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How wonderful! Banned Book Baked Goods :) It’s never too late to celebrate #BannedBooksWeek (or to read banned books;)

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100 Vocabulary Words for Gothic Fiction | For Writers

Hello Writers! I've put together a list of 100 words to help you expand your vocabulary for writing gothic fiction in October. I categorized the words for easy reference. I did some research using thesauruses and dictionaries to compile this list for you. I hope you find it helpful! 👻🎃

Atmospheric Words

Tenebrous - dark and gloomy

Oppressive - overwhelming and unpleasantly powerful

Ominous - suggesting evil or harm is imminent

Eerie - strange and frightening

Uncanny - mysterious and unsettling

Nefarious - wicked or criminal

Malevolent - having evil intentions

Sinister - giving the impression of evil

Melancholy - deep sadness

Lugubrious - mournful or dismal

Sombre - dark and gloomy

Dreary - dull and depressing

Desolate - empty and lonely

Bleak - cold and depressing

Dank - unpleasantly damp and cold

Character Descriptions

Pallid - abnormally pale

Gaunt - thin and bony

Haggard - looking exhausted and unwell

Cadaverous - corpse-like

Wan - pale and sickly

Spectral - ghost-like

Enigmatic - mysterious and difficult to understand

Brooding - appearing darkly thoughtful

Tortured - suffering mentally or physically

Macabre - disturbing due to focus on death or injury

Architectural Features

Gothic - relating to medieval style architecture

Dilapidated - in a state of disrepair

Decrepit - worn out or ruined due to age

Crumbling - breaking into small fragments

Decaying - rotting or decomposing

Ramshackle - in a state of severe disrepair

Crypt - underground room or vault

Turret - small tower on a building

Parapet - low protective wall along the edge of a roof

Buttress - structure built against a wall for support

Supernatural Elements

Apparition - ghost or spirit

Phantasm - figment of the imagination

Specter - ghost or phantom

Wraith - ghost or spirit

Revenant - person who returns as a spirit after death

Ethereal - extremely delicate and light

Otherworldly - belonging to an imaginary or spiritual world

Paranormal - beyond normal explanation

Preternatural - beyond what is normal in nature

Occult - supernatural or magical

Emotions and States of Mind

Dread - great fear or apprehension

Foreboding - fearful apprehension

Trepidation - fear or anxiety about something that may happen

Anguish - severe mental or physical pain

Despair - complete loss of hope

Melancholia - deep and long-lasting sadness

Hysteria - exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion

Delirium - state of confusion and hallucination

Madness - state of severe mental illness

Obsession - persistent disturbing preoccupation with an idea or feeling

Gothic Settings

Moor - area of open, uncultivated upland

Wasteland - barren or desolate area

Labyrinth - complex maze-like structure

Catacomb - underground cemetery

Dungeon - dark underground prison

Mausoleum - building housing a tomb or tombs

Sepulcher - small room or monument where a dead person is laid

Necropolis - large cemetery, especially an ancient one

Citadel - fortress that commands a city

Monastery - building occupied by a community of monks

Weather and Natural Phenomena

Tempest - violent windy storm

Miasma - unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor

Fog - thick cloud of tiny water droplets

Mist - cloud of tiny water droplets in the air near ground level

Gloom - partial or total darkness

Twilight - soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon

Umbra - the fully shaded inner region of a shadow

Penumbra - the partially shaded outer region of a shadow

Crepuscular - resembling twilight; dim

Tenebrous - dark, shadowy, or obscure

Literary Devices and Narrative Elements

Foreshadowing - warning or indication of a future event

Omen - event regarded as a portent of good or evil

Portent - sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen

Harbinger - person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another

Presage - sign or warning that something will happen

Doppelganger - look-alike or double of a living person

Grotesque - comically or repulsively ugly or distorted

Gothic double - character representing the duality of human nature

Unreliable narrator - narrator whose credibility is compromised

Frame narrative - story within a story

Liminal Spaces and Concepts

Threshold - strip of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway

Liminal - occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold

Betwixt - in between

Interstitial - of, forming, or occupying interstices (small spaces between things)

Twilight zone - undefined or intermediate area between two distinct states

Purgatory - place or state of temporary suffering or expiation

Netherworld - imaginary subterranean world of the dead

Abyss - deep or seemingly bottomless chasm

Void - completely empty space

Chthonic - concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld

Miscellaneous Gothic Terms

Sublime - of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire awe

Ineffable - too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words

Eldritch - weird and sinister or ghostly

Atavistic - relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral

Numinous - having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating the presence of a divinity

Happy writing, and Happy October! 📜🕯️- Rin T.

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on the witches road...

Send this to your coven for protection ✨

Listen to the new version of the Ballad in our official playlist. Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney+.

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***** His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope

I consider John Lewis one of my heroes, and had looked forward to this book even before he passed away. I had a Netgalley arc and everything when we lost him July 2020. However, it took me far too long to finish reading this, for many reasons, the year 2020 being just one of them. (Also, I had already started his own memoir Walking With the Wind which is also recommended:)

After seeing updates on Selma and so many horrible recent struggles for current civil rights, though, I returned to it, now with a hardcover, and returned to the 'simpler' times of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. I love the way Meacham tells the story of the movement along with Representative Lewis' own growth as an activist and politician. He was fortunate as a writer to have had many conversations with Lewis over the years, so a lot of the facts were backed up with personal reflection. As with many aspects of the battle for civil rights in the United States, and with Rep. Lewis' life, there is an acknowledged religious tone to the telling, but I believe it is inspiring, even for secular readers, not overwhelming. We also hear from other members of the movement and Meacham's factual research, giving fuller perspective.

I learned new things about Lewis and SNCC, as well as other people and aspects of the era. And I felt like I was honestly brought to the moment on the bridge when he faced that sea of blue. It is often a sad, violent story, of course, but as he did in life, John Lewis' calm, determined voice rings through, bolstering the message of non-violence and democracy. I highly recommend reading this book, sharing the story of John Lewis, and passing on this message as much as possible to the young generations too.

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Fight For the First

Campaigns on Fight for the First will allow you to take action against book bans in your community and gain direct support from EveryLibrary. If you create a campaign on Fight for the First, EveryLibrary will help you reach more people in your community through our extensive supporter and partner network. We'll also help you get the training and support you need to win!

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CELEBRATE #ReadanEbookWeek the best way you can! READ an Ebook! Smashwords has a fabulous sale March 5-11, 2023 so you can also SUPPORT INDIE WRITERS! https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/1/any/any

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December 15th is Cupcake Day!

In honor of National Cupcake Day we are sharing this recipe from the 1828 edition of Eliza Leslie's "Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats." Leslie was a prolific author of popular cookbooks, and was the first to publish a recipe for the "cup cake."

Let us know if you bake them!

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#Nanowrimo #Nano #writing #writingcommunity

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THE SONG OF OUR PEOPLE

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An illustration by Tor Freeman for The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade 

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omigosh its like looking at kid me in my dream forest with books and mushrooms and a fashionable rodent friend <3 <3 <3

Which book will they pick, and what story will it hold? Prints