Month: October 2020

Author Interview | Conversing with Rojé Augustin about her poetic dramatic release: “Out of No Way: Madam CJ Walker & A’Lelia Walker”

Posted Wednesday, 28 October, 2020 by jorielov , , , 2 Comments

Conversations with the Bookish badge created by Jorie in Canva. Updated version July 2020.

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I love seeking out Biographical Historical Fiction stories in order to better understand the persons who’ve lived before me and to have an interpersonal glimpse into their lives – which is why I seek out an equal amount of Biopics in motion pictures to watch as well. This is how I came to watch the Netflix original mini-series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker”. (see also Wikipedia) Coincidentally, this aired whilst I was preparing my interview questions for this blog tour and thankfully it gave me an inside glimpse into the back-history of what inspired this poetic drama by the author.

Those of us on the tour received a PDF copy of the story by Ms Augustin – as you know, due to my chronic migraines, I cannot read stories electronically but I do sometimes read chapter samplers of stories online to gather a bit about a writer’s style and to better understand what the story might yield in print when I go to read it in a format better suited for me. In this instance, as I was moving through the PDF to find a section to preview for my interview questions I noticed there are photographs included with this story. I wanted to post an advisory on my tour stop that if you are a sensitive reader one photograph did concern me as it actually shows a lynching which I was not personally expecting to be included myself.

Outside of that photograph, the few sections I previewed helped inspire this conversation and I was thankful to have this copy of the book to use in my research to present a better rounded picture of what inspired the poet to create this dramatic story about the Walkers and how the Walkers are continuing to inspire everyone who finds their story. This is a well-timed conversation as many are still watching “Self Made” and I know others are regularly chatting about Madam CJ Walker and the impact she had on both industry and women-led companies who re-wrote what a woman can accomplish in whichever endeavour of business she chooses to become involved and find success.

I found watching “Self Made” to be an incredible story of both internal strength and belief in one’s self to pursue your own dreams and goals in life whilst embracing the fortitude one needs as a woman to achieve the impossible in a male-dominated world. There is so much truth in this mini-series about what women have faced in different generations to overcome the oppression of yesterday – it is a rising light of how hard we have had to fight for what we have as women of industry as much as how hard it is to build a brand when the concept for the brand isn’t one that everyone wants to embrace.

I loved the fact Octavia Spencer had the lead role in bringing Madam CJ Walker to life as I loved her performance and her instincts for telling Walker’s story. I have long admired her acting and am wicked thankful she is now in high demand as she deserves to continue to get these kinds of roles where she can shine such a wonderful light on the characters I feel she was bourne to portray! She’s just a wicked good actress and its a delight to see her in roles which I feel are strengthened due to how she’s approached them as an actress.

I also feel we are undeserved as both readers and citizens not to embrace more of the diversity of our country and of the persons who have made historical impacts on our society. We have such a beautiful diverse citizenship and yet, a lot of the historical stories which need to be told are never brought to light. I am thankful Walker’s story is finally coming into the mainstream in order to reach a broader audience but I have always maintained we need more stories about living histories of all persons in our country’s past in order to have a better rounded view of our History. All voices and lives need representation and all lives are important to be heard and shared.

It is an absolute joy for me to highlight the life and history of Madam CJ Walker and to share this interview on the blog tour celebrating her life and story. I hope you will walk away with some inspiration for your own life as much as have a better understanding of what Madam CJ Walker had to endure in order to reach for her dreams and bring to reality the world she saw in her dreams.

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Author Interview | Conversing with Rojé Augustin about her poetic dramatic release: “Out of No Way: Madam CJ Walker & A’Lelia Walker”Out of No Way
Subtitle: Madam CJ Walker and A'Lelia Walker : A Poetic Drama
Source: Author via Poetic Book Tours

Author, producer, and emerging poet Rojé Augustin has written a groundbreaking debut collection of dramatic poems about hair care entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and her daughter, A'Lelia. Rojé's singular and accomplished work is presented through the intimate lens of the mother-daughter relationship via different poetic forms — from lyric to haiku, blackout to narrative. (One poem takes its inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.) Written in tribute to Walker, Out of No Way deftly and beautifully explores themes of race, motherhood, sacrifice, beauty, and the meaning of success in Jim Crow America.

Born Sarah Breedlove to former Louisiana slaves in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker was orphaned at seven, married at 14, became a mother at 17, and was widowed at 20. After the death of her first husband, Sarah moved to St. Louis with her daughter where she earned $1.50 a day as a washerwoman. When her hair started falling out she developed a remedy and sold her formula across the country. In the process, she became the wealthiest Negro woman in America.

