C.G. @ Paper Fury

[Book Tour] A Blossom At Midnight by A.L. Knorr – Etheral Floral Fae Fantasy

2nd Jan 2023 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for A Blossom At Midnight by A.L. Knorr!

Welcome to the continent of Ivryndi, where flora and fauna magic reign, and an unseelie prince with a mysterious power threatens it all. A Blossom at Midnight is the first book in the The Scented Court fantasy series & it’s available now in digital/paperback + soon in a stunning hardcover edition with a special design under the dust jacket (release date TBA).

Lush and ethereal with both cosy and elegant aesthetics, this is truly a beautiful fantasy world to fall into. It’s an almost slice-of-life fantasy (with added fae court political intrigue) and I really loved the whimsy of it, the gardening and dreamy floral fae, the foodie descriptions and the family secrets. It also takes its time with the world building instead of jumping into any action, so if you want a book that gives cottagecore/floral vibes, this will definitely satisfy that craving. Also fae making things grow and flowers bursting from empty soil and rich gardens in full bloom — absolutely my thing. 😌👌🏻

The story starts off by introducing us to Jess who lives alone with her oftentimes surly mother who has many secrets and is very protective and strict with Jess, while Jess is here yearning for more. She wants to know if she’s fae, if she has powers, why she has too familiars, if she has a chance to be one of the gorgeous floral fae Calyx who serve in the courts. Her village is so lovely (kind of gave me Hobbiton blended with Lothlórien vibes) and when we get to the fae courts, more of the plot begins. Two more narrators also join the story: Laec and Cifta. And the world expands massively as we learn about the different kingdoms and a suspicious death and the fact maybe there is a darker thread unravelling in this ethereal world. I was also really keen to know about Jess’s family’s secrets…and hoping there’s more on that in the sequel too.

An elegant and ethereal fantasy set in a sprawling world of fae and magical gardens and court politics and winsome magic.

Also check out my instagram for the giveaway!! Thanks to MTMC Tours & the author for the copy.

@cgdrews Book Tour | thanks to @MTMC Tours & @authoralknorr for the gorgeous copy! Out now in paperback/ebook and this hardcover edition is coming soon so follow the author for updates 🌸🌺 Also a full review on my IG and blog. ❤️ #ablossomatmidnight #mtmctours #books #booklover #booktok #bookwormsoftiktok #reader #reading ♬ original sound – Chester and Humans

Title: A Blossom At Midnight (The Scented Court #1)
Author: A.L. Knorr
Publication Date: January 2022
Genres: Young Adult, Epic Fantasy
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository | Indiebound | Blackwell’s
Add on Goodreads!
One earns a coveted place among royalty. Another is imprisoned by her betrothed, while the third is exiled until he can prove his worth. Can these three fae prevent a war?
Dreaming of escaping her simple country life and tired of keeping her winged familiars a secret, half-fae Jessica finds herself swept into a breathtaking world of an elite retinue of fae performers known as the Calyx. As she learns to master her abilities, Jess is expected to entertain at glittering balls in the richest kingdom in Ivryndi, alongside far more experienced and beautiful flora fae. She is sworn to secrecy as she discovers the source of their wealth–the perfumes that royals travel from far-flung and exotic kingdoms to possess. As her exciting new life—and magic—blossoms, Jess learns that her mother has been keeping a secret of her own, one that changes everything.
Rejection has left fae courtier Laec wallowing in wine and disdainful of what he sees in the mirror. When Queen Elphame offers him a foreign commission, he jumps at the chance for a fresh start, but when he meets a beautiful and mysterious stranger on the road, he soon learns that healing his heart may inflame the very trouble his queen sent him to prevent.
Beautiful and eligible Çifta believes in the importance of duty. Wishing to please her father, she agrees to marry a powerful unseelie prince. But when she discovers his cold heart and attempts to break the engagement, she suddenly finds herself in chains. Alone and trapped in a damp fortress, she cannot see a way out.
When a visit to another realm sparks a dark turn of events, it sets these three fae on a collision course. Will they wilt under pressure or become a thorny threat to evil?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today Bestselling Author, A.L. Knorr is an award-winning Canadian fantasy writer. Readers love her vivid characters and mesmerizing stories of elemental transformation, adventure, friendship, and love. The bestselling Elemental Origins Series can be read out of order, but if you want to read in the order they were written, they are listed below chronologically.
Dive into the new YA noblebright fantasy series; The Scented Court. If you love earth magic, insect and animal characters, slow-burn romance, and fables steeped in the beauty of nature, you’ll love A Blossom at Midnight.
Known for strong female protagonists, realistic magic, adventure and intrigue, sweet romance, and well-crafted plots that keep you turning pages late into the night, A.L. Knorr is a masterful storyteller.
Website | Instagram | TikTok

