Coincidentally, this particular {RAL} was meant to be commenced between my friend Maggie’s blog & my own during the lovely month of {January!} However, towards that end, I found myself lacking the hours necessary to devote to achieving the goals I had set forth in my mind! I truly wanted to celebrate not only a new Brontë classic I had not yet read, but I wanted to read it in tandem with a dearest of a friend who was as wrapped up in the mirth of reading this particular selection as I had been! We bonded over the early bits of Septemb-Eyre, which technically is another {RAL} in which by all outside appearances I achieved a most epic fail! From my perspective, I simply found myself caught up in the coattails of wicked sweet readalongs at a point in time which worked against me rather than with me! I had this to say on #JLASblog‘s twitterland feeds:
What is the best course of action if life throws you too many lemons to complete a RAL, a Thon, or a #readingchallenge?! Begin anew & soar!
Within thirty short days of celebrating my lovely journey as a bookish blogger, whereupon I shall be commencing my very first ‘blogoversary!’*,… I must say I felt as though bits and bobbles of this journey are starting to come full circle. In how there is a bit of a difference between ardent intent and dedicated motivation verse the peculiarities of the reality in which we all must live our lives. As readers who are addicted to the initial inertia of discovery as much as the euphoric exultation of the reading experience itself; we are both bound and fluxed into the vacuüm space of time’s continuum. There are certain road blocks which invariable arrive at the precise moments when we believe in a rather futility of fashion that our calendar is free of cluttered nuances of everyday woe as much as obligations of which we are committed to engage in. Our personal lives outside the bookish blogosphere sometimes vex us to supernova proportions, but we have to yield, drawing in copious amounts of patience filled breaths awaiting the day when everything aligns just as we had hoped! Reading is never meant to be rushed through to the brink of blinding speed but rather absorbed in such a way as to process the story through all of our senses as though it were a living experience.
My approach to reading the classics thus far afield, I must say has had its unique share of ripples in the vortex! And, yet there is a part of me who feels as though the original challenge to read each book which has captivated me is still in progress rather than closed for progress! Time is temporal and reading by extension has a limitless expiration date!
{*} I count my blogoversary not by the day of which I launched Jorie Loves A Story but rather by the hour in which I created my blog!
#WutheringHeights Chat #1: 21Feb
Part I: Chapters I-X Chat #2: 28FEB
Part 1: Chapters XI- Part II: Chapter 7
Chat #3: 8MAR <— The *ONLY!* chance left to converse!
Part 2: Chapters 8-20
{ betwixt a migraine, a cold, and a garishly brutal Spring pollen allergy;
i was forthwith out of contention! }
By hook, by crook, by wicked intent,… alas no! Another tale’s beginning perhaps! I am endeavouring to reclaim my interest for the Brontë sisters by deferring to Ms. Emily’s Gothic and haunting tale (presumably, I have not yet entered Wuthering Heights; not now, not ever!) to bring me back full circle into Jane Eyre! Shall you follow along with me and anxiously watch each week throughout March if I not only meet my Chapter deadlines but if I am able to once more put thought to keys and type out my ruminations as I clarify them? Or, perhaps you’re a veteran of the classics already full of moon and heart for dear Ms. Emily!? Why not drop by as I reach each Chapter bracket, converse a bit on this timeless story and wander around the discussions on An American in France whilst your here!? We’d be grateful to have you and look forward to your input and opinions! The classics are meant to be dissected and discussed! Let us dig deeper into the core of the classical stories by exchanging our thoughts, views, and observations! Rock on, dear hearts! Rock on!
{ Reading Diary }
{ periodic updates will appear }
{SOURCE: Badge for Jorie Loves A Story created by Ravven with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}
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 novel Redheart and Sela, 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.
By which the interview commenced,
between Jorie and Ms. Gamber!
I am thankful to announce that I had the pleasure of welcoming back one of my favourite Seventh Star Press authors to my blog! From the moment I first soaked into the world of the Leland Dragons, I felt a connection to the author whose intuitive wordsmith abilities to jettison a reader into a fantastical realm to the brink of living there for a niche of time is the type of adventure we all strive to arrive into whilst choosing which book to read next! It was such an unexpected delight and encounter, to where I am oft finding myself curious and a bit anxious to read more dragon fiction! Will I warm up to other dragons? Only time will tell! For now, let us step back and observe what was exchanged between a reader and the author who left her enchanted:
Did you originally plan to have the Leland Dragon series confined to a trilogy or were you planning to expand the stories set within the world of Leland Dragons evolve outside of this first introduction?
