Posted Saturday, 24 January, 2015 by jorielov Deborah Heal, History Mystery series, Time and Again, Write Brain Activity 0 Comments
Time and Again by Deborah Heal
{ Book One in the History Mystery Trilogy }
{ Unclaimed Legacy (Book 2) + Every Hill & Mountain (Book 3) round out the trilogy }
Published By: Write Brain Activity
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook and Audiobook
Converse via: #HistoryMysterySeries & #TimeAndAgain
Acquired Book By:
My path originally crossed with Ms. Heal during her blog tour last year (2013), when her third novel in the History Mystery series was making it’s way through the book blogosphere whilst stopping on Inspirational fiction blogs I frequently visit. It was on one of these tour stops I had the happy joy in winning a copy of “Every Hill & Mountain” and ever since then, I had had it in mind to blog about this beautiful time travel series for Sci Fi November! I contacted the author about this particular idea and she offered to send me the first two novels in the series with matching cover-art to the third novel, as I have the original cover-art designs for the History Mystery series – where the house is featured but is not prominent as there is a girl featured as well on “Time and Again”.
Therefore, I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Deborah Heal, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read the Series:
What originally drew me into the folds of this particular time travel series is the overall premise, of how an old house can become a portal of a window into time travel! The idea of having the thread of a time travel narrative worked through the Inspirational side of literature was also an appeal, as I was quite curious how the science behind travelling in time might be explored and explained inasmuch as how the story would alter or change from traditional science fiction roots which are published through mainstream markets. As a hybrid reader whose mind is always open and seeking out new inventive ways of telling stories, I was most curious on how an INSPY writer would treat the scope of the story as much as the science behind it.
Time and Again
by Deborah Heal
Source: Direct from Author
An old house + A new computer program =
The travel opportunity of a lifetime…
…to another century.
Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house with a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth she is supposed to tutor. Not a dream job. But it does come with perks.
There’s John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor who is almost too wonderful to be real.
And there’s the new computer program Beautiful Houses—also too amazing to be real. No one knows how it works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.
In 1858, the house is a train stop on the Alton & Chicago Line. And Charlotte is stuck there serving meals to the passengers, wondering if she’ll ever get to have any fun. And then she meets two travelers who change her life forever.
There’s James McGuire with whom she falls in love. And there’s his boss, a young Springfield lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. His debate with political opponent Stephen Douglas catapults him onto the national stage. And it inspires Charlotte to take up the cause of abolition.
Genres: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 9781613466698
Series: History Mystery, No.1
Also in this series: Intangible, Beneath Creek Waters
Published by Write Brain Activity
on 25th February, 2013
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 252
Time and Again Book Trailer via Deborah Heal
About Deborah Heal
Deborah Heal, the author of the Time and Again "history mystery" trilogy, which has been described as "Back to the Future meets virtual reality with a dash of Seventh Heaven thrown in," was born not far from the setting of her novel Every Hill and Mountain and grew up just down the road from the settings of Time and Again and Unclaimed Legacy.
Today she lives with her husband in Monroe County, Illinois, not far from the setting of Once Again: an inspirational novel of history, mystery & romance. She enjoys reading, gardening, and learning about regional history. She has three grown children, five grandchildren, and two canine buddies Digger and Scout, a.k.a. Dr. Bob in Unclaimed Legacy.
She loves to interact with her readers, who may learn more about the history behind the books at her website and her Facebook author page.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing
Time travelling within the walls of an older home:
Heal has a good way of giving small details out about the condition of the old house, where you become delighted in finding out about how the wood and/or the fixtures are represented now verse how they would have been viewed when the house was originally built. There are certain passages that elude to the craftsmanship of the care put into it’s structure, as much as a curiosity about certain staircases and what could be found outside in the barn. It has this rambling appeal to it, as if you think you know everything there is to be known about the house itself, yet it is within that moment of certainty that another mystery presents itself that is not as easily explained!
I liked the pace of how Abby encouraged Merrideth to seek out the charm of her new dwelling as much as to find how educational lessons of life and study can become if you ‘think outside the routine’ and ‘structure’ of traditional learning! Abby starts to seek a way to have the ‘house’ transform learning in a way that Merrideth can find tangible connections between what she’s learning and what she can see through experience. Read More
Posted Saturday, 24 January, 2015 by jorielov in 19th Century, Abraham Lincoln, African-American History, African-American Literature, Astral Projection, Author Blog Tour, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Review (non-blog tour), Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Bullies and the Bullied, Civil Rights, Coming-Of Age, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Divorce & Martial Strife, Drugs & Alcohol, Fathers and Daughters, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, History, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Lessons from Scripture, Parapsychological Gifts, Sci-Fi November, Single Mothers, Small Towne USA, Sweet Romance, Teacher & Student Relationships, The Deep South, The Sci-Fi Experience, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Underground Railroad
Posted Wednesday, 21 January, 2015 by jorielov Heather Webb, Penguin Group (USA), Plume, Rodin's Lover 6 Comments
What an incredible amount of joy it is for me to welcome to Jorie Loves A Story, the writer of historically enriched French novels which ache to be classified as literary as much as they are most decisively historical in breadth of scope — Ms. Heather Webb!
I was quite wickedly intrigued by her debut novel: “Becoming Josephine” which not only introduced me to the Bonaparte’s in a way I had not expected possible, but it clued me into the particulars of Revolutionary France and the swirling tide of rule that would alter time and history. I was not quite ready to meet Josephine as her story was quite brutally harsh and incredibly layered, (a credit to the writer who brought her truth to light from her pen) but what I walked away with was this undying intrigue for France & for eclipsing previously unknown eras of French history through stories presenting a lifeblood of a living person who dared to make their mark at a time that was fashionably slanted against them!
This has become Ms. Webb’s signature style — of interweaving historical fact and the mysterious unknown spirit of truth of her characters into a riveting read of history encased in a figmented glass of eloquence.
I’ve come full circle — I hosted Ms. Webb for her debut novel, and now after having spent many a spontaneously happy moon meeting up with her in the twitterverse, I am hosting her for her second novel, this time centered around the Belle Epoque era of artistic dynasty!
You’ve previously reflected how much you adore the Belle Epoque era of French history due to the well of inspiring innovative thoughts, movements, and progress stepping out of it. Do you remember what gave you the first bonefide passionate link to the Belle Epoque world? Was it a particular person, story, or movement that eclipsed your heart?
Webb responds: It began when I was twelve years old and living in Nashville. (My dad was military so we moved around a lot.) A traveling exhibit of the impressionists came to one of the museums downtown. My mom, ever on the hunt for the cultural things to see in each place we lived, bought us tickets immediately. I’ll never forget marveling over the array of gorgeous paintings, how the artists used color to depict light and movement. From that point on, I wanted to know more about these painters and thus began my interest in this era.
I have oft found the best discoveries we have in our lives are the ones that are fortuitously spontaneous and unexpectedly alighting on our path! How keen your Mum had a bit of inspiration towards your growing curiosity on art history inasmuch as sparking a flame inside your mind that would one day lead you toward’s telling the story within Rodin’s Lover! I love finding such connective pieces of where inspiration and curiosity start to carve such an intricate thread through our mind’s eye towards revealing in our future how that moment solidified a desire we had yet to give a name too!
When it comes to fine art, I have drifted between Renaissance artists of Italy (i.e. Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michaelangelo and Raphael) to the Pre-Raphaelites (i.e. John W. Waterhouse, Bouguereau, or Godward), yet I haven’t explored Rodin. Except to say I have lamented about his sculpture “The Thinker” throughout my childhood, whilst I studied fine art. What tipped your interest on Rodin initially, and sparked your joy in bringing out Camille Claudel who had such anguish in loving Rodin?!
