Posted Friday, 2 October, 2015 by jorielov (Illustrator) Irene Bofill, Inspector Dewey, Kristen Heimerl, Orange Frazer Press 4 Comments
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for “Inspector Dewey” hosted by iRead Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from the author Kristen Heimerl in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Beautiful extras arrived with my ARC:
I wish I had thought to take a photograph of the extras which were included with this lovely ARC copy of Inspector Dewey! The author truly made it a special treat to become a part of her publicity campaign via this lovely blog tour! The other bloggers I noticed have mentioned the lovely surprises on their posts, too, and even one tweeted about them! I wanted to simply give an extra note of gratitude to Ms Heimerl for coming up with not only clever little ‘extras’ to tuck inside a review copy’s envelope, but to put a lot of thought into what a book blogger and reader might enjoy as a surprise gift!
Even the attention to detail in gift wrapping the ARC in yellow tissue, sealed inside a plastic bag with a delicate silvery white bow and placed in a non-bendable mailing envelope was top notch! Placing the Inspector Dewey promotional sticker and artwork on the mailer was something that winked out a smile when I caught sight of it in my postbox yet it was the amount of time she took to make this a special memory for each of us that touched me the most. Well done!
Inspector Dewey
by Kristen Heimerl
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Irene Bofill
Source: Author via iRead Book Tours
My name is Dewey--Inspector Dewey.
I live in the big green house on Hampshire Avenue with my family: Thumper, Lily, and Anna. I am the Big Cat—responsible for keeping everyone safe and in order. I do this quite well, in spite of the fact that managing my family is like, well, herding cats!
Mostly our life is peaceful. But one night it wasn’t. That was the night the bad guy showed up on our block. Of course, I knew exactly how to outsmart the outlaw, but—miserable mullet!—would Anna and the police understand my instructions?
To find out how the adventure ended, you’ll have to read my book. But I’ll give you a hint: there’s a reason I’m called Inspector Dewey.
Fifty percent of the profits from the sale of this book will fund veterinary care for pets whose families are in financial need, so that the animals can remain in their homes and out of the shelter system.
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
ISBN: 9781939710277
Published by Orange Frazer Press
on 1st September 2015
Pages: 32
Available Formats: Hardback
Converse via: #InspectorDewey
About Kristen Heimerl
Marketing Officer, Strategy Expert, Innovator and Brand Builder, Kristen’s business career spans 20+ years serving the biggest brands in industry and the biggest hearts of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Kristen revels in bringing compelling products and services to life and helping leaders and individuals with big dreams realize their big goals.
Kristen’s life joys include her 2+ year obsession creating the most beautiful self-published picture book possible, the breathtaking forests and lakes of her Minnesota birthplace, the family that really does love her no matter what, and her three magnificent Norwegian Forest Cats who together, with Kristen, helped catch the bad guy on their block that inspired her upcoming book (stake out and high speed chase included!)
She holds a master of science in eCommerce from Carnegie Mellon University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and a BA from the University of St. Thomas. As the great transformer in her life, Kristen supports others’ education and literacy as an adjunct professor of business and strategy and, more recently, through her children’s book, Inspector Dewey (Available September 2015).
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Posted Friday, 2 October, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 21st Century, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Cats and Kittens, Children's Literature, Cosy Mystery, Debut Author, Illustrations for Stories, Indie Author, iRead Book Tours, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Modern Day, Picture Book
Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov Jeanne Mackin, New American Library, Penguin Group (USA), Penguin Random House LLC, The Beautiful American 0 Comments
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Beautiful American” virtual book tour through HFVBT: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Jeanne Mackin, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I felt I might fancy this novel:
I have a personal penchant for what I refer to as ‘Biographical Historical Fiction’ wherein the historical persons who lived are aptly portrayed through a historical treatment of their lives by a novelist who has a flaire for bringing their lives so fully to life, we feel as though we’ve met them in person. You’ll find that I have read quite a hearty array of historicals which befit this category and am always quite in full search of new writers who can lead me back through the corridors of the past and introduce me to someone who will bring history alive to me in all it’s glory and heartache. As for each life told, there is a happy balance of joy and strife, such is a well-rounded life well lived and told thereafter the person has passed on.
I personally find joy in this section of historical stories because the past becomes fiercely alive through the voices of the authors who pen these kinds of stories. We get to take an up close and personal voyage back through the tides of time whilst being caught up in the livelihood of a person who truly lived and felt every inch of the emotions we hope to catch sight of in the novel.