Gamber responds: When I first began the imaginations that led to “Redheart”, I wasn’t thinking of it as a series, just the story of Kallon. It became clear, somewhere in the development, though, there was more story here than one book, or one character, could tell. It evolved into a three-book tale, and I’ve thought of it that way ever since.
As a reader, I am always genuinely curious about a writer’s process, yet as a fellow writer I do have a bit of an edge as far as having insight into this, yet we each have our own methods at arriving at our story’s conclusion. This is why I am thankful to be in a position now as a book blogger to interview authors I have the pleasure of discovering! As hearing about how the story evolves and is initially created adds to the dimensional joy for me having read their tales!
For readers, like myself, who have grown attached to the series have any hope of seeing this world re-surface down the road?
Gamber responds: I’m a firm believer in storytelling for the story’s sake, and knowing when that has been satisfied. As an example, I admire British television for grasping when to bring a series to a close once the story’s been told. American television will drag on and on to feed the entertainment engine even once the story has been long “finished” and lost its original luster. Same goes for movies and novels. I have written a couple of short stories from Leland, though, as an ancestral background sort of experiment, and that was fun.
Yes, I do concur with you on this to a certain point, except to say as far as the Britons are concerned I was most grieved in recent years by their inability to carry-on with “House of Elliott”, “Rosemary & Thyme”, and “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” where they clearly did not understand the full impact these serials had on their dedicated audience! On the flipside, I also concur on how a show can become a stalemate as I lost all interest in ER during Season 8 or 9 (whichever one they brutally killed off Kellie Martin’s character); yet my heart left when Ross & Hathaway made their exit in Season 5! I think the difference between serials on tv and in literature, is a reader will always struggle a bit more to let go. We get such an attachment whilst reading the character’s story that we always hope in some way we can continue to re-visit a new aspect of their lives. The same is true for tv serials, but oft times the writing lacks whereas an author has more continuity and control. In this thread of thought, are you going to release the short stories from Leland in the form of an anthology collection!?
You’ve managed to introduce us to such interesting characters throughout the journey leading into ‘Reclamation’. I was curious how did you originally draw life into Kallon, Riza, Sela, Jastin Armitage, and Orman Thistleby?
Gamber responds: My hope in creating any character is to imbue them with the same attributes as actual persons. We all have fears, hopes, emotional triggers, memories. To me, the best kinds of characters have all these things, too. One of the questions I’ve asked of students when I’ve instructed writing is: “All stories have characters, but do your characters have their own story?” A character should act from its own motivation, not just because a writer needs a certain plot point to happen. That’s the goal, anyway, to make a character real. For me.
The more I turn over in my mind the motivation I had for naming my blog, the more layers I reveal about myself. Which is to say, I have oft spoken about this very nature of writing, insofar as to clarify for those who find how writers write to be a paradoxical mystery: writers record the histories of the character who has not yet found the voice to carry forward their life’s story. I always felt as I sit down to compose thoughts on different portions of my own manuscripts, that I am one part historian and one part creator. The key is finding the balance between being a story-teller and a vessel of inspiration. I think blending these two is the key. Which goes directly to what your saying,… if fictional characters do not have the etchings of real-life counterparts fused into their beings the audience will not draw out an empathic eye towards them.
What made you decide to write fantasy for a Young Adult audience vs. an Adult one? Were there advantages to taking this course over the other? Do you find all ages enjoying the series or one over the other?