Genres: Biography / Autobiography, Motherhood | Parenthood, Non-Fiction, Poetry & Drama, Women's Studies



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Published by Self Published

Format: epub | PDF editon

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Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

NOTE: I do want to advise readers about a content warning in regards to a photograph inclusive of this release which does show a lynching which took me by surprise as well.

Converse via: #NonFiction, #Biography and #Poetry Drama
& #MadamCJWalker and #ALeliaWalker

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Posted Wednesday, 28 October, 2020 by jorielov in A'Lelia Walker, African-American History, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Dramatic Poetry, Indie Author, Madam CJ Walker, Memoir, Motherhood | Parenthood, Non-Fiction, Poetic Book Tours, Poetry, Vignettes of Real Life

A Hauntingly Brilliant #TopTenTuesday during #SpooktasticReads! | Guest Post featuring A. Lawrence who wrote the spookified “Grave Reflection: Ghost Punch” novel!

Posted Tuesday, 27 October, 2020 by jorielov , , , 5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday blog banner created by Jorie in Canva.

#TopTenTuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Topic of the Week: Halloween Freebie!

Jorie’s topic for A. Lawrence:
Top Ten Reasons Why Being a Ghost Hunter is a Spookifed Experience ??

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I LOVE Halloween – which is why I’ve been wickedly thrilled to bits our little #SpooktasticReads readathon and celebration of spooky reads has become quite the success these past three years we’ve held it! For those who are unfamiliar – I happily co-host @WyrdAndWonder (ie. #WyrdAndWonder) every May to celebrate Fantasy with Imyril (@Imyril) and Lisa (@deargeekplace) wherein every October we have this lovely fortnight chasing up to Halloween to talk, blog and share everything we love about the spookier reads which give us the most joy to be reading!

I have my own special read for this year’s #SpooktasticReads involving the paranormal which is the final chapter in the Tipsy Fairy Tales trilogy by E. Chris Garrison – of which you can happily read my reviews for the first two stories: “Blue Spirit” (see also Review) and “Restless Spirit” (see also Review). This year’s #SpooktasticReads is going to be set round my readings of the conclusion of this series which is called “Mean Spirit”! Whilst I am re-visiting the world within the start of how everything came together for Skye within the audiobook version of “Blue Spirit” which was not yet released at the time I read the story in print.

For this week’s #TopTenTuesday, I wanted to do something special and a bit different – which is why I decided to creatively come up with a fun topic for the author whilst hosting this lovely blog tour which is celebrating a new ghostly series! I love hosting Indie Authors and this #SpooktasticReads I am hopeful those who are joining us and thos who are following us are finding a heap of lovelies to add to their #mustread lists!

Today it is an honour to host a new blog tour with Storytellers on Tour – a blog touring company whose championing Indie Storytellers and giving us all a lovely chance to feature their collective works. I am looking forward to working with them as oft as I can and I look forward to the conversations and features which hosting will inspire to bring to my readers on Jorie Loves A Story!

Brew yourself a cuppa and let’s find out more about ghosts!

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A Hauntingly Brilliant #TopTenTuesday during #SpooktasticReads! | Guest Post featuring A. Lawrence who wrote the spookified “Grave Reflection: Ghost Punch” novel!Ghost Punch
Subtitle: Grave Reflection
by A. Lawrence

Another Friday night, another trip through a potentially haunted house. Shay’s not a believer, but she’s willing to help her best friend, Max, with their amateur ghost hunting show. Little does she know she is about to be thrown into a world of witches and dangerous spirits.

With newly discovered abilities, Shay finds that she can both see and touch spirits. The downside is, the ghosts can touch her back, and it seems that they’ll do anything to get a hold of her.

She was never much of a ghost hunter. How will she do when she is the one being hunted?

Grave Reflectionis the first book of Ghost Punch,
an exciting paranormal series full of mystery and action!

Genres: Fantasy Fiction, Ghost Story, Gothic Literature, Gothic Suspense, Paranormal Suspense, Spooky Reads for Halloween



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B08DSS7J5B

Published by Self Published

on 30th July, 2020

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Top Ten Reasons Why Being a Ghost Hunter
is a Spookifed Experience

Ghost Punch Character Art provided by Storytellers on Tour and is used with permission.

by A. Lawrence

Ghost hunting. Whether you are trying to reveal the mysteries of the afterlife,
or you’re just a thrill seeker, it can be a spooky hobby.

