Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
Happily this is my second of featuring stories I would love to be reading through spotlighting the titles I am discovering through Xpresso Book Tours! Earlier this week I was highlighting a new Digital First release for a New Adult Romantic Suspense whilst tonight I am drawing your eye to a fairy tale re-telling of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ – set within a Young Adult Fantasy world. I would speculate this one is a bit darker than I normally might be drawn to read – however, when it comes to Dark Fantasy, I dearly remember how charmed & enchanted I was by ‘Bearskin’ which gives me the hopefulness to find more Dark Fantasy writers out there who can give me a chillingly thrill of a read *but!* in such a way I can handle the context of their stories without feeling I’ve become :pushed: outside my zones of comfort (to a negative effect).
What do you love about fairy tale re-tellings & after canon sequels on behalf of the stories / series / canons you draw a thirst of interest in re-exploring? Do you read a heap of adaptations per each original you love OR do you hop round like I do and only occasionally read the same story told through different variants every odd moon!?
‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ has a lot of room to work with in regards of how to re-tell this particular Classic and still have room to breathe! This is partially why I was enchanted by the premise but also, in finding new voices within the bracket of Young Adult Fantasy which is a niche of Fantasy literature I happen to be drawn inside more oft-times than naught! The worlds within YA Fantasy worlds are just as compelling if not moreso than their Adult variants – I have spent many enjoyable hours (including recently!) spellbound by how writers are curating their worlds, deepening our awareness of how wide the realms of Fantasy can become explored & of the convicting plot threads which carry us into the final chapters where we might not be fully ready to depart reading the story!
I selected two extracts from this novel, which I am happy to announce *celebrated!* its #PubDay for print today on the 4th of September – isn’t that especially grand for those of us who are traditional readers!? These extracts and the quote banners which accompany them I felt gave the best ‘introduction’ to who Jacyln is in the story but also, the direction of Ms Ting’s vision for this novel!
The artwork gracing the cover was brilliant – between the colour palette and the combination of seeing Jacyln near the beanstalk with the ready sense she was affirmatively ready for whatever was awaiting her – gave you the strong impression there would be quite a heap of adventuring to be done alongside her as we ventured into the story left behind for us to read!
Jacyln and the Beanstalk
by Mary Ting
What fate awaits a girl who hears monsters at night…
Sixteen-year-old Jaclyn looks up to her father. An honest man who once fought for the king, he now teaches Jaclyn how to use her wits—and her sword.
But he has a secret. And his secret may have a connection to the one thing Jaclyn is hiding from him.
Upon hearing “monsters” are terrorizing the small villages around Black Mountain, Jaclyn’s father and his friends head out to hunt them … but they don’t return.
Armed only with her sword and three magic beans—a gift from a mysterious old woman—Jaclyn sets out for Black Mountain to save her father.
On her climb, one bean drops and grows into a beanstalk, catching her when she falls.
She isn’t the only one that takes the ride. Jack, her childhood friend and secret crush, is following her.
Together, Jaclyn and Jack must battle to save not only their fathers, but the townspeople the beasts plan to lay waste to before it’s too late.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781944109745
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Fairy-Tale Re-Telling, Fantasy Fiction, YA Fantasy
Published by Vesuvian Books
on 4th September, 2018
Published By: Vesuvian Books (@VesuvianMedia)
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse on Twitter via: #YAFantasy, #YoungAdult + #Fantasy
OR #DarkFantasy #JackAndTheBeanstalk re-telling
About Mary Ting
International Bestselling Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry.
Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading New Adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great.
Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.
“Getting married and bearing children is not for me. There’s much work to be done.”
I slipped my arms around her waist and pressed my head to her back. I inhaled deeply as warmth enveloped me and her love replaced the fright from my nightmares.
Safe. I am safe. No monsters.
“Our life is good here. Why would I want to fix what is not broken?”
“’Tis what we do. People will talk.”
“Let them.”
I scowled, anger boiling through my veins. I tended to not raise my voice, so I softened my tone out of respect.
“I will not be handed to a suitor I do not love.”
Mother patted my arm. “My child, you have much to learn. Love comes later. I did not love your father at first.”
“I will not follow other people’s ways.” Pouting, I shuffled my feet on the dirt.
She released a deep sigh. “Oh, Jaclyn. Your time will come. Everyone has a destiny. Everyone has a story to tell. Some more than others. We shall see what lies ahead for you. Fate will lead you to the path you are meant to take.”
I wished I had eyes for the future. I wanted to know a demon would not seize my soul, and I wanted to see a path without the nighttime cries. They must be monsters. I’d never heard a human throat make such tortured sounds.
What fate awaits a girl who hears monsters at night?
Illness swept through my stomach. A shudder racked me, beginning in my gut, forewarning me.
“I apologize.” I tugged at my sleeve, even though it was already down, for fear she had seen my birthmark.
Her hood shifted and her dark, snapping eyes assured me she had. But when she peered up at me with a small smile, she eased my mind.
“Have a care, please.”
Her raspy voice stunned me, as she continued to stare, examining me like I was some kind of novelty.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. “I want to buy the set for my mother. I have a silver coin.”
I showed it to her. Perhaps she thought me a thief like the hat seller.
“Which one suits your fancy?”
She reached underneath her cloak for something—a dagger maybe?
My pulse raced. My mind became unsteady. Defeating an old woman would be easy, unless she was a witch. I had heard tales of witches in my younger days, but I’d never paid attention. I wished I had.
I pointed. “That one, please.”
She handed me the brush first and then the mirror. I ran my finger across the vine from the bottom, feeling the curves and indentations and the fine texture of the smooth wood.
Admiring its beauty, I knew Mother would be pleased.
The old woman’s eyes stayed on my covered wrists. No fear showed through them, only recognition or something else unexplainable. Before she could ask me a question, I placed the silver coin in front of her and turned to leave.
“Stop,” she said.
I gulped fear down my throat.
Have I done something wrong? What will she ask of me?
All my life, no one had asked me about my birthmarks. I hid them well.
“Yes?” I turned to her, smiling.
“Here, I have a gift for you.”
I was foolish enough to think she would give me a silver back, so I opened my hand to her. She dropped three beans in it and closed my fist. When her hand touched mine, she gasped sharply, and her eyes rolled back.
I shuddered at her expression. I wanted to run far from her, but I remained calm when no trickery played from her. But why beans? Not a bag of beans, but three shriveled, gray, speckled beans.
“Nay, thank you.”
I tried to open my hand to return them to her, but she held steady onto me. The old fool giving me beans—she must be mad. And I needed to head back to Father.
“You look like your mother. Have ’em.” Her eyes bored into mine, and then finally let go.
“You’d be wise to hold these fast. A time will come when you are in need. Use them wisely.”
You feel a sense of urgency to read this novel – almost as if time is running out for you to find the story as much as time has almost become lost for Jacyln to rise above what is expected of her in regards to a traditional progression of her life’s direction. She doesn’t want to fit into the expectedness of her kind or of where a girl’s place is in society – she wants to stand out, be different and choose her own path. From the sounds of it – this is quite revolutionary!
I love finding affirmatively strong female leads in novels – irregardless of genre, I love the strength & wit of fierce females in literature! They have something to offer all of us living in today’s world where the rights of women are in the cross-hairs of being erased, dismissed or affected by efforts out of our control – thereby, being able to read heroines who are writing their own destinies in fiction is a lovely segue from the stresses of the ‘real world’ where defining the right to live as you envision is growing more adverse!
One of my favourite lines thus far – is where Jacyln’s Mum said ‘everyone has a story to tell’ which is wicked brilliant and so very true! We each have our own path to walk, our own legacy to impart to others and our own [story] to write and leave behind. Sometimes the story we have to share is the one we’re each writing each day we draw breath, encourage new experiences and continuously find ourselves evolving through our lives.
My second favourite follows suit – where even if you don’t have magic to influence or guide you, the only life you can live is your own. These are humbled truths everyone can relate to of any age in which they find themselves reading ‘Jaclyn and the Beanstalk’.
I had to smile when I read Ms Ting was inspired to write the stories she is writing based on her own literary wanderings! I find this wonderful because it shows how each of us who write stories are happily residing in so many dear ones penned by other writers, that sometimes, along the passageways of fictional worlds we embark into a place which grants us an entry into thinking we could write something which befits this particular ‘genre or theme’ of interest. There are so many lovely writers who are as addicted to the written words of wonder as we are ourselves it makes the bookish world feel wonderfully small and circular!
And, can we just take a second to commend Ms Ting on how the beans were transferred to Jacyln? I mean, seriously that was rather a genius move! Of course, now, I am dearly curious what *happens!* next and how the beans happily change Jacyln’s life,… we shall have to murmur our curiosities and dearly have pleasant dreams of curiosity until we can read this story for ourselves, eh? It is definitely one I look forward to ‘meeting’,…
This book blitz is courtesy of:
As this BLITZ was featured alongside the blog tour, I decided to link the banner to the official blog tour page – thereby giving you the chance to see what else is waiting you on the route!
Find others hosting via @XpressoTours!
This is my second time hosting for:
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. This also extends to Book Spotlights & Book Blitzes which I choose to highlight which might have content inclusive to the post materials which I did not directly add a contribution but had the choice whether or not to feature those materials on my blog.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Jacyln and the Beanstalk”, author photograph of Mary Ting, author biography, blitz tour banner and host badge were provided by Xpresso Book Tours and are being used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
Comments via Twitter:
#BookSpotlight w/ Extracts
🌱from the fantastical mind of @MaryTing
🌱fiercely strong female
🌱celebrating individuality & personal destiny
🌱#DarkFantasy
🌱#JackAndTheBeanStalk retell
🌱#IndiePub by @VesuvianMedia📗💚https://t.co/iydx2yeDC0 | @XpressoTours | #blogging4books pic.twitter.com/8CnQsmOvLN
— Jorie Story | #amwriting💜🦝 (@joriestory) September 5, 2018
Hey Jorie, great post as usual! I loved reading this as part of the tour. It had a lot of interesting elements involved. Parts of it felt very YA Fantasy, while others felt like a historical piece, focusing on the interesting amalgamation of religion and superstition of the times. Hope you get a chance to read!
Hallo Ms Silverwood,
Thanks for your lovely feedback on behalf of the story! This was what I was hoping it would read like as you can see a bit of that coming through the extras we were given on the Blitz to read over. The whole story stood out to me to be honest, as just what you’ve talked about are the reasons I was hoping it would track the way it felt it might! Speaking of these overtures – those are the same ones I’m currently reading about in The Lost Queen by Signe Pike! I had planned to share my review of that novel today but I fell ill over Labour Day weekend, so I’m still moving my way through the text. You might like this one for the same reasons you happily loved Jaclyn and the Beanstalk!
Thank you for blessing me with this fantastic insight as a reader on the tour!! I wasn’t able to join the blog tour as they only offer digital copies – this one I thankfully have a better chance of reading sooner than later, as it’s happily in print! I’ll keep you posted! You’ve definitely brightened up my night for giving me this note!
You’re welcome :D I always enjoy your posts when I get a chance to read. You go so much more in-depth than most book bloggers I read. Also, coming from an authors perspective, it means so much to have someone appreciate and take time to help share the work we do :)
Ooh, I think I would love “The Lost Queen,” thanks for sharing. I am definitely a fan of strong heroines. Love seeing that trend abound today.
So sorry you were ill over the holiday. That’s never fun, but hope you’re feeling better already! I’ll try to drop a line more often. I love chatting up books :)