Forthcoming Reviews, Book Tours, and Exciting News!
{A JLAS Update!}
My dear readers, I took a bit of a short reprieve from posting my SFN-related content over the past several days, but have no fear, I am returning to my regularly scheduled SFN-events! If you keep a pertinent eye on my SFN Page you will start to see the posts ‘populate’ over the next three days! I have already started to back-blog two features that were meant to be on JLAS on the 6th and 7th of last week! One speaks about the motion pictures that I am going to be watching for SFN and the other is my approach of reading Dystopian literature from a Skeptics POV! If you haven’t been swept up into the excitement of Sci-Fi November do click on the badge below:
And, join in on the mayhem of conversing with science fiction appreciators from around the world! There are events and features going on 24/7 throughout the month! You never know if your going to find someone whose read a book your mad for to read or if someone else shares your enthused response to a sci-fi motion picture or tv serial like “Doctor Who” — including this Nu-Whovian! Jump in!
Meanwhile, do you remember I reviewed the lovely dragon fiction novel “Redheart” by Jackie Gamber!? I have some wickedly smashing news to share with you tonight!! The second half of my showcase for Gamber arrives on my blog *this!* Friday, the 15th of November as I interview Ms. Gamber!! If you’re a hearty fan of the fantasy side of science fiction, cannot get enough dragon lore and fiction, and simply want to get to know an indie author a bit better, I recommend that you mark this date on your calendar! Be sure to read about the book before you drop back!
Prior to Ms. Gamber arriving on JLAS,
I have two exciting book tours coming up this week!
The first one arrives on the Tuesday, the 12th of November, which is where I re-read a story that I read originally for Book Browse’s First Impressions programme! It’s an exciting moment for me to re-visit a story that I felt such a strong connection too! Stop back to see my juxtaposition commentary from reading this lovely book exactly one year after I read it for the first time!
“The House Girl” by Tara Conklin
This blog book tour stop marks my first in conjunction with TLC Book Tours, a touring company I hope to work with regularly in the future! I am thankful to have the opportunity not only to be a stop on the tour which celebrates the release of the paperback, but to be given a chance to speak about the novel itself!
I am reviewing “Gracianna” and interviewing the author Trini Amador on the 13th of November! I am most esteemed to be a part of this tour as it’s the second blog book tour for “Gracianna”! I have a special interview to share with you, so please remember to drop back and see how the interview starts to unfold!
Before I close my announcements for the evening, I wanted to share with you one lovely honour I was given recently, which is “Blogger of the Month: November”!! I was quite excited and happily surprised to have been awarded this honour by one of my blog tour hosting companies! For the entire month of November 2013, my blog’s badge will be featured under the heading “Blogger of the Month” on their main site! Isn’t that wickedly smashing!? Drum roll,… it was presented to me by:
Its going to be an exciting week here on Jorie Loves A Story, and I look forward to seeing everyone dropping by, conversing on the posts that draw a breath of interest, and sharing my thoughts and impressions of the books that I was thankful to be a part of the blog book tour of which they are represented! As always, you never know what I might post about next, so stay tuned for more SFN Book Reviews as well as more SFN Goodies yet to come! I appreciate all my lovely subscribers, faithful followers, and regular visitors who consistently drop by JLAS! Goodnight, dear hearts!
SOURCES: Book cover for “The House Girl” by Tara Conklin provided by TLC Book Tours. Blog tour badge for “Gracianna” provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads.}
I am not even sure if I could properly explain when my initial attachment and curiosity that surrounds the genre of ‘science fiction’ first began, because I grew up in a family who was already wholly enthused with Star Trek (the Original Series), Star Wars (the Original Trilogy), and Battlestar Gallactica (the Original Series). Therefore, from the time before I even entered kindergarten, I had a working knowledge of the characters I would lateron become beloved within the Star Trek and Star Wars Universes. I still remember eager to return home from a boring day in elementary school, to see which episodes my Dad was able to tape from the Trek marathon as we ‘d sit and watch them together! I have a LOT of fond memories of seeing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty through the eyes of my father! This sparked a pulling towards science fiction story-lines across multi-visual media outlets, which included but are not limited too: motion picture, tv serials, sound for motion picture, and literature. I appreciated the art of including science within the confines of the story arcs, as much as daring to push the breadth of what was readily known with the limitlessness of what theoretically could be plausible.
