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BookSweeps Totally Epic Epic Fantasy Giveaway!

Posted by Intisar on Mar 21, 2017 in Giveaways | 0 comments

Today, I have a fun surprise that I’d like to share with you.

I’ve teamed up with more than 50 fantastic Epic Fantasy authors to give away a huge collection of novels to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a Kindle Fire to the Grand Prize winner! My contribution is Sunbolt, but if you’ve already got your copy, there are still at least 50 more awesome reads to enjoy (plus, then you can gift your new digital copy of Sunbolt to a bookworm in your life–WIN!).

30 Free YA Fantasy Reads on #Instafreebie!

Posted by Intisar on Mar 13, 2017 in Giveaways | 0 comments

Today I’ve got thirty free YA Fantasy reads to share with you, all available through #Instafreebie. If you haven’t read Sunbolt yet, it will only be available on Instafreebie for another month or so. Nab it now, before you forget! (I mean, a street thief with an illegal magical talent, monsters of both the human and non-human variety, and oodles of deception and betrayal–what more could you want?) Check it out and more here.

Avoidance is Awesome (Except When It’s Not)

Posted by Intisar on Mar 10, 2017 in On Writing | 4 comments

I was flipping through an old journal the other morning, looking for notes on a story idea that I’m interested in playing with again, and I found an entry from almost two years prior to the publication of Memories of Ash. Turns out, I was struggling with writing and insecurities at the time.

It’s a bit strange to look back and read it from now, when I’ve overcome those particular challenges and they no longer seem half so intimidating or insurmountable. But the entry below is also part of why I no longer give release dates before a book is actually done. I don’t know what hurdles I’ll face, I don’t know when I might lose the joy of writing and I’ll need to slow down and have fun with it again. I write my best stories when I love what I’m doing, so that ends up taking priority for me. Which works out pretty nicely, even if it means I can’t make promises until I’ve essentially already fulfilled them. Ha!

Magical March e-Book Giveaway via the Fellowship of Fantasy

Posted by Intisar on Mar 6, 2017 in Giveaways | 3 comments

Here Be Magic … and a little giveaway I wanted to share with you!

Enchanted lands, magical creatures, fairies and witches and … space wizards? You bet! We’ve got all that and more for our Fellowship of Fantasy March ebook giveaway. Sixteen authors are offering sixteen adventures, along with a little something extra to make your month magical. Keep reading to learn more and get a closer look at a few books in the bundle. Or, check out all the books on the full promo page here.

Learning to Broaden One’s World: The Writing of “Lady of Dreams” – A Guest Post by W.R. Gingell

Posted by Intisar on Mar 2, 2017 in On Writing | 0 comments

I’ve always been interested in languages. Part of that interest is my fascination with the English language: I love words, and I love how the same five or six words can be twisted, turned, and slanted to give so many different layers of meanings depending upon how they’re ordered.

So I always knew I was going to learn a foreign language: I wanted to see how they fitted and slotted together to make clever little meanings all of their own. Over time, I learned little bits and pieces of French, Latin, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Greek, and Italian. And then there was that phase where I was learning German surreptitiously from my sister’s school-of-the-air German classes because you basically shout everything, and seriously, what is cooler than that?

Disability in Fiction: Wrapping Up and Looking Forward

Posted by Intisar on Feb 27, 2017 in Stop and Think | 0 comments

This marks the final post in the Disability in Fiction blog series–and what a fabulous two months it’s been! From finding new reads (and people to follow), to gaining needed perspective, to grasping the impact of ableism and the power of art, the authors of these blog posts have brought so much forward to be considered. (For those just finding this post, there are links to the full series at the bottom.)

As I wrap up this series, I find myself looking at the world around me, and my local context here in the US, and seeing the impact of ableism, discrimination, and/or simple lack of empathy.

Making Stories out of Stories – Guest Post by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Posted by Intisar on Feb 23, 2017 in Release | 0 comments

I never really sat down to be a folkloric writer. It just sort of…happened.

To be fair, I write an awful lot of material which has nothing to do with folklore or mythology. But especially in my speculative fiction, I find myself often returning to creatures, people, or themes from ancient stories, and finding how they interact with our worldviews today. And many of my author friends write original stories but find inspiration or references in fairy tales, legends, myths.

Cover Reveal for Brave New Girls: Stories of Girls who Science and Scheme

Posted by Intisar on Feb 21, 2017 in Cover Reveal | 2 comments

Today, I’m revealing the cover and story line-up for BRAVE NEW GIRLS: STORIES OF GIRLS WHO SCIENCE AND SCHEME, coming August 2017! This YA sci-fi anthology (edited by sci-fi authors Paige Daniels and Mary Fan) features stories about girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)… Girls who engineer, tinker, hack, and more, using their smarts to save the day. It’s got space operas, sci-fi mysteries, steampunk, cyberpunk, all kinds of punk! Proceeds from sales of the anthology will be donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund.

Ableism in Fiction – A Guest Post by Erin Hawley | Disability in Fiction

Posted by Intisar on Feb 20, 2017 in Stop and Think | 1 comment

Growing up as an avid reader, I never came across any disabled authors or characters in literature. Before the internet, I only had access to my small-town school library. Seeking out books with disabled characters never crossed my mind; disability was something that I had and not part of my proclaimed identity as it is now. For most of my childhood, abled was the norm, even though I’ve been disabled my whole life. I was the only visibly disabled person in my social circle, and I wasn’t aware of invisible disabilities as a concept.

Art as Activism – A Guest Post by Anarcha Quinn | Disability in Fiction

Posted by Intisar on Feb 13, 2017 in Stop and Think | 2 comments

I warm welcome to Anarcha Quinn today as she shares with us a post on the power of art in the current day context here in the US–although I believe that you will find this post easily translates to anywhere in the world. It’s a vitally important post, and I’m so glad to be able to share it with you today.

For many of us, the places and the spaces we inhabit have changed monumentally since election night. Where we fit. Where we sit in society. How our fellow human beings care for us or don’t — all of that has been shuffled. Reshuffled. Even shaken down to the core.