Finalist International Author and Fantasy Author N.N Light’s Book Awards @NNP_W_Light

Just heard I’m in the running for an award from N. N . Light for my YA novel Bloodstone The Curse of Time Book 1 which she recently reviewed. Wish me luck! I’m a finalist.

I quote: Each year, we rate the books we’ve given five-star reviews (December 2020 – November 2021) and award the best book of the year in select categories. We’ve tabulated the votes and we’re pleased to announce you’re a finalist in the Best International Author category.

And fantasy category.

We’re announcing the finalists on N. N. Light’s Book Heaven on Thursday, December 9, but wanted to let you know ahead of time.

It’s now up: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/2021-book-award-finalists 

The winners will be announced on Thursday, December 16, 2021.

Here is her review:

N.N. Light rated a book it was amazing

Bloodstone by M.J. Mallon

Bloodstone (The Curse of Time, #1)by M.J. Mallon (Goodreads Author) Read in November 2021. A magical invitation, that doesn’t tear up, urges Amelina to go to Crystal Cottage to seek out the hidden secrets of her family. Amelina Scott knows her family isn’t what you call normal and neither is her house. No one she knows has a girl trapped in the mirrors. When she receives an invitation to visit Crystal Cottage, she doesn’t know what to make of it. Is it a prank? Is it a trick? She decides to ignore it and throws it in the trash. Only it doesn’t stay in the bin. She tries to cut it up but it doesn’t cut. It sings, it dances, it is somehow alive. She finally decides to travel to the Crystal Cottage to see what happens. Along the way, she meets Ryder and discovers magic (both light and dark) is all around. She interacts with magical people, beings, and objects while learning the truth of her family. What happens next will astound you, the reader. Are you ready for an adventure?

Bloodstone is an imaginative fantasy adventure I enjoyed from start to finish. From the first page, I connected with Amelina. She’s a delightful heroine. I could relate to her on so many levels. Everything from her curiosity to her reactions to her emotional state rang true. While it’s tricky these days to write an original fantasy story, M.J. Mallon wrote one of the most original fantasy books I’ve read in a long time. Taking bits from fantasy authors of the past, M.J. Mallon adds her own blend of magical realism and emotional coming of age to make Bloodstone a gem. The plot moves at a good pace with each chapter starting with a puzzle. What a creative way to keep the reader invested. The world-building is intricate and riveting. The characters are engaging and easy to connect with. Overall, Bloodstone is a brilliant story and when I finished, I wanted to read it all over again. If you’re a fantasy reader, you need to read Bloodstone. Highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in the hopes I’d review it. My thoughts are all my own.

My Rating: 5+ stars

Reviewed by: Mrs. N

This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po…

Great news, wish me luck!

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Kyrosmagica is Now Award Free

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Hi All,

Just a quick little post here about Awards. I meant to do an Award Free post ages ago, in fact I thought I’d done it. Perhaps my memory is going? I think I got as far as doing a Bitstrips cartoon, I found this in my picture files. So time to get to it before anyone else nominates me for an award, (particularly if said person is a good friend.) I really do appreciate it so much but due to time constraints I just feel it’s time to step back from these type of awards for now.

In the past I have been blessed with the following awards:

One Lovely Blog Award, Real Neat Blog Award, Premio Dardos Award, Liebster Award,  The Creative Blogger Award, Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, Sunshine Bloggers Award, Blogger Recognition Award, The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, The Versatile Blogger Award. I think that’s the ones I’ve had… Oh, I nearly forgot there was also an Encouraging Thunder Award, I can still hear the thunder claps….

Latest – The Mystery Blogger Award. 

Here’s the link to all my awards if you’d like to have a gander:

My Awards

My very first award is of course very dear to me, a bit like your first baby!

I remember it well, it was The One Lovely Blog Award which was delivered to me on the 14th of July 2014:

My First Award:  The One Lovely Blog Award

Plus I had fun doing The Girl Love Blog Challenge:

The Girl Love Blog Challenge

I will still be doing the odd challenge, time permitting..

