A Tangle of Magicks Blog Tour 1st August - 9th August

As a huge fan of The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson I'm so thrilled to be organising a blog tour for Stephanie Burgis' second novel, A Tangle of Magicks. Steph is now an award-winning author with her first book, A Most Improper Magick, winning the 2011 Waverton Good Read Children's Award and we're certain that A Tangle of Magicks will soon be doing just as well. After all, how can anyone not fall in love with Regency England's feistiest twelve year old?

A TANGLE OF MAGICKS
Stephanie Burgis

When Kat Stephenson's family arrive in Bath in search of a suitor for her sister, it's not long before Kat discovers that the town of Bath is fizzing with wild magic. Stumbling upon a plot to harness the magic in the Roman Baths, Kat finds that her brother is unwittingly involved. To foil the plot and save her brother she must defy the Order of the Guardians and risk losing her magical powers, forever...

"A Tangle of Magicks is 300 pages of fun, fabulousness and magical frolics." So Many Books, So Little Time

"Mysterious, adventurous and absolutely hilarious." The Guardian, Children's Books Website


Steph will be hitting 9 of the most vibrant UK teen fiction blogs starting on publication day itself, 1st August, and ending on 9th August. Each stop will be offering an array of Katastic features including guest posts, Q&As and a vlog from Steph along with extracts and giveaways. What more could you want?

1st August

First off Steph is stopping off at the wonderful Chicklish where she'll be talking about her own adventure in Bath, trying the foul tasting waters of the Pump Room. Nice.

2nd August

So Many Books, So Little Time will be hosting the tour's first Q&A so make sure you visit to find out Steph's desert island books. The lovely Sophie has already posted her review so for some pre-tour reading, head there now.

3rd August

Find out about Steph's thoughts on literary heroines and why Kat turned out the way she is over at Fluttering Butterflies. Heroines forever! There will also be a review just in case you need a bit more persuading.

4th August

Writing matters over at Serendipity Reviews where Steph will be answering questions all about her writing techniques and her influences for Kat's adventures. There will also be a review and the first giveaway of the tour so make sure you enter!

5th August

Next Steph will be at Leanne Luce discussing her love of Bath and why she absolutely had no choice but to go and explore her favourite city once again when she decided to send Kat there for her second adventure. No choice whatsoever! Head here for another giveaway too.

6th August

Steph will be on the Book Angel's Saturday Spotlight today, writing about how the library in her American hometown gave her a chance to escape to England through the eyes of wonderfully written heroines. The Book Angel will also be posting her review.

7th August

The tour's extract hotspot will be at Turn The Page, so if you want a taste of Kat's second adventure this is the place to be. Turn The Page will also be hosting the last giveaway on the tour so make sure you enter to avoid a Kat shaped hole in your life.

8th August

The last Q&A of the tour will be over at Portrait Of A Woman so head here to find out Steph's take on writing YA/MG books and what she has coming up in the near future.

9th August

We arrive at the last stop with a first for the tour at Love Reading X where Steph will be dropping off a vlog for Kat fanatic Iffath where she'll be reading out an extract from A Tangle of Magicks. Definitely a highlight not to be missed!

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And there you have it! Plenty of news, views and reviews that will delight any Kat fan and hopefully gain our heroine a few more followers. Trust me, you need this girl in your life!

Stephanie Burgis decided to be a writer when she was seven and sold her first short story when she was fifteen. She fell in love with Regency England when she discovered the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Now she writes full-time and lives in Wales with her husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, their son, and their crazy-but-sweet border collie, Maya.

For more from Steph, check out her website here or follow her on Twitter.

Steph will be signing copies of A Tangle of Magicks in Waterstone's in Bath from 1pm on Saturday 6th August and also in Waterstone's in Abergavenny on Friday 12th August from 6pm (pop into the store for a special invite for this event).

A day trip to the north with "the delightful" Simon Bartram

Well it's not often that we get the chance to take a jolly jaunt to the north but this week the opportunity arose to accompany (the delightful) Simon Bartram to the CLPE reading conference in Huddersfield.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Simon's work you simply must visit his fabulous blog here...
His Bob books have been a staple on the Templar list for some years and have delighted readers across the country.

Simon wowed a crowd of budding librarians with stories about his work, inspirations and influences and tried as hard as he could to enthuse then in his first love Football (sadly to no avail)

After a brilliant hour long talk with the aid of a powerpoint presentations, several fabulous vintage comics and a high tech lazer pointer Simon stayed to have his picture taken with smitten librarians and sign a huge pile of books (which could have quite possible reached all the way to the moon).

What a cracking day and what a super star Simon is, a genuine 100% lovely chap, he deserves a trophy!

Swash buckling tales with Jonny Duddle at the Pop Up Festival

Swash buckling tales today with Jonny Duddle at his Pop Up Festival of Stories event in West Library, Islington, north London. Along came some well behaved young land lubbers from Vittoria School and soon they were all joining in with shouts of "Ahoy!" and a very loud 'BURP' at the end as the Pirate Cruncher ate up everyone - except for the macaw and the strange pirate with strings attached. These year 3 and 4 children have been making a play featuring the ending of Pirate Cruncher - and they took back to school a very large drawing of a pirate, that Jonny created for them.