Webb responds: I fell in love with both Camille and Rodin while in my French film class in college. The film, simply called Camille Claudel, was multiple award-winning in Europe and the U.S. with stars Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu playing the roles of Camille and Rodin. Their tragic love story gripped me and I swooned at the beauty they created both together and separately. After the film, I became rather obsessed with sculpture in general. Many years later, I had not forgotten Camille, and knew I wanted to delve more into her life.
Isn’t that interesting?! Depardieu, you say?! I remember finding him for the first time in Green Card; yet I had not realised they had brought Rodin & Claudel to the screen! Although having become further interested in the real-life counterparts to this story, I had nearly suspected there might have been a classic motion picture on behalf of their life, as they so oft had brought to life people who had such a strong impact on art and society. There is beauty within tragedy as much as there is solace out of darkness — I can see how the strong emotional ties of their orbit heightened your motivation to tell their stories!
As an additional note to my readers: this film is available at your Public Library! Read More
Posted Wednesday, 21 January, 2015 by jorielov in 19th Century, Adulterous Affair, Art, Art History, Auguste Rodin, Belle Epoque Era, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Camille Claudel, Cookery, France, France Book Tours, Historical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Passionate Researcher, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Sculpture, Sociological Behavior, Taboo Relationships & Romance, Writing Style & Voice
Posted Friday, 9 January, 2015 by jorielov Secant Publishing, The Oblate's Confession, William Peak 0 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Oblate’s Confession” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of “The Oblate’s Confession” direct from the publisher Secant Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
The Oblate's Confession
by William Peak
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Set in 7th century England, The Oblate’s Confession tells the story of Winwaed, a boy who – in a practice common at the time – is donated by his father to a local monastery. In a countryside wracked by plague and war, the child comes to serve as a regular messenger between the monastery and a hermit living on a nearby mountain. Missing his father, he finds a surrogate in the hermit, an old man who teaches him woodcraft, the practice of contemplative prayer, and, ultimately, the true meaning of fatherhood. When the boy’s natural father visits the monastery and asks him to pray for the death of his enemy – an enemy who turns out to be the child’s monastic superior – the boy’s life is thrown into turmoil. It is the struggle Winawed undergoes to answer the questions – Who is my father? Whom am I to obey? – that animates, and finally necessitates, The Oblate’s Confession.
While entirely a work of fiction, the novel’s background is historically accurate: all the kings and queens named really lived, all the political divisions and rivalries actually existed, and each of the plagues that visit the author’s imagined monastery did in fact ravage that long-ago world. In the midst of a tale that touches the human in all of us, readers will find themselves treated to a history of the “Dark Ages” unlike anything available today outside of textbooks and original source material.
Genres: Historical Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Also by this author:
Published by Secant Publishing
on 1st December, 2014
Pages: 404
Published By: Secant Publishing (@Secantpub)
Available Formats: Hardback, E-book
Converse on Twitter via:
#TheOblatesConfessionBlogTour, #TheOblatesConfession, & #WilliamPeak
About William Peak
William Peak spent ten years researching and writing The Oblate’s Confession, his debut novel. Based upon the work of one of the great (if less well known) figures of Western European history, the Venerable Bede, Peak’s book is meant to reawaken an interest in that lost and mysterious period of time sometimes called “The Dark Ages.”
Peak received his baccalaureate degree from Washington & Lee University and his master’s from the creative writing program at Hollins University. He works for the Talbot County Free Library on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Thanks to the column he writes for The Star Democrat about life at the library (archived at http://www.tcfl.org/peak), Peak is regularly greeted on the streets of Easton: “Hey, library guy!” In his free time he likes to fish and bird and write long love letters to his wife Melissa.
