Our Friend is Here! An Interview with C.B. Lee, Author of A Clash of Steel – On the Lessons Each Book Taught Her, Love for Pirate Stories, and Joyous Queer Love

Our Friend is Here! is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond, where authors, creatives, and fellow readers, are invited to ‘visit’ the Pond! In Our Friend is Here! guest posts, our visitors (as their very own unique character!) have a friendly conversation about anything related to books or being a reader — and become friends with Xiaolong and friends.

Pride Month is a month-long event at The Quiet Pond, where during the month of June, queer authors and bookish content creators are invited to celebrate being queer, queer books, and their experiences of being a queer reader. Find the introduction post for Pride Month at The Quiet Pond here.

It’s now the end of Pride and I have the delight of hosting our last guest for Pride Month this year. Today’s guest is, what I would consider, a favourite of The Quiet Pond. Her books make frequent appearances in our book recommendation posts, I had the privilege of hosting the blog tour for her most recent Sidekick Squad book, and I even had the honour of hosting the cover reveal for her upcoming YA, A Clash of Steel! Indeed, today’s guest is none other than the incredible C.B. Lee, author of hopeful and fulfilling queer literature, and I get to share my interview with her today!

Our Friend is Here! An Interview with Alexander Te Pohe, Writer and Editor at Entangled Publishing; On Writing Anger and Joy, Poetry Inspirations, and His Writing Journey

Our Friend is Here! is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond, where authors, creatives, and fellow readers, are invited to ‘visit’ the Pond! In Our Friend is Here! guest posts, our visitors (as their very own unique character!) have a friendly conversation about anything related to books or being a reader — and become friends with Xiaolong and friends.

Our Friend is Here: Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month Edition is a month-long event at The Quiet Pond during the month of May, where Asian and Pasifika authors are invited to celebrate being Asian and Pasifika work and literature! Find the introduction post for Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month here.

Across my time as a book blogger and a member of the book community, I have had the opportunity to bear witness the writing journeys of many people, especially writers. Following such journeys has always felt like a privilege; it is seeing writers develop and grow, and work on projects, stories, or poetry that feel meaningful and that help them understand themselves. Of the many people I have followed throughout the years, a particular person stands out to me – and that person is today’s guest for Asian Pasifika Heritage Month at the Pond: Alexander Te Pohe.

Our Friend is Here! An Interview with Tanaz Bhathena, Author of Hunted by the Sky – On Historical Indian Influences, Prophecies, and Challenging Society’s Expectations of Girls

Our Friend is Here! is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond, where authors, creatives, and fellow readers, are invited to ‘visit’ the Pond! In Our Friend is Here! guest posts, our visitors (as their very own unique character!) have a friendly conversation about anything related to books or being a reader — and become friends with Xiaolong and friends.

Our Friend is Here: Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month Edition is a month-long event at The Quiet Pond during the month of May, where Asian and Pasifika authors are invited to celebrate being Asian and Pasifika work and literature! Find the introduction post for Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month here.

A few months ago, I was in the mood for a sweeping fantasy that was rich with detail and magic, beautifully plotted, and about complex women warriors. Though that was quite a specific mood, I found my mood very much satisfied after I read Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena. Though Tanaz may be known for her excellent young adult contemporary stories, namely the searing portrayal of rape culture and and female sexuality in A Girl Like That and the new girl/bad boy romance in The Beauty of the Moment, I was swept away by her fantasy debut; I was enchanted by the magic and influence of goddesses, and mesmerised by the intriguing yet dangerous world within.

Our Friend is Here! An Interview with Shelley Parker-Chan, Author of She Who Became the Sun – On the Intersections of Gender and Culture, Craft Challenges, and Writing Complex Characters

Our Friend is Here! is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond, where authors, creatives, and fellow readers, are invited to ‘visit’ the Pond! In Our Friend is Here! guest posts, our visitors (as their very own unique character!) have a friendly conversation about anything related to books or being a reader — and become friends with Xiaolong and friends.

Our Friend is Here: Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month Edition is a month-long event at The Quiet Pond during the month of May, where Asian and Pasifika authors are invited to celebrate being Asian and Pasifika work and literature! Find the introduction post for Asian and Pasifika Heritage Month here.

To kick off the first day of Asian Pasifika Heritage Month at the Pond, we have a very exciting guest! A little over two months ago, I read a phenomenal book called She Who Became the Sun, a queer historical retelling of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty. Within the book was a stunning yet absolutely brutal story about a girl who takes her brother’s fate and name, becomes a monk, and ascends through the ranks, fulfilling his destiny of greatness. She Who Became the Sun is a story about war, ambition, desire, and fighting fate – and I think about this story often.

Our Friend is Here! An Interview with Nicole Glover; On Blending Genres, Incorporating Systemic Issues in Fantastical Mysteries, and Sailor Moon

Our Friend is Here! is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond, where authors, creatives, and fellow readers, are invited to ‘visit’ the Pond! In Our Friend is Here! guest posts, our visitors (as their very own unique character!) have a friendly conversation about anything related to books or being a reader — and become friends with Xiaolong and friends.

I am beyond thrilled that I had the honor of interviewing Nicole Glover, the author of The Conductors, released earlier this year, and the upcoming The Undertakers, the second installment in the Murder and Magic series. Thank goodness we aren’t going to have to wait very long between the release dates of the first and second books, because they are truly unlike any other novels I have ever read. They blend fantasy and magic-wielding characters with mystery and history, and The Conductors centers around murders that the police force has either covered up, mismanaged, or won’t touch – of course, because of many systemic factors.