A random joy of engaging with debut novelist Lacy Crawford who wrote “Early Decision” a novel on the harrowing experiences of attempting to gain entrance into University!

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

Stories of Jorie badge created in Canva

“Stories of Jorie” will simply be what it sounds like being ~ stories of my own joy as it arrives inside my life! I’ll be sharing more about my interests and hobbies outside the bookish realms, as much as staying true to my bookish roots on Jorie Loves A Story. I’ll be sharing t he background of why I choose to curate my lists on Riffle as much as spread the joy of what makes me smile inside my ordinary hours. I simply needed the first twelve months to focus on blogging about books, getting my feet wet as a blogger, and finding my way through blog tours as much as sorting out that curious ‘thing’ called the “Twitterverse”. This is a dawn of a new day, this is Jorie, the girl who is affectionately addicted to sharing her love of stories and the joy of curating her own stories each day that she lives.

I honestly logged onto Twitter to have a bit of ‘downtime’ as my Thursday didn’t actually end until 4am Friday morning, as I was awaiting news about my neighbour who had been taken to the ER earlier in the evening around 8:30pm. She’s in her late 80s, and I was growing concerned as the hours ticked off the clock that perhaps it would be a bit more serious than a virus; thankfully she was diagnosed with early on-set pneumonia. She’s recovering on antibiotics whilst I am trying to shift my day forward as are my parents, as we’ve been involved since she was taken to the hospital. Therefore, I was thinking of finishing the drafts I had began for two Top Ten Tuesdays (last weeks & this weeks) as I was delayed in posting both due to health reasons. I thought I should flesh out my *first!* 10 Bookish & Not So Bookish post of which has grown into a rambling journal of events from June, July, & now September! I’ve tried to participate thrice over since I first decided to participate *weekly!*, yet Summer has not yielded a lot of completion on the original ideas I had to share during the weekly meme!

I like to hop on Twitter because I know Fridays is a nice afternoon space for the bookish soul who wants to catch-up on the literary news floating through the twitterverse; not to mention I am always half a step behind the Publishers’ who are happily tweeting through the week on upcoming novels & other lovelies that might perk an interest. I also wanted to work on my new home for #ChocLitSaturdays which is @ChocLitSaturday, but I never actually broached further than *catching!* up with my own Notifications and tweeting out notes of gratitude to William Morrow about my last tour stop Someone Else’s Love Story. I wanted to double-check I was following HarperCollins directly as I have come to learn recently I read quite a heap of titles by their imprint William Morrow as well as titles threaded through HarperCollins in one way or another. (courtesy of a new indexing feature I am archiving on my blog!) I have a lot of Publishers I follow on my List for: Press & Publishers [Major Trade, Indie Press, Editors, & the Publishing Life!] but as I walk through my reading adventures year to year as a book blogger, I am purposely holding off following all of them directly as I am trying to sort out which publishers turn my eye the most per annum.

This is how I stumbled across an event on @HarperCollins called a ‘#twittertakeover‘ where the author of the hour being featured was Ms. Lacy Crawford! I hadn’t stumbled across her novel previously nor did I honestly know what the topic of the moment was going to involve, so I did what I always do when I spontaneously stumble across a tweetchat on Twitter: I dived right in! :)

I am getting a bit ahead of myself,… these are the tweets I tweeted off to William Morrow (before realising they should have been re-routed to @Morrow_PB!):

Although I tweeted about my joy of this P.S. Edition, I am now questioning if I had tweeted out my love of the original joy I had whilst reading The Ghost Bride whereupon I made my joy known for the first time!

