Jorie’s first #ArmChairBEA,
can you sense the excitement!?
As this wicked sweet badge will imply, I am not merely participating! in my very first #ArmchairBEA, but I am an officially a member of the C H E E R L E A D E R team (#4! Captain: Shannon @ The Most Happy Reader) as a C H E E R R E A D E R! Perfect fit, if you ask me! As I was inspired to create the hashtag “#bookcheerleader after conversing with Tif ahead of the event itself! Since then, I was inspired to create a new ‘twitterverse’ identity via creating my own badge via Canva off the inspiring collective which makes up #StoryDam! (one of the weekly Twitter chats I like to duck-in on! all of them are threaded through the List I curate on Twitter except my own #ChocLitSaturdays – the tag is in my Profile & the archived chats are alighting on my blog!) Leading into the event, I happily celebrated my parents 40th Anniversary, which was filled with surprises on both sides, as I was the one who knew that each of my parents was conspiring to surprise the other in a way that they did not want the other to discover! Laughs. It was a pure blast for me, except a bit tricky at times as they would each come to me to check on something within mere seconds or minutes of the other leaving! I was tickled to peaches seeing how the end result turnt out to be one of the best Anniversaries! Not a bad way to begin the #ArmChairBEA than in a sea of lovely joy! Likewise, the ‘Monday’ this wicked event kicks-off is Memorial Day stateside, which means right after I post this lovely Intro Note I’m off for hot dogs & ice cream! Not a bad way to start the week, eh!? I wonder how everyone else is starting Monday!?
When I return I will be blogging up a storm, digging into my duties as a #CheerReader, as well as donning my cape of bubbliness as I gather the routes through the book blogosphere and alight on each of the lovely bloggers who are adding their links to the linky! I cannot wait to start meeting everyone and getting settled into spreading the joy of blogging whilst we celebrate the book during #ArmChairBEA! I can only imagine how wicked lovely it will be for those who can attend the BEA in person this year! I am most esteemed to find all the lovely bookish souls I’ve interacted with or crossed paths with since I started my blog are also taking an active role this year:
- Lianne @ Caffeinated Life
- Christine @ Readerly Musings | attending BookCon!
- Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy
- Erin @ Oh, for the Hook of a Book
- Katie @ Doing Dewey
- Shannon @ The Most Happy Reader
- Stormy @ Book.Blog.Bake
- Adam @ Roof Beam Reader
- Ms Emma @ Words and Peace (#FranceBT)
- Historical Tapestry
- And, someone new (loved the convo!): Universe in Words
- As I start to make my rounds today, if I have missed someone I will be adding them!
An Introduction : of Jorie
Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?
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.
You can read more about on under “My Bookish Life”. I am a Creative Dyslexic Writer who created Jorie Loves A Story on 31.March.2013 (blogoversary!), launched to the public on 6.August.2013 (blog birthday!), and sync’d to Twitter on 13.November.2013! As I curate Jorie Loves A Story as a labour of love, I elected to become active on two fronts: the book blogosphere (carrying on the joy I had found prior to creating my book blog!) AND the twitterverse! For this reason, I am exclusively only active in these social media portals! I do not cross-post my reviews either, as I feel that the main reason I wanted to create my blog was to have a place to write a heap of breadth and depth about the books I am choosing to read & share with my readership. I am not a traditional book reviewer in that sense! For more information on what I am hinting at please read: Jorie Loves A Story : an Introduction.
I am blogging from America, in the Southeast corner of the United States. I am a Southern Book Blogger who longs to relocate where blissful Wintry snow greets you after Autumn and Summer’s wrath does not include fierce tornadoes and hurricanes! I’d like to breathe in the joy of grey overcast skies which linger far longer than the ones I have now, and where being outside is a blissful treat year round rather than a ‘blink of an eye’ hiatus between Summer & Summer!
A great re-cap of my first thirty days as a book blogger was written with the idea of it being a monthly feature! I was not able to keep that promise to myself, but I am in the process of resuming where I left off, as I love looking back on what I have accomplished as much as seeing how everything came together!
Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. — so we can connect more online.
My blog is comprehensive, joyful, and full of heart with honest in-depth reviews which I hope resonate my observations as I read each book.
The best way to stay in touch with me is to click-over to my About.Me page* (linked to my Twitter profile & top of my blog’s sidebar), as I curate the links which allow you to stay in touch with me, on top of the latest posts for Jorie Loves A Story, as well as knowing how to find me on Twitter.
(*) a few years later I developed a landing page: Jorie Loves Bookish Blogs to replace my ‘About Me’ page.
What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year?
I will simplify this to what was the ‘best book’ I’ve read within the last few days!? As I have the tendency to appreciate a heap of books I read per year, and I am never able to quite narrow down the books to a list of 10, much less narrow it down to a selection of one! Therefore, over the past week I was introduced to two wickedly dynamic story-telling styles: the first was a genre-bender where you were placed inside the world of ‘comic-fantasy’ where superheroes of the age I adore were jettisoned into a sweet new (epic level!) fantasy! Giving us “Awesome Jones“! The author stopped by to give the impression of how her genre-bender was writ as well! I will be sharing an antidote of an experience whilst I was out and about towne when I broached the subject to my parents and had an unexpected conversation with a fellow superhero appreciator! Likewise, on the complete opposite spectrum of literature in the historical fiction branch, I soaked so vividly into the time of Hatshepsut I nearly had trouble re-adjusting back into our time continuum! And, as you will find this is the precise reason I am passionate about reading and book blogging! I love discovering authors and their stories which take us to whole new worlds of realistic thought and observation! Awesome Jones gave me a reason to vie for a cape and Hatshepsut (Daughter of the Gods) instilled an awareness of how she inspired Cleopatra & Elizabeth I to know they could rule as women! And, to me that is why we all should read! We read to give us an understanding of what we can only imagine, and endear us towards empathy for everything that deserves a deeper scope of thought! We give our hearts to the page, and the inked spilt words give us the joy of transporting to different timescapes and realities as we drink through the words left behind by their writers! There is such a beautiful circle between the writer who creates the story and the reader who consumes the words and carries the characters off the page!
What is your favorite blogging resource?
First and foremost, I cannot empathsis enough how much I love! being a WordPress blogger! As far as blogging on WP.com NOT through WP.org / self-hosted blog platforms! I have looked into self-hosting and realised that WP.com will happily be able to take care of my needs a book blogger for a very long time yet to come! I love the ease of maintaining my blog and the few bits of ‘extra help’ I would like to give a shout-out of gratitude to the following:
- Ravven – is the lovely artistic soul who created my blog’s identity through the creation of my blog’s badge & banner!
- Squeesome Designs – created the lovely badges which bespeak of coffee, libraries, & reading! As well as the “green banners” in my sidebar!
- Parajunkee Designs – created the blog headers per post, such as “Book Review”, “Author Interview”, etc. As well as post lovelies like those on this post!
- Fun Stuff for Your Blog by Pure Imagination – created the blog dividers which I simply adore!
- Grab My Button – offers a way to place code on your blog for people to save your blog’s badge!
- PicMonkey – my preference for creating collages & other badges when I am not using Canva! Originally I used FotoFlexer.
- FeedPress – I used to pay a small fee for FeedBlitz, then gave it up. I just recently found FeedPress & love it more!
- Book Blogging (Database) – for networking with book bloggers!
- Lianne @ Caffeinated Life & Hannah @ Once Upon a Time were mentors to me as a newbie blogger!
What book would you love to see as a movie?
Again, this is always a tricky question for me to answer but I think I will go with a Magical Realism choice and say, “The Golem and the Jinni“!!
The best bit to know about Jorie, is that she is a girl who loves to converse about the books she reads & discovers,… she truly does live up to these badges! And, you can follow her journeys inside her Story Vault!
Music via #iheartradio (Chicago! 93.9FM) whilst Jorie composed this #ArmChairBEA post:
- “Raging Fire” by Philip Phillips
- “Dreams” by the Cranberries
- “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
- “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele
- “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Train
- “Story of my Life” by One Direction
- “Home” by Daughtry
- “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin
- “Just Give Me A Reason”by Pink, feat. Nate Ruess
- “Best Day of my Life” by American Authors
- “Home” by Philip Phillips
- “All of Me” by John Legend
- “Wake Me Up” by Avicii
- “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt
The very best part of #ArmChairBEA for me this year is to be cheering on the book bloggers & the readers who celebrate the joy of reading as much as I do with each book they pick up and consume! This is a convention for those who are bookish & geeky and proud of it! This is a way for us to get to know each other and champion the writers who give us such a hearty story to dissolve into throughout the year! Let us route our way through the book blogosphere and light up the twitterverse letting everyone know that even if we are not in person at the Book Expo America — they have our full support & attention!
{SOURCES: Blog News & “I Blog Books” badges provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. ArmChairBEA badge provided by ArmChairBEA for participants to help promote the virtual convention for BEA (Book Expo America).}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.