#Blogmas | A Fantasy Christmas celebration feat. authors of fantastical realms | the Borderlands Saga by Jennifer Silverwood

Posted Wednesday, 12 December, 2018 by jorielov , , 4 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might recognise today’s featured fantastical novelist – as she’s appeared on Jorie Loves A Story a few times in the recent past! IF your a new visitor to my blog, you’ll find I hosted an interview with Ms Silverwood during a previous Borderlands Saga blog tour hosted by PRISM whilst this past Autumn, I read her original debut novel release STAY – featured during my newly minted weekend showcases #SaturdaysAreBookish whilst we conversed on topic during a live discussion via @SatBookChat (a monthly chat I host on Twitter). Meanwhile, for the rest of the particulars of how we first crossed paths & why we are bookishly happy for the serendipity of how our lives crossed this year, please refer to the following:

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On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for awhile afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writely lives! We decided to stay in touch and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

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We both have the tendency of seeking out the same stories to be reading – one case in point are the collective works of Tolkien’s Middle Earth – a discussion point which emerged through my #FantasyForChristmas series of blog posts – as we were conversing in the *threads below the posts about our mutual love of Fantasy stories whilst expounding on my notes I supplied per post to explain why each author appealled to me to be a dearly happenstance #nextread!

I have been flying by the seat of my pants this #blogmas with this blog series – life & its tides have been keeping me on my toes, not to mention the fact I had to pull a few showcases due to the fact a few of the stories were not what I was expecting them to be whilst my Tuesday was also marked by a family emergency which I’ll explain during my forthcoming #TheSundayPost – a series I have been wanting to resume on my blog since July! Seems like the best time now, given the circumstances and the fact I’ve been struggling to get back into a groove befit of a girl who loves her readerly life! If you can’t tell – I’m truly thankful we have a new chapter of a New Year inking its way round the corner!

Not having a lot of lead-time to work on these posts & a few of them have been arriving rather later than projected – what was keenly surprising is how Tolkien having been broached earlier in the month between Ms Silverwood & I would take-on new meaning & definition now! Laughs with mirth. Of course, she might have felt I already knew the content of her guest post today (though I hadn’t!) and thereby, no surprise to be had! Interesting, as I’ve been a book blogger I’ve noticed these seemingly random connections & coincidences have the tendency of happening when you least expect them! Such as the better time to be reading a particular novel or the fact, one author you read helps introduce you to another author you hadn’t yet discovered, etc, etc. There are patterns in life and sometimes we are privy to seeing their connective threads – other times, we are blissful unaware of the patterns & get to smile at the random joys which alight in our lives.

For me today, I am thankful she picked this particular topic as it is one close to my own writerly heart as I’ll disclose underneath her words. And, for those of you who happen to fancy Middle Earth, I daresay this is a champion of a day for you! I look forward to seeing your reactions & takeaways in the comments whilst hoping some might reveal what their thoughts are about their own origin of ‘name’.

Sit back with your favourite cuppa & a hearty cosy comforting baked treat – as you get to know this intriguing world Ms Silverwood has cast an enchanting spell over for us to feel comfortable enough to seek out & enter!

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POSTSCRIPT: for those readers trying to click on ANY rifflebooks.com links on my blog, I apologise for the inconvenience of those links not routing to a viable website. I am as flummoxed as you are to where the site went & of the content I’ve lost as a result of its sudden absence. I am hoping it will re-emerge but I’ve moved on without it for now. I’m in the process of deleting ALL Riffle links directly to book synopsises on my blog whilst the Riffle Lists embeds will take a bit longer to re-route into a newly developed list via my LibraryThing. I appreciate your patience.

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Why I originally was keen on the writing styling of Ms Silverwood:

When I first discovered Silver Hollow, it was the genre-bending styling of the author which implored me the most to read the story. At the time, Silver Hollow was being re-released and the only version currently available back then in print was the older version. Sadly, despite my efforts to secure that copy by inter-library loan had failed. It still remains a story I want to read one day, however, what was interesting about moving inside Stay was finding the natural nuanced styling of a writer who takes cues straight out of the Mythological past!

As I hinted at during @SatBookChat today, there are moments within reading Stay where I could almost feel the presence of Poseidon and Zeus; except, I wasn’t naming them in my mind. There are enough elements of connection within the story itself to draw you closer towards naming them outright but it was the illusion of connection to these two which I appreciated even more because it deepened the suspense and the mythological proportions! If it could be them, what if it wasn’t? What if there are others out there who can behave and manipulate the elements just as cheekily and get away with it?

This bridge between the fantastical and the mythological is what made me keenly curious about Silverwood’s writing style. I wanted to see how she used the bridge itself, as generally speaking I do have a penchant for Urban Fantasy nowadays but each writer I read within that branch of literature has their own unique spin on how to make ‘modern’ settings warmly conducive to Fantasy realms.

Finding myself dearly enchanted by how she brokered a story out of the roots of Greek Mythos is only the tip of the iceberg I feel I shall be finding within her collective works! The joy of reading Stay and discussing it was finding out the sequel is arriving in 2019!

-as quoted from my review of STAY

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Silver Hollow by Jennifer Silverwood

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Converse via: #FantasyForChristmas, #FantasyNerd, #DarkFantasy,

#UrbanFantasy and #BorderlandsSaga

Published by: Silverwood Sketches

  Borrow from a Library (original edition*)

**Previously published in 2012.
This NEW EDITION has been FULLY REVISED AND EXPANDED.
The original novel is now no longer available (except at public libraries).**

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The Borderlands series:

Silver Hollow (book one) | add to LibraryThing

Published: 31st May, 2018 | ISBN: 978-1718974586

Amie Wentworth trusts books more than people. After her parents’ deaths ten years before, she writes fiction to escape reality. A timely invitation from her long-lost uncle arrives, but she’s used to ignoring the mysterious surrounding her life.

Until she is stabbed in an alley and brought back to life by a handsome stranger. Soon Amie is dragged into the very sort of tale she is used to selling. To make matters worse, the man who saved her life keeps turning up and her would-be-murderer is still at large.

After crossing the Atlantic to her father’s homeland, she discovers a world beyond imagining. Silver Hollow is a place of ancient traditions and supernatural dangers, where everything is the opposite of what it seems and few escape sane. Faced with an impossible choice, Amie is forced to confront a deadly family legacy while remembering a life she soon wishes to forget.

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Enjoy this Guest Post about

how writers go a bit deeper to ‘name’ their characters:

I remember reading articles that said Tolkien, when he was writing his Lord of the Rings saga, began with names. A linguist himself, it’s not surprising that he believed that our history can be told through our words and names.

Let me state for the record I am not J.R.R. Tolkien, nor am I Robert Jordan or any of the brilliant fantasy authors who made me want to write. But I am proud to admit they taught me a thing or two about characters, places and the meaning behind the name. If you read their stories, particularly Tolkien, you can almost feel the connection between the name and what that place or person truly is. If only we had a guide to duplicity in real life, right?

For Silver Hollow, I wanted to give my characters a little extra meaning and give some hints as to their true nature. After all, you’ll soon discover that everything in Silver Hollow is only the surface above hidden layers.

(Due to the location of Silver Hollow in the Borderlands, most of the names below are taken from Scotch-Irish/Celtic origin, while a few below are old Germanic.)

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Welsh

→ Emrys– Welsh form of Ambrose, who was a Romano-British military leader they later based the character of Merlin from.

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Highland/Old Irish-Celtic

Morcant– is my nod to a modernized Morgan le Fay. Her updated name is derived from Old Welsh, a form of “Morgan.”

→ Elisedd– Celtic for “kind.” (Her last name, Underhill, was my direct nod to Tolkien)

→ Slaine– Scottish in origin, typically a feminine name meaning “good health.”

→ Iudicael– An old, Breton form of Judicael.

→ Drustan– A much older, Breton form of the name, Tristan. (My nod to Tristan & Isolde)

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Old German

→ Grim– Simply means “grim” (however older Norse variations also mean “mask”)

→ Dearg– flame or red haired.

I’ve made you want to look up your name haven’t I? Well since you didn’t ask, I’ll tell you the meaning behind my name. Jennifer is a Cornish version of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar or Guinevere and means pure spirit/fey. And just because I’m that nerd, I’ve included a link to find the meaning behind your name too.

Have fun and see you at the next tour stop!

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It is hard *not!* to smirk & laugh – as my own writerly muse has happily followed in the footsteps of Tolkien without being a word nor hare wiser for the knowledge of it! I *loved!* linguistics & languages as a young girl – for a severely dyslexic writer & reader, that might sound odd to acknowledge but it is the truth all the same! I might have had issues learning syntax & distinctions in spoken dialogue variances but there was something uniquely intriguing about how words are spokenhow words transform themselves – magically becoming something else entirely once they are said aloud!

It took til [2016] for me to realise my LOVE & passion for audiobooks began as a young child whose Mum was kind-hearted enough to read her beloved & favourite stories of old each evening – she, was my first narrator – she brought those stories to life & to this day I remember them. My second narrator I might not have disclosed was a babysitter who became more like a guardian angel of my childhood – as she visited with me long after an age where you would want a babysister in your life; she was a cherished friend instead. She spun yarns like the best Cosy Horror & Fantasy story-teller you’ve ever meet who never published their stories to market. Some of those stories still leave me in shivers & chills; perhaps that is why I coined the term “Cosy Horror” all along come to lay a think on it now – because sometimes a slight chill to your story *is!* a cosy comfort, even if it parlays into the original genre of Horror which was Psychological Suspense! (think Classic Hollywood here!)

I might only speak American English, but as a dyslexic writer you’ve most likely noticed I altered my writing voice (both in my fiction, poetry, etc as well as my online life as a book blogger, reviewer & joyful tweeter) – to reflect AmeriBrit(itsh) which was my own methodology for compensating for my dyslexic slips! It also is a reflection of my passionate attachment to the UK and how the accents of the Brits resonates with me in a way I can’t always properly put into words.

Dollars to doughnuts – you’ll have observed my favourite narrators these days are generally from the UK – either British, Irish or Scottish – and that isn’t as keenly remarkable as you might think – considering I have had a hankering for Canadian, British, Irish, Scottish & Australian dramas & comedies since I was a teen! Notice the similarities of their language & linguistic patterns?

What I haven’t told you is I knew the origins of my name eons ago – as I grew up in a close-knit family who championed living histories & stories of heritage. This is partially why becoming the second half of my family’s Ancestry Sleuthing team was wicked #awesomesauce in my late twenties & why meeting our long-lost Swedish Cousin in [2017] was beyond brill! It also speaks to why family & language – origins of names, familial histories and a character’s own development behind-the-book always originates with a name. A fingermark of their identity – a stepping stone towards their lifepath stretching out through my mind’s eye and an inkling of a hope towards who they shall become once the pages wick themselves into sight. Names, you see – names are powerful – whether created fictionally or in reality; they have an importance like none other and their meanings ought never be taken for granted!

FYI: this is also why I am IN LOVE with the author’s narration for my first showcased series this #FantasyForChristmas blog tour! Be sure to visit that post to see what I’m talking about – as it relates to this one today!

This marks my last showcase for #FantasyForChristmas – return on Saturday, the 15th to read my final thoughts on this special series of fantastical showcases which kicked-off my #blogmas posts this Christmastide [2018]!!Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Jennifer Silverwood

Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time, she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it’s the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador, or a road trip to the next town. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas. She is the author of three series–Heaven’s Edge, Wylder Tales and the Borderlands Saga–and the stand-alone titles Stay and She Walks in Moonlight. She recently released her first serialized Urban Fantasy, Angel Blue in August 2018.

WebsiteBlogGoodreadsFacebookTwitterTumblrBookBub | LibraryThing

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This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours

Prism Book Tours

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Fantasy for Christmas blog tour via Prism Book ToursClick through via the badge to find out what else awaits you! Especially as this is a special tour featuring Christmas SURPRISES for readers who LOVE a stuffed stocking!

Each day, a new author is showcased – I selected the authors I wanted to feature ahead of time, however, Ms Adams either snuck past my purview and/or she wasn’t yet confirmed – I’m so thankful to have had a second chance of becoming introduced to her series – as I’m already seeking it via interlibrary loan at my local library!

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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.

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{SOURCES: Cover art of “Silver Hollow”, the author’s photo and biography, blog tour banner and The Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by 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.

I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Wednesday, 12 December, 2018 by jorielov in #blogmas, Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Fantasy Fiction, Indie Author, Prism Book Tours, Steampunk




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4 responses to “#Blogmas | A Fantasy Christmas celebration feat. authors of fantastical realms | the Borderlands Saga by Jennifer Silverwood

    • Hallo, Hallo Kimberly,

      Thanks for this lovely note about “Silver Hollow” – since this posted, I’ve been able to join the blog tour in February!!!! Eek. I can’t wait to read this novel – I feel like I spent [2018] dreaming about its world and now, in the start of the New Year, I get to finally see what I can find inside it!! You’ll have to come back when I share my ruminative thoughts – my tour stop is 6th February!

      Isn’t that the truth? I felt like navigating into Middle Earth myself after I put this together! So nice to find fellow Middle Earth fans!

  1. Hey Jorie, a thousand thanks for the lovely post! Like I said via Twitter, it means so much that you take the time to expound on posts like this. It reminds me more of how things used to be in bloggerverse when I started out in ’12-13. Everyone seemed to take more time to share their thoughts on posts rather than just feature half a dozen on the same day, you know? Not that I always do a fantastic job of that with my book blog, come to think of it lol. But I love that you make every post into a conversation.

