Anna Tan's Blog, page 50

#AtoZChallenge: Eyad (an extract from Absolution)

Tulen’s eyes lingered on his face thoughtfully. “Magda is always telling me to let go.”

“Can you?”

“No.”

“Yesterday, you mentioned your brother?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“I—He died. It was my fault. I couldn’t protect him. Couldn’t save him.”

“How did he—”

“I wished him dead, so he died. He was annoying and I wanted him out of the way. It was suffocating, taking care of a little child, having to always make sure he was alright, never getting to do what I wanted. I… I hated him and I wanted him to die...

#AtoZChallenge: Dunno, Distracted, Darn

D is for dunno because I haven’t been writing as much as I wanted to and have been pretty side-tracked by a lot of random things. I should be at 4k by now (with a reduced camp nano goal) but I’m only at about 1.5k. Urgh.

I was thinking of expounding on the Devotions (part of the Blood Sacrifice/Berith Melach) but that is … kind of spoilery and I don’t know how to go about that.

SO BECAUSE I AM DISTRACTED (and obviously got my dates wrong) here's a cover reveal! (I thought today was gonna be C b...

#AtoZChallenge: Conjure

Nun was a quiet, sleepy little town. When Adam first arrived from Maha, he found it strange—and a little creepy—that he saw no one until he reached the town centre. Even if he’d been coddled in the castle, it had always been full of people—servants, ministers, lords, relatives—and the city had always been bustling with life whenever he ventured in.
The Nun Chapel, the town’s main landmark and distinguishing feature, was smaller than he expected. He stood outside for a moment, taking it in. The...

#AtoZChallenge: Berith Melach

Today’s very belated post is about Berith Melach. This started off because of this line about a Covenant of Salt in the Bible… and I took it and ran with it.
The ritual itself appears in Absolution, but the goal is that much of Rahsia's work in Secretkeeper will revolve around discovering what the Berith Melach actually entails.

Here's an excerpt of some "lost writings" around the ritual:

Intricately tied to the Blood Sacrifice, it refers to the addition of salt to the covenant, thereby binding...

#AtoZChallenge: Absolution

So this year’s A to Z theme is also my current camp nanowrimo project, sorta. Well, the world of my camp nanowrimo project would be a better description. This all happened because I already said YES to camp nano and a private cabin and then I realised but hey waiiiitttt what about A to Z? So yeah, this is me being overly ambitious. But it’s all related to the same thing, so it shouldn’t be too bad, eh? I hope?

Back in I don’t know when (I could check, but I’m too lazy), I started a novel...

#bookreview: Immortal Creators | Jill Bowers

Immortal Creators by Jill Bowers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scott Beck doesn’t want to be an Immortal Writer. Not after watching his father, Kent Beck, die defeating his own villains. Yet, there he is. His characters are coming over into the Real World and he needs his protagonists help to defeat the Betans, horrible blood-thirsty aliens, before they destroy earth.

Immortal Creators is an absolutely fun read. I liked it much better than the first one, Immortal Writers, even though I’m mostly a fant...

Mythical Doorways Blog Tour

About the Anthology
Eleven Tales of Magical, Mysterious, Mythical Doorways! 

Step through portals and into adventure as the authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy take you on another journey into fantastic worlds. Travel through time, space, and realities to encounter monsters, mechanical foxes, and the Fates themselves. You'll fly with dragons, save implausible beasts, and perhaps find your true home. Choose your path wisely, for dangers lurk in the lands beyond.

In the third anthology from...

#musicmonday: Our Happy Home | David Crowder

Hallelujah, we are on our way
Hallelujah, we are on our way to God

From Egypt lately come
Where death and darkness reign
To seek our new, our better home
Where we our rest shall gain

There sin and sorrow cease
And every conflict's o'er
There we shall dwell in endless peace
And never hunger more

Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God I were in thee
Would God my woes were at an end
Thy joy that I might see

We soon shall join the throng
Their pleasures we shall share
And sing the everlasting song
With all the ranso...

#bookreview: Megge of Bury Down

Megge of Bury Down by Rebecca Kightlinger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Megge of Bury Down is a story of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and facing up to hard truths. At six, Megge was too afraid to take up her mother's book and at eleven, all she can do is watch as her cousin, Brighida the golden child, shines in everything Megge has refused. She feels like an outcast, even in her own family, but cannot find the courage to do the one thing that would make a difference: open The Book of Seasons.

The...

#bookreview: Floating Petals | Leela Devi Panikar

Floating Petals by Leela Devi Panikar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Floating Petals is an eclectic mix of short stories. Shifting from slice-of-life to horror, to the almost fantastical, you're never quite sure what you'll be getting next. Despite its dreamlike title, Floating Petals isn't quite a happy book: the 14 stories contained here mostly touch on dark themes, whether its the cruelty of bound feet, unhappy marriages, murder, or death.

Actually, death features quite a lot.

Leela's prose is tight,...