#stacey jay

[bookfirstlinetourney]

Round 1

The rain had just stopped when the convenience store clerk asked the customer not to heat up his urine in the microwave.

-Tropic of Stupid, Tim Dorsey

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret.

-Of Beast and Beauty, Stacey Jay

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

-The Gunslinger, Stephen King

[moondustbooks]

October JOMP Day 15 - Black Books

[good-books-to-read]

Beauty & the Beast

A curse so dark and Lonely (ACSDAL) by Briged Kemmerer

Of beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Of curses and kisses by Sandhya Menon

A Court Of Thorns And Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Juliet Immortal

Author: Stacey Jay

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2011

Genres: fiction, fantasy, romance, paranormal, retelling, supernatural

Blurb: Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most: her new husband, Romeo Montague, who made the sacrifice to ensure his own immortality. But Romeo didn't anticipate that Juliet would be granted eternal life as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For seven hundred years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart...until now. Now, Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness.

[books-in-a-storm]

Nightmares suck.

And when it's over we hold hands all the way through the front hall, past a smiling, anxious Fern, and out into the sun.

-Blood On The Bayou, Stacey Jay

[similistic]

Books of 2023

Favorites:

- Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay It's a sci-fi-esque BatB retelling.

- Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans by Jenny Wang Pretty much what you would expect based on the title. The book really resonated with so many parts of my life, my struggles, etc. I'm also the exact target demographic of the book so, take that with a grain of salt. I don't think I'd recommend the book to someone who isn't Asian American, and perhaps even more specifically from a Chinese culture.

- Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do by Eve Rodsky This book/game/concept has been all over social media, but I think the book really goes into so much more depth and background. If you just get the game/cards or read an article or see an interview, you might think you understand how the "cards" work but there's a lot of prep work that goes into it before you start "playing" and the book lays it all out with a lot of caveats/warnings/pitfalls/issue management, etc.

5-Star Ratings in 2023:

- The Duke and I + When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn I read the entire Bridgertons series in 2023 and they were great fun. "Duke and I" is book 1, the story of Daphne (which is covered more or less in season 1 of the show). "Wicked" is book 6, and is Francesca's story (a younger sister who barely exists in the first book).

- Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani Short story format fairy tale retellings with a feminist bent.

- Stargazing by Jen Wang Graphic novel about two Asian American teens navigating their lives in middle school. Based on some details from the author's life I believe?

- In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang Another graphic novel. This one's about a gamer with some like, social justice themes.

- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Akira Himekawa I read all the "Legendery Edition" "Legend of Zelda" graphic novel volumes. As someone who didn't play the games growing up, after talking to my husband, apparently the graphic novels basically follow the plotline of the different games.

- The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith I believe I picked up this book because I saw a trailer for the movie? A sweet YA love story.

- The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks The format, structure, plot. All very interesting. Pulls you in and makes you root for the characters.

- The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers A picture book that treats death and loss in a sort of roundabout way. I don't think anything is ever said directly.

[good-books-to-read]

Going to add some more

Heartless by Marisa Meyer

Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Once & future by Cori McCarthy and Amy rose Captetta

Wolf for a spell by Karah Sutton

Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

Malice by Heather Walters

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Of beast and beauty by Stacey Jay

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

I have more but they are more mythological and history inspired than fairytales

Fairy Tale Retelling Book Recommendations

A favorite genre of mine. Here are the books I recommend in this category or that people have recommended to me. If you have any recommendations of ones I've missed, let me know! Always looking for more book recs.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

The Wrath and Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Stolen Enchantress by Amber Argyle

Curse of the Wolf King by Tessonja Odette

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C Dao

[bookishlyvintage]

CR: Princess of Thorns, Stacey Jay

[jaypilled]

characters who unfortunately parody a song that was also parodied by a homestuck character

[enhypendata]

[ENHYPEN] ❌⭕ in LA (with BINI) COLET, STACEY and SHEENA

[fyeahbini]

Ikaw ay tila sining sa museong 'di naluluma

Binibini kong ginto hanggang kaluluwa

DIONELA (FEAT. JAY R) - SINING

Dir. by Dionela

[bamboobibi]

IG : enhypen​

[trumai-jpg]

Chapter 3: Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Woman (2/2)

