Category: Cemeteries & Graveyards

Feature Post: Jorie | the Cosy Horror Girl via #OTBHorrorOctober

Posted Saturday, 18 October, 2014 by jorielov 0 Comments

Horror October 2014

I am quite certain when most of my readers caught sight of the fact I am participating in an event entitled Horror October they did more than a ‘second look’ to see if they had read that statement correctly! I know my personal friends who regularly read this blog might not be as gobsmacked as my dear readers – as they have known me far longer & already know I’m quite a bit quirky! The truth is that I did not realise how much I am in love with aspects of Horror which place me firmly on the fringes of the genre!

The lightbulb moment for me happened quite innocently as I started to read a heap about what everyone had either created for the event last year (where I must admit was disappointed I hadn’t had a blog live to the world in order to participate!) OR were making plans to create for the fortnight this year! One of the ideas was to talk about all the lovely Horror motion pictures &/or tv serials that we fancied. Now. I took stock of that idea, allowed it to percolate inside me head, and realised that if I were to come up with a Top 5 Most Beloved Horror Film list I’d be plumb happy!

I mean, how could it be possible that I could name more than *5!* films for this genre!? I apparently was quite a bit foolishly re missive of realising that Horror by definition grew out of a most decidedly guilty pleasure of mine: Psychological Suspense! Imagine my growing dismay and quick delight (uniquely enough my shock turnt to pride!) in finding that my quick googling of motion pictures (my main focus was on ‘classic’ films) returnt such an alarmingly LONG! query of choices that I decided that I need to scribble in a day where I can blog about quite a heap more than 13 but not quite 40 personal favourites spread between the days of Golden Hollywood & modern cinema! From the silver screen to the small screen, I found a startling array of options for the Cosy Horror Girl I never knew I was!

Let me empathsis that the ONE simple truth in my family was that we were NEVER into Horror; no matter which way to Sunday you asked this of us, we’d always lament the same: sorry, no, not a chance really, horror just isn’t something that floats our boat!

At the very same time, there are elements of the genre knitted within my everyday life & world, from wicked collections I gather as an appreciator of art & artistry of design inasmuch as the fact one of the best parts of being a book blogger for Seventh Star Press (via Tomorrow Comes Media) is the ability to get to know several Indie authors of Horror; most of whom I noted I had things we shared in common, even if at the end of the day, most of their releases I would faint before I could read!

I still remember having to explain why I sent a friend a Halloween card last October *why!* I celebrate Halloween ~ as if being exclusively (previously true) non-Horror meant I would not celebrate one of the most delightfully wicked times of the year! Lest, I even mention the fact I have been a long-term appreciator of the Day of the Dead & everything related to Old Hallow’s Eve since I was quite young! (no trunk or treat for me!)

Let me break-down what I *love!* vs what I do not: Read More

Divider

Posted Saturday, 18 October, 2014 by jorielov in #HorrorOctober, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, Cemeteries & Graveyards, Classic Horror, Classical Literature, Cosy Horror, Cosy Horror Suspense, Cosy Mystery, Ghost Story, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Good vs. Evil, Gothic Literature, Gothic Mystery, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Haunting & Ethereal, Horror, Horror-Lite, Indie Book Trade, Library Find, Library Love, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Psychological Suspense, Reading Challenges, Southern Gothic, Supernatural Fiction, Suspense, YA Paranormal &/or Paranormal Romance

+Blog Book Tour+ The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Posted Wednesday, 6 August, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 8 Comments

Parajunkee Designs

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
5 August, 2014 (reprint – paperback edition)
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Official Author Websites: Site | @yangszechoo  | Facebook
Available Formats: Hardback, Paperback, Ebook Page Count: 384

Converse via: #TheGhostBride

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Ghost Bride” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

The reason I wanted to be on the tour:

I am always amazed at the journey we take as readers towards reading a particular book or becoming entranced by the words an author leaves behind for us to find. We (here refers to the collectively diverse readership of the world) all strive towards reading books when that leap of ignited joy and mirth of the discovery catalysts inside our mind and jumps out through our excited speech whilst we’re sharing the bits and bobbles of what we’ve just been blessed to discover with another bookish soul. Those wickedly delightful moments where you stumble across quite an extraordinary story during a more than ordinary hour of your life, and within that moment, you’re on the precipice of taking a journey to a place quite different from where you live and occupy your own murmurings on life; a place that will feel as though it bewitched you as it spoke to you to be read, to be devoured, and consumed.

