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:
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
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.
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!
{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.}
Published By:Little A / New Harvest, 8 April, 2014
(in conjunction with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & Amazon Publishing) Official Author Websites: Twitter | Facebook | Site Available Formats: Paperback & E-Book Page Count: 208
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Incendiary Girls” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Little A / New Harvest, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Intrigued to Read:
I love researching reincarnation and I have a passion for metaphysical theories and phenom! I like the fact the writer is giving the reader a chance to transcend our own perceptional reality to drink through a portal of a reality veiled from our view! Sounds enriching and thought-provoking! These books are such a rare gift to come across! They exist in a literary realm all on their own! I would think they are almost inside “Magicial Realism”? Which is a genre I am focusing on throughout the year as I read through myClassics Club list!
{+ About the Book +}
Inspired by her studies and interest in science and medicine, Kodi Scheer’s début story collection, INCENDIARY GIRLS explores the ineffable power of healing, where the human body becomes strange and unfamiliar terrain, a medium for transformation. Across the eleven stories, Scheer’s characters grapple with life’s medical maladies, often with a twist of the surreal, and emotions of the everyday – love and loss, confusion, and insecurity.
In the opening story, Fundamental Laws of Nature, a mother (recently diagnosed with breast cancer) is convinced her daughter’s horse is her own mother re-incarnated. With each gallop and jump, her mother’s admonitions are expressed, and she is left to confront her own legacy and mortality. The story is full of heartache and beauty, those tender moments of family that are so affecting one can’t help but see the departed in those around them.
With each step, Scheer interrogates our expectations of reality and pushes logic to its breaking point. In Transplant a heart-transplant recipient converts to Islam, and wonders if it is the new organ that has re-written her personality. In No Monsters Here, the wife of an active-duty soldier faces her own fears when she finds her husband’s ear in the hamper. There is dark humour and vivid imagination at play, but also empathy and sadness.
It’s here too, where international political events – the Iraq war, the Armenian Genocide – are absorbed into Scheer’s surreal landscape. In the title story a mischievous angel chronicles the remarkable like of a girl just beyond death’s reach. From her complicated birth, to fleeting the Armenian Genocide, to surviving the Spanish Flu on a boat bound for America, the angel watches over the girl as she defies the life that was intended for her. In the haunting fabulist tale, When a Camel Breaks Your Heart, a young woman’s would-be fiancé, Mahir, transforms – quite literarily – into a camel. Mahir, once the object of her affection and muse for her art, now embodies the vast differences between their backgrounds as a white American woman and first generation American Muslim, and she is left to figure out how to feed, care, and love someone so different from her.
In INCENDIARY GIRLS, Kodi Scheer weaves together the mundane and the magical to contemplate the fragility of relationships and our own humanity. With a dose of wry humour and a twist of the absurd, Scheer gets to the heart of the human struggle in these incisive and effecting stories.
{+ About the Author +}
Kodi Scheer teaches writing at the University of Michigan. For her work as writer-in-residence at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, she was awarded the Dzanc Prize for Excellence in Literary Fiction and Community Service. Her stories have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Iowa Review, and other publications.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES:
Sunday: 27 April @ 7pm KGB Bar Sunday Literary Series 85 E 4th Street New York, NY
Wednesday: 21 May@ 7pm Book Celler Reading & Signing 4736-38 N Lincoln, Ave Chicago, IL
A Brief Note about the Cover:
I was expecting the story involving the reincarnated Mum as a horse to be a white stallion and was most gobsmacked to learn that it was indeed a black Thoroughbred instead? The off-set colours on the cover-art work well together as it eludes to a stark contrast of themes against the backdrop of humanity on the verge of being relayed through Scheer’s arc of story-telling in short installments of narrative. Yet, despite the colour treatment, I am a bit puzzled by the attempt to draw the reader to alight on the crisp alertness of the horse, if the horse itself is not a representation of a character or element of a story contained within the book itself!? Such a beautiful creature to behold when you first pick up the featherweight collection of stories. All equestrians such as I will be left in fond repose!
My Review of Incendiary Girls:
I honestly had difficulty gaining a lead-in to the stories contained in the book because each time I attempted to settle into the rhythm and pace of one of the stories, I felt myself confronted with either a disturbing image or a diversion of where I had thought the short story was going to take me. The one that sort of left a bad aftertaste in my mind was the very brief Miss Universe, which I suppose at its core was trying to empathsis the difference in layers of the human psyche and how far we are willing to take our path towards glory and fame. However, it’s the way in which the author choose to illuminate and illustrate this particular revelation that simply did not float my boat.
The story with the most promise but failed to keep me steady in its grip was the very first one Fundamental Laws of Nature as I could very well see the paradigm shift inside the mother’s heart betwixt by the complexities of what happens towards the end of your life or rather, at the end of a loved one’s life who has transcended this existence and gone into the next chapter wherever that may lie. Yet, I felt disconnected after reading the first page and a half, as though I had misplaced a step in the pacing of its telling. I skipped to the last page and found the mother had recaptured a bit of harmony whilst living through a difficult period of her own life without the grace and nuturement of her mother now passed.
There are elements of what I appreciate in story form shaping into the collection but for me, I found the stories sharpened a bit too keenly and too raw for me to go into the emotional state a reader needs to walk a line to fully capture the message the writer is etching into their words and context of story. The suspension of reality and the essence of where reality merges with the fantastical were two transitions I could accept and wished I could have settled into the heart of what Scheer left behind.
{SOURCES: Incendiary Girls Book Cover, Author Photograph, and TLC Tour Host badge provided by TLC Book Tours and used with permission. Book Synopsis / About the Book selection, Author Biography, and Tour Dates provided by Little A / New Harvest press release which was enclosed with the book and therefore used with permission.}
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Night in Shanghai” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
I’ve been swept into the Jazz Age since January of 2013 when I first read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Having read the biographical fiction of Zelda, I started to understand the undercurrent of the era. There was a lot about that time in our history and in Europe’s history that I was not clued in on. Bits and pieces which surprised me, especially about the salons for writers & creatives, which apparently were not as free as they appeared to have been! I felt the hot scorn that Zelda felt and the inaccurate self-worth she struggled to regain control of whilst her husband took the spotlight even off of her own writings. Through that book, and the motion picture of “The Great Gatsby”, I became attached to the 1920s & 1930s even a bit more than I had been whilst I watched the BBC drama “The House of Elliott!” To the extent, that I sought out Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries which is a bang-on brilliant BBC/Aussie drama set in Melbourne around the same era of time!
I read the description of this novel, then moved over to the author’s website & played the book trailer. Somewhere between the description and the trailer I made my choice to read this novel! It’s sweeping in its depth and what I love uncovering through historical fiction are little nuggets of the unknown moments against the larger backdrop of historical events!!
}: Book Synopsis :{
In 1936, classical pianist Thomas Greene is recruited to Shanghai to lead a jazz orchestra of fellow African-American expats. From being flat broke in segregated Baltimore to living in a mansion with servants of his own, he becomes the toast of a city obsessed with music, money, pleasure and power, even as it ignores the rising winds of war.
Song Yuhua is refined, educated, and bonded since age eighteen to Shanghai’s most powerful crime boss in payment for her father’s gambling debts. Outwardly submissive, she burns with rage and risks her life spying on her master for the Communist Party.
Only when Shanghai is shattered by the Japanese invasion do Song and Thomas find their way to each other. Though their union is forbidden, neither can back down from it in the turbulent years of occupation and resistance that follow. Torn between music and survival, freedom and commitment, love and world war, they are borne on an irresistible riff of melody and improvisation to Night in Shanghai’s final, impossible choice.
In this impressively researched novel, Nicole Mones not only tells the forgotten story of black musicians in the Chinese Jazz age, but also weaves in a stunning true tale of Holocaust heroism little-known in the West.
Author Biography:
A newly launched textile business took Nicole Mones to China for the first time in 1977, after the end of the Cultural Revolution. As an individual she traded textiles with China for eighteen years before she turned to writing about that country. Her novels Night in Shanghai, The Last Chinese Chef, Lost in Translation and A Cup of Light are in print in more than twenty-two languages and have received multiple juried prizes, including the Kafka Prize (year’s best work of fiction by any American woman) and Kiriyama Prize (finalist; for the work of fiction which best enhances understanding of any Pacific Rim Culture).
Mones’ nonfiction writing on China has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Gourmet, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. She is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
A passion for Jazz: I came to appreciate jazz and the blues from a young age, as I grew up in a home full of classical music and a deep passion for the living arts. I was free to decide for myself where my inclinations would take me musically, or even if I wanted to simply appreciate listening to music verse learning how to play an instrument or develop my vocality of voice. As a child I could not grasp which instrument would whet long-term interest to learn, therefore I became an appreciator of music. Symphony and orchestrations were the main focus as I loved attending live events at performing art centers in my hometown. Jazz came into my life a bit of a whispering on the musical winds, as like its counter-companion of the blues, the original inertia of interest was sparked by the stories of the origins rather than of attending concerts.
I was always drawn into those elements of the historical past which brought forward the ruminations of music, to evoke out a harmony of song, ballard or chord which drove into the human emotional well of giving back a living moment through a musical presentation. I vividly remember walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early 1990s, at a moment in my life where I could not enter the Jazz clubs but I could partake of their sounds emitting out onto the streets — giving everyone the freedom to listen as ears finely tuned to their music could always embrace the sounds! Another memory is hinged to the latter 1990s where I heard a vocal artist from Washington, DC create distinctive evocations with her voice. She sung Jazz in a way that felt like an experience rather than a performance! She was one artist I had hoped I could have travelled to see again live as I only had the one chance to be in an audience of her artistry. Thankfully, a short conversation afterwards has never left my memory.
Bluegrass by comparison is another thread of music I tend to gravitate towards for the same reasons I am attached to Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne, and countless more artists as there is a strong desire to curate human emotion into sound; and as such turn the sound into a living testament of life through story, vocals, and instrumentation. My dream is to collect albums on vinyl record and listen to the greatest voices throughout history belting out one memorable performance after another whilst sipping fresh brewed tea.
My Review of Night in Shanghai:
May I simply say, that any publisher who wraps their hardback in the loveliest shade of lavender such as Night in Shanghai has already warmed me to the experience of what lies within its covers! The cover-art is equally eye-catching as you want to know about the symbolism of the lanterns as much as your quite curious about where the stairs are leading you. Her inclusion of Chinese expressions, as well as their iconic alphabet lends the reader to emerge into the story as though part of our spirits are hinged directly to Shanghai during the setting of which is about to unfold before us. Little cues like these help us take a step out of where we are reading the book and directly connect into the reality of the story. The essence of jazz has to be in your veins to settle into the background of the story as I felt it heightens your ability to pick up on the subtleties and in evoking a strong thumb of presence on how Shanghai was changing in the face of war.
Night in Shanghai paints a light of appreciation how difficult it was for the musicians to make a living whilst finding their race to be in opposition of receiving a fair wage if they staid in America. Never one to understand the prejudicial limits placed on others, this is one thread of the story that I felt was given honour by presenting the facts which led to the choice of switching countries on behalf of the musicians who chose to live in Shanghai rather than attempting to nick out a living for half of what they were worth. The first half reads like a memoir of a bloke who is attempting to absolve his soul at the end of his life by representing his journey towards self-redemption and self-acceptance of his art. Yet, the story is actually on behalf of his lover re-telling the tale than the artist himself of whom we are given a front row and center look into the ambiance of his life as it started to root in Shanghai’s Jazz scene of the mid-1930s. A progression of musical revolution which had begun in the Roaring Twenties, as musical scouts were frequently travelling throughout America to recruit the men back to China.
The most compelling part for me is watching Thomas Greene sort out his bearings in a city as flavourful and colourful in all matters of decadence as Shanghai, whilst being greeted by the notions of how close on the edge of war he truly was by seeing shades of it bleed into his daily wanderings. A musician at heart and of soul, compelled to work tirelessly on his craft as he was not blessed with the ear yet the grace of reading the music by sheet; his was a journey towards achieving his dreams as much as arriving at a place of self-acceptance. His race was muted compared to others and in having his skin not representative of his origins gave him flexibility to perform but it confused him on how he choose to identify himself. I would think this would bear weight on a person’s mind as you are neither of one race or another, as you’re a hybrid of two. Add to the churning tides a high sense of political despondency and it is a miracle any of the American musicians could find their footing!
The intriguing bit for me was seeing how Shanghai echoed of Chicago in how the city was controlled by organised crime families, except they are known as triads instead. Clearly there is more to history than meets the eye, and like many cities of the age Shanghai was not immune to the darker shades of living. The entire underworld was fresh to the eyes of Thomas Greene who affirmed his surname by being ‘green’ in the ways of the world. The essence of neighbourhoods of distinctive origins from the boroughs of New York City and Chicago were also bloomed in full in Shanghai. Each district had its own rules and were segregated from each other.
I loved seeing how the fusion of the West and East in music organically started to percolate in the early 20th century, as one musician was influenced by another. The music became the lifeblood language which broke the barriers of race and ethnicity, and in many ways sharpened the ability to put a pulse on what was happening around the city. There was such a decorum of unease yet the blinded sort where everyone would refute the obvious and elect instead to carry-on as though nothing major was happening. Music became the one avenue of honest representation and in so doing, gave a generational lineage that is still thriving today. Music gives a voice to the emotions which are too hard to put into words alone.
Thomas and Song were intricately bonded to each other through a synchronicity of passion which became an electrified explosion of notes and chords arching out of his fingers as he played the piano the only tunes which could solidify their connection. In the music, they lived with a freedom neither of them had in life. The passion of two souls caught up in a world of war, desolation, and tragic pain. The title of the novel is a hidden symbolism of their love and of the hope they each had for what it signified as a whole.
Gratitude for authors like Mones:
Who take the extra leap of faith to chase after a story which has nestled into their conscience and find a way to draw the story out for the readers who are in full appreciation of their efforts! To give us a piece of known history during an era of a war and conflict that has been written about from various angles and uncover a breadth of enlightenment not yet realised to the Western world is extraordinary! How kind of her to pursue her intuition and nettle out the story of how lives were changed during one of the most brutally savage moments in history’s ink blotter! And, to give us all a pure sense of how ordinary men can be called to accomplish such wonderful acts of kindness in the shadows of intense personal danger.
Virtual Road Map of “Night in Shanghai” Blog Tour can be visited here:
Check out
to see what I will be hosting next for
and mark your calendars!
Shanghai Memories – Golden Songs from the 1930s & 1940s via BaBanChineseMusic
Please take note of the Related Articles as they were hand selected due to being of cross-reference importance in relation to this book review. This applies to each post on my blog where you see Related Articles underneath the post. Be sure to take a moment to acknowledge the further readings which are offered.
{SOURCES: Night in Shanghai Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge, author photograph and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. The book discussion video by Connie Martinson, Shanghai Memories music video as well as the excerpt by Houghton Miffton Harcourt via Scribd 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. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
Remaking all that Jazz from Shanghai’s Lost Era – (npr.org/blogs/codeswitch) There are videos and audio clips included in the article to give an introduction to the music which I found tranquil & lovely! I encourage everyone to click-over and discover the music!
The Shanghai Restoration Project – (shanghairestorationproject.com) I found this project through researching the Chinese Jazz era as this has a decidedly unique sound to the music.
Today, it is a pure honour and joy to welcome back to Jorie Loves A Story, Ms. Sandra Leesmith! Of whom was featured previously in a Book Cover Reveal post as on the 14th of March, “Love’s Promises” was not yet on a blog tour but being revealed to the literary world as its cover was ready to make its début!
I was quite excited to participate in my first event hosted by Ms. Amber Stokes of Editing Through the Seasons, and I could not have hoped for a better day! The conversations which ignited in the comment threads simply warmed my heart, as I am always striving towards making Jorie Loves A Story a happy hearted place for readers and writers to alight, whilst conversing about books, bookish culture, and the authors we appreciate discovering!
This was a particularly joyous day as an author I dearly appreciated also dropped by for a quick visit, Ms. Julie Lessman! (author of the Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart in San Francisco series) When I was asked by Ms. Stokes to participate in the blog book tour for “Love’s Promises” I was simply overjoyed I could ask to Interview Ms. Leesmith and by a suggestion of Ms. Stokes to focus a bit more on the snippets of a larger conversation her and I had only just touched the generalities on during her Cover Reveal!
Let me share what I am referencing:
INSPIRATION BEHIND MY INTERVIEW:
{14 March, 2014}
Ms. Leesmith: I really do like having print copies so probably will do it. Lately though even at book fairs, (I was recently at the Chocolate Affair in Glendale, AZ) most of my sales were kindle. Young people especially want to use their e-readers and I guess they are better for the environment. The old publishing paradigm was such a waste. At least with print on demand, you don’t have more books printed than are being used or bought.
So keep positive. A print copy might sail your way after all. smile
Jorie: I am hearing murmurs to that effect in some regions (as far as young adult readers seeking digital copies) but then, in other regions in the States I am learning that there is a falling back to reading traditional books; as the culture of the Indie bookshoppe is undergoing a Renaissance where readers are appreciating the ability to converse and gather! I find this to be both humbling and uplifting, as it goes back to how I grew up appreciating the interactions at bookshoppes! In regards to the environment, I have been proactive in seeking how publishers can lower the footprint of carbon in the making of books as well as the footprint of distribution. Some of my findings are already out there and known; such as using non-old growth forest paper, Eco-friendly inks (ex. vegetable ink), and of course, I have a few personal ideas about how to make hardbacks more environmentally sound. I love how some publishers (esp Indies) are going carbon-neutral for production by implementing green energy on behalf of their printing side of the ledger! Renewable energy sources excite me for their ability to shift traditional industries into an era of new green freedom! I don’t believe the old paradigm is dead completely, because I do believe in print books being alleviated to a new level of green by changing how we focus on book production and the ‘ingredients’ in which go into book printing! :) And, that *excites!* me!! :)
Ms. Leesmith: Okay okay, you talked me into it. I was on the fence about printing the book and have several friends who prefer the print. So I will contact Lena and she will get it going. She does a fantastic job so I can’t complain there.
And yay for you on promoting the “green”. The old paradigm was CRAZY. I mean printing 100,000 books and throwing away what didn’t sell. yikes. That just breaks my heart to think of all those books burning away. And the waste. But you are right. The changes are not complete, but they are on their way and that is a good thing.
Jorie: Oh, my dear stars, seriously!? I feel rather chuffed then! I hadn’t expected to alter your stance on this, but felt encouraged to broach how I think publishing is making strides towards change which can be not only be more efficient but positive for our collective futures! :) Yes, I do agree one of the downfalls of discarding the books is that they were never put into the hands of those who could benefit by reading them! :( I felt there was a disconnect between waste and recycling the books into programs and charities for literary outreach! A bit like how restaurants and grocery stores had to shift their thinking towards day-old bread and pastries!? I get excited about where positive progress in the 21st Century is leading all of us! :)
Ms. Leesmith: And yes, what a concept to recycle and use what was formerly thrown away. I love the changes coming about with new ideas and new ways of thinking. Seriously we have to think about these things. Waste is not God’s plan is it? We are so blessed so we should take care not to lose those blessings.
For Monica Scott, building her late father’s house at Lake Tahoe isn’t an option—it’s a necessary distraction from confusing memories and an uncertain future. But a handsome planner working for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is keeping Monica from moving forward with the project. Never mind that he’s young and charming with a great sense of humor. No one is going to stop Monica from making her father’s dream—and her own—a reality.
All Greg Linsey wants is for his work to mean something. His job at TRPA gives him the opportunity to fight for the environment he loves and make a difference in his small corner of the world. But with the sophisticated Monica Scott’s arrival, his dedication is tested as never before, especially when Monica turns to his unscrupulous nemesis for assistance. As Greg and Monica’s animosity turns into something far sweeter, can they learn to accept each other’s promises and avoid the growing danger to their lives and hearts?
Author Biography:
SANDRA LEESMITH loves to travel in her RV and explore all of nature’s beauty, discover America’s history, and fellowship with the wonderful people she meets while on the road. She enjoys reading, writing, hiking, swimming, and pickleball. Learn more about Sandra and her books at sandraleesmith.com.
Book Cover Designer Biography:
LENA GOLDFINCH writes fantasy and romance for teens and adults. She’s a sucker for a good old-fashioned romance, whether it’s a novel, novella, or short story, young adult or adult, fantasy or realistic, contemporary or historical. Elements of romance, fantasy, and mystery have a way of creeping into her writing, even when she’s writing something light and contemporary like her latest releases, Haunting Joy and Take a Picture. Lena has been a finalist in several national writing contests, including the RWA Golden Heart and ACFW Genesis contests. She lives in a scenic small town in Massachusetts with her husband, two kids, and a very spoiled Black Lab. Learn more about Lena and her books atlenagoldfinch.blogspot.com.
Hi Jorie, and thank you for inviting me to join you on your wonderful blog.
You have some very intriguing questions.
I have been environmentally conscience about our footprint on Earth since I was a young child, which took on a new height of awareness when I met an Environmentalist in the 5th grade who spoke about the plight of the natural resources with a focus on the Amazon in Brazil. Coincidentally, this was the same year I saw the motion picture “Medicine Man,” which had a deep impact on me. What were the roots and impetus of your own heart’s focus on the environment?