Photo Credit: Tom McCall
Follow Peak on LibraryThing
Website | Blog
Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Friday, 9 January, 2015 by jorielov in 7th Century, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Blog Tour Host, Debut Author, Debut Novel, England, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Monastery, Monk, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Religious Orders
Posted Friday, 9 January, 2015 by jorielov Secant Publishing, The Oblate's Confession, William Peak 0 Comments
If you were going to ask me what first percolated an interest to read a densely researched novel about a 7th Centurion monk, I might not be able to fully address the enquiry as whilst I was contemplating hosting this particular novel and author, I had stumbled across another religious historical fiction by way of Taking the Cross by Charles Gibson. Even before my review on behalf of that particular story out of the Crusades, I started to wonder if perhaps I ought to read both: separated only by a few months, and hosted by two different blog tours!
I am a bit of a paradoxical reader as there are moments where I have the inclination to delve into topical research with centuries I barely know a whisper of a breath about and/or I happily take up the challenge to read a well-researched tome of a novel which has a righted place at a University library due to the efforts on behalf of the writer to clarify it’s contents to layreaders who are keenly interested but not as well versed as the one who penned the story! In this way, my best way to explain my interest in The Oblate’s Confession is simply to say, when I read Illuminations by Mary Sharratt (in 2013) I started to gather a prospect of seeking out other stories of cloistered life.
I even elected to broach this particular vein of thought with Mr. Peak in our conversation, as I was curious if others had felt as inclined as I did to understand what might be challenging at first to accept but where enlightenment might touch you as you walk through the text itself. I felt quite inspired about the subject within the novel, even prior to fully appreciating reading it as I wanted to give enough time to Mr. Peak to collect his thoughts on the questions I was asking of him. When I post my book review, I’ll share the interview he gave by radio that gave me the groundwork knowledge of where most of my own enquiries came to light.
I hope his dedication to publishing an enriched historical narrative will find an open-mind in the reader who likes to take on thought-provoking stories whilst immersed in the historical past! As much as I felt quite happy to notice in the author’s acknowledgement sections, he mentioned one of my favourite monks as being part of his own inspiration: Thich Nhat Hanh! Read More
Posted Friday, 9 January, 2015 by jorielov in 7th Century, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Blog Tour Host, Debut Author, Debut Novel, England, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Monastery, Monk, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Religious Orders
Posted Wednesday, 7 January, 2015 by jorielov Laura Joh Rowland, MacMillian Publishers, Minotaur Books, Sano Ichiro Mysteries, St. Martin's Publishing Group, The Iris Fan 0 Comments
It isn’t often when I have the chance to *catch a series* whilst the breadth of the series has been written, released, and on the fringes of bowing out of the public eye! A few of the series I am attempting to read further inside during 2015 dance around this same fact, as I haven’t been able to read the books as quickly as they have been produced! However, it was such an honour to host Ms. Rowland on the curtain call for her series set in 17th Century Japan! There were moments of the story wherein I found myself a bit unsettled but overall, I felt a growing curiosity in seeking out more information surrounding Reiko and Sano — how their lives would continue to knit together and what might befall them in the end!
I had no idea as I was reading the stories I had selected from the Sano Ichiro series, that within The Concubine’s Tattoo would await the fuller back-story on how Reiko and Sano came together! I never would have guessed Rowland might have considered giving Reiko a lesser role of importance in the series — as I must confess, I appreciated the change of broadening her appeal and giving her such a strong presence within the interior structures of where the stories within the series take the reader! To me, Reiko was quite the asset to have alongside Sano!
As I mused about what I wanted to focus my conversation with Ms. Rowland upon, most of my emerging questions were fuelled by wanting to understand her journey with the series, and how the series evolved from Book 1 to Book 18; there were twenty years between the two bookends, and for me, it provided me with an unending muse to draw out the questions I wanted to broach of her! I hope as you read this conversation, you will not only be inspired by her answers, but perhaps, will feel inspired to tackle reading a series of this length and/or of attempting to write an ongoing series if your a writer! Read More
Posted Wednesday, 7 January, 2015 by jorielov in 17th Century, Blog Tour Host, Crime Fiction, Family Drama, Family Life, Ghost Story, Good vs. Evil, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Japan, Japanese Fiction, Japanese History, Library Love, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Martial Art History, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Uncategorized