A Darkness Strange and Lovely
Book Club Recap & Final Winner!
I am at Dragon*Con right now–probably wondering the booths for a new Star Wars t-shirt–so I’ll keep this brief.
Thank you again to everyone who participated in the Something Strange & Deadly book club, both here and on Epic Reads.
You all are truly quite amazing and I love you for it.
On that note, the winner of last week’s giveaway (for a SIGNED copy of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass + signed copies of SS&D or ADS&L) is…
Sara of the Page Sage!
Thank you so much, Sara! And everyone else who joined in and was generally AWESOME throughout August. There are not enough ♥s to express how much I appreciate your interactions.
To everyone who signed up for the participation prize: Because I am out of town for the next two weeks, it will probably take me a bit of time to get you your prizes (A Dawn Most Wicked or an extra scene from A Darkness Strange & Lovely). Please bear with me–I haven’t forgotten you!!
If you still need to sign up for a participation prize, you can do that here. 🙂
And, in case you signed up but didn’t have a chance to participate, here’s a recap of all the month’s posts, discussions, and extra content.
Week 1
Discussion questions + historical extras
Listen/watch me read chapter in Something Strange & Deadly
List of discussions across the web
Week 2
Discussion questions + historical extras
Musical playlist that goes along with chapter 19 from Something Strange & Deadly
List of discussions across the web
Week 3
Discussion questions + fun extras
My dream cast for Something Strange & Deadly: the movie (that does not exist…yet)
List of discussions across the web
Week 4
Discussion questions + fun extras
Musical playlist that goes along with the opening scenes in A Darkness Strange & Lovely
List of final discussions across the web
Enjoy! And again, thank you. I’ll be back to the blogosphere in 2 weeks. À bientôt!
♥
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, extras, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, Thanks, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSomething Strange & Deadly, Final Discussions!
First off, let me start this post by sharing my Dragon*Con schedule (since that’s where I’ll be all of Labor Day weekend). Sarah J. Maas and I will be chillin’ like villains–and IN COSTUME, no less–while planning out more of our Starkillers Cycle during every free second we get.
Friday:
- Find me at the SFWA Booth at ~3 PM (near the Artists’ & Comics’ Alley)
Saturday:
- 11:30 AM: Advice for Young Writers; Location: A707 – Marriott
- 8:30 PM: Historical Fiction and Steampunk Themes; Location: A707 – Marriott
Sunday:
- 1:00 PM: Reading with Sarah J. Maas; Location: Vinings – Hyatt
- 2:30 PM: Autograph Sessions; Location: International Hall South – Marriott
Now then: ON TO THE BOOK CLUB! (Read more…)
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, Thanks, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionA Darkness Strange & Lovely, Opening Playlist
First off, if you haven’t yet participated in the Epic Reads discussions, I urge you to! They have lots of awesome conversations going on about Something Strange & Deadly. 🙂
Second, if you missed our FINAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (plus the chance to win a signed copy of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas), head here.
As hard as this might be to believe, Chapter 19 happens to be my favorite chapter in A Darkness Strange & Lovely. Yep, that’s right–it’s the EXACT same chapter number as my favorite in Something Strange & Deadly. And it’s not that I don’t love all the other chapters in book 2, but I had a massive case of writer’s block right before Chapter 19 in ADS&L. After days of pulling out my hair, the light finally burst through the clouds…and chapter 19 all the way to the end just poured out of me.
So, if you’ve read A Darkness Strange & Lovely or are reading it now, be sure to remember that when you read chapter 19. 😉
BUT, since I know many of you wonderful readers haven’t yet read A Darkness Strange & Lovely, much less read Chapter 19, I didn’t want to spoil those scenes with a playlist breakdown. Instead, I thought I’d share a playlist that goes with the opening scenes of A Darkness Strange & Lovely.
Nothing to spoilery here. 😉
First, I’ll share the actual playlist so you can listen, and then I’ll break down which piece I associate with which pages. AND, I’ve got the first 85 pages of the book embedded below that so you can listen and read along. 🙂 Enjoy!
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, Miss Eleanor Fitt, music, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSomething Strange & Deadly Book Club FINAL WEEK!
Welcome to the final week in the Something Strange & Deadly book club!
If you missed the wonderful discussions last week, be sure to check them out here. I’ve listed all the people who shared their responses with me via the participation prize form and week 3 giveaway form. 🙂
Now, to choose the winner of the third week’s prizes–a signed copy of Goddess Test by Aimée Carter, a signed copy of SS&D or ADS&L, and signed swag…
Thank you to everyone who participated, and look below for THE FINAL WEEK’S AWESOME PRIZES! 😉
Oh, and–whether you participate in this book club or not–you’ll definitely want to stop by the Epic Reads discussion board!
In fact, if you join in (or have already) the Epic Reads discussions, you get an extra entry in this week’s giveaway!! (Read more…)
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSS&D Book Club, Week 3 Discussions!
I can’t believe the third awesome week in our book club is already over! Waah! Only one more week to go! And, as you all have every week, you’ve totally impressed me with your answers.
If you’d still like to join in on the discussions, then that’s TOTALLY cool and I’d love to have you! Just be sure you sign up for it on this form. 🙂
If you missed my movie casting on Wednesday, make sure to drop by. I’d love to hear who YOU envision playing the various characters.

This could totally be a movie still from Something Strange & Deadly, the Movie (coming to a theater near you when pigs fly).
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSomething Strange & Deadly Book Club Week 3
Welcome to week 3 in the Something Strange & Deadly book club!
If you missed the awesome discussions last week, be sure to check them all out here. I’ve got the full list of people who’ve shared their responses with me via the participation prize form and week 2 giveaway form.
Now, to choose the winner of the second week’s prizes–a signed copy of Angelfire by Courtney Moulton, Angelfire swag, a signed copy of SS&D or ADS&L, and signed swag…
Thank you to everyone who participated, and look below for THIS week’s prizes. 😉
Oh, and–whether you participate in this book club or not–you’ll definitely want to stop by the Epic Reads discussion board! So far they’ve…
- Shared pictures of 1876 Philadelphia!
- Discussed their first impressions of Daniel Sheridan!
- Talked about their favorite characters in the series!
- Answered OUR discussion question about Mrs. Fitt
- Compared Victorian society to modern society
If you don’t want to answer this week’s discussion question, that’s fine! You can chime in next week (the final week). One discussion qualifies you for the participation prize. 🙂 What is the prize? A copy of the e-novella A Dawn Most Wicked or an exclusive cut scene from A Darkness Strange and Lovely.
Of course, if you want to be eligible for this week’s AWESOME giveaway, you’ll want to be sure you answer this week’s discussion question somewhere on the web (publicly visible, of course) before Monday of next week (8/26), when I choose a winner! (Read more…)
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSS&D Book Club, Week 2 Discussions!
Happy Friday, world!! Thank you for another FUN week in our book club discussion! Your answers are all so insightful–I’m honestly thoroughly impressed.
If you’d still like to join in on the discussions, then that’s TOTALLY cool and I’d love to have you! Just be sure you sign up for it on this form. 🙂
If you missed my playlist on Wednesday, be sure to check out the music I imagine with the Dynamite Factory scene–assuming your there in the book. If not, you can save the explanation of the playlist for later. 😉
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSomething Strange & Deadly Book Club Week 2
Welcome to week 2 in the Something Strange & Deadly book club!
If you missed the line-up of discussions last week, be sure to head here. I’ve got the full list of people who’s shared their responses with me via the participation prize form and week 1 giveaway form.
Speaking of giveaways…The winner of the first week’s prizes–a copy of Taken by Erin Bowman, a signed copy of SS&D or ADS&L, and signed swag–is…
Thank you to everyone who participated, and look below for THIS week’s prizes. 😉
Oh, and–whether you participate in this book club or not–you’ll definitely want to stop by the Epic Reads discussion board! So far they’ve…
- Shared pictures of 1876 Philadelphia!
- Discussed their first impressions of Daniel Sheridan!
- Talked about their favorite characters in the series!
- Answered OUR discussion question from last week about Mrs. Fitt
If you don’t want to answer this week’s discussion question, that’s fine! You can chime in next week…or even in the final week. One discussion qualifies you for the participation prize. 🙂 What is the prize? A copy of the e-novella A Dawn Most Wicked or an exclusive cut scene from A Darkness Strange and Lovely.
Of course, if you want to be eligible for this week’s EPIC giveaway, you’ll want to be sure you answer this week’s discussion question somewhere on the web (publicly visible, of course) before Monday of next week (8/19), when I choose a winner! (Read more…)
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, giveaway, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSS&D Book Club, Week 1 Discussions!
Hey guys!! Thank you for an AWESOME first week in our book club discussion! It was really cool to read everyone’s answers.
If you’d still like to join in on the discussions, then that’s TOTALLY cool and I’d love to have you! Just be sure you sign up for it on this form. 🙂
If you missed my video on Wednesday, be sure to check out my atrocious reading skills. I tried to at least make all the background and music pretty, to compensate for my painful audio-book skills. Still, I hope you enjoy this brief excerpt!
If you haven’t yet stopped by the Epic Reads discussion board, please do! They’ve got some fun conversations going on–including a discussion of our question this week. To remind you, the question was:
Eleanor finds herself with next to nothing at the start of A Darkness Strange and Lovely. Do you think she is justified in leaving Philadelphia and leaving behind her mother? On the flip side, can you put yourself in Mrs. Fitt’s shoes and understand why she might be so cruel toward Eleanor?
The most common response seems to be that yes, Mrs. Fitt was in fact justified given the time period…but that it doesn’t necessarily make her right. She should still have give poor Eleanor a bit more love. 🙁 (Read more…)
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A Darkness Strange and Lovely, book club, Books, Miss Eleanor Fitt, Reading, Something Strange & Deadly, The Spirit-Hunters, young adult fictionSomething Strange & Deadly Book Club Week 1
Welcome to week 1 in the Something Strange & Deadly book club!
I’m SO amazed by the amount of people who have signed up, and I hope–as the word spreads–that more people might jump in! If you know of anyone interested in joining, please direct them to the sign-up form here.
And–whether you participate in this book club or not–you’ll definitely want to stop by the Epic Reads discussion board! So far they’ve…
- Shared pictures of 1876 Philadelphia!
- Discussed their first impressions of Daniel Sheridan!
- Talked about their favorite characters in the series!
If you don’t want to answer this week’s discussion question, that’s fine! You can chime in next week…or the next. Or even in the final week. One discussion qualifies you for the participation prize. 🙂 What is the prize? A copy of the e-novella A Dawn Most Wicked or an exclusive cut scene from A Darkness Strange and Lovely.
Of course, if you want to be eligible for this week’s EPIC giveaway, you’ll want to be sure you answer this week’s discussion question somewhere on the web (publicly visible, of course) before Monday of next week, when I choose a winner! (Read more…)