Month: May 2013

You’re never quite prepared to say, “Good-bye”,…

Posted Friday, 24 May, 2013 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

You’re never quite prepared to say, “Good-bye”, to someone you love and cherish to have around,… human or animal, our loved ones enrich our lives…

When the week of the 19th of May first dawned, I thought that my beloved tabby whose name rhymes with Beta, was going to pull through and make a turnabout in his fight to live. With my heart and head still consumed by grief and the loss that overtakes anyone whose experienced a similar loss can attest too, you tend to find things to fill in the consuming voids of time. Its hard not to notice the hours as they click off on the clock, as I remember the first hour, the second hour, and the third as he first passed. Then, it was the twelfth hour and the twenty-eighth, which is when I asked my head to stop ‘noticing’,… to allow time to fold back in on itself, and away from my eyes seeing the advancement of Time’s progression. One of the curious things that alighted in my mind to do was to re-open my Tuesday’s Shelf Awareness newsletter which was barely acknowledged when it originally arrived. The only bits of it that even interested me were the adverts at the bottom, as the crust of the content wobbled my head a bit, as you need a clearer mind than the one I have to digest what your reading!

This is when I saw the advert for “Sleeping in Eden” by Nicole Baart, whose last name struck a bell of recognition but the cloudy mess I was in I couldn’t begin to ascertain as to ‘why’,… I clicked over to her personal website, read the blurb for the novel, which interested me, and then, I clicked the curious little icon that would lead me to Vimeo {a platform I sort of prefer over YouTube}, and to this lovely little video about Ms. Baart’s writing life.

Nicole’s Personal Video by Todd Montsma

{I originally was going to encourage you to click the link, as I could not sort out how to embed the video to my blog, as a ‘share url’ box was not visible; until I read through the help sections for WordPress and realised Vimeo automatically embeds via the video url! Blogging is a perpetual learning curve!}

After the video concluded I tossed my hat into the contest, but that was only half of it, the video itself lifted my spirits if only for a short few minutes. I go through waves of emotion, where my heart grieves, my mind remembers his presence, and I will myself to remember he’s at peace, he’s in a better place, and his spirit will carry on with me through my tomorrow’s as all companions who enrich our lives with their love, their warmth, and their quirky personalities do. He had a penchant for vocality that was loss to him in the ending chapter of his life. He became a bit too silent, too soft spoken, and yet, in his enduring strength to overcome the plight he faced, his indomitable courage shined. He taught us so many things whilst he was here, eight years and four months shy of his ninth birthday. The greatest of all, I should think, is a calming of spirit inside adversity and a stealth of patience during the in-between. His gentleness and loving affection will remain with me always,…

As I was saying “Good-bye“, whilst he lived his last days, these were the events only a few weeks prior I had been itching to attend. How quickly life can alter our plans,…

Booktalk Nation : The Missed Events

  • Nathaniel Philbrick ~ Tuesday, 21st of May, 2013 at 7:00pm (EST)
  • Book Featured: Bunker Hill: A city, a siege, a revolution
  • Moderated by: Tony Horwitz

Question I proposed: Mr. Philbrick, What was the originating inspiration to dig into the history of the battle at Bunker Hill which ignited the Revolutionary War? And, how were you so fortunate to uncover not only new information that is pertinent, but wholly new to the readers who will read your book with a solidified appreciation of the history as it was previously known!?

  • Susanna Kearsley ~ Wednesday, 22nd of May, 2013 at 7:00pm (EST)
  • Book Featured: The Firebrand
  • Moderated by: Karen Holt

Question I proposed: Since your novel The Firebrand delves into the gift of Sight, what do you think draws you and your readers into stories that are touched with an element of the paranormal that can assimilate into the storyline as one readily breathes!? As though the element is organic in nature, and not an addition but rather a natural component!?

I’ll never know if my questions were read aloud during the events OR what inspiring bits of knowledge I would have gleamed from them, as I am finding that each author event that I attend through *Booktalk Nation*, is simply that ~ a way to broaden my horizons through getting to know the eclectically lovely authors that they host by way of phone and video telecast events! Instead, I am simply going to see if I can fetch these particular books through my library, and glisten a bit more insight into the authors through their stories,… as to me, that is always the first door that opens that leads us to understanding the person behind the pen!

Life is a constant balance of heartache and calm. I will regain my joy of reading and of blogging. I will find the light that shines through my posts on regularly read blogs, as I recapture what leads me to visit with the authors and bloggers who populate them. Right now, all of it feels too oppressive and evading. I want to pull back and withdraw and I shall. When I re-emerge I’ll feel lighter and more at peace with his passing than I do now with a heart bled open and raw from the pain of his passing.

{SOURCE: The video of Nicole Baart’s writing life by Todd Montsma had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post and I thank them for this opportunity to share this uplifting video that helped me through a very difficult time.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Friday, 24 May, 2013 by jorielov in Booktalk Nation, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Jorie Loves A Story, Live Author Event

The hunt is afoot for wicked sweet treasurements of books and bookish bliss!

Posted Friday, 17 May, 2013 by jorielov 0 Comments

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt hosted by Lisa Tawn Bergren

17th of May – 19th of May, 2013
{annual event! 2012 was the début!}

Hosted by: Lisa Tawn Bergren

A curious little blog hop whereupon you can visit or meet authors who pen the inspirational fiction stories that captivate us as they endear our hearts to their characters and stories. I cannot remember exactly which blog I regularly read that alerted me to this Hunt, which is why I gave credit to “The Cross and Cutlass”, MaryLu Tyndall’s blog as I do remember visiting her blog this week, and seeing the reminder of the Hunt posted! Although, it could have readily been read on “Writes of Passage” which is an author group blog that features Robin Lee Hatcher, who is also taking part of the Hunt!

The Grand Prize: 31 books by 31 authors! Ooh, my how I would find it incredible to win such a smashing piece of scavenger hunt treasure! I’d have to opt for the ‘printed’ copies, as anyone whose read *My Bookish Life* knows which types of books I read! I’d not hesitate to pass the ‘win’ on to someone else if perchance my name is drawn to receive these in e-book format on an iPad mini! Afterall, it’s a game, err, hunt of chance!  Estimated value is: $300! for the 31 books in printed format!

The 31 books are as follows:

  1. Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren
  2. Trouble in Store by Carol Cox
  3. Rosemary Cottage by Colleen Coble
  4. The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney
  5. Captives by Jill Williamson
  6. Fall State Legends by John W. Otte
  7. Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould
  8. Love At Any Cost by Julie Lessman
  9. When Love Calls by Lorna Steilstad
  10. A Lady of Quality by Louise M. Gouge
  11. When A Secret Kills by Lynette Eason
  12. All in Good Time by Maureen Lang
  13. Forsaken Dreams by MaryLu Tyndall
  14. Scorned Justice by Margaret Daley
  15. Once Upon A Prince by Rachel Hauck
  16. King by R.J. Larson
  17. Georgia Sweethearts by Missy Tippens
  18. A Bride for All Seasons by Robin Lee Hatcher
  19. Mountain Homecoming by Sandra Robbins
  20. Stress Test by Richard L. Mabry, M.D.
  21. Talon by Ronie Kendig
  22. The Message on the Quilt by Stephanie Grace Whitson
  23. Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell
  24. So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley
  25. No Way Out by Susan Sleeman
  26. Truth Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock
  27. Tiny Dancer by Patricia Hickman
  28. Whispers on the Prairie by Vickie McDonough
  29. The Bride Next Door by Winnie Griggs
  30. Lydia’s Hope by Marta Perry
  31. Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

The Hunt Hop Route: {32 stops to complete the loop of the hop!}

Each blog along the Hunt , features the next author to be found as you make your way around the stops! Therefore, each blog you visit is hosted by a different author than the one being featured, yet the one being featured is a bit of a clue of what you will find on the next stop you will click-through too! It’s a bit like an unsuspecting rail ticket to chart through sleepy hamlets and rambling scenery as you shift through the countryside in the comfort of your seat by the window!