MTMC TOURS Schedule

January 2
@paperfury – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@courtysbookclub – Bookstagram
January 3
@thecaffeinatedbooksisters – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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January 4
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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January 6
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January 8
@pavlinamich – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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January 9
@shanayahreads – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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January 10
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January 11
@shaked_reads – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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The Boy Who Steals Houses is now available on Kindle Unlimited!

6th Dec 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

The Boy Who Steals Houses is now available on Kindle Unlimited!

This is exclusively available to Kindle Unlimited in the UK, I believe 👀👌🏻 But it’s also literally only $3 on Amazon USA too if you have been hanging out to try my book! And honestly so proud (and grateful) that it still has a 4.5 star rating. 🥺💛 Three years out and my son is still going strong.

And once you’ve read TBWSH, it is an excellent time to head over to my Patreon and read the sequel!

The Kings Of Nowhere (book 2) is fully up on Patreon now so you can read the whole thing. There’s also a new short story up every month, and I’m totally open for requests. So you can tell me which characters you want to hear more from! I’m also working on book 3 now (The House For Lost Things) and tentatively planning a March/April release. And I’m giving away a Sam & Avery art print to everyone who’s subscribed to my Patreon in December!! All info is here. And you can see the cute art below!!

Art by @kyerta_

I’m honestly obsessed with this commission and love them so much. 😭💛 So you definitely don’t want to miss out on this!

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – Bitingly Brilliant YA Sci Fi

5th Dec 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 2 Comments

Iron Widow was such an excellent read.

Compelling, action packed, female antihero, blisteringly well delivered themes — it did everything right. I also had the pleasure of listening to the audio a few months ago before this review copy surprised me in the mail, but I hadn’t reviewed the story. So it’s high time! This one is definitely going on my Top Ten Of 2022 list. However due to experience this via audio, please be patient with my spelling!! 😂😭 Everything is phonetic in my head (though I’ve tried to look names/words up).

Zetian was amazing. She was absolutely feral and unhinged and I loved that for her. This took the corruption arc and went for it with its whole chest, but more than that: it did it right. By the end I totally feel like Zetian had snapped but at the same time, pfft, I was 100% rooting for her. We support womens rights and womens wrongs here. Something I usually am wary of with #girlboss characters is how their focus is only inward, but it wasn’t the case here. Zetian had such a fervent focus on the other abused and discarded girls forced to face worse fates even than she. She did not bring any “not like the other girls” vibes, and was in fact convinced her high-spirit pressure wasn’t a fluke…other girls were like her and being crushed so the boys could always prevail. Her fight, her willingness to make herself think passed “limitations”, the way she endured and reclaimed her autonomy and her mind and her love for herself — all so well delievered on page.

It’s violently and ferociously feministic. And I also loved how Zetian isn’t just fighting for the other girls: she’s discovering the boys who are abused and suffer too, like Li Shimin.

It’s also refreshingly queer and features a polyamory romance, which is so rare in YA (is it anywhere?!). Finally we get a true triangle 😂 It discusses gender and I appreciated how Zetian frequently mentioned how she didn’t vibe with the concept of gender. Did I mention I love her. I do wish Shimin x Yizhi had more space to develop, especially their feelings toward each other, but fingers crossed that’s coming in the sequel.

It has lots of fight scenes and big magic robots that you control with your chi. I thoroughly enjoyed the concept. At first it felt like straight up fantasy to me, but then the END HITS and wow. I see where it’s going and it’s brilliant and horrible, and I’m craving the sequel like nothing else. It also serves up some hunger games vibes were Zetian and Li Shimin realise they need to win public favour in order to help stay alive, and that sense of self that is sacrificed as they mould themselves for the cameras contrasted with the reclaiming of autonomy that goes down as they gain momentum. Loved that.It is overall quite dark too, and doesn’t hold back from realistically discussing abuse and torture and rape and murder.

it’s a vicious book with a lot to say and the best part is: it says it loud and it says it excellently. Throw in a good dash of bloody vengeance and you have a YA that is thoroughly worth the hype.

