Wyrd and Wonder : a month-long celebration of #Fantasy (annually in MAY)

Wyrd and Wonder banner created by Imyril and used with permission.

A month-long event celebrating the fantastical worlds we all love to imagine as if they were bonefide places we could visit IRL. This is an event to focus on the breath-takingly epic world-building by the writers of FANTASY who re-elevate our readerly lives with their capacity for bridging reality & fantasy together in such a way as to give us a *pause of breath!* to drink in the magical realms they’ve endeavoured to present to us with the breadth of WONDER which will live within our hearts long after we conclude their stories and/or series.

This is the month [MAY] to share your bookishly geeky LOVE of #Fantasy – from the stories which first inspired you by their characters straight out of mythological lore to the realms of the fey and beyond – where the hobbits & the wizards happily reside alongside each other.

IF your familiar with my passionate love of Science Fiction – as I participate in #RRSciFiMonth every year – you’ll be happily surprised to know my passion for Speculative Lit extends into the fantastical realms as well! I do not oft get the pleasure of joy to consume a lot of Fantasy reads as my main focus has been for SF these past four years; thus, prior to speaking to Imyril & Lisa during our co-hosting duties for Sci Fi Month {2017} – I envisioned a #FantasyMonth for February a few years ago. I went so far as to see if I could use a hashtag on Twitter by the two girls’ who had started a fantasy celebration of their own; despite a positive response from one of them, I never had the ability to pull this together. In essence, I placed my goal on the back-burner.

One of my favourite authors for Fantasy is Kate Elliott – an author I discovered when I was seventeen with her Crown of Stars series. In the years since then I have come to appreciate the following authors of whom I’ve had the pleasure of finding due to being a book blogger:

  • E. Chris Garrison – with her wonderfully humourous & quirky Urban Fantasy series “Tipsy Fairy Tales” (see archive)
  • Jackie Gamber – with her entry into #dragonfiction which is my beloved #LelandDragons (see archive)
  • Hannah L. Clark – her beautiful world of Cobbogoth (see review)
  • AshleyRose Sullivan – with her wicked style of Superhero Fiction within the Awesome Jones series (see archive) *new review of the sequel this *March!
  • Alyssa Thiessen – with her incredible ‘Dragonfly’ (see review)
  • Kristen Hunt – with her Indigenous peoples Fantasy ‘Blonde Eskimo’ (see review)
  • Laura Stoddard – with her inventive “The Dreamosphere” (see review)
  • Kaki Olsen – who re-invents ‘Swan Lake’ with her version w/in the fantastical drama of “Swan & Shadow” (see review)
  • A.E. Decker – with a humourous style & fantastical world (see review)
  • D.E. Night – with her inventive world of Croswald (see review)
  • Terry Maggert – with his cheeky Urban Fantasy series Halfway Witchy (see archive) + his Dark Fantasy ‘Heartborn’ (see review)
  • & anthologies such as: Fae (see review); A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court (see review); Darkness with a Chance of Whimsy (see review) & Gifts of the Magi (see review). The anthologies of Corvidae (see review) & Scarecrow (see review) parlay into Cosy Horror with fantastical elements within their scope.

NOTE: I haven’t listed the entries into *Magical Realism* which I love to read as well as I’m going to write a post about this sub-genre for #wyrdandwonder! You can get an inside edge though knowing which story crafters entice me with these kinds of stories by disappearing into my archives for them!

I welcome you to visit my posts & share your thoughts – if they are authors you’ve loved reading yourself and/or if they are #newtomeauthors you’ve never had the chance to read. Let’s start chattering about #Fantasy ahead of #WyrdAndWonder!

As you leave me notes be sure to clue me into which writers of Fantasy should be on *my radar!* – I might surprise you & pick a few to read during #wyrdandwonder! Kindly share a link to your thoughts about the stories/series when you comment if your a book blogger!

Fast forward – this past November, I found two like-minded souls in Lisa & Imyril – who like me, love their Fantasy as much as their Sci-Fi and felt it was high time *someone!* put together an EVENT which could be anchoured approx. six months apart (after & before) Sci Fi Month! Through our convo on Twitter we gave birth to *WYRD & WONDER*!

Leading up to the even itself, I’ve decided to do promo posts on *Fridays!* calling them #FantasyFriday to discuss #WyrdAndWonder & talking about why I love #amreading #Fantasy! Starting 16th of Feb!

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My lovely co-hosts have announced Wyrd & Wonder on their lovely blogs – be sure to visit all of us in order to share your thoughts & let us know what you think about the EVENT! You’ll find Lisa @EffingRainbow (post) & Imyril @imyril (post)

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Here is what you need to know:

Who can take part?

YOU! This is an open event – anyone can jump on board at any time. There’s no obligation – you can just read what other people post, or you can join a chat for a bit, or you can write enough blog posts to rival the biggest fantasy doorstop.

How can I take part?

Follow our Twitter feeds via @WyrdAndWonder + our tag #WyrdAndWonder whilst sign-up to participate via the form linked below! Come May, we’ll be sharing links to your blog posts, hosting Twitter chats (Jorie is esp keen on the sub-genre of Fantasy she’s selected to host!) and you’re welcome to spread the fantasy love across whatever social media channels you like to use. We are even thinking of having book photo challenges for those who socially engage via #Bookstagram + Twitter – as some of us chose one over the other.

What will be going on?

Well it’s a bit early to say, but we’ll publish a schedule closer to the time so you can see what’s going on – and so you can add links to your planned posts.

Sign me up!

→ There’s no deadline for signing up – if you only hear about this on the second-last day of May, you’re still welcome.

Got any questions or want to bounce around some ideas?

→ Contact @wyrdandwonder on Twitter or drop us an email at wyrdandwonder(at)onemore.org

Feel free to tweet a s/o to one of the hosts to ask Qs ahead of the event as well! Be sure to use the tag #wyrdandwonder as your convo’ing us – this way, the tag will start to generate interest by others who might be keen on the idea of month dedicated to FANTASY!

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Kindly help spread the news of #wyrdandwonder by either Retweeting our tweets or crafting your own:

don’t forget to use our tag #wyrdandwonder

as you start to engage on Twitter or instagram!

Nose Graze Divider No. 4 provided by Nose Graze and used with permission.

{SOURCES: Nose Graze Divider No. 4 provided by Nose Graze. Wyrd and Wonder banner and badge created by Imyril and are used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.

Book & Author Recommendations arriving via Twitter: