The Qwillery

Qwill:

The Qwillery is 10 years old as of October 1st. I actually forgot until I was chatting with Mihir Wanchoo of Fantasy Book Critic. Thank you for tweeting about it, Mihir!

This year has been incredibly challenging for me in terms of work / life / blog balance. I have a new job which requires a much longer commute than my old job so that is time lost for non-work related things. I'm still reading and writing reviews, of course, but not as many as I'd like. Additionally, I am near the end of reading the slush pile for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) and we will be announcing our semi-finalists soon. Let me say that this is the toughest year so far for SPFBO. There are too many good books. I know, not really a problem!

So I feel a bit like I'm not doing as much for The Qwillery and its readers as I should. Hopefully, everything will sort itself and I'll be able to do that soon. In the meantime, I'm probably not going to post much on weekends so I have time for my family and reading.

I want to thank my reviewers, Tracey, Melanie, Doreen, Deb, and Jennifer for their hard work. I need to send all of you books to review. Thank you to Brannigan who is a reviewer emeritus now. You are always welcome here.

Thank you to my fellow Speculative Fiction bloggers. You inspire me daily to keep going.

Thank you to all of the authors and publicists who have been so patient with me getting questions to them over the last few months and probably for the next few months.

And a huge thank you to The Qwillery's wonderful readers. You have no idea how much you all mean to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

BTW, giveaways below!


Tracey:

Book Expo America was held this past May 30 through June 1st at the Javits Center in New York City. BEA is an annual event where authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, distributors, literary agents and others in the literary world can meet face-to-face and discuss what's new in publishing, establish contacts, and really take the pulse of new trends in the marketplace.

One of my favorite things about covering this event for The Qwillery is meeting authors and talking about their books. My typical day at Book Expo is filled with discovering debut authors, learning what's next on the horizon for favorite authors, and connecting with publishers. Of course, the opportunity to get books signed by the author and/or illustrator is always a thrill. This year was no exception.

It's always a pleasure to see Chuck Wendig author of the Star Wars Aftermath trilogy, the Miriam Black thrillers, and The Heartland Trilogy among others. Chuck was on hand to sign copies of his Damn Fine Story: Mastering the Tools of a Powerful Narrative. Writers from teens to nonagenarians will pick up great writing tips while being highly entertained by Wendig's sense of humor and pop fiction references.








Charlie Jane Anders, 2017 Nebula Award winning author for best novel, All the Birds in the Sky, was signing an excerpt from her new YA sci-fi trilogy entitled The City in the Middle of the Night set for a publication date of January 15, 2019 by Tor Books. I had a chance to read this sneak peek into her next series and it promises to be both exciting and thought-provoking; I have already it put on my TBR list.








I was super excited to get a signed copy of Furyborn by Claire Legrand. Furyborn is the story of two very different women; the Sun Queen the and the Blood Queen. Legrand did the coolest thing: she brought a red and a gold sharpie and autographed each book according to the vibe the person gave off. Mine was autographed in gold, ala Sun Queen, and that plus its gorgeous cover, inspired me to read this book as soon as I got home. Review to follow at a later post but I will say I flew through the pages. It was a welcome excuse to stay off my sore feet after a long weekend at the Javits, and I was swept into Legrand's world with pleasure.





Also seen:

Seth Dickinson, author of The Masquarade series - The Traitor Baru Cormorant and The Monster Baru Cormorant

Kristi Charish, author of The Owl Series and the Kincaid Strange Series - Voodoo Killings and Lipstick Voodoo

Charles Soule, author of The Oracle Year (debut)

Hester Fox, author of The Witch of Willow Hall (debut)

Deborah Harkness with Time's Convert

S. L. Huang, author of Zero Sum Game (debut)

We have two glorious BEA giveaways to help celebrate The Qwillery's 10th Blogversary. The first consists of some delicious book related loot and YA books.

Fresh Ink: An Anthology - signed ARC by Nicola Yoon, author of short story 'Super Human'

A signed Uncorrected Proof of Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

A Curse So Dark and Lonely ARC signed by author Brigid Kemmerer

See description below.

Description: Bookmark and sticker from Claire Legrand's Furyborn: the "Winter is a Scream" pin collection from Penguin Random House Canada, bookmark and pin from When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer, along with a purple Hachette "On the Go" slingpack (not pictured) (Authors not included in giveaway)





The second giveaway from BEA:

A signed a copy of Fade to Black by Heather Graham

A signed ARC of Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

A signed Uncorrected Proof of The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

A signed Uncorrected Proof of The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas

And two giveaways from The Qwillery (not from BEA):



Tomorrow Factory: Collected Fiction by Rich Larson

and

The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 3, Edited by Neil Clarke








Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy 1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

and

The Song of All (The Legacy of the Heavens 1) by Tina LeCount Myers






The Giveaway Rules

What: 4 Giveaways: Giveaway 1, Giveaway 2, Giveaway 3. and Giveaway 4. You can only win one of the giveaways!

How: You must do the following 2 things:

• Leave a comment listing the giveaways in your order of preference. (E.g., 1, 2. 3, 4 or 4, 1,2, 3, etc.)
  
  NOTE: Four commenters names will be randomly chosen. Commenters must list the giveaways in their order of preference in your comment! If you do not list the giveaways in order of preference your entry will not be counted. The first commenter chosen will get his/her first choice, the second commenter chosen will get the highest of his/her choices that has not been given away, etc. until all 4 giveaways have been given away.


• Send an email to theqwillery . contests @ gmail.com [remove the spaces]
  
  In the subject line, enter “Anniversary“ with or without the quotation marks.
  
  In the body of the email, please provide your name and full mailing address. The winning address is used only to mail the novel(s), etc. and is provided The Qwillery only for that purpose. All other address information will be deleted by The Qwillery once the giveaway ends.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address.  Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Sunday, October 20, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Today The Qwillery is nine years old. It snuck up on me again. I totally forgot as usual. I'm not much for celebrations of birthdays, etc. so I generally forget most of them. Facebook reminded me that today was the blog's birthday.

I'd like to thank everyone who stops by and reads, my reviewers / editors, the publishers, and the authors. I couldn't continue to do any of this without all of you!

THANK YOU!


Will consult with The Qwillery crew and come up with a suitable celebration for a nine-year-old! Thank you again!

The Qwillery is 8 years old today. I can't believe it! As I've mentioned on previous anniversaries, the blog originally was not devoted to books. That changed in May 2010. It's gone from a one person operation to now include 6 reviewers. A big thank you to Tracey, Melanie, Brannigan, Doreen, Jennifer, and Deb. They are all fabulous reviewers and enrich my experience at The Qwillery.

I'm always thinking about what I can change, add or make better at The Qwillery. If you have any suggestions please let me know! I do want to add more reviewers to handle the very large number of books we receive each month. I have other changes in mind, but more on those some other time.


What is most important for me today is to say "Thank you".

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you who read, comment, stop by, and support The Qwillery.

Thank you to all the terrific authors who answer my questions every year and write wonderful and interesting blog posts.

Thank you to the Debut authors who are featured each year in the Debut Author Challenge and then keep coming back year after year for additional interviews or posts.

Thank you to my kids in general and for understanding when I'm working on the full monthly release lists (they take a lot of time).

Thank you to everyone who has in any way been involved with The Qwillery.

The Qwillery would not be what it is without all of you. Here's to another 8 years!

Sally / Qwill

Dear Readers,

The Qwillery is 5 years old today!

The Qwillery was not originally a speculative fiction blog, but became one in middle of 2010 and The Qwillery has evolved over time, adding the yearly Debut Author Challenge, ParaCozyMysMo, and recently reviewers. The Qwillery will continue to evolve. The traditional gift for a 5th Anniversary is wood. Since most paper is made from wood pulp, it is remarkably appropriate for The Qwillery. We'll be celebrating throughout the month with giveaways!

Today I just want to say thank you to The Qwillery's readers and followers. We've had over 609,000 pageviews (the vast majority since the blog changed its focus in 2010). We have over 5000 followers via various channels (RSS, email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). We have had visitors from almost every country on the planet. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'd like to thank my reviewers - Melanie, Trinitytwo and Rebe for coming on board and helping improve The Qwillery. I am deeply grateful to each of you for the help and support you give me with the blog.

While there have been times in the last 2 years that I was not sure the blog would survive due to real life issues, I am so glad that you all stuck with The Qwillery and are here to celebrate the first 5 years with me. I hope that all of you are with me for the next 5 years and beyond.

Sincerely,

Sally / Qwill

Peridot Swarovski crystal is the foundation of this necklace. An Art Nouveau Lily pendant 

holds a large crystal teardrop, while a pewter angel looks on. 16"

Silver plate chain holds a pewter Celtic knot with a sterling silver quill and ink charm 

dangling below.. A pewter bat charm highlights.

Nestled among silver plate chain are brilliant purple "tanzanite" colored Swarovski crystals and a Victorian style hand . This is all held together by a pewter scrolled Victorian flower pendant. 

Swaying from the pendant is a large teardrop Swarovski crystal of the same color. 16 1/2"

Brass chain holds a pendant made of altered art and watch ephemera.

Silver plate chain holds a pewter Celtic knot with a sterling silver quill and ink charm 

dangling below.. A pewter bat charm highlights.

Brass chain holds a pendant made of altered art and watch ephemera.

Peridot Swarovski crystal is the foundation of this necklace. An Art Nouveau Lily pendant 

holds a large crystal teardrop, while a pewter angel looks on. 16"

Nestled among silver plate chain are brilliant purple "tanzanite" colored Swarovski crystals and a Victorian style hand . This is all held together by a pewter scrolled Victorian flower pendant. 

Swaying from the pendant is a large teardrop Swarovski crystal of the same color. 16 1/2"

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*