Thanks to One World Publications for the review copy!

Title: Iron Widow (#1)
Author: Xiran Jay Zhao
Date Published: September 8th, 2022
Genre: YA Fantasy, Sci Fi
Publisher: One World Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

[Blog Tour] Lady Night #2 by Rita A. Rubin – Q&A With The Author!

10th Nov 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Lady Night by Rita A. Rubin!

Time to dive back into the world from the Chronicles of the Guardians! I read Amulet Of Wishes earlier this year, and it’s a fun fantasy romp with loveable characters and shapeshifting dragons and found family. This is a great series if you like fantasy on the lighter side with lots of focus on the characters. I did like how Lady Midnight also expands on the world-building we peeked at in Amulet of Wishes. Here there be more monsters. 👀👌🏻 The guardians have a lot to guard the world from as it turns out.

“Being strong doesn’t mean being unaffected. It doesn’t mean that you have to be made of stone. It means surviving and learning how to keep going after all the bad things have happened.”

While book 1 had our loveable trio together, book 2 splits them up a bit more — with Derek and Arabelle on a Guardian mission that takes them back to Derek’s childhood hometown (which is fraught with traumatic memories for him) to solve a murder vs Prince Jared (and now Will!) who is off to investigate an escape of a dark and dangerous prison. There’s more softly budding romance too as the teens work out their feelings for each other. And I always love any scene with Darus in it, our fave young chaotic queer adoptive dad!! The stakes are also growing ever higher in this book for everyone…

There are mysteries to solve, old villains reappearing, heartaches to work through, dark magic unleashed, and epic fight scenes to read. A fun fantasy adventure!

Thanks to MTMC Tours & Rita A. Rubin for the ebook. Read on m for my Q&A with Rita, plus an INTL giveaway.

Title: Lady Night (Chronicles of the Guardians #2)
Author: Rita A. Rubin
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository| Blackwell’s | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Add on Goodreads
Derek Draco is finally learning to put the past behind him and enjoy life with his friends and as a Guardian. But when news of a string of recent murders reaches them, Derek finds himself having to return to the place he had hoped to never set foot in again—Windfell. The town where his parents died.
Meanwhile, Jared, the Prince of Aloseria and Derek’s best friend, finds himself helping to uncover a sinister plot brewing in the shadows. It soon becomes clear that not only could the fate of their world be under threat, but that dark plans may lie in wait for his friend.

Hi Rita! I’m so glad we get to chat about the next instalment of your amazing fantasy series. Tell us, what was it like drafting this sequel?

It was definitely a much quicker process than with Amulet of Wishes since this time, I went into it with an outline. But it was also more challenging in some ways. Lady Night’s storyline has a bit more complexity to it compared to Amulet of Wishes. In Lady Night we’re getting to see more of the world that was introduced in the first book and the groundwork’s being set for the storyline that will carry over into the next two books.

I’m so glad we got to see more of your world in this one! Do you already know how the series will end? Has anything surprised you while drafting so far?

I do know how I want the series to end, yes. Although I may not know all of the exact details just yet. I’m drafting book 3 at the moment and there’s been quite a few things that have caught me off guard about it. Such as how emotional it’s made me feel in certain moments.

Will we meet any fun new characters in Lady Night?

Indeed you will! I hope you’ll find characters like Will, Rosalie and Edgar as enjoyable to read as I did to write.

I loved Will immediately!! When do you usually write and what is your writing space like?

I’m a bit of a night owl when it comes to writing lately. And I don’t really have a designated writing space, but I can most commonly be found sitting on my bed when I do.

Honestly same for the writing space 😌👌🏻 Do you have any other projects in the works that we can beg for a teaser about? 👀👀

I sure do. I’ve got a Witcher-inspired, sapphic fantasy titled A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters, that’s still in brain storming stages. And I’m also in the middle of drafting a slice-of-life fantasy novella, about Jayce, the former unwilling servant of a dark lord, who just wants to live a mundane life. And maybe fall in love with a certain handsome knight.