Gamber responds: When I first began writing “Redheart”, I didn’t know I was writing YA! To me, I was just writing a good story. I still see a fine line, even in other genres, what makes a story YA vs. adult-oriented. I have come to grasp that Kallon Redheart has daddy/identity issues, as well as Sela, and that is a heady blend often explored in YA fiction, as well as other themes that worked their way into the story. I wouldn’t call writing for YA an advantage, necessarily. There is already a stigma that genre writing isn’t “real” literature, and even to genre writers, there’s a stigma that YA writing isn’t “real” writing! J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins (among others) have busted the myth wide open to show publishers and the entertainment industry that a good story defies demographics. I love that. Personally, I have had lots of grown-ups tell me they enjoy my books, and even some that have said they got them for a son or daughter, and ended up reading them, too. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Your very first sentence brought back a memory I had whilst participating in Nanowrimo, as to where I was being questioned about the marketing and branding of my stories. To me, those are the details that are attached after the breath of life is infused into the story rather than the opposite way around! At the very same time, I sometimes get a notion of an idea of which direction I’m heading into but to actually say I can classify my novels towards this arena or that arena as far as where they will fall on a bookshoppe’s shelf is a bit of the cart before the horse! I thought perhaps this was a quirk of mine rather than the rule! On the level of stigmas, I’m a champion of believing that there are none! Across the board really, as there are so many societal labels & stigmas floating around in our lives, that I truly work against acknowledging them! The masses will always lament their point of view to the contrary but to me, if a reader picks up a book, makes a connection with the content inside, and walks away feeling uplifted, emotionally moved, or otherwise felt the time spent soaking in the narrative was worthwhile, than who dares to say that book is not literature!? Literature of itself is a classification of stories writ by ink and bound into form!
What do you think is a key ingredient to engage an audience into a fantasy series?
Gamber responds: I guess I have to come back to the characters. Engaging a reader into any story relies on the characters; as long as a reader believes enough in a character, the world around them can be full of dragons, or fairies, or boogeymen. This can be a tough sell for readers who’ve told me, “I don’t really like fantasy.” I think what those readers are actually saying is something like, “I don’t like reading about things I don’t personally believe in.” I don’t believe in, say, ghosts, but I sure love spooky books and movies. Because I don’t need to accept ghosts are real in order to believe in a character who, in his world, does see them. But I need to believe in that character.
To extend into your theory of ghosts & spooks, one of the best forays of this exploration for me in television is “Ghost Whisperer” which re-defines ghosts in fiction form! As much as to say “Touched by an Angel” re-defined the perception of angels walking on earth. Both of these series dealt with their subjects with finesse which bespoke of the writers conjoined ability to suspend reality and allow us to enter into a glimpse of a world which exists beyond our visual veil. In literature, I oft find the same to be true whilst reading science fiction and fantasy, because a writer who can etch out a world that is wholly vivid and real for a reader to drink in without hesitation or questioning of its existence is the writer who charms the reader into seeing their reality. Having said that, I do agree that the strength of the believability in all formats lies squarely on the shoulders of the lead characters!
Why do you believe we’re always intrigued by dragons? Especially the kind of dragons featured in the Leland Dragon series?
Gamber responds: I think dragons are part of that mysterious, reptilian-brain cell memory phenomenon that cross-cultural myths share. They belong to that “what if?” category of the unexplained, which fascinates us. The Leland Dragon series is the embodiment of my own imagined version of dragons; less the feral, destructive beast, and more the older, wiser sort of magic bearers of their world.
Yes, I think you’ve clued into why I have such a disagreement with standard stories of dragons! I am always seeking the heart and soul of the dragon rather than the monstrous feral versions which seek only to terrify you! A bit like how despite my passion for “Jurassic Park” on the level of the science behind the phenom of bringing dinosaurs back to life; those that stepped out of history were altogether too real and not meant for a humanised world. Whilst embarking on reading fiction that involves dragons, I’d much prefer to see the kindness of their hearts and the genuine history of their race and origins. I suppose in some ways, what we seek in literature goes directly back to our world-view.
How did you become the visionary leader of the MidSouthCon Writer’s Conference? And, how does the Conference engage writers into its community?
Gamber responds: I had been involved with MidSouthCon as a science fiction convention for a number of years. Along those lines, I had begun to wonder why there was no writers’ conference in Memphis, and saw the convention (with its heavy literary bent) as an untapped resource to fill that void. We already had amazing science fiction and fantasy authors and editors attending, why not include other industry professionals, and develop a how-to writing track, as well? A sort of writers’ conference embedded right into an event already taking place? That was the seed that has since exponentially garnered attendees and the writing community beyond Memphis.
I think this was a sheer stroke of genius on your behalf, to take an established event and enhance it by broaching an entire new layer to its existence! Writers like to gather together to share antidotes and experiences, as much as network with like-minded souls who understand their writing lives. I can see how key this would be to include at a convention which celebrates science fiction (and fantasy) as its a section of genre writing that tends to be misunderstand as much as its celebrated! The benefit of having an additional support system in place for writers under this branch must be quite exhilarating for those who attend!
In your biography, I didn’t see the inclusion of your educational background. Did you prefer to be self-educated and motivated through life-long learning opportunities vs. conventional options?
Gamber responds: To put it bluntly, I wasn’t given an option for higher learning as a high school graduate. It was the military, or the streets; my dad started the military recruitment process without me even knowing it. When I left the Air Force in my mid-twenties, I was married and starting a family, so college or university has never figured its way into my life. But I like the way you put it: self-educated and motivated. I have certainly been that. One of the gems I hope I have instilled in my own children is the self-propelled pursuit of knowledge. I practically lived in the library as a child; that was my only real resource. I have continued that trek into adulthood, reading and learning, and working hard to make my own opportunities.
I was leaving behind the essence of myself in this question when I referenced: self-educated and motivated! I, too, took a different path from the norm wherein I opted out of college for a non-conventional life of finding my own route to knowledge. I did this in different ways, but its what you said about reading; books are the gateways to knowledge on inter-changeable levels. Reading is the one key component of learning as it is available to everyone, everywhere. With books our horizons are not only broached into the stratosphere but they are without limits!
At the release of ‘Reclamation’, do you have any upcoming releases you can reveal at this time which are being worked on? Are you considering exploring the mystery genre as you once disclosed in an interview?
Gamber responds: I don’t have any official releases to announce just now, but definitely in discussion concerning my historical/time travel novel, all buttoned up. And it’s funny you should ask, Jorie, because I have suddenly found myself back at the mystery genre gate, peering over. I’m watching true crime documentaries and eying my stacks of unread mystery novels. I wonder if you’re onto something?
If I am onto something, I’d be thrilled to peaches if you were to explore the mystery genre! There are so many avenues the genre can yield for you to pursue, I am giddy simply thinking of all the wicked sweet possibilities! On the level of a historical time travel novel, I must confess, its a new addiction of mine and I will keep my eyes glued awaiting word on its release!
How did you feel when you learnt you were a finalist for the 2014 Darrell Awards!? Considering that Book 2 in the Leland Dragon series was the entry?
Gamber responds: It’s always an honor, and frankly, a bit of surprise, to be named in consideration for an award. It’s a validation to that seemingly congenital condition of “You like me! You really like me!” But I do try to keep a perspective; lots of super talented authors, painters, architects, construction workers, parents, teachers, etc. drive themselves toward excellence for the sake of it, without ever coming near a titled award for it.
I think you hit the nail on the head here, as even Harry Potter learnt that the best way to obtain something is not to go after it directly! (i.e. “The Sorcerer’s Stone” could not be sought but given.) Even so, I still believe in celebrating milestones and recognitions because it validates the person we are at the time in which the award is presented. Each of us knows our own truth and that is all that is necessary.
If a reader who is picking up your series for the first time becomes interested in reading more dragon fiction, do you recommend any of your contemporaries as a next read for them?
Gamber responds: I’m not sure I’ve had the opportunity to offer a next read suggestion for dragon fiction; lots of my readers are familiar with dragon fantasy, and, in my interactions, anyway, seem to have come to my novels in their search for a next read. But I do love hearing from readers who say they enjoy my books, even though they don’t usually read fantasy, too. Often, it’s as if a light goes on behind their eyes, and they want to try more. I relish sharing books I’ve enjoyed with other readers, so I recommend like crazy whenever I get the chance.
I must confess, this question was self-motivated! I attempted to broach an open discussion at the footer of my review for “Redheart” on this very topic, but hadn’t yet fetched a proper response. Therefore, I felt as I had the honour of interviewing you a second time, I’d ask the source! Cannot blame a girl for trying!
At the heart of the first book in the series ‘Redheart’, I made this observation: Friendship is akin to love, and love is akin to friendship, thus so is faith akin to trust without sight. As you were penning ‘Redheart’ was this the core of the story’s purpose as you wrote it, or did it evolve as you saw where the characters were leading you?
