Fantasy The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang Technically this is the subgenre of urban fantasy or supernatural fantasy but to be honest it felt more like a family story to me because it’s all about two sisters’ efforts to find their missing Mom. It’s okay, the pacing is a little slow at bits but IContinue reading “Moonlake’s Book Discoveries- September 2025”
Author Archives: moonlakeku
22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Portugal part 1
We caught a Flibus from Seville to Faro and didn’t do much at all on the first day because once we moved to Portugal, my prepaid Spanish Orange 20 stopped working. And basically despite us receiving a printed out map at the hotel on how to get to the city, we ended up going onContinue reading “22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Portugal part 1”
I see the way…
The jump off lines is from Collecting Light by Deb Cooper and this is from a day when I’m not feeling the prompt: I see the way my fingers dip into the trough of hand cream and withdraw while leaving the shape intact. I see the way, or rather feel the way, this pen I’mContinue reading “I see the way…”
Running a FB group for aspiring novelists
I am running out of writer craft insights to share and so I’m branching out to this other enterprise that I have been running for my fellow students from the UBC novel writing courses. I created this back in 2018, off this random idea I have of providing a platform for us all to gatherContinue reading “Running a FB group for aspiring novelists”
22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Spain part 3
The last leg of the Spanish journey is based in Seville. My original itinerary would cover the Santa Cruz neighbourhood in the morning and the signature landmarks such as the Royal Alcazar, Cathedral de Sevilla and Plaza de Espana etc in the afternoon on the first day. But as is our norm, we skipped mostContinue reading “22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Spain part 3”
Oriental Fantasy 2025 (2)
Continuing with Striking the Zither by Joan He, I think it’s best seen as a fantasy set around certain historical events as detailed in the Romance of Three Kingdoms. In fact, after section 1, the fantasy element is so much that it’s enough to tip the whole story into the fantasy genre. On the otherContinue reading “Oriental Fantasy 2025 (2) “
Remarkable Women in ancient China (25)- Zhao Rao
Who is she? Notable Life Events Why is She Remarkable?She is not the only palace maid who has risen to a high position (nor the only nanny for the Emperor for that matter) but I did find it interesting how it was effectively palace servants, of which Zhao Rao is one, that the Dowager EmpressContinue reading “Remarkable Women in ancient China (25)- Zhao Rao”
Oriental fantasy 2025 (1)
I had turned up a book for Oriental fantasy this year- a reimagining of the Romance of Three Kingdoms in female form. The book is called Strike the Zither by Joan He. I had read loads of online novels written in Chinese set in this period, making this one of the most known historical periodsContinue reading “Oriental fantasy 2025 (1)”
The 4 Great Chinese Classics and historical fantasy
None of the 4 Great Chinese Classics are strictly historical fantasy but I think they all have elements of both genres, just in very skewed proportions relative to a historical fantasy written in English. Now let’s look at each of them in turn. The Journey to the West is a fantasy adventure inspired off theContinue reading “The 4 Great Chinese Classics and historical fantasy “
22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Spain part 2
The second leg of our Spanish trip was based in Madrid. I chose an aparhotel to offset the cost of our Barcelona accommodation but I still chose a central location. The first day was just Almudena Cathedral plus Royal Palace of Madrid since the train trip from Barcelona was almost 3 hours. We had lunchContinue reading “22 days train trip in Spain and Portugal- Spain part 2”