I do all of my ghost hunting in very rural areas, so my list is skewed in that direction,
but here are my top ten for why being a ghost hunter is a spookified experience.

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Posted Tuesday, 27 October, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Bookish Memes, Fantasy Fiction, Ghost Story, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Gothic Literature, Haunting & Ethereal, Indie Author, Storytellers on Tour, Top Ten Tuesday

An #EnterTheFantastic Author Interview | feat. “Lost and Waiting” by Amanda Read which has a heart of the natural world set within a Magical Realism world!

Posted Sunday, 25 October, 2020 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Conversations with the Bookish badge created by Jorie in Canva. Updated version July 2020.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As I previously disclosed on my spotlight about “Tree Magic” – I have a soul connection to the natural world. I am a nature and wildlife photographer as well – as being out in nature is soul lifting as much as it is inspiring. You have to stand still in order to see the natural world as it is living in harmony with our world but is slightly removed from our time scales as well. If you’ve ever caught a squirrel eating a nut and realised the trance they were in without ‘seeing’ you until they were finished you see the veil between the natural world’s rhythm and our own synchronicity with nature.

I have regularly spoken about the natural world on Jorie Loves A Story – from the stories I am reading to the context of the stories which seek to bring an ecological mindset and heart for conservation onto my blog because I believe strongly those stories are necessary for today’s world. Not just due to the climatic changes we’re all experiencing but to help re-connect readers with the knowledge about the natural ecosystems they might overlook and not be as familiar with as I have become myself. Knowledge is the first step towards change and to remain connected to the connectivity of how the natural world and our world intersect is one step closer to finding better balance in how to keep Earth a healthier place.

Today, I am wicked thankful I can bring you this conversation I had with the author of “Lost and Waiting” – especially on the fringes of experiencing the loss of trees in my neighbourhood due to the nausating ways in which city planners due not consider the natural world in their plans for progress. I shared a *thread about this on my social feeds on Twitter in case anyone is curious. However, I regularly seek out literature which has a soulful connection to the natural world as I readily love to champion those stories and to help carry a torch for others to seek out similar stories for themselves.

If you love fantastical stories featuring Magical Realism plots and the curious connections between nature and humans, I think this might be a good fit for you as a reader as I feel it is for myself. Likewise, I recently spotlighted “Tree Magic” and am in the process of reading it ahead of sharing an interview with the author on the “Tree Slayer” blog tour. One of my favourite stories I’ve read involving the natural world was when I reviewed The Kinship of Clover. As much as I loved The Walking Fish for Middle Grade readers who are just discovering the natural world round them.

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An #EnterTheFantastic Author Interview | feat. “Lost and Waiting” by Amanda Read which has a heart of the natural world set within a Magical Realism world!Lost and Waiting
by Amanda Read
Source: Chapter Sampler

When Evangeline comes across a Victorian plant hunter’s journal at Kew, it is the sign she’s been waiting for. Its author, Edwin ‘Chile’ Morgan, claims to have discovered a living myth: the World Tree. Morgan’s words share life lessons and reflections on the natural world, offering Evangeline a way to overcome the grief of a stillbirth.

With journal in hand, Evangeline sets off to Chile on a journey in search of the tree at the centre of all: heaven, life and the afterlife. In her way are an unprincipled pharmaceutical multinational, an oil company set on deforestation, and an enigmatic art aficionado whose interest in her takes an unsettling turn.

A genre-bending adventure.

Genres: Biological Diversity, Botany, Ecology, Epistolary | Diaries and Journals, Horticulture, Magical Realism, Sci-Fantasy



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1838534110

on 26th June, 2020

Format: Chapter Sampler | Online

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This is a Self-Published novel.
I love celebrating Self-Pub stories on Jorie Loves A Story!

Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #MagicalRealism, #Nature and #Genrebender
as well as #LoveBooksTours & #LostAndWaiting

About Amanda Read

Amanda Read

Amanda Read is a novelist and short story writer. She was awarded the MA in Creative Writing, with distinction, from Bath Spa University.

In an earlier life, she received a Royal Horticultural Society Fellowship through which she trained as a plant taxonomist/systematist at the University of Reading, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum, London.

Amanda lives with her husband in rural Wiltshire, UK, where she can be spotted hot on the heels of Carlos and Carmen, the border terriers. She works as an agricultural research programme manager for international development.

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Posted Sunday, 25 October, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Botany, Conservation, Ecology, Environmental Activism, Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Conscience, Environmental Science, Horticulture, Indie Author, Love Books Tours, Magical Realism, Preservation, Science, Self-Published Author