My Favorite Things with Nancy O’Toole Meservier

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with fellow Speculative Chic contributor Nancy O’Toole Meservier, whose latest book, Black and Blue, is available today!

What does Nancy love when she’s not writing about superheroes in an urban fantasy setting? Spoiler alert: cuddling up with old favorites, a podcast that gushes about favorite childhood reads, a YouTube channel dedicated examining a character development device that’s easy to ignore, and lastly, a dystopian music video that promises to be a chapter in a bigger story. Curious? Read on to learn more!

I’m not going to lie, 2019 has been a stressful year for me. Add in prepping for Black and Blue’s book release, and I’ve found myself craving the literary equivalent of comfort food. This means going back and rereading some of the books I fell in love with as a teenager. Enter the Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce. The series focuses on a teenage girl named Daine who’s always had a “knack with animals.” In the first book, she discovers she has “wild magic,” which allows her to communicate with animals. Meanwhile, the world of Tortall has been plunged into chaos. Races of magical creatures known as Immortals are pouring into the county, and not all of them are peaceful. Could the arrivals of these ancient races have something to do with Carthak, their warlike neighbors to the south, and the infamous Emperor Mage Ozorne?

Teenage-Nancy (much like adult-Nancy) was a big fan of animals so I find having a magic system based around communicating and interacting with them to be really neat. Add in exciting fight scenes, a strong-willed heroine, and a rich lived-in world, and it’s easy to see why the Immortals Quartet has always appealed to me. Admittedly, now that I’m older, I can’t help but pause over the large age gap between Daine and her love interest Numair (he’s about fifteen years older than her), but given that romance doesn’t play a role until the fourth and final book in the series, it was less of an issue for me than it would have been if it was front and center the entire time.

Speaking of nostalgia, if you’re like me and grew up enjoying authors like Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine, Garth Nix, and Patricia C. Wrede, then I highly recommend checking out The Dragon Babies Podcast. In it, two sisters, Grace and Madeleine, delve into the works of young adult fantasy they fell in love with when they were younger and talk about what the books meant to them both stages in their lives.

I’ve spent the last few weeks binge-listening to the episodes about some of my favorite classic YA fantasy books, such as Daja’s Book by Tamora Pierce, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Princess Bride by William Golding, and Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. The hosts bounce off each other really well, and their opinions are both insightful and humorous. The fact that they we clearly have similar taste in books certainly doesn’t hurt. I highly recommend checking out the show, but don’t be surprised if you come out of it wanting to reread a few childhood favorites.

I know I’m not the only one who wasn’t completely satisfied with the final season of Game of Thrones. But while the final episodes didn’t sit well with me, there’s no denying that it inspired some great fan content online. I was particularly pleased with a series of hair tutorials done by Kayley Melissa on YouTube. In each video, she goes through a character’s journey from season one to the end of season seven and shows how their character development was reflected in their change in hairstyle. Throughout the video, she painstakingly recreates each hair style and explains how you too can pull off Khaleesi-style braids. So far, she’s done a video for Daenerys Targaryen and Sansa Stark.

While I would never attempt to pull off any of these styles (seriously, I can barely pull my own hair into a ponytail), I really love what she’s doing here. Too often, issues such as hair styles and fashion are dismissed as being overly frivolous or shallow, but when examined, they can say a lot about the characters that they’re attached to. This is especially true for a show as aesthetically rich as Game of Thrones, and I’m so pleased that someone with the talent and patience was able to break them down for Sansa and Daenerys in such a clear manner.

This list started out with something old, so let’s end it with something new. I am a huge fan of Lindsey Stirling’s latest music video “Underground.” It all takes place is a dark dystopian cityscape where a redheaded violinist (played by Stirling) is held captive underground, alongside a contortionist and a duo of dancers. Meanwhile, a bow-wielding elf-like woman (also played by Stirling) watches from the sky above.

Lindsey’s music videos often have an element to the speculative to them, and “Underground” is no different. And what interests me in particular about this song, and the rest of her forthcoming album Artemis, is that it’s almost a concept album. According to a recent interview, while creating this album, Lindsey also crafted original characters, who’s stories will be revealed in a series of music video. This sounds super intriguing to me, and I look forward to seeing how everything plays out.

Nancy O’Toole Meservier is a vertically challenged librarian who spends her off hours writing fiction, reading, and thinking way too much about superheroes. She lives in Central Maine with two wonderful cats and one equally wonderful spouse. She is currently writing The Red and Black Series, which includes both Red and Black and Black and Blue.

Check out her website for more information.

You can also find Nancy on twitter, and Goodreads.

Would you like to write about YOUR favorite things for Speculative Chic? Check out our guidelines and fill out the form here.