A to Z Reading Challenge. I’m a moderator over at Great Middle Grade Reads over on Goodreads. For the most part, I run the annual reading challenges. This year, I’m tackling the A to Z challenge in alphabetical order, and I’m about to start on the letter Q. This is always a challenge, but this year, it’ll be a little easier. One of the longtime mods brought to my attention that some of the hardest letters have built-in loopholes. For the letter Q, any book with a word in the title that starts with Q … qualifies! Here are my picks:
Rakefang (Galleries of Stone, #3) will be getting an audio book. My turn on Travis Baldree’s (very busy) narration schedule was just bumped to TOMORROW! If you’re interested in dropping by & listening in while he records the audio book LIVE, we’re starting tomorrow, Monday, September 5, 2022. Travis usually begins his sessions between 8am – 9am, and the usual goal is 3 hours of finished narration per day (with breaks for coffee and lunch).
How do you listen? Travis Baldree uses his Discord server to broadcast his narration sessions. Join: https://discord.gg/duzCS2D
Rakefang will release in audio on November 8, 2022. You can listen to Meadowsweet and Harrow now!
Pleased beyond telling, Tupper hurried toward a set he’d first noticed when dusting that morning. A dozen stones had been shaped into perfect spheres, much larger than the marbles that the village boys used in their games. Touching the white one, the pink one, and the brown one by turn, he picked up the green one, marveling at how heavy it was. He would need to carry them one at a time!
While he ferried the matched spheres over to where Freydolf sat, the man began a sing-song rhyme. “Blue for sweet waters; white for the brine. Gray under moonlight; gold calls for wine.”
Tupper stared perplexedly at the rich golden hue of the orb in his hands. Rocks couldn’t be thirsty. Could they?
Freydolf chuckled and said, “Don’t mind me, lambkin. Gather the rest.”
He happily complied, and when he joined his master on the carpet, Tupper arrayed the spheres before him, fiddling with the order until he was satisfied. Smooth as glass, cool to the touch, and uncommonly pretty—he silently greeted each in turn by its color name.
The second to last one stumped him, and he looked at Freydolf. “This one?”
“Hmm?” he responded, glancing from boy to ball and back.
“What do I call her?”
“Her?” Freydolf echoed, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Nodding, Tupper backtracked, pointing to the earlier stones in his lineup. “Blue, gray, green, and … this?” he prompted, again pointing to the sphere in question. It wasn’t only one color, or even two; several shades of brown and a warm pink were daubed together, then sprinkled with black speckles.
“Aye, I understand,” the sculptor replied seriously. “Dapple. We call her kind dapple.”
Deuce, a Galleries of Stone prequel, has updated for my patrons. Ch5: “Hoof, Paw,” is now available. Those at the Journeyman & Keeper tiers, who get to read ahead, now have access to Ch11: “Mush, Hush.” Do you want to read along? You can become one of my patrons here >>
The story updates twice a month. Patrons can also look forward to story news about all of my books, first looks at new art, and art cards in the mail. Thank you for supporting my stories wherever they can be found. ~CJ
Deuce, a Galleries of Stone prequel, has updated for my patrons. Ch3: “Feat, Footing,” is now available. Those at the Journeyman & Keeper tiers, who get to read ahead, now have access to Ch9: “Star, Stir.” Do you want to read along? You can become one of my patrons here >>
The story updates twice a month. Patrons can also look forward to story news about all of CJ’s books, first looks at new art, and art cards in the mail. Thank you for supporting my stories wherever they can be found. ~CJ
Elza and I love games almost as much as we love reading middle grade books. You’ll find more of these over on Middle Grade Carousel and posting throughout the day on our Twitter account. Follow us and play along! ~CJ
Galleries of Stone is coming to audio. You can currently pick up the first two books in the trilogy, which have been narrated by Travis Baldree. Click below to listen to a snippet from Harrow (Galleries of Stone, #2).
C. J. Milbrandt 