Summer on Sag Harbor by Sunny Hostin

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I really enjoyed Summer of the Bluffs when I read it and I'm finally continuing the Summer on the Beach series. William Morrow sent me the last two books so no more excuses! I feel like we've seen more of a spotlight on these popular historical vacation spots for African Americans in the last few years and I'm finding it fascinating to read about it from someone like Sunny who does run in that crowd. So I decided to start  Summer on Sag Harbor since it felt fitting with summer fast approaching.

Summer on Sag Harbor builds upon the previous book where we are following Olivia Jones whose relationship with Anderson, the comedian she got engaged to in the previous book is still trucking along albeit having lost a little bit of it's spark. Olivia is now starting to experience some obstacles when it comes to their racial differences which is especially prominent now that they're no longer in their isolated Covid bubble and she's decide to live at her new home in Sag Harbor. Olivia immediate fits into her new neighborhood while Anderson feels out of place and continues to commute to NYC for work. She starts to form relationships with people in Sag Harbor while she also searches for information about the family of her deceased father. With white development companies targeting the area she gets involved with efforts to push back against the gentrification and retain the area's history and Black community. 

There's never a dull moment with multiple storylines running at once and appearances and updates from Olivia's god sisters and godmother from the previous book. This is set during the summer of 2021 so Covid is very much a thing that is being addressed on page along with testing and vaccinations. If you're familiar with Sunny from the view it should not be surprising that it's incorporated. However it's still a light beach read and one I could see potentially being adapted into a limited series.

People may question why a seemingly strong woman like Olivia had issues of self doubt and was questioning her life choices. But I found it to be very relatable and refreshing to see a Black woman, specifically a darker skinned Black woman get to be vulnerable and not the bitchy shrew type who just needs a good man. I'm curious to see how her journey continues in the next book since this one ends in a seemingly happy spot for her. 

It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Having read Sarah's first two books (and still reluctantly waiting for her to take the plunge into adult romance) when I saw the cover reveal around this time last year I knew that It Waits in the Forest would be an automatic read for me. I received a copy from Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.

In It Waits in the Forest we follow Selina, a young woman living on the island of St. Virgil who is making ends meet running an Obeah shop. She doesn't believe in the supernatural but she makes money from gullible tourists using her knowledge of healing plants and specialized props to peddle fake spells and charms. One day a tourist arrives at the shop willing to pay any price as he believes he's being stalked by a supernatural being. When that tourist ends up at the center of a strong of murders it's up to Selina and her newly returned to the island ex boyfriend Gabriel to solve the mystery before they end up the next victims. 

Sarah Dass has crafted a paranormal detective mystery of sorts with inspiration from Caribbean folklore mixed with a second chance romance between two young lovers. Dass does a great just building the atmosphere of the island and the anticipation to uncovering what the "it" is. I don't think anyone should go into this looking for a horror because it really wasn't a horror book. But I think it someone wants a light but tense whodunit in a unique location this will satisfy that itch. It's a slow burn but addicting tale.

What I don't recommend is the audiobook which I did use for part of my read. St. Virgil is a Caribbean island inspired by Tobago but the narration kept conjuring images of the Irish countryside for me. It was an awful attempt at any kind of English Caribbean accent. Publishers need to work on hiring people from the region to narrate audiobooks more. It just elevates the story. 

Interview with Author Sami Ellis

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another author interview! And this time I spoke with author Sami Ellis. You might know her from her hilarious tweets but she recently released a campy YA horror. So read on to hear her reminisce on some childhood favorites and talk about the process writing Dead Girls Walking. 

What inspired Dead Girls Walking?

Being a cliche of myself, I was inspired after I saw the response to Get Out. Not necessarily watching the film, but seeing everyone love it as much as I loved it. It gave me hope that I could write a horror book about what I was actually afraid of as a Black girl - and really lean into my favorite genre. I was raised on horror, so it's always been a part of my work, but this was a full circle moment for me. That's partially why Dead Girls Walking is so Friday the 13th inspired - it's a homage to the genre, yes, but it's also me just celebrating everything I love about returning to the genre for good.

Have you ever been to a summer camp? If so, what was your experience like?

I have been to a summer camp before! I went to two different ones, and there are a few scenes in Dead Girls inspired by it. The scene where they talk about hearing knocking through the night is directly pulled from my memories at Camp Schmidt in PG County. I had heard knocking on the window through the night! And when I woke up and asked if anyone else had heard it, only one person had cosigned me. When a teacher heard me talking about it, he said it was the haunted Goat Man of Camp Schmidt lol. 

Is there a favorite scene you had to edit out of the book?

There wasn't, really. Through the many drafts of Dead Girls, there were a bunch of characters I had to cut to simplify the story (if you think the story's complicated now, you should have read it when there were 20 campers) - and I felt those cuts deeper than little lines of dialogue. A good example is Queen Bee Anysaa herself. She was always Temple's antagonist, but she's actually two characters merged into one - there used to be four Barbies, and one of them was a meek girl who participated in bullying Temple for her own self-preservation. And that girl was the one Temple attacked, because she was so angry at the thought that this girl would choose to be a victim. I cut this character and merged her with the bad bitch in charge Anysaa to give Anysaa a little bit more depth outside of bratty one-liners.

How did publishing your first book change your writing process?

I don't think it's changed much - I pretty much still write how and what I want to write (to the chagrin of my agent). The one thing I will say is that it's made me much more aware of what I do and do not want to write. For example, while there are plenty of ambiguous horror stories that I love with small moments and bubbling dread…that's not for me. I want big, splashy moments and sick kills. I'd say through publishing I'm much more confident in trying new things with that desire in mind.

What is the most random thing you’ve Googled for a work in progress?

This is so difficult to answer because I really just google to think and it rarely makes it into my final book. But I do remember…Indonesian meditation techniques. I based an entire magic system on it, in a book I wrote a long time ago that was inspired by my best friend who was, you guessed it, indonesian. I retired that book, it was the first one I ever queried. But I repurposed it recently - minus all the Googled culture signposts and ignorantly slapdash magic system- into a short story, which is in the upcoming Monsters In Masquerade anthology from OwlCrate.

What is the secret to navigating social media as an author?

Shitpost all the time and jeopardize your career writing smut about Barnes & Nobles's CEO.

If you could have a dream author event what would it consist of?

I already had it. Virtual event with Holly Black was actually so metal, and one of the best ways to launch my career. It was fun and even though I was sweating bullets we got some GREAT conversation in there. I still can't believe it happened!

What books did you love as a teen?

I was such a Hunger Games kid. To the point my mom and sister know the plot well, despite never seeing or reading it (My sister said "The Hunger Games doesn't sound as interesting as Twilight" which she hasn't read either lol). My mom actually watched it for the first time last year (and she said "I don't like this Gale boy" haha). I was so into dystopian back then - my other favorite being Unwind by Neal Shusterman. But I would also read whatever was in at the library at the time. I remember checking out every Kimani Tru book I hadn't read yet once a week. My mom would buy me the new Keysha's Drama book every Christmas. It's strange having my childhood be split between voicey Black contemporary novels and desolate, action-packed dystopias…but that kind of sums up what I write now, doesn't it?

Do you have any hobbies outside of reading and writing?

I play a lot of video games, watch gaming streams, sometimes play video games while watching them be streamed. I also love to bake. I'm so bad at cooking, but I'm a decent baker.

What should we expect next from you?

More James Daunt smut, more anthology short stories hopefully. I have no books in the pipeline, but I'm always writing them so one should come out eventually (right? RIGHT??)

You can follow Sami on Twitter, Instagram and her website .