#book: a spark of magic

[eternalibrairie]

if you ship drarry you should read...

the simon snow trilogy (carry on, wayward son, any way the wind blows) by rainbow rowell

all the way happy by kit coltrane

captive prince trilogy (captive prince, prince's gambit, kings rising) by c.s. pacat

dark rise trilogy (dark rise, dark heir, TBA) by c.s. pacat

malum discordiae by ashlyn drewek

sorcery and small magics by maiga doocy

sparks fly by birdie lynn

a rival most vial by: potioneering for love and profit by r.k. ashwick

a marvellous light by freya marske

in memoriam by alice winn

these violent delights by micah nemerever

red, white, and royal blue by casey mcquiston

(feel free to give me some more!)

[taiso]

yukihiro takahashi with ron and russell mael of sparks !

taken sometime during the boxing match in promotion of whomp that sucker, circa 1981.

scanned from ymo book: young muzak ojisan (1983)

[voltronthelostlion]

tell me why it never clicked to me to search up the meaning of the name Keith 🧍🏻‍♀️

(i love google) It's a Scottish surname (also first name) that originates from the Gaelic word ceiteach // ceit which means “woodland” or “forest” and how fitting is that for him?? like the moment they go to Olkarion and he's looking at the outdoors, he says, "I like it out here. It's quiet" (s2e4). I feel like there are more instances of him expressing/showing his love for the outdoors, but I can't seem to remember any ahaha.

Keith living in the desert shack in isolation after Shiro went missing on the Kerberos mission is kinda tricky, but I gotta remind myself that canonly speaking, VLD Keith is an independent guy with a big heart (he does so much sacrificing for team Voltron, and he's constantly doing stuff for the greater good). I don't think he inherently likes being alone -- the poor guy has abandonment issues, and he's so lonely my heart breaks for him -- but I definitely think he appreciates nature. He has a hard time accepting and trusting people because of how he grew up, but he's never been let down by the outdoors. I think he finds a lot of solace in it, and I love how fitting this love is with his name :)

[nerdyspies]

now that misfits and magic has sparked talk abt harry potter i get to talk abt how sick i am of how ANY media with magic gets compared to harry potter. like witch hat atiler.. its magic system is NOTHING like harry potter's, theres no school, no british ppl, NOTHING similar to harry potter and yet ive seen ppl say its lkle studio ghibi meets harry potter. like oh my god can we let hp die im SICK and TIRED

[bibliophilicwitch]

in my spreadsheet era

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

so i'm writing an 8th year fic and h&d are taking a muggle studies class together in which they read one of shakespeare's plays, and i'm trying to write a final project (for which they are partners) but like. hogwarts academics don't seem all that uhhhhh rigorous to me (like we see the students complaining about having to write a foot of parchment which is essentially ONE PAGE HANDWRITTEN) and i'm a little worried that my assignment is too rigorous.

it involves a lot of like. thinking analytically and using your imagination wrt the motivations of people unlike yourself, and that's not rlly something they do much at hogwarts as far as i can see. BUT it is muggle studies, and like. they could definitely all use some practice at those skills, following the recent implosion of their society.

[bookishbethanyerin]

• july reading wrap-up •

At the start of the month, I set out to read more fantasy – there are so! many! fantasy, romantasy, and paranormal romance series I want to read, and though I love these genres, I often feel like I need to be in the right mood for them. Which means they often end up languishing on my TBR despite the fact that I hear amazing things about them.

And while I did not read more fantasy books than contemp romances, I did read a whole bunch of them, so I’m counting it as a win. And! I read my first Lisa Kleypas historical romance, so you know – look at me branching out a bit.😎

And in addition to ~all that~, I’ve also started writing an F1 sports romance that is fueled by female rage.✌️

July!

[rachel-sylvan-author]

"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo book recommendation by Rachel Sylvan

[mxxnlightwriting]

happy sts !

i saw on your intro post of A Spark of Magic that you do playlists for your wips. i'd love it if you shared some of them and if you told us your thoughts about crafting them :]

writblr: @vsnotresponding

Hello! Happy STS to you too ☺️

Thank you so much for your question! I love music (I'm always listening to it), so I try to create a playlist for my WIPs as soon as I start working on them. My playlists tend to be messy because they're a collection of songs that help me brainstorm the story, remind me of a certain character, or would be part of a specific scene I want to write/have already written.

My playlists, much like my manuscripts, also have several drafts/versions. The first one tends to be an eclectic collection of all the songs that remind me of said WIP, but as I finalise the manuscript and finish its structural edits, I usually remove songs until only the "official soundtrack" remains.

How I choose which song fits and which song depends on whether it makes sense sonically with the tone of the story and whether or not it relates to a scene or character.

I'll share more details about the playlist of A Spark of Magic below but I didn't go more in-depth with other WIPs because I'd make this super long, but I've linked them too in case you want to check them out/listen to them!

✨ A Spark of Magic

A Spark of Magic has some mysterious vibes and magic, but since its main characters are teenagers and it's set in our world (in a small town located near the mountains), I wanted the playlist to reflect that atmosphere and vibe.

The first playlist I created for this WIP had about 26 songs. You can find it here, and you'll notice I've renamed it to A Spark of Magic Series because this is where I'll add all the songs that will inspire/influence this series.

The final version, and the one I've included in the book (I include playlists in my books), only has 10 songs. These songs are organised chronologically so they either match events of the book and/or an inner struggle of the character, kind of like a soundtrack. You can listen to this final version here, and you'll see it's much shorter but also more cohesive sonically (I think).

🍰 Not Another Cinderella Story

As the placeholder name suggests, this WIP is a Cinderella retelling, but this one is set in modern times and in a fictional European country named Tudal. I wanted this playlist to have some sweet vibes (with its fair share of heartache), so I've included some songs that have fairy tale vibes. Those include Bewitched by Laufey, Enchanted (Taylor's version) by Taylor Swift, and Slow Burn by Kacey Musgraves.

You can listen to the full playlist here but this isn't organised properly yet so it's a big mess!

🏙️ Risky Business

This is the playlist I created for my adult contemporary serial, and I'm mostly sharing it because it's currently my longest playlist (it has 213 songs). This serial takes place in a cosmopolitan city and it features six different points of view, so it has an even bigger collection of songs that reflect all their storylines and moments. You can listen to it here, but as I said, it's very long (and messy).

I have many other playlists for my never-ending WIPs, but hopefully, this gives you an idea of how music influences my process!

What about you, does music have any influence on your writing process?

I wish you a lovely day/night!

[stardustandrockets]

Coming up with questions is hard, ask me anything.

I've been seeing Peince of the Sorrows everywhere. I believe Rainbow Crate us the 3rd box I've seen feature it now? Which is cool for indie authors when their books get featured. I'm excited to read it because it sounds right up my alley. I'm happy to have this gorgeous edition in my collection!

Alternate dust jacket art by @houda_belgharbi.art, foiled hardcase by @jamielynnlano, and end papers by @morlev_art

Book also includes ruby gilded edges, a sneak peak at book 2, bound-in author letter, and signed art bookplate

[ephemeralencounters]

@laughingmagi asked: ❛for being someone you hate, i'm sure on your mind a lot.❜ (sorry Zee, he sucks~)

"Maybe if you stopped showing up on my doorstep like a wounded cat 24/7, I'd have the time to stop thinking about you. I'm not heartless enough to send you back to the streets when you look like you lost a fight."

If he kept getting on her nerves though, she might consider smacking him upside the head before she began patching him up. Zatanna really needed to stop helping him out. John was more trouble than he was worth and every time he stopped by her place, she ended up dragged into whatever mess he'd gotten himself into. Did she even want to ask him what'd happened?

[izzys-issues]

59. Magic [Boom Studios] 1

(April 2021)

RATING: 6 🥷Failed Assassinations out of 10

It's hard for me to be but so objective because I've been a pretty avid MtG player for over a decade, therefore I feel that it's only fair to rate my favorite and least favorite things twice. One set will be how the comic stands on its own, the other is how it serves as a continuation of the post-War of the Spark main storyline. The comic feels like it is in a weird space, both trying to be a stepping on point for people unfamiliar to the IP and also entice long-term fans of the franchise and falls a bit flat on both ends of the spectrum. The art is really good, even if seeing the characters in the more cartoony Boom Studios style as opposed to the more painted look that is pretty homogeneous across the cards and this cover is a bit different, but I love that each of the three main characters has a background accent color unique to them.

FAVORITE: The first 4 pages are exposition and help to quickly establish some background lore and explain some key terms to get newcomers familiar with the plane of Ravnica.

FAVORITE (MtG): This exploration of how the Blind Eternities are presented to each Planeswalker individually is FANTASTIC. I can only think of a couple other times where the stories mention the appearance of the Eternities to any capacity and it's usually when the character in question is seriously hurt or when the Eldrazi Titans are around. The fact that their powers so thoroughly impact how they see the fabric of the Multiverse is such a radical little touch

LEAST FAVORITE: it's a 26 page issue with 5 splash pages / two-page spreads with very little text on them.

LEAST FAVORITE (MtG): It's always Ravnica. There are like 70+ named planes and WoTC is so hesitant to go anywhere but Ravnica.

[desdasiwrites]

– Penn Cole, Spark of the Everflame

[shannonbarczak]

A Spark of Enthrallment Released!

I cannot even begin to express to you how excited I am that A Spark of Enthrallment has been released! I feel like I wrote this book ages ago and to finally be able to share it is a glorious feeling. I had originally planned to release it in July before our big Uni trip to London for our daughter, but I suppose life happened, and it just was not ready in time. This book was so enjoyable to…

[adizzyninja]

Thinking over The Locked Tomb books and I love how clear it is that Thanergy, the magical death fuel for necromancy, is an inherently unsustainable energy. It’s meant to be this transitory little spark, a quick byproduct of the transition to death. Analogous to the way an actual fire burns out.

But it’s being artificially extended and induced in the entire solar system by one guy whose massive distaste for change is keeping everything held together and alive even when it totally shouldn’t be.

Just really appreciate how “necromancy as a rejection of change” is apparent in even the basic foundations of how the magic works.

[bookliteratibookreviews]

Sparks of Bright Matter by Leanne O'Donnell

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Eriu (11 April 2024)Language ‏ : ‎ EnglishHardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pagesISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1804184128ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1804184127Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.2 x 3.1 x 24 cm Book Blurb In 18th century London, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of knowledge is deadly. When ambitious apprentice chemist and secret alchemist Peter Woulfe is tasked with caring for a mysterious illustrated…