amazing.

New Zealand

My trip to New Zealand was a mixed bag of emotions. For any of you who have already read Queen’s Catacombs, you likely noticed the dedication at the front.

I don’t have the words to express how special it was that I was able to say goodbye properly.

The rest of the trip consisted of visiting family and friends as well as adventures including skydiving, mountain biking, wine tasting, and hiking.

Review Corner

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

Wayward Monsters and Loving the Hunter: an interview with Dana Claire

February 2023

It may be the shortest month, but we have a lot to cover! In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

Join the Frean Chronicles book tour
Author Spotlight with Dana Claire
CamCat Unwrapped Podcast Interview for Contest of Queens
Travel Log: Castle Research and Burns Night
Guest Post on Madison Lawson’s Blog
The Frean Chronicles is going on tour (and you can join!)
Queen’s Catacombs Preorder
Contest of Queens Review Corner

Join the Frean Chronicles Book Tour!

In honor of the Queen’s Catacombs release, both books are going on tour with ireadbooktours. It will run from March 14th to April 10th 2023, and there’s still spots available, so if you are a book reviewer, have a book blog, or a bookstagram/booktok account jump aboard while you can!

Author Spotlight: Dana Claire

Grab your stakes and your rock salt. Monster hunting class is in session.

Happy love month one and all and welcome to February’s Book Nook where I have the privilege of interviewing one of my favourite humans, Dana Claire, award-winning and Amazon best-selling author of War of the Sea, The Reclaimed Kingdom, The Blood-Light Trilogy, Sideliners, and Hunterland. The topic of today’s chat is her recent release, the Supernatural/Buffy lovechild, HUNTERLAND. So pour yourself a glass of rose and leave all the lights on, we’re going to talk about love and monsters.

Hunterland

Monsters? Easy. Falling in love? That could be deadly.

Liam Hunter has warded off hungry vampires, slayed monstrous beasts, and put agonized spirits to rest since he could hold a stake. When trouble comes through the Hunterland message board, alerting them that nurses are dying at high schools across Wisconsin in a string of fishy “suicides,” the Hunter family hits the road to save the day.

The trail leads to Falkville Falls, where Liam clashes with Olivia Davis, whose maddening family seems inexplicably embroiled in this haunting mess. Olivia has always mothered her little sister, Pepper. But when the Hunter family opens her eyes to the hidden underworld of real monsters prowling the dark, she realizes she can’t protect Pepper from this newest threat by herself. Can the two families work together to uncover who or what is responsible before the next murder, or will this vicious death cycle have no end?

Podcast Feature: CamCat Unwrapped

To celebrate Contest of Queens coming out in paperback AND it’s one year anniversary, CamCat had the entire audiobook on their Spotify CamCat Unwrapped. The first two chapters remain forever more (woohoo!) so you can check those out here, as does my interview with Jess which you can listen to here:

CamCat Unwrapped

Travel Log: Castle Research and Burns Night

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!

Contest of Queens: completed!
Queen’s Catacombs: comes out March 14th 2023! (preorder here)
Mysteriously Titled Finale: in progress!

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

Castle Research

Sometimes you can feel like you’re in the right place at the right time, and this time I was in the right place twice. I met the loveliest humans, Natalie and Andrea while working at the Harry Potter shop and we ended up going out for drinks after I finished my shift. They’re both from the States, so I took them to my favourite place in Edinburgh for fish ‘n’ chips- The Old Chain Pier. We had a lovely evening, said our goodbyes, exchanged Instagrams, and went on our merry way.

Two days later, I take myself on a wee field trip to Linlithgow Palace and Blackness Castle. Of all the castles in all the countries in all the world and guess who shows up in this one? Natalie and Andrea of course! So I then proceed to get willingly kidnapped for the rest of the afternoon and we visit the Kelpies and wander the graveyard in Stirling, and I even eat pidgeon for the first time for dinner.

Serendipity, I have found thy definition!

Burns Night

If you’re like me, you likely didn’t know what Burns Night is, but it’s a celebration that happens every year on January 25th in Scotland in honor of Robert Burns, a poet who contributed to Scottish culture in a rich and beautiful way. His better known works are: Auld Lang Syne, Address to a Haggis, and My Love is Like a Red Red Rose.

I was very fortunate to get to celebrate Burns night right! I kicked the evening off with a special poetry-reading tour of the Real Mary King’s Close and then had Haggis (complete with Address to a Haggis recitation).

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a *grace*
As lang ‘s my arm.

Guest Post with Madison Lawson

I wrote a feature post for Madison Lawson’s blog recently (author of The Registration). Jump on over to her page here to read it.

