Six for Sunday: Questions to Ask Book Bloggers

Six For Sunday is a weekly feature run by Steph of A Little But a Lot. You can read all the Six for Sunday prompts for the rest of 2018 here. This week's topic doesn't work for me, so I'm going with questions to ask book bloggers!

What advice would you give your younger blogger self?
About the community, about running your blog, about ARCs, about reading, about communicating with publicists/authors.
Don't feel you have to accept every ARC that is offered to you. Yes, it's awesome, and yes, it's a privilege, but there's no point accepting books you know you won't enjoy. Publishers won't have a problem with you declining. Also, don't follow the crowd. Work out what it is about blogging that you enjoy, and stick to it. Blogging is meant to be fun! Just because everyone else doing something doesn't mean you have to - and if it makes blogging feel like a chore, just let it go.

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Halloween Themed October Reading

October is just round the corner, and so Halloween isn't far away, either! So I thought I would try and read books throughout the month that fit! Here is a rough TBR for October, full of stories of witches, of ghosts, and scary stories!

There are a quite a few on this list, and I'm not the fastest reader, so I probably won't get through all of them. But even so, I've got a month of exciting reading ahead! Without further ado, here is my Halloween themed October reading!


Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft ed. by Jessican Spotswood & Tess sharpe

A young adult fiction anthology of 15 stories featuring contemporary, historical, and futuristic stories featuring witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored. From Goodreads.

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A Novel Cover Up: Leo Nickolls on For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

A Novel Cover Up is a semi-regular feature that looks at how covers are designed. I have been fortunate enough to interview Graphic Designer Leo Nickolls about how he designed the cover for For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig. Other than the cover, all images in this post are copyrighted to Leo Nickolls and used with permission. They can be clicked to be enlarged.

Can you tell us about the cover for For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig? What do you hope it tells readers about the story?

I’m not sure how much detail I can go into without potentially spoiling the story here! But I hope it tells readers that it’s a fantasy story based around shadow theatre (with some shadowy secrets) with a hint of the supernatural. The concept of the cover is based on what I read in the manuscript, so the goal was to - like all good book covers should - show the nature of the story: a girl with powers she can only just control, in a war-torn country involving a tyrant leader - which hopefully is alluded to with the er, combustible look of my design!

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Six for Sunday: Reasons I Love to Blog

Six For Sunday is a weekly feature run by Steph of A Little But a Lot. You can read all the Six for Sunday prompts for the rest of 2018 here. This week, we're talking about reasons we love to blog.

This is a really interesting topic, because I've been book blogging for nine and a half years now, and the reason I love blogging now are undoubtedly different to the reasons I blogged when I first started, and it will be the same for others. Really looking forward to everyone's reasons, but here are mine.

A Place to Share My Thoughts
I have always liked talking about books. When I was younger, I pretty much solely read my Dad's high fantasy books, and I would discuss them with him, and talk about my theories, or how surprised I was over certain aspects. When I broadened my horizons to include urban fantasy, and later YA, I no longer had anyone to talk to, because no-one else I knew read those books. So I started a blog to share what I thought. At the time, I didn't know that I was book blogging; I didn't know that was a thing. I just needed to say what I was thinking. Then of course I found the community and discovered more about book blogging, but primarily it was to write down what I thought of the books I read, and that's really still the main reason I blog. I love talking about books, and I love writing, so book blogging combines the two.

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What Do We Want From Retellings? Part 1

Inspired by Julia Ember's Once Upon a Retelling interview for her latest novel, The Navigator's Touch, I wanted to discuss today what we want from retellings. But firstly, lets talk about why we're drawn to retellings in the first place.

For me, it's the idea of authors taking a story we know, maybe a story we love, and creating something original. It's the familiar with the new. How an author can rework or expand on a known story and give you something full of surprises, twists, and elements that will make you think or look at the story or the characters in a different way. I know where the story is going, but I don't know how it will get there there.

And that's how I think of original stories and retellings; as a journey. The original story goes from A to Z, with landmarks B, C, D, etc. - specific well known elements that make up the story - along the way. The original story takes the straightest route, but the retelling takes a longer, more winding route; still hitting all the landmarks, but taking you a different way.

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Once Upon a Retelling: A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

I am so excited to have L.L. McKinney stopping by the blog today as part of the blog tour for her debut novel! She's here to discuss her Alice in Wonderland retelling, A Blade so Black.

Can you tell us a little about A Blade So Black? What kind of a retelling of of Alice in Wonderland is it?

A Blade So Black essentially answers the question “What if Buffy fell down the rabbit hole instead of Alice?” I like to call it a reimagining, though I guess that’s not as official a genre as retelling just yet. It’s more inspired by the original classing than trying to emulate the beats in new ways. What I was hoping to do was take the tale and put a completely different spin on it, such as if it actually existed, how did it come to be? What is its connection to our world? What would it look like and how would it function in the present day. Those kinds of things lead to this story.

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Six for Sunday: Favourite Covers of 2018

Six For Sunday is a weekly feature run by Steph of A Little But a Lot. You can read all the Six for Sunday prompts for the rest of 2018 here.

Again, this week's topic doesn't work for me, so - as is allowed - I'm adapting an older topic: Favourite covers of 2018. Obviously there are many more than six, but I've gone with the ones that came to mind first.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton


This cover is just gorgeous! Look at colours, the make up, the flowers, and the orbs! And an actual Black woman on the cover! The actual physical covers shimmers under the light, and you can't see it here, but the image is also slightly blurred (but not quite as much as the UK cover is blurred, which is just too blurred).  What I love about the cover being a little blurred is that it fits with the story. It's almost like a filter; not everything here is real, beauty is manipulated - which also links to the plot of the story, where there's more going on than we originally think. Such a wonderful, beautiful cover!

