Reading
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REVIEW — ‘Verity Guild’ by Mai Corland
What do you think of when someone says the word “romantasy”? Medieval worlds full of castles? Dragons and magical creatures? Warriors and queens? The popular subgenre that combines fantasy and romance has slowly become a monolith that promotes a singular aesthetic vision; yet, Verity Guild veers away and paves its own path. Written by Mai…
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In conversation with Kay E. Bancroft: examining generational ties and identity through pop horror in ‘Bloodroom’
“I think that I view the page as a playground,” Kay E. Bancroft said, describing their writing style. “And what I mean by that is I seek to understand what the limitations of the page are.” This writing approach has sustained Bancroft’s work since they embarked on their MFA in creative writing with a poetry…
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In conversation with ‘Beneath the Garden Magazine’: unveiling inspiration as the heart of storytelling
If you visit the website of Beneath the Garden Magazine and click on their mission statement—as most writers who are eager to submit their work do—you will meet a quote from Audre Lorde’s collection of essays, Sister Outsider: “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must…
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REVIEW — ‘Heart the Lover’ by Lily King
With no pun intended, I am a lover of Lily King. She is the ultimate indie literary darling, frequently appearing on the Indie Next List and loudly supporting independent booksellers; King provides a proud voice within the multifaceted community of indie writers. So, naturally, I needed my hands on Heart the Lover as quickly as…
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REVIEW — ‘Canticle’ by Janet Rich Edwards
We are living in a period swamped with literary fiction. The stocked shelves of bookstores and BookTok doom-scrolling all point to its dominance, specifically in the cult of superiority fostered through its dry intellectual engagement riddled with irony and realism. To be a cool and well-rounded reader is to be a reader of “lit fic.” …
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REVIEW – L.L. Madrid’s ‘My Lips, Her Voice’
“Memory is a bitch that haunts like no ghost can.” L.L. Madrid doesn’t hide from hard feelings in her debut novel My Lips, Her Voice. The story follows Audrey, a teenager grieving the recent loss of her cousin Mara, in a small town haunted by its own past. Audrey reunites with Mara’s spirit in a…
