Category: Time Slip

+Blog Book Tour+ The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose {part of the Reincarnationist series}

Posted Friday, 30 May, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

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The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose

The Collector of Dying Breaths Tour via HFVBT

Published By: Atria Books ()
(an imprint of Simon & Schuster: ),
8 April, 2014
Official Author Websites:  Site | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads
Available Formats:  Hardback & E-Book
Page Count: 384

Converse on Twitter: #TheCollectorOfDyingBreaths, #TheReincarnationist,

#MJRose#HFVBT

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Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Collector Of Dying Breaths” virtual book tour through HFVBT: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from publisher Atria Books, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Intrigued to Read:

What sparked my interest is the aspect of reincarnation stitched into the series as a whole as I used to collect books on reincarnation when The Reincarnation Library was still in existence, which was a small publisher who curated titles which had fallen out of print and then, re-issued the books in such lovely editions as cloth-bound hardback copies! The titles were both non-fiction and fiction dealing with as many different aspects of reincarnation as you could be happenstance to stumble across! In the series Rose has created, the idea of coming across tools to add one’s memory of past lives is more than tempting to explore!

– as quoted from Jorie’s Box of Joy No.3

The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose

Book Synopsis:

From one of America’s most imaginative storytellers comes a passionate tale of love and treachery, spanning the days of Catherine de Medici’s court to the twenty-first century and starring a woman drawn back, time and again, to the past.

In 1533, an Italian orphan with an uncanny knack for creating fragrance is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. To repay his debt, over the years René le Florentine is occasionally called upon to put his vast knowledge to a darker purpose: the creation of deadly poisons used to dispatch the Queen’s rivals.

But it’s René’s other passion—a desire to reanimate a human breath, to bring back the lives of the two people whose deaths have devastated him—that incites a dangerous treasure hunt five centuries later. That’s when Jac L’Etoile—suffering from a heartache of her own—becomes obsessed with the possibility of unlocking Rene’s secret to immortality.

Soon Jac’s search reconnects her with Griffin North, a man she’s loved her entire life. Together they confront an eccentric heiress whose art collection rivals many museums and who is determined to keep her treasures close at hand, not just in this life but in her next.

Set in the forest of Fontainebleau, crisscrossing the lines between the past and the present, M.J. Rose has written a mesmerizing tale of passion and obsession. This is a Gothic tale perfect for fans of Anne Rice, Deborah Harkness, and Diana Galbadon.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comAuthor Biography:

M.J. RoseM.J. Rose is the international best selling author of fourteen novels and two non-fiction books on marketing. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors – Authorbuzz.com. The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose’s novels in the Renincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype. She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comA bit of a note on the Reincarnationist series:

I had the forethought to consume the previous books in the Reincarationist series ahead of my stop on this particular blog tour, except to say the hours flew out the window before I could even grasp a strong hold of them! I even attempted to finish where I was happily entrenched inside “The Book of Lost Fragrances” as I had picked up the first trilogy of novels (“The Reincarnationist”, “The Memorist”, & “The Hypnotist”) during Bout of Books Readathon 10.0 this past month, however, unfortunately for me I could not settle my mind & heart into the first book of the series. There was too much starkly dark & intense sequences to where I could not gather a secure footing into the series. I was about to chuck the whole idea completely and simply read the novel at hand, when I realised that perhaps out of the research I had conducted ahead of my Interview with Ms. Rose, perhaps the more telling truth is that I should begin this series on book four “The Book of Lost Fragrances”!

Clearly, led to read that particular book for a reason, I had washed away the outside world and entered the realm between the character Jac L’Etoile’s quest to save her family’s parfum business and the counter weight of dipping back into the historical past whilst there was a tomb being uncovered in Egypt during Napoleon’s reign! I loved the shifting perspectives in time and place, as much as the appeal for me to approach the notion of a ‘scent’ of lingering death & life wrapped inside the vial of a singular parfum which could effectively bring back a person’s recollective memory!

The book was taking me on this adventurist journey where I felt as though I had morphed a bit through the pages as I was reading the text of the story! I love the sensation of stepping through the lens and portal of stories, where we can feel ourselves being inserted into the character’s mind, heart, and spirit!? Those are the stories which linger around our mind’s eye and do not let us abate from our murmurings after their stories are known. I have come across quite a few since I first started my sojourn with M.J. Rose’s series and I am hopeful that as I conclude reading “The Collector of Dying Breaths” I will be hungry to return backwards through “Seduction” & “The Book of Lost Fragrances” because for me the Reincarationist series begins at the jettison point of fragrance!

My Review of The Collector of Dying Breaths: 

A small collection of memories filled my mind’s eye as I settled into Chapter 3, as Robbie was a robust brother surprising his sister after a long absence from each other where I had left him last in The Book of Lost Fragrances. To find him abreast his deathbed in The Collector of Dying Breaths was a bit difficult to take in at first, but then, given the nature of the story nearly felt a bit fitting as his sister Jac E’Toile had not yet risen to her position of one gifted with a nose for scent! She was struggling to come to terms with her father’s incapacity to run the family’s business in the previous installment, which positioned the state of the company in the worst of straits. She was attempting to make logical sense out of chaos, and apparently, wherever her path led her then she was still not comfortable rising into the shoes her father believed she should wear even now.

The story transitions between the 16th Century and the Modern Era, as the juxtaposition between Jac attempting to sort out the mystery of the ‘dying breath’ formula for not only percuring a dying breath from the moment it escapes the body but to captialise on the re-cataclysmal nature of its ability where le Florentine left off. The shifting eras heighten the arc of the history contained in the narrative, as both perspectives help fill in the missing pieces of what is not known when a reader such as I had not fully eclipsed the previous two volumes. A fluttering of recognition murmurs back into my ears as I read the current status of Jac’s life, with full measurement of sorrow expelled.

There is an allure of unweaving the past in such a way as to untangle each thread to reveal what each layer of its knowledge can speak through the centuries. The adventure awaiting inside is one hidden within the folds of time, of centuries past, and of lives destroyed or anguished by the actions of others. It is through precognitive dreams and premonition states of awareness that Jac is able to gain further insight into what she already knows and yet has already forgotten the knowledge of. The way in which Rose heightens our awareness of each past life through Jac’s perception of the lives themselves is seamlessly interlocked into the narrative itself. We can meander through a past life’s revealing scene as quickly as we can re-adjust into the present. The writing is writ in such a way as your mind feels betwixt knowing what is being revealed and what is being kept hidden.

The time that Jac spends at the château in France reminds me of my own fever of excitement to visit a physical place whose heritage runs the gambit of time itself. Centuries folding on top of centuries, allows the mind and the heart to imagine what life would have revealed if a little measurement of that lived age during the height of its hour were to be seen? What secrets would spill out of its tome of silence? What ruminations of boundless energy and knowledge outside the perimeters of one lived generation could encompass to contain? A quickening of excitement to find a tangible connection to the past in the present has a very real appeal to me. Likewise, whilst Jac was at the château it was entirely plausible that she was touching on ripples within the time continuance which allowed her to see what was no longer there.

The shroud of mystery surrounding Malachai etches away as bits of his humanity shine out inside the middle of the story, where he opens himself to vulnerability for the first time since Jac had known him. They share a close bond yet a complicated one as he has always been in full belief of her abilities whereas she has always been the cynic who attempts to root out the logic. In this installment of the saga, we find his human heart and his passionate disappointment for a love gone sour. Jac in this instance is turnt to as a listening ear, whereas previously their roles were quite reversed. The wounded is now in effect helping the healer. Jac is a woman who sees herself as a wounded bird whose wings are not quite set to fly. Her stasis is self-inflicted out of fear and out of the inability to shift past what she fears as the unknown gap between what can be logically proven by science and what has to be accepted on faith.

This is a story etched out of history’s tapestry of where the fates of entwined lovers cross against the barriers of time. Where the allure of reincarnation and of a life past the one once lived fever a man’s brow to gain a power he can barely understand much less muster into creation. The story is haunting as it is real, traumatic as it is emotional, but more than that, is a cautionary tale for how best to live each breath we’re given whilst we’re alive.

A note of curiosity the passages on pages 80-82 where Jac describes her history with hallucinations vs past lives is nearly word for word how I remember it being explained and disclosed from “The Book of Lost Fragrances” and there were a few other sequences as well that I felt stemmed out of my earlier reading of the former book. I do know that writers can sometimes stitch into successive volumes of a series ‘a walkabout of timelines and facts’ and having thus recognised this particular cluster as one of the larger ones, I do not think anyone would have trouble in following the pace nor the intricacies between where “The Book of Lost Fragrances” begins, “Seduction” continues, and where “The Collector of Dying Breaths” picks up from a combination of the previous two adventures.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comThis Book Review is courtesy of:

The Collector of Dying Breaths Tour via HFVBT

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

as I am happily honoured to be a blog tour hostess for:

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours - HFVBTPlease visit my Bookish Events page to stay in the know for upcoming events!

Previously I interviewed M.J. Rose on the Dying Breaths Tour!

My upcoming tour for HFVBT is “Mrs.  Poe” by Lynn Cullen 5-6th of June!

{SOURCES: Book cover for “The Collector of Dying Breaths”, Author Biography, Author Photograph of M.J. Rose, Book Synopsis, the blog tour banner and the HFVBT banner  were provided by HFVBT – Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Friday, 30 May, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Catherine de Medici, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Folklore and Mythology, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Thriller Suspense, Reincarnation, Suspense, Time Slip

#BoutOfBooks 10.0 : Personal Goals & Motivations | M.J. Rose’s historical suspense series & Review Books focused on Romance!

Posted Monday, 12 May, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Bout of Books

As I outlined in my declaration of participation post for Bout 10.0, I am singularly focusing on the entire historical suspense series (the Reincarnationist – six book series) by M.J. Rose! Leading up to my stop on the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour on behalf of book six: “The Collector Of Dying Breaths”. However, I am also concentrating on Romance this week on Jorie Loves A Story, as I am a member of the street team for Brenda Anderson focusing on her début novel “Chain of Mercy” (my first honour of being on an author’s street team!); as well as posting two #ChocLitSaturdays book reviews: “Flight to Coorah Creek” by Janet Gover (selection of 3 May! – which was discussed during the chat) and “The Silent Touch of Shadows” by Christina Courtenay (selection of 10 May! – which was discussed during the chat); a paranormal romance début novel of Indie author J. Woods “Gilded Feathers” arrives late on Monday night, with “The Boleyn Bride” by Tudor author Brandy Purdy arriving on Friday! The extra addition being a fantasy anthology by Indie Publisher (Seventh Star Press) A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court” edited by Scott M. Sandridge! IF anything you will see how much of an eclectic reader I truly am! I will also still host my weekly Saturday morning tweetchat at: twubs.com/choclitsaturdays!

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Personal Goals and Motivations:

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  • Hours Dedicated to Reading (in total): hoping to read at least 12 hours per day!
  • Hours per day slated to Read: will journal each day
  • Starting Hour: the instant I am able to sit & read! :)
  • Ending Hour: 00:00 OR I will be winking to the hooting owls!
  • Books Projected to Read: 11 8 in total; 6 3 M.J. Rose + 5 for review; 1 M.J. Rose is also for review
  • Blog Posts (in total): Book Reviews: Gilded Feathers, Chain of Mercy, The Boleyn Bride, Flight to Coorah Creek, The Silent Touch of Shadows, A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court, The Collector of Dying Breaths (on Tuesday 20 May); plus, Author Interviews and regular Bout’er updates!
  • Post my reactions to each book after I have concluded reading them, because more than anything I want to be wholly enthused about the stories, the characters, and the prose that each writer etches into their books — I want to challenge myself to read as many books as I can but not to the brink where I cannot fully appreciate them. I want to absorb them and allow their worlds to soak through to my mind’s eye. The Reincarnationist series by M.J. Rose will be blogged in full details at a later date, but every other book I am reading has scheduled reviews during the Bout itself, outside of The Collector of Dying Breaths which posts two days after the Bout concludes. Therefore on my daily updates for the Bout itself, will be snippets of my reaction to the series overall.
  • Participate in the Bout of Books community by dropping by fellow participants’ blogs, leaving encouraging commentary, and share in the joy of this intensive week of reading! As well as find challenges to enhance my experience with this wicked sweet group of readers!
    • Blogs I scoped out to visit: Coffee Bean Bookshelf + Read Lately if they are taking part in the Bout?! This list will self-curate as the Bout marches onward! Readerly Musings!
    • I am hoping participants of *10.0* will drop by my blog as well, and in that way, I can get to know the readers who are just as excited about this as I am!
    • Challenges as I participate in them as time allows: ? will populate a list as need be ?
  • Join in on the Twitter chats &/or jump into Bout’er conversations on Twitter spontaneously whilst following the tag: #boutofbooks!

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Read More

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Posted Monday, 12 May, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, Bout of Books, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Historical Thriller Suspense, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Library Love, Paranormal Romance, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Reincarnation, Romance Fiction, Seventh Star Press, Small Towne Fiction, Street Team for Author, Suspense, Time Slip, Tomorrow Comes Media, Tudor Era

+Author Guest Post+ Enquiring about time slips and their unique style of story-telling on behalf of ChocLit author Christina Courtenay!

Posted Saturday, 10 May, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 2 Comments

Guest Post by Parajunkee

Christina Courtenay

Proposed Topic: Having visited with you on The Word Wenches in February, I am aware of the fact that time slips are your favourite stories to become wrapped up inside. How do you approach writing a time slip and allowing the reader to alight inside a story which is half hinged in two separate time settings? What do you feel is the greatest challenge in presenting both eras with a visceral presence for the reader?

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The Silent Touch of Shadows by Christina Courtenay

 Book Synopsis: 

What will it take to put the past to rest? Professional genealogist Melissa Grantham receives an invitation to visit her family’s ancestral home, Ashleigh Manor. From the moment she arrives, life-like dreams and visions haunt her. The spiritual connection to a medieval young woman and her forbidden lover have her questioning her sanity, but Melissa is determined to solve the mystery.

Jake Precy, owner of a nearby cottage, has disturbing dreams too, but it’s not until he meets Melissa that they begin to make sense. He hires her to research his family’s history, unaware their lives are already entwined. Is the mutual attraction real or the result of ghostly interference?

A haunting love story set partly in the present and partly in fifteenth century Kent.

The Secret Kiss of Darkness by Christina Courtenay

Book Synopsis: 

Must forbidden love end in heartbreak?

Kayla Sinclair knows she’s in big trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a life-size portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man at an auction.

Jago Kerswell, innkeeper and smuggler, knows there is danger in those stolen moments with Lady Eliza Marcombe, but he’ll take any risk to be with her.

Over two centuries separate Kayla and Jago, but, when Kayla’s jealous fiancé presents her with an ultimatum, and Jago and Eliza’s affair is tragically discovered, their lives become inextricably linked thanks to a gypsy’s spell.

Kayla finds herself on a quest that could heal the past, but what she cannot foresee is the danger in her own future.

Will Kayla find heartache or happiness?

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Q. How do you approach writing a time slip and allowing the reader to alight inside a story which is half hinged in two separate time settings?

A. First of all you have to have something that connects the two time periods, and authors use a lot of different devices to achieve that. It can be that the heroine in the present finds the diary of an ancestor, for example, or stumbles across an ancient family secret – perhaps told to her by an older relative. Or the heroine in the present can see (and hear) a ghost or somehow become connected to an ancestor or someone in the past via dreams, past life regression (usually done with hypnotherapy) or some other paranormal manner. I’ve read stories where the connection was through an object, like a mirror or a piece of jewellery. And in my novel The Silent Touch of Shadows I used the fact that the heroine was a genealogist in order for her to piece together the life on an ancestor through the old documents she finds. There is also a ghost, but he doesn’t actually tell her anything about the past, he is just the catalyst that sets her off on her quest to find out what happened to him.

As he’s been a ghost for over 600 years, the heroine wonders (as would I!) why his soul would stay in the same place for so long and she figures it’s because he has unfinished business, which can be the case in these stories as well. Often, it is something evil (or an evil person’s soul) which has lived on because it is still seeking revenge or wanting to continue to do horrible things, and that can work very well as a plot device too. In the case of my book, it’s not the spirit who is evil, but what was done to him that prevents him from finding eternal rest.

Once you have the connection with the past, you can start to write the two stories and try to weave them together. I don’t usually find this all that difficult really because I have both plot strands in my mind at the same time and I know how I want them to intertwine. The only problem lies in making the transition between the two as smooth as possible each time so that the reader can follow them easily and not be jolted out of the story.

Q. What do you feel is the greatest challenge in presenting both eras with a visceral presence for the reader?

A. It is a challenge to keep the reader engaged in both stories without losing interest or forgetting what was happening. I try to alternate the sections so that they are not too long, and thereby hopefully the plot strands will be fresh in the readers’ mind. As the author, you have to remember which section you’re working on and make sure that you get the language absolutely right – you can’t use writing with a more historical ‘feel’ in the scenes set in the present and vice versa. For the historical parts you have to remember not to use words that hadn’t been invented at that time, whereas for the scenes in the present you have to be careful not to sound too old-fashioned. One way of doing that would be to write each story separately and combine them afterwards, but that doesn’t work for me so I just have to try and switch mindset for each section.

I do love the time slip format because I’m fascinated by the idea that our souls might live on somehow after we pass away, and although I’m terrified of ghosts, at the same time it is a comforting thought that life could go on in some form. Part of the fun of this genre is that anything goes – the author can invent ways of showing the reader (and the hero/heroine too) that there is life after death. I always like stories where good triumphs over evil, so I’m sure that’s part of every novel I write.

I also like time slips because you get the best of two (or even three!) genres – historical and contemporary, sometimes with the paranormal added. That makes them less likely to feel identical to something else you’ve read recently and most time slip authors have their own take on the genre so they vary a lot.

Some authors, like Susanna Kearsley, weave in lots of history in a truly effortless way so that you are learning along with the heroine in the present. That, for me, is wonderful! And others, like Barbara Erskine, add seriously chilling aspects, making them more akin to ghost stories or even horror, so yet again this is different. Although she has also taught me a lot about history, especially the Romans and the Celts in Britain.

In my latest time slip novel, The Secret Kiss of Darkness, I took a more light-hearted approach and created a hero whose soul is trapped in a painting by means of a gypsy’s curse. I would love to know if readers find it as easy to suspend disbelief with a story line like that rather than a more traditional ghost story? Personally, I don’t mind and am happy to go along with whatever an author comes up with – I just love the time slip genre whichever way it’s done!

Many thanks for having me as your guest!

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Author Connections:

Personal Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Converse via: #TheSilentTouchOfShadows & #TheSecretKissOfDarkness

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As you were relaying the keystone characteristics of ‘time slips’ used in fictional stories as a method of telling one particular story with elements of the paranormal as much as parapsychology, I found myself rather bemused by the fact that despite knowing the ‘tricks of the trade’ to insert the dialogue and story into a reader’s mind — I am never found in want or need to be tricked nor entertained. The writers I have been blessed to read and/or watch if on the level I am watching a motion picture with the same story threads as the novels; convey their stories in such a way as to distort reality with a gentle hand. They have a way of allowing us to believe the intangible and improbable as to give us a footing on solid ground when there should be nothing but air! I love how we can take that leap of faith with the writer and peer into their world in which their characters are set to explore! It is quite a heap of fun truly, to go between two distinct time periods and see how true the writer kept to each whilst never deterring from the heart of the story they are telling at the same time.

You mentioned one bit that was most curious and I tend to agree with you: most hauntings are not about ghosts bent towards evil but rather there are circumstances in their lives which took an evil tilt. I oft wonder if a lot of the lost souls who are still wandering and seeking are truly lost or if they are hoping to find someone who can unravell the missing bits of truth needed to find peace? I loved in your Acknowledgements for In The Silent Touch of Shadows,you had relayed visiting a haunted house but were ever so blessed the ghost gave you a wide birth! I tend to agree with you again in this regard, as although I am open to the fact there is much we have little understanding of between the veils of the worlds, I too, believe I might be pushed a bit past my envelope of what I could accept if a ghost simply walked up to me, sat down, and asked to chat over tea! Oy.

So much of our lives are lived on faith and the hope of what has yet to become revealed to us, and in that, we are left with not only unanswered questions and curiosities, but a lot of theories about what will come next and where we shall find ourselves. I think part of the joy in being a writer is not only exploring what keeps our curiosity healthy whilst we are alive, but to impart a bit of what implores us to remain open to ideas and situations that take us outside our zones of familiarity and comfort. Reading opens the horizons to uncharted realms of plausibility but writing endeavours us to encompass everything we understand and everything we have yet to conceive possible. I love the ability to create everything from nothing and to explore how far nothingness can take us if we are willing to make the connection from our heart to our imagination. Imagination is truly the key which unlocks the mysteries of where our pen wants to lead us.

I commend you for being able to write in both a modern vernacular and in a historical one, as I tend to be a hybrid of both on a regular basis out of my pure zest for Old English expressions and words in which are not always as relevant today as they were in yesteryear. Susanna Kearsley is on my TBR List, as I spotlighted one of her novels in my Autumn Top Ten Tuesday Lists of books which whet an interest to delve into whereas with Barbara Erskine I am in need of researching her books! I love the recommendation, as I can never run out of possible next reads!

I shall be able to answer your last question in regards to The Secret Kiss of Darkness, after I have had the pleasure of soaking into its covers! I have elected to read it last from my latest ChocLit offerings to savour the fact I enjoyed winning it from my visit with the Wenches! It was quite a delightful keepsake from such a lovely afternoon of conversation and sharing about a mutual love of time slips! I tend to be a bird of the same feather as you though, as no matter how a writer chooses to tell their tale, if I can make a connection to the characters and story, I am seriously in love with the experience they give me through their choices!

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I’d like to thank Ms. Courtenay for providing such a wonderful explanation of how she approaches time slip fiction and what motivates her to continue to explore the thematic as she pens her stories! What a wonderful discovery to find an author who is as in tune with this curious branch of literature as much as I am attempting to become myself! The full scope of this Guest Post was in part due to my visit with The Word Wenches whereupon I learnt a bit more about their individual attachments to the time slip phenom as much as how Ms. Courtenay appreciated it herself. I wanted to expand a bit on that lovely experience and give a bit more insight to my readers who might be curious about time slips and find themselves wanting to explore authors & stories set inside this unique setting!

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This Author Guest Post is courtesy of ChocLitUK,

ChocLitUK Reviewercheck out my upcoming bookish event and mark your calendars!

Previously I have had the honour of

reviewing & showcasing guest posts by ChocLit Authors!

My book review of “The Silent Touch of Shadows” & “Flight to Coorah Creek” post before Saturday, 17th! And, “The Secret Kiss of Darkness” shall round out this batch of ChocLit novels which have alighted in my reading life on 7th of June! I do apologise for the absence I have given on behalf of my book reviews & archives of #ChocLitSaturdays chats as I was dealing with personal stress which took me away from my blog life for a short bit of time.

#ChocLitSaturdays | a feature exclusive to Jorie Loves A Story

Don’t forget : #ChocLitSaturdays has expanded to include a weekly chat via http://twubs.com/choclitsaturdays! Stay around at 11am EST | 8am PST | 4pm UK | 1am Australia for a lovely spontaneous conversation about ‘time slips’ & “The Silent Touch of Shadows”! All romance booklovers are welcome to join in on the joy of our conversations! Remember to login via Twubs with your regular Twitter account! Do not look like a ‘penguin’ as tweets will not go to Twitter! I look forward to seeing you in convo on Twubs OR in these comment threads!

{NOTE: Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.}

{SOURCES: Author photograph, Author Biography, Book Synopsises, Book Covers, and ChocLit Reviewer badge were provided by ChocLitUK and were used by permission. Jorie requested an Author Guest Post from Christina Courtenay through ChocLitUK of which she received a reply. She wanted to expand her knowledge of how one writer approaches the art of writing stories with time slips. Guest Post badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Jorie Loves A Story badge created by Ravven with edits by Jorie in FotoFlexer. #ChocLitSaturdays collage was created by Jorie in PicMonkey. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Saturday, 10 May, 2014 by jorielov in 15th Century, 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Ghost Story, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Gothic Literature, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Magical Realism, Paranormal Romance, Parapsychological Suspense, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Romance Fiction, Time Slip, Time Travel Romance

#ChocLitSaturdays | A Twitter Chat focused on #Romance & #Booklovers; inspired by #ChocLit book reviews!

Posted Thursday, 24 April, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

#ChocLitSaturdays | a feature exclusive to Jorie Loves A Story

I truly would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has dropped by over the past week to *vote!* on the hour in which #ChocLitSaturdays the weekly Twitter chat will meet! I have appreciated your feedback and have had the difficult choice in sorting out what to trust more: the top vote cast in the Poll itself OR knowing the reality of the time zones! Therefore, let me break everything down and let you know how I came to my conclusion!

The final results of the Poll:

ChocLitSaturdays Poll Results bby Screen Capture
Screen Capture of Poll Results to determine #ChocLitSaturdays Twitter Chat Hour

And, therein lies the dilemma for me!

California | New York | London | Europe | Australia

8a | 11a | 4p | 5p | 1a = 30%

9a | Noon | 5p | 6p | 2a

10a | 1p | 6p | 7p | 3a = 15%

11a | 2p | 7p | 8p | 4a

1p | 4p | 9p | 10p | 6a

Noon | 3p | 8p | 9p | 5a

3p | 6p | 11p | Midnight | 8a

5p | 8p | 1a | 2a | 10a = 15%

Of the majority votes, my own personal inclination is to host #ChocLitSaturdays at either 11a OR 1p as it is more agreeable for my own time zone. Of the two choices, I cannot in my heart host the chat at 1p because asking someone in Australia or New Zealand to pop online after 3a in the morning is beyond inconsiderate! Moreso, I could theoretically yield to 11a as being a night owl (and many writers will agree with me!) 1a is not too late for a chat if you are regularly up past midnight!

On the flipside, as a lot of ChocLit authors are located in England, the reverse is equally plausible if the chat is held at 8p, as it would be 1a for them! My heart tells me that a more convenient hour for everyone concerned is actually going to be:

#ChocLitSaturdays Twitter Chat & Blog Feature of Jorie Loves A Story
#ChocLitSaturdays Twitter Chat & Blog Feature of Jorie Loves A Story

My Inspiration for #ChocLitSaturdays Twitter Chat:

By uniting readers & writers alike in a conversation where we can talk about why we love Romance and the kind of stories which encourage our spirits & hearts, as much as give us a calming balm when we sit down to read. I know the chat will expand and grow as time shifts forward however, I’d love to invite ChocLit authors to drop in if they were available to do so, as much as welcome other writers to join in on the fun too! I see it as a celebration of Romance for all that Romance offers but at the same time have it a bit hinged to the book I am reviewing that particular Saturday and use the themes inside the novel as a jumping off point of what to talk about in the Romance field in general.

I have been wanting to incorporate what the tagline on my #ChocLitSaturdays badge declares: romance, chocolate, and a cuppa tea is simply divine on the weekends! I’d love to talk and share about our favourite bits of chocolate, romance reads, and which cuppa tea or tea latte works brilliantly with the book in our hands! I’d like to start off the chat with the focus on the recent ChocLit novel I read and then, segue from there to talk about the themes inside it before going into the Romance genre as a broad stroke of conversation. Again, I’d like to offer the authors of ChocLit a chance to drop in and converse with us as well.

Join the Convo on Saturdays: @ChocLitSaturday

Watch the hashtag: #ChocLitSaturdays for weekly updates

OR login to auto-post the tag via: tchat.io/rooms/choclitsaturdays

Full Archives via Storify (*under construction*)

And, I look forward to seeing you on the morrow: 26 April, 2014!  We will be discussing the thematic complexity of “The Maid of Milan” as well as delving into how other romance writers have treated the same elements of psychological suspense & the depth of deceit. Be sure to read my book review ahead of joining in on the conversation as a ‘head’s up’! Thank you for your support!

The following is a guide to know when the book reviews will alight on my blog!

#ChocLitSaturdays Collage of Upcoming ChocLit Book Reviews

{Sources: #ChocLitSaturdays collage was created by Jorie in PicMonkey. Book Covers for ChocLit novels provided by ChocLitUK and used with permission. Jorie Loves A Story badge created by Ravven, with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer. Screen capture of #ChocLitSaturdays Poll results via PollDaddy.com provided by keyboard shortcuts & edited in PicMonkey. #ChocLitSaturdays Twitter Chat Badge created by Jorie in PicMonkey.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Thursday, 24 April, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy Romance, Gothic Romance, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Jorie Loves A Story, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Paranormal Romance, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Suspense, Small Towne Fiction, the Edwardian era, The London Season, the Regency era, the Roaring Twenties, Time Slip, Time Travel Romance, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event, Victorian Era, War-time Romance