Shortly thereafter, I roamed around a bit between my Home feeds & my Inbox, where I happily discovered there are two Miss Marple’s arriving *this!* Sunday on PBS! Sadly, one of them is going to interfere with the season finale of the Guy vs. Rachael competition, of which I only remembered *after!* I tweeted PBS! Oy vie. At this point, I caught sight of the HarperCollins TwitterTakeover event tweets, but I had misunderstood the hour in which it was going to happen as I thought I had arrived too late to join in! Wickedly I was bang-on brilliant at my timing today, and thus, this is where I joined the joyful exchanges:

As you see, I was happily engaged in this conversation, enjoying where it led, and simply went with the flow of the conversation! I did not even mind if I received a few replies over the score of it, because I was thankful I could participate and there were other tweeters I was happily seeing get their tweets responded too as well! It felt very balanced and fair, and I think Ms. Crawford did a smashing job at engaging with her audience & giving out such an honest impression of where her own thoughts lay on the topics. Previously to this conversation, I have always appreciated the chats I attempt to participate in weekly as time and life get away from me and I cannot always drop-in on my favourites! It is nice seeing publishers hosting open forums as well as independent literary sources and readers!

I love googling for book excerpts whilst I am participating on blog tours and/or reading books outside of a tour — it helps me provide extra bits of information on the text I am reading, but one smidge of a secret is that I routinely browse SoundCloud & Scribd for my own edification for other novels which whet an interest for me to read! :) This includes novels and/or non-fiction titles that I might put on hold at my local library [as I borrow quite a heap each year] or suggest a Purchase REQ if its under the six month bar of availability to ILL (inter-library loan). Inveribly, I like finding either an audio and/or print excerpt to gain a bit more insight into the novel and/or non-fiction topic I keenly want to soak inside. To be honest, I am always cognisant of what I mention on my Review Policy as flags I’ll mark off inside my notations for Fly in the Ointment; I’m always trying to sidestep this from happening, but for the most part, we’re always a bit blind when we select books to read. We can do our due diligence ahead of time, but we still might end up with a wrinkling of our brow; at least it is true for me!

Inspired to Share: I came across a radio Interview between Ms. Crawford and an Sirius XM radio host (personal note: I used to ADORE listening to all the lovely channels on XM radio!) whereupon a bit more of an insight glimpse into the backstory of how the novel was written and how she was inspired to write it whilst maintaining a bit of distance between the real-life composites who inspired the story to be told. I appreciated finding out more about the novel, but also more about the entire ‘story!’ of how to enter University from an Admissions Counselor. As disclosed on My Bookish Life, I’m a self-educated / library-educated girl who opted out of University, yet that doesn’t mean I haven’t amassed my own filing cabinet of knowledge of the chaos that is involved in being accepted. I simply haven’t sorted out if I should turn half of it into fiction or use the know-how to help my future children navigate if they want to attend and/or opt-out like I did. I personally do not mind either way, because truly, there are many paths towards achieving your goals and dreams. We’re not cookie-cutter learners nor are we destined to all take the same path as everyone else.

A quinky dink of a coincidence would be that I tend to gravitate towards stories about college and/or the University years, even though I am removed from the experience. I always like hearing other people’s stories even if they are wrapped inside fictional accountments, because it is through stories we all learn more about ourselves whilst embracing the differences of others. Stories pass on our heritage as much as who were were whilst we lived.

Please follow the link (will not embed?): Lacy Crawford Interview by Smerconish

I proceeded over to Scribd where I found a Book Excerpt (cheers & applause!) before moving over to the author’s website directly! And, I am including her contact information below for easy reference in case this post has encouraged you to seek out this novel as well! I already checked my library’s catalogue and found that is not yet in queue, but I’m going to keep my eyes peeled, that much is for sure! And, am I a lucky duck or what?! It is a *P.S. Edition!*

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Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

Excerpt from Early Decision by Lacy Crawnford via WilliamMorrowBooks

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Author Connections:

Site | @lacy_crawford | Tumblr

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Lacy Crawford – Early Decision via Connie Martinson

