Crowvus Book Blog

 We are thrilled to share with you the cover for the prequel to Taking Wing , Carnwennan . Carnwennan will be published on 24th June , and is set early on in the crows' and owls' war. It gives a glimpse into the tribal world, building on the magic of Taking Wing and Doorway to the Sunset . And now, for the reveal... If you'd like to pre-order the ebook, then here is the Amazon link. Book Reviewers, let us know if you would like an ARC

  Our focus book this week is Taking Wing by Clemency Crow (Picture) Taking Wing is a gripping fantasy adventure, written for middle grade readers but enjoyed by adults too! Published in 2019, it was rejuvenated in 2025 when the sequel Doorway to the Sunset  was published. Humans were once protected by guardians...with feathers. Twelve-year-old Freya enjoys karate and is the only one in her class who’s trusted with a part-time job. But everything changes when she meets a boy with yellow eyes. She learns about the guardians, and how an age-old fight has prevented them from fulfilling their purpose. Freya finds new friends in the Crow tribe, but not everything in the castle is blissful. A destructive shadow lies within her and all she needs to do to release it is close her eyes. But as the guardians’ war rages on, Freya realises that, although the shadow’s power can be useful, it can’t create peace. To do that, Freya and her friends must solve the mysterious crime that began the...

"The Spirit of Loughmoe Abbey" by Megan Wynne Plot Gwen is supposed to be home-schooled but her mum's mental health problems mean she isn't receiving any schooling. When it is clear that her mum needs hospital treatment to recover, Gwen is sent to an unusual boarding school where students are helped to communicate with spirits. While there, she is confronted with an unsettling truth about her past. Review I read this book in a day, so that is always a good sign! I really enjoyed the mix of normal and supernatural that happens in the book, and how it weaves together so seamlessly. There is an air of mystery around the staff at the school, in particular the principal, which I would love to be developed. I found Gwen thoroughly annoying at first. She had every trait I dislike in "home-schooled" children - I was home-schooled myself and get annoyed when people equate home-schooling to no-schooling or random trips to educational establishments. Maths is important...

June is a 5 Monday month, meaning there's an extra #MGMonday blog to write. This Author Life blog is all about blog tours, and whether they are really worth their while for middle grade books. What is a blog tour? In the past, authors would travel around the country, promoting their book at bookshops and festivals. IT was a logistical nightmare, not to mention prohibitively expensive for many authors. Then, there's the headache of making sure you actually have an audience at these events. Cue, the blog tour. An online version! One without the need for travel, or the headache of wondering if you'll be speaking to an empty bookshop! My First Blog Tour Experience For my debut novel, Taking Wing, the blog tour was a magical thing! I didn't really know what to expect and the fact that several blogs had written reviews was fantastic! I shared each post on my social media, and got lots of comments from people I knew. My first blog tour was organised by Goddess Fish Promotions ...

 Fantasy books certainly don't need any mythical creatures thrown into the mix, but doesn't it make it that bit more fun? My first published book with mythical creatures was Unicorns Rule. And, you guessed it, was about unicorns! It followed characters that I had invented back when I was in primary school, but I changed the story since then to make it (what I considered) better. When writing my unicorn character, I was carefully to keep to older myths and legends. None of that pooping rainbow rubbish! As always, I imagined what I would have wanted to read when I was younger. I design the books for a younger me, knowing that if I would have liked it, then there will be other children who enjoyed it too. The levellan, a very localised mythical creature, formed the basis for a story I wrote and serialised for my class in Lockdown. Check local stories to see if there is a creature you could use in your book. Other mythical creatures include the Nemean Lion (my own take on the lion ...

Why is it that, when you're teaching genres to children, you go through historical, fantasy, science fiction, adventure... and so on... and then... non-fiction. You go into detail about all the wonderful types of fiction, and then non-fiction gets lumped in together. Perhaps because there are too many genres of non-fiction to count. I can't even name them all. So, with that in mind, I will attempt to write a single blog post about non-fiction. What is the most challenging aspect of middle grade non-fiction? For me, personally, the most challenging part is making the facts fun and engaging for children. It's a different skill writing facts for children rather than adults. Think back to when you were a child. If you picked up a dry wall of text, it might have put you off non-fiction for life. So, what can we do to ensure our non-fiction books grip children's attention? Fun Language Think Horrible Histories. Some of the facts in those books might not interest some kids, bu...

I'm afraid that today was another forgetting-it-was-Monday day! It's the May Day Bank Holiday, meaning I'm off work so naturally, I've been spending the entire day thinking it was Sunday. So I've had to quickly put together my notes for this blog, which is all about the Mentor Character in a middle grade novel. But first... What is the Mentor Character? This character's primary job is to teach and guide the protagonist until the time comes when they can stand on their own two feet. This could involve teaching them magical abilities, or lending a listening ear when it's needed. It could be a family member, or a friend of the family's, or a guide to another land... The possibilities are endless (just be aware of stranger danger!) Do all Middle Grade Books Need a Mentor Character? No, not at all. But, if you have a bunch of kids running around on adventures, the authorities are going to start asking questions sooner or later. A mentor offers the opportunity...

 Today was supposed to be a book review day, but with everything that is currently needing attention, I haven't got round to reading my backlist yet and, rather than skim read one of the books, I would rather do it the credit of giving my full attention. So, I thought, that I would introduce my favourite book from when I was little. The Moon of Gomrath is a fantasy adventure, which I partially credit with my love of the genre. It is heavily woven with myths and legends from rural England and, while I grew up many miles away from Alderley Edge where the book is set, I could imagine the story happening close to where I lived in another corner of the English countryside. The book is actually the sequel to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen but I read them out of sync, and it didn't matter. Sure, there were parts that made more sense once I'd read the first book, but I managed well enough. The first book is great, too, but I don't have the same attachment to it. There are mythic...

I could write for ages and ages about fantasy. It was the first genre I wrote, and I'm talking about being very much younger! It was also the first genre I loved to read. As I've grown older, I've realised that most fantasy authors try to instil a shock factor into their audience. I realised early on that, while I enjoyed middle grade fantasy, adult fantasy was often a bit too much for me. But, seeing as this is Middle Grade Monday, that's ok! What is fantasy? Fantasy are things that can't happen. Remember that Science Fiction ( here ) was things that can't happen yet . For fantasy, we just remove the 'yet'. Fantasy could, but doesn't have to, include magic, other worlds, parallel worlds, strange creatures, other humanoid races... the great thing with fantasy is that you can go wild! You want more stories about garden gnomes trying to rid the world of evil? You can write that! The Need for Rules Yes, you can make up the rules. But you do need to have...

 I love fantasy books, and I love adventure so, put those two genres together, and I get very excited! I was, therefore, delighted when I was offered the opportunity to review this book. The author sent me a copy in exchange for an honest review. The book can be purchased here. Summary Matthew is an average boy who doesn't realise his father is the Blademaster, a title given to one person capable of wielding the sword of the elements. This sword can metamorphosise, depending on what the Blademaster needs. The sword of wind can creating tornados, while the sword of water can manipulate (you guessed it!) water. When Matthew's father goes missing, and is presumed dead, Matthew is given a special book that can transport him to his father's native world. There, he finds out that he is the new Blademaster and begins a quest to seek out the evil Black Knights and hopes to find what happened to his father. Reviewing... The Plot I love stories about parallel worlds, and it's alw...

Anyone who writes is a writer but, in my humble opinion, you need to be published to be an author. This may be a contentious view to some, and I'm sorry if your offended. If it's any consolation, self-publishing counts. If fact, I'm writing this blog with self-publishing in mind. When you publish your own books, you have to be on top of everything. Not only are you writing the book, you organise the editing, you organise the marketing and publicity. And don't get me started on distribution! It is enough to drive the most sane person mad! So, to get all of this done, it's important to set yourself realistic goals. You could say you would get everything in a month, but you'll burn out pretty quick. If you have a book you'd like to publish, here is my calendar for publication. There are a couple of points to make first, however. 1) I work best under pressure. If you don't, add on a couple of months to the timeline! 2) If you'd like to try and get your b...

  Characters in Middle Grade: The Baddy Happy March! We saw our first daffodil out in the garden on St David's Day, 1st March. Very fitting! Last month, in our middle grade characters series, we looked at the main character, giving some (I hope!) useful tips and pointing out some things to watch out for. Today, we’ll be looking at your main antagonist, otherwise known as ‘The Baddy’ ! I’ve read some fantastic middle grade baddies, and some terrible ones, and I’m going to share what I think makes a great antagonist, and what to learn from some of the books that just don’t get it right. Before we start, I have a slight confession to make. It doesn’t matter who my bad guy is, they’re always my sister’s favourite character. She likes Raedwald in Taking Wing, she likes the pirates in Exiled (yet to be published!) and I haven’t asked her, but I bet she likes Nox in Heartstone. The book I wrote for her Christmas present last year was a pirate story where there were two sets of baddies: th...

Mehrangarh Fort - the inspiration for Caer Cleon in Doorway to the Sunset Writing a blog about writing settings is like writing a blog about the length of a piece of string. The fact is: the setting will likely depend on the genre and, as I have said many times, Middle Grade is an age range , not a genre. But, I can at least offer some hopefully-handy tips on how to get ideas for your setting. Firstly, it helps to have some idea of your setting to begin with. Do you want the scene to be in a forest, or perhaps you're looking for some building inspiration. This is where I get really controversial. When to use AI AI gets quite a bad press in the creative world, and for good reason. But to have a blanket ban on using AI to help you with the creative process is to shoot yourself in the foot. There is a time and a place for AI, and one of those times, I would argue, is when looking for inspiration. There are some good picture generators out there, and all you need to do is write a descr...

At the end of this blog is the book cover for the upcoming release, Sir Louis Curlewy! For more information, scroll to the bottom and have a peek! Middle Grade Monday: Genres Romance in Middle Grade Valentine's Day is at the end of the week and, throughout several homes, couples are racking their brains on what to get their better halves! Romance is one of the most loved genres of adult fiction, romance authors being the most prolific in writing their books, and the reader community thirsty for their next read. But adult genres don't always translate into middle grade. (Incidentally, this blog comes with a caveat that I am not well-versed in romance, being a devout singleton who would rather keep my very cosy life the way it is than risking changing it for a man!) There is no romance genre in Middle Grade, for the simple reason it just doesn't appeal to people that age. They are still in, or just getting out of, the idealistic romance stories in fairytales, and aren't r...

 The Tale of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll This book marks my first book review for Middle Grade Mondays. I wish I could do more reading, but I work four days a week, and I'm crazy enough to be doing a science degree, and setting unrealistic New Year goals at the same time! This book, however, I read in no more than 24 hours. Not that it's a short book. It is a good length for a middle grade novel, but I became more and more invested in the characters the more I read. Why did I choose this book? I bought this signed copy some time ago from an online independent bookshop. I can't remember exactly what had happened, but the shop had posted that they had somehow been disadvantaged and, as I know how difficult it is to be an independent business in the book world, I wanted to support them. I searched through their booklist, and decided this book was the one that most appealed to me. I do love beautiful chapter headings! What is the book about? The book begins in the not-too-d...

 Middle Grade Settings: An Introduction Having photos in front of you can help you write about your settings I’m going to make a confession. Settings are not something I often spend time planning. Perhaps my stories are the poorer for it, but the settings come as I’m writing or editing. The Glass Room, in Taking Wing, is not something I planned before I started writing. Personally, I’m a very visual writer, seeing my characters as though they are a video in my head, and I write what I see. As such, the setting just happens! There are benefits and drawbacks to this. The main benefit is that the writing process is more interesting. Not everything is set, and my story can still give me surprises. The drawback is that, similar to AI, I cannot know that I’m not stealing settings from films and books I’ve seen/read previously. I certainly don’t mean to plagiarise but the concern is a real one! With that in mind, I have started to at least have a vague idea of my settings before I start t...