Queen’s Catacombs Preorder

March 14th, 2023 is the date to remember not only because it is PI day, but it is ALSO the day QUEEN’S CATACOMBS officially hits the shelves. I am so excited to share this with you, so if you are the pre-ordering kind of person, you can do so now!

Pre-order your copy here

Add it to your GoodReads, add it to your Amazon wishlist, add it to your diary, add it to Santa’s list, and I know I will be hard pressed not to add it to my arm in ink… (we’ll see). Here’s a recent review:

Contest of Queens Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens 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 honestly can’t believe that it’s got an average of 4.6/5 stars on Goodreads, and 4.9/5 stars on Amazon! Here’s a lovely review:

x live magically

How to Dystopiate your Future: an interview with Madison Lawson

September 2022 pt. 2

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

Queen’s Catacombs Cover Reveal
Author Spotlight with Madison Lawson
Contest of Queens Giveaway
Travel Log: Ich Bin Ein Jellydonut
Contest of Queens Review Corner

QUEEN’S CATACOMBS Cover Reveal

A huge thank you to NERD DAILY who hosted the online reveal of QUEEN’S CATACOMBS

Pre-order your copy here

Author Spotlight with Madison Lawson

If you had one shot, one opportunity, to legally kill one person one time in your life, would you capture it, or let it slip?

Join me for today’s talk with Madison Lawson, author of THE REGISTRATION where we find out just that. In a world where every person gets one free pass to kill anyone so long as they register them first, what would happen if you overheard your name being registered?

Find more information here:
website: madisonlawson.com
Instagram: @madisonlawson
Twitter: @madisonlawson96

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.

CONTEST OF QUEENS Giveaway

In celebration of the upcoming cover reveal of Queen’s Catacombs, I partnered with Brandie June in this September giveaway!

click here for multiple ways to enter

QUEEN’S CATACOMBS is the epic sequel to CONTEST OF QUEENS. This new fantasy book comes out March 14, 2023. Get ready for this release by entering for a chance to win signed copy of CONTEST OF QUEENS along with a stunning hot air balloon necklace.

Travel Log: Ich bin ein Jellydonut

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!

Contest of Queens: completed!
Queen’s Catacombs: comes out March 14th next year! (preorder here)
Mysteriously Titled Finale: in progress!

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

I went to Berlin!
And may I just say, wow, what a city. Everything about it feel massive (and I’m used to Canada where you can drive for hours between cities). The buildings have this immenseness to them that I have never experienced before. It is a gorgeous city, with an incredible weight around its shoulders. The sheer number of memorials you’ll see walking in any one direction is enough to catch your breath.

some highlights…

CONTEST OF QUEENS Review Corner

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

x live magically

Series Conclusions and Baring the Heart of a Character: an Interview with Aamna Qureshi

May 2022

Wait a minute, before we dive into the sequel, jump over here and watch my discussion with Aamna about The Lady or the Lion.

Done?

Welcome back! Today I had the honor of speaking with Aamna Qureshi about her sequel, and finale to The Marghazar Trials, The Man or the Monster. We talk author tips on how to conclude a series, and how to get right to the heart of a character. So pour yourself a cup of tea and join us!

The Man or the Monster comes out July 26, 2022. You can preorder your copy here.

The Man or the Monster

She made her decision. Now she has to live with it.

Durkhanai Miangul sealed her lover’s fate when she sent him through a door where either a lady or a lion awaited him. But her decision was only the beginning of her troubles. Durkhanai worries that she might not be the queen her people need or deserve when conflict threatens her kingdom.

Her presumed-dead father comes back with a vengeance and wishes she join him in his cause. But her family’s denial of his revenge forces Durkhanai to take matters into her own hands and she must decide whether to follow the traditions of her forefathers or forge a new path on her own.

My Thoughts

**MILD SPOILERS**

click here to read the full review OR to leave your own

Contest of Queens in the wild

There’s nothing like browsing the shelves of your local bookstore and seeing your name staring back at you! Since the world is opening up more and more, I’ve been able to deliver signed copies of Contest of Queens to a few local bookshops in the Bow Valley and in Calgary. You can now find signed copies at Owl’s Nest Books, Shelf Life Books, Café Books, and Flow State.

Contest of Queens Review Spotlight

x live magically

80’s Vibes and Supernatural Bullies: an Interview with Sara Hosey

April 2022

Adjust your scrunchies and pull on your legwarmers, today I’m joined by author Sara Hosey to talk about her upcoming YA novel, Imagining Elsewhere. We cover all things 80’s and deep dive into the psychology of the bully. Make sure you have a cup of tea handy for this one or, if you’re trapped in CandiLand, order an Egg Cream to sip on and strap in!