I will be adding names of bloggers who have nominated me recently for awards. My way of saying a big Thank You for thinking of me….

Thank you :

Annika Perry – Annika nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thank you so much Annika for nominating me. She is on a similar writing journey, and we chat about blogging, writing, and books. Definitely one of my favourite blogs to follow, I count her as one of my special blogging friends.

– Annika Perry

Amalia Pedemonte – Amalia nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much Amalia for nominating me. Do check out Amalia’s wonderful blog it truly is a treasure chest of information about Greek Mythology, a subject that fascinates me so much that several Greek Gods and Goddesses have crept their way into my current WIP! Do follow her blog, she’s lovely, a very supportive and friendly blogger.

– Aquileana

Inese M J. Thank you so much to Inese for nominating me for The Creative Blogger Award. This is such a great honour coming from such a wonderful photographer. I urge you to follow Inese’s wonderful blog, she is such a lovely and friendly lady and has the most beautiful photography blog.

Inese M J Photography

Gary Jefferies. A big thank you to Gary for nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award. Such a lovely award to receive. I do highly recommend that you follow Gary’s blog. He writes books, short stories and memoirs and has been known to participate in Kindness challenges. He is a really friendly chap and very supportive:

Gary Jefferies – Fiction Is Food

A big thank you to Cat for nominating me for The Mystery Blogger Award.

– Cat at High Risk

Bye for now…

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica. xx

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One Lovely Blog Award Thank You!!!!

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A Big Thank You to Charley from Books and Bakes 1 for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog Award. Congratulations on the award Charley. Do take a look at her lovely blog which is all about her love of: “books, baking, theatre, visiting places, home. books and baking,”  https://booksandbakes1.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/one-lovely-blog-award/

This time I’m going to do a Thank You post rather than participating in the award, because:

  •  I’ve been nominated for this award before !! I thought it was twice but I checked and found it was four times, including Charley’s nomination!!
  • I’m taking part in the Red Eye Readathon on Goodreads for the month of October, so I will be very busy doing bookish posts. So more on that to come, stay tuned! My theme is going to be Halloween, so there will be predominantly spooky posts on Kyrosmagica to get in the mood…… for a bit of ghoulish, scary fun, Kyrosmagica style….

So thanks Charley I really appreciate all these awards so much. Look you’re making me blush. Oh, and you have nominated some wonderful blogs which I’m now following!!! So thanks for introducing those blogs to me too.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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Blogger Recognition Award and Advice To New Bloggers

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Thank you to Beaton at Becoming The Muse for nominating me for The Blogger Recognition Award: https://becomingthemuse.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/blogger-recognition-award/

It’s lovely that he thought about my blog, I appreciate it, it’s always nice to get noticed!

Especially when you’re only 5 foot 4 and tend not to stand out in the crowd. My husband is 6 foot 1 and makes me look tiny in comparison!

So my advice to new bloggers would be:

  • To get involved, have fun, write or blog about what is in your heart, what inspires you. I’d like to mention a post I did about doing what you love: https://mjmallon.com/2015/03/19/a-writing-award-to-give-yourself-do-what-you-love/
  •  Join in challenges. There are so many to choose from, try out a few and see which ones appeal. Join in when you want to and don’t beat yourself up when you haven’t got the time.I usually take part in the following fantastic challenges:
  •  I love writing haiku so I’d highly recommend Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/
  • There’s nothing like a quote to inspire you so I often take part in Colleen’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday: http://silverthreading.com/2015/08/26/writers-quote-wednesday-pure-inspiration/
  • Recently I started joining in Rachael Ritchey’s Weekly Writing Short Story Blog Battle:  http://rachaelritchey.com/blogbattle/
  • This week I had a go at Julia at My Red Page’s Camera Lucida Photography Challenge: https://myredpage.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/camera-lucida-divergent/
  •  Try out new things, be spontaneous and adventurous.
  • If you can write a Book Review then do, these nuggets of pure gold support authors so much.  Or do Bookish posts and memes such as The Friday 56 via Freda’s Voice: http://www.fredasvoice.com/ or Book Beginnings, via Rose City Readers, http://www.rosecityreader.com/. I particularly take great pleasure in supporting new authors, that’s one particular blogging activity that is very dear to my heart. That’s why I love going to Book festivals, both here in Cambridge, and in Edinburgh, I love discovering new up and coming authors.
  • If you do Book Reviews it is a great idea to have an A – Z list of all your reviews. Do this right at the beginning otherwise it is a lot of work to catch up with this. I’m currently compiling my A – Z list of Book Reviews and it’s taking me a long time to do this as I have 58 reviews on this blog and counting …….!!!! EEK!!!
  •  Don’t be afraid to be who you are, in fact being yourself is super important, if you pretend to be someone else it will probably show.
  • Chat to people via comments, like and appreciate other bloggers posts,  make it a community endeavour.
  • Have a laugh, but be serious when you need to. Life is made up of both darkness and light so share both.
  • Help and support other bloggers, this is a community so encourage others to fulfil their potential too.
  • Get to know other bloggers if you can, meeting them in person at a blogger’s event is such a brilliant thing to do.  But don’t meet up with random strangers, keep safe! I’d recommend this kind of organised event wholeheartedly, even if like me you’re intrinsically shy, push your boundaries. I went along to the Bloggers Bash in London on 1st of August and it was such a success: https://mjmallon.com/2015/08/02/the-bloggers-bash-oh-what-a-day/
  • This blogging lark takes time, so be patient, developing a blog isn’t an overnight activity it takes a lot of hard work. I blog at all sorts of weird times of the day, forget to talk to my family, burn the dinner, done it all! Be aware that it is quite addictive!!!!!! No, that’s a lie it is 100% quite addictive.
  • Remember to breathe, take in the odd bit of fresh air, watch the squirrels in your garden, don’t sit in front of your keyboard all the time! You have to experience life so you have something to write about.
  • Don’t take it personally if people follow your blog and then seem to vanish into thin air, this happens. In fact in general try not to be too sensitive, just shrug it off. If people want to read your blog they will, especially if you write great content, so focus on that. That’s my no. 1 tip.

I’ve been very slow with this post, life has been extremely busy just recently, I’ve been helping out my mum up in Edinburgh after her operation, and taking in some of the sights of The Edinburgh International Festival which I’ve shared with you in my recent blog posts. So that’s my excuse.

To make up for my tardiness I’ll try to make this post as humorous as I can, I like a little giggle….

Blogging, well I never, over a year ago if you’d told me I’d be receiving awards for blogging I would have looked at you as if you were barking mad. I would not have believed it. Also I certainly would not have imagined that I’d end up going to a Bloggers Bash on the 1st August in London. No, I’d say stop teasing me, but yes I did go, and it’s been such an experience. What an adventure. Why didn’t I do this Blogging lark years ago? It’s a terrible setback being such a slow developer, ack, that’s life, have to accept that NOW is my time, and I’m lapping it up, loving each and every minute of this Blogging journey. Oh, a thought just occurred to me Blogging rhymes with Snogging. Random thoughts like this are always creeping into my mind. Have you ever noticed that before? No of course you haven’t, and even if you had you’d keep it to yourself wouldn’t you? There are some similarities between the two words I suppose, kissing is connecting with someone, on a personal level, and blogging does all of these things on a much wider platform….  That’s what I love about blogging you can say the most incredibly nutty things and get away with it…

Well, I hope I got away with it! I mean, please don’t unfollow me!! EEK!!

Awards are the icing on the cake, and a great way to shout out about great blogs. Hopefully the bloggers that I’m nominated accept awards – I know that many bloggers don’t accept awards due to time constraints. If I’ve nominated you and you don’t accept awards that’s fine don’t worry, I won’t turn up on your front door step, stand on my tippee toes, and and force you to join in! This Five Foot Four girl is a gentle soul so no cause for concern on that count.  I’ll just smile and say, “No Can Do, No worries,” blow you a bloggy kiss and get going!

Right, where did all that randomness come from? Started off talking about my small frame and ended up having a bit of a moment. Well I’m writing parts of this while consuming a glass or two of wine, that’s my secret.

