#TopTenTuesday XXII: A #SciFiMonth Top Ten : Boldly reading Indie and Small Press Science Fiction & Non-Fiction

Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2024 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

#TopTenTuesday banner created by Jorie in Canva.

#TopTenTuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

There are moments I’ve curated lists rooted in the official topics of this meme as shared by the host whereas at other times, I’ve gone a bit rogue like other book bloggers wherein we curate our own topics to respond to during the weekly share of #TopTenTuesday. I’ve also re-spun this meme to participate in blog tours and/or featured events within the blogosphere which are as follows:

Visit my #TopTenTuesday archives

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Boldly reading Indie and Small Press Speculative Fiction
during the 10 years of #SciFiMonth or outside of it
| Hostess List

#SciFiMonth banner for 2022 created by Imryil and is used with permission.
Image Credit: SciFiMonth artwork is by the amazingly talented Simon Fetscher.

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The JOY for me as a book blogger has been seeking out
Indie publishers & Press as well as Small Trade:

Ever since I first started blogging my journey into books and stories in [2013], I’ve taken a slightly different route than most book bloggers. My focus was keenly invested into the world of Indie publishers, Small Press and Small Trade whilst also embracing Hybrid authors and Self-Published authors as well. This is why a LOT of my top favourite stories in the Speculative realms have been rooted in this section of publishing and why a lot of my bookish joy originates through the stories being published through these portals of publishing.

It doesn’t mean I don’t read traditionally published stories of Speculative Fiction — it just means odds are in favour I might soak into an Indie story moreso than a mainstream release. I’m quite particularly particular about the stories I read and what I tend to gravitate towards leans itself more on the Indie side of the ledger — at least by what I’ve noticed as I’ve travelled through the Speculative realms these past nine years.

This week I am going to focus on the stories by Indie and Small Press publishers who are wickedly publishing Science Fiction stories I cannot wait to read! Some of the authors I love reading are independently published but they own their own publishing imprint and are in theory Self-Published authors. I will withhold mentioning their stories from this list but if you know me through my blog, you’ll know which of those authors I consistently read and love to follow as they continue to publish stories I devour as soon as I read them.

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

#SciFiMonth 2022 Top Ten Prompt graphic created by Imyril and is used with permission.
Image Credit: SciFiMonth artwork is by the amazingly talented Simon Fetscher.

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Top tens for our tenth year

We loved having weekly Favourite Fives for Wyrd & Wonder’s fifth birthday, so it’s only right to go full Top Tens for SciFiMonth’s tenth! But what are those weekly topics?

  • Previously, On SciFiMonth: SFnal books / films / shows / games you enjoyed or were introduced to during SciFiMonth in the past
  • Turn Back Time: feature tales about time travel or shout about classic SF titles
  • To Boldly Go: contribute to RunalongWomble’s (@runalongwomble) excellent #SmallPressBigStories initiative with a top ten focusing on stories published by independent and small presses
  • One Small Step: sure we love a sprawling space opera, but this week is for celebrating short stories, novellas and novelettes
  • Can’t Stop The Signal: SciFiMonth is all about the community – share your favourite SF blogs we should follow

as it was disclosed via Imyril @ There’s Always Room for One More

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Your eyes are not deceiving you – I decided to kick-off the 2024 #SciFiMonth by finishing a post I began in (2022) and had meant to feature it closer to when I released my previous two Sci Fi Top Ten featured posts. For reasons lost to me now a full two years on – I never was able to release it – oh, wait. Two years ago. Suddenly I do remember – two years ago my Dad entered the hospital in November and exited into long term care. Somehow I still find myself at a loss to connect time and space and dates and the gap of hours between then and now. I felt that gap during Wyrd And Wonder this year and again during #SpooktasticReads. Time is fickle and ironic – where I think I’ve started reading a story a short time ago turns out to be *years!* ago and not mere months ago. Okay. Right. Onward and upward, eh? Let’s just say I was so happy to write this post, it feels weird to keep it static in my Drafts and needs to be shared. Towards that end, I did minor edits to this post and left it as a time capsule of my thoughts and words as they were written originally in 2022.

And, yes, I will be reading boldly this year and many of these lovelies will be my #nextreads!

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I decided to take a different spin on how I wanted to assemble this Top Ten List for #SciFiMonth this week. As previously I would oft talk about the stories I’ve already read and have loved reading — going back to my roots of focusing on stories I haven’t yet read (or in some instances on this list in particular, stories or series I haven’t yet finished) and choosing to highlight what appealled to me about these stories and why I am still motivated to read them.

These are stories which are on my backlogue and were meant to be reviewed closer to the times they originally arrived through the #bookpost. Except to say, over the years – due to my chronic migraines, life as it evolves forward and/or the medical emergencies or hospitalisations of my parents (including but not limited to my father’s stroke in 2016) — you could say, there were quite a few reasons why I found myself taken away from stories at different intervals of time over the years. I will attempt to chronicle what disengaged me from reading each particular story but I’m unsure if I will remember exactly what took me away from them. Time and memory sometimes can become lost whilst life has moved forward.

This is one reason why I’ve been developing a new feature on Sundays outside of #SciFiMonth called #SciFiSundays which similar in vein to my new feature of #WyrdAndWonder Wednesdays it is to encourage me to re-enter into either Science Fiction or Fantasy stories outside of the two concentrated months I read both annually. For a girl who loves reading different genres sometimes it helps to nudge herself back into the folds of the stories she eagerly awaits to read! Plus, of course, I think we all have issues sometimes deciding which is the best story to read for the mood where currently in and which would best suit us to wait a bit longer to read instead.

Ahead of full reviews, I’m chosen to share snippets of insight about the stories or series I have already started to experience whilst giving new thoughts and impressions on behalf of the stories I haven’t yet begun. Or, more readily do not yield a memory of having read previously and thus, have chosen to feature those stories within the context of my #25PagePreview showcases in-line with this discussional challenge.

Let’s get started and see which Indie and/or Small Press Science Fiction stories
are on my radar and shelves awaiting me to soak into their stories!

NOTE: All the stories featured on this post were received for review consideration with the exception of two: “The Unintentional Time Traveller” and “The Time Key”. The latter because I cannot remember how I received the novel and at this point I’m considering it was either a self-purchase or a gift. Whichever way these stories were received originally – all thoughts and opinions about them are honest and true to my readerly reactions as I am now reading them.

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No. 1 | Heaven’s Edge by Jennifer Silverwood
a novella series told in 3 distinct stories tethered together!

→ published by JayHenge Publishing

→ quotation taken from my forthcoming review of Heaven’s Edge

🚀 Authors Site | @JennSilverwood

On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for awhile afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writely lives! We decided to stay in touch and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

A few years ago [2019], when I was assembling the stories, I wanted to read and/or listen for #SciFiMonth, I came across this collection of novellas by a writer who is also a dear personal friend. I mentioned to her I wanted to read this collection for the event, and she surprised me by sending me a copy in the post which arrived in time to read but I wasn’t able to finish it that year. It is my intention to re-read through the collection and finish it this November alongside my readings and listenings of E. Chris Garrison’s stories I outlined a bit via #BookishNotBookish.

I did host a #SciFiMonth chat featuring Silverwood (see also Post) and discussed this series. I was grateful to be able to chat about the series even as I was evolving through the stories themselves. I’ve had a particular interest to read stories set on the Rims and/or intergalactically hop through Space and fully explore the Spacer lifestyle or an independent pilot’s life as well. When it comes to generational ships or ships which have long hauls and ultimately have family or children on board – I’m a bit more underread than I would like to be and it’s a continuing Quest of mine to seek more of those kinds of stories out to read.

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Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2024 by jorielov in #SciFiMonth, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Sci-Fi November, Top Ten Tuesday

Celebrating The Day of the Dead as #SpooktasticReads concludes!

Posted Thursday, 31 October, 2024 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

#SpooktasticReads banner created by Imyril. Art credit: Vera Petruk (https://www.123rf.com/profile_samiramay). Banner used with permission.

We LOVE challenging each other during #WyrdAndWonder and #SpooktasticReads with prompts which inspire responses which can be taken literally by the words of the prompt itself or become explored more creatively by what sparks a response from the reader, blogger or social Fantasy lover to share with us during the months of May and October. This year, I’ve decided to post complimentary discussions featuring the prompts I am responding to via Instagram on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds. As it was a goal of mine last year but not one that I could fulfil properly.

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I have had an appreciation for the holiday “The Day of the Dead” for a very long time – especially as after I learnt about how the festival is celebrated and the joyfulness of remembrance of family whose passed on into the next world – it just filled me with a lot of warmth and comfort. Plus, the fact, that these celebrations take place at the cemetery and where the local communities come together just added to the beauty behind the heritage and cultural legacies therein.

My first encounter with “Cemetery Boys” was reading about my fellow book bloggers’ reactions to having read it at time of release. Whereas I was able to help garnish a bit more focus on it as well when I interviewed Aiden Thomas. This year, I was finally able to start my journey into the novel whilst offering a #25MinutePreview of the audiobook. Whilst I also learnt having visited the author’s feeds on #bookstagram that they are well on their way to writing the sequel!

I knew I wanted to carry-on with Cemetery Boys – but what if there were other stories out there, I had missed knowing about which also feature The Day of the Dead?

This started a bit of a deep dive into the hidden niches of genre and interest which led me to uncovering one novel and author who perked my interest to seek out! There were a few others – I won’t lie – but those stories felt like they were darker explorations of the holiday and/or were written in a way that wouldn’t suit me well as a reader. Sometimes the stories I find I am motivated to read in Fantasy realms are not well suited due to their darker natures and/or the stories are inclusive of bookish turnoffs which leave them on the shelf for others to find rather than taking that journey into them myself.

This is how I came to find Anna Meriano and her delightful series – I happen to lean hard into Middle Grade and Young Adult stories when it comes to Fantasy. I find such JOY in reading these kinds of stories and so, finding A Dash of Trouble focuses on the same kind of story as Cemetery Boys – in respect that it features brujas as the other features brujos felt wickedly brilliant to me!

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #SpooktasticReads 2024
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Posted Thursday, 31 October, 2024 by jorielov in #25MinutePreview, #SpooktasticReads, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story

Happy #SpooktasticReads 2024! | Exploring ‘Hidden Universities and Schools’ as talked about during #WyrdAndWonder

Posted Wednesday, 30 October, 2024 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Wyrd And Wonder banner created by Imyril. IMAGE CREDITS: black dragon image by crosspixel on 123RF.com. Banner is used with permission.

We LOVE challenging each other during #WyrdAndWonder with prompts which inspire responses which can be taken literally by the words of the prompt itself or become explored more creatively by what sparks a response from the reader, blogger or social Fantasy lover to share with us during the month of May. This year, I’ve decided to post complimentary discussions featuring the prompts I am responding to via Instagram on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds. As it was a goal of mine last year but not one that I could fulfil properly.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I originally shared this post about ‘Hidden Universities and Magical Schools’ during #WyrdAndWonder this past May – however, I had intended to expand upon why I picked the stories I had to feature and what drew me into the stories which resonated with me to continue. However, as you might have gathered time was not on my side this year and the hours evaporated before I realised the month had concluded. I had intended to share this as a chase towards #SpooktasticReads but in the end, I’m sharing it as our lovely event starts to come to a close as Halloween is truly only hours away.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our lovely mini-event – we host 13 days every October to devour and read as much spookified reads we can lock eyes and hands upon which give us a bit of a chillingly fantastical read within the pages of Paranormal Fantasy, Cosy Horror intermixed with Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, stories of the Fae which might prove to be more Unseelie than Seelie as well as any darker corridor of Fantasy realms which might celebrate the darker veils of Autumn. It is a time to get our spook on and walk alongside witches and familiars as well as explore the stories which befit the season of changes as Summer’s wrath has led into a lovely respite of cooler weather!

I felt it would be quite fitting to re-explore this topic now as I have the tendency of reading a heap of lovely #WitchyFiction, stories of the Paranormal and Urban Fantasy during our Spooktastic Reads celebrations and events as much as Autumn is always the season in which I am in the proper mood to explore this side of Fantasy. Some of you might already be familiar with these stories – if you’ve read them or want to read them be sure to let me know in the comments.

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We all have come to love the Magical School and/or Universities as a setting in Fantasy Literature for a long time now. Many of us have travelled through popular corridors of this niche in the genre too. I have been attempting to seek out the lesser-known corridors for awhile now and my favourite discovery by far was TransWitch by E. Chris Garrison. Of which you can happily find reviewed here. It is hard to believe I visited the lovely world Ms Chris created within that University two years ago! Time has had a funny effect on me recently – as stories I think I’ve read just ‘last year’ or ‘just a few short months ago’ have the tendency of having longer distances away from me. I credit what has been going on in my personal life with my Dad – as time has been a bit of a vacuum of space these last few years.

I was truly overjoyed by my discoveries at my local library this year – as I wasn’t thinking they would have such a wide selection of choice when it comes to this topic. Mostly as my library doesn’t quite carry the larger selection of titles when it comes to certain branches of literature but every so often, they surprise me. I decided to cast a rather large net of choices and that is how I came upon the titles I showcased during #WyrdAndWonder as I responded to this prompt on the challenge this year.