Find out more information about Sara and her other works here:
Website: sarahosey.com
Instagram: @sarahoseyauthor
Twitter: @hoseysara

Imagining Elsewhere

Being a better person can be a lot harder than it looks.

It’s 1988, and former bully Astrid is forced to move from Queens to the small town of Elsewhere. Although this town is totally weird, Astrid sees the move as a way to reinvent herself. That is, until Candi—the teenage tyrant with supernatural powers who rules Elsewhere—decides she wants Astrid to be her new bestie.

Having to choose between the perks and safety of being the Queen B’s best friend and the desire to be a better person could literally cost Astrid her life. As Astrid and her new friends begin to dig into the dark history of Elsewhere and the source of Candi’s powers, they form a dangerous plan to resist Candi’s compulsion and to escape Elsewhere, or else be doomed to live under Candi’s rule forever.

My Thoughts

I was fortunate enough to receive an eARC (Electronic Advanced Reader Copy) from Sara Hosey and had a few cents to share on the subject:

Contest of Queens Book Signing

Owl’s Nest Books: April 9, 2022

Thank you to Owl’s Nest Books for hosting me on April 9th for an author book signing, and thank you to everyone who showed up on purpose- and everyone who showed up by accident! It was such a special event, and I felt so so humbled by the whole thing.

There was signing, chatting, and prize winning! If you’re thinking to yourself, “aw, nuts! I wish I could have my book signed,” fret not! I am more than happy to send you one of these:

To receive your very own, please fill out the form below, then pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Signed Book Plate Form

Contest of Queens Review Spotlight

Free Swag! If you leave a star rating and review, let me know here, and be sure to include your mailing address in the message because I’d love to send you some goodies to show my appreciation! (limited supply)

Thank you to Midra for this stunning review!
The full review was much longer, check it out here

Contest of Queens Reading

If you’re unable to come to an in person author event, why not let me read to you in the comfort of your own home? Here’s an excerpt of Contest of Queens from my recent event with the Banff Public Library (click here for the full interview). Enjoy!

x live magically

New Twists on Old Lore and the Art of Ensnaring the Senses: an Interview with Jason Offutt

March 2021

Welcome back for another Book Nook! I had the pleasure of dipping my toe into the Horror genre for the first time with Jason’s Offutt’s new novel The Girl in the Corn and was lucky enough to chat with him about it. So turn all the lights on and huddle under a heavy blanket for this one!

Find more information about Jason’s novels here: https://www.jasonoffutt.com/

The Girl in the Corn

Beware of what lurks in the corn.

Fairies don’t exist. At least that’s what Thomas Cavanaugh’s parents say. But the events of that one night, when he follows a fairy into the cornfield on his parents’ farm, prove them wrong. What seems like a destructive explosion was, Thomas knows, an encounter with Dauðr, a force that threatens to destroy the fairy’s world and his sanity.

Years later, after a troubled childhood and a series of dead-end jobs, he is still haunted by what he saw that night. One day he crosses paths with a beautiful young woman and a troubled young man, soon realizing that he first met them as a kid while under psychiatric care after his encounters in the cornfield. Has fate brought them together? Are they meant to join forces to save the fairy’s world and their own? Or is one of them not who they claim to be?

Upcoming Book Signing Event

Owl’s Nest Bookstore

815A 49 Avenue SW
Calgary AB
Canada, T2S 1G8

I cannot wait for this event! If you have a copy of Contest of Queens or The Rose Petal Princess, bring those along with you and I’ll happily sign them. Otherwise, there will be copies to purchase in-store! If you have no interest in my signature, come out anyway, I’d love to see your faces 🙂

Featured Writer on Wellness

Thank you Colleen Story, a fellow CamCat author and the mind behind the Writing and Wellness site, for featuring me this month on your website! Click on the above picture to read more. Her page is full of tips and tricks to make sure you’re looking after your mind and body while writing. Also, look out for her upcoming novel, The Beached Ones. The first paragraph alone had me in raptures!

California Creative Writing Conference

On March 6th I had the pleasure of speaking at the California Creative Writing Conference on a panel with Sara Hosey (website) who talked about her upcoming novel, Imagining Elsewhere, and Ruth Fox (website) who spoke about her upcoming novel, Under the Heavens. (I bet you can guess what book I spoke about!)

Contest of Queens Reading

Signed Book Plate

If you follow me on Instagram (@jordanhbartlett), you will have seen that I am offering to send a personalized book plate and some limited stock swag to anyone who has bought themselves a copy of Contest of Queens.

If you’re interested, please fill out this form, then pat yourself on the back for a job well done.