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Once Upon a Bookcase: The Navigator's Touch by Julia Ember

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

Today, I'm really pleased to have Julia Ember stop by the blog to talk about her Peter Pan retelling, The Navigator's Touch!

Can you tell us a little about The Navigator’s Touch? What kind of a retelling of Peter Pan is it?

I guess you could call it an “alternative villain origin story!” Following on from the events of The Seafarer’s Kiss, The Navigator’s Touch tells the story of Ragna, a Viking shieldmaiden who has lost her hand to a devious enemy, and is putting together a mercenary crew. At the beginning, Ragna is young and inexperienced, still reeling from the loss her family, but as the story goes on, she really grows into her own as a commander. The duology also draws inspiration from an Anglo-Saxon poem called The Seafarer, which tells the story of a sailor lost at sea. In the first book, I wanted to meld the story of The Little Mermaid together with that elegy to create something new. The second book is also a composite of fairy-tale and poem, this time with Peter Pan. There are original adaptations of the poem in The Navigator’s Touch that I loved working on!

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Once Upon a Retelling: A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

Today, I'm really excited to have Sangu Mandanna stopping by the blog to talk to us about her retelling of the Mahabharata, A Spark of White Fire.

Can you tell us a little about A Spark of White Fire? What kind of a retelling of the Mahabharata is it?

A Spark of White Fire is the story of Esmae, an orphaned servant who reveals herself to be the lost princess of a kingdom torn by civil war. Esmae wants nothing more than to reunite with her family and take back the crown that was stolen from her brother, but she soon discovers that things may be a little more complicated than that. Her story is very much inspired by the Mahabharata! It’s a reimagining of the original epic, set in space, with a mixture of fantasy and futuristic elements.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Hidden Gems

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is Hidden Gems.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton


I absolutely loved this magical realism novel that follows several generations in a family, until we get to Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings! It's completely enchanting, with beautiful writing. It's just absolutely wonderful! I don't think enough people talk about it. My review.

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Once Upon a Retelling: The Monsters We Deserve by Marcus Sedgwick

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

Today, I'm delighted to have Marcus Sedgwick over on the blog, to talk about his latest novel, The Monsters We Deserve, a story that looks at the writing of a novel, and more specifically, Mary Shelley's writing of Frankenstein.

Can you tell us a little about The Monsters We Deserve?

The Monsters We Deserve is neither a retelling of Frankenstein, nor a retelling of its creation, though in small ways it draws on elements of both. It’s really a book about the true meaning of Shelley’s novel, a meaning that has been largely misunderstood from almost the very beginning of its life. So it’s a story about writers, creation, writers’ ghosts and the ghosts they leave behind. It takes the form of an extended mental letter from an unnamed writer, whose initials are MS, holed up in a remote chalet high in the French Alps, to their editor. I didn’t intend it to be read as a ghost story but I suppose it is in some ways.

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Re-Reading When Older, Wiser, and More Educated

I'm pretty sure I'm not speaking just for myself when I say re-reads awe awesome. Diving back into books whose stories you adore, and whose characters feel like friends. I'd even go so far as to say it's probably needed sometimes. When we're not in the best of moods, or are going through a tough time, reading books you know you love can help you feel a little better. I refer to re-reads as comfort reads, because, while lost in their pages, I feel all comfy and happy, and not much thinking is required, because I already know where the story will go.

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10 YA Novels I Would Love to See Adapted for the Big Screen

With the recent release of the Netflix movie To All the Boys I've Loved Before, based on the YA novel of the same name by Jenny Han - which, by the way, is incredible, and if you haven't seen it yet, you must remedy that ASAP - I have been thinking recently of other YA novels that would make great movies, or even TV shows. Now, there are a few that I would absolutely love to see, but to so that I don't end up repeating what I've said in recent previous posts, I'm not going to discuss the books by Laini Taylor and Heidi Heilig, all of which should be made into movies (and should already have been, in my opinion!), so I'll share some other books I would love to see on the big screen.

White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock

Peter Blankman is afraid of everything and must confront unimaginable terror when his mother is attacked.

Seventeen-year-old Peter Blankman is a maths prodigy. He also suffers from severe panic attacks. Afraid of everything, he finds solace in the orderly and logical world of mathematics and in the love of his family: his scientist mum and his tough twin sister Bel, as well as Ingrid, his only friend.

However, when his mother is found stabbed before an award ceremony and his sister is nowhere to be found, Pete is dragged into a world of espionage and violence where state and family secrets intertwine. Armed only with his extraordinary analytical skills, Peter may just discover that his biggest weakness is his greatest strength From Goodreads.

This book! It's so fast-paced and action packed, and full of twists and turns I didn't see coming at all! Mate, it was incredible! Not only do I think it's a no-brainer to make White Rabbit, Red Wolf into a movie, I also think it would translate perfectly from book to screen. And with a protagonist in Peter who has a panic disorder, it would be bloody fantastic to have that representation in a movie. A person with a panic disorder as the main character of an exceptionally mind-blowing thriller? It would be bloody brilliant. Read my review.

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Six for Sunday: Authors Whose Books I'll Always Read

Six For Sunday is a weekly feature run by Steph of A Little But a Lot. You can read all the Six for Sunday prompts for the rest of 2018 here.

This week's topic doesn't really work for me, so, as we're allowed, I'm going to use a previous topic - authors whose books I'll always read.

Heidi Heilig

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