Note on the Cover Art: Did anyone else notice the sepia tone of hue on the cover when Lee Miller is being highlighted and how Paris in the background is a more muted reverie? I felt this was a fitting touch to the novel, especially as you become further into her folds, this novel doesn’t quite want to let you go – it stays with you, and you realise things you hadn’t seen at first glaance.
The Beautiful American
by Jeanne Mackin
As recovery from World War II begins, expat American Nora Tours travels from her home in southern France to London in search of her missing sixteen-year-old daughter. There, she unexpectedly meets up with an old acquaintance, famous model-turned-photographer Lee Miller. Neither has emerged from the war unscathed. Nora is racked with the fear that her efforts to survive under the Vichy regime may have cost her daughter’s life. Lee suffers from what she witnessed as a war correspondent photographing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.
Nora and Lee knew each other in the heady days of late 1920’s Paris, when Nora was giddy with love for her childhood sweetheart, Lee became the celebrated mistress of the artist Man Ray, and Lee’s magnetic beauty drew them all into the glamorous lives of famous artists and their wealthy patrons. But Lee fails to realize that her friendship with Nora is even older, that it goes back to their days as children in Poughkeepsie, New York, when a devastating trauma marked Lee forever. Will Nora’s reunion with Lee give them a chance to forgive past betrayals, and break years of silence?
A novel of freedom and frailty, desire and daring, The Beautiful American portrays the extraordinary relationship between two passionate, unconventional woman.
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
ISBN: 9780451465825
Also by this author:
on 3rd June 2014
Pages: 352
Published By: New American Library (NAL)
( ) an imprint of Penguin Group (USA)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #TheBeautifulAmerican
About Jeanne Mackin
Jeanne Mackin’s novel, The Beautiful American (New American Library), based on the life of photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller, received the 2014 CNY award for fiction. Her other novels include A Lady of Good Family, about gilded age personality Beatrix Farrand, The Sweet By and By, about nineteenth century spiritualist Maggie Fox, Dreams of Empire set in Napoleonic Egypt, The Queen’s War, about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and The Frenchwoman, set in revolutionary France and the Pennsylvania wilderness.
Jeanne Mackin is also the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers (Cornell University publications) and co-editor of The Book of Love (W.W. Norton.) She was the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and a keynote speaker for The Dickens Fellowship. Her work in journalism won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, in Washington, D.C. She has taught or conducted workshops in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and at Goddard College in Vermont.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Adulterous Affair, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Bookish Discussions, Clever Turns of Phrase, Fashion Industry, Father-Daughter Relationships, France, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Lee Miller, Literary Fiction, Parfum Industry, Passionate Researcher, Photography, The World Wars, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, War-time Romance, Women's Health, Women's Rights, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage, Writing Style & Voice
Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov Jeanne Mackin, New American Library, Penguin Group (USA), Penguin Random House LLC, The Beautiful American 1 Comment
I’ve felt as though I took a journey with The Beautiful American before I set eyes on the lovely ARC which arrived from the author for this blog tour. I remember finding out about this novel at least a full year before I knew of this tour and throughout the past year, I know I have happily come across readers who have appreciated the breadth of work Mackin has left for us to enjoy finding. It’s hard to say exactly when I caught sight of this story – but as I lament to my readers both on my blog and in the twitterverse, even if a book cover is fetching to my eye, catching me at a junction where curiosity has a will to bloom and a heart has the will to take the journey with the writer – I must find a connection somewhere within the synopsis in order to pick up the book directly.
Further still, when I formulate the questions I want to ask an author, sometimes I deviate a bit from the book in order to get a more personal accounting of the writer’s path. Other times, I feel my own writerly heart emerges through the questions I seek out of fellow writers, as it’s quite difficult to ‘hide’ the fact your a writer, even if your in the season of being a book blogger! I did attempt it initially back in 2013 before I launched my blog but after I started to work on this niche in the book blogosphere, I realised sharing a part of who I am as a writer would become a part of the background of who I am as a book blogger until the path emerges in front of me to walk into a new journey of my own.
Therefore, you might notice some of my questions move from interview to interview, as I like to get different thoughts and perspectives on certain questions which are curious to me whilst the rest of the questions I do try to draw out more about the central heart of the novel I’m reading for review or giving my readers and myself a chance to get to know the author I’m interviewing on a personal level. In this particular interview, I found a happy balance, and although, my interviews are on the longer side normally – due to all my tech woes between July – September, I’m simply thankful the author had time to squeeze me in after I could get my questions to her!
