Source: Black Cats & Jack-o-Lanterns
Wonderful illustrated Halloween themed artwork from Ryan Connors.
#Redeyereadalong Sleepless by Lou Morgan
My blog theme this month is spooky, scary, creepy stuff and nonsense in the lead up to Halloween, so with this in mind I joined the #redeyereadalong on Goodreads. I’ve already acquainted you with Frozen Charlotte, and now from 5th October 2015 – 11th October 2015, I’m reading the second book in the #redeyereadalong, Sleepless by Lou Morgan.
I’ve started it and believe me it is compelling reading….
Goodreads Synopsis:
Young, rich and good-looking, Izzy and her friends lead seemingly perfect lives. But exams are looming and at a school like Clerkenwell, failure is not an option. Luckily, Tigs has a solution. A small pill that will make revision a breeze and help them get the results they need. Desperate to succeed, the group begin taking the study drug. It doesn’t take long before they realize there are far worse things than failing a few exams.
Here are links to the two bloggers organising the Goodreads readalong:
Chelle at Tales of Yesterday:
http://talesofyesterday.co.uk/2015/09/tales-post-red-eye-read-along-october-2015/
http://talesofyesterday.co.uk/2015/10/spotlight-red-eye-read-along-sleepless-by-lou-morgan/
and Heather who also blogs about you guessed it, books….. :
https://heatherreviews.wordpress.com/2015/10/06/redeyereadalong-qa-with-lou-morgan/
https://heatherreviews.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/redeyereadalong-qa-with-alex-bell/
What are you reading, have you read any scary stories of late?
Bye for now,
Marje @Kyrosmagica xx
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My Kyrosmagica Review of Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
This Monday I thought I’d do a review of Frozen Charlotte for #MondayBlogs. Why not start the week with a bit of scary bookish fun…..
Goodreads Synopsis:
We’re waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind…Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there’s her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn’t be there. The girl that died.
My review:
This month I joined the Stripes publishing #redeyereadalong and I’m so glad I did! Just finished reading Frozen Charlotte. This novel is very good, definitely one to devour, that’s the right word. A fast paced, exciting, and at times gruesome read.
Warning: if you have a fear of needles, dolls, knives, ghosts, freezing, drowning, burning to death, or falling of cliffs, I wouldn’t pick this up!
I don’t normally read horror, but this month I’m doing a Halloween type theme on my blog, with spooky books, poems, short stories, etc.
Sometimes it’s good to try new things!! I snatched whatever time I could find to read Frozen Charlotte during the day, this wasn’t bedtime reading for me…. That way I kept the nightmares at bay.
What did I like about it?
Lots and lots of things.
The little creepy poems in italics at the beginning of each chapter are awesome.
Such a clever idea to have a Ouija-board app, and to introduce the ghost of Rebecca that way.
The prologue sets the tone for sinister goings on engaging the reader right from the very start.
Then you have the Frozen Charlotte dolls themselves, there is nothing nice about these dolls and it makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would have them in their house! Or wear them as a necklace! That’s asking for trouble! That’s the Scots for you, I’m not slating the Scots, I’m half Scottish, we may be a bit dour at times but we like to live dangerously!!
The characters all so well crafted.
The main protagonist, Sophie, I definitely have a soft spot for her. She’s so brave, it is almost suicidal! With one scary thing happening after another, she turns out to be quite the heroine. Respect! If it was me I’d be out of there lightning quick! But Sophie thinks of others before herself. Sophie feels particularly protective towards her youngest cousin Lilias, who has a horrendous fear of bones, knives have to be hidden, so she doesn’t cut herself, and when I say cut I really mean cut.
Jay sounds such a cute guy, a best friend who could possibly have been a love interest if his young life hadn’t been cut down right at the start.
Piper’s another favourite of mine! She starts off all sweetness, preparing food and seeming to be the perfect hostess welcoming her cousin to Scotland. But is Piper as sweet as she seems or is this all an act? You’ll have to read Frozen Charlotte to find out!
And Cameron appears to be a bit distant, and unwelcoming to Sophie when she arrives, intriguing the reader some more.
In my opinion Frozen Charlotte starts of well but becomes even more and more engaging, spooky and gruesome with each passing page…
The book ends with an epilogue, a final tease. This is one of the main strengths of this novel it teases and plays with the reader’s emotions offering apparent sweetness on one hand, and dire creepiness on the other.
My rating:
4.5 stars
My recommendation: Go read this!!! Highly recommended for readers of Horror, YA, Paranormal, Dark, Thriller, Mystery.
DISCLAIMER: “As of 13th September 2017 we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”
My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.
Buying Links:
Amazon UK – Kindle – http://amzn.to/2jHL50F
Amazon UK – Paperback – http://amzn.to/2w5v2eN
Amazon Uk – Hardback – http://amzn.to/2w4TI7i
Amazon UK – red eye series 5 books collection set (Dark Room, Flesh and Blood, Sleepless, Frozen Charlotte, The Hunting – http://amzn.to/2w505az
Have you read Frozen Charlotte? Do leave a comment I’d love to hear from you.
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
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A Healthy Halloween
Perhaps you’d like a healthy halloween? Wonderfully appealing visual delights on Elyse Salpeter’s blog
Come on, even kids will eat this spooky snack! Just the title of my blog post “A Healthy Halloween” sort of sounds sad, doesn’t it? I can hear people whining already,”What do you mean a healthy Halloween? No chocolate? No gummies? No high fructose corn syrup? What the heck are you doing to me, lady?” Work with me here. I’ve got some ideas for a Halloween Party where your guests will love the food and won’t be leaving with a stomach laden with artificial flavors and fifty ingredient fillers that they can’t even pronounce. 
How fun is this?
So, I started thinking… if I WERE to throw a healthy Halloween Party, or serve my kids fun spooky food, what would I serve? Here were some photos of super cool things I found on Pinterest that I think would be a hit for all age groups. While buckets of chocolates are…
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Halloween Stuff and Autumn Nonsense
This October I’m doing a lead up to Halloween theme with lots of spooky, scary, and fun posts. As well as this I will be doing some reblogs (which don’t necessarily need to be autumn/Halloween themed but are helpful advice to authors/bloggers, writers.)
Here are some of my Halloween themed posts that you might have missed:
I’ve just finished reading Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell – part of the #redeyereadealong on Goodreads. Highly recommended 4.5 stars. Keep an eye out for my review. After this I’ll be reading the rest of the red eye titles too! So plenty to keep me occupied…
Details of the readalong below:
https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/09/30/read-eye-readalong-frozen-charlotte/
My short story entry for #BlogBattle:
Blood Moon A Rip of A Ride. Link below if you’d like to read my entry.
https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/blog-battle-blood-moon-a-rip-of-a-ride/
and I’ve written some haiku Halloween poetry for Ronovan Writes Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge:
Other Bloggers Posts
As well as this I’ve been nosy checking out other bloggers posts about Halloween/Autumn and thought it would be nice to share them with you, here are a few gems:
First up is this wonderfully spooky cat café in Japan, this really caught my eye:
http://katzenworld.co.uk/2015/03/09/cat-travel-tenmaruochi-cat-cafe-part-1/
Fellow #Blog Battler author Rawls E. has a welcome to autumn post, celebrating autumn, October, pumpkins, spooky Haunted houses, hayrides, and cemeteries:
https://rawlse.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/welcome-to-autumn-celebrate/comment-page-1/#comment-1991
Then we’re off to find some scary books to read, Ramona Wray has some great suggestions:
http://www.mybookishlife.com/scary-stories-yes-please/
As does Lipsy, check out these Horror October posts:
https://lipsyy.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/welcome-to-horror-october-2015/
And Paranormal, Sci Fi and Fantasy suggestions from Nonnie Jones at Rave Reviews.:
https://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/book-club-selections-for-review/sci-fy-fantasy/
What about a party? That’s always fun, paranormal author Kirsten Weiss is holding a witch’s tea party on 31st October:
https://parayournormal.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/witchs-teablog-party/
Fancy visiting some literary horror houses? Look no further, Flavorwire, opens up its doors to Stephen King, (spider webbed gated front with bats!!) Edgar Allen Poe’s red brick house with eerie basement, H.P. Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman (with a phenomenal library!) Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson.
http://flavorwire.com/540894/visit-these-real-life-literary-horror-houses/
These were posted quite a while ago but are excellent Halloween posts by Donna Parker the lady with the strange sounding blog name that I can’t spell:
http://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/30/jerry-seinfeld-Halloween/
http://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/29/welcome-to-my-nightmare/
http://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/28/bewitched-bothered-and-bewildered/
http://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/20/hide-and-shriek-with-the-addams-family/
Let’s end this on a cute note. What about some Halloween fun spooky lunch notes?
http://nerdinthebrain.com/2015/09/29/halloween-fun-spooky-lunch-notes/comment-page-1/#comment-13541
and Colleen from Silver Threading’s wonderful post about autumn:
http://silverthreading.com/2015/09/23/go-ahead-fall-into-autumn-bewow/
Annika Perry featured one of my favourite poems about autumn, John Keats Ode to autumn, and has had some wonderful posts just recently, so do check out her blog:
https://annikaperry.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/ode-to-autumn/
Sarah Vernon from First night Design has some Halloween playing cards, greeting cards, ipad covers, and more items for sale : https://firstnightdesign.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/so-i-have-a-number-of-faults-said-the-skeleton/
Irene from Irene Design does a wonderful range of jewellery, this caught my eye for Halloween.
http://irenedesign2011.com/2015/09/27/skull-key-leather/
Hope you enjoyed all these Autumnal and Halloween inspired posts, I may be doing more of these so if you’d like to feature, and share the Halloween love do get in contact.
Thanks.
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
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Ronovan Writes Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge # 64 Tide and Flesh
I’m joining this week’s haiku prompt challenge from Ron, the prompt words Tide and Flesh just seemed to be made for me as I’m doing Halloween type/scary posts leading up to 31st October.
Here’s a few of my recent activities:
I’ve been joining the #red eye scary read along, from Stripes Publishing, more about that on my previous post: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/09/30/read-eye-readalong-frozen-charlotte/
and I’ve written a Halloween themed short story for #BlogBattle too:
So let’s talk haiku, I’ve written several this week, five in total. You see I like spooky things, even though spooky things scare me!!
The Red Tide
The red tide flows in
It decimates the shoreline
Flesh flows scattering
Vampires Outlive Us
Vampires outlive us
Life drifts and flows on the tide
Flesh decays with time
Ghosts Harbour Grudges
Ghosts harbour grudges
With no flesh to look pretty
Tide drifts ghosts do too
Wily Witches
Wily Witches Spells
Make their old flesh young and firm
Charms cast on the tide
The Blood Moon
The blood moon settles
High above tide’s jewelled throne
A red shadow glows
Link to Ronovan’s Blog, do check it out, he has an awesome blog:
https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/
© Marjorie Mallon 2015 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
Hope my haiku didn’t give you the shivers!! What do you like to do to get in the mood for Halloween? I’ve been watching vampire diaries!!
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
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What Wattpad Can Do For You Now
Reblog of P h Solomon’s view of the benefits of Wattpad to emerging writers, after reading this I reckon I should be on it.
I’m not usually an early adopter when new social media, software and other services hit the public. I like to sit back and see how well it works and let the kinks get worked out.
That being said, I recently joined Wattpad – finally – and found that it’s been very beneficial. I know, a writer not on a form of social media designed to share writing. But there are several reasons why you should be on Wattpad, including it’s partnership with Smashwords to feature existing authors.
Reasons I Joined Now
1. With the release of The Bow of Destiny I wanted to share related, pre-release short stories as well as what I’ll be working on in the future.
2. I wanted to interact more with other authors. Let’s face it, writing is a solitary process so the chance to give and receive input from other authors is important.
3…
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The BASH is BACK! The Second Annual #BloggersBash 2016
Another Bloggers Bash…. had to reblog – how exciting, the date is already set, imagine that, June 11th 2016, find out more at Sacha Black’s blog.
After the stonking success of the first Bloggers Bash, the committee crawled under their respective duvets and hid having exhausted their supplies of extroversion.
HOWEVER, we have recovered, reconvened… discussed, deliberated…. and guess what…. we’re going to do it all over again! THE BASH IS BACK PEOPLE. The bash is really back.
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#Red Eye Readalong: Frozen Charlotte
Just to say that I’m joining in the #redeyereadalong: The Red Eye series from Stripes Publishing, this event runs from September 28th to October 31st and is hosted on Goodreads.
There are five scary titles to get you in the mood for Halloween! Frozen Charlotte, Sleepless, Flesh and Blood, Bad Bones, and Dark Room.
We’re starting with Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell.
Here’s the synopsis on Goodreads to get you in the mood, if you dare!
We’re waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind…Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there’s her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn’t be there. The girl that died.
Author website:
A fellow WordPress blogger Heather is running the goodreads readalong with Michelle Toy from Tales of Yesterday blog.
Links to these two bloggers Red Eye posts are below so you can connect with them, and find out more about the readalong:
https://heatherreviews.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/redeyereadalong-qa-with-alex-bell/
http://talesofyesterday.co.uk/2015/09/tales-post-red-eye-read-along-october-2015/
There will be tweets about the readalong using the hash tag: #RedEyeReadAlong
This month I will be focusing on a bit of scary fun to get me in the mood for Halloween, so any posts that I do will be spooky or linked to Halloween !!! I promise…
Bye for now.
Let me know what you think about Frozen Charlotte if you’ve read it, or any of the other titles in the #redeyereadalong. Or have a chat about Halloween, I’d like that too!!
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
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How to Write a Book Review.
Great tips for writing Book Reviews via Ronovan Writes – Lit World Interviews. A must see reblog. 🙂
Everyone has their own way of doing a book review and in a way that is how it should be. Always remember a book review is an opinion. That being said and out of the way, I do think there needs to be some common considerations taken.
I don’t believe published book reviews on volunteer sites should:
- Be for tearing down an author and that author’s work.
- Nor do I think a poorly written book should be praised.
- And being paid for a review just doesn’t cut it, unless you work for a site that has ads and also gets paid for the service of book reviewing like major newspapers or magazines. But that’s a job, not a volunteer thing. And even then, honesty is the best policy. For most of us, receiving a good book to review is a nice perk of book reviewing.
Poorly Written Books
Yes, I’m…
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