#WordCrafters #Book #BlogTour For "Once Upon An Ever After" - Includes A #Giveaway + My #Review

    

 

Today is my stop on the tour for "Once Upon An Ever After" and I have a review and a giveaway to share with you.  But, before I get to those, I have a guest post from one of the authors featured in this anthology.  Her name is Lyndsay E. Gilbert.  So, take it away, Lyndsay.

 

 

 

I've always been in love with fairy tales. I read them religiously as a child and then studied them at length at University, not only western but Middke Eastern and Slavic too. I am constantly writing stories based on old tales, exploring their themes a little deeper and stepping a little further into their darkness.

 

In Once upon a Time, and Now, and Forever I set out to explore the well-known magic mirror of Snow White fame - clearly a sentient thing. I wondered if it had a soul or spirit trapped within the glass, perhaps stuck or enslaved by it. Then it came to me that there could be an infinite number of spirits who move from shiny surface to shiny surface - whose job it is to mimic living people and become their reflections. I also happen to be Irish and worked a few of our superstitions in as well. We open the window when someone dies to release their souls, and many people cover the mirrors in the house, so the deceased person's soul does not get trapped. All this weaved itself together in my tale - I understood where the mirror souls came from and began to follow the story of one soul in particular. A passionate girl who comes to remember who she really is and who unabashedly seeks freedom.

 

Author bio:

 Lyndsay E. Gilbert hails from Northern Ireland, where she lives beside an ancient castle looking out to sea. She loves reading, writing, horror, fantasy, fairy tales, playing the fiddle, cats, dogs (particularly German Shepherds), moving music, cross-stitch, and belly dancing. She has a few stories published in anthologies.

 

 

Blurb
This unique and imaginative collection of eleven thought provoking fantasy stories will delight readers who enjoy stories of wishes gone awry.
 

What happens when…
A woman desires to carry on her family’s legacy, uncovering a long-buried curse?
A not so perfect witch casts a spell to defy age and preserve her relationship with her handsome shapeshifting familiar?
A time traveler longs to be the savior of knowledge lost?
An incompetent delivery boy becomes an unlikely savior of forgotten artifacts?
A magic mirror yearns for a different question?
A tiny story witch desires to share her stories with the world?
 

Spells are cast, unlikely alliances made, and wishes granted, sometimes with surprising outcomes. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales. Once you read these twisted tales, you’ll be sure to be careful what you wish for….
 

If you liked Gilded Glass, you’ll enjoy Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Myths & Fairy Tales, short stories with thought provoking themes, captivating characters and diverse cultures, from humorous to horrifying, from the legendary past to possible futures and back to the here and now.

 

Purchase your copy from your favourite online retailer by clicking this link.

 

 

 

 

Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore by Kaye Lynne Booth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewing an anthology like this one is never an easy task. After all, it’s only natural that some stories will appeal to the reader more than others, especially when a variety of different authors is involved. This collection was no exception. Every story deserves its place in this anthology; the stories are well-written, with interesting characters and fascinating plots. Yet I enjoyed some more than others, simply because of my personal tastes. For example, I thought “The Mirror Of Truth” was an entertaining read, and “The War Babies” was a touching tale. Regardless of your own personal tastes, I’m sure you’ll find a story or two among the ones in this collection that you’ll enjoy too.

View all my reviews 

 

 

 

Digital Giveaway!
For a chance to win a free digital copy of Once Upon an Ever After, just leave a comment to show you were here. Follow the tour and comment at each stop for more chances to win. Three copies will be given away in a random drawing.

 

 

Tour schedule:

Monday – August 22 – Opening Day Post – Writing to be Read – Intro. & Guest Post – Sarah Lyn Eaton
Tuesday – August 23 – Patty’s World – Review & Guest Post – Robbie Cheadle
Wednesday – August 24 – The Showers of Blessings – Guest Post – Olivia Merchiston
Thursday – August 25 –Roberta Writes – Interview w/ Kaye Lynne Booth
Friday – August 26 – Zigler’s News – Review & Guest Post – Lyndsay Elizabeth Gilbert
Saturday – August 27 – Closing Post – Writing to be Read – Guest Post – A.E. Lanier

Random Ramblings - August 19th 2022

One of my friends from the ACB community, whose name is Kolby, is being featured in a mini series on YouTube about how she enjoys Nascar as a blind person.  And let me tell you, she's a huge Nascar fan.  The first episode of the mini series premiered on Wednesday, and you can watch it by clicking here.

 

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The weather keeps being hot.  I’m always grateful for those days in between heat waves when it rains some and the temperature drops to a more comfortable range.  I’m also grateful to be here in the Welsh mountains, where temperatures above 35C have yet to make themselves known.  Unlike in some parts of the UK, where it’s been 40C at times.  Even temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s are more than I’d like to be dealing with, but I’m glad we haven’t had to deal with worse.  But please tell me we’ll be feeling the cool temperatures of Autumn soon… Autumn and Winter are coming, right? *looks hopeful*

 

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I’ve been sat here a while trying to figure out what I have to fill you in on from the past couple of weeks.  But it’s more difficult than you might expect.  It’s not that I haven’t done anything.  I mean, I always have a lot going on these days.  The thing is, most of it can be summed up just by telling you I’ve been busy doing stuff with the ACB.  Between co-facilitating the “Free To Be Me” call with Patty on Thursdays and “Herbie’s Cooking Corner” with Herbie on Tuesdays, my roles on the ACB Presents morning crew, the things I’m doing with the ACB Crafters, and hosting some calls, I have something going on every day.  Between being on those calls – as well as some I attend just as a participant - I’ve been trying to catch up on my reading, and doing some de-cluttering, the latter of which resulted in me donating most of my physical audiobooks to the local library (since I've got a lot of them in digital form as well anyhow).  I’m sure you can imagine how delighted they were to have six large boxes of audiobooks donated to them, since the libraries over here don’t tend to have much in the way of audiobooks, and certainly don’t get many audiobook donations.

 

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Since I’m sure that covers what’s been going on around here lately, and I can’t think of anything else to say right now, I’m going to let this do for today.  If it turns out I missed catching you up on something, I’ll let you know about it another time.  In the meantime, I hope all is well in your world.

A Sunshine Blogger Award I Was Given Last Month

Cat over at The Strawberry Post was nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award recently, and she nominated me for it.  You can check out Cat's post by clicking here.

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

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So, first of all, thank you, Cat!

Secondly, here are the questions she asked me to answer, along with my responses:

1. If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?

I think I’d have to go with potatoes.  Because you can prepare them in all kinds of ways: baked, roasted, turned in to chips (fries) and so on.  Plus, I’m a big fan of potatoes, and eat them most days already.

 

2. Is there anything you like to collect?

I collect books, cuddly toys, and stones (as in gemstones, crystals, minerals, etc).

 

3. What is your favourite colour(s)?

My favourite colour is purple.

 

4. What hobbies do you have apart from blogging/reading?

Apart from blogging and reading, I also write poetry and children’s stories, do various crafts, watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, play roleplaying games, and play some other kinds of games (for example, I have recently become addicted to the Dice World app I was introduced to that I now have on my phone... You should check it out if you're a fan of games like Yatzi, Farkle, etc... If you do, let me know what your username is and I'll tell you mine so we can have a game of something).  I’m also interested in certain parts of history, and have a few other interests that randomly capture my attention from time to time. Not to mention everything I’m involved with in the ACB community these days.

 

5. If you could live in any time period in history which would it be and why?

There are several periods of history I’d like to visit, but as a general rule I’d rather it just be a visit.  If I had to pick one to live in though, I’d prefer the time period usually refered to as pre-historic times, when there weren’t so many people, and the people who existed still respected and took care of the Earth.  Yes, I’d be minus all the modern conveniences and technologies I rely on, and every day would be a fight for survival.  But at least my tribe would be working together to try and assure that survival, and the world would still be free of pollution.

 

6. What is your favourite animal(s)?

My absolute favourite animal is a lion, with a horse an incredibly close second.  I also love rats, and most other kinds of animals.  If it’s an animal, as long as it’s not spiders or creepy crawly bugs, I probably like it.  Yes, even snakes.

 

7. Which season is your favourite and why?

My favourite season – which I’m sure comes as no surprise to those who know me – is Winter, because it tends to be colder, and sometimes we get snow.  I can’t deal with heat very well, so bring on the chilly Winter days, and even colder Winter nights.

 

8. What music do you like to listen to?

I enjoy most kinds of music, and will listen to quite a variety depending on my mood, from Jazz to soft rock, and across multiple decades.  But country music is my favourite genre, and the one I’d pick if forced to choose one single music genre to name as my favourite.

 

9. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was young I wanted to be either a vet or a nursery (preschool) teacher, plus an author; I wanted to have a large family, work with either animals or young children, and write in my free time.  Though where I was finding free time between all the kids I planned on having and work, I have no idea.  But there you go.

 

10. If you were granted your own national holiday, how would people be told to spend/celebrate it?

It would be a national day of rest and relaxation, where people would be encouraged to spend some time doing things that they find relaxing; things that recharge them, replenish their souls, etc.  It would be up to them whether they do so alone or with people they’re close to, as well as whether they do things at home or not.  As long as they did something that made them happy, feel relaxed, etc.

 

For example: I would most likely spend it by myself at home, with a plentiful supply of tea and snacks, curled up somewhere reading.  I’d alternate between reading on my Braille display while listening to music (I’ve found classical piano music to be an excellent accompaniment to this) and listening to either an audiobook or a book on my Kindle while working on a craft project.

 

11. If you could live in any book which would it be and why?

 

If I could take liberties with this question and merge three books, I’d want to move Hogwarts to Narnia, and have a hobbit hole somewhere in that world.  That way I could go to Hogwarts, and during school holidays I could live in my hobbit hole and invite various talking animals over for tea.

 

However, if I absolutely had to choose one… This is harder.  But I think I’d go with Narnia, because of the talking animals and Aslan.  The Harry Potter books might be the ones I revisit most often, but the Chronicles of Narnia books contain a world I’d really love to be a part of.

 

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I never tag people on these things any more.  Most people I’d want to give it to don’t do these kinds of things these days.  With that in mind, if you’re reading this post and want to join in; consider yourself tagged.  And you can answer the questions Cat gave to me – I’m sure she won’t mind me using those, and I can’t think of better ones.  Just be sure and make sure I know where to find your answers if you do this.