June Jabber: Monthly Missives from The Dream Pedlar

Hello, Dreamer!

Hope your summer has gotten off to a great start!

Mine began with little D turning 7 just a few days ago. Naturally, this has been a month of celebrations for us, beginning with D's birthday party early on, then the beginning of his summer holidays, and then celebrations with friends on his actual birthday!

The weather has been in our favour too. It's not sweltering hot, which is absolutely unseasonal but I'm loving it.

The big news is that the wonderful folks at Kobo featured an author interview with me in which I had great fun sharing my thoughts on reading and writing.

Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize 2023: KWL Author Spotlight on Anitha Krishnan - Kobo Writing Life

Anitha Krishnan on her expansive novel featuring “whimsical worlds and heartbreaking prose,” Dying Wishes, shortlisted for the 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. When I was seven, my mother died. I struck a bargain with the Gods to bring her back to life. For thirteen years now, I have served…

Kobo Writing Lifekobowritinglife

This feature was part of the Rakuten Kobo 2023 Emerging Writer Prize in which Dying Wishes was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction category. It didn't win, and I was bummed about that for a bit.

But the winner in that category is The Petting Zoos by K.S. Covert, and it has such an intriguing premise it's already on my TBR list now.

I'm keeping this month's missive short as announced earlier, but there's still a short tale and book recommendations to enjoy!

Tales for Dreamers

colour-changing flowers

The flowers have been in bloom this season, splashing colour all about town. It's a gorgeous sight, one that brought forth a story.

tales for dreamers: colour-changing flowers

These flowers keep changing colours. Without rhyme or reason, it may seem. But is there really no method to their madness?

The Dream PedlarAnitha Krishnan

Books You May Love

The Doll by Icelandic crime writer, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, is a very twisted and creepy mystery. It begins with a mysterious doll being found on a fishing trip, and it somehow leads to a spate of mysterious deaths.

The book made for some pretty spooky reading at the start and ended up being a very engrossing police procedural. Apparently, this book is part of a series called Children's House, and I can't wait to read the other books in the series!

But the book I fell in love with this month was The Herd by Emily Edwards. It is about the very touchy subject of vaccination. Two mothers, who are also best friends, have differing views on the subject of vaccinating their children although one of them keeps her opinions and her child's vaccination status hidden.

I don't want to say more about the story — this book really merits a read — but the author has dealt with this topic so sensitively and empathetically that you'd love the book no matter what your own beliefs on the topic are.

It also delves beautifully into what it really means to be a parent, having to make choices for our children in this mad, chaotic and utterly random world.

If it's not viral or bacterial, it must be maternal.

~ Janna Malamud Smith

(Quoted from The Herd by Emily Edwards)

Also, if you're looking for more speculative fiction, check out The 2023 Best of British SFF over on StoryBundle.

That's all for this month, dear Dreamer.

I wish you all lovely warm days and starry nights. May you all taste the sweetness of a summer filled with ice-cream and popsicles, with watermelons and berries, with sunshine and open-ended days.

~ Anitha