{NOTE: I began this hunt on Friday, the 17th of May 2013 and completed it forty minutes shy of midnight, Sunday, the 19th of May 2013, being inches of minutes still on the Saturday, the 18th of May side of things! Whilst I made my rounds to each blog, I must confess, that initially I could only gloss over and make my extra entries as I jotted down the words in order to have built the winning phrase in time before the deadline! There simply wasn’t enough time for me to drink in the content as I normally would prefer whilst visiting blogs, which is why I went back as I formulated this listing!}

  1. Lisa Tawn Bergren* – Where the hunt is happily underfoot! The Hunt begins with an introduction to Rachel Hauck
  2. Rachel Hauck* – One of the authors who has residency on Southern Belle View Daily, and of whom, I enjoy conversing with through their weekly topics of conversation! Similar to the other Belles, I have not yet had the pleasure of reading her novels. She is featuring the author: Stephanie Grace Whitson, of whom I haven’t realised pens books on quilting in a similar vein as Jennifer Chiaverini, as she writes my beloved Elm Creek series!! I was so engrossed into the interview today, that I promptly started to write a lengthy email to accompany the request to receive the poem, “The Patchwork Quilt” which she offered to give to those who personally email her! I was quite enthused with everything that I learnt, that I promptly subscribed to her NL as well!
  3. Stephanie Grace WhitsonAs you may have noticed the next author on the blog hop is the one that is featured on the previous stop! Ms. McDonough shared a scene from her July 2013 release Whispers on the Prairie. She was attempting to sort out how to give a character a severe asthma attack given that they didn’t have the same treatments in 1873 as they do today to make the attacks easier to manage!
  4. Vickie McDonoughOne of the authors I was enjoying getting to know through the Society+ {February, March, and part of April 2013}, until of course, due to needing to make a reduction in spam, the Name/URL option was removed. I could not start to use my blog through OpenID, until I was ready to ‘launch’, so I’ve been reading from the sidelines! Oh, how I miss making comments!
  5. Colleen Coble{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!}
  6. Julie LessmanMs. Lessman hosted Ms. Raney, who spoke about her book “The Face of the Earth”. Ms. Raney shared a link for her Pin(terest) board of inspiration for the novel.  I can understand where she is coming from by creating fiction settings anchored in reality, as I tend to do that myself!
  7. Deborah Raney{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!} I can say, that I loved the look of her blog/website, and the fact she’s a fan of Tom Selleck’s Jesse Stone was alright by me!
  8. Maureen Lang* – Ms. Daley spoke highly of the Texas Rangers which she focuses on in her series: The Men of the Texas Rangers. Ms. Lang offered an additional prize but I think it was one that I couldn’t enter. I have appreciated the Texas Rangers ever since they came alive in the series: Walker, Texas Ranger as well as The Lone Ranger.
  9. Margaret DaleyMs. Tyndall is one author I’ve been following for most of the year, as in late Winter 2012 and early Spring of 2013, she was on blog tours for her latest release “Forsaken Dreams”. I sort of garnished a proper sense about the novel due to all the conversations that sparked out of the tours! Including, how would it feel to leave everything that you had ever known behind to embark of an incredible change of lifestyle as you emigrated to a new country!
  10. MaryLu Tyndall* – Ms. Axtell spoke about the difficulty in writing about spies and deciphering codes. She even provided a code sampler which would reveal the names of her characters in “Moonlight Masquerade”.
  11. Ruth Axtell* – Ms. Sleeman spoke about how characters are conceived and written into stories. Focusing on her Love Inspired Suspense “No Way Out”. I haven’t picked up a lot of Love Inspired stories in the past, although I have a few on my shelf that I found at a used book shoppe!
  12. Susan Sleeman –  Ms. Blackstock shared her process for building a new series, focusing on her Moonlighter series. She talked the process of attaching which character to which book in the series and how using pictures helps her paint the characters features in her mind’s eye.
  13. Terri BlackstockMr. Mabry spoke about his hero from Stress Test, who suffers from a similar condition as writers where he never feels as though he’s worthy or succesful in life. About how our inner voices can play havoc on our overall well being and that we need to learn to silence them in order to realise our full potential. Having doubt is one thing, but to allow ourselves to be talked out of doing something OR out of believing in our abilities is quite another!
  14. Richard MabryMs. Larson delved into the complexities of creating an entire world out of a writer’s imagination borrowing on cartography that is available of ancient worlds. She had an artist render her world on parchment set in ink to give it a more realistic touch.  Adding in fantastical creatures and beasts set the stage for the characters that would populate the newly created world. Everything she spoke about is how she pulled together the setting behind “King” her Biblical-fantasy release.
  15. RJ LarsonMs. Higley spoke of a first-hand account of travelling to conduct research to bring a pulsing realism to your story. She travelled to Ephesus for her book “So Shines the Night”. She provided written commentary as well as a video!
  16. Tracy Higley* – Ms. Eason talks about how you can go from short sentences to a full-on novel! This is something I can directly appreciate because one of my last manuscripts was based on five short plot directing points of interest! You’d be surprised how far you can go with only a little bit of inspiration to carry you forward! She was asking for people to email her directly after they had the chance to read “When a Secret Kills”. The title to me should be a forewarning not to hold secrets!
  17. Lynette EasonMs. Cox spoke about how you can unexpectedly dip into a well of creative musings that lead you down a writing path you might not have thought you’d take OR at the very least, have the ability to uncover a piece of your travels that might have eluded you!
  18. Carol Cox* – Ms. Seilstad posted an article about the operator girls in the 1900s, including facts about the industry. Her novel “When Love Calls” is one of the ones I am looking forward to reading one day!
  19. Lorna Seilstad* – Ms. Perry shared a scene from her new book “Lydia’s Hope”. She’s on my 70 Authors Challenge due to the fact that I am attempting to branch out into more Amish & Mennonite fiction!
  20. Marta Perry* – Ms. Gould cross referenced Shakespeare with the Amish., where she proposed the question if you thought your favourite Shakespearian play could be turned into an Amish story?! She gave examples of how “Courting Cate” is based on “The Taming of the Shrew” and how “Adoring Addie” is based on “Romeo & Juliet”!! I am a Shakespearian scholar, so I must say, this perked my interest!
  21. Leslie Gould* – Ms. Hatcher bespoke of what she would have carried with her whilst travelling as a mail-order-bride! I must confess, that mail-order bride stories are some of my most favourite to read! There is something about the freedom of attempting to direct your stars and better the life you’ve been given.
  22. Robin Lee HatcherMs. Kendig writes military fiction stories that not only involve soldiers who are deployed but the MWDs as well! {ie: Military Working Dogs} Being a volunteer with Soldiers’ Angels, giving back to deployed servicemen and women each year by sending uplifting mail, I can attest to the need for inspiring and positive stories about our dedicated men and women who serve!  I think the best thing that I learnt by her post was that you can *adopt!* MWDs!!
  23. Ronie Kendig* – Ms. Stengl wrote about how you can take a seemingly normal and unextraordinary plot and turn it into something rather fantastic!
  24. Anne Elisabeth StenglMr. Otte’s post I must admit did not captivate me as much, because I do not read comics. Although I do appreciate comics and the readers who enjoy them! One thing I can say, is that I appreciate the art that is set between the words to bring the worlds alive!
  25. John OtteMs. Williamson spoke about the intricacies of creating a ‘future’ setting whilst building the world by which your writing. Complete with cartography, and the realistic issues of making it a fully lived world realised for the reader who finds your stories.
  26. Jill WilliamsonMs. Hickman introduced us to “Tiny Dancer” which was releasing in mid-June.
  27. Patricia Hickman{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!}
  28. Sandra RobbinsMs. Tippens shared an essay entitled: Meaningful Gifts.
  29. Missy TippensMs. Griggs shared a sneak peek of “A Family for Christmas”.
  30. Winnie GriggsMs. Gouge wrote an essay about Regency romances and why they have such a hearty following. Considering that I duck into the Regency quite often myself, I can attest that there is something that pulls a reader into that era!
  31. Louise M. GougeMs. Bergren wrote about what to do whilst in Venice, complete with a video! Her “Grave Consequences” novel has me most interested!
  32. Lisa Tawn Bergren – The Hunt ended where it began!

