Month: January 2014

Four days? How could four days have slid past in the Bout?

Posted Saturday, 11 January, 2014 by jorielov 2 Comments

Bout of Books 9.0Four days?! How could four days have slid past me in the Bout!? I have been striving towards balancing life as its being lived with sneaking in lovely hours wrapped up inside of a novel! Thursdays are always quite busy for me, as its a quite stacked morning and afternoon! Having said that, whilst I did attempt to dash back into my ChocLit novel I currently held in hand, I was unexpectedly able to attend my very first knitting ministry which specifically knits &/or crochets items of warmth! I have been a member of a prayer shawl ministry for a little over of a year with one local church, before being asked to join the efforts of a second prayer shawl ministry a few weeks ahead of Christmas! I am always thankful they have enough donated yarn to supply the materials for the shawls as much as they are in gratitude I have the time and inclination to knit the patterns! I find myself drawn to knitting items for comfort, a snugglement of warmth, and of cheer.

In my first meeting of this kind, I was a bit anxious to see how I would fit into the group, as even though I knit alongside my Mum {we’re a knitting duo!}, we’re always a bit cautious at first when meeting new knitters! I think its because knitting isn’t a part of the mainstream culture here as it is in other states. Its a bit of a solitary endeavour, aside from the crafters group I mentioned earlier this week which apparently has been meeting in community centers & the library for nearly 25 years! This new group meets-up at another local church in a lovely large community room where you can spread out on large tables! Everyone was quite friendly and open to new knitters joining the effort, and they had this gigantic table full of donated yarn! Loads upon loads of yarn, all wound into skeins ready to go onto needles or hooks (depending on which way you roll with fiber!)!! I decided to try out colours I am not always akin to wanting to knit to push myself out of my ‘colour wheel’ preferences, which led me to a deep burnt orange! 

By the time we left, the drizzlement of rain was continuing, with a nice chill in the air which was refreshing rather than frightful! I love the hanging of fog and rain in the air, with a pure sense of ‘something’ lurking just outside your vision field. An unexpectedness which leads to the mysterious and the curious! If darkness hadn’t fallen it was perfect weather for a walk!

I am knitting my very first ‘hat’ of which will be of a variety of colours to add a bit of spunk and personality to the receiver’s delight of surprise!

Bout of Books Challenge Accepted:

I might not have accomplished as much reading, but the mini-challenges are rather exciting during this Bout! I accepted the challenge of the Double Date Book Challenge and must confess, it was such a heap of fun to write about, that I am now going to see which other books &/or first of series I can pair in this fashion as time progresses forward!

Interacting with Bout’ers on Twitter:

I must confess, one of my secret joys this Bout is the ability to interact with new Bout’ers via Twitter! I am thoroughly enjoying all the randomly brilliant conversations which are erupting inside of our tweets! So much so, I realised tonight as I was writing up this post, I have been remiss! I forgot to include the relaying of all of this joy in my previous Bout diaries! Therefore, on the morrow, I shall duck back through and make the edits as I truly want to give a proper shout-out to each Bout’er who has given me such a hearty dose of joy! I love gushing over books as much as finding inspiration in the books everyone is referring each of us to read next! One clever Bout’er even suggested that I start to ‘favourite!’ the books, which is such a simple solution to my vexation of forgetting to jot down each book title! Laughs.

Alas, I think I am going to miss using the #boutofbooks tag once Monday arrives and the Bout will be but a figment of our memories!!

Rendezvous with like-minded readers is such a pleasurable joy! Being able to alight into each other’s ordinary day, and delight the other with happy notes full of bookish delights! New authors to explore, books to absorb, and the hunt for the next story which will leave us breathless with pause! Oh! How I enjoy reading the #boutofbooks feed! Gleaming inspiration with each Bout’er who joyously and rather enthusiastically shouts, “I finished another book!” or “Which book do I choose next?” or even, “You.Must.Read.This.Book!” type of tweets! I’ll leave you with a tweet I sent out which I shall forevermore declare is the highlight of my experience as a bookish bloggger!

{SOURCE: Bout of Books Badge created by Jorie in Canva to give readers & visitors who come to her blog a way to know of  its existence and therefore increasing the mystery & lore surrounding it!! The tweet was embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Saturday, 11 January, 2014 by jorielov in Bout of Books, RALs | Thons via Blogs

Third Day’s the Charm! Bout of Books, 9.0 | A Reader’s Delight of a Challenge!

Posted Thursday, 9 January, 2014 by jorielov 1 Comment

Such a lovely time of the year to participate in a Bout! The air is rapt with electric energy pulsing Bout of Books 9.0into the winds whilst walking, noting the whole of the world is caught up in the grip of Winter! The whole of my being has been given such a beautiful gift this past week — temperatures have sunk and dropped into the lowest of degrees! For a Florida girl, this is especially keen if your quite used to a singular Season of such fiery wrath, any measure of a difference is a day of celebration! Winter! Oh, my dear stars! How I long for thee to be fully ensconced into my life! I’m partial to four seasons, with a bucket of snow, a yard of snow angels, and the blissful joy of standing in the stillness of glistening snow! If I were in a blizzard wrought area, I think I’d tuck myself away from computers completely and read until my eyes could no longer blink the words into being!

Words, Pages, Context Consumed:

Its a bit difficult to explain in full detail, but rather than being snuggled into a book, I was vexed beyond proportion by technical errors which set my heart a-fluttering with spasms of anxiety! First it would appear, my email server/client was either suffering under a MAJOR crash and/or my computer was turnt into a mild vexation of wills, where it would ‘pick!’ a night of a Bout & a night to tweak, edit, and post an Author Guest Post! Sighs. I lamented a bit on this during Day 2, as quite honestly, it started on Day 2, ended on Day 3, and at this point I was just thankful that not only did I resolve the technical issues with my browser (a succession of cleaning, reloading, rebooting, and letting it ‘rest’),… I learnt in the early morning hours after a bit of sleep was snatched my email server had indeed crashed and a secondary site had been set up in its absence! Oy vie! Who saw that coming!? Needless, whilst I was blogging and updating my site in general (did you check out the lovely new post lovelies provided by Parajunkee Designs? I have these wicked sweet “Author Interview”, “Guest Post”, “Blog Tour” extra badges for the top of me posts now! Is Parajunkee wicked awesome, or what!?), I was carving out a bit of time and space to READ!

Yes, READ! :) I wanted to dig into one of my ChocLit books, and that is precisely what I did! :) I left the computer behind, cosied up into my reading nook’s comfy chair, and allowed the words on the page to cart me off into a place where romance could bloom!

Hours Spent:

Ironically or no, I haven’t a clue about how long I was reading only that the joy I received whilst doing so far outweighs the numbers on the clock!

To read is part of our breathing of stories, to allow the essence of the story we’re absorbing to fully become alighted in our spirit, our heart, our mind, and play out in our imaginations! To give ourselves the space to enter into the world the writer has left behind, offering a bit of a legacy through a palette of words; more colourful and vivid than a film reel at times, as our imaginations are quite heightened and are without bounds of discovery! We soak into the world at hand, curious about what will round the next corner of a page, eager to see the dialogue and the narrative shape the destiny of whom we are getting to know! Oh, the parlay of suspense! Such sweet reverie will be ours to have, if only we can carve out the space we need to read!

{SOURCE: Bout of Books Badge created by Jorie in Canva to give readers & visitors who come to her blog a way to know of its existence and therefore increasing the mystery & lore surrounding it!!}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Thursday, 9 January, 2014 by jorielov in Bout of Books, RALs | Thons via Blogs

*+Bout Challenge!+* Bout Day, 4: Double Date Book Challenge!

Posted Thursday, 9 January, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Bout of Books 9.0On Day 4, of the Bout, a wicked question was broached about pairing two books together which compliment each other and yet, are completely different from each other at the very same time! This particular challenge is entitled: Double Date Book Challenge hosted by Lori @ Writing my own Fairy Tale! This particular challenge appealed to me because there are oft-times I am settling into a book where I think another book might work well to read next, in fact, I mused about this earlier in the year {It truly ought to be rather elementary,…}, which proves that this particular topic has already filtered through my mind as one that would extend a rather curious conversation between readers!!

Atmospheric novels in particular, strike a bit of an accord in me to where I’d love to seek out titles of books which grant me the same feeling I gather inside as I settle into the narratives! The first book which comes to mind would be Kate Morton’s “The Distant Hours” which is a book I have borrowed through my local library on numerous occasions but have not yet had the proper chance to sink into the heart of its depth! I am always out of hours before the dear book has to ‘boomerang!’ back to the library! Oh, my! Stemming from Morton, I have noticed a bit of a shift in how I approach seeking out Gothic-bent stories in literature, as I am attracted to the traditional and non-traditional elements of the genre! I love the suspenseful play-on settings as much as the daring breadth of the synopsises are leading me to believe would be found inside! Likewise, as I disclosed I’m an Anglophile under “My Bookish Life“, the more curious bit to spotlight is my tendency towards growing into a bit of a Francophile! French literature has been attractive to me ever since I first started to ruminate about the French Revolution, and sought out fictional stories set in, during, and after the height of the Revolution! Which leads me to my first book pairing of this kind, except to say, I haven’t yet completed reading one of the books I’m going to mention but! I feel confident that the enjoyment of its conclusion will be an equal match to the first!

My entry for the +*Double Date Book Challenge!*+

The Golden Hour by Maiya Williams + The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead
{my partial review, of The Skin Map}

The main reason I am choosing both of these books is due to the fact they are both focused on two areas of literature which makes my heart smile: time travel & visiting the historical past! In this instance, the height of the French Revolution in Paris (The Golden Hour) matched against the 17th Century of London! Each of the books has a very unique way of giving the reader a prominent experience in two major cities during historical periods of delight! From what I have read of The Skin Map I have already noticed not only the appreciation for the world-building set against the realism of modern science, but the delivery of the setting, the action, and the truism of having the characters wholly realised in the world by which they are entering! Likewise, in The Golden Hour what swept me inside the story the most was the ability to let go of reality and suspend it to include the probability of traveling via the route expressed into play as the novel diverges its secrets! Each are hinged to quantum mechanics and quantum physics theories of how to bend time and reappear ourselves into a different ‘place’ other then we ‘currently’ are. The backstories are lit alive at such a riveting pace you barely can breathe! Part of my Re-Reading Challenge via Caffeinated Life will include both of these titles! As I would love to know how The Skin Map resolves in this Part I of an on-going series, in as much as remember how closely knitted together the climax of The Golden Hour as it was also a launching into a series! I originally lamented to dear friends, that I would pair The Golden Hour alongside The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, which I still stand-by as a declaration, however, as I was sorting out in my mind tonight about a ‘double date’ choice, especially if to take into consideration two separate books which could run the gambit of being parallel to each other yet completely individualistic at the same time; then you see, my only choice is the one I have given! IF you want an extra answer to this paradoxical riddle, one ought to read my ‘double date book’ choice before sinking into The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler prior to reading The Sixty-Eight Rooms! As I recollect that is the original ‘pair’ of novels I have given to my bookish friends to enjoy!

Stephen Lawhead on “The Skin Map”, Bright Empires Series #1

by Thomas Nelson featured on the ChristianBook channel

I wonder what other books are being matched, paired, and set off into the world on a ‘double date’!? I’ll have to try to visit the other Bout’er blogs as soon as I have a free moment to do so! As once I post this, I’m wrapping up my Day 3 of the Bout, as I want to soak into the book I broached open on Day 3 a bit more before all time is lost on Day 4! Ho hey! Off I go!

{SOURCE: Bout of Books Badge created by Jorie in Canva to give readers & visitors who come to her blog a way to know of its existence and therefore increasing the mystery & lore surrounding it!! The book trailer featuring Stephen Lawhead by Thomas Nelson via Christianbook.com had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Thursday, 9 January, 2014 by jorielov in Bout of Books, RALs | Thons via Blogs

*Author Guest Post*| Gail Mencini [To Tuscany with Love] speaks on Reflections on To Tuscany with Love

Posted Wednesday, 8 January, 2014 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Guest Post by Parajunkee

“Reflections on To Tuscany with Love”, from the author of the novel of the same title Gail Mencini! The first book in a new women’s fiction series set in the romantically atmospheric setting of Tuscany, Italy!

Gail Mencini
Photo Credit: Ashography Event Photography

Today, it is my honour to welcome Ms. Gail Mencini to Jorie Loves A Story, of whose novel “To Tuscany with Love” I had the courtesy of reading by way of JKS Communications! My review of her novel preceded her stopover today whereupon she responds to my enquiry of how the story was spun into existence and what the impetus of inspiration drew the story to become stitched together! Setting is always such a powerful tool for a writer, and I was quite intrigued to learn of her own experiences on behalf of “Tuscany”!

I now yield to Ms. Mencini, as she beings to share her passion for Tuscany!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Reflections on To Tuscany with Love by author, Gail Mencini

Hi Jorie. Thank you for inviting me to submit a guest post on Jorie Loves a Story!

When people hear about the plot-line of my debut novel, To Tuscany with Love, they often ask: What inspired me to write this story and why this particular setting?

Gail Menicini Photograph
Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Gail Mencini’s photo originally shared via her blog in a post entitled: “Tips to Start Your Journey to Italy”. gailmencini.com.