Inspired to Share: This is an interview I found shortly after I was editing this post to publish, and felt the post would not be complete without its inclusion. Mostly as it is such an honest example of what high school Juniors & Seniors are going through to prove they can enter upper levels of schooling. I can tell after I read the novel I’ll have to sort out how much I want to comment on and how much I want to share about my own experiences, as part of the disillusionment for me about University was how competitive driven it was to enter yet once your there, most of it was a glorified addition to high school without the benefit of being in a place where free thinkers and individual expression was encouraged. Not that this applies to all colleges and Universities, but I think for the most part, what is missing is the exploration of encouraging ideas which exist outside the box and allowing students to forget their own paths whilst encouraging their curiosity for knowledge. I’ve talked a bit about this previously, which is most likely why I have my eye on books on education as I know in the near future I’ll start to adopt and become a Mum myself. The quest to find balance and a better path for education will now lay on my shoulders and continue forward from where my own path concluded.

My favourite part of this conversation was when Ms. Martinson spoke about the positive contribution libraries give to all of us and how all of us have the advantage to stay curiously healthy by picking up our holds and diving into new books which will hopefully enlighten our minds as much as our hearts! Rock on, Ms. Martinson! The fundamental roots of how I became self-educated is the fact I’ve had a library card since I was a young wist of a reader!

Comments make me smile! Let’s start a conversation! I appreciate your visit & look forward to your return! I do moderate the comment threads; do not worry if the comment is delayed in being seen! Drop back soon!

Reader Interactive Question:

What wicked sweet bookish event have you ‘stumbled across’ on Twitter which encouraged you look into the author & the book being spoken about so heartedly? What do you enjoy the most about bookish chats on Twitter where you get to engage with readers, bloggers, publishers, literary agents, and authors directly!? Do you regularly attempt to attend as many as you can as I do!?

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Ho hey! I broke 19K on Twitter today!

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{SOURCES: Stories of Jorie badge created by Jorie in Canva. Interview with Lacy Crawford via Connie Martinson 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. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Book Excerpt was able to be embedded due to codes provided by Scribd.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov in 21st Century, Book | Novel Extract, College & University Years, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Realistic Fiction, Scribd, Soundcloud

+Blog Book Tour+ Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 2 Comments

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Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jcakson

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Original publication date: 19th November, 2013; this is the paperback reprint

Official Author Websites: Site | @joshilynjackson| Facebook
Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #SomeoneElsesLoveSory

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Someone Else’s Love Story” 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.

A notation on the Unexpected Extras:

The edition of Someone Else’s Love Story is the special “P.S.” edition of which I happily expressed my enthused response in receiving on behalf of: The Ghost Bride. In this particular case, it drew to light my collection of music is also stored inside of a box at the moment, as I would have happily pulled out my Indigo Girls albums to play in the background once I learnt that Ms. Jackson listened to them whilst creating this novel! (apparently they were excellent for cluing into Shandi) How lovely! Now when she said William’s song was “Gone Gone Gone” by Philip Phillips I nearly couldn’t believe my eyes — it is simply one of my favourite songs by Phillips! And, I’m always especially grateful he performs live on television as I happily have seen him a few times, most recently during the Capitol Fourth celebration on PBS! Further glee for me was reading Walcott is represented aptly through “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers! Seriously!? I can so dig this author! And, I hadn’t even picked up the novel to read yet! Just by saying Paula would be a vocal hybrid of Pink & Regina Spektor (of whom I have seen live in person!) made perfect sense to me — even though I had yet to see her in the story! Laughs.

I am as connected to music as Jackson, and therefore, all these little hints about which musicians and artists would best represent them in song and musical threads of creative voice felt right to me! And, this is what I am saying about the “P.S.” editions by William Morrow, they give you such a hearty insight behind the pen as to allow you to learn a bit more than you were expecting to be able to know!

I listened to each of these ahead of reading the story:

I am always happily surprised by the enclosures I find within the review books I receive in the Post; this particular one was a finished copy and therefore I am not expecting to find an enclosure unless the publicist includes the Press Sheet for the author and novel. This time I was more than happily surprised to find a *bookmark!*, and yes, you can definitely believe me when I tell you that I get quite giddy finding *bookmarks!* enclosed with books for review! I have quite the lovely collection of bookmarks I’ve collected over the years since I was a young child, however, all of those are stored in a box and not readily easy to pull out. Imagine my surprise joy to find this bookmark is for the novel: All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenburg! A novel I have heard a considerable amount of praise as much as I have been on the fence if I can handle reading it or not. Mostly as I know its going to be an emotional read and learning on this bookmark he’s donating all proceeds of the novel to Breast Cancer Research is incredible! He even set up his own foundation (Heidi’s Angels) in order to re-direct the funds to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

I do state my hesitation to read stories where cancer is front and center on my Review Policy, as I simply have a sensitive heart and I am always being careful about the level of emotional drama I can handle reading. Recently, the novel which truly gutted me emotionally was actually a war drama (I Shall Be Near To You) which was both a surprise and a wake-up call to be a bit more cognisant of the story-lines I’m reading right now. I think my heart is always quite open to stories, but whether or not I’m able to handle their contents is another matter entirely. I always celebrate writers who donate their proceeds to a worthy cause and therefore, I am thankful to William Morrow for enclosing this bookmark and drawing my eye towards the beautiful generosity of this author. Even if I may or may not be able to read the novel, I’ll always know a novel I can give as a gift and perhaps lift someone else’s spirits in the process.

I happily used the bookmark to read Someone Else’s Love Story!

+Blog Book Tour+ Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn JacksonSomeone Else's Love Story
by Joshilyn Jackson
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

For single mom Shandi Pierce, life is a juggling act. She’s finishing college, raising precocious three-year-old Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced parents.Then she gets caught in the middle of a stickup at a gas station and falls instantly in love with William Ashe, when he steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that William’s act wasn’t about bravery. When he looked down the barrel of the robber’s gun he believed it was destiny: it’s been exactly one year since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do—to him destiny is about choice.

Now William and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head-on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Southern Lit, Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Published by William Morrow

on 5th August, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Author Biography:Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Gods in Alabama and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her husband and their two children.

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Listen to an Excerpt of the Novel : Read by Joshilyn Jackson

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On listening to the Excerpt after reaching page 8:

Normally I seek out an Excerpt on either SoundCloud or Scribd long before I pick up a novel to read, however, I started to get a hankering for hearing how the character of Sandi might be read aloud which had me googling the title of the novel with “SoundCloud” as part of the search feature! I’ve found that is a much quicker route to getting to where your going on SoundCloud at least until I can restore my links in my sidebar which haven’t materalised since I self-hosted in late August; as it requires a re-organisation of the categories. Listening to the author reveal the voice for Shandi was as ingenius of my listening to The Ghost Bride for each of these authors Choo & Jackson have such a distinctive gift for reading aloud their own works of fiction!

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Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Child out of Wedlock, Domestic Violence, Drugs & Alcohol, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, The Deep South, TLC Book Tours, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, Unexpected Pregnancy, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction

+Blog Book Tour+ I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Posted Tuesday, 16 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 1 Comment

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 I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Published By: Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group (@CrownPublishing)

and part of: Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom)

Official Author Websites: Site | @ErinLindsMcCabe| Facebook
Available Formats: Hardcover, Ebook

Converse via: #IShall (main tag), #IShallBeNearToYou

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “I Shall Be Near To You” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Crown Publishing Group, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read & Excitement Ahead of Time:

The beautiful cover art on the hardback edition I received to review is featured inside the Excerpt by the publisher’s Scribd page featured below my review. I must admit, I appreciate both versions of the cover-art designs, even if I’m a bit partial to the hardback as I think it gives a measure of mystery as to how a woman could hide behind the thin veil of a man’s clothes and walk onto the field of battle; serving her country alongside her husband. The second cover-art which is included on the Book Synopsis is a bit more elusive as to the central core of the story, as it draws you to think of a different thread of context. At least it had for me, as it appeared to be a woman who was caught in the middle of the era of war rather than a woman who joined the fight during the war itself.

I had the pleasure of participating in a Twitter chat ahead of my review posting on the 2nd of September, whereupon I was wrapped up in the excitement of this novel’s release and the joyous mirth of discovering book bloggers & readers who had already felt the inertia of its emotional pull. I was overjoyed being able to participate in a chat dedicated to one of my favourite branches of literature, and for giving me such an incredible start to this blog tour.

+Blog Book Tour+ I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabeI Shall Be Near to You

In I SHALL BE NEAR TO YOU, McCabe introduces us to newlywed Rosetta Wakefield. More accustomed to working as her father’s farmhand and happiest doing what others might call “man’s work,” Rosetta struggles with how to be a good wife to her childhood beau and new husband, Jeremiah. When Jeremiah leaves home to join the Union army, Rosetta finds the only way she can honor Jeremiah is to be with her husband—no matter what..

Cutting off her hair and donning men’s clothing, Rosetta enlists in the army as Private Ross Stone so that she might stand beside her husband. Joining, however, is the easy part, and now Rosetta must not only live and train with her male counterparts as they prepare for imminent battle, but she must also deal with Jeremiah, who is struggling with his “fighting” wife’s presence, not to mention the constant threat of discovery..

In brilliant detail, inspired by the letters of the real Rosetta Wakeman, McCabe offers a riveting look at the day-to-day lives of these secret women fighters as they defied conventions and made their personal contributions to history. Both a tender love story and a hard look at war, I SHALL BE NEAR TO YOU offers a unique exploration of marriage, societal expectations, and the role of women in the Civil War through the lens of a beautifully written novel..


Places to find the book:

on 2nd September, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 336

Author Biography:

Erin Lindsay McCabe

Erin studied literature and history at University of California, Santa Cruz, earned a teaching credential at California State University, Chico, and taught high school English for seven years. Since completing her MFA in Creative Writing at St. Mary’s College of California in 2010, Erin has taught Composition at St. Mary’s College and Butte College. A California native, Erin lives in the Sierra Foothills with her husband, son, and a small menagerie that includes one dog, four cats, two horses, numerous chickens, and three goats.

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The [American] Civil War:

I learnt quite a heap about the Civil War whilst I was in high school, except to say, they left out quite a lot of important factors such as women who served their country alongside the men! I think I might have listened a bit closer to the lectures and the discussions, as to me, it was all starting to blur together after two terms of feeling as though we were going right round in a circle without any of it making a lot of sense in the end. Being the fact I grew up in the South, most of the lessons were focused on the Rebel Army rather than the Union; yet being that I’m from Northern Stock, I was more keen to know about Grant’s positions and where my ancestors might have fit into this war. It would take over a decade to learn about my Great Granddaddy who was a Captain with the Union, and fresh off the boat from Ireland. The best bit was learning how he was a farmer and how much he loved the land. In some ways, I was never surprised to have learnt more than half my ancestors who immigrated to America ended up as farmers; it seems right as rain to me, being that I’m a locavore who appreciates farm fresh fruit and veg, locally grown (without chemicals) and sourced.

It didn’t matter which side your family fought on during this war because it was a war to end all wars in of itself. It was a war where everyone fought side by side and both sides (the North & the South) felt they were in the right. It has a brutal history and it has an empowering moment of change; nothing was the same, and battles were won on the deaths of so many innocents. To find a story that places true-to-life characters in the middle of this great war and gives a searing arc of climax that befits the war itself as much as the barriers women faced during that time is an incredible find.

McCabe centers her story on the true grit of historical fact originating out of the Civil War itself; including having found a real-life Rosetta who was part of the inspiration for her own. She doesn’t hold back from revealing the cardinal truths of the battlefield or the wounded inside the hospital wards, yet she is sensitive to their plight and I felt lifted in spirit rather than bogged down in the horrors of war. I felt she tempered the truth with a narrative that gives you a breath to absorb the words without always taking the reality of what they are expressing to a shocking conclusion. McCabe’s best attribute is in knowing what to include and how what happens affects everyone you’ve come to know. The war is both the backdrop and the shifting force to pull everyone forward and apart at the same time. It is a testament of our past and a testament of the power to fight for everything you believe in.

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Posted Tuesday, 16 September, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Blog Tour Host, Civil War Era (1861-1865), Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Military Fiction, Vulgarity in Literature, War Drama

+Blog Book Tour+ Desire Lines by Christina Baker Kline

Posted Monday, 15 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 6 Comments

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Desire Lines by Christina Baker Kline

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Official Author Websites: Site | @bakerkline | Facebook
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #ChristinaBakerKline

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Desire Lines” 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 : as revealed on my review of Sweet Water

There are moments in our lives where our paths cross with a novel that we have a near-sixth sense about how we will enjoy reading it. This is exactly what happened to me whilst I won a copy of Orphan Train from a contest from Shelf Awareness and received the novel from the author herself. The bits and pieces of my life from that moment in April 2013 to a full score year later were one of the most consuming experiences thus far along on my lifepath. I always had the intention of reading Orphan Train close to when I had received it. Yet. Life ebbed away and took my focus off the novel that I felt I was meant to read. It was one of those books I knew I would acquire even if I had not been able to receive one from the author. I never had the proper chance to follow-up with Ms. Kline; nor explain my absence but to attempt to explain why I had not yet read the story that captured my attention front line and center.

When I learnt of two novels by Kline going on tour with TLC, I knew I had found my way of redeeming myself and of a way back to Orphan Train! Part of the reason I had ended up holding off reading the novel is because I knew it was going to be an emotional read for me as I’m a Prospective Adoptive Mum. The fate of orphans is very near and dear to my maternal heart, and the plight of those children who were sent out on orphan trains always tugs at the core of my soul.

I had felt a connection to not only the story within the sleeper bestseller but I had felt one with the writer who penned the story, which is why I had written her a heartfelt personal note at the time. This entire year I’ve been a book blogger I have learnt how to yield to stress and how to read stories which are emotionally gutting yet intellectually satisfying whilst going through incredible circumstances that otherwise might only lend themselves to beach reads and uplifting romances. I found that I have the ability to write with a clarity that I had not had in previous years whilst juggling through intense personal stress and I found that the best grace in the world as a writer and reader is the direct focus of stories and the writers who create them.

Christina Baker Kline is one writer who crossed my path at a time I could not devout my heart to read her stories, nor approach them with a mindfulness they deserved. It is only one full year later, but this is my way of not only thanking her for the work she has put forward and into the hands of all of us, but a small gesture of acknowledgement from a reader who was captivated by her sincerity, creativity, and immersive research she conducts to breathe life into her characters and stories. I am the blessed one this year, as this is my second chance at discovering what is inside Kline’s body of work.

Note: There are a total of four novels by Christina Baker Kline on tour with TLC Book Tours, however, Orphan Train is not amongst them. I am going to read Orphan Train in September for my own edification and pleasure. I want to take my time to absorb into it and soak through the emotions I know I shall greet when I open the pages of a story I have not stopped thinking about since it arrived.

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+Blog Book Tour+ Desire Lines by Christina Baker KlineDesire Lines
by Christina Baker Kline
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Genres: Literary Fiction



Places to find the book:

Also by this author: Sweet Water

Published by William Morrow

on 12th August, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Book Synopsis:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train comes a novel about buried secrets and the redemptive power of forgiveness

On the night of her high school graduation, Kathryn Campbell sits around a bonfire with her four closest friends, including the beautiful but erratic Jennifer. “I’ll be fine,” Jennifer says, as she walks away from the dying embers and towards the darkness of the woods. She never comes back.

Ten years later, Kathryn has tried to build a life for herself, with a marriage and a career as a journalist, but she still feels the conspicuous void of Jennifer’s disappearance. When her divorce sends her reeling back to the Maine town where she grew up, she finds herself plunged into a sea of memories. With nothing left to lose, she is determined to answer one simple question: What happened to Jennifer Pelletier?

 

Author Biography:Christina Baker Kline

Christina Baker Kline was born in England and raised in Maine. The author of five novels, including the runaway bestseller Orphan Train, Kline has taught literature and creative writing at Yale, New York University, and Fordham. She lives outside of New York City.

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Small Towne Maine:

The undertone of the novel is a unique one, as it is not necessarily underlit with a positiveness about small towne Maine life nor is it especially neutral or negative; Kline has a way of fusing her character’s (Kathryn) emotional state into the underbelly of the narrative itself, giving a unique perspective to the locale. Small townes are always notorious for having the ability to find caring neighbours and close-knitted communities where strangers are infrequent and the care of being in the know about each person’s life is simply a matter of towne pride and goodwill. There is an unsettling harbouring though of the unknown and the unresolved of what can haunt a towne like Bangor on the aftermath of a disappeared teen. The ripples of how one girl can dearly affect a towne and how the people she left behind were stumbling to find any sense of how to proceed forward after she was gone.

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Posted Monday, 15 September, 2014 by jorielov in Adulterous Affair, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Discussions, Brothers and Sisters, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Disillusionment in Marriage, Divorce & Martial Strife, Drugs & Alcohol, Family Drama, Family Life, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Kidnapping or Unexplained Disappearances, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life Shift, Literary Fiction, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Psychological Suspense, Scribd, Small Towne USA, TLC Book Tours, Vulgarity in Literature

+Blog Book Tour+ The Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber, a book blogger’s recollection of a beloved #dragonfiction trilogy!

Posted Sunday, 14 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , 9 Comments

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 Trilogy Tour with Jackie Gamber & H. David Blalock via Tomorrow Comes Media

Featuring the Creative Works of Indie Authors from Seventh Star Press!

I’m focusing on Jackie Gamber’s the Leland Dragon series as I was given the amazing opportunity to discover the beauty within Gamber’s YA Fantasy series last Autumn; whereupon I received Redheart in exchange for an honest review ‘off-tour’. From the very first moment I broached the covers of this novel of #dragonfiction, I *knew!* I had stumbled across a writer who breathed her heart and spirit into her literary exploits. This was a special story for me to read, as I always wanted to read about dragons in fiction, inasmuch as I was a bonefide reader of Science Fiction & Fantasy since I was quite young until my reading wanderings took an abrupt stop in my late teens.

Author Biography: Jackie Gamber

Jackie Gamber

As an award winning author, Jackie writes stories ranging from ultra-short to novel-length, varieties of which have appeared in anthologies such as Tales of Fantasy and Dragons Composed, as well as numerous periodical publications, including Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, The Binnacle, Mindflights Magazine, Necrotic Tissue, and Shroud. She is the author of the fantasy novels Redheart, Sela, Reclamation and writing an alternate history time travel novel. She blogs professionally for English Tea Store.com, where she reviews classic science fiction and fantasy novels and pairs them with the ideal tea-sipping companion.

Jackie is a member of the professional organizations Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers Association. She was named honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Award, and received a 2008 Darrell Award for best short story by a Mid-South author. She is the winner of the 2009 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction for her story The Freak Museum, a post-apocalyptic tale that looks closely at perceptions and outward appearances and how they affect the way we see ourselves. Jackie Gamber was co-founder and Executive Editor of Meadowhawk Press, a speculative fiction publisher based in Memphis. One of their novels, Terminal Mind by David Walton, won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award in 2009. Jackie also edited the award winning benefit anthology, Touched By Wonder. She has been a guest lecturer at Memphis Options High Schools, and is a speaker at writers’ conferences from Michigan to Florida. Jackie is also the visionary behind the MidSouthCon Writers’ Conference, helping writers connect since 2008.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Wordsmiths are my favourites next to research enthusiasts:

Ms. Gamber has a way of weaving the opening bits of this tale in such a way that your hungry for each new sentence that alights in your mind! She has a way of showing the interactions between a freaked out of her skull human and a disgruntled and reclusive dragon as though this were an ordinary tale, set in an ordinary time, and one that would easily be taken as ‘written’ and ‘true’. Her ease of giving the reader the chance to soak into her narrative is brilliant when you consider this is an epic fantasy, with a world created fully unknown to the reader who picks up the book!

Next to (writers who are) research enthusiasts, my next favourite writer is the wordsmith! The one who uses a palette of words to paint the portraits of what evolves into the stories that light up our imaginations with such a vigorous intensity! They use words in a fashion that infuses emotion, heart, and observation in a way that is both poetic and brilliantly unique. And, being emotional beings (dragons), I would wager could lead to disappointments, misunderstandings, and grievously difficult emotional keels! She eclipses the depth of their personality with deft skill! Soulful! Dragons to me, have always come across as being ‘soulful’, filt to the brim with an ageless wisdom and a mission to seek out understanding in things that they do not always understand at first.

– quoted from my review of Redheart

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The Leland Dragon series :
A Book Blogger’s Retrospective on a Trilogy

Discovering a touring company (Tomorrow Comes Media) whilst browsing the book blogosphere last September and seeing this curiously purple & black logo winking at me in the sidebar of one of my click through visits changed my life as I couldn’t sign-up to be a Tour Hostess fast enough! My first blog tour to host for TCM (I always smile at the initials because I am always thinking of Turner Classic Movies when I use it!) was for “The Boxcar Baby” by J.L. Mulvihill where I tackled a Dystopian Steampunked world for the first time. My review for The Boxcar Baby posted on 29th of September whereas Redheart followed on 30th of October, making it my fourth novel from Seventh Star Press and my fourth Indie Science Fiction or Fantasy author to be read of all-time. As even though I always grativated towards Indie Press & Publishers as much as I did Self-Published authors — there was never an easy route to seek them out on a regular basis. By becoming a book blogger not only was I discovering how wide of a net the Indies encompass nowadays but I was able to cross paths with more writers like me who think outside the box of the traditional paradigm of the world of publishing. Being in a position to ‘host!’ the author and their stories was both an honour and an absolute incredible blessing!

Redheart had such a strong effect on me, as the world within where Kallon Redheart lives is such an intricately created world with layered dimensions at every turn. The fact that I *devoured!* this novel rather than slowly soaked into its heart, is an understatement!

I was so new to hosting for TCM when I posted my review for Redheart I didn’t have the official author’s biography for Gamber nor did I realise I could have posted the Book Synopsis! I was still in the opening months of understanding how I wanted to blog and share my reading adventures as much as defining myself as a Blog Book Tour Hostess. I’ve kept my archives as true to my posts as they were posted originally with only updating font, size of typography, and/or updating badges or post dividers. I wanted an honest recollection of my journey and of the materials I had at my disposal when I was blogging about the books as I met them. I still remain true to how I started, however, in that I am always seeking permission to use Press Kit Materials on behalf of novels & their authors. To me it is not only a courtesy but a rule of thumb as a book blogger.

I truly need to re-read and re-visit the entire trilogy of which I reflected recently and even included my ‘dream setting’ in which to do it:

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Posted Sunday, 14 September, 2014 by jorielov in #HorrorOctober, A to Z Challenge, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Cliffhanger Ending, Dragon Fiction, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Good vs. Evil, Indie Art, Indie Author, Light vs Dark, Nature & Wildlife Photography Antidotes of Jorie, Retrospective Memories of a Series, Sci-Fi November, Seventh Star Press, YA Fantasy