I am quite sure, that aside from an appreciation of MacGyver part of the reason I was keen on science from such a young age, was the fact I was a mainstay at the local science center whilst growing up! I was completely enraptured by the planets (early roots of seeking knowledge of Cosmology, Astronomy, AstroBotany, etc), solar system, the oceans, and the diverse ecological systems that are on Earth from one continent to the next; as much as how different each section of Earth can remain completely independent, yet co-dependent of each other. The inter-threads of connection were something that I picked up in the very beginning, but it was my yearning desire to understand not only the natural world outside my front door, but the upper atmospheres (i.e. Meteorology to Space Science) straight-through to what existed beyond our sphere and ventured into the dark unknowns of the galaxy where we see glintings of at night whilst peering upwards towards the constellations and moon. Whose assurance of presence is never forsaken no matter where we find ourselves positioned on Earth. You can change hemispheres, (North to South or vice versa) and even Coasts (East to West or vice versa) and you’ll still be exalted in the pure awe of what you will find once your eyes are cast heavenward. I learnt the outlines of constellations whilst participating in the planetarium and observation laboratory at the science center. I participated in a Young Astronauts Program as much as attend Space Camp (when it was quite an extraordinarily exotic place to visit and not just an exit on an interstate).
Through my pursuit of science fiction, the undercurrent desires of my heart and curiosity of thirst to understand how everything worked, kept revolving around theoretical science rather than finite or applied sciences. I used to joke around with classmates and teachers alike exclaiming, “There isn’t an ‘alogy’ that I haven’t met that I didn’t like or wish to know more of!” This was my cheeky declaration that hinted at the fact that I ‘collected’ an appreciation for more branches of science than most would dare think possible! It was in the sixth grade that I learnt the most about the oceans and the currents and how they intersected with the patterns of climate. How a shifting in the tides could cause irrevocable damage and how the patterns of our moon affected the tides. The greater sense of how each branch of science was one leaf towards the whole equation fascinated me to no end!
And, then you have science fiction in the background, etching these theories and fact into stories that leap alive before your eyes, jettisoning your imagination into hyper-drive as you explore the possibilities of what is limited and unlimited, what is conceivable and what challenges your perceptional irises. My eighth grade year, Quantum Leap was a tv serial that combined my passion for science and history. As it jumped like gangbusters into a new sub-genre where time travel, quantum physics, and the acceleration through historical actuarial data to right the wrongs of the past proved to be a tv serial that was unlike any other I had thus become exposed to. I liked the tenacity of the series mission and the depth of which the writers took the episodes.
I quirkly give a nodding to the first beginnings of my genesis towards a new height of understanding in the science fiction community, as the roots of what I appreciated began before I was seven years old, but that is the approximate age in which I started to stand my ground and assert what I liked or didn’t like about certain sci-fi media platforms. I knew my leanings and tendencies, and I was constantly seeking out new realms to explore. By seventeen, I had joined the Science Fiction Book Club, whereupon I was casting a net of discovery into seeking the very beginnings of the genre itself, as grandmothers and grandfathers of the literary side of sci-fi were spoken about throughout the monthly club mailings. I ate up the knowledge inside those pamphlets which afforded me a guide like a lost wanderer in the desert seeking a map to find the nearest nomad community. I didn’t have a lot of friends who appreciated this genre. Those that did I noticed liked other aspects of it more than I did which is why I sort of presumed outside of my family, I might run a bit solo in my pursuits.
Seventeen to Seven is my metaphor for realising that for each passion we carve a niche for out in our lives is a constant and ever-changing beginning and starting ground towards our full understanding of what that passion can yield. We will always have ground to cover whether that means uncovering which writers of the past exhume the context of stories we appreciate or whether that means we take a stand against ‘sequels’ and stand firm in line with the originals that we feel still have merit.
Whilst we walk through November together, you’ll start to find glimpses of where I fall in the science fiction world, where my feet amble around in the media choices we all have before us, and how I seek a course that is true and right for me to tread. I am challenging myself to seek out authors who write in the sub-genres of: Steampunk (as foretold in my inclusion of The Clockwork Carnival), Dystopian (as I have always been on the fence), and Time Travel (a closet interest that truly is one that I seek out the most). I wanted to push the limits of what I might perceive to be of interest to me, and challenge myself to dig into a genre like Dystopia which I have overlooked thinking there wasn’t a part of it that I would be keen to read (or watch).
As you root around my blog, you’ll notice that I am a blog tour hostess with Tomorrow Comes Media (which features books from Seventh Star Press), of which I have already posted a lovely assortment of science fiction and epic fantasy reviews throughout September and October! IF you’re keen to know which ones I am referring to, kindly scope out this indexed category: Seventh Star Press. I will be making cross-references with my experiences towards this regard, as they cross-sect my posts for SFN! I want to make a special shout-out for Stephen Zimmer who is looking for new hosts for Tomorrow Comes Media! Therefore, if you like the books I’ve reviewed on my blog, think about contacting him to be a tour host!