Similar to other prompt responses I’ve been sharing throughout #SpooktasticReads, quite a few of the stories I’ve been smitten with to listen in full will be further explored as Autumn continues to grace us with its presence ahead of Winter. I am truly captivated by the narrators, the stories and the new voices in literature I’ve been discovering. It has been quite the lovely readathon for me and a kind respite from my work life, too.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #SpooktasticReads 2024
  • #WyrdAndWonder
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Posted Wednesday, 30 October, 2024 by jorielov in #25MinutePreview, #SpooktasticReads, #WyrdAndWonder, Jorie Loves A Story

Answering the prompt : Unseelie | Find out why #JorieReads about the fae this #SpooktasticReads!

Posted Tuesday, 29 October, 2024 by jorielov , , , , , , 2 Comments

#SpooktasticReads banner created by Imyril. Art credit: Vera Petruk (https://www.123rf.com/profile_samiramay). Banner used with permission.

We LOVE challenging each other during #WyrdAndWonder and #SpooktasticReads with prompts which inspire responses which can be taken literally by the words of the prompt itself or become explored more creatively by what sparks a response from the reader, blogger or social Fantasy lover to share with us during the months of May and October. This year, I’ve decided to post complimentary discussions featuring the prompts I am responding to via Instagram on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds. As it was a goal of mine last year but not one that I could fulfil properly.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I have been seeking out stories about the fae since I first started my journey on Jorie Loves A Story in (2013). I’ve been considerate of the different kinds of fae written about in Speculative Fiction – as it was a quick-study on my behalf to sort out the differences between the Unseelie and Seelie Courts of the fae. Yet, even then, I noticed there was a particular trend that ran through those narratives too: regardless of which Court the fae belonged there was a grey line amongst them. Meaning, not all of the fae considered Seelie are without darkness and not all of the fae considered Unseelie are without light.

All of the fae have a unique personality about them as much as inherent natures which are sometimes hard to understand as they are not entirely predictable. One of my top favourite series involving the fae is the series by Ms Chris called: the Tipsy Fairy Tale trilogy. (you’ll find all those lovely reviews, vlog interview and posts here) However, there have been other stories of the fae explored throughout the years as well. Such as reading the first novel of the October Daye series (see also this Post), Fly Free (the first novel in a trilogy) by Allison Rose (see also Review), To Court A Queen by H.L. Burke (see also Review), Silver Hollow (the first novel in the Borderlands series) by Jennifer Silverwood (see also Review), Liminal Lights (the first in a series; the only one I read as I couldn’t continue with it) by J.M. Bogart (see also Review), FAE – the anthology of short stories by World Weaver Press (see also Review) and A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court edited by Scott M. Sandridge (see also Review).

As you can see – it is quite the diverse array of stories involving the fae and quite a few series as well. This was the first year I decided to dip my toes into the Unseelie Court rather than staying within the Seelie side of the ledger. Mostly as I was charmed by the premise, and I was happy to find an #ownvoices author and story. Even the content warnings felt like ones I could handle even if a few of them gave me a bit of pause to contemplate before I purchased the audiobook. All of these stories I’ve gravitated to read held my interest for different reasons – yes, they all involve the fae in one way or another – but it was the style of voice within the narratives themselves which pulled me in their worlds. Each writer approached writing about the fae differently and that has made my journey exploring the fae so wicked amazing as I get to see different elements of the fae and their societies per each new writer who conceptionalises a way for us to see them.

I would still like to attempt to read the October Daye series with my Mum – who enjoyed the conversations I had with her about October Daye whilst I read Rosemary and Rue. Whilst I still intend to continue reading the Borderlands Saga as I purchased the third novel in the series this past May during #WyrdAndWonder (shh! I haven’t mentioned that yet!) and I also intend to purchase the second and third novels after Fly Free. Like most stories I am keen on reading – certain genres and series take me a bit longer than expected to fully engross myself into their worlds and installments. I will get to them but sometimes the timing is not my own to choose.

One thing was certain, for a reader who likes to challenge herself to go outside her comfort zone I can definitely say, I took a firm leap outside mine by purchasing Unseelie! Which I think was part of the joy for me this #SpooktasticReads in finding a novel like this one – it presented a challenge to tuck into the part of the fae I’ve explored the least and it gave me a path back into reading about the fae which I’ve longed to do since I concluded the Tipsy Fairy Tale trilogy. 

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #SpooktasticReads 2024
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Posted Tuesday, 29 October, 2024 by jorielov in #25MinutePreview, #SpooktasticReads, Jorie Loves A Story