It was a pure delight to host Ms Mackin and I hope you’ll find joy in reading this interview with her as much as I had in receiving her replies! I will say too, I have a soft spot for two aspects of this story: war dramas and biographical historical fiction! Combine the two?
You’re golden!
As recovery from World War II begins, expat American Nora Tours travels from her home in southern France to London in search of her missing sixteen-year-old daughter. There, she unexpectedly meets up with an old acquaintance, famous model-turned-photographer Lee Miller. Neither has emerged from the war unscathed. Nora is racked with the fear that her efforts to survive under the Vichy regime may have cost her daughter’s life. Lee suffers from what she witnessed as a war correspondent photographing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.
Nora and Lee knew each other in the heady days of late 1920’s Paris, when Nora was giddy with love for her childhood sweetheart, Lee became the celebrated mistress of the artist Man Ray, and Lee’s magnetic beauty drew them all into the glamorous lives of famous artists and their wealthy patrons. But Lee fails to realize that her friendship with Nora is even older, that it goes back to their days as children in Poughkeepsie, New York, when a devastating trauma marked Lee forever. Will Nora’s reunion with Lee give them a chance to forgive past betrayals, and break years of silence?
A novel of freedom and frailty, desire and daring, The Beautiful American portrays the extraordinary relationship between two passionate, unconventional woman.
Biographical Historical Fiction is an intrinsic and interpersonal exploration into a living person’s soul and the hours in which they lived their life. Your novel The Beautiful American takes us front and center into the life of Lee Miller; when did you feel within your research and writings that her spirit touched you and left you keenly aware you were on the right path for this story?
Mackin responds: What a beautifully expressed question! There was a moment, early in the story, a scene with Lee and the novel’s narrator, Nora, playing together as little girls, climbing trees and chasing with Lee’s brothers around the yard. I felt a very strong connection then; it was so similar to my own childhood. Later, Lee’s and Nora’s joy at being in Paris; their deep but troubled friendship; a moment later in the story when they accidentally bump into each other in front of a store…they were all moments that seemed familiar to me, as if I had experienced them along with Lee and Nora. I felt as if I were remembering those moments, not inventing them, and those are the moments, as a novelist, when the work feels truest to me.
I love how you took us back through how the characters and the story alighted through your mind’s eye and how the realism of those moments drew your own spirit directly into their world. Almost as if as you said your revealling a part of your own lived past, where their lives intersected with yours – and in many ways, they did! Novelists have a beautiful cornucopia of experiences – the ones they live truly and the ones they feel within their souls as they pen the stories which speak to them to write.
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Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Lee Miller, Photography, Reader Submitted Q&A, The World Wars
Posted Friday, 4 September, 2015 by jorielov AshleyRose Sullivan, Seventh Star Press, Silver Tongue 2 Comments
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a stop on the “Silver Tongue” genre-bending alternative historical fiction release tour from Seventh Star Press. The tour is hosted by Tomorrow Comes Media who does the publicity and blog tours for Seventh Star Press and other Indie and/or Self Published authors. I am a regular blog tour host with Tomorrow Comes Media and originally had misconstrued the plot behind this novel; overlooking it’s potential! Something I read made me think it was more Horror than Historical, then after I realised my error I helped champion the blog tour to my book blogosphere friends whilst helping book bloggers come to know more about Seventh Star Press and hosting for TCM.
I received a complimentary copy of “Silver Tongue” direct from the publisher Seventh Star Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein. Likewise, I did not receive compensation for helping to promote the blog tour to other histfic book bloggers who might appreciate finding a ‘next read’ whilst on the tour or to review it outside the tour.
Silver Tongue
by AshleyRose Sullivan
Illustrator/Cover Designer: AshleyRose Sullivan
Source: Publisher via Tomorrow Comes Media
The Colonies lost the Revolutionary War. Now it's 1839 and the North American continent is divided into three territories: New Britannia, Nueva Espana, and Nouvelle France where seventeen-year-old Claire Poissant lives.
Claire has a magical way with words-literally. But a mystical power of persuasion isn't the only thing that makes her different. Half-French and half-Indian, Claire doesn't feel at home in either world. Maybe that's why she's bonded so tightly with her fellow outcasts and best friends: Phileas, a young man whose towering intellect and sexuality have always made him the target of bullies, and Sam, a descendant of George Washington who shares the disgraced general's terrible, secret curse.
But when Sam's family is murdered, these bonds are tested and Claire's special ability is strained to its limits as the three hunt the men responsible into dangerous lands. Along the way they cross paths with P.T. Barnum, William Frankenstein and other characters from both history and fantasy as they learn the hard way that man is often the most horrific monster and that growing up sometimes means learning to let go of the things you hold most dear.
