Everything Is Better With Dragons

Daily prompt

What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?

Swimming and walking.

I’m not very coordinated so I need something to do that I can do on my own. I used to be an archer, which is also a solo sport, but then I slipped on a wet concrete floor and damaged my back and hip.

These days I like to go to aqua aerobics as well as swimming lengths. I like to try different classes; since I’ve had time to myself, I’ve been to classes at different pools and with different teachers. My favourite is the one I go to on a Thursday morning. It’s at 10a.m. but it doesn’t cost a fortune to get a taxi. There’s one I tried last Friday morning that had weights, which was fun, but I have to get a bus at 10 a.m. If I have the energy, I’ll give it another try next week.

I have a bit of a cold at the moment, so I’m only doing a little bit of exercise.

Blog tour calendar: Queen of the Dead, by Sarah Broadway

Review: Moojag and the Auticode Secret, by N.E, MacMorran

Format: 288 pages, Paperback
Published: November 9, 2020 by Spondylux Press
ISBN: 9781838097806

Book description

When Nema and her friends discover a hidden sugar-hooked society holding lost kids, they find their perfect world in danger. The strange, sticky place hides the truth about Nema’s missing brother, and a plot to destroy the free world she knows. But only they can reverse a code to prevent a rock candy robot invasion and rescue the captives. Fail and they might never make it back home…

This dystopian, cli-fi mystery is a quirky adventure featuring a neurodivergent cast and autistic/dyslexic/adhd main characters, for readers 10 years and up. Highly recommended as a family read due to the thought-provoking concepts and subject matter introduced.

Set in the utopian world of post-catastrophe ‘Surrey Isles’, Britain 2054, where neurodivergents live in harmony with nature and technology, and the hidden dystopian ‘Gajoomdom’.

Anyone who has ever felt different or had trouble fitting in will identify with this story about finding the strength to be your true self. A fun, Alice-esque adventure revealing what it means to be neurodivergent, in a way that’s relatable to all.

Blog tour review: Daughters of Nicnevin, by Shona Kinsella

Price: £20.00
Fiction: FICTION / Fantasy / Historical
Product format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-80552-020-7
Pages: 336
Imprint: FLAME TREE PRESS

Blurb

Mairead and Constance, two powerful witches, meet in the early days of
the 1745 Jacobite uprising. While the men of the village are away fighting,
the villagers face threats from both the Black Watch and raiders, and the
women are confronted with their vulnerability. They enlist the help of
Nicnevin, fae queen of witches, to bring men made of earth to life to help
protect their village. But just who do they need protection from? And what
will happen when the village men return?

Books delivered this week

I’ve had some good post this week.

This morning I received an ARC of The Girl With A Thousand Faces from Sunyi Dean, that came with a letter about the book, a ghost talisman and a flyer about the official book launch in May.

Earlier in the week I received a book I ordered after seeing it on a Good Reads list and liking the sound of it, Dead Silence, by S.A. Barnes. I think I had to get it from the Netherlands.

And I’ve also received two of the books I’m reviewing in January for Random Things Tours.

The Girl In The Tower, by Harrison Murphy, 13th January 2026 – stand alone novel
The Hope, by Paul E. Hardest, 26th January 2026 – final book in a trilogy

And of course, BFS Horizons #18 has arrived from the BFS!

I can’t wait to read them all!

Review: Silence of the Dead, by Marks Ewington

Publisher Independently published
Publication date 5 Aug. 2025
Language ‎English
Print length 284 pages
ISBN-13 979-8284534489

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Murder has come to the city of Tronte…

Holtar didn’t become a necromancer for the prestige—he did it because talking to the dead is marginally easier than dealing with the living. Unfortunately, his latest case has given him a fresh problem: the corpses aren’t talking.

Maria and the Star-Dragons: Epilogue

Epilogue – A month (I.G.A.S.S. Standard) later, on Ascend

Maria flopped on to xyr settee, drained from spending all day on a video call giving evidence in the trial of the former human governor of Aurox. For a week xe’d been giving depositions against the regime on Aurox and their crimes, including the harassment Maria and Sahrai had received from Josh Dalton, the senior security officer. It had upset xyr when evidence of the abuse of the bovids had been presented and the testimony of human prisoners forced to labour on Rocky Horror.

Maria and the Star Dragons: Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Maria still among the Auroxians

Maria listened to the conversation around xyr. Xe laughed quietly (for xyr) when Dr Suah Painen repeated the Auroxian saying about the jungle.

“That’s one way of describing the vegetation around here.”

Maria and the Star-Dragons Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Dr Suah Painen’s adventures on Aurox

Although a geologist by trade, Suah had been on enough new planets to have picked up basic skills in cultural analysis. Observing the Auroxians had been a distraction from the horror of events since arriving on Aurox. She shuddered, remembering the day the research party had been attacked.

Maria and the Star-Dragons: Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Maria in the PFMs den

Maria watched the frantic activity as Lah-Shah and his honour guard arrived at the den.

“Come on Mrrh-waa, we’d better go and rescue him from your family.” Xe waited while the tablet translated for Mrrh-waa.