Master Post: link

AO3: link

Spider-Woman and Gwen Stacy are very much two different people. These people have their own friends, enemies, hobbies- hell, even personalities to a point. Sure, Gwen could live her full life as the hero or alternatively just give up the mask entirely but really what kind of life would she be living? It could hardly be called living, she would be forever in a half life. Just like today, as after she got done dealing with another bust of a villain she was headed back to normal-everyday life. It didn't take her too long to get back to school campus… or, it wouldn't if she didn't stop on the way to help a cat from a tree… or a purse-snatcher… or, to get coffee for The Mary Janes as an apology for already BEING late. The point being - she was on her way back now, walking on two legs through the halls of the school just as any normal student would. She held a small carrier in both hands whilst she followed the route down to their music room- more specifically the one Mr. DiPaolo let them use after school. It was a strange sight to be around after everybody left, a ghost town. All that was left were the odd teacher or janitor. As the blond walked down the halls of the school, her gaze wandered as it does after exploring these same walls for a good few years now. Posters encouraging inclusivity were taped around framed boards near the lunch hall, pictures of school sports teams huddled around trophies… of course, she wasn't in any of them- why would she be? Even before getting bit she just sorta… kept to herself, even more back then as a matter of fact. She was social enough- but it was always difficult to really become ‘friends’ with someone new, you know? Harry and Em Jay were fantastic through that whole period, and Betty and Glory were always nice to have around, but-...

Ugh! Forget all that. Serves her right for leaving her earphones at home today, without any music to drown it out the thoughts would just keep coming and coming. Quite lucky for her that just on the other side of this door labelled ‘Music 4C’ she would find a whole band then, huh? It creaked at a pull of the handle, it was utterly ancient - probably the same door that the school was built with however many years ago. With that noise, it would obviously draw the attention of all in the room- one cluttered with instruments wall to wall. Any number of old acoustic guitars, half a dozen keyboards, twin drum sets- and a good few tables and chairs set up for tomorrow’s students. After taking… what, thirty minutes? She had missed more than half of their session again.

“I know I'm late— shut up-” Gwen was preemptive, not even bothering to draw her bright blue eyes up at the other three before setting down the four coffees. The hope was that the sight of caffeine could offset just how irritated these three may or may not have been. “The barista was taking fuuuucking years. Hope you girls can forgive me.” She smiled, finally getting a look at her bandmates.

“Nah, you're good.” The first voice to speak up was… surprisingly their guitarist, Glory. With beautifully clear adusk skin with a double dose of eyeliner and a fantastically maintained afro it was a shocker guys didn't flock to her. She wore a purple vest over an old white top, and she was first to grab for her cup- that being an all black coffee. Bitter, like her soul. “Em was late too… though, not by nearly as much as you.”

Gwen’s eyes darted to Em Jay at that moment, just as beautiful as ever with massive thick curls stretching out down her back, dyed a striking mix of red and orange. “Damn, how'd that happen?” The drummer inquired.

Mary Jane shrugged, leaning against one of many walls decorated with sound-proof padding. “Harry called.” Gwen had to do a double take. Harry Osborne? What the fuck- why'd he call Em Jay and not her. It's not like her and Harry were insanely close or anything but it's not like he and Em Jay were either, they were both just friends with Peter- they all were. Whilst speaking, she made her way closer to the desk surrounded by the others- being the second to pick up her coffee: a cortado. It just gave her that kick for the day. “He says hi.”

“Is he still in that weird… military-boarding school thing, yeah?” Gwen asked, grabbing for her own cup - one filled with mocha, chocolate and steamed milk up to the brim.

“Yeah, that's right.” The redhead stopped for a moment, taking quite noticeably long sips. “He's such a fucking psycho sometimes, dude.” Of course they were all friends, but even friends had to admit when you get a little out of line sometimes. After Peter’s death, he ended up going down a bit of a spiral. She shook her head at the thought, glancing back at Gwen. “He kept saying he was gonna ‘get revenge’ for Peter, all fuckin’ Punisher style.” Ah- yeah, right. He did have a bit of a… distaste towards Spider-Woman, yeah.

“Oh, Peter Parker?” The last voice to pipe up was the shortest of the four - Betty Brant. Her outfit consisted of a white shirt well over her size and a thrifted old tank-top, and of course a beanie in-doors, snatching away at her cappuccino before any one of them could notice. “I forget you guys were all so… close.”

Betty may have been a teensie bit insensitive but that's just how people are- especially those as ditzy as her. It wasn’t an insult by any means- by now Peter Parker was old news to all but a few people. He was either used as a talking point against Spider-Woman by the mayor, police, whoever wants to seem like they know what they’re talking about, or mentioned as a passing thought. ‘Hey, remember that kid who died at our school?’ that sorta thing. Gwen was numb to it by now, tuning all the talk about him out. To her and Em it was all just a little too painful. “Betty you knew him too, didn’t you?” The drummer questioned.

“Yeah, when I was like-... thirteen.” Betty shrugged, sitting her body back on one of those terribly uncomfortable school chairs with any amount of gum stuck to the backside. “We weren’t really… ‘friends.’ Not like you guys were.”

