M J Mallon YA Author and Poet

The Creative Blogger Award

Thank you so much to My Personal Teen Life for nominating me for the Creative Blogger Award this one means so much. It’s taken me some time to get this post together, I’ve been real busy recently, so apologies for being a bit slow.

Here’s the link to My Personal Teen Life’s blog. It’s lovely. I would highly recommend that you check it out. : https://mypersonalteenlife.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/creative-bloggers-award/comment-page-1/#comment-206

First of all I’d just like to say I’ve been getting quite a few awards, first of all it was the Thunder award, followed by the Sisterhood Award and now this. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve cast a spell on my fellow bloggers, I’m smiling a lot, Kyrosmagica, white witch style, and it’s not even Halloween yet!

Well whatever it is it’s very nice indeed to be nominated for these awards, and then being able to share them with some of my bloggy friends too.

So here are the rules:

1. Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you.

2. Share five facts about yourself to your readers.

3. Nominate 10 other blogs and post their link.

4. Notify all the nominees via their social media/blogs.

5. Pass the rules on to them.

Five things about me:

1. I’m quite a messy person, and tend to flit from one activity to another. If you meet me in person you wouldn’t think so as I dress quite smartly but this is just a smoke screen, believe me. If you should see my desk, no on second thoughts you really don’t want to see my desk, that would be so embarrassing! No desk photos allowed!

2. I’m a water person, I love the sea, and really enjoy swimming. If I was to be reincarnated as a fantasy character I’d like to come back as a mermaid! A nice one though, all shiny and colourful.

3. I’m terrible in a crisis, so don’t count on me if you’ve fallen down and fractured something. Unless you’re over the initial crisis part, and then I’ve very helpful to have around. Which is just as well as my family tend to make quite a fashion out of breaking things, my brother his elbow, myself my foot, my husband his leg, my dad his ankle, my eldest daughter her ankle, (you can read about this calamity here: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/02/15/an-unusual-valentines-adventure/)….. Even my youngest daughter isn’t exempt from drama, you might like to find out more about her unfortunate experience with a sea urchin in Greece: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/03/27/my-friday-post-sea-urchins-ouch/

Anyway I digress, back to the crisis situation as I said I’ll most probably panic. I’d make the worse nurse ever. Sadly, this is most definitely true my mum fell down and broke her shoulder on the way out for a Chinese meal. It was scary, partly because she’s over seventy, her blood pressure shot up, and she looked really bad. Scared me to bits. But, I gathered myself, and went with her to the hospital in an ambulance. Luckily her shoulder’s healed now, but the memory is still fresh in my mind. Ugh!

4. I have a fear of heights which was a nightmare when I tried to go skiing, but I overcame it, and managed to ride cable cars, chair lifts, etc. One time I didn’t manage to get off the chair lift in time and a hunky ski instructor had to lift me off himself, I didn’t complain! Some women have a thing about men in uniform, well I have a thing about men in ski gear! Handsome Paramedics too they come in very handy when you’ve broken your foot!

5. I love my food a little too much, particularly satay and banana fritters. I used to eat these in Malaysia, and would love to tuck into some right now. YUM!!!!

My nominees:

Ten is just not enough, there are so many others that come to mind (some of which I have already nominated for other awards before)) but here goes …………..

Remember this award isn’t compulsory, if you want to join in that’s great but if you don’t that’s fine too. Don’t worry I won’t cast a spell on you!

To wear a rainbow – Silver linings in a Woman’s World: https://toweararainbow.wordpress.com/

Words across the oceans. Lover of poetry, books, music, art & exploring of life! http://debradml.com

Nigel Borrington’s Photography blog: http://nigelborrington.com/

Tofino Photography: https://tofinophotography.wordpress.com/

Lucile De Godoy. Bridging Lacunas. http://luciledegodoy.com/

Inese MJ Photograpahy blog: http://inesemjphotography.com/

Stefan Viklund Photography blog: http://vanerpaddel.com/

Patricia No. Art by Mimulux. https://artbymimulux.wordpress.com/

Shari Bradbury Photography and Writing http://photogwriter.com/

Artist Kirt Tisdale talks about his Art Gallery https://thewallgalleryblog.wordpress.com/

Thanks for stopping by. Don’t be shy leave a comment, I love to hear from you.

