#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:
- Top Ten Reasons Why “Pride and Prejudice”
never fails to win a reader’s heart even as its respun by Elizabeth Adams- Top Ten Secrets Behind the Tobacconist’s Wife by AnneMarie Brear
- Top Ten Secrets of Surviving in the Verin Empire by William Ray
- A Hauntingly Brilliant #TopTenTuesday during #SpooktasticReads! by A. Lawrence
- The Top Ten Dragon Favourites of Jackie Gamber
- Jorie’s #TopTenTuesday DiverseLit stories
Jorie felt deeply connected to whilst reading!? (*bookdrive for a library)- The Top Ten #INSPY #HistRom & #RomSusp Jorie definitely wants to read in [2020]
- Jorie’s #TopTenTuesday Stories
which I’ve loved reading involving ghosts, spirits and souls- Jorie’s Favourite #newtomeauthors of 2019!
- For #SciFiMonth: Bending Time and becoming a time traveller
Boldly reading Indie and Small Press Speculative Fiction
during the 10 years of #SciFiMonth or outside of it | Hostess List
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