Gamber responds: You’re such an intuitive reader, Jorie, I just love that about you. In writing “Redheart”, as in all my stories, really, I don’t consciously insert themes at the outset. I focus on the characters and their revealing as the story progresses and sometimes I gobsmack my own self with the disclosure of the day’s work. Some of it feels raw and risky, at the time, but I don’t fully see the impact until afterward, when all is said and done. And often, not until time passes and I have distance from the work to be objective. It’s a weird and wonderful process that is the core of why I write.
Thank you for this observation, Ms. Gamber! You gave me a bit to chew on whilst looking over my reviews, as I think it stems from always sorting out the sociological side of stories. I am always most keen to sort out a character’s motivations and what causes them to act or react in the methods in which they do. I never officially studied sociology, but I think it always plays a part; moreso if your Mum shared stories of her own experiences studying the field. Ah, yes, you’re hinting at the ‘osmosis germination’ of how a writer places hidden meanings into their writings without a conscience knowledge of their existence until one completes the story. On re-reading the whole of the work, the fuller picture emerges into view.
Of the three in the series, which was the most difficult to write? And, why?
Gamber responds: I think each book as I’m writing it is the hardest one yet! But “Reclamation” was by far the most struggle. It evolved in ways I wasn’t expecting, and there were times I wondered if I had lost touch completely from these characters I first began to conceive over ten years ago. Also, it was a time of personal stress that brought on dry spells and self-doubt, and, let me tell you, I began to wonder if I was even meant to write at all. Reaching the end of “Reclamation” has meant more than just ending one book, it has been an entire era of my life. Saying, “I really did it” doesn’t begin to cover it.
On finishing a decade’s breath of work as an author, I can only imagine and feel the redemption you had! I, too, have gone through my own wrestlements with my writing life as I am not sure if I spelt it out under “My Bookish Life” or not, as part of my story is still evolving as much as to say I am holding back pieces of my path to reveal as my blog grows through time. To the brink of when I participated in Nanowrimo 2008, it was a full ten years since I had picked up my pen due to a stress-induced writer’s block. I am a think-writer, which is both a blessing and a curse, if you compare the fact that your characters and stories never leave you completely, they are always there with you, waiting for their story to be writ down, but whilst your blocked words simply do not flow. I, too, questioned if being a writer was the path I was still on and if I could reclaim it. Life gives us trials that we do not even realise we can overcome, much less face until they are presented. Is this why you entitled it “Reclamation”? You reclaimed your gift as your characters reclaimed their home?
Which character have you felt the closest to during the journey?
Gamber responds: Different characters have waxed and waned emotionally for me in the series, depending on where the story was at the time, and what part of me I was writing from. I think once I got hold of Sela, though, I felt as though I was plugged into something way beyond what I had been expecting.
Isn’t that the truth!? Another insight into this experience as a writer was given to me during Nanowrimo 2008, as I walked in thinking I’d write a fluffy light-hearted story but emerged with the depth of a multi-generational saga set against the tide of 400 years of history! Who would have even considered that possibility?! Characters sometimes alight in us which draw out the writer in ways we are not expecting to journey.
If this does conclude the Leland Dragon series, do you envision you’ll explore a new series full of dragons?
Gamber responds: If I do venture into dragon storytelling again, it will likely be from a completely different emotional place; which will change my perspective, inevitably. I’m open-minded to see where my journey takes me next. I ventured out to be a writer, but not necessarily a dragon-writer, and by my nature, I resist pigeonholing. In fact, I get a sort of thrill from defying expectations, if you know what I mean! I’m just as curious as anyone to see what I’m going to do next.
Ah, yes ‘defying gravity’ is my favourite song out of “Wicked” (the Broadway musical) which lends itself to understanding your journey towards developing your next niche in literature! To which, I can only say, “Rock on!” with the full of my heart!
{ About the Author }
Jackie Gamber is the award-winning author of many short stories, screenplays, and novels, including “Redheart”, “Sela”, and “Reclamation”, Books one through three of the Leland Dragon Series. For more information about Jackie and her mosaic mind, visit http://www.jackiegamber.com
And meet Jackie elsewhere on the world-wide web at:
I want to thank Ms. Gamber for sharing her soul and bookish heart with us today, whilst revealing pieces of her life that we might not have known about previously. It takes a lot of courage to be bold and confident in our own skins, as well as sharing the bits of our journey that were blighted with strife and adversity. I always celebrate and champion writers who leave behind traces of where their paths led them, as much as how they emerged out on the other side better for the experience. None of us knows where our lives will take us or lead us, but as writers we get to grapple with all of our emotional angst as well as our bounty of joys in the ambient realm of writing. We all find ways to pour bits of our heart into the ink that spilts out our words and our stories. Let us all celebrate the writers who re-define the stories that endear us and gives us a museful pause for the time spent inside their worlds! It was a pure honour and joy to host this lovely author for the second time and to celebrate the ending of one series at the jolting start of another! Please leave a note for the author if you have anything you’d like to say or ask!
I want to thank Ms. Gamber for sharing her soul and bookish heart with us today, whilst revealing pieces of her life that we might not have known about previously. It takes a lot of courage to be bold and confident in our own skins, as well as sharing the bits of our journey that were blighted with strife and adversity. I always celebrate and champion writers who leave behind traces of where their paths led them, as much as how they emerged out on the other side better for the experience. None of us knows where our lives will take us or lead us, but as writers we get to grapple with all of our emotional angst as well as our bounty of joys in the ambient realm of writing. We all find ways to pour bits of our heart into the ink that spilts out our words and our stories. Let us all celebrate the writers who re-define the stories that endear us and gives us a museful pause for the time spent inside their worlds! It was a pure honour and joy to host this lovely author for the second time and to celebrate the ending of one series at the jolting start of another! Please leave a note for the author if you have anything you’d like to say or ask!
Join the celebration as you amble through the tour!
Be sure to catch all three installments of this showcase on JLAS:
Jorie reviews “Reclamation” on 3 March
& Ms. Gamber shared a character post from Reclamation!
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: Cover art of “triptych of Leland Dragon series” by Matthew Perry, author photograph of Ms. Gamber, author biography, and the tour host badge were all provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Jorie submitted Interview Questions as part of the tour and received the responses by Ms. Gamber through Stephen Zimmer; for which she is grateful!}
The exciting conclusion of the Leland Dragon Series!
Leland Province remains in danger. The sinister Fordon Blackclaw has returned from the shadows to strike at the heart of neighboring Esra, killing its Venur and making clear his intentions to retake what was once his: Mount Gore, seat of the Leland Dragon Council.
All around, the land grows weaker and weaker. Leland, once thought saved by Kallon Redheart, is without purpose, and within its borders, Murk Forest, a place of mystery and danger, has driven its inhabitants to seek aid. Esra is in flames, and the Rage Desert grows. Dragon and human alike struggle to find their way, and the wizard Orman can sense that there may be more at stake than the affairs of dragons.
Hope remains, yet it is not without obstacles. In Esra, Sela, the daughter of Kallon and Riza, found the well, a source of life, and made herself whole again. But her homecoming is not what she had imagined.
Old wounds buried deep must reopen if life is to continue. Dragons, humans, wizards, and shape shifters are all at risk as the peace between dragon and human has finally been broken.
War is here.
The stakes?
Perhaps the whole world.
I am thrilled to peaches to welcome, Ms. Gamber back to Jorie Loves A Story! She will be sharing a special piece for this stop on the blog tour, which features a portion of a character’s journal from the Leland Dragon series! I am always seeking out ways to bring extra content to my dedicated readers and visitors, whilst participating on blog book tours! In this way, I felt having a guest post from the perspective of a character might be quite enjoyable for all who stop by! If you dropped by during my Seventh Star Press Focus Week &/or whilst I reviewed ‘Redheart‘ previously, you are familiar with my passion for this particular fantasy series steeped in lore and built strongly in a world whose heart endears you to return! I hope this glimpse at Ms. Gamber’s writing will prompt you to read the series that has enchanted me for all these moons since I last visited within the realm of ‘Redheart’!!
{ Character Blog: Gladdis by Jackie Gamber }
Dear Journal:
I considered trying to write this journal entry the way Drell has been teaching me to write in his dragon language, but I don’t know enough words yet to be able to say a whole sentence, let alone spell them all correctly. It’s enough of a challenge just to speak it.
Dragonspeak is full of throat growls and front-of-the-mouth consