Let’s Go on a Pond-cation: The Lady or the Lion-Inspired Virtual Vacation through Pakistan with Aamna Qureshi and Xiaolong!

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.

Let’s Go On a Pond-cation posts are some of my absolute favourite posts here at The Quiet Pond, and I am so happy and excited that we get to do one for Asian Pasifika Heritage Month this year! With most of us cooped at home or having not traveled anywhere, I love the idea that we can take you away on a virtual vacation – a vacation that is very much book-related!

Let’s Go On a Pond-cation: A Tour with Ashaye Brown Through the Visionary Realms and Places in Dream Country

Let’s Go On a Pond-cation is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond that celebrates and highlights worldbuilding in stories! In our Pond-cation posts, the Pond friends and authors team up to take all of us on a virtual vacation through the real life places in books or the places that inspired fictional places and worldbuilding. Find out more information about this guest feature here.

We’re going on a wonderful journey today, friends. When I heard about Dream Country, a forthcoming YA fantasy about sibling rivalry and triplets gods, I was immediately intrigued! When I had the opportunity to work together with Onwe, a Black women-led independent publisher, to celebrate the worldbuilding of Dream Country by Ashaye Brown as part of the book’s blog tour, I absolutely had to say yes. I have the honour of having Ashaye Brown herself visiting us today to take us on a journey through the wonderful places in Dream Country and their inspirations. So, let’s go, friend. Ashaye’s going to take us on an adventure!

Let’s Go on a Pond-cation, Black History Month Edition: A Tour through the Eerie Village of Bethel from The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Let’s Go On a Pond-cation is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond that celebrates and highlights worldbuilding in stories! In our Pond-cation posts, the Pond friends and authors team up to take all of us on a virtual vacation through the real life places in books or the places that inspired fictional places and worldbuilding. Find out more information about this guest feature here.

Our Friend is Here: Black History Month Edition is a month-long event at The Quiet Pond during the month of February, where Black authors are invited to celebrate being Black and Black books! Find the introduction post for Black History Month here.

We’re going on a trip! It’s always such a joy to be able to do more creative features here on the Pond, and I’m delighted to be hosting Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching, here today to guide us through the spooky village of Bethel, where her story is set. The Year of the Witching was one of my absolute favorite books of 2020—and if you love witches, dark fantasy horror featuring religious allegories, and unsettling stories with a mounting sense of dread, you absolutely do not want to miss this book. Now, let’s go see what Sprout is up to…

Let’s Go on a Pond-cation: A These Violent Delights-themed Virtual Tour through Shanghai with Chloe Gong and Xiaolong

Let’s Go On a Pond-cation is a guest feature at The Quiet Pond that celebrates and highlights worldbuilding in stories!

In our Pond-cation posts, the Pond friends and authors team up to take all of us on a virtual vacation through the real life places in books or the places that inspired fictional places and worldbuilding. Find out more information about this guest feature here.

It’s pretty clear that all of us at the Pond are huge fans of These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. We had the honour of hosting the exclusive cover reveal and we also highly recommended the book in our review. Today though, we have Chloe visiting us at the Pond again in a new Let’s Go On a Pond-cation post, where Chloe and Xiaolong take us on a virtual vacation through Shanghai, the setting for These Violent Delights.

Let’s Go on a Pond-cation: An Eva Evergreen-Inspired Virtual Vacation through Japan with Julie Abe and Xiaolong!

Today is a very special and exciting day, friends! I have the spectacular Julie Abe, author of Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch visiting us at the Pond for our very first Let’s Go on a Pond-cation guest feature, where we explore the real places that have inspired fictional places and worlds!

During Asian Heritage Month in May, I had the absolute pleasure of Julie visiting us to talk about her recently released middle-grade debut and the Japanese influences in Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch. In Julie visit’s today, we’re doing something pretty unique and fun that we have never done before: instead of staying in the Pond, we’re going on an adventure! Julie is going to talk a little bit more about the adventure you are going on today, so without further ado, a big welcome to Julie Abe!