Join me, as I embark on a daily blogging challenge, where each new day that dawns this month will lead to 30! full days of science fiction ruminations that reflect and expand on my own interests in a realm that is as fascinating as considering the poem about heaven in a grain of sand! All posts will be archived on my SFN: November dedicated page at the header of my blog and indexed through my blog itself by the category: Sci-Fi November. Either way, you can always jump forward and back into which posts you might have missed whilst hopping through to the other lovely bloggers who are taking part in this wonderfully wicked sci-fi event!!
In the forefront of my blog each week you’ll find a book tour being hosted at the top of my blog. However, I am going to be blogging quite a heap of dedicated posts for SFN which will run underneath the header posts for the book tours! As much as posting about the first book in a fantasy book series: Finnikin of the Rock, which I meant to post about last month! There are a lot of curious things going on in November on Jorie Loves A Story, and I look forward to seeing who alights on my blog in the comment threads whilst Autumn swings into full force! And, to those who are ducking in and out from participating in Nanowrimo — WELCOME! I’ve been there, and I know how happy I was to take a reprieve!
My hat is tipped with warm gratitude to Rinn, of Rinn Reads, who set-up this event and brought all of us together!
Remember if your a tweater to engage in conversation on this channel: #RRSciMonth
And, for those of you who like to converse in the blogosphere, please take the time to sit a spell with each of us on your blog touring adventures, dropping us a note or two, returning back to see our replies, and helping us make this event a chatter-happy and friendly event where conversations and the mirth of sharing our conjoined passion for sci-fi possible!!
This feature is brought to you by:
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
Acquired Book By: Winning a contest adverted through “Shelf Awareness for Readers” bi-weekly newsletter, October 2012. I received the hardcover book direct from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt without obligation to post a review. When I started to work with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I made a request to join this book tour, as due to different reasons I have not yet had the pleasure of reading this book! I thought it would be lovely to participate in a blog book tour on behalf of a book I was rather intrigued to start reading! I was thankful to be selected to participate on the tour! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts herein.
Original Interest to Read: I originally had discovered the author and the book on Book Browse prior to seeing the contest on Shelf Awareness. I was swept away by the research, the passion, and the dedication Sharratt enfused into the book “Illuminations” as it was not only a historical biography of a woman very few of us would have uncovered without her efforts, but it felt like a living testament of how the strength of a woman can make a marked change on the world around her. I have always celebrated the lives of women who stand up for social injustice as well as indoctrinated wrongs that others’ might be too passive to attack themselves. As women, we’re given a beautiful gift of being able to use our enlightened minds for the power of positive change, and I felt as I read the synopsis and words on this book, that that is exactly the type of story that would envelope me if I read Hildegard’s story.
Author Biography:
The author of four critically acclaimed historical novels, Mary Sharratt is an American who lives in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed Daughters of the Witching Hill, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers. She also lived for twelve years in Germany, which, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen. Illuminations won the Nautilus Gold Award for Better Books for a Better World and was selected as a Kirkus Book of the Year.
Book Synopsis:
Skillfully weaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Illuminations brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.
Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was expected to live in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned, disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. But Hildegard rejected Jutta’s masochistic piety, rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died, Hildegard broke out of her prison, answering the heavenly call to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters. Riveting and utterly unforgettable, Illuminations is a deeply moving portrayal of a woman willing to risk everything for what she believed.
Out of Darkness and Anguish,…
The opening bits of Illuminations, is guttingly honest and real, as Hildegard is in her elder years of seventy on the brink of eighty, whilst on the precipice of a vengeful storm requiring sufferance! Her longanimity of the impeding darkness that is about to swirl around herself and the daughters’ in her charge is of impeccable clarity! How she endeavoured to have the forethought to circumvent the discretion of a buried soul with the full knowledge of how severely the act would affect her, is beyond comprehension; except to say, her raw courage was fully illumine from a source greater than the wrath of man! The quotation that Sharratt used as preface to Chapter One, taken from Hildegard’s own writings on how she foresaw the Feminine Divine is stirringly moving to the point of feeling an inward sense of calm. Which you reflect upon whilst reading where we enter her life at such an arduous time that bespeaks a greater evocable merit of trust. I had a forbearance of knowing, that her humble protection of humanity will become the forefront of her life.
