Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match" where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It's our great pleasure to present Bianca Marais!
Writes:
In Bianca Marais’ THE WITCHES OF MOONSHYNE MANOR, picture Practical Magic meets a witchy ‘The Golden Girls’ in this rollicking story of six witches who are in their eighties, taking names, kicking butt. and bringing down the patriarchy (along with the help of a 15-year-old TikToker, Persephone) as they fight to save their beloved Moonshyne Manor and Distillery.
About:
Bianca Marais likes long walks on the beach (while thinking about her next book), curling up next to a roaring fire that she has made (because she might have been an arsonist in a previous life), sipping crisp Chenin Blanc from South Africa (the country of her birth) and savoring romantic dinners (while wiping Muggle’s drool off her leg as her golden retriever mooches for food under the table). Bianca used to be much more adventurous in her younger years (throwing herself from airplanes, bungee jumping from cliffs, and white-water rafting on the Zambezi). But now she’s quite likely to pull a muscle turning a page while reading in bed, and so she prefers to get her thrills from her writing.
What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match:
- loves to laugh as much as they enjoy a good cry
- believes that women grow into their power as they age and wants to see more representation of older women living their best lives
- enjoys tales of women aging disgracefully
- believes in soulmates and can understand an unrequired love that has burned for decades
- likes their characters deeply flawed and, therefore, very human
- loves a page-turner with huge heart
- thinks having a few magical powers would make life a lot more entertaining
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What to expect if we're compatible:
Once you’ve fallen in love with my amazing witches (who will hopefully tell you that I’m not too shabby either), you can expect:
- Lots of pictures of animals, fires and sunsets on my social media
- To be able to reach out to me on social media to have a chat or ask any questions
- To invite me to your book club discussion and have me be on my best or most disgraceful behavior depending on which you’d prefer
- A backlist of books that, while not magical, all feature incredibly strong women who like to have a laugh
- To perhaps listen to my podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, in which I interview really cool authors and have tons of fun in the process
A witchy rom-com novel
Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.
But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.
The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.
Fiction Family Life [MIRA, On Sale: August 23, 2022, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780778386995 / eISBN: 9780369722454]
Bianca Marais cohosts the popular podcast The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing, aimed at emerging writers. She was named the winner of the Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies in 2021. She is the author of two novels, Hum If You Don’t Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh, as well as the Audible Original The Prynne Viper. She lives in Toronto with her husband and fur babies.
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