Kyrosmagica. Friendly white witch x

Writing Extract: The Mystery of The Talking Key

This week amongst other things I’ve been working on Ronovan Writes Haiku Prompt Challenge, which I’ll be posting on my blog soon. Here’s the link to his prompt in case you’d like to participate. https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/

Ron’s prompt words Lock and Gab triggered a memory out of an attic, an attic that exists in my first novel, or should I say manuscript as it is currently unpublished. This getting published business isn’t easy. You don’t realise just how hard it is until you try yourself. I remember ages ago one of my fellow writers saying to me that she had sent out boxes and boxes of letters to publishers and agents and every single one had come back in the negative. Well in my case, I’ve sent out in the region of twenty enquiries. This isn’t nearly enough. I read somewhere that you have to query at least one hundred people. I know this is probably true but I hate rejections they eat into your soul.

So I’m sharing this small writing sample with you to get your valuable opinions. This is from a chapter later on in my novel, when my main protagonist Amelina goes exploring trying to look for answers to the puzzle of her life. She steals a key, which leads her to discovering an attic room with a hidden away secret.

If you like it please do say, and if there are ways in which it can be improved do comment, I really would appreciate it so much. Thanks. x

A tiny shaft of light trickled in alighting on a far corner of the attic. Amelina moved towards the light carefully trying to avoid the obstacles in her way. Nearly twisting her ankle climbing over boxes, and old suitcases, she saw a light shining like a torch on to a delicate hook, where an object was dangling. She scrambled towards it and saw that it was a golden key.

As she grabbed the key she heard a strange noise, which sounded like a shrill voice recording with a constant playback sound. The voice became louder and more agitated as she made her way out of the attic.

“Put me back, thief,” the mechanical voice said. It babbled on, “I was enjoying the sunshine streaming in. Don’t you know how cold it can be in the attic? A bit of sunshine cheers me up. How would you like to be surrounded by unwanted things all day and every day?”

Amelina couldn’t believe that the key was talking to her. She did her best to ignore the ranting voice, and started to climb out of the attic, but her progress was slowed down by a sheer drop that suddenly appeared. There was a tiny ledge to the left of her with just enough room for one small foot. She knew that if she didn’t balance perfectly on that ledge she would fall down the steep steps, and it was a long way down.

“You’ll get me into trouble you will. Bring me back thief!” shouted the voice.

Amelina ignored the voice. She edged herself out of the attic, poised her foot on the ledge, and balanced like a trapeze artiste before jumping to the step below. Her heart was still racing, adrenalin bubbling up to the surface in short gasps when she turned the key and opened the door.

The key groaned and sighed deeply, “You’ve done it now. There’s no turning back.”

Thanks for stopping by. x

P.S. I found the mysterious puzzle image at the top of this post on MorgueFile free photos. http://www.morguefile.com/

Guest post, Ali Isaac on dialog

Ali Isaac guest posting on C.S. Boyak’s blog Entertaining Stories. Ali’s talking about dialogue. Dialogue’s a tricky business – well I think so. Sharing this great post, just had to reblog.

Entertaining Stories

Maybe for Ali’s sake I should spell it dialogue. I kind of like it that way myself. When I was looking for someone to do a guest post about writing dialog, Ali answered the call.

Ali has two of three books available in her Tir Na Nog series. She had a huge hurdle to get over with her main character. I’ll let Ali tell you in her words.

***

I’ve never been one for giving writerly advice. The way I see it, there are a million and one authors out there who can do it far better than me, who have huge book sales and successful marketing platforms to back them up.

Google it, if you want… I’m sure most of you already have. There’s reams of advice on the subject; dialogue makes a story easy to read, it helps create flow and pace, it’s all about interaction, we can…

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Trailer Time: “The Secret Life of Pets”

The secret life of Pets. Such a fun trailer. Must see! Reblogged from Caffeine Crew.

The Caffeine Crew

In true teaser fashion, Illumination and Universal have released the first trailer for their film called “The Secret Life of Pets”. Have you ever wondered what your pets do while you’re away? Well, this film looks to answer that in a dramatized and animated way. While the actual plot of the film isn’t revealed in the trailer itself, it is known that it will take place in a Manhattan apartment building and will follow Max’s life when his owner gets another dog named Duke. Things get even crazier when a bunny named Snowball starts “building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-owned pets and their owners.”

I don’t go see too many animated films, but when I do it’s for films like this. This looks fantastic! The animation looks great, the voices match the pets, and it puts some imagination into what goes on during…

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Writer’s Quote Wednesday: Ray Bradbury.

It’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I’d say that all you quote lovers out there should stop by Colleen’s blog, Silver Threading, to join in the fun. Here’s the link to her wonderful blog, which is choc-a-bloc full of all manner of interesting things: http://silverthreading.com/2015/06/17/writers-quote-wednesday-a-silver-quote/

Well, before I begin my chosen quote let me tell you what’s been happening here chez the Kyrosmagica household. Well, it’s been a bit busy recently. I’ve been sorting out our kitchen removing about eighty percent of its contents into boxes. No I’m not moving house, we’re having a kitchen makeover. My husband and I didn’t quite agree on this makeover business, I wanted a light touch up, you know nothing too crazy but he wanted to knock down walls and add patio doors. Guess who won in the end? Yes, I am a bit of a pushover. I just don’t like arguing. Anyway, that’s my little rant for the day. I’ll let you know how it goes, hopefully the house won’t fall down around my ears while I’m typing up my next blog post. If it does I’d just like to say, “it’s been sure nice to meet you guys.”

Right, back to Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I really love this quote from Ray Bradbury, particularly the lurking in libraries and climbing the stacks and sniffing books parts. Yes, I like a bit of crazy, so this appealed to me. As to writing every single day, yes, that’s most definitely the number one tip.

“You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
― Ray Bradbury

And this quote is so touching too. It’s one of those quotes that just makes you feel as if you know Ray doesn’t it?

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in August 2000, Bradbury said, “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you’ll come along.”

Sadly Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness.

Here’s some pictures that I hope Ray would have approved of :-

Here’s my fantasy perfume:

Library:

Ladder:

Book:

Ray Bradbury Biography via Goodreads:

American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a “student of life,” selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947.

His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury’s masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum “recommended reading” anthologies.

Ray Bradbury’s work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City.

Ray Bradbury has never confined his vision to the purely literary. He has been nominated for an Academy Award (for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright), and has won an Emmy Award (for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree). He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television’s Ray Bradbury Theater. He was the creative consultant on the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1982 he created the interior metaphors for the Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World, and later contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France.

Married since 1947, Mr. Bradbury and his wife Maggie lived in Los Angeles with their numerous cats. Together, they raised four daughters and had eight grandchildren. Sadly, Maggie passed away in November of 2003.

Hope you enjoyed Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Do comment, it’s great to get feedback on my posts, and to hear your opinions. Come and say Hi.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come again soon!

Kyrosmagica x

Guess What – I’ve joined The Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers

Thank you so much to Alicia at Caffeine and Books for kindly nominating me for The Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award.

Do check out her blog: https://caffeineandbooks42.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/sisterhood-of-the-world-bloggers-award/

These are the five rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
Put the Award logo on your blog.
Answer the ten questions sent to you.
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Nominate ten blogs.

Did you have a book that meant a lot to you as a child?

I loved C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and read them all. If you haven’t read them then please do but in this order, (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Magician’s Nephew; and the The Last Battle,) so that you get a full idea of the magic of this series. Some publishers are printing them in a different chronological order:

Is there any author or book that you collect and will always welcome multiple editions of the same title?

When I was a youngster I used to collect The Chronicles of Narnia, Tintin, and Asterix the Gaul. I had a pretend library in my bedroom! When I was older detective novels captured my interest – Agatha Christie, and Raymond Chandler. Nowadays I’d love multiple editions of fantasy titles as fantasy is my favourite genre. As well as this I still enjoy detective novels, Asian literature, Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Say that you find yourself judging a book by its cover (not that we ever do that!); what sort of covers do you go for? Are there any that are an absolute turn off?

I love pretty covers, the more elaborate and vibrant the better, here are some of my favourites:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-bone-clocks-by-david-mitchell/

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton……https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-miniaturist-by-jessie-burton/

Sometimes a simple cover can be very effective too, a perfect example of this is The Art of Being Normal.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/04/26/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-art-of-being-normal-by-lisa-Williamson/

I don’t like bland or unimaginative covers, that’s the only criteria I go by, but ultimately it is the writing that matters most.

If you could pick any imaginary animal to bring home to Mom with an earnest, “Can we keep him?”, what animal would it be?

I think it would have to be Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia, as I love cats, and he’s one big cool lion.

Is there any book to movie adaptation that you simply refuse to watch? No way, no how, you’re not even giving them the opportunity to mess it up?

I don’t think so. I love going to the cinema, but unfortunately I don’t go as often as I would like. I like to see how stories are handled cinematically, but of course sometimes the cinema version just doesn’t quite live up to the book.

http://flavorwire.com/172372/the-10-most-badly-bungled-classic-book-to-film-adaptations/9

http://flavorwire.com/342090/authors-funniest-responses-to-the-film-adaptations-of-their-work/4

What is the most unusual book you’ve ever read? (Plot, writing style, chapter layout, etc?)

The most unusual book I’ve ever read is A Girl is A Half Formed Thing, which I’ve reviewed on my blog, here’s the link to read my review: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing-by-eimear-mcbride/

Is there any book or series that you’ve read that is so totally outside of your normal genre, but you loved it and would recommend it to others as a “take a risk!” type of book?

I don’t normally read horror, but I read The Exiled by William Meikle and would recommend to readers of thriller, dark fantasy and horror. Here’s the link to my review: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/review-of-the-exiled-by-william-meikle/

Do you have any bookish collections, or anything you covet and hope to someday collect? Candles, artwork, bookcases?

I love candles, so I’ve got quite a lot of those scattered about the house, as well as candle holders too. I’m a bit of a jewellery collector, I have so many pieces of jewellery. Our house is overflowing with books too. A lot of them belong to my daughter as she’s a bookworm too. She’s a great source of information on what’s current in terms of YA titles and she kindly lends me all her books if I ask nicely, so I’m lucky that way! Her bookish blog is http://definebookish.tumblr.com/

There aren’t enough bookcases in our house for all of our books, it’s such a shame. If I had loads of money I’d remedy that and probably splash out on some art too.

What book has been on your TBR pile the longest, but you just can’t convince yourself to pick it up?

Probably one of the longest, is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. I did pick it up eventually, I read the first chapter and then started the second but somehow I couldn’t quite connect with it. That might have been the frame of mind I was in, sometimes it’s good to go back and try again. I don’t like starting books and not finishing them – this rarely happens! Also another one was Liar’s Poker, I really didn’t fancy this much, but my reading group had chosen it for this month, and I ended up reading about half of this and then I gave up. It wasn’t because it was badly written, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, there’s too much financial information in it, and the obsession with money just drove me mad!

You get a $500 gift card for all things bookish – do you run to your nearest bookstore and spend like a fiend? Or do you create pro/con lists (a la Rory Gilmore) to make sure you get just the right & perfect & wonderful bookish things? Or are you eyeing a particularly expensive bookcase somewhere?

I’m not one for lists, or being organised, so I’d just go out and choose something. I’d like one of those fancy chairs to sit on, to relax while reading a book, or a hammock on a tropical island, but I don’t suppose the gift card would extend to that!

I could get a pretend one I suppose!

Some bookcases would be good too. I’d like to buy lots of gorgeous books, yes pretty ones from authors I especially enjoy.

My questions:

1. What is your most memorable holiday destination?

2. Tell me about your favourite drink, or food? Or both!

3. What kind of books/stories do you write? Or creative activities do you engage in?

4. What’s your favourite author/genre? What is it about their writing style that inspires you?

5. How do you spend your spare time when you aren’t writing or creating?

6. Have you ever done anything that was really embarrassing/funny?

7. If you could come back as a fictional character, (human, alien, animal!) which character would you choose?

8. Are you superstitious? Would you dare to travel on Friday the 13th?

9. What’s your zodiac sign? Do you believe in zodiacs, numerology, etc?

10. What’s the most scary, or challenging thing you’ve ever done?

If you’d like to accept the award – It’s not compulsory! – but I hope you might like to, please could you answer my questions above. Thanks.