Leesmith responds: Interesting question, and I love hearing how your journey began. My parents used to take us camping every year, and they instilled in me a love of animals and their habitat. I grew up in California where moderate temperatures year round allowed me to spend most of my free time outdoors. Add my marriage to a biologist who spends every spare moment outdoors, and it becomes clear how my love for nature and the environment formed naturally.
What was the seedling idea that inspired you to etch out a thread of narrative with a focus on preservation and conservation within “Love’s Promises”?
Leesmith responds: My husband and I purchased a house at Lake Tahoe—a fixer-upper. When we began projects to renovate, we ran into the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The agency caused a setback to our projects, but we both were intrigued and impressed with the purpose and goal of the agency to preserve the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe.
I write romance and I try to find interesting occupations to bring a refreshing element into the basic plot of boy-meets-girl. It is even more fun when the occupation can add to the conflict. The people at the TRPA were very helpful in helping me develop conflict and plot.
As you first started to feel the ink slip out of the pen and create characters living inside worlds of your own imagination, did you find yourself drawn to knitting together stories which had a social action awareness or was this something that developed organically?
Leesmith responds: I’ve always enjoyed books that have a subtle social message. I think that is why I end up writing stories with a social message. Maybe it’s the teacher in me. I don’t purposely set out to write a social message, but social issues are what interest me, so I end up including them in my writing. So I guess you would have to say I develop them organically.
I have noticed a shift towards more environmentally sound building practices (green building), retrofitting renovations, and a more plausible shift towards offering green building supplies & materials. Did you incorporate these into your back-story, or were these part of what inspired the focus on a low impact build within the story? Do you feel that as we move forward green building supplies will become more affordable rather than cost prohibitive?
Leesmith responds: The policies set forth by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency were revolutionary in the early eighties when I encountered them for the first time. Their innovative ideas inspired me to focus on the low impact build within the story. I am not an economist, but I would imagine if green building supplies are required and consequently mass-produced, they would come down in price.
Extending from here, when I hosted your Cover Reveal, we started to talk about the changing tides n the publishing industry to have a focus on creating environmentally sound books within the trade. At the heart of the conversation we were each murmuring a nod towards how encouraging this practice is for those who do not want to negatively affect our fragile world. Have you found resources to drop the impact from a self-published author’s point of view, or is it still limited to publishers who can implement the changes? (either independent or mainstream)
Leesmith responds: Personally, I think the change in the publishing world is long overdue. It is a struggle at this time because of the extreme paradigm shift going on. It is difficult to not only change the paradigm for the publishers and authors, but the readers need to shift also. For example, readers used to go into bookstores and see physical books, read the back covers, and then decide which ones to purchase. With the advent of e-pubbing, the reader isn’t quite sure where to look for new books or new authors. Blogs featuring reviews have blossomed. GoodReads is a source for those who know about it and understand it. But it takes awhile for the general public to shift their buying paradigm.
It has been much easier for the publisher and author to shift to print on demand and e-book publishing. These are so cost-effective and, as you pointed out, low impact on the environment—specifically trees—that the shift to actually produce a book using these new methods has become relatively easy. What is difficult is the seller-buyer relationship. How do these publishers and authors make their product known? This shift is in constant flux and change, which is both frustrating and extremely exciting. There is so much change going on it makes one’s head spin to keep up.
What inspires my heart towards the changes that are upcoming, is that we do not have to become a completely digitalised world of readers. There are key steps to take to either become carbon-neutral, or by making smaller changes such as tree-neutral or non-old growth forest sourced papers, vegetable dye inks, and non-off gassing glues for binding purposes. Do you see more readers starting to pay attention to how books are produced and feeling celebratory when they find publishers who are taking a stand for a new green-minded publishing platform? Or, do you feel this is limited to writers and publishers who see a healthier way to produce print books in a more environmentally ethical way?
Leesmith responds: Well as much as I would love to think publishers, readers, and authors are thinking of these issues, I doubt that most even know it is an issue to consider. Most authors and publishers are trying to figure out how to market their work and frankly, I don’t think offering environmental friendly products means much to them. I could be wrong and sincerely hope I am, but in my experience, the environmental issues just don’t resonate with most people, especially if they impact their pocketbook or their plans.
Do you think the mind-set has been that if its not digitally published it is not green? And, if this is true, how then, can we as readers and as writers lead the movement forward by championing green practices for print books? Especially considering that not every reader is physically able to read digital books?
Leesmith responds: Hmmm great question. I imagine that just like with every aspect of awareness of the environment and our responsibility to care for this planet—our life support system—we need to continue to educate the public. Maybe when a reader becomes aware that there are such things as green practices for printing books, they might try to be more supportive of the practices.
What kinds of stories enlivened your heart first as a child and then as an adult? Which branches of literature do you find yourself leaning towards? Whom would you consider your favourite authors and the books they penned which still leave you ruminative!?
Leesmith responds: I skipped most books that children read and went right to my mother’s books, which were mostly romance and historical. My favorites though of the children’s books were animal stories like Black Beauty, White Fang, Old Yeller, etc.
For me, I started to notice that my path towards being a reader was directly hinged to being a voracious reader from a young age. Do you think most writers feel an intuitive inclination to write whilst wrapped up in the happiness of reading? What do you think guides us in this direction, or what do you feel guided you?
Leesmith responds: I do believe that most writers are or were voracious readers. They are easily caught up in a world of make-believe or into a quest for knowledge. I also believe that most voracious readers were so from an early age. Reading is an important source of information, entertainment, and joy.
Writing on the other hand is a gift. Not everyone is cut out to write, and it can be quite painful. It is a craft that can be learned, but getting into the true grit of characterization and creation of a story is in my opinion a gift we are born with. I enjoy good music, but I can’t carry a tune to save my life. I enjoy good art, but I can barely draw stick figures. But I can dream up stories in my head. I’ve been a daydreamer from as far back as I can remember. I consider it a gift and am thankful to have it.
The setting for “Love’s Promises” is situated in Lake Tahoe, which is known for needing a pulse of attention on its growth and development which will allow its residents to be stewards of the land rather than consumers who hurt its natural beauty. In your research, did you find the general populace was in agreement with protecting the natural resources, or did you find them to be a bit indifferent? I ask as I tend to find most areas of natural beauty are caught between the balance of protection and living in the moment for what works for the majority.
Leesmith responds: I think many visitors are indifferent to the environment issues. However, any tourists who are interested in the outdoors and participate will be educated. Most hiking trails post signs with instructions on preserving the environment. Many of the roadside rests and points of interest have displays showing the environmental issues. So people who stop to read these informative brochures, posters, information boards, etc., will become aware.
Anyone who lives in the Lake Tahoe area or tries to build will definitely learn and be concerned about the issues. They will be like Monica, who was forced to learn what impact her plans would have and which plans would be allowed.
What do you feel is Lake Tahoe’s greatest blessing? And, what is their greatest concern?
Leesmith responds: Lake Tahoe’s greatest blessing and their greatest concern are the same. The environmental beauty with all of the features that attract tourists are what blesses the area. But damage to the delicate eco-system and preserving the natural beauty is their biggest concern.
Despite the overwhelming odds to bring more green into the world of publishing, what has been one observation of positive change that you have thus far seen?
Leesmith responds: When I go to books festivals and book sales, I find I sell fewer and fewer print books. Most people smile and tell me they read from their Kindle or e-reader. I don’t think this change is because of environmental concerns though. I think they are just easier to manage and books are cheaper. Economics still drives production.
You appear to live in harmony with the natural world each chance you can. Do you enjoy walking out in nature? What are your favourite species of birds and/or wildlife to encounter whilst you’re in their living habitats? Do you take a camera with you as I do?
Leesmith responds: I love nature and the outdoors. I get rather grumpy if I can’t get outside for at least part of my day. I am blessed to have lived in temperate climates where this is possible all year round. I love to hike and walk in mountains, the desert, the valleys, the beach—wherever I am. I am delighted beyond measure when I spot the local wildlife. While at Lake Tahoe we saw black bears, deer, coyotes, foxes, squirrels, and chipmunks. There were many species of birds and raptors to enjoy, however you surely won’t miss the raucous noise of the Steller’s jays. Their bright blue color and silly antics are very entertaining.
What is your greatest joy as a writer!?
Leesmith responds: I think my greatest joy as a writer is the ability to get lost in another world and make things come out with a happy ending—something we can’t always do in real life. My family all tell me it’s because my characters are the only people who listen to what I say. (Being the oldest child and a teacher, I’ve been known to be rather bossy. However, what they all fail to tell you is they all are great at ignoring me.) This makes me chuckle anyway. I’m sure it goes deeper than that. My husband likes me writing stories because then I’m not writing him a honey-do list.
You’re quite welcome, Ms. Leesmith! It was an absolute pleasure having you back whilst having the ability to carry-on a conversation which was a bit in-progress since we last conversed! I welcomed the chance to get to speak to you about green publishing practices and green-living principles. So much in fact, that it sparked a renewed interest in re-seeking out all the lovely links I had saved on my computer which has been in the graveyard since late 2013! I had a special folder I was keeping updated for green publishers and information on how publishing was starting to enact greener practices as well as how revolutionary the printing & inking sources were starting to be reflective of keeping our books environmentally friendly! I was overjoyed finding that there are far more websites and publishers making headway towards a green future for the bookish soul in all of us with an environmental conscience! And, the best part of all is that everything I have uncovered has lead me realise that my own heart’s dream of finding a way to keep books in print format has already arrived!
How thankful I am that my tour stop today is hosted on *Earth Day!* A day in which my heart overflows with the hope of what lies ahead in the future as each of us endeavours to grow in mindfulness & chooses to seek out those who are like-minded and astute towards environmental protection and change of conscience in commerce practice! Happy Earth Day, dear hearts! Go out and hug a tree! Listen to it whisper a ‘hallo’! And, remember to continue to love books in print format for there are changes on the horizon which will give us the ability to print them in a kind way which has no impact on the trees which grant us life! Rescue out of print books and previously read books from used bookshoppes! Spread the love and give books as gifts! And, remember, always find a bookish ear to sit alongside whilst enjoying a cuppa tea and chatting merrily about what you’ve recently read!
Kindly note: in addition to this short list of resources for green-minded practices & the champion of eco-friendly resources in publishing & printing of books, I have also included two additional resources: the last two links are green building & business contacts as much as in the Related Articles are hand-selected published documents which continue the conversation forward. Including finding mainstream publishers who are adverting their Sustainability & Green practices which are already in effect. Kindly know each post I include “Related Articles” those were not selected by a computer, they were hand-selected by me! I read each one & felt it was necessary to include the links for reading after you had concluded my own blog post.
Previously I hosted “Love’s Promises” Book Cover Reveal. And, I look forward to reviewing Love’s Promises when the novel is released in a print edition!Stay tuned!
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.
I am curious to learn what your thoughts and impressions are on how publishing is making strides towards greening the publication and printing of books? Have you started to notice the labels and badges of certification of green printing practices like I have started to see included in print editions? (i.e. ChocLitUK novels carry the badge for FSC certification) Do you feel like I do that there is plausible hope that we can continue to read print books in a world in which being more environmentally conscience is part of how we can carry the torch for being economically tree-neutral? I have also started to research finding which publishers and/or printers are aligning their companies to adopt carbon-neutral practices by implementing green energy for their production. I find it to be quite the exciting time in publishing and I welcome your thoughts, observations, and conversation in the comment threads!
Kindly share sites and links for both mainstream & indie publishers whose green practices I might not have highlighted in this Post. As well as any other green-minded websites you think would be of interest to me! I will be updating my linkage in my sidebar once I compile all the links together! Thank you in advance!
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Loves Promises”, author & illustrator photographs, book synopsis, and publicity badge were all provided by Editing Through The Seasons and used with permission. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Dividers provided by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com. Tweets were embedded due to the codes Twitter provided.}
{ I keep a Press & Publishers List via Twitter; green or otherwise, as this is an on-going methodology of change happening right now in publishing. All change requires patience. IF I have been remiss & you know of a publisher I might enjoy keeping a tab on, please include their twitter handle & the reason why you think it would be a good fit for me to check out in the comment threads! Likewise, if you’d like to subscribe to my list on twitter, please do! }
@JLovesAStory@SLeesmithAuthor love to. I noticed you included me in your tweet. Thanx, I started 24 years ago, 20th anniversary of Earthday — Greg Barber (@GreenPrinter) April 22, 2014
Proposed Topic: How did your immersion into Chinese culture and tradition as a textile business owner lead you to uncover an unknown portal into the Chinese Jazz Age? Especially this particular story which would captivate those of us who are only starting to uncover the American Jazz Age and the ripple effects the era had in both music and literature? What did you find in your research that not only spark the genesis of the story but the overlaps in both countries musical movements?
I am honoured to welcome Ms. Nicole Mones to Jorie Loves A Story today, as I was completely captivated by the premise of her novel, Night in Shanghai! I have briefly mentioned my love and zeal of reading a biographical fiction of Ms. Zelda Fitzgerald last year (Z: a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler) previously on my blog and also in the bookish blogosphere. I had participated in reading the book for discussion on Book Browse which allowed me the grace of becoming entranced with the Jazz Age through the lives and eyes of the Fitzgeralds. So much so, that by the time “The Great Gatsby” was released to the silver screen, I could not help but become quite eager to see the motion picture in June 2013! I felt as though I had spent half of the year entrenched with the Fitzgeralds’ in some ways, as Zelda’s voice was vivid and real to me, as if the author had harkened me back to their everyday world with the flick of her pen. My readings of this novel re-instilled my love and passion for the world of jazz music and the Roaring Twenties, as I had previously not sought out books set during the era. A bit of a misstep on my behalf, as whilst studying History in school I had a penchant for the era and for the riveting tales of Flappers and Jazz musicians who dared to live a life on their own terms! This is perhaps why the mystery series out of Australia “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” appeals to my heart as much as it does as well! And, of course who could forget the epic and encompassing “The House Of Elliott” by the BBC? An entire series set in a fashion house in England on the verge of a new time for designers and women wanting to express themselves a bit more freely? You can see, I have a long history in appreciating the 1920s, which is why when I saw “Night in Shanghai” arrive on Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours I was quite intrigued to become a part of the virtual tour!
I must confess, I had not known there was a Chinese Jazz Age, as somewhere in the threads of time this bit of information was not readily known to me or to my classmates. There always appears to be a lot of hidden history within the timescope of our knowledge of what happened in the early 20th Century. I oft find the most riveting stories are gathered out of obscurity by those writers who have the intuitive nature of seeking a story where the history recovered would become beneficial for the wider audience. I felt as I had read about “Night in Shanghai” that this is one of those stories that needed to be told and illuminated. It is with great honour that I welcome Ms. Mones to my blog and give her the breadth needed to explain her impetus of writing the story.
}: Book Synopsis :{
In 1936, classical pianist Thomas Greene is recruited to Shanghai to lead a jazz orchestra of fellow African-American expats. From being flat broke in segregated Baltimore to living in a mansion with servants of his own, he becomes the toast of a city obsessed with music, money, pleasure and power, even as it ignores the rising winds of war.
Song Yuhua is refined, educated, and bonded since age eighteen to Shanghai’s most powerful crime boss in payment for her father’s gambling debts. Outwardly submissive, she burns with rage and risks her life spying on her master for the Communist Party.
Only when Shanghai is shattered by the Japanese invasion do Song and Thomas find their way to each other. Though their union is forbidden, neither can back down from it in the turbulent years of occupation and resistance that follow. Torn between music and survival, freedom and commitment, love and world war, they are borne on an irresistible riff of melody and improvisation to Night in Shanghai’s final, impossible choice.
In this impressively researched novel, Nicole Mones not only tells the forgotten story of black musicians in the Chinese Jazz age, but also weaves in a stunning true tale of Holocaust heroism little-known in the West.
}: The Impetus of Inspiration
behind Night in Shanghai :{
When I signed my first contract with the state-owned corporation in charge of Shanghai’s textile mills in 1977, it was only six weeks after the government had declared a formal end to the Cultural Revolution. The city in those years was quiet, cautious, a ghost of a once-great city—and yet, physically,little changed from its jazz age heyday. Many of the historic buildings and neighborhoods were still standing, though re-purposed to other, more acceptable uses. The Great World, for example, an infamous center for all manner of pleasure and unspeakable vice, had been reborn as Shanghai’s “Youth Palace”—how funny is that? Now, of course, it is once again the Great World, pleasure and vice center, but in the 70s and 80s you had to peel back the socialist layers to find the history, and that’s what I did. It was years before I would start to understand Shanghai, but I took to exploring it anyway, local history books in hand. I scoped out the haunts of gangsters and jazz men; the Canidrome’s dog track, for example, served as Shanghai’s municipal flower market for some years before it was finally torn down, and I loved wandering among the spectator stands, which still had their original wrought iron rails and lamps to remind me of the jazz world that once had been. This was decades before I even conceived of writing Night in Shanghai; I was just young, clueless, trying to figure out how to make a living in the China trade, and fascinated by the city’s past. Even then old Shanghai had me in its spell.
Still, with thirty-seven years’ personal and professional experience across China, and therefore such a broad range of possible stories for a novel, I never expected to write a Shanghai historical. It seemed to have been “done”. The second I stumbled on the startling and totally forgotten story of black American musicians in the Chinese jazz age, however, I changed my mind. These American musicians were part of modernizing China through this revolutionary sound they brought, called jazz—a sound that challenged hearts and minds as well as ears. Their story, their struggle to survive the war, and their contribution to making a new China has been forgotten and overlooked until now. As soon as I began researching, I found to my joy that their vanished world had in fact been documented, since memoirs, interviews, and photos were left behind by musicians (such as trumpeter Buck Clayton), who did not want their experiences in China to be forgotten.
But the one moment that really sparked me, prompted me, forced me to write Night in Shanghai? It was coming across Langston Hughes’ lengthy account of black musicians in Shanghai, told in his autobiography. Hughes starts by describing how his ship docked in Shanghai on a hot July day in the mid-thirties, whereupon he stepped onto the Bund and raised his hand for a conveyance which was encapsulated inside of a quotation from Langston Hughes’s autobiography “I Wonder As I Wander”. As the author graciously had included this quotation to give you an insight into her inspiration of writing her novel, however, I was unfortunately unable to include it due to not being able to find permissions on the publisher’s website.
That was the portal for me, the door at the back of the wardrobe, the sudden light that illuminated Night in Shanghai in my mind. It took years to research and write the book, but from the instant I read Hughes’ lines, I knew I would have to follow that man into the crowd on the Bund, revive his lost world, and bring you his story. Here it is: Night in Shanghai, the jazz age, recreated. I hope you enjoy it!
*Note: I only opened the novel to read this evening and discovered that the author had permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. to reprint the full quotation of Langston Hughes. Therefore, when you pick up a copy of “Night in Shanghai” you can read the quotation in full on the page directly after the Dedication! Thank you for your understanding in why I could not gather the same permissions to post it on my blog. I had gone directly to the publisher’s website(s) and knew it would take extra legwork to achieve as I did not have enough hours to accomplish this in order to post by Monday!
Read an Excerpt of the Novel: {including the quotation by Langston Hughes!}
I am not sure when I was more excited to read Night in Shanghai, the moment I first read about it going on tour OR the very moment Ms. Mone’s guest post arrived by email! I had proposed the topic due to the overwhelming spark of curiosity that had ignited inside me when I first read a snippet of the excerpt and felt myself drifting backwards into the folds of time to see if I could draw together an image which would help me hinge my hat to Shanghai in the 1920s. The realisation that my foray into seeking literature set during such a revolutionary era of history was not lost on me. And, I have a feeling that my inclinations towards seeking more stories set in the Jazz Age have only just begun, because my curiosity is as piqued as my interest in Revolutionary France!
There are some authors who have the instinctive drive to unearth a story where a blueprint to find the undercurrent research is not readily known, and as I read Ms. Mone’s descriptions of how she found Night in Shanghai holds this truth in her hand. I could nearly envision her walking around the city, sensing whilst exploring and being guided by an unknown desire to learn more and more until the point where the knowledge would bubble up and boil over into a manuscript not yet written. The impetus for all writers to create their stories is always such a vivid veiling of how inspiration guides a writer’s heart, and within each back-story of inspiration I find myself drawn closer to understanding how creativity and writing walk the line of intuition and inspiration. For without an inclining nod of curiosity, the spark of inspiration might fall flat, and then, we would be at the disadvantage as the stories which are able to lift the veils of history backwards to a time where African-American musicians left America in order to carve out a musical revolution in Shanghai might never have seen the light of day. And, how sad would that have been!? To not realise that the American Jazz Age was only half the story of the full scope of the Jazz Age!? I cannot wait to dig into the pages of the novel and watch as history intersected with war and how musicians set the course of cultural discovery in a place I would not have suspected to have embraced jazz.
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: Night in Shanghai Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge, author photograph and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. I requested an Author Guest Post from Ms. Mones via Amy Bruno of HFVBT, by suggesting a topic and receiving the response from Ms. Mones via Ms. Bruno. Guest Post badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter.}
}: Book Synopsis :{
Author Biography:
Proposed Topic:
}: Book Synopsis :{