Already so excited about those projects ahh 😍💛 And lastly! If you could hang out with one of your characters for a day, who would you choose?

This is a tough one. I’m going to have to say Darus because I’m sure he’d make a day spent with him a lot of fun.

Thanks so much for chatting with me today, Rita. And congrats on your latest release!

Enter the Rafflecopter below where one reader will win a paperback copy of Amulet of Wishes (book 1) or Lady Night (book 2). Ends on November 19th, 2022. Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter & contacted via email.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Australian born, Rita was raised on the farms outside of Melbourne and grew up surrounded by wide open spaces, tractors and lettuce aplenty. For as long as she can remember, Rita has always loved to make up stories. Her first literary work was an Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction when she was 11. Now Rita spends a lot of her writing time working on her YA fantasy series, Chronicles of the Guardians. Apart from writing and reading, Rita’s interests include drawing, video games and pop culture. She is also the proud owner of a fat house cat named Bella, a spoilt dog named Sadie and Angel the goldfish. Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Twitter

MTMC TOURS Schedule

November 7
Book Blog – The Reader and The Chef

November 8
Bookstagram – @anabellasbooks
Book Blog – Bibliophile Devil

November 9
Book Blog – PaperFury
Bookstagram – @alara_reads
November 10
Bookstagram – @hercrazybooksta
BookTok – @mateskeys

November 11
Bookstagram – @rainbowbookdragon15
Book Blog – Bookish Adventures of P

November 12
Bookstagram – @mtmctours

November 13
Bookstagram – @_thelostlibrary_
Bookstagram – @thebookwebb

The Final Gambit #3 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Twists Within Twists!

27th Sep 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

So I absolutely love the Inheritance Games trilogy and this finale did not disappoint.

The only grief I’m in is that it’s OVER. These books were all brilliant 😭🙌🏻 works of complicated, twisty genius. As much as I enjoyed the reading of them, I also just want to gush over the craft as well. The skill it would take to wield this plot, handle all the numerous reveals, keep all the twists in order…my jaw is on the floor. There were reveals that were set up from book one. Imagine the organisation! The tying up all the loose threads! Impeccable.

See my reviews for The Inheritance Games (#1) and The Hawthorne Legacy (#2).

So the premise of the series (if you’re new here) is that Avery is a bit of a nobody and suddenly finds herself the sole inheritor of a billionaire’s fortune. But the billionaire also happens to have 4 dashing sons and a perchance for extremely complicated riddles and games. Everything is a game. Games within games. And there are mysteries to unravel (why Avery? what’s going on? is so and so really dead? is such and such a threat or a friend?) and the plot is like a nesting doll. Once you unravel one mystery it will lead to a dozen more.

It’s also brilliant to see Avery go from a clever but relatively unambitious teen to an absolute beast of puzzles and game mastery, who manages to keep being a smart, altruistic, compassionate, and kind person even when she’s literally handed the world on a golden platter.

I also loved the Hawthorne boys, as always. (Although I have to be horrible and admit Nash is pretty useless and never does much lmao.) Grayson is having a breakdown, Jameson is being the absolute most beautiful manic pixie dream boy we could ask for, and Xander is being a pure delightful ball of sunshine. These three + Avery could crack any code, truly. I love their dynamics and how the book also explored a bit more of the cracks on the Hawthorne brothers’ facades. Their grandfather manipulated them all growing up to serve his own purposes and they more they learn about him (they learn A LOT about his past in this book too) the more they have to reconfigure their feelings for him. Avery also gets hit with some tougher, emotional reveals as well.

There’s also a new villain on the scene. And while I personally think it doesn’t make sense that Tobias Hawthorne didn’t warn them in advance…(and in fact made it a complicated game to find out? lol) I did love how it all played out and how deeply interwoven it was with the whole trilogy. Like there was a poem mentioned in book ONE that had meaning in book THREE. Hello!! I do think the series would be best read all at once though, because you’d notice more references. I did struggle to remember a few of the characters but guess that means I can reread now.

more things to love:

adored the snappy, fast-paced chapters
rich and ostentatious descriptions that were still brief enough to always keep the pace going at a whip-cracking speed
seeing more of the infamous Hawthorne mansion (there is a bejewelled escape room okay)
uncovering more family skeletons in the closet (literally…….figuratively….)
high stakes, drama, angst
absolutely living for how dramatic ALL the Hawthorne brothers are (also adore Jameson and Grayson’s sibling dynamics because they’re awful to each other in the most elegant way and it’s so brotherly accurate)
just getting to live vicariously through Avery and pretend I, too, might inherit a mysterious fortune someday

A fast-paced, gloriously twisty and clever series finale that will leave you satisfied (and also itching to play chess). Avery and her Hawthorne boys wield a story that’s worth the hype and it will make your brain work work hard.