When I first started reading a heap of recollections and ruminations on behalf of The Ghost Bride during the Autumn on 2013, I was a very new book blogger growing my wings and entering into the book blogosphere myself. I was sorting things out as I went along, and getting my feet wet with blog tours, reviewing books in a style that felt right for me, and gaining a bit of ground within the network of book bloggers in general who are as diverse as the four winds. I appreciate the fact that each of us who blogs about our reading lives takes on a different angle of insight as we read and review the books we want to share with the dear hearts who find us. It was during this particular exploration I came across a review where the blogger had not found the story was able to resonate with her but she had hoped others who appreciated everything that she felt did not work for her might work for someone else instead. Coincidently, I attempted to re-find the book blogger and my own comments therein, but it is lost out in the blogosphere at this point in time. She encouraged me in a way that other reviewers and bloggers hadn’t at that time to seek out the novel. I knew after reading her thoughts I could soak into The Ghost Bride.

I had not thought much about this at the time, but over the course of months since I have found that to read a negative or neutral review is quite an extraordinary thing; especially if you were like me, and took out such a positive take-away! I mused about that for a moment, and thought, but isn’t that why we blog?! Isn’t that why we read book blogs? To garnish a wider net of opinion, commentary, and muse filled thoughts of the readers behind the blogs themselves? To help us better articulate an idea of which novel might whet our palette of interest and encourage our own spirit to read the works of an author we’ve not yet become acquainted with?

In September of 2013, I also had the joy of contacting the author whilst she was hosting a bookaway through Shelf Awareness; I did not win the book, as my reply was received after the book was given away, however, these were my original thoughts on why the book captivated me in such a keen way:

Whilst I was participating in a bookish community event [Bout of Books], I was led to a variety of lovely blogs, whereupon I stumbled across a review of this book! Ironically, the reader wasn’t as enlightened by it as I would be, as they were not a keen fan of literary fiction, but its that review that earmarked this book in my mind to read! :) Isn’t that interesting!? It simply proves that there are as many diverse readers as there are books!!

Ever since then, I’ve had it in the back of my mind to make sure to see if my local library is going to be getting a copy of this lovely book, as I am a proud supporter of libraries!! I do love to buy books as much as the next person, but only when budget affords! What I wanted to say about your lovely book, is how heart-wretching and heart-aching the story sounds from afar! Talk about a character who has to undertake a journey that is not quite easy to understand, much less explain! I have watched documentaries on tv that showcase different traditions, not only for marriage but for a person’s life, as one draws to mind where in one country they select young girls who have the essence of the reincarnated deity and that that girl must live in confinement without the ability to communicate or speak, until she’s around 16!! She ‘ages out’ of the life, and is allowed to resume living, only to find that the available men are afraid that if they are with her in life and marriage that she would be a curse not a blessing! I wish I could draw to mind the exact details of the country & of this ritual, you’ll have to forgive me on this short-coming! However, the reason I drew it to mind, is because your character Li Lan is being placed into a situation that she didn’t choose and yet its a situation which custom and tradition demands!

Ms. Choo kindly replied back to me, and helped me remember that the documentary I had watched was about the “living goddesses” of Nepal! I am not certain why I had not had the proper chance to borrow this book from my local library, but as I have oft mentioned before, there are moments where we are meant to read certain books, and perhaps the time in which I was meant to read The Ghost Bride simply had not yet arrived! I am always very mindful of how coincidental certain moments are in life have turnt out to be quite serendipitous instead. It all depends on your perception of how life unfolds along your path.

Today is my blog’s official 1st birthday and it is an honour that I am celebrating it with a novel that quite bewitched me whilst it originally toured the book blogosphere! Today let’s celebrate the diversity of readers and the joy of selecting books that challenge us and dare us to always be willing to step outside our comfort zones and engage inside a narrative that is wholly different from our own cultural background yet grounded in a connective thread we can all relate too.

*a blog birthday is the day in which a blog goes live to the public whereas a blogoversary is the celebration of the day you created your blog 

Note: The curious bit for me is that I travelled through the original blog book tour for “The Ghost Bride” last year (also hosted by TLC Book Tours), within the first months I was a book blogger with a newly launched blog! To look back on my reflections of wanting to read the novel whilst visiting other book bloggers who were reviewing it and now, a full year forward to where I have the opportunity to read the novel myself and post my own ruminations on my own book blog is quite wicked karma! I have felt as though I have travelled with the book before it reached my own heart and hands to read!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Synopsis:

Yangsze Choo

A wondrous coming-of-age story infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, adventure, and fascinating, dreamlike twists

Malaya, 1893 Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt Chinese family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives a proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family’s only son, who died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, ghost marriages are often meant to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a comfortable home for the rest of her days, but at what cost?

As she reluctantly considers the offer, Li Lan is unwillingly drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities and vengeful spirits. There Li Lan must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

Author Biography:

Yangsze Choo is a fourth-generation Malaysian of Chinese descent. She lives in California with her husband and their two children, and loves to eat and read (often at the same time).