My Nominees:

My Nominees for this award are all the ladies in the blogging world, you’re great, but I have to narrow it down to ten for the purposes of this award, so here goes:

Writer of Fiction, adventurer, lover of animals, nature and chocolate covered strawberries: https://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com/

Elsie Elmore: http://elsieelmore.com/

Author, Blogger, Poet and Freelance Writer: https://rebirthoflisa.wordpress.com/

Bookin’ It So Many Books. So Little Time. Let’s Review! https://marciameara.wordpress.com/

Ramona Wray. #YA novelist. I read and write books. http://www.mybookishlife.com/

Susanne Leist author of the Dead Game – A paranormal fantasy, a Vampire Suspense. https://susanneleist.wordpress.com

Just Olga. Olga’s things: writing, reading, translating, stories, life. The first book in Olga Núñez‘ AngelicBusiness trilogy is available now for pre-order on Amazon. https://olganm.wordpress.com/

You can’t change the world but you can change the world of one person: https://serinssphere.wordpress.com/

Sacha Black. Mother, Wife, Writer….. Almost An Author. Full Time Worker Bee, Part Time Nail Artist: http://sachablack.co.uk/

DorneWhale. My life in pictures and craft work. https://dornewhale.wordpress.com/

And Write Dorne! : https://dorneawhale.wordpress.com/

World Naked Bike Ride Cambridge !!!!

Found this on Facebook. My first reaction – it kind of amused me so thought I’d share!!! Apparently this has been happening every June since 2006! Really, I’ve never ever seen it.

The last time we had a bike event in Cambridge it was the Tour de France, which was chock-a-block with lycra. This is a bit different!

Anyway, if you want to support this event for environmental reasons, and of course your love of biking, give it a go, just be aware that the expression saddle sore is going to take on a whole new dimension! Still, there’s always the option to go partially clothed, I know which half, I’d opt for.

Thank goodness they’re holding this event in June, a naked bike ride sure isn’t an activity for the winter! Ugh, that just sends shivers down my spine.

http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/

My Kyrosmagica Review of The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater

Goodreads Synopsis:

There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

My review:

I haven’t read any Maggie Stiefvater before. It’s wonderful when you discover a new author.

Why I enjoyed The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle#1):

1. Great Characters

2. Interesting premise – Blue’s kisses will kill off her true love.

3. Clairvoyants, spirits, magic, ley lines.

4 A Quest to find Owen Glendower, The Raven King.

5. Maggie Stiefvater uses foreshadowing very successfully, particularly with regard to Noah.

6. There’s a well kept journal that wants! Loved the idea of this! With its very own shape doodle.

Tip: I did find Maggie Stiefvater’s writing style took a while to get into, but when I did I really enjoyed The Raven Boys. This is a series, there is Book two to look forward to in this quartet: The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2.)

The Raven Boys is set in Henrietta, Virginia, a “town known for its ravens.” 94

Blue Sargent has been warned off kissing her true love as one single kiss will seal his fate, and believe you me his fate ain’t nice, one kiss and then he’s a goner. No more kissing, no more breathing, just dead. Quite a powerful premise, a mighty hook, but does the novel take you down this kissing, route to death path? Read and find out!

Blue joins in the church watch, on St Mark’s eve, April 24th, with Neeve, her half aunt who happens to be a famous TV psychic. Blue normally goes with her mother but this time she finds herself having a bit of a weird moment, on this particular St Mark’s eve she sees the spirit of a young man:

“He was so real. When it finally happened, when she finally saw him, it didn’t feel like magic at all. It felt like looking into the grave and seeing it look back at her.” 15

There are a wonderful array of interesting characters to engage with in this novel. This is partly because Blue doesn’t live in your typical household, Blue lives in 300 Fox Way, a clairvoyant household with her mum Maura and her psychic aunts, Calla and Persephone.

The Boys:

There are several Raven boys to take a pick from! I know I have my favourites, I’m sure you will too!

There’s Gansey (Blue initially calls him President Cell Phone).

“Gansey was the boy she either killed or fell in love with. Or both.”

The Raven Boys aren’t quite your usual boy next door type: “There was something odd and complicated about all of these boys, Blue thought – odd and complicated in the way that the journal was odd and complicated.”

Then there’s Adam, who isn’t a rich kid like the others:

“Success meant nothing to Adam if he hadn’t done it for himself.” 132.

Adam has a difficult home life, and he’s trying to rise above his problems but there’s always this chip on his shoulder which he can’t quite shake off. Adam’s home life is certainly no cake walk, I really felt sorry for him.

As well as Gansey and Adam there are two brothers Declan and Ronan Lynch, who have been “at odds for as long as Adam had known them.”

Gansey prefers the company of Ronan and I have to agree I prefer Ronan too!

“Adam suspected Gansey’s preference was because Ronan was earnest even if he was horrible, and with Gansey, honesty was golden.”

There is a villainous side to Ronan but he’s not your stereotypical villian with just one side to his character. He also has a kind, unexpected side, which is demonstrated by his care and attention to a tiny foundling raven :

“You look like a super villain with your familiar,” Adam said. Ronan’s smile cut his face, but he looked kinder than Blue had ever seen him, like the raven in his hand was his heart, finally laid bare.”

More about the mighty raven:

“The raven was Glendowers bird.”

“Legend had it that Glendower could speak to ravens, and vice versa.”

Then there’s Noah who’s the less detailed out of all the Raven Boys, he’s a bit grey round the edges, but there’s a good reason for that.

My favourites out of the boys are Adam, Ronan, and Gansey. I reckon Ronan is going to get very interesting in book 2 – my intuition is telling me! Okay, maybe intuition with a bit of help, the last line of the novel kind of hints that this is the way the series develops.

On top of clairvoyancy, readings, spirits, there’s a four year quest, to find Owen Glendower, The Raven King. But the Raven Boys are not the only ones searching for Glendower, a young man comes for a reading with Blue’s psychic mother, Maura, Calla and Persephone.

As well as all the wacky aunts, we have a very special journal:
“More than anything, the journal wanted.” 84

The Journal is about ley lines and all manner of other details – “invisible energy lines that connected spiritual places ” Glendower, sleeping knights, “sacrificed kings, ancient water goddesses and all of the old things that ravens represented.

The adventure starts to step up a notch when Helen, Gansey’s sister, a helicopter pilot takes them exploring. Blue goes along and directs them to the church on the ley line. They fly over a shape in the overgrown grass that resembles a raven.

Gansey: “If they removed Glendower from the corpse road, I think the magic that keeps him asleep would be disrupted.”215 She said, ‘Basically, you mean he would die for good if he was removed from the line.”

All manner of incredible things happen, but not to spoil it for you by saying too much.

Would I recommend reading the Raven Boys? Absolutely. Highly recommended for readers of Fantasy, Paranormal, YA, Romance, Supernatural, Mystery.

My rating:

4.5 Pentagons

If you would like a Recap of the book, I found this excellent site, but beware as there are spoilers: http://recaptains.co.uk/2013/09/the-raven-boys-by-maggie-stiefvater/

In short, Recaptains is a blog dedicated to spoiling books on purpose. Written by none other than Maggie Stiefvater herself!

Have you read The Raven Boys? Do comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Haiku Poetry prompt Challenge #48 Inspire & Loss

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge #48 Inspire&Loss

Inspire and Loss – what a wonderful pairing, I’m going to enjoy this weeks Haiku Challenge from Ronovan Writes.

It’s funny how a couple of words can take you on a strange journey, into a surreal picnic setting with a tree, a floating piece of grass, and a kite attached to the tree. Oh and a passionate kiss, nearly forgot that! How could I? If this loved up couple move an inch on their picnic playground there’s a chance they will fall of their half bubble of perfectly maintained grass. Never mind that kite, they should have tethered themselves to the tree as well, just in case, you can never be too careful! But passion doesn’t tend to go hand in hand with caution does it? Nope, it sure doesn’t. Oops…..