Thanks to Penguin Teen AUS for the review copy!

Title: The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Date Published: 30 August 2022
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
The thrilling conclusion to the global bestselling, BookTok sensation, Inheritance Games trilogy, where Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying.
Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.
To inherit billions, all Avery has to do is survive a few more weeks in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.
But as the clock ticks down to when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help-and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player. Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake – and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

[Blog Tour] Charlie Lavender And The Origin Of Everything by Carson Patrick Bowie – Q&A and Review!

12th Sep 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Charlie Lavender And The Origin Of Everything by Carson Patrick Bowie!

There’s so much to love about this book, including the epic friendships, the ‘90s vibes, the mysterious and enigmatic magic, and — of course — the amazing and lovely Charlie herself. The story is split between following Charlie as she starts high school and realised she has unnameable power vs unravelling the mysteries behind a corrupt priestly order and the hidden and magical witchy society that surrounds Charlie’s life. Reading it felt like watching a TV series, with all the entwining POVs and omnipresent narration. Plus the book has a cool interactive element where you can follow QR codes while reading for extra content!

And shout out to the epic science lab partner trio 😩🙌🏻 Anxiety and gentle Charlie. Football star who is a secret soft nerd Josh. Tech and science genius Ichigo. Unlikely friendships are one of my favourite tropes.

“If Charlie Lavender is awakening, it will not be subtle.”

Basically pick this book up if you like mysteries, witches, secret societies, worlds within worlds, and loveable characters.

I have an epic interview with the author here today too 😍🙌🏻 so read on!

Thanks to MTMC Tours and the author for the copy.

Title: Charlie Lavender and the Origin of Everything (Volume One: Orientation)
Author: Carson Patrick Bowie
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Genres: YA Fantasy
Purchase a copy: Amazon
Add on Goodreads
A bundle of awkwardness and social anxiety, Charlie Lavender isn’t sure about starting her freshman year in small-town Normal, Illinois. Little does she know her new best friend, a love triangle, and…a magical owl(?) are waiting for her in the Fall of 1993.
She definitely didn’t expect ominous priests, probable witches, and a secret, several-thousand-year-old war would also become part of everyday life.
Welcome to Normal, where nothing ever is.
As she and her newfound friends search for the truth about a world of magic just out of view, the real question is, can Charlie accept the last thing she ever expected to happen? For the first time ever, she’s fitting in.

Hi Carson! Thanks so much for chatting with me today about Charlie Lavender and the Origin Of Everything! Tell us a bit about your publishing journey and how your book went from first idea to finished novel on our shelves!

Hi! Thank you right back! As a writer I am better known for poetry than for fiction. I didn’t initially set out to write books, but after years of sharing poetry online and in a few publications I had accidentally developed a small but loyal base of readers who kept asking for me to publish a collection. During the early parts of the pandemic I decided I would finally do it. I figured I’d sell maybe a hundred copies, but that at least it was something I could give back to my readers while we were collectively going through a really hard time. Sales over three months entirely exceeded what I was prepared for as a response to the collection. I didn’t feel quite ready for another collection of poetry just yet so I turned my writing skills elsewhere. A good friend of mine Erin Van Vuren and I got an opening to pitch a show for Netflix, and while we bounced ideas around, a few short story ideas I’ve been playing with since I was a teenager (priests who realize they’re on the wrong side, white-haired witches who wipe minds, the quaint town of Normal where a young woman encounters things which are everything but) merged into one in a sudden rush into my brain…and Charlie Lavender was born.

She didn’t make it past the first round at Netflix, but by the time I had an outline down, I realized I had four books worth of story, with infinite spin off potential on my hands. I set to work typing every day after work in a google doc on my phone, and a month later I had a first draft of 100,000 words down. Erin proofread it, I let a few beta readers have a look and decided ok, this is something worth polishing and querying.

Querying is a soul sucking experience for me as an author, as it is for many, but I prepped a letter, did some deep research on who the top YA lit agents were and decided I would give myself six months of trying the traditional route. Inside 3 months I had two requests for the full manuscript out of my top 25 choices, but when we started talking about it further my flight or fight response kicked in the second we started discussing what could be changed to make things more marketable. I have full respect to anyone who goes through this process and learns from it and sells thousands of books they may not have otherwise, but by this point, for me, Charlie and her friends were my babies, and when I look at my work as art versus making it “marketable” and I decided I am not the kind of writer who could ever be comfortable giving up a shred of control. I will sell thousands of less books, I will not be paid up front, but every single part of me would rather Charlie find her niche and I build out slowly over time from there, instead of not being able to just feel my way through. I based these characters on people that I know and love, and especially with any of the LGBTQ+ characters, there is not a company I trust in the world to make them more buyable for the marketplace.

TLDR: a stubborn old man had a good shot at going traditional, but was too prideful to let anyone play with his things, and might still have never gotten a deal.

In the space in between querying and deciding to stay independent one of the top YA agents on the planet called the writing “stellar” which felt pretty nice.

I reached out to an amazing cover artist, found someone who grasped my concept for the interior flawlessly, learned how to make a website, then set to work marketing. It has been a very educational year of prep, I don’t entirely know what I am going to do with all my free time after release day. Good thing I have three more volumes outlined.

Absolutely loved hearing about your publishing journey so far!! I just think it’s so fantastic how many ways there are to pursue getting our stories out into the world. 👌🏻 So glad Charlie Lavender exists. Speaking of! Can you tell us a little about Charlie? Who she is, and what inspired you to write her!

A good friend of mine was tutoring some kids on reading skills a few years back and would always tell me all about this little girl named Charlie with brilliant red hair and a little bit of mischief in her eyes. Charlie believed in ghosts and we used to joke about how she’d be the perfect character for a supernatural bedtime story book, Charlie and her best friend who everyone thinks is imaginary but was actually a ghost. When I started on the Netflix pitch I carried her over.

Charlie as a person is a little bit of the high school version of me whose words would stick in the back of his throat whenever someone he didn’t know would speak to him, mixed with one of the most important people in my life who also shares a healthy sense of social anxiety. Lavender is known for soothing anxiety so.. Charlie Lavender popped into my head and I was obsessed with it immediately. The rest of her personality just turned up as I was writing, she is a little piece of a lot of different people that I love.

Charlie’s social anxiety was also fiercely relatable 😂👌🏻 She’s such a dynamic and complex character, impossible not to love! Can we have a teaser about what you’re working on next?

Absolutely. Next up are Charlie Lavender volumes two through four. A second poetry collection. Then the first of two spin offs about characters in Charlie’s world whom she doesn’t meet in the first book. No one has read a word about them yet but when I drop the title for the first spin off I am confident a few of my readers are going to have one of those “screaming, crying, throwing up!” moments. On the side there are perpetually scripts being written, but my predominant focus for the next decade is everything Charlie.

You are busy 👀👀 Absolutely can’t wait to see what’s next for Charlie as the series progresses. Which is your favourite to write: beginnings, middles, or endings?

Endings. In poetry I like to always finish on a strong final line. Gut punch. Turns out I am the same in fiction.

And lastly! What are some of the best author moments you’ve had so far?

During the writing process it’s those moments when the characters just take over. When I have no idea what is going to happen in between point A and point B but the characters just arrive fully formed onto the page. It’s the closest thing I can think of to inspiration. Another thing I love is the way the characters just exist in my mind now, whole…like…they aren’t real…but I know what they’re up to. I think this would only make complete sense to other authors in a way. But my absolute favourite thing…as a poet turned author…every now and then an email or a DM turns up from some young writer who tells me I inspired them to write. I think that is hands down the best compliment feeling I can think of.

Thanks so much for the brilliant chat and look at your creative process and origin stories, Carson!! A pleasure to have you on the blog and all the best with Charlie’s release ✨📚💛

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carson currently resides in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada, along with his two teenage sons, and two rescued cats. He misses the Scholastic book fair and is passionate about great storytelling regardless of the medium. He’s a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a disappointment to his father, and believes with all of his heart that representation for all communities is vital. Carson is reasonably fond of Dungeons & Dragons, unreasonably fond of Dan Levy, and he has, when left unattended, been known to use run-on sentences. He is also incredibly proud of both of his sons. Website | Instagram | Goodreads

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Nothing More To Tell by Karen M. McManus – Most Twisty Thriller Yet!

31st Aug 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Karen M. McManus writes some of my favourite YA thrillers.

They just do not miss?! Ever?!? I always love how interesting the characters are, plus the mysteries are extremely twisty with so many trails to follow, it keeps my brain spinning happily. Addictive and always satisfying. Nothing More To Tell had so, so many layers and secrets — by the end I was just bursting from all the reveals. Like there were a couple of things I had a hunch about, but it’s impossible to guess all the twists. 😂 Love that for us.

You Will Find…

small town mystery
Brynn is a real Nancy Drew while Tripp is all moody, tortured and handsome
huge cast of diverse and well fleshed-out characters
cracking open a cold case and suddenly sir it is a hot case now
you can suspect everyone tbh
secrets leading to more secrets, it is the most tangled web of secrets you ever did see
really features the dangers of assumptions, and how deep a mess everyone made with all the conclusions they leapt to

It delivers a very contemporary vibe too, and honestly I love that about it. With thrillers, I often find characterisation takes a backseat while the plot is the focus, but this one does both. Plus the cast is huge, and that actually helps it to feel more real. Although I’m bad with names and there were a lot of people to track. 😂 But Brynn and Tripp were both equally interesting narrators, and I was easily invested in their personal lives and their reasons for cracking open this case. (Or in Tripp’s case, traumatically reliving all his bad decisions for a good cause.)

Brynn is working as an intern for a true crime TV show and asks them to look into the cold case of her murdered 8th Grade teacher, Mr. Larkin. Nothing ever felt right about that crime. Too many random aspects and unanswered questions. And Brynn always loved Mr. Larkin as a teacher so she wants justice. But one of the people who found Mr. Larkin’s body, back all those years ago, was Tripp…and he absolutely lied on that day and Brynn needs to know why.

Brynn is very go-getter and driven, and just the type of girl to hound the clues and not drop it even when it starts to get super dangerous. While Tripp is absolutely a tortured mess, and right up front you know he’s hiding stuff, but what. They had a thing when they were in middle-school before a catastrophic falling out, so there’s a bit of a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers aspect with the romance which pulled off nicely and didn’t take away from the weight of the mystery.

There were SO many moving parts to this story too. As a writer, I was kind of in awe of all the tracks and trails there were to weave together by the end. And it did come together very satisfyingly. But seriously it was like secrets underneath secrets…and more than once I was just like: BUT WHO DID WHAT AND WHY. And then answers came together masterfully with more than one surprise at the end. And so many characters had pivotal parts to play and reveals to make. I also love how very dependent on the characters’ personalities the mystery is — like “so-and-so being that kind of person leading to them doing this“. I’m nerding out over the writer aspect, but just really admired it!

A mystery with a bit of angst and murder as two teens cut open the old wound of the past and find nothing is as it seems. Everyone is lying. Everyone has a secret. Totally addictive!

Also as I’m a total McManus fan apparently 😂 you can catch my reviews for One Of Us Is Next, The Cousins, Two Can Keep A Secret, and You’ll Be The Death Of Me.

Thanks to Penguin Australia for the review copy!

Title: Nothing More To Tell
Author: Karen M. McManus
Date Published: 30 August 2022
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Aus
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
Someone got away with murder. The most terrifying part is that they’re back – or maybe they never left. . .
Five years ago, Brynn quit Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favourite teacher. The case was never solved, but Brynn’s sure that the three kids who found Mr. Larkin’s body on school grounds know more than they’re telling.
Brynn’s ex-best friend Tripp was one of them. Thanks to Tripp’s testimony none of them were found guilty of the murder and now, five years later, the trio are at the top of the school’s social ladder.
When Brynn gets the internship of a lifetime working on a new true-crime show, she decides to investigate what really happened that day in the woods for herself. But the further she dives into the past, the more secrets she uncovers-about Saint Ambrose School, about Mr. Larkin, and even about her ex-best friend.