{*KEY: * denotes the authors who are listed in my *70 Authors Challenge 2013-14. It was quite exciting in the end after I had participated to realise how many of the authors I had chosen were taking part in the Hunt! + denotes my endearing name for the Christian Fiction Historical Society; ie: the Society! NL refers to ‘newsletter’ that an author promotes to keep readers in touch about their latest releases and bookish news. Unless I said the post was taken down, you can still read and view the stops along the Hop!}

Whilst your visiting each blog, you were meant to ‘pick’ up a clue to reveal the *secret phrase* by which you give to Ms. Bergren if perchance your name is drawn at the conclusion of the Hunt! Being that my blog will not go ‘live’ until well after the winner’s circle is announced, I am safe to relay to you that this is the phrase that was collected by each entrant:

 * to be added*

Read More

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Posted Friday, 17 May, 2013 by jorielov in 70 Authors Challenge 2013-19, Author Blog Tour, Blog Hop, Blog Scavenger Hunt, The Cross and Cutlass, Writes of Passage

A conversation with Cathie Pelletier,… via Book Talk Nation!

Posted Thursday, 16 May, 2013 by jorielov , 0 Comments

A real-time conversation,
via video feed phone-in interview with
Booktalk Nation, and Cathie Pelletier!

Inspired to Share: I truly did not know what to expect, as I had decided to select authors that I would be curious to read as much as choosing authors I might causally know of, if I had not yet read their offerings. In this particular case, Ms. Pelletier falls under the category of curiosity!

The Details:

Cathie Pelletier, participated in a real-time conversation with Booktalk Nation to discuss her book “The One-Way Bridge”.

Once you’ve reserved your spot via email registration, from the author’s sign-up page, you return to the url dial the number they provide you at the time they specify, keying in the code to enter the discussion. In this instance, 6:00pm (EST) / 3:00 (PST). The interviews typically run for thirty minutes. And, on this particular day, originally we were meant to go to a video feed but were changed to a phone-in a day ahead of the interview taking place.

Question that I submitted upon sign-up: 

{NOTE: I had a sneaking feeling that the phone interviews might work a bit like the video feeds where the audience would be asked to question the author direct rather then to relay on the previously submitted questions! Therefore, I shortened my question from this: Ms. Pelletier, I read the biography of yours attached to your author’s page, noting that you’ve lived in four uniquely different areas of North America! May I ask, familial connections aside, what is it that drew you instinctly home to Maine?! Or is it something that is hard to formulate into words, and is resonated more in emotion?! When you went back home, did this spark your resurgence in writing?}

In order to reflect this instead: Hi, it’s Jorie and I have a question? What drew you back to Maine because I read in your biography that you’ve lived in different states and once you were back home in Maine is that what gave you a resurgance to your writing?

{I was recovering from a virus as I spoke to her on the phone via speaker, and hadn’t realised that my name “Jorie” sounded like “Joey or Joy” to her; I simply rolled with it, because try as I might I couldn’t get “Jorie” to come through!}

And, she replied: She lived in Connecticut as a child, but lived in Tennessee most of her life. She relocated to Quebec as her husband’s family lived in Montreal and Toronto (Ontario). Her family was shifting East, as her mother died in 2000 {same year as my grandfather!} and her father is 93 years old living alone in the house she was bourne in. He actually dug the foundation of the family home with horses and her grandfather assisted as well. They converted the room she was bourne in to a bathroom, but the history of the place evokes an emotional connection that cannot be topped. She came back to Maine for her father, expecting on a short furlough of six months! She was thinking of Houlton. She actually found that her writing voice was mostly contained to her life in the South. She prefers to look back in the past to write a book rather than to look at the present and base a story on what is surrounding her.

A second question I formulated on the fly whilst listening to Ms. Pelletier: What is your favourite part of Spring in Maine compared to Spring in Tennessee or the South? {which led to an interactive expose!}

And she replied: The main difference for her to recall is when her mother would call her on the phone speaking about a blizzard whilst she was laying out in the sun because it was February, with a glass of orange juice! The wisteria, honeysuckles, and the rattle of cicadas of Nashville are lulling to her. She instantly knows she’s in the South when she steps off the plane into the humid air. In direct difference she has moose walking through her property now!

I interjected: Do you prefer Maine or the South for Spring? She’s a birder who prefers to have the best of both worlds! This way she will not miss any of the birds for sake of one location or the other. She could no more pick between two children than deciding between two locales. I stated that I’d prefer Maine, as a reprieve from the humidity where I live. She needs Autumn to re-balance as I wish I could. I told her I get ‘a kiss of Autumn and then it’s gone’. She loves Winter but stresses about the lack of food for the animals. Her husband is quick to point out that if she ever drove in Winter, she would no longer be romantic about the season! She enjoys sitting at home by the fireside and feeds the birds. She enjoys watching the rivers freeze over marking the next passage of time. She still is poetic as she called the frozen river “a scar that heals itself”. She reflected about the ice that took out the one-way bridge. Her small towne celebrates the river’s release of freedom in April as it sheds its ice. I said that she’s in harmony with nature, like I am. I like to walk in nature by our lakes on a nature trail. I feel more at peace when I see the marsh rabbits, the sandhill cranes, and the white ibis. And, when I have that direct connection like you do, it changes your perception and you feel more grounded. She believed the same, telling me that her novels are full of nature. Nature plays a central theme to all of her novels. I told her I look forward to reading this one, as it will be the first one I read of hers.

My recollections of what I overheard throughout the conversation that evolved between Ms. Pelletier and the interviewer Mickey Raphael. I am relaying what I felt was pertinent to share as much as what I found the most interesting to be revealed.

Curious Tidbits I Learnt:

  • Ms. Pelletier originally comes from a small towne in Maine called Allagash, which was known for three one-way bridges. Whilst living in Nashville {1991} she overheard that ice had taken out one of her hometown bridges! This inspired her to finally include such a bridge in one of her stories, where previously she hadn’t done so. Bridges are their own metaphors and to have the inspiration to include a ‘one way bridge’ she took as a special gift.
  • Ms. Pelletier started to pen the story in the early 1990s, with certain characters coming forward that stood out to her, such as Orville Craft, the mailman and the Vet, Harry Plunkett.
  • Ms. Pelletier relayed to us that a copy of her book ended up in the University of Moscow, Russia because it was a universal impression of life in America.
  • Ms. Pelletier said in her real town of Allagash, there is only one true road in and out of towne. And, she’s had the honour of being the Northernmost writer in the {lower 48} United States.
  • Martin W., an aspiring songwriter from New Brunswick wrote “The One-Way Bridge” song out of inspiration from the book.

Insight into the novel “The One-Way Bridge”: Her hometown was founded by three Diamond sisters, who came to Maine down from Canada, who brought with them the Celtic tradition of story-telling, which is also well-known to have been of the South. She took all of her life experiences and ancestral roots to combine into small towne life that would appeal to a broad audience. Including finding hintings of similarity between Nashville and Maine. She was used to the music of country artists as her father played guitar and harmonica.

She’s never received ill comments about her books from locals in her towne, but she has had issues with reviews published in magazines! She’s only have had positive responses from people she is in touch with and of whom count. She doesn’t attempt to make real life counterparts inside her novel(s), but she said that its plausible. Like most writers, she spends 8 to 10 hours a day writing, and she considers it a regular job. She’s an emotional writer who could avg. anywhere from 10 to 25 pages! She goes through a process of re-writers until a week later she’s confident about what she’s written. When she travels she refuses to take a notebook computer because she is an organic writer. {This I can personally attest to myself!} She lamented that her characters tell her their stories, which is how I approach the written word.

She also shares the ability to use new words that she doesn’t recognise as having known about previously until she cross checks them in a dictionary and realises they are the right words after all. I have noticed that this is a new trend for me. She tends to be indecisive to know when her book is truly done! She likes to celebrate its conclusion then realises it needs more work. It’s frustrating to her, especially once in print and bound form she cannot make any more changes! She envies songwriters who can use a limited amount of words to convey their stories through songs, even though she started out as a poet she doesn’t feel she has this ability. She decided that her writing personality needed a bigger canvas to convey her thoughts properly.

One character in particular changed her course with the book: Harry Plunkett, became a pivotal character who led her to research the Vietnam War. He spoke the words “War is about Words”, and she said that novels are always about the words. PTSD was called “Soldier’s Heart” during the Civil War, which she thinks has far more humanity in it.

Advice she gives to aspiring writers: Stop worrying about the time your waiting to arrive to sit down and write, and just put the words down on the page and BEGIN! Put the metal to the pedal in other words! Start with keeping journals she suggests, because it cultivates the habit of writing.

{I attempted to paraphrase Ms. Pelletier’s actual responses and words, as I wanted to recollect this interview as I overheard it. In a few places, I might have caught her words more exactly than in other places. This is not an attempt to record a transcript, but rather one listeners observations of what she heard.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Thursday, 16 May, 2013 by jorielov in Booktalk Nation, Live Author Event

A conversation with Deeanne Gist,… via Booktalk Nation!

Posted Thursday, 9 May, 2013 by jorielov , 0 Comments

A real-time conversation, via video feed on Booktalk Nation, with Deeanne Gist!

Inspired to Share: As I am always humbled and amazed at how giving authors are today of their time! They write engagingly witty blogs, encourage their readers to participate in bookaways or giveaways, inspire us to continue to keen on their works through their author newsletters, and either make appearances at book signings, bookish conventions or festivals, or find new and clever ways to interact with their readership! I was fascinated by this invite that I received via Ms. Gist’s newsletter, on Tuesday 6th of May, and quickly clicked over to reserve my ‘spot’ to take part in the interview on Thursday, 9th of May! This will be my first Book Talk Nation event, and I cannot wait to absorb what she has to share and listen the answers of the questions other readers’ like myself have proposed to her!

The Details:

Deeanne Gist, participated in a real-time conversation on Book Talk Nation.

Once you’ve reserved your spot via email registration, from the author’s sign-up page, you return to the url they provide you at the time they specify. In this instance, 7:00pm (EST) / 4:00 (PST). The interviews typically run for thirty minutes.

Question that I submitted on Tuesday: Ms. Gist: Do you intend to write more psychological suspense novels, such as Beguiled? As it was a departure from your regular faire of historical romances, but contained within it a sense of adventure and intrigue that held my breath throughout the story! Wicked pacing! I’d be keen to know if you have any other suspense novels in the wings with J. Mark Bertrand? Or, was this a one-off?

{NOTE: I re-submitted my question via the live chat interface where we could log in as a guest {thankfully! as I am not involved in social media and hadn’t thought that that could be an issue!} to ask questions directly to Ms. Gist during the Q&A session at the end of the interview. My question was the first one that posted and was happily the first one asked! I choose to re-submit the question, as Jen {who moderated the internet side of the chat} mentioned that she’d take questions pitch through this interface ahead of the ones originally submitted at sign-up!}

And, she replied {at approx. 20 minutes}: It was the first suspense, the first contemporary, and the first collaboration that she undertook. She had such a fun time writing this book. She chose to work with Mr. Bertrand due to the fact he’s an up-in-coming author that she believes we should all keep an eye on as his writing starts to take off. He wrote the suspense bits and she wrote the romantic bits. She is not planning at this point in time to write another romantic suspense, as the rest of the books that are mapped out at this time are historicals.

Background Insight on my Thursday: What I wasn’t expecting when I signed up for this author chat & the RWA Historical Romance one that follows it at 8pm, is that the virus I came down with late Sunday/early Monday would take a turning for the worse! I am plumb miserable dealing with it, but I have a fresh mug of echinacea tea and a heaping pile of ricola’s {the cherry dual-action lovelies!} to keep me company, which I am making a vain attempt to curtail the worse of my symptoms so that I can fully enjoy my FIRST EVER live author chats online! Fingers crossed this is not an effort in futility!

A few seconds ahead of 6:50pm, I opened up the url for this chat, and discovered that the chat interface was already *LIVE*, for which I was thankful, as it gave me a chance to get my feet wet! I clicked on the ‘join the conversation’ button, keyed in “Jorie” and signed in as a guest! As thankfully, I wasn’t alerted that most would be using social media outlets to log in — which would not have been an option for me, as I am not social media inclined {save this blog and the blogosphere in general!}! So far, the window reflects myself and Jen, who is most likely the chat mod! The sick girl ends up being the early bird! Now that is something for the memory books! Inwardly laughs, as otherwise to do so would be devastating this close to the chat going live!

I clicked Play, at 6:53pm and was alerted to stand by as the discussion will start soon,… okay, now I’m growing more excited! Especially since this is an author that I discovered whilst getting back into reading after quite a long hiatus, and came to love the way she writes and builds her characters! I pitched my question about “Beguiled” because it was such a departure from her other books,… and one that I was pleasantly wrapped up in! When I first read it, it was through the library, but I happily picked up a copy of “Beguiled” whilst walking through a big box store having a rockin’ sale on inspirational fiction! Don’t you simply live for those sorts of sales!? I brought home “A Bride in the Bargain” that same day, as well! Fast forward a few years, and I am about to meet her through a video chat hosted by Booktalk Nation!
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Posted Thursday, 9 May, 2013 by jorielov in Booktalk Nation, Live Author Event