Month: September 2016

Ghost Stories to Get You in the “Spirit” for Halloween

Now that summer is officially over, do you know what season it is? It’s Halloween season! I’m a firm believer in beginning my celebrations of the greatest holiday of the year at least a month in advance. You may be mourning the end of summer or feeling distracted by a new school year, but that’s no reason you can’t start getting excited for the night when the veil between the worlds is thinnest! To that end, I’ve complied a list of ghost stories below that will help get you into the “spirit” for Halloween. (See what I did there?)

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Continue reading Ghost Stories to Get You in the “Spirit” for Halloween

Boroughs of the Dead–Discovering NYC’s Dark Side

Last weekend I went on my first ghost tour of New York City! Reading about ghosts and ghouls is all well and good, but sometimes you just have to get out there and experience their haunts and historical sites for yourself. Ghost tours are a great way to not only get some fresh air with your scares, but also to learn about some local history. And no one does this better than Boroughs of the Dead. Boroughs of the Dead is a local, independent, woman-owned boutique walking tour business that specializes in the darker side of New York history. They offer tours across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, and are looking to expand into the other two boroughs as well. Many of their tour guides are writers and are skilled in both research and storytelling. In fact, I first heard of the company because Gaslamp fantasy author Leanna Renee Hieber is one of their tour guides.

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Continue reading Boroughs of the Dead–Discovering NYC’s Dark Side

Bloggiesta To Do List: Fall 2016

This is a little last minute, but I’m hoping to hop on the Bloggiesta train once again. Bloggiesta is a regularly occurring blogging marathon in which a bunch of bloggers band together to challenge and support each other as we each work on improving our blogs, and it’s starting RIGHT NOW! The Fall Bloggiesta 2016 runs from today (Thursday, September 15th) until Sunday, September 18th. You can learn more on the Bloggiesta website.

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I’ve participated in two Bloggiesta events since starting this blog—the Winter 2016 Mini Bloggiesta and the Spring 2016 Bloggiesta (I missed the Summer Mini Bloggiesta)—and I’ve found these events to be very helpful for accomplishing long-term blogging goals as well as for connecting with other bloggers.
Since I didn’t get the chance to do any planning in advance this time around, and since I’m also going to be out of town this weekend without my computer, I’m going to be kind of loose about my timeline for accomplishing my Bloggiesta goals and probably won’t get the chance to participate in any mini-challenges. But I figured I would lay out some objectives and see how many I can accomplish over the coming weeks.
To Do List
  • Post reviews since last Bloggiesta on Goodreads and Amazon with links back to the blog
  • Revisit the Bookish Mastermind Group I joined last time and try to get that going again.
  • Plan out some Halloween posts
  • Comment on at least one other blog participating in Bloggiesta
  • Update my spreadsheet of book review requests

Are you participating in Bloggiesta? What are your goals? How is it going so far? Let me know in the comments!

With This Curse Review–An Excellent Victorian Gothic

With This Curse coverWhat could tempt you to reenter a cursed house, where all that you loved had already been taken from you once before? For Clara, only the dismal prospects of being an unmarried Victorian woman without hope of employment could drive her back to Gravesend. This predicament opens the story of With This Curse by Amanda DeWees, a traditional-style Gothic novel which won the 2015 Daphne du Maurier Award. Amanda’s books were first recommended to me by an author I’ve talked about at length in many posts here, Leanna Renee Hieber. I knew I could trust such glowing praise from one of my favorite authors, and when With This Curse arrived in the mail and I saw its gorgeous and elegant cover, I was even more excited to read it. It took several months to make its way up my to-read list, but when I finally cracked the spine, I was not disappointed. Continue reading With This Curse Review–An Excellent Victorian Gothic

Review of Ashwood–A Haunting Debut Horror

Ashwood CoverEvery time Willow falls asleep, she wakes up back in the twisted world of Ashwood Asylum. Her haunted dreams are the subject of Ashwood, a young adult horror novel by debut author C.J. Malarsky. I requested a copy of this book many, many months ago, shortly after it was first published in 2015. Now the book is being re-launched by Fantasy Works Publishing this week! The new paperbacks will be available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble starting on September 7, and you can even find some signed copies at Kinoyuniya NYC. The ebook will be available at Amazon, iTunes, Smashwords, Kobo, and Nook. Continue reading Review of Ashwood–A Haunting Debut Horror