College years are a period of remarkable growth, discovery, and self-revelation. The novel reveals how the lives of eight college students who first meet on a semester abroad in Italy become interwoven over time. The inspiration for this story came from a family friend who casually mentioned he was headed to Florence for a reunion of his college semester abroad class. I know nothing of his reunion, or his classmates, yet the concept of such a reunion wouldn’t let go of me. In one sense, it was similar to the presence I felt of the ghost of Ernest Hemingway when I toured his Key West Florida home and knew I needed to write. The prospect of a reunion of close friends who had shared the life-altering experience of a college semester abroad wouldn’t let go of me. When my characters started haunting my waking and sleeping hours, I knew I had to tell their story.

Why central Tuscany? I’ve been fortunate to have toured this area several times—by foot, train, car, and Vespa—and I love the landscape, the history and architecture, the people, and yes, the food and wine. Florence is home to many universities and semester abroad classes, so it is a logical setting for the story. I wanted to have my characters discover both a larger city and small hill towns, as both hold unique charm and mystery.

Photo by Gail Mencini
Photo Credit: (Gelato) Gail Mencini’s photo originally shared via her blog in a post entitled: “Tips to Start Your Journey to Italy”. gailmencini.com.

What’s the rational behind a thirty-year reunion? The “middle years” are when a person has been shaped by, and burdened with, successes, failures, regrets, and secrets and the naïve, youthful view of life has long since drifted away. I picture a person walking through life with a suitcase crammed full of all these life experiences. Thirty years after college is sufficient time for life to have changed direction dramatically, often more than once, yet the characters are young enough to have the potential of many years of life ahead. It is the perfect time for a person to ask themselves “if not now, when?” and a fascinating time to bring people together again.

What is essential about the reunion to the arc of the characters’ journey? Do you have friends that you do not see often, or perhaps that you only exchange holiday cards with year after year, and one day you meet them again? With some people, you may wonder what you ever had in common with them. For others, it is as if the intervening years never happened, your conversation and the warmth you feel for them picks up where it was years ago. This latter type of friend can help you see and rediscover the “you” from long ago. So it is with the characters in To Tuscany with Love. Their naiveté has long faded, and the intervening years created situations that they believe now define them. The reunion, during which they are forced to take a hiatus from their life, opens a door. It is an opportunity to settle old scores, reveal long-held secrets, and perhaps even provide an opportunity to change direction.

Thank you, Jorie, for your interest in To Tuscany with Love, and the opportunity to share these insights with your followers! Readers can connect with me and learn more about the book at my website: http://www.GailMencini.com .

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Thank you, Ms. Mencini for alighting on my blog today whilst giving my readers and followers a bit of an inside knowledge of how your crafted the story of the novel based on second-hand knowledge of another University student who lived abroad! I find as writers, we have an unlimited well of inspiration waiting to spark a story our heart is willing to pen! We fuse our observations and our keen sense of story-telling into each of our projects, giving a new dimension to our audiences as we do so! I am always intrigued by how stories take shape initially as each spark of light for a novel emerges out of such a unique passageway in a writer’s internal world!

I know instinctively you had personally traveled through Tuscany, because the chapters and sections which drew our eye directly to experiencing Tuscany for ourselves was writ with a deep passion and appreciation! The setting was not merely a backdrop in those instances but a character whose voice rang strong and true! I appreciated the little nuisances you included to give the impression of a ‘real living experience’ being read as it played out rather than reading a story which took place outside the scope of the time setting it was read. Sometimes stories read as though we’re complete outsiders, but the way in which you painted Tuscany, the world set there became a breathing essence of the story itself!

I oft wonder how I am a bit set apart in that one regard, as I haven’t become jaded in my thirties. I am still lit quite happily alive with the warm glow of happenstance joy in seeking out the adventures and the experiences which give me the most growth as much as the most diversity of knowledge. I am still rapt in awe in most of my everyday wanderings, including but not limited to exploring the natural world just outside my door! I oft feel badly for others who are in my generation who have let go of their childhood innocence of pure joy which alights in our lives as readily as a rainbow graces the sky after a rainfall! Life can feel like its become muddled, but its how we choose to set our attitudes as we walk through our lifepath which will ultimately decide how we emerge out of the adversities which unexpectedly blindside us.

Thank you for your warm honesty and openness to share your internal writing life with my readers! I appreciated seeing your point of view as much as your process as a writer! Your always very giving of your time, and I have appreciated our impromptu interactions via Twitter!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Be sure to catch the first half of this showcase on JLAS:
Jorie reviews “To Tuscany with Love“,
which includes a virtual road map of this tour!
Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.
Be sure to scope out my Bookish Upcoming Events to mark your calendars!!
As well as to see which events I will be hosting with:

To Tuscany With Love Blog Tour - JKS Communications Publicity Firm

{SOURCES:  Photograph of the author Gail Mencini and the tour badge for JKS Communications were provided by JKS Communications. Ms. Mencini provided the photographs of Tuscany (of The Campo and of gelato). All author and book related materials were used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Guest Post badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Jorie requested to feature a Guest Post on JLAS by Ms. Mencini whilst signing up for the blog book tour for “To Tuscany with Love”. She was honoured her offer was accepted and received the guest post by Ms. Mencini through Ms. Lien. This marks her second Author Submitted Guest Post on her blog!}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Wednesday, 8 January, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Life Shift, Modern Day, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Time Slip, Tuscany, Women's Fiction

Bout Day 2! The hours wickedly pass whilst wrapped up in spontaneity!

Posted Tuesday, 7 January, 2014 by jorielov 0 Comments

Bout of Books 9.0What’s a girl to do! Only a farthering of a distance was meant to be broached, yet the day unravelled into a bit of a bout of unexpected blessings, wicked kibitzing, deep belly laughing, quirky humour sharing, errand running with a friend, and the warmed cuppa chili with a fresh brewed cuppa coffee which cast off the deep chill swept round me bones whilst walking in the environs without a proper set of mittens! Laughs. Its a bout of a time alright, as gleefully spent as though I was plumb charged and ignited inside of a novel! Avenues of unknown delights rounded each bend, and this happy bookish soul was thankful in the end! The type of day which evolves simply as the winds cast their murmuring glow, Wintry crystal blue skies with a soft brush stroke of cotton white! Air as crisp as the shouldering winds keeping you chilled, with an expectation of ‘something!’ For me? Getting a second chance at participating in the Bout with a renewed sense of being! I wanted to relax into the Bout, settle into random convos, tweet & chat on blogs, and enjoy the whole process w/o the limitations of how many page counts!

Words, Pages, Context Consumed: Book badge provided by Squeesome Designs and used with permission.

Honestly, I didn’t get back home in time to read as I was suffering technical difficulties with both my email server and my browsers! I was burning the midnight oils something fierce trying to source the cause of the issues! I tucked myself in past 4am, thrilled to bits everything was alright for the Author Guest Post for To Tuscany with Love! My eyes wandered to my shelves, where my ChocLitUK books were murmuring their silent whispers, as I am posting my very *first!* reviews for ChocLit book titles this coming Saturday! Each of the three Saturdays left in January will be a different featured ChocLit author & title! I feel so very grateful to being accepted as a ChocLit reviewer, because I oft thought to myself I am not quite a ‘chick lit’ girl, and now I can affirm that I am definitely a ‘choc lit’ kind of gal! The stories evoke such a hearty response of excitement of what lays beneath the pages! I cannot wait to post my reviews and to give my readers a few surprises along the way too! Romance for me is always a genre I will hungrily be motivated to explore, because I love solid story-lines which are founded in relationships, coupled with either adversity, angst, coming-of age, growing woes, or other bits of realism thrown in for good measure! I love solid character arcs, world-buildings (whether modern day or historical!), and a proper sense of who the characters are and why they are making the choices they decide! I like being swept up into a romance in the Winter, whilst the air is frightfully cold, and your mind is eager for the warmth of the story inside!

Hours Spent:

My mind was all a-swirl of the lovely moments and memories the day unfolded into my lap! I even met a new crafter who I hope will become a good friend — someone who crochets to my knits, but appreciates the social engaging with other crafters! Its sometimes hard to sort out where ‘crafters’ meet-up with one another, and so to help another creative find what I am finding lately was a way to pay forward the kindnesses I have been receiving too! Truly, part of my issue with reading today was trying to sort out how to stop re-thinking upon the conversations, the spoken stories, the little moments which brought so much joy; some days like today unfold by their own accord. They take you places you hadn’t planned, and enlighten you with moments you will fondly muse about long after the hours dissolve and a new day starts to dawn!

And, how about you dear, Bout’ers?! What do you do when life graces you with such a lovely day like mine!? Do you embrace it or stress about the readings you weren’t able to do? For me? There will always be time enough for books and reading; but life as it is being lived is an experience to cherish all by its own! Especially when everyday joy and kindness alights in your life during ordinary hours! Simple joys warm my heart forevermore!

{SOURCES: Bout of Books Badge created by Jorie in Canva to give readers & visitors who come to her blog a way to know of its existence and therefore increasing the mystery & lore surrounding it!! Badges for Coffee are given to bloggers to add personality to their blogs by Squeesome Designs.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Tuesday, 7 January, 2014 by jorielov in Bout of Books, RALs | Thons via Blogs