2022 New YA & Adult Book Releases (Part 3)

24th Aug 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Hello, hello, it’s time for Part 3 of my annual new young adult & adult book releases round up!

Wherein I just write these posts to pine over books now, but you know. What else is life for but to wistfully dream of books. As always everything is linked to Goodreads! And I’m doing a culmination of YA and Adult because these days I have my eyes on both. Like, as if my TBR pile didn’t have enough on it already.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of my 2022 releases lists!

Title: Direwood by Catherine Yu
Release Date: September 20th 2022
Genre: YA Horror
Goodreads
it said ’90s GOTHIC HORROR and I cried with want and need for it. That is all. Please give me.

In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.
No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.
Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.
In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.

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C.G. @ Paper Fury

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for A Blossom At Midnight by A.L. Knorr!

An elegant and ethereal fantasy set in a sprawling world of fae and magical gardens and court politics and winsome magic.

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The Boy Who Steals Houses is now available on Kindle Unlimited!

And once you’ve read TBWSH, it is an excellent time to head over to my Patreon and read the sequel!

Art by @kyerta_

Iron Widow was such an excellent read.

it’s a vicious book with a lot to say and the best part is: it says it loud and it says it excellently. Throw in a good dash of bloody vengeance and you have a YA that is thoroughly worth the hype.

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Lady Night by Rita A. Rubin!

There are mysteries to solve, old villains reappearing, heartaches to work through, dark magic unleashed, and epic fight scenes to read. A fun fantasy adventure!

Hi Rita! I’m so glad we get to chat about the next instalment of your amazing fantasy series. Tell us, what was it like drafting this sequel?

I’m so glad we got to see more of your world in this one! Do you already know how the series will end? Has anything surprised you while drafting so far?

Will we meet any fun new characters in Lady Night?

I loved Will immediately!! When do you usually write and what is your writing space like?

Honestly same for the writing space 😌👌🏻 Do you have any other projects in the works that we can beg for a teaser about? 👀👀

Already so excited about those projects ahh 😍💛 And lastly! If you could hang out with one of your characters for a day, who would you choose?

Thanks so much for chatting with me today, Rita. And congrats on your latest release!

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So I absolutely love the Inheritance Games trilogy and this finale did not disappoint.

more things to love:

A fast-paced, gloriously twisty and clever series finale that will leave you satisfied (and also itching to play chess). Avery and her Hawthorne boys wield a story that’s worth the hype and it will make your brain work work hard.

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Charlie Lavender And The Origin Of Everything by Carson Patrick Bowie!

I have an epic interview with the author here today too 😍🙌🏻 so read on!

Hi Carson! Thanks so much for chatting with me today about Charlie Lavender and the Origin Of Everything! Tell us a bit about your publishing journey and how your book went from first idea to finished novel on our shelves!

Charlie’s social anxiety was also fiercely relatable 😂👌🏻 She’s such a dynamic and complex character, impossible not to love! Can we have a teaser about what you’re working on next?

You are busy 👀👀 Absolutely can’t wait to see what’s next for Charlie as the series progresses. Which is your favourite to write: beginnings, middles, or endings?

And lastly! What are some of the best author moments you’ve had so far?

Thanks so much for the brilliant chat and look at your creative process and origin stories, Carson!! A pleasure to have you on the blog and all the best with Charlie’s release ✨📚💛

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Karen M. McManus writes some of my favourite YA thrillers.

You Will Find…

A mystery with a bit of angst and murder as two teens cut open the old wound of the past and find nothing is as it seems. Everyone is lying. Everyone has a secret. Totally addictive!

Hello, hello, it’s time for Part 3 of my annual new young adult & adult book releases round up!

Honourable Mentions

Honourable Mentions

Honourable Mentions

Let me know if any of these are on your TBR, or what upcoming releases you’re excited for?

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for The Valkyrie’s Daughter by Tiana Warner!

A fun YA adventure about chasing your destiny and yearning for the stars, while also appreciating your loyal friends as you take a quick trip to Hel together. As you do!!

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Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Flame & Crystal Thorns by Kay L. Moody!

With the fae under attack, people falling ill from mysterious magic and iron plagues, and the war escalating, Chloe is forced to face the darkness at the core of Faerie and she’ll stop at nothing until people are safe.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Kay, and congrats on yet another gorgeous release!!

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