The author had the honour of being selected to read her novel aloud for the audiobook version of The Ghost Bride, and after listening to Chapter 1, I can see why they selected her as she has a captivating speaking voice which brings the words off the page to life in such a lovely manner! Click to read the full story on her blog!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Yangsze Choo’s Introduction to “The Ghost Bride” via Yangsze Choo

Inspired to Share: I am always fascinated by the back-story revelations of an author’s work, as to me, to hear about the process of their inspiration towards writing a novel quite literally heightens the joy for me as a reader. I realise there are other readers who would disagree with me on that score, but I have always found something quite remarkable in how stories are written and the methodology of each writer who chooses to pen a story to give back to the world in the form of a book. I was struck by the joy of how a bit of knowledge and research into one particular vein of thought led Ms. Choo to not only expand on a seedling of an idea but gave it such a measure of a breath to illuminate it fully by the scope she took the story!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

An Eastern Ghost Story and how it differs from the West:

The first main difference I found is an Eastern Ghost story is rooted within the relationship and interpersonal connection to the dead rather than focusing on the psychological thrill of having a ghost crossing into your lifepath. Western stories tend to focus on the shock and intensity of finding an ethereal presence in your life, an interruption of your hours, and a mindful sea of curious unknown questions and ramifications that are difficult to process and work through. There tends to be a lot of factors pulling the ties together for a Western ghost story, which parallel the leftover work of the deceased and a willingly earnest desire to see the work completed by a second or third party who was not particularly connected to the events or the deceased in life. From what I am gathering in The Ghost Bride the main concern is not unfinished business but rather a continuance of a life cut short of being lived. A way of progressing the life of the deceased to a fulfilling present; merely without their flesh and bone presence.

Elements of the story had me thinking back to my love of the South American and Latin American cultural celebration known as Day of the Dead in which family surround their loved ones’ graves and celebrate the life they lived whilst they were alive. It is a ritual influenced celebration and joyous one at that! Traditionally this has been a holiday centered around Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve) and All Saint’s Day (All Soul’s Day) in Mexico, and there lies the connection for me, as I was able to explore my love of the cultural heritage of Mexico whilst I travelled there as a teen. My furlough was in Summer, not Autumn, which was the only disappointment in regards to not seeing the festivities live in person.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The Ghost Bride: Western vs Chinese Ghost Stories via James Cham

To extend into this a bit more I felt it best to allow the author

to speak on behalf of her own body of work.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Read More

Divider

Posted Wednesday, 6 August, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, A Father's Heart, All Hallow's Eve, All Saint's Day, All Soul's Day, Astral Projection, Audiobook, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Bout of Books, Buddhism, Cemeteries & Graveyards, Chinese Literature, Christianity, Clever Turns of Phrase, Clockmakers & Watchmakers, Clockwork & Mechanisations, Clogs & Gears, Confucianism, Cultural & Religious Traditions, Day of the Dead, Death & Burial Rites, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Dreams & Dreamscapes, Earthen Magic, Equality In Literature, Family Life, Father-Daughter Relationships, Folklore and Mythology, Gaming, Ghost Marriage Ritual, Ghost Story, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Gothic Literature, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Interviews Related to Content of Novel, Life Shift, Light vs Dark, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Mahjong, Malacca, Malaya, Marriage Rituals, Parapsychological Suspense, Passionate Researcher, Psychological Suspense, Qing Ming Festival, Reincarnation, Rituals for the Afterlife, Scribd, Soundcloud, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Supernatural Fiction, Superstitions & Old World Beliefs, Taboo Relationships & Romance, TLC Book Tours, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage

Beautiful Pale [Poem] by Angela Lucius

Posted Thursday, 6 February, 2014 by jorielov , , 1 Comment

Ms. Lucius, the pleasure was all mine last night! I had the best time listening to your writing life unfold on the Chamber! The best part too, is the interactive aspect of last night’s show! I truly felt like I had transported myself into the Star Chamber! Such a special surprise tonight seeing a poem dedicated to me! And, one that left me in smiles as I read the words! How you creatively rhymed the passages and showed the dedication of endless love in a theme such as this is truly remarkable! I couldn’t wait to share this wicked sweet poem with my readers! (& my Mum!) I am thankful that our paths have crossed, and through our blogs & email I look forward to continuing our friendship! My gratitude is yours for the dedication!

UPDATE: June 2016

I am unsure why the re-post app has failed to keep this fully intact from how it was reflected in [2014] however, it might have been an issue due to various tech issues I’ve sustained since I self-hosted my blog and/or it’s a fluke. Therefore, kindly visit the author’s website to read the post in it’s full glory!

{SOURCES: “Beautiful Pale” by Angela Lucius & the graphic contained therein were re-blogged using the WP re-blog a post app.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

Divider

Posted Thursday, 6 February, 2014 by jorielov in BlogTalkRadio, Cemeteries & Graveyards, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Embalming Preservation, Gothic Literature, Gothic Poetry, Guest Author on the Chamber, Haunting & Ethereal, Horror-Lite, Jorie Loves A Story, Mortuary Science, Poetry, The Star Chamber Show, Unrequited Eternal Love