It was a difficult conversation for Gwen. Em Jay too. That sort of uncomfortable topic you try your best to act casual about while finding any opportunity to escape from. Of course neither of these girls was about to up and leave, but it’s not as if this was the sort of thing they wanted to speak about. Betty could tell that too, and with the science in the air getting louder and louder, Betty was starting to sweat- feeling a mix of guilt and embarrassment- eyeing Glory for help which she did not receive. At least not straight away. If they thought that either of Peter’s old friends were about to move on she was dead wrong. Avoiding eye contact like their lives depended on it. Hours could have passed before any of them spoke up, but fortunately for them all, Glory did eventually come to the rescue - only after the silence became absolutely unbearable. With a clear of her throat and smack of the desk- she finally spoke again.

“So, Gwen.” Huh, her eyes darted up to those hazel eyes of Grant. “You coming to Cindy’s Halloween party?”

Cindy Moon, right. She had a few classes with her. Short, smart…ish, and filthy bloody rich. Her family was completely loaded, which usually meant Cindy-Parties were packed to the brim. It wasn’t really Gwen’s crowd most of the time- hell, if she even had the time.

“Yeah, uh. Maybe.” The blond didn’t exactly sound sure. “Was I invited?” She asked curiously, leaning forward in Gloria’s direction.

“Em was.” Glory snorted.

“Ah, right.” That makes sense. Suppose that gives these three a free pass. “It’s not at that mansion of hers, right? Can’t be, not after last year's bender…” Hell of a party- and lucky for Gwen she got out early due to her, er… day job. Well before the grease fire or Ned’s stomach-pumping.

“Nah. The woods.” The redhead smiled, maybe at the absurdity of it all, finally locking eyes with the would-be vigilante again. The woods though? Like… A bunch of drunk high schoolers dressed in barely any clothes on Halloween night, out in the cold, Out in the woods. Gwen looked confused, and rightfully so. She was about to open her mouth to question the woman before her up until, “...N-No, Gwen-” Em laughed. “There's this old abandoned spot right near Wallenberg. Cind’s decorating it, getting it all… Ready for the season, I guess.” Even Mary Jane didn't sound too sure. “Look- point is, it’ll be fun.”

“I-... I dunno, Em. I don’t really like dressing up-”

Em Jay looked forward at the shorter girl with a tinge of disappointment in her eyes. It was clear she was trying- trying awfully hard to get Gwen involved in more out-of-school activities. Ever since they were little the blond was always a little different from everyone else. Maybe in some universe she’s some pretty lady, popular with the boys- but… Gwen wasn’t that. She wasn’t any of those things, back then especially so- not in everyone’s eyes. Halloween was always hard because she didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t a time to put effort into a costume- it was a time for girls to get all dressed up in sizes that are A LOT too tight and- and Gwen couldn’t do that. If you show too much, you’re a slut, if you don’t show enough you’re a tease- and if Gwen showed anything at all she was a freak! Not everyone was as kind as Em Jay- and Betty, and even Glory too, god forbid…

“Well… hey.” Em Jay sighed, smiling as she dropped her shoulders- shrugging. “Parties not for another fortnight. Give it some thought- all I ask.” As Gwen stuck her gaze to the floor, the marble tiling echoed out with steps made by their vocalist, making her way towards Gwen, and leaning against a table just to her right, arms crossed with a reassuring smile. “We’ll be with you. Swear to God- won’t let you leave my sight.” Em bumped shoulders with Gwen. “And trust me- Flash won’t be saying shit. We’re not in Middle School anymore, I can beat his ass if I need to.” She laughed - and so did Gwen.

“Means the world, Em.” it was hard to not smile when around Em Jay, and… Maybe the others too- to a hell of a lesser extent. “Look- I’ll… I’ll try.”

“And that Gwendolyn, is all I ask.”

Watson’s remark was followed by a firm, hard slap to Gwen’s already crooked back after fall upon fall upon fall- sending her body forward in a jolt, letting out an “Ough!” As this damp mess of a girl. That’s when she smiled, gleaming like a beacon in a storm. Being around Em Jay made things better- they did for everyone, and unlike most people, Gwen Stacy was actually friends with the rockstar leading this merry band. Sure, she was sociable enough, knowing everyone as everyone knew her. Sometimes it was difficult for Gwen to tell just how close the two of them were after so long. You’d think time would bring you closer but it was just… strange. You know when you have this friend and you really, really… really like spending time with them and yet you can tell that they don’t feel the same way. Sure, they like you - but they don’t have that same connection that you do- or at least they’re damn good at hiding it. You don’t hang out anymore, barely talk outside of band, and every now and then they do something undeniably kind - refuelling that fire deep inside that wants them to think of you as closer, as a better friend while knowing full well that’s an entirely selfish thought for an entirely selfless girl.