Kite Boy

Floating grass picnic

Inspires such surreal desire

Sad Loss My Kite Boy

Moving on from the loss of Kite Boy, let’s take a moment to reflect on this still life. After Kite Boy’s gone I think the peacock feather will be plucked, colour dashed, so sad……………

Plucked Still Life

Plucked inspiration

Loss of a peacock feather

A muted still life

My Goodness Another Award!!!! The Encouraging Thunder Award

WELCOME TO KYROSMAGICA

Well, I’m astonished to say that I’ve been struck by another award, this one is a new one for me –

The Encouraging Thunder Award

Thank you to Caroline Peckham for nominating me for the encouraging Thunder Award.

Here’s a link to her lovely blog, I would really encourage you to take a look: http://carolinepeckham.com/2015/05/31/i-just-got-nominated-for-the-encouraging-thunder-award-and-im-feeling-pretty-damn-smug-about-it/

Caroline Peckham’s YA fantasy series is coming soon to kindle, so keep an eye on her blog for further details.

I’ve been a bit slow regarding this award, apologies Caroline instead of a mighty thunderous response, I’m afraid it’s been more like a slow steady trickle of rain. I’ve had a bit of internet connection problems recently so I’m behind on my posts.

I do kind of like the sound of this award, the name Encouraging Thunder evokes all sorts of fantasy images in my mind. Having said that I’m not going to deceive you I’m not really a storm chaser type of person. I wish I was but I’m not. But, I was once caught in a small scale tornedo in Ibiza many years ago, on a beach that was largely frequented by nudist bathers! Luckily they didn’t get their non-existent clothes destroyed by the tornado! I hasten to add that I was in a bikini, no nudist bathing for me that day! Anyway it was quite an experience, very memorable. It was guess who, yes my husband who acted like a storm chaser extraordinaire busily taking photos of the tornedo, while I did my best to stay out of trouble, and keep my clothes on!

Here’s some old photos out of my album of Formentera, Ibiza, the tornedo, and my husband and I standing in the calm sea afterwards.

Right I’m getting side tracked so let’s get on to the award with that in mind I’d like to mention the creator of the award, encouraging life, so please do check out this link:

http://encouraginglife.co/about/encouraging-life-blog-awards/

Here’s what it says about the award on the Encouraging Life Blog:

Encouraging Thunder originated from one of nature’s true powers, a crack of thunder from the sky. From the ancient Greek God myth, the most powerful god Zeus uses thunder to banish his enemy. Encouraging Thunder is a symbol that only god can judge us but not us human.

Thunder creates a powerful addition to the blog as an awesome blog award. Raymond, encouraginglife.co founder, was bestowed upon a thunder medallion by the great nature so he can create a powerful spell Encouraging Thunder to grant powerful protection to other bloggers. It’s a special spell that only bloggers who has true purpose in their life can master it.

As other bloggers are granted the power of thunder, he or she has the permission to post the power of thunder on their blogs as well as sharing the award with other bloggers.

What you can do with Encouraging Thunder award?

Post it on your blog
Grant other bloggers with the award

What you can’t do with Encouraging Thunder award?

Abuse or misuse the logo
Claim that it’s your own handmade logo

What you should do after receiving Encouraging Thunder award:

Enjoy the award
At least gives thanks via comments and likes and or mentioning the blog who give the award.

So without further ado I’d like to nominate the following blogs for this award:

Dating After Breast Cancer Surgery: https://scarstearsandtrainingbras.wordpress.com/

“Photography helps people to see.” ~ Berenice Abbott. https://janeluriephotography.wordpress.com/

Wild Daffodil. The Joy of Creativity. https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/

“Join me on my journey as I write my first novel” : https://annikaperry.wordpress.com/

Trials of a wannabe published writer: https://heatherbcosta.wordpress.com/

YA Chit Chat. The Ponderings of YA author. J. Keller Ford: https://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/

Olivia at https://wordingonawhim.wordpress.com/

Crazy Chinese Family: http://crazychinesefamily.com/

Doru’s photography blog: https://atdoru.wordpress.com/

Tell Me About It! http://tellmeaboutit.co/

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These are the five rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.

Put the Award logo on your blog.

Answer the ten questions sent to you.

Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Nominate ten blogs.

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