Genres: Alternative History, Fantasy Fiction, Genre-bender, Historical Fiction, War Drama
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781941706800
Also by this author: Lona Chang: A Superhero Detective Story
Published by Seventh Star Press
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 274
Published By: Seventh Star Press (@7thStarPress)
Available Formats: Softcover, E-book
Converse via: #AshleyRoseSullivan & #7thStar
(I would have used #SilverTongue but it was being used in-progress for an event and festivities on Twitter. Perhaps #SilverTongueBook might be more advantageous?)
About AshleyRose Sullivan
Born and raised in Appalachia, AshleyRose Sullivan now lives, writes, and paints in Los Angeles. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University and her first novel, Awesome Jones: A Superhero Fairy Tale is available from Seventh Star Press. She can be found at her website or her blog, My Year Of Star Trek.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Friday, 4 September, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 19th Century, Action & Adventure Fiction, Alternative History, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Cliffhanger Ending, Coming-Of Age, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Cosy Horror, Creative Arts, Crime Fiction, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Earthen Magic, Earthen Spirituality, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, French Literature, Genre-bender, Historical Fiction, Illustration for Books & Publishing, Indie Art, Indie Author, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Native American Fiction, Parapsychological Gifts, Revolutionary War Era, Seventh Star Press Week, Tomorrow Comes Media
Posted Friday, 28 August, 2015 by jorielov (Illustrator) Rebecca J. Greenwood, Cedar Fort Inc, CFI (imprint) Cedar Fort Inc, Rebecca J. Greenwood, Scripture Princesses 0 Comments
From the moment I originally learnt of this illustrated book, I knew I wanted to dig a bit deeper behind the collection of stories based on our Biblical past and get inside the head of the writer who illustrated it! Originally, I misunderstood this to be a picture book rather than a chapter book – the beauty of it being the latter is that it’s a starting point for children to become engaged with reading a fuller length novel whilst discovering a bit about their religious heritage and the women who lived through the strength of their faith.
The problems they faced are counter-point and relatable to their contemporary peers, and the way in which Ms Greenwood has approached the stories as a whole is right in line with younger readers who are growing through their curiosities to reach into literature to seek not only more knowledge on what implores them to read but to seek a way to understand more of history through the craft of stories.
Stories have such an enriched way of illuminating what we cannot yet fathom to imagine, and in this particular case, the illustrations and the context of the short stories walk hand in hand to beautifully bring the Biblical past to vibrant life! Thus, it was my happy delight to converse with Ms Greenwood about what inspired her towards creating this collection of shorts and the process in which she gave the project!
Be faithful, like Sarah
Be prayerful, like Hannah
Be brave, like Esther
This easy-to-read chapter book shares beautifully illustrated stories, including those of:
Eve,
Rebekah,
Ruth and Naomi,
Sariah,
Abish and the Queen,
Mary Magdalene,
Lucy Mack Smith,
and Emma Hale Smith
Full of examples of integrity and courage, this book is the perfect way to reinforce lessons learned in Primary and share scripture stories that will become a gospel foundation to last a lifetime.
How did you put the idea of ‘Scripture Princesses’ together to create an illustrated novel for children and young adults who are seeking more information about the strong women of the Biblical past? It’s such an impressive display of artistry and biographical sketching to inspire young minds to seek more information after they read this edition.
Greenwood responds: Thank you! I work for publisher Cedar Fort as a graphic designer, and Cedar Fort is very supportive of their employees creating books and products. I had been thinking about what type of book I could create for Cedar Fort that would combine my interests and artistic skills with their market strengths for several years, when this one jelled in my mind. I created a one chapter book proposal, and Cedar Fort accepted it.
I wanted to create a book for girls that explores women in the scriptures, because when you are a girl reading the scriptures, it can sometimes feel like there are lots of men doing things, and not very many women. I wanted to show girls that there ARE women in the scriptures, and that those women had lives we can be inspired by. Read More
Posted Friday, 28 August, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, After the Canon, Ancient Civilisation, Anthology Collection of Stories, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Biblical Fiction, Biblical History, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Children's Literature, Christianity, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Equality In Literature, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, Illustration for Books & Publishing, Illustrations for Stories, Indie Art, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Inspired by Stories, Judiasm, Lessons from Scripture, Re-Told Tales, Reader Submitted Q&A, Religious History, Short Stories or Essays, Spirituality & Metaphysics, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints