The Latest News from Blydyn Square Books
Help Us Make the Kind of Books You’ll Love to Read!
We’re looking for YOUR help as we develop our upcoming titles. Let us know about your reading habits, and we’ll be able to do a better job creating the kind of books you won’t be able to put down. Just fill out our quick online survey. Everyone who completes the survey will be entered in a random drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Thanks so much for your help!
Summer Is the Time to Try Something New
It’s full-on summer now, and though I’ve never been able to stand the hot weather, I always loved the summer when I was a kid—not for the usual reasons that other people talk about, like vacations at the beach or barbecues or Fourth of July fireworks, none of which rates a spot on my list of favorites.
Nope. For me, summer was great because it was a time of endless possibilities. Instead of being bogged down with schoolwork and the stress of trying to ace tests and get straight As (yes, I was a huge dork), I had ten straight weeks of free time to explore the kind of things I cared about.
For me, it was mostly books (surprise, surprise!), but sometimes I’d try out other hobbies and interests. Like the summer I tried to learn to play the recorder (to this day, the sound of “Hot Cross Buns” is like nails on a blackboard to me). So, maybe it didn’t always work out like I hoped, but every summer, I’d try again to find a new passion or learn something different.
This summer, I invite all of YOU to do the same. If you’ve ever fancied yourself a writer, this is your chance to get published. Our brand-new literary magazine, Blydyn Square Review, is actively seeking material for our fall issue, which has the theme “My Life in Books.”
Send us your favorite book- or reading-related piece of writing, whether it’s a short essay, a poem, an anecdote, or whatever. Just keep it short (300 words or fewer) and make us think! For more information, see our website.
And don’t feel like you’re “not qualified” if you’re not already a published writer. For this special issue, we want to hear from readers even more than “authors,” so seize the summer and become one of our next featured writers!
Blydyn Square Book Club 
This month, we read This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. If you missed the
meeting, you can catch the video here.
Next month, we’ll be reading The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer. Join us on August 5 for a great conversation! Here’s the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99955659944
Blydyn Square Happy Hour
Don’t forget to join us next week, on July 15, for our monthly Happy Hour. We’ll chat about books, writing, working with a small press, and whatever else comes up. We’ll see you there. Here’s the link: https://zoom.us/j/99955659944
Quote of the Month
“Of course anyone who truly loves books buys more of them than he or she can hope to read in one fleeting lifetime. A good book, resting unopened in its slot on a shelf, full of majestic potentiality, is the most comforting sort of intellectual wallpaper.”
—David Quammen
Brain Teaser of the Month
Congratulations to Alex Phuong, who won an Amazon gift card in last month’s trivia challenge. The question was:
On June 16, the literary world celebrated Bloomsday. What, exactly, is Bloomsday?
The answer: Bloomsday is the celebration of author James Joyce and June 16, 1904, the day the events of his novel Ulysses are relived.
Now answer this:
Since we’re in full-on summer now, this month we have a beach-read question:
Author Elin Hilderbrand sets many of her books on what famous summer resort island?
Email us at info@blydynsquarebooks.com with your answer and you may be our next lucky winner!
That’s it for this month. Have a great summer and we’ll see you next time!
Tara Tomczyk
Editor in Chief
Blydyn Square Books
www.blydynsquarebooks.com
