There are 12 days until October 31 and for #12 on my Halloween-themed blog countdown, let’s talk about witches. Clearly, I’m a fan of them since they’re the main characters in my book, The Travelers. But, today, I don't want to talk about fiction. I want to talk about real witches or those thought to be real.
While touring Northern Virginia and taking pictures of places that inspired The Travelers, I thought it might be fun to check out the cemetery adjacent to my mother’s childhood farmhouse in Manassas, right near the battlefield. (Yes, I realize my idea of fun might not be the same as everyone else.)
Yep, I admit it. I'm a total book nerd. I love Shakespeare. It all started in 9th grade… My English teacher introduced us via Romeo and Juliet. At the time, I rolled my eyes and groaned, mistakenly thinking I’d be bored to death by long-winded prose and overly flowery language. But, even though my moody, everything-sucks, 14-year-old self wanted to hate it, I couldn’t. (Thanks Mrs. McDermott!)
Yes, I’m clearly obsessed with Teen Read Week. Anything that encourages people to read more is great, in my book. (Sorry, I know that was a terrible pun. I couldn’t help it!) Sadly, Teen Read Week is coming to an end. In honor of that ending, I’ve compiled a list of books with crazy plot twist endings! Predicting the plot twists for any book, movie or TV show is one of my superpowers...
Break out the napkins, parmesan and red pepper flakes because it is National Pizza Month. Why on earth is a blog focused on books and writing talking about pizza? Well, firstly, pizza is a great. I feel like that is reason enough. But, in case you need something more book-y, it’s also a main food group for one of the characters in my book, The Travelers. So, I thought an ode to the pie would be appropriate. As a former NYC resident... You need to understand that pizza is very important to me.
I despise clutter. I’m the opposite of a pack-rat. (Would that make me a trash-mouse?) Apparently, I have one exception to this rule: books. I’ve managed to amass several bookcases worth of books I just can’t seem to part with. Sometimes I wonder if I could do something more interesting with these books than to let them just languish in my basement. There is!
Since it's October, I felt the overwhelming need (perhaps compelled?) to combine the awesomeness of Teen Read Week and Halloween. It just had to be done. And since my own book, The Travelers, is about witches, that seemed like an appropriate place to start. Therefore, here are some spellbinding YA books where the main characters are teen witches or thought to be.
It’s Teen Read Week from October 9-15! (Never heard of it before? Me either! I just learned about it and I think it’s AWESOME!) So awesome, I thought it deserved a little bloggy time. Therefore, in honor of Teen Read Week, I thought it might be fun to highlight some authors you may not have realized were mere teenagers when they wrote their now super famous books.
Halloween is just around the corner. In honor of it, I thought it might be fun to list the top 5 “scary” or “monster-themed” books that influenced me as a teenager or young adult.
K.L. Kranes 