#Author Leigh Roman

[jolenes-book-journey]

CL Roman Clay County Florida Author

Interview Questions What’s your favorite and least favorite part of publishing? My favorite part is plotting the stories and then bringing them to life. There is so much scope and joy in the writing process for me. My least favorite part is marketing, but without it, the books don’t get discovered, so I do my best. How important was professional editing to your book’s development? A professional…

[books-coffee-and-the-woods]

re: 2023 new releases. hope you're ready for a long message because there were a lot.

hot new releases/things that were relatively popular

He Who Drowned The World, Shelley Parker Chan (Chinese mythological historical, very gay, very stabby a la Baru Cormorant. Book 2 of 2. A particular favorite of mine from this year)

Witch King, Martha Wells (New fantasy book by author of murderbot fame. I didn't actually click with this one but I'd be remiss to leave it off)

House With Good Bones, T Kingfisher (Southern gothic rose horror by the very talented Ursula Vernon)

Translation State, Ann Leckie (high sf alien horror regency romance. Wheeeeee. I had a lot of fun reading this. You can read it as a standalone, but you get deeper context if you've read the ancillary justice series, also highly recommended)

Will of the Many, James Islington (futuristic roman empire aesthetic rigged murder school. Not precisely good but appallingly catchy, I read all six hundred pages in pretty much one sitting. If you liked red rising you'll like this, if you hated red rising you will Not)

OH YEAH THE ACTUAL NEW MURDEBOT NOVEL (System Collapse)

A Power Unbound, Freya Marske (book 3 of 3, magic alt edwardian romances with murder. This is more romance proper but it's about equal with the action plot and Marske is very good. I don't think you've read these so you'd have to start at book 1)

Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (The book that absolutely knocked my socks off, my pick for the best sff release of the year. I forget if I've already told you about this one)

Starling House, Alix Harrow (Southern gothic house drama. Similar feel to Ninth House or The Book of Night)

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty (Divorced lady pirate adventure-drama a la Arabian Nights.)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (Charming, heavily fairy tale trope themed, vaguely reminiscent of the Lady Trent books)

more obscure new releases from this year that I thought were cool, but not in the Hot New Reads You Can't Miss Because Everyone's Read Them category

Under Fortunate Stars, Ren Hutchings (sf timey wimey space shenanigans with aliens. Immensely cool premise.)

Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater (fallen angel sent to tempt a too good mortal. Extremely charming)

The King Is Dead, Naomi Libicki (vaguely persian flavored fealty romance, very heavy to the fealty. Original, thorny, and intriguing)

The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei (What if we terribly traumatized everyone going on a generation ship by making them go to viciously competitive boarding school together and then act surprised when a murder mystery occurs. Heads up that it's more interested in the human drama than the SF worldbuilding)

The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (early modern fantasy world anti-imperialism fever dream narrated by a cult survivor. Brilliantly written, spectacularly original, one of the best books I read this year)

Things for 2024, content warning for being (obviously) things I haven't read and thus without quality control

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden

The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P Djeli Clark

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan

Goddess of the River, Vaishnavi Patel

The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo

Exordia, Seth Dickinson

A Sorceress Comes To Call, T Kingfisher

Running Close To The Wind, Alexandra Rowland

Wow tumblr just lets me keep writing words. I didn't think they let me have this many in asks. Oh, and pro tip-- keep an eye out for tordotcom's most anticipated upcoming books for the first six months of 2024. They should be publishing it within the next week or so and I always add masses of books to my tbr from there.

oh holy crap, thanks!! I'll have to check these out!

thoughts on a few of em:

He Who Drowned The World - still have to read She Who Became the Sun lol but hopefully I'll get to em next year!

Witch King - Martha Wells has been recced by like All my sci-fi mutuals now lmao I REALLY gotta get into her!

House With Good Bones - THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY ON MY SHELF!! I just didn't fucking read it this year whoops. Very excited for new Kingfisher

Starling House - I was on the fence about this one since I really didn't like Once and Future Witches, but those comparisons give me hope! I'll add it to the library list!

Some Desperate Glory and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries are 2/3 of the books published in 2023 that I actually managed to read (the 3rd is The Woman in Me lmao), I can't remember if you recc'd Some Desperate Glory, but it was SOOOOOOOO GOOD OMFG

Small Miracles - my aunt has been trying to convince me to read Atwater for quite a while, I'll have to give this one a try!

The Saint of Bright Doors - I have this one on hold!! Saw a post for it a week or so ago and it sounds absolutely delightful!

