Everything is Canon

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Dapo Adeola, author/illustrator of Hey You! An Empowering Celebration Of Growing Up Black, which is described as, “This groundbreaking picture book is a lyrical, inspirational exploration of growing up Black, written by award-winning illustrator Dapo Adeola, and brought to life by some of the most exciting Black illustration talents working today.”

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to author June Hur all about her new book, The Red Palace, which is described as, “A palace nurse and a royal investigator team up to look into a pattern of grisly murders when the Crown Prince becomes the prime suspect in this romantic YA historical mystery from the author ofThe Silence of Bones.”

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to author Anita Kelly all about their new book Love & Other Disasters, which is described as, “The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favorite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut that is both fantastically fun and crack your heart wide open vulnerable.”

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to bestselling author J. Elle all about her new book, Ashes of Gold, which is described as, “In the heart-pounding conclusion to the Wings of Ebony duology, which #1New York Timesbestselling author Nicole Yoon calls “bold, inventive, big-hearted and deeply perceptive,” Rue makes her final stand to reclaim her people’s stolen magic.”

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Rebecca Thorne all about her middle-grade debut, The Secrets of Star Whales, a heartwarming sci-fi story that revolves around Max, a resilient kid but one who is struggling with grief and loss thanks to the sudden death of a parent.

Here’s the summary…

On the small space station Azura, Maxion Belmont is constantly torn between his two passions—engineering and music. Both are hobbies handed down from his father, which is bittersweet since his death two years ago. While his hydrodriver is great for repairing starship parts, his father’s old string instrument tugs at the latent grief Max hides from his mom and classmates with each chord he strums.

When a foreign starship appears on the horizon, Azura welcomes their first tourist in years. Enter Mr. Hames, starship captain and space-brained traveler. But there’s something weird about the stranger-turned-substitute teacher. He has no idea how to teach and thinks enlisting a group of twelve-year-olds to become his starship “crew” is totally normal. Or maybe it’s the fact he keeps raving about the existence of alien creatures in the vacuum of space: star whales.

As Max and the rest of Mr. Hames’s class/crew uncover the mysteries of the star whales, they discover they aren’t the only ones looking for the elusive creatures—and not every whaler has good intentions. Confronted with questions about his own father’s history with the star whales, Max must decide how far he’ll go to understand not only his father, but also the boy he’s become since his death . . . even at the expense of the star whales themselves.

Living on a space station where your future is determined by a genealogical system, Max’s life is thrown for a loop when a mysterious rogue shows up with a damaged ship. Along with his classmates, including his best friend India, this stranger is about to turn Max’s world upside down, but is it for the better, or worse?

Steve and Rebecca talk about our shared love of dogs, many of the fun pop-culture references in the book, The Secrets of Star Whales of course, the joy of middle grade, and much, much more.

The Secrets of Star Whales is out now, click HERE to order a copy today!

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to author Alechia Dow all about her new book The Kindred, which is described as, “To save a galactic kingdom from revolution, Kindred mind-pairings were created to ensure each and every person would be seen and heard, no matter how rich or poor…”

On the season finale of Everything is Canon, Steve is joined by bestselling author Kalynn Bayron, as they close out the year that was, 2021. A big part of the reason Kalynn is here is because This Poison Heart, a book she released all the way back in June, is my absolute favorite book of 2021, you can read my review HERE.

Here’s the summary…

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

Not only is Kalynn one of my favorite authors, but she also happens to be one of my favorite people to talk to, and so I’m very glad she’s here to look back on the year that was with me. We talk about This Poison Heart and the next book in the series, This Wicked Fate, including those incredible covers by Raymond Sebastien, I probe her for updates about some exciting Cinderella is Dead news she dropped a while back, her next series The Vanquishers, and much, much more.

Happy holidays!

To order This Poison Heart and/or pre-order This Wicked Fate, click HERE!

Cover art by Raymond Sebastien.

About the Author:

Kalynn Bayron is the bestselling author of the YA fantasy novels CINDERELLA IS DEAD and THIS POISON HEART. She is a classically trained vocalist and when she’s not writing you can find her listening to Ella Fitzgerald on loop, attending the theater, watching scary movies, and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in Ithaca, NY with her family.

On this new episode of Everything is Canon, Steve is talking to Brent Lambert and L.D. Lewis, two members of the Black speculative fiction literary Magazine FIYAH, and two of the architects behind FIYAHCON.

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks toauthor Marieke Nijkamp all about her new adult novel, Critical Role: Vox Machina: Kith & Kin, which is described as, “Explore the past of Critical Role’s daring half-elf twins, Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan in this original prequel to their adventures with Vox Machina. Kith & Kin follows a brand-new adventure that delves into the twin’s unexplored history and returns to some of the iconic moments that forged Vox Machina’s most unbreakable bond.”

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Huda Fahmy all about her new book, Huda F Are You? which is described as, “a cheeky, hilarious, and honest graphic novel asks the question everyone has to figure out for themselves: Who are you?”