Her solitude of being cast into a brick tiered wall of the Anchorite chamber made me lament about how at such a young age of eight she was sent into darkness to seek out the light. Her anguish for losing her innocence and childhood vexed her as she grew accustomed to being shrouded in a tomb. Her only outside contact was through a grate and a window on high that allowed in bits of the outside world through its portal. I wondered how she fought her discourse to crave into an inward spiral and instead, constantly found the ability to dig deeper and seek out the light. I think if she had not been blessed with the orbs (visions), she might have lost herself in that dark space whilst she spent her young years on a sojourn for learning and knowledge. Her life lessons came to her abruptly at an age where most of us are still exploring our environments, testing the wills of independence, and finding our voice, confidence, and the path of interest we wish to walk as we age.
To illumine the mind and strengthen the spirit,…
I have always known of the interconnectedness of humanity, the natural world, and the realm behind the veil of this world which is the gateway to spirit world. Each of us is connected to each other and to what is not yet understood though believed to be in existence on faith alone. What I appreciated about reading Hilegard’s story is that she is touching on the elemental truths that each spiritual person comes to realise and accept: the circle of life and of time, the abundance of the interlocking connections, and how we are only in the infancy of our understandings of the greater whole that we strive to obtain whilst we walk Earth.
By examining her life through this biographic exposition, we are striving to become closer to understanding what she came to understand herself. Each of us are given gifts in life to share and pass down, small legacies of goodwill, hope, peace, love, charity, and grace. We tap into where our lifepath is leading us whilst we are openly receptive to where we are being guided to go next. Hilegard was unique in this, as she viewed herself as a flawed human who made more mistakes than deemed repentable, and yet, she could not help acknowledge that she had become a vessel of truth, as chosen as her destiny to give others’ insight that they were not privy too. She reminds me of women I have heard about prior to her, who never felt they were good enough to be placed in a position of importance. How humbling it is then, to realise that these are the women and spiritual beings who are called upon to do the most good during their lifetime!? To ingenuate a plausibility of which most of us might forego or bypass whilst caught up in the clatterment of living our lives!?
A wordsmith of Divine Grace:
The words in which consume Illuminations, are set on a higher keeling of intellect, that draw the reader forward and back into a time whereupon the essence of explaining the Divine in singular breaths of words was not as readily forthright to convey, as it was a time in need of edifying the truth by which was shown to the limited few who could hear the Voice. Sharratt has undertaken a gift for channeling the words of which Hildegard herself might have used to express not only the experiences of her life, but of the time in which she lived. The story begins in 1177, set on the cusp between the 12th and 13th centuries, in a time of harrowing and clandestine turmoil. And, yet Sharratt has a way of speaking through the essence of Hildegard as though we can be transported back into her timescape, wholly aware of her surroundings, and seeing everything unfold as it once did for her. Including glimmerments of her internal thoughts and emotional angst. There are poetic ruminations throughout the text that draw you into the story and let’s your imagination not skip forward off the page your eyes are consuming.
Hilegard’s humbleness is infused with her fortitude, for not only being a woman in high regard in her abbey but to have reached an apex of celebrity amongst her peers in the Church and Orders, due to her gift for visionary prophecies. Her elucidate nature of being a woman who thinks before she speaks, and one who doesn’t falter in will when she is taken unawares proves that she internally had strengthened herself long ago in her younger years to be anchored to her faith.
Review of Illuminations:
Hilegard von Bingen was a Renaissance Woman ahead of her time, given the hour of her birth and the compass point of her life. Alongside da Vinci, she embarked on not only ascertaining a living truth of Latin and Religion, but of each interconnected subject and topic that would cross sect with an interest that was at the tip of importance for knowledge of what would become imparted to her through visionary grace. She was a formidable woman whose humble nature did not wish to extract her weaknesses, but rather shed light on them for what they were and to utilize her strengths when necessity demanded them.
As a young child growing up surrounded by the Crusades, she was given her first taste of the visions that would later set the course of her life. I was touched by how genuinely innocent they were and how frequent they would visit her, hoping to find a way for her to yield to her gift. I’d imagine that most youngsters at the age of five might rather attempt to ‘fit in’ than to be cast out as an enigma! For this, I musefully could understand her reasoning! How she drew upon a strength of resolve to survive her cast into an Anchorite Order at the age of eight, I do not readily know! Yet, she embodied a pure caste of curiosity, which strove for her to further her knowledge, and learn as much as her mind could encompass. In that regard, I believe her will to learn became her first saving grace whilst she was entombed as an Anchorite.
I was not quite prepared for how long her term as an Anchorite would last, as she was well into her mid-thirties when I realised just how long she had been in captivity! She even sacrificed her own freedom to save two young girls whose plight in life would have been doubly worse than had they joined her. My heart ached for all three of them, and for the fourth, Jutta who long ago had given up on living, wretched by a transgression made against her and blackened against all light and love. They had few moments of joy, but for the most part, their lives were endured by an endless see of ritual, rite, and prayer.
Hilegard’s inner resolve to find peace with her faith and with her lot in life is a testament to how we each struggle to make sense of the circumstances that arise that lay obstacles in our path. Each of us is walking our own path towards understanding, for where we are meant to live as much as how we are meant to live. Her solitude from the outside world provided her with wisdom that even she, I dare not think, could fully grasp or understand. She was given visions of knowledge that fall outside the realm of what we would regularly be led to see. Her maternal nature I think, is one of her greatest gifts, as she unearthed of all the attributes that we are bestowed it’s our ability to love and give love that counts the most on high.
In the midst of lost hope, she found liberty and justice. Her heart swelled for the freedom which she was finally granted to live as a proper nun, rather than an entombed Anchorite. I could relate to her attachment to the natural world and the calm balm of insight and mirth that walking in nature can give you. She found God’s light and joy nestled amongst the woods, herbs, and flowers. As much as basking in the glow of the warming sun. How I have oft found myself swept into warm embrace that walking in nature can afford! If we look keenly, we shall see His light wherever we turn.
Illluminations is an apt title to give this story, because it is also its central theme. The luminescent purity of God’s spoken word igniting itself into her mind, heart, and soul. And, yet, Illuminations also spoke to me of the whispers of truth and guidance that sometimes we try to sweep away, not willing to accept them for what they are and for the reason by which they were given to us. I think the best gift of her life is to remain true to ourselves, but yield to the will of God even if the path He is placing in front of us has its share of tribulations, it’s the bits we cannot yet see that come through on the other side of our discomfort that lead to our restitution.
A note of gratitude:
I am always fervently thankful for authors who conduct intensive research to breathe life into their stories with such an exquisite hand of probable narrative, that when you go to read a biographical fiction accountment of a life once lived, that there are enough pieces and fragments of the person etched into the text your reading. I am thankful to say, it would appear that Sharratt is one such writer who is happily consumed and entrenched in the work that goes into fortifying the story with historical remnants and facts. I haven’t read other biographies of Hilegard von Bingen, as this is the first book that tipped my hat of interest towards learning more about her, but the voice of Hilegard inside Illuminations is one that begs you to give her a chance to say her peace. She’s an unassuming woman whose faith tested her in ways that not all of us could have endured. She appears to have longed for a bit of normalcy even within the confines of her vows, which thankfully, if history and fact are correct in this account, she at least found a bit of that when the bricks of her hidden prison were taken down.
Sharratt gives you a lot to chew on whilst your reading, from the way in which she paints the visions to life, to the contemplations of the human spirit, the Divine Grace, and the elements of faith and spirituality itself. She gives you a hearty tome of reflection and presents a woman who lived in touch with the Feminine Divine. I marked this as “Inspirational Fiction” as I think it befits that declaration as much as “Historical Fiction” and “Biographical Fiction”, as religion and spirituality are at the core and heart of this story, yet the time in which she lived is so far removed from modern eras it’s historically inclined to be reflective of how we perceive the 12th Century through the modern lens we approach it by.
IF you want to follow the conversation by Twitter, please tune into: #IlluminationsTourThere is also a Twitter share button below this post for your convenience as well.
Be sure to scope out upcoming tours I will be hosting with:
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Illuminations” as well as Mary Sharratt’s photograph and biography, the blog tour badge, and the logo banner for HFVBT were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. The book trailer by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as well as the discussion guide via Scribd 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. Post dividers were provided by Shabby Blogs, who give bloggers free resources to add personality to their blogs. Blog tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. }
And, join in on the mayhem of conversing with science fiction appreciators from around the world! There are events and features going on 24/7 throughout the month! You never know if your going to find someone whose read a book your mad for to read or if someone else shares your enthused response to a sci-fi motion picture or tv serial like “Doctor Who” — including this Nu-Whovian! Jump in!
I am reviewing “Gracianna” and interviewing the author Trini Amador on the 13th of November! I am most esteemed to be a part of this tour as it’s the second blog book tour for “Gracianna”! I have a special interview to share with you, so please remember to drop back and see how the interview starts to unfold!
Author Biography:
most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.