Or, maybe Gwen was just overthinking it.

She always did when it came to Mary Jane Watson. Even back in middle school - before she got hot. God, she remembered it like yesterday- a redhead who didn’t fit in, braces from ear to ear - sitting with the three most awkward boys in school because they were the only three who wanted to hang out before she became ms. sexypants starting at high school.

They’re all gone now, the other boys.

Now it’s just Gwen.

…And Betty.

“What about Black Cat?” she piped up, sipping at her fun-sized cup of mocha.

“What?” Em questioned, rightfully so, how out of the blue it was.

“Who?” The blond followed up, raising a pierced eyebrow at the name. Hasn’t she heard that name somewhere before…?

 

“For Halloween.” The beanied junior of the group replied, shrugging. “I kinda wanna go as Black Cat.”

“They sell costumes of thieves?” Glory scoffed.

Betty huffed in return. “It’s hardly a hard costume to put together- ‘specially in the spooky season!” She smiled wide, smugly too. Wait… It’s coming back to her now. Black Cat, she's been on the news lately - not to mention dear old dad’s been bringing her up every now and then. A phantom thief, one who burgles silently in the night from any number of progressively more difficult and secure spots… She’s been making the rounds online- and fast. Much faster than Spider-Woman ever had… aw. The thought had been there after hearing about her- a jet-black, completely silent cat burglar. Catching her might put Spider-Woman on the map- but… She’s impossible to predict- and after two years of petty thieves and helping cats out of trees, Spider-Woman was NOT ready for a full-on stakeout just for a cat in black. “Did you hear she even sent a calling card…?”

Oh.

“Yeah, shit’s wild.” The guitarist laughed, finishing off her labelled cup. “The gall you gotta have to send a card like that to the goddamn Metropolitan of all things too…” Gwen’s head was wild with thoughts. Up till now, Spider-Woman hadn’t gotten anyone big nobody that people were discussing Halloween costumes of- and if she left a calling card then- hell, it was at least a chance. Forget feeling pissy about a Halloween party! Gwen’s spirits were revitalised. If she knew where to look- what time to be there then it shouldn’t be too hard. Sure, she alluded the police - but so did Gwen.

“What’d it say?” The palest of the four asked, if it was crazy enough to move Glory even by a hair then surely it must be some next-level shit!

Betty’s blues moved to Gwen, laughing to herself before finally speaking up…

What Black Cat’s calling card to the Metropolitan Museum of Art was…

[highsummonermercar]

Bad Form, was founded in 2019 to platform writers of colour. The founder found that in 2016, less than 100 books by British BAME authors were published. Because there is a huge representation gap in the British publishing industry, they were trying to fix it.

Bad Form has given a platform for incredible writers and authors such as Cecile Pin, Stacey Thomas, Ashani Lewis, Maame Blue, Tice Cin and Christtie Jay to start writing in a space that values their art, including myself.

You can still support by buying their final issue, Love out now, and previous issues here.

[books-in-a-storm]

Snowflake Book Review’s

Title: Annabelle Lee #1 Dead on the Delta

Author: Stacey Jay

Pages:389

Snowflake Rating:❄❄❄❄(4/5)

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, fairies were the stuff of bedtime stories and sweet dreams. Then came the mutations, and the dreams became nightmares. Mosquito-size fairies now indulge their taste for human blood—and for most humans, a fairy bite means insanity or death. Luckily, Annabelle Lee isn’t most humans. The hard-drinking, smart-mouthed, bicycle-riding redhead is immune to fairy venom, and able to do the dirty work most humans can’t. Including helping law enforcement— and Cane Cooper, the bayou’s sexiest detective—collect evidence when a body is discovered outside the fairy-proof barricades of her Louisiana town.

But Annabelle isn’t equipped to deal with the murder of a six year- old girl or a former lover-turned-FBI snob taking an interest in the case. Suddenly her already bumpy relationship with Cane turns even rockier, and even the most trust-worthy friends become suspects. Annabelle’s life is imploding: between relationship drama, a heartbreaking murder investigation, Breeze-crazed drug runners, and a few too many rum and Cokes, Annabelle is a woman on the run—from her past, toward her future, and into the arms of a darkness waiting just for her. . . .

First And Last Sentence: Here

[covers-on-spotify]

"Bust Your Windows"

Original by Jazmine Sullivan

Covered by Stacey Ryan & Jay Webb