The Familiar - SO SO EXCITED for this one! I hope Bardugo is maybe...slowly....extricating herself from the Grishaverse and going to write more books not related to it... (not that they're all bad, I loved the Six of Crows duology, I'm just not into it anymore and I reeeealllly like her adult books lol)

Running Close To The Wind - oh yay new Rowland! I still haven't read her last book (the one with the guy on the cover who looked EXACTLY like my boss to the point where it became an Office Meme that [Boss] Is A Gay Romance Cover Model, still meaning to get a UK version of it but haven't yet) but I'll have to look this one up!

[dedalvs]

Just learned from another answer that you're involved with the languages in Shadow & Bone, so I'd like to ask you about something that's been eating away at my enjoyment of the show.

I realise that you're probably not involved in this particular linguistic aspect of the show, but maybe it came up while you worked on the languages: the fictional countries and their languages are clearly based on existing European (and neighbouring) regions. Why is everything pronounced like it's English, though? (For example, Genya doesn't get the g sound the name has in Slavic languages.)

Part of it is because the names are the way Leigh pronounces them. She wrote the books, she created the names, she gets to say how they're pronounced. But maybe I should back up. The show Shadow and Bone is based on a book series written by Leigh Bardugo. She created the stories and characters. This is why her pronunciations are important.

Now that is also filtered through the fact that on the show, there isn't anyone to ensure consistency. The same character's name is sometimes pronounced two different ways in the same scene. Either no one noticed, or no one cared. That's life. For what it's worth, we did produce a pronunciation guide at the very beginning, so that, at least, all the names would be pronounced consistently. I've been on a set, though. A single piece of paper can be important for like ten minutes, but then something happens, and pretty soon the whole world has shifted.

For authors and future authors on here, though, a great way to avoid this is to not base your names or languages on existing names or languages. It's a fantasy world. It should be original. Also, the way you spell things in the Roman alphabet should be consistent and obvious. Don't be cute. It doesn't matter how your name looks on the page if it's adapted for the screen. Your name with three x's and an apostrophe is neither cool nor original. You make think it looks cool, but if you actually spell it the way it's pronounced, your readers will end up thinking that looks cool, because it's not the look of the name that's important: it's the character.

For more on naming, I wrote up an essay called "Names Aren't Neutral" which you can read here.

[moreaujeans]

hi Leigh!! 10, 16, 32 for the book asks?

10. Favorite classical literature.

if by classical we mean ancient greek/roman literature then the odyssey. if by classical we just mean classics then prrrobably les mis no it doesn’t matter that i Still have not finished it it’s fine <3

16. Favorite trilogy.

literally both of these are such bad answers but probably the infernal devices or all for the game 😭 this ask made me realize i really haven’t read many trilogies in recent years it’s pretty much all been standalones and series and duologies. and most of what few trilogies i have read since like. middle school i haven’t really enjoyed (tatbilb, tgt, tdt, etc were all pretty disappointing). also not sure if i can even count aftg now since sunshine court is listed as aftg #4 but. whatever okay anyway does anyone have trilogy recs

32. Name your favorite author(s).

answered here!

— bookworm asks!

[wannab-urs]

2 and 4 and 12 please and thank you dear twin of mine

Hello darling twin :)

2. Did you reread anything? What?

I reread Jane Eyre and I think that was my only reread. I’m a frequent rereader so that’s kind of surprising.

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Rachel J. Roman in the (fantasy) romance genre and Leigh Bardugo for fantasy

12. Any books that disappointed you?

The Secret History by Donna Tartt was nowhere near as good as I was told it would be. And booktok really hyped up Haunting Adeline so imagine my surprise when I found out it’s a weird QAnon fantasy disguised as a romance.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Waiting until they find out The Rats was already announced and filmed before S&B season 2 even came out, that those characters have existed since 1995 and that heist plots are generic af. They are not serious people.

Heist plots ARE so generic, which is why I never got the hype for SoC, tbh? I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked it, it was good (I didn't like the sequel nearly as much) but it just... didn't seem THAT original. It was a heist. It actually followed a pretty generic Ocean's 11-type plot (the lead guy found everyone with particular skills, with a center moment on each one) which is also very generic heist. Even Kaz's no-touch policy is actually something you can find fairly often in romance novels, especially historicals. I can think of two off the top of my head, one of which (possibly both) was published by a pretty popular author well before SoC.

Leigh is a good writer (she's grown a lot--I like the early SoB books, but they weren't super well-written, especially compared to her later work) but I've always thought that a big reason why her books took off is that they drew from areas that were not super well-covered in YA fantasy at the time. Most books were based in generally Western-European based medieval inspo, which to be fair... is a lot of fantasy. There was a hint of Roman inspo (The Winner's Curse comes to mind) but Leigh got definitely published before a more recent trend of Asia-inspired YA fantasies (which imo also made the Shu stuff less remarked upon, along with general racism and ignorance among readers). Leigh's books weren't the first do crib from Russia, but they were the biggest, and many followed in suit. Tbh, they were SO specific that sometimes I found them problematic, and I actually really disliked the portrayal of the Shu from day one. Like, young me put the first book down and did an angry review of it on GR because of that, and... she was right.

And then Ketterdam was just a total rip of Dutch Golden Age-era Amsterdam, but tbh I think that many YA readers are not as aware of 17th century Netherlands stuff (which was, ironically, one of My Specialties in college lol) so it seemed even more original~ than S&B.

[rabtbooktoursandpr]

Cover Reveal: Chasing Shadows by A. C. Adams #comingsoon #coverreveal #mystery #thriller #fiction #rabtbooktours @PublishingAcorn

  Mystery/Thriller/Commercial Fiction Date Published: April 25th, 2025 Publisher: Acorn Publishing   When renowned professor Dr. Aidan Ryan vanishes without explanation, he leaves behind a haunting message revealing he has a new life and can never return. His devastated daughter Sofia embarks on a global search to uncover the truth behind her father’s disappearance. What she finds is more shocking than she could have imagined—a web of family secrets and lies that challenges everything she thought she knew.  After clues send her to Italy, Sofia reconnects with her estranged mother Ella who reveals a hidden past of trauma and deceit. When they discover Aidan’s ties to The Brotherhood, an elusive, powerful society that operates in the shadows of world affairs, Sofia and Ella become ensnared in a deadly conspiracy. Trapped in ancient catacombs beneath the Roman countryside, they must face Aidan’s mysterious captors and fight for their lives. But as they edge closer to escape, one question remains: Will Aidan choose his family or The Brotherhood? About the Author A.C. Adams is the nom de plume of co-authors Anthony Leigh Adams and Christina Adams, who have written, produced, and developed film and television projects for many studios, including Disney, ABC, and CBS.  Christina is a producer of the Emmy Award-winning series, The Amazing Race and multiple programs for Oprah Winfrey. Anthony composed the music and co-wrote the book and lyrics for their most recent theatrical project, Sideways: The Musical, which is based on the Oscar-winning film and is in development as a Broadway musical.  The Adamses also wrote and produced the original musicals Love-In: A Musical Celebration and Primal Twang: The Legacy of The Guitar. Both shows were filmed and aired nationally on PBS. Primal Twang won Best Documentary Feature at the Rome International Film Festival.  Adams Entertainment, Anthony and Christina’s production company, is based in La Jolla, California, where they work and live with their two calico rescue cats. Chasing Shadows, their debut novel, is inspired by true events. For more information visit: https://ift.tt/TLkNKOd.   Contact Links Website Facebook Facebook: Christina Adams Goodreads: A.C. Adams Instagram Anthony Adams Instagram Christina Adams Instagram Chasing Shadows via https://ift.tt/N7FDMn4

[silvestromedia]

Saint of the day August 30

STS. FELIX, PRIEST AND ADAUTTO, MARTYRS ON THE VIA OSTIENSE

Bl. Edward Shelley, 1588 A.D. English martyr of Warminghurst. He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.

Bl. Richard Leigh, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained a priest in 1586. Returning to England, he was arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Richard was beatified in 1929.

St. Richard Martin, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward. He was beatified in 1929.

St. Pelagius, Arsenius, and Sylvanus, Martyrs in Spain, they were hermits who resided in the area around Burgos, in Old Castile, who were put to death by Muslim Moors. Feastday Aug.30

St. Loaran, 5th century. Irish disciple of St. Patrick. He is sometimes listed as the bishop of Downpatrick, Ireland.

St. Rumon. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some authorities believed he is the same as the St. Ronan (June 1) venerated in Brittany and believed consecrated bishop by St. Patrick, but others believe that he and St. Kea were British monks who founded a monastery at Street Somerset.

ST. PAMMACHIUS, MEMBER OF THE ROMAN SENATE,

[zooterchet]

MC Chris Songs

"Fett's Vette": Demand to the government of Israel, that the cleaner job on Taiwan feature "Boba Fett" as son of agent, upon government readiness for military career. Mass bay evacuation, 9/11/01, junior year; release for Talmudic year.

"006": Lancaster's blood, High Scipio, however on Saul's line; refused of official service in British espionage, Cardinal Bernard Law scandal credited as Rabbi; refusal of Jewish orders, blame on Bush family as secret German honours of Kaiser Wilhelm.

"Part One": Loss of father in 9/11 attacks, grandfather sent to prison as Robert F. Kennedy's murderer, and Rabbinical bet on Bill Buckner through CVS, own stock stake, having resulted in death of aunt, Princess Diana.

Fatalities:

David Michael Charlebois: Mother, Alice, murdered through act of Roman Senate, to experiment on "Wild Bill" Hicock; old western myth, the federal marshall, intended to be a fluke accident.

Matthew John Scott Lennox: Child, inside womb of Cassie-Leigh Stock, aborted, by order of town authorities, conversion of friends to Nazi German orders, on orders of Jack Chick (MUSH founder).

Jessica Bailey Strange: Forced adoption, by Andrew Donson, United Health Associates and Gestapo police tactics training program. Placed in ceremonial blue beret and tie, sent to hunt Jake Pancho.

[sadlynotaturtle]

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY FICTIONAL CHARACTERS HAVE TO BE FICTIONAL ??

[bitter69uk]

“In the Soviet Union they considered Vivien Leigh as the greatest movie star of them all and Waterloo Bridge (1940) as one of the great films of all time. In America, they gave her the plum role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and two Academy Awards. In England she was mainly the wife of Laurence Olivier, the world’s greatest stage actor – no wonder she made so few films and had such an odd movie career. She made ten films before Gone with the Wind, ambitiously acquiring a reputation, and worked in only eight more after that epic made her world-famous – admittedly she suffered from ill-health and considered herself primarily a stage actress, but it does seem as if a fine screen talent was semi-wasted … Her movie persona was a fascinating one. Despite her incredible Dresden doll beauty, she was one of the cinema’s great not-very-nice ladies; not quite the bitch type, more the unscrupulous, wily, kittenish beauty who uses sexual attraction as a weapon to get her own way. The role of Scarlett was the greatest embodiment of this seemingly unsympathetic but actually mesmerizing personality, but virtually all her roles were this type.” 

Author Ken Wlaschin’s appraisal of brilliant, fragile and intense English stage and film actress Vivien Leigh (5 November 1913 - 8 July 1967), who died on this day 55 years ago aged 53. Leigh was one of the definitive interpreters of Tennessee Williams’ work (my all-time favourite performance of hers is in The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1961)).

[flodaya]

Any YA book recommendations?:)

always! this is just random collection of some of my timeless favourite ya books 

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - she is like my all time favourite children’s book author, i basically grew up reading her books. this one is imo her best fantasy series, it’s about a girl and her love for books, i don’t really want to say more bc i don’t want to spoil anything but it’s just so beautiful, and Cornelia Funke has an absolute stunning writing style (i hope the translation is good too)

Cemetery boys by Aiden Thomas - quite possibly my favourite book of 2020, it’s about a trans boy who wants to prove to his family that he is a real brujo by performing a certain ritual 

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo - or her other books, it’s ya contemporary, really beautifully written (her other two books are written as poetry) 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - everyone talks about the show right now but these books definitely are some of the best ya fantasy books i’ve read when i was a teen, it just has those kind of iconic characters 

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan - always, this is such a classic but it’s just really one of my favourite series and i still try to reread it at least once a year 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - i know probably 98% of the ppl on this earth have read this book or at least watched the movies but these just are those kinds of books that deserve to be hyped and read, they are the blueprint and i won’t let anyone reduce them to the love triangle 

Loveless or anything else by Alice Oseman - she just has a way of writing about teenagers in a way that makes you feel seen and understood 

Aristotle and Dante discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz - the most comfort books of all the comfort books, i reread this reguarly and every time it only takes me 1 or 2 days to get through

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - definitely should be conisdered a classic and must read. it’s about the blm movement, written really well, story is just super important 

An Ember in the Ashes by Saba Tahir - it’s like a roman spired fantasy world, it’s rather romance heavy iirc but tbh in this one i didn’t mind at all 

Poison Study by Maria V Synder - this book is so ciminally underrated and it feels like this inspired so so many ya fantasy books that came after it. it’s basically about a girl who is sentenced to death but has the choice to become a food taster instead, risking being poisoned

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson - not entirely sure if this counts as ya but the main character is a teenage girl and i personally thought it’s one of his more accessible books. it has one of my absolute favourite magic systems that basically works by swallowing different metals 

Sythe by Neal Shusterman - set in a world where death has been conquered, so now “Sythe” are responsible for making sure the world doesn’t get over-populated so they are basically playing the grim reaper killing people. the story follows two characters who are apprentices to become Sythe  

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab - she really is one of my all time favourite authors. this book is set in a city that has monsters and lots of violence. it’s about a girl who aspires to be a ruthless monster killer like her father and a boy who wants to be human and good-hearted like his father

[strangeandforlornbooks]

best books with morally ambiguous narrators!

all y’all’s problematic faves and villains! :) also included are third person narrators but in books with morally ambiguous leads/themes 

Sci-fi

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: in a future free from pain, disease, and war, people can live forever. ‘scythes’ are given the power to decide who lives and who dies to preserve the balance. sad and kinda gives of hunger games vibes, if you like that.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: basically invented the cyberpunk genre. strange and removed protagonists. (a team of computer hackers have to face off against an evil AI). you kind of dislike everyone and suddenly you’re crying over them. one of those trippy sci-fi classics.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: very beautiful and very very sad (same author as slaughterhouse five). the richest man in america has to face a martian invasion. more about free will and bad people doing good things than a plot that makes any kind of sense.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick: set in an alternate universe where the germans and japanese won world war two. not really like the tv show at all- it’s not an action story, and there’s not really the hope to somehow fix the world that drives a lot of dystopia stories. instead its about how people survive and connect to one another in a hopeless society.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: a supercomputer convinces the leaders of the world to keep the peace for hundreds of years by taking their children hostage and obliterating any city that disobeys. what happens to the hostage protagonists when war seems inevitable? lots of morally fraught decisions and characters slowly losing their identity. (plus a fun lesbian romance)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: a brilliant mathematician and a dedicated marine fight to keep the ultra secret in world war two. fifty years later,  a tech company discovers what remains of their story. one of the most memorable sequences in the book is a japanese soldier slowly becoming disillusioned with his nation and horrified by the war even as he continues to fight.

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick: another one of those sci-fi classics that’s not at all like the movie. there is a bounty hunter for robots, though, as well as a weird religion that probably is referencing catholicism and a decaying society with a shortage of pets. kind of a trip.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power: girls trapped in a boarding school on an isolated island must face a creeping rot that affects the animals and plants on the island as well as their own bodies. the protagonists will do anything to survive and keep each other safe. very tense (and bonus lesbian romance whoo)

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin: three women are gifted with the ability to control the earth’s energy in a world where those who can do so are forced into hiding or slavery. some veryyyy dark choices here but lots of strong female characters.

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: two victorian lesbians fall in love as they plot to betray each other in horrific ways. lots of plot twists, plucky thieves, gothic settings, and a great romance.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiwicz: a powerful roman soldier in the time of Nero plots to kidnap a young woman after he falls in love with her, only to learn more about the mysterious christian religion she follows. very melodramatic but some terrific prose. 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: a blind girl in France and a brilliant German boy recruited by the military struggle through the chaos of the second world war. ends with a bang (iykyk.) very sad, reads like poetry.

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang: graphic novel reveals the story of a young boy fighting in the boxer rebellion in early twentieth century china. the sequel, saints, is also excellent. beautifully and sympathetically shows the protagonist’s descent into evil- the reader really understands each step along the way.

Fantasy

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: three triplets separated at birth, each with their own magical powers, have to fight to the death to gain the throne. lots of fun honestly

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: everyone in these books is highly problematic but you love them all anyway. a ragtag game of criminals plan a heist on a magical fortress. some terrific tragic back stories, repressed feelings, and revenge schemes.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: idk how to describe these frankly but if you can put up with King’s appalling writing of female characters they’re pretty interesting. fantasy epic about saving the world/universe, sort of. cowboys and prophecies and overlapping dimensions and drug addicts galore.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: lots of fun! a twelve year old decides to summon a demon for his cute lil revenge scheme. sarcastic demon narrator. lighthearted until s*** gets real suddenly.

Elegy and Swansong by Vale Aida: fantasy epic with machiavellian lesbians and enemies to lovers to enemies to ??? to lovers. charming and exciting and lovely characters.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: an orphan boy must compete with a few others for the chance to impersonate a dead prince. really dark but very tense and exciting and good twists.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: fantasy epic. heroes overthrow an evil empire and then struggle as the revolution dissolves into warring factions. interesting world building and three dimensional characters, even if they only have a small part.

Circe by Madeline Miller: the story behind the witch who turns men into pigs in the odyssey. madeline miller really said, i just used my classics degree to write a beautiful gay love story and now im going to write a powerful feminist retelling because i can. queen. an amazing and satisfying book that kills me a lil bit because of the two lines referencing the song of achilles.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: the tragic backstory for the queen of hearts in alice in wonderland. a little predictable but very fun with a compelling protagonist

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin: ok I know we all hate GRRM and rightfully so but admittedly these books do have some great characters and great scenes. they deserve better than GRRM though. also he will probably never finish the books anyway....

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: not really fantasy but not really anything else either. plucky, intelligent, and kind children fight off evil plots for thirteen books until suddenly you realize the world is not nearly as black and white as you thought. 

Classics

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: gothic romance!! a new wife is curious about the mysterious death of her predecessor in a creepy old house in the British countryside...good twists and lovely prose.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles: not really morally ambiguous but one awful decision suddenly has awful consequences and certain people are haunted by guilt forever.... really really really beautiful and really really really sad. boys in a boarding school grow up together under the shadow of world war two.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: while imperial russia slowly decays a beautiful young woman begins a destructive affair. a long book. very russian. the ending is incredibly tense and well written.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I think you know the plot to this one. the prose is better than you remember and the last scene is always exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: one by one, the guests on an island are slowly picked off. one of Christie’s darkest mysteries- no happy ending here! very tense and great twists.

Contemporary

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: inspired the whole dark academia aesthetic. college students get a little too into ancient greece and it does not end very well. lovely prose but I found the characters unlikable.

Honorable Mentions

The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford: has literally a billion protagonists, but some of them are morally ambiguous ig? follows a few families stories’ from the 400s ad to irish independence in the 20s. beautifully captures the weight and movement of irish history.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: how morally ambiguous can you be if you’re, like, eleven? a lot if you’re a criminal genius who wants to kidnap a fairy for your evil-ish plan apparently!

Redemption by Leon Uris: literally my favorite novel ever. the sequel to Trinity but can stand alone. various irish families struggle through the horrors of world war one. the hero isn’t really morally ambiguous, but the main theme of the novel is extremely bad people suddenly questioning their choices and eventually redeeming themselves. sweeping themes of love, screwed up families, redemption, and patriotism.

The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett: heroes redeem themselves/try to get rich/try to save their country in early renaissance Europe. if I actually knew what happened in these books I'm sure it would be morally ambiguous but its too confusing for me. in each book you spend at least a third convinced the protagonist is evil, though. lots of exciting sword fights, tragic romances, plot twists, and kicking english butt.

Bonus: Protagonist is less morally ambiguous and more very screwed up and sad all the time

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: you know this one bc its quoted in all those quote compilations. basically the story of how one horrible event traumatizes a young man and how he develops a connection to a painting. really really really good.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: hard to describe but strange... not an action novel or a dystopia really but sort of along those lines. very hopeless.

[hecohansen31]

Writing Challenge

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

Since I haven’t properly celebrated my 1K (I swear I didn’t forget about it, the motivation has just been lacking), I wanted to try to do a small writing challenge, mostly because I have seen that they are pretty popular and I hope they might help you canalize some energy and not think about outside.

So, I hope you’ll like the idea and partecipate!

RULES:

You don’t have to follow me (but if you want to, I’d absolutely love it!).

You have till the 30st June, but if you need more time don’t hesitate to ask, we don’t have any hurry sweetie.

The prompts are divided in two cathegories: writing prompts based on my favorite bookish quotes,and writing prompts based on ideas more like aesthetical (that you can use as title of your fic, plot or as quotes in the fic), the latter ons can also be used my people who create moodboards/aesthetics!

You can obviously chose more than one prompt, but I’d suggest you just limit it to two prompt for fic, and also you can mix and match the two lists.

You can also choose a prompts already chosen by somebody else, just make sure you won’t be writing for the same character, so that we can have more diversity through it all.

Send me a DM/ask to let me know for which character and for which prompt you’ll like specifying the list (I won’t accept entries through reblog).

You can absolutely use your own characters other than reader inserts, and other than that you can also use other characters from the shows or not.

The characters that you can write for are: Michael Langdon, Duncan Shepherd, Jim Mason, Xavier Plympton, Any Character from ‘Vikings’, any of BIll Skarsgard Characters (Roman Godfrey, Axel Cluney, MIckey, Henry Pearl, Henry Deaver, Mark, Gordan Merkel....) Peter Rumancek.

After you are done with the fic, pubblish it, tagging me in it (if you see that I don’t reply to it please just send it to me through DMs).

If you chose a bookish prompt, please credit the author.

If you have any question you are more than welcome to DM me for any information, believe me I am absolutely more approachable than I look.

If you need a moodboard for the fics, you can also DM me to make you one.

If you want, you can absolutely share this I would love it!

And now, ladies and gentleman here are the prompts!

CONCEPTS (also for moodboards creators)

1)      A Fairy Tale With a Twist.

2)      The Bad Guy Isn’t So Bad.

3)      The One Who Stayed. by @barnzbucky​

4)      Cruel and Cold Youth.

5)      Hair of Gold and Hair of Silver.

6)      The Princess Is Bored  by @lordsexmachine​

7)      Happiness Is Not Simple.

8)      Raising Yourself From The Bed Is Actually Easier Than You Think.

9)      If Princesses Stood With Dragons, What Would Happen?

10)   Eyes That Can Charm Any Man.

11)   Love Isn’t So Bad If Mixed With Poison.

12)   The Only Fire That Burns Brighter.

13)   Lord of Nothing, Lady of Everything.

14)   Heavy Crown of Thorns, You Carry, Sir.

15)   Relaxing? More Like Hiding From The World.

QUOTES:

1)       “If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.”, “The Cruel Prince” by Holly Black. by @geekandbooknerd​

2)      “You cannot pick and choose what parts of her to love.”, “Heir of Fire” by Sarah J. Maas. by @geekandbooknerd​

3)      “Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”, “A Court of Thorns And Roses” by Sarah J. Maas. @geekandbooknerd​

4)      “Some things are destined to be -- it just takes us a couple of tries to get there.”, “Lover Mine” by J. R. Ward.

5)      “Love makes you a liar.” by Cassandra Clare by @maggiescarborough​

6)      “My soul sees its equal in you.”, “The Wrath And The Dawn” by Renee Ahdieh.by @maggiescarborough​

7)      “The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”, “Six Of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo. by @geekandbooknerd​

8)     “She burned too bright for this world.”, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte.

9)      “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”, “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott.

10)  “Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then a thousand more”, “Carmen V” by Catullus.

11)    “If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!”, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley.

12)   “I choose you over everyone.”, “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell.

13)   “You were the sun, and I was crashing into you.”, “Carry On” by Rainbow Rowell.

14)   “Don't panic. Are you sitting? You probably don't need to sit. Well, possibly. At least lean on something.”, “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Stiefvater.by @youbloodymadgenius​

15)   “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.”, “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Milller.

16)   “I appear to have misplaced the fucks I give for what you think.”, “Nevernight” by Jay Kristoff.

17)   “I lost myself the moment I found you.”, “Hot White Kiss” by J. L. Armentrout.

18)  “You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.”, “Harry Potter And The Order of The Phonix” by J. K. Rowling.

19)   “A pretty face, a devious mind and a ruthless nature.”, “Captive Prince” by C. S. Pacat.

20) “I am a bad person trying very hard to be a good person.”, “The Raven King” by Nora Sakavic by @lol-haha-joke​

21)   “I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.” “I apologize for shooting you in the leg.” (…) “I was myself entirely.”, “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V. E. Schwab.

22)  “I think you’re a fairy tale. I think you’re magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story.”, “Strange The Dreamer” by Laini Taylor by @manicpixiedreamguurl​

23)  “Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love.”, by Ovid.

Have a nice challenge sweetie!

[silvestromedia]

Saint of the day August 30

STS. FELIX, PRIEST AND ADAUTTO, MARTYRS ON THE VIA OSTIENSE

Bl. Edward Shelley, 1588 A.D. English martyr of Warminghurst. He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.

Bl. Richard Leigh, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained a priest in 1586. Returning to England, he was arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Richard was beatified in 1929.

St. Richard Martin, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward. He was beatified in 1929.

St. Pelagius, Arsenius, and Sylvanus, Martyrs in Spain, they were hermits who resided in the area around Burgos, in Old Castile, who were put to death by Muslim Moors. Feastday Aug.30

St. Loaran, 5th century. Irish disciple of St. Patrick. He is sometimes listed as the bishop of Downpatrick, Ireland.

St. Rumon. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some authorities believed he is the same as the St. Ronan (June 1) venerated in Brittany and believed consecrated bishop by St. Patrick, but others believe that he and St. Kea were British monks who founded a monastery at Street Somerset.

ST. PAMMACHIUS, MEMBER OF THE ROMAN SENATE,

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress, a child fashion model and a performer in several Broadway productions as a Ziegfeld Girl; she became a major star of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s. Her most notable films were her first major role, as Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times, and Chaplin's subsequent film The Great Dictator. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy (1881–1954), the son of a prosperous cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard (1887–1983). Her father was Jewish, her mother Episcopalian of English ancestry. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child.[11] Goddard was raised by her mother, and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous.

In a 1938 interview published in Collier's, Goddard claimed Levy was not her biological father.[13] In response, Levy filed a suit against his daughter, claiming that the interview had ruined his reputation and cost him his job, and demanded financial support from her. In a December 17, 1945 article written by Oliver Jensen in Life, Goddard admitted to having lost the case and being forced to pay her father $35 a week.

To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld.

In 1926, she made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, No Foolin', which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, Rio Rita, which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play The Unconquerable Male, produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City.

Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, located in Asheville, North Carolina, by Charles Goddard. Aged 17, considerably younger than James, she married him on June 28, 1927 in Rye, New York. It was a short marriage, and Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000.

Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929).

Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra.

In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (1930). She also appeared in City Streets (1931) Ladies of the Big House (1931) and The Girl Habit (1931) for Paramount, Palmy Days (1931) for Goldwyn, and The Mouthpiece (1932) for Warners.

Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Show Business (1932), Young Ironsides (1932), Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) (with Laurel and Hardy), and Girl Grief with Charley Chase.

Goldwyn used Goddard in The Kid from Spain (1932), The Bowery (1933), Roman Scandals (1933), and Kid Millions (1934).

The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his next box office hit, Modern Times, in 1936. Her role as "The Gamin", an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship".

Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films.

The first of these, Dramatic School (1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience.

Her next film, The Women (1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

Selznick was pleased with Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara. Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test.

Russell Birdwell, the head of Selznick's publicity department, had strong misgivings about Goddard. He warned Selznick of the "tremendous avalanche of criticism that will befall us and the picture should Paulette be given this part...I have never known a woman, intent on a career dependent upon her popularity with the masses, to hold and live such an insane and absurd attitude towards the press and her fellow man as does Paulette Goddard...Briefly, I think she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she is given the part."

Selznick remained interested in Goddard for the role of Scarlett. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh".

After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. It has been suggested that Goddard lost the part because Selznick feared that questions surrounding her marital status with Charlie Chaplin would result in scandal. However, Selznick was aware that Leigh and Laurence Olivier lived together, as their respective spouses had refused to divorce them, and in addition to offering Leigh a contract, he engaged Olivier as the leading man in his next production Rebecca (1940). Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Selznick was worried about legal issues by signing her to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.

Goddard signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and her next film, The Cat and the Canary (1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (1940).

Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his 1940 film The Great Dictator. The couple split amicably soon afterward, and Goddard allegedly obtained a divorce in Mexico in 1942, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement.

At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead.

She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in Second Chorus (1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband,.

Goddard made Pot o' Gold (1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), from a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen.

Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (1942), a comedy with Ray Milland.

She did Reap the Wild Wind (1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. Co-starring Milland and John Wayne, it was a huge hit.

Goddard did The Forest Rangers (1942). One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake. She and Milland did The Crystal Ball (1943).

Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the 1943 film So Proudly We Hail!.

Goddard was teamed with MacMurray in Standing Room Only (1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (1944). She was one of many Paramount stars in Duffy's Tavern (1945).

Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (1945), in which she played the title role.

In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with Burgess Meredith, to whom she was married at the time, under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists.

At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (1947) and De Mille's Unconquered (1947). During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?"

In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda, and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden.

Goddard and her husband were among several stars in On Our Merry Way (1948).

At Paramount, she did two movies with MacDonald Carey: Hazard (1948) and Bride of Vengeance (1949). She then left the studio.

In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (1952); then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (1953), Sins of Jezebel (1953), Paris Model (1953), and Charge of the Lancers (1954). Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home (known as The Unholy Four in the United States).

Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre.

She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom.

After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland.

In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Time of Indifference, which was her last feature film.

After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of The Snoop Sisters (1972) for television.

Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987.

Goddard married the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James on June 28, 1927, when she was 17 years old; the couple moved to North Carolina. They separated two years later and divorced in 1932.

In 1932, Goddard began a relationship with Charlie Chaplin. She later moved into his home in Beverly Hills. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. Years later Chaplin privately told relatives that they were married only in common law. Aside from referring to Goddard as "my wife" at the October 1940 premiere of The Great Dictator, neither Goddard nor Chaplin publicly commented on their marital status. On June 4, 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin.

In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1949.

In 1958, Goddard married author Erich Maria Remarque. They remained married until Remarque's death in 1970.

Goddard had no children. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith.

Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. On April 23, 1990, aged 79, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema. She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother.