Mermaid Reads for Mermay
As an author of a mermaid novel, I am always interested in other books about mermaids, sirens, and selkies. Today, I shall highlight some to show how different these stories are and why I recommend them. Here are some of my favourites.
Rhyming Children’s Tale
If you want a quick light hearted read, then Seal Mother by Rose English is a good choice. This book is inspired by local mythology and told in verse. It is suitable for young children but adults will enjoy it too.
Book Review: Seal Mother by Rose English – Ally Aldridge
Found-Family Fairytale
If you love stories with a fairytale vibe, and found family, then check out The Meramid’s Sister by Carrie Ann Noble. This story is about two sisters, who were found in unusual ways and adopted by their mum who cannot leave her home due to a curse.
When the mermaid sister gets ill, the other sister has to take on the task of returning her to the sea with the help of a family friend and his wagon. This story is full of charms and curses, a sisterly bond, and first love. It has the same energy as Stardust by Neil Gailman.
Book Review: The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble – Ally Aldridge
LGBT Mermaid Graphic Novel
This is a sweet Young Adult Graphic Novel by Molly Knox Ostertag called The Girl from the Sea. The main character is dealing with a lot of coming of age issues in her life, but is able to find comfort in Keltie.
Keltie isn’t an ordinary girl, she once was a Selkie but after the girls sharing a kiss she was able to stay on land. The main character is struggles to come out to her friends and family about her girlfriend. This sweet graphic novel has a happy ending and the art is beautiful.
Book Review: The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag – Ally Aldridge
Dystopian Mermaid
If you love dystopian fiction, then The Seawomen by Chloe Timms is worth checking out. It is described as being the Handmaid’s Tale with mermaids. Basically, the main character lives in religious patriarchy society where anything that goes wrong from weather to disease, is blamed on the women. Men can do no wrong.
There is a rule that women cannot look at the sea but one day the main character is being chased by boys with ill intentions and knows that if they catch her and have their way, she will be blamed for it. She takes a risk to escape them and hides by the sea, leading to her uncovering a big secret that starts to unravel all the lies she’s grown up with.
Book Review: The Seawomen by Chloe Timms – Ally Aldridge
Steamy Mermaid Romantasy
Meraki by Naomi Kelly is about a sexy Warlord and a Syren. King Kellan is the descendant of a god and decides that he needs to capture a syren, then use her to defeat his enemy. The syren he captures in Wren, a syren on the run from her past.
The pair start off hating each other, but sparks soon fly leading to a steamy enemies to lovers type story. This is the first book in a duology and I’ve always meant to read the next book but not got around to it.
Book Review: Meraki by Naomi Kelly – Ally Aldridge
Mermaid Shifter Romantasy
Of course, there is my novel, Ocean Heart by Ally Aldridge. It is the first book in the Young Adult Soul Heart series and features a teen mermaid shifter. Ocean Heart has a strong romance plot with the main character torn between her crush on her male BFF and being perused by the hot swim team stud that rubs her up the wrong way. Her messy love life is what wakes up her dormant deadly mermaid powers, and now she is trying to keep her powers under control before someone gets killed.
More Mermraid Books
There are plenty more that are worth a mention:
Middle Grade Under the Sea School: Book Review: Mermaid School – Ally Aldridge
Little Mermaid Retelling: Book Review: Balanced Scales by Laura Greenwood – Ally Aldridge
Little Mermaid Retelling: Book Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning – Ally Aldridge
Graphic Novel on a Ship: Book Review: Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel – Ally Aldridge
Young Adult Mermaid World: Book Review: Tenebrasco by Hannah Reed – Ally Aldridge
Fae Fiction: Book Review: Never Date a Siren by Byrd Nash – Ally Aldridge
Robots and Fantasy Adventure: Book Review: The Steel Princess by April Grace – Ally Aldridge
What I did for World Book Day 2025!
I was invited to Grange Primary School for World Book Day as a local author. The children were in Year 3 through to Year 6 and wanted to know all about what it is like being an author and writing stories.
As it was World Book Day I decided to share with the children about the different books that have shaped my career as an author from early inspiration through to tools of the trade. Most importantly, I made sure to tell them about the books I had written. Then, I went on to discuss all the different roles that are involved in bringing a book to life.
I created a presentation in Canva so that I’d have a visual prompt to keep me on track whilst delivering my talk. It really helped at the start when I was nervous. By the end, the children really helped steer the talk in the direction they wanted with their insightful questions.
They had done a creative exercises to draw a picture of what they thought an author might look like. None of the children had drawn themselves, so I pointed out to them that any of them could be an author one day and all they need to do is start writing. Then keep writing and not worry if their first stories aren’t great because like everything, we get better with practice.
The children had lots of questions to ask. It was a lot of fun, and we talked about some of their story ideas and discovered that stories can be about anything and that they don’t all have to like the same stories because we are all different.
My favourite question was when one child asked me what is a story I’ve always wanted to write but haven’t written yet. It was a question with endless answers, but I chose one of my ideas to share with them. Then some of the children started brainstorming with me more ideas for my story. It was awesome to see where their minds went and left me energised to want to write more.
The event was a success, and I came away feeling incredibly welcomed by the children and inspired by their energy and excitement for stories. I wrote an article for Felixstowe Magazine which you can read here:
https://www.thefelixstoweapp.com/blog/i/87441209/article-3741
Reflecting on my 2024 Goals
I’ve worked so hard in 2024 that I lost sight of the initial goals I set. On first reflection, it feels like I failed. Then I remembered all the progress I’ve made, plus all the extra things I accomplished that weren’t in my original plan.
Publishing Goals
Sky Heart was my top goal of the year and I thought I was close to publishing at the start of 2024 as the manuscript was sent to my new editor for the final edit.
She only managed to do a chapter before she ended up in the hospital. A medical emergency left her unable to continue editing, as she had no idea how long her recovery would take. It was crazy, one day she was at a festival, then the next thing was her life changed forever.
Finding a new editor was not easy. After a few quotes, I decided to take a chance on my author friend, April Grace (Hooked on Words). I was unsure as I worried that being friends would make her feedback feel more personal, however, she did an amazing job. She helped get my manuscript to the final stage and rebuilt my confidence during the process.
All these delays took my book into the later part of 2024, and by the time I sent it off to my Formatter it was already December. Once I had the final word count, my cover designer finished the paperback. It was 31st Dec that I had all the files ready to upload.
I’m pleased to say, Sky Heart has a release date.
My side writing projects took a back seat whilst I worked on Sky Heart, but both Summer Heart and Dark Heart are pretty much drafted. I’ve already started editing Dark Heart. In addition, I’ve written the first few chapters of Forest Heart (my next big project). And, I wrote the first 10k words of a novel I entered into a competition – wish me luck.
Marketing Goals
I outdid myself for author events. I ended up doing nine in-person events, and some of these were two-day events. One of the YouTube videos I am most proud of is the one about doing Herts Book Festival. I wanted to do more videos in this style but they do take a while to put together and I struggle for time.
Writing for Felixstowe Magazine slipped away, as I was so busy. I would like to find time to get back into this and submit it to other local presses.
My YouTube channel gained more subscribers but I didn’t hit 100. My current subscriber count is 78. This is partly because I’ve struggled to find time to post consistently.
Creating videos is quite time-consuming. I’d love to post more often, but it’s not feasible. Instead, I’ve started posting more shorts. My last long-form video of 2024 was about my Fairy Loot subscription box.
Reading Goals
I’m a slow reader, so I always set my goal low, so I was sad to see I didn’t manage to hit this. During the summer, I suffered from dehydrated eyes. They were so sore I’d have to lie down with my eyes shut in a dark room. I finally went to the opticians and got a treatment plan and things have been better.
In addition, I’m cross with myself for being late posting reviews, especially for ARCs.
What else did I achieve in 2024
Writing
I did a writing boot camp with Curtis Brown over the summer. And, I decided to enter their Discovery Writers’ competition. I wrote the first 10k words of a story I’ve been thinking about for a while. If I don’t win the competition, I plan to finish and publish it myself.
I also started writing the first few chapters of Forest Heart. The story is a mess but that’s how first drafts are. I will keep adding to it until it’s finished, and then tidy it up.
Something I’m super proud of is that I started my TeeMill store. I think I set it up at the end of 2023 but didn’t share it until 2024. It started up as a way to get a T-shirt for myself as I’m always unsure what to wear to author events. Creating products has been so much fun and super easy. TeeMill creates events throughout the year which has helped with content creation.
I survived migrating my website from one server to another, and I’m happy with how it looks. In addition, I figured out how to tag my TeeMill products in posts on Instagram/Facebook posts. I updated my Link Tree with the Billie Elish underwater theme and added a shop. I also added Ocean Heart to Book Vault which means it is available for buy from The Great British Bookshop and I was able to create a Pay Hip store with my books available to buy from me direct.
When I met up with Jodie (author of Sorceress of Truth) at Herts Book Festival she shared with me the things she was making to sell at an event she was attending later in the year with author Cassidy Reyne. This inspired me to make some brackets inspired by my books.
Let’s not forget that I tripled the number of events I planned to attend in 2024!
Overall, although I didn’t achieve all my goals in 2024, I’m pleased with the progress I made and in many ways, I achieved more than I planned.
Reflecting on my 2024 Book Festivals
During 2024, I did nine in-person author events. Some of these were two day events!
8 December – Pop Up Stall at Dunelm, Bury St Edmunds
1 December – Felixstowe Christmas Craft and Gift Fair, Brackenbury Sports Centre, Felixstowe
12 October – WAM Fest, Harvest House, Felixstowe
14 September – One Day at the Library, Stowmarket Library
4 August – Legends Comic Con, Stonham Barns
3 August – Legends Comic Con, Stonham Barns
21 July – CapCon, Trinity Park, Ipswich
20 Jul – CapCon, Trinity Park, Ipswich
30 June – Felixstowe Book Festival at Two Sisters Art Centre, Trimley St Mary
19 May – Herts Book Fest at Hertford Castle
18 May – Herts Book Fest at Southern Maltings, Ware
11 Feb – Foreword Festival: Love Your Local Authors at Bury St Edmunds
I have booked no events yet for 2025. I want to organise an event at a bookshop for Sky Heart‘s launch but I only got all the files back yesterday. Uploading those will be my first priority, and then I can start marketing.
But, I would love it to be released on Fri, 7th Feb which is my sister’s birthday. Book one, Ocean Heart, launched on my brother’s birthday during lockdown.
Herts Book Fest is amazing, but staying overnight (due to distance) makes it quite costly. I’m on the fence about going this year. It was the first book festival I ever did and holds a special place in my heart. The location is stunning and I’ve met many fabulous people here. I want to go but need to think about it.
Check out my book recommendations list from bookshop.org of authors who attend Herts Book Festival:
Capcon was one of my best events, despite having to go to the first aid tent because of an eye issue making them sore. Sadly, 2024 was their last year, so I can’t book this event for 2025. As you can see in the pictures, the cosplayers were super friendly. Their energy and enthusiasm bring such a positive vibe.
Talking about positive vibes, WAM Fest was amazing. The whole event celebrates women in Arts and Music and their achievements. Together with other women that have self-published, I got to speak on a panel about my author journey.
I’m a big fan of the library. It was exciting to be invited to Stowmarket Library to be part of their YA event. We got to meet teens and chat with them about writing and reading. They got excited about my book which filled my heart with joy.
Check out my book recommendations list from bookshop.org of authors that were at the YA Event (Foreword Festival):
Because of the cost of doing in-person events, the ones close to home were more profitable. Smaller events charge less for the stall and therefore the offset means they can make more money even with fewer sales.
I’m having a hard think about what events to do in 2025. Being seen sells books. In addition, I met other authors and learned a lot from them, and they introduced me to more opportunities. I want to do more author events in 2025, but need to be more selective about which ones I do.
Check out my book recommendations list from bookshop.org of indies authors:
Win a £100 Shopping Spree in a Bookshop
Dial Lane Books, an independent bookshop in Ipswich is selling raffle tickets to raise money for charity and offering a prize of £100 to spend in store for the winner.
Go check out Dial_Lane_Books on Instagram and get your raffle tickets.
My Author Life – Aug 2023
Published on YouTube on 30 Sept 2023.
Below are affiliate links for Bookshop.org where you can buy books and support local high street bookshops.
Book Review: Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent
This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
About the book
My thoughts
Set in a world where people are created in groups for efficiency. Same age, same job, same face. Except when Dhalia 16 meets Trigger 17, she realises she’s not the same.
Being different is dangerous, and now Dhalia is on the run. With Trigger’s help the pair will navigate security to find out why she is an anomaly, and get far away.
Dhalia has lived a very sheltered life. This makes her very innocent in many ways. She takes risks and relies a lot on Trigger’s skills to help her escape. I enjoyed their romance and would be interested to see more.
It had a decent ending for book one in a series and left enough intrigue for the next book. It kind of left on a cliff hanger.
Read it for a futuristic technology filled dystopian world.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
[kofi]
If you liked this, check out:
My Author Life – Feb 2023
Published on YouTube on 19 March 2023.