The other thing I like about blogging is the way that it encourages you to explore all sorts of creative activities and takes you on new pathways. When I started this blog it was mainly about books, and writing and now it’s kind of expanding in all sorts of directions: haiku,  photography challenges, and general craziness, with a touch of magic. I called it Kyrosmagica so it was bound to happen. I’m casting a spell on you….  Beware!!

Here are the rules of the award which I’ve pinched word for word from Beaton’s blog:

The Rules: 

  • Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to.
    Do some digging if you must! Find those blogs. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.
  • Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers.
  • Thank whoever nominated you, and provide a link to their blog.
  • List who you’ve nominated in the post.
  • Make sure to also attach the award itself! (You can do this by right-clicking, saving, and uploading the image above).
  • Comment on each blog and let them know you’ve nominated them.
  • Provide a link to the award post you created. 
  • Provide a link to the original post on Edge Of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing!

Without any more jokes about snogging, casting spells, or yapping on about my lack of height, I’d like to nominate some wonderful blogs for this award:

This is quite tricky as I have nominated quite a few people before for various awards so with this in mind I’ve tried to come up with some new nominees, hope I’ve succeeded, if I’ve nominated you before well that’s my failing memory’s fault…

Here in no particular pecking order, (couldn’t resist that!) my nominees for Blogger Recognition Award are:

The lovely Erika At BookVentureLand.: https://errka220.wordpress.com/

Sharukh Bamboat at India Destination blog. I’ve always wanted to go to India but have never been, so this is my way to go there on a virtual visit: https://indiadestinationsblog.wordpress.com/

Annika Perry’s Excellent Writing Blog. : https://annikaperry.wordpress.com/

Kevin at The Screenplay of Life’s Chronicles. Kevin is a stand up comedian, freelance writer and an excellent photographer: http://kevinhotter.com/

A wonderful poetry blog: https://poemsandpoemes.wordpress.com/

Julia at My Red Page. A girl that likes the colour red, writing and photography. Her blog is very stylish:  https://myredpage.wordpress.com/

For creative endeavours look no further than Wild Daffodil: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/

D. Wallace Peach’s wonderful blog, Myths of The Mirror: http://mythsofthemirror.com/

Ameena at Randoms by A Random, poetry enthusiast, and mental health advocate: https://randomsbyarandom.wordpress.com/

EmMakwall Explains it all, especially her passion for films, television, humour, and soundtracks: http://emmakwall.com/

Kayleigh, a Scottish lass who blogs about books, life, and everything in between. She is a fellow Edinburgh Book Festival enthusiast. You can find her blogging at Miserable and Magical: https://kayleighm8.wordpress.com/

Hugh over at Hugh’s Views and News, I met him at the Bloggers Bash in London and he’s a lovely bloke, most definitely one to follow: http://hughsviewsandnews.com/

I’m a devotee of holistic health so I’d recommend Holistic Health Consultant, Reiki Master, and Nutritionalist, Gina Briganti’s  blog: http://ginabriganti.com/

Poet and Author Adam Gainer. Adam is very approachable, a friendly guy who shares my love of poetry.  https://authoradamgainer.wordpress.com/

and a new discovery, check out Denis’s wonderful afghan hounds and his haiku at Haiku Hound:

https://haikuhound.wordpress.com/

Thanks for celebrating this award with me.

Do leave a comment I’d love to hear from you. If you found the advice to new bloggers helpful please do remember to share, thanks so much.

kk

Bye for now.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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The Versatile Blogger Award

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Thank you so much to Scars Tears and Training Bras for nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award.  So without further ado, I’m delighted to accept this award. I do like to try to be versatile so this means a lot. Thank you too to Elizabeth Gracie https://elizabethgracie.wordpress.com for the lovely Versatile Blogger Award badge.

Here are the rules of the Versatile Blogger Award:

1- give the name link of the blogger who nominated you ( throw in a thank you if you’d like to! 🙂 )

Thank you so much to: https://scarstearsandtrainingbras.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/versatile-blog-award-and-the-creative-blogger-award-please-read-you-may-have-been-nominated/comment-page-1/#comment-749

2- share 7 facts about yourself

1. It took me a heck of a long time to pass my driving test, it’s quite embarrassing really, but I got there in the end. Now, I consider myself to be quite a good driver, but I still have terrible trouble parking.

2. I used to be very shy as a teenager, but now I am far more adventurous, even though intrinsically I am still shy at heart.

3. I like slow activities, I’m a bit of a tortoise really, so Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates, Swimming, these are the kind of activities I enjoy. I tried running once, but ended up jogging a bit, stopped as I was panting, and then jogged some more. A curious dog started barking at me, so that was that, no more jogging.  I just pretend that I’m power walking, and wear those special work-out trainers that exercise your muscles for you.

4.  I love creative pastimes, writing, photography, and baking are my three favourites. I love cakes! I’d love to paint and draw but don’t have a natural talent that way. C’est dommage! But I have heard you can learn so who knows ……………..

5. I went to a Theatre Workshop one time, and learnt all about writing a play, acting and directing in it. It was a blast, and was definitely something that I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do when I was younger. It was an exhilarating, but exhausting experience. I don’t think I’m cut out to be an actress. Maybe one day I might explore writing plays but for the moment, I’m sticking to book reviewing, blogging, and writing novels.

6. I can’t cook fish, I overcook it, but I make a mean stir fry or a wicked curry. I love to cook spicy food!

7. I love the changing seasons of summer, spring, and the autumn, but I wish the winter was shorter, a day or two would be enough. I can’t stand the cold, and I hate the dark nights.  I have terrible circulation in my hands, and my face puckers like the skin of an old, withered, orange. I age in the cold! I’m not joking! So, one day before my orange peel skin has become a permanent disfiguring feature, I would like to live abroad in the warmth of the sun.

3- nominate 15 blogs to do the same!

Well this was quite tricky because some bloggers who I was thinking of for this award don’t accept awards, some like https://sourcererblog.wordpress.com/ are award-neutral. Also because I have been nominated for awards before I wanted to find ‘new’ worthy  blogs to nominate. On top of this there are several blogs that I was thinking of nominating, several of which are overflowing with awards, so I thought, with a few exceptions, that I’d try to focus on blogs that didn’t quite fall into these categories. This has taken me some time to deliberate.

Here is my list of Versatile bloggers, some of which are blogs that I have been lucky to discover recently.

1.  Amy’s the World is A Book: https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/

“The world is a book, and those who don’t travel only read one page.” ― Saint Augustine

2. Meredith’s musings: http://meredithlbl.com/page/2/

“Writing from the heart.”

3. The Aran Artisan: http://thearanartisan.com/

“Making a living by creating every aspect and ingredient of daily life.”

4. Precinct 1313: https://precinct1313.wordpress.com/

‘Comic books, horror movies, Video games, oh my!”

5.  Mad Meandering Me: https://madmeanderingme.wordpress.com/

“Going with the flow of life.”

6. Project Prose: https://projectprose.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/life-so-brief-and-short/

“Exploration through writing, photography and art”

7. Totally Inspired Mind: https://totallyinspiredpc.wordpress.com/

“Where Positive Minds Congregate”

8. Louise’s Baby Gates Down: http://babygatesdown.com/

“Gave birth. Totally transcendent. Moving on…”

9. Smriti D. Isaac’s Blog: https://smritidisaac.wordpress.com/

“Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.”

10.Dear Kitty Some Blog: https://dearkitty1.wordpress.com

“On animals, peace and war, science, social justice, women’s issues, arts, and much more.”

11. The Belle Jar: http://bellejar.ca/

“Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences.” – Sylvia Plath

12. Almost Open Book http://almostopenbook.com/

“living one story at a time”

13. Gingers Grocery: https://ginjuh.wordpress.com/

Gingers grocery. “Come in and Browse.”

14. Cameron Karsten’s Imaginarium: https://cameronkarsten.wordpress.com/

“Exploration with Culture”

15. The Ferkel: http://theferkel.co.uk/

‘Tis funny.’

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