    So glad you enjoyed my thoughts on Tolkien! When we discussed his works the other day I hadn’t even made that connection! Tolkien was such a big influencer on me as I started reading and writing, almost as much as L.M. Montgomery’s works. So it’s always natural for me to bring him up. He created such an expansive world, I’m so happy his son has been compiling his unfinished works together for us, like Children of Hurin! I just wish someone would create movie and TV adaptations for all of his stories now lol. Oh and here’s a brilliant example of how art, music and literature are so intertwined and inspire one another. I discovered an amazing artist on Deviantart you should see (look up EKukanova [Elena Kukanova] and prepare to be dazzled!).

    Also, thanks for sharing about your family history and thoughts on the meaning behind names. I think names have a lot more magic to them than we might think. My mom and grandparents dragged me around libraries, cemeteries, and courthouses for years, researching family lines and occasionally researching for others. I was always fascinated with the connection between generations, like how often great-grandchildren will go into a profession or hobby they didn’t know their greats loved as well. Or even how British surnames often signified where they lived, which clan they were from and/or what they did for a living. But I’ll cut myself off before I start really rambling lol.

    Thanks again for sharing and hope everyone enjoyed this post and our Days of Fantasy for #Blogmas tour ;)

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms Silverwood!!

      I wanted to write you a wicked reply soon after reading this beautifully lovely note you’ve left me – only, I wasn’t feeling like myself for so long, I decided to wait til I felt loads better to properly reply! I’ve been spending New Year’s Eve in two different blocks of time visiting new book bloggers, visiting the book bloggers I follow and being a part of the bookish Twitter community as we ring down the clock and await for the ball to drop in Times Square! I also wanted to make headway into getting current with my outstanding comments – as for most of the year, I was dearly distracted!

      As you know – the blog features you’ve been attached to have been some of my favourites for the year! Something I’ll be discussing when I compose my End of the Year Survey – I have I think three of those to release this January and March? lol I somehow fell behind – needless, seeing your notes on my blog have truly uplifted my spirits this year. I truly cherish everyone who takes the time to write me a note, share their thoughts with me and carry a convo in the *threads below my posts. It is something I have longed to see on my blog and this year, 2018 felt like one of the better years for organic growth and interaction with my readers and visitors! Thanks for being a part of that milestone!

      Likewise, it has been an honour to showcase Silver Hollow and having the lovely surprise of reading it this coming New Year! I felt like it was a circle of #booklove – as first I was smitten by the prospect of it, then I could focus on the elements within it and now I get to get immersed into it for the first time! Thanks to your friendship and your kind heart – I can’t wait to see what awaits me once I dissolve into your words!

      Regarding the changes in tides in the book blogosphere – I have observed those changes myself. I sometimes still feel defensive about why other book bloggers don’t always understand why I do features and spotlights like this series for #blogmas – I just stay true to myself. I had a vision of what I hoped to develop into as a book blogger and I’ve come into a confidence I hadn’t had in those initial months of 2013. The Renaissance I’ve taken as a reader is re-developing in 2019 where I think the elusive pursuit of ‘balance’ is going to finally alight in my life. I’m not just approaching the new year as a book blogger / reviewer / blog tour hostess – but rather, a girl who loves to blog her bookish and geeky life, who wants to devour her library books & the books on her shelves whilst re-directing herself back into her writing life. I’ll still be the gushing girl who loves hosting tours, etc but for me, I want to spend the year really examining this space I call my readerly and bookish home on the blogosphere – fleshing it out more and seeing where the new chapters of discovery take me!

      One thing is for sure – I’ll definitely still be keeping my style on the forefront of sharing a portion of myself whilst I blog about the books and stories entering my life! Whether that is blogging the heart out of my reading experiences or as you said – fleshing out why I am keen to read a book I’m spotlighting. I don’t like posts that are just Press Materials w/o the thoughts and reactions of the blogger – I want to know “why” that reader is highlighting that book, not just the promo bits that you can chase down yourself! A bit like why sometimes I grow bored seeking out #WaitingOnWednesday posts — as not everyone does what I do with those either! lol

      As you undertake your own goals and your own resolutions as a blogger, reader and a writer – I look forward to seeing where your wanderings take you! I hope you’ve been having a wonderfully lovely New Year’s Eve!! We’re chasing into 2019 now – its almost 10p and the ball is closer to dropping in Times Square! I’ll add a few extra thoughts a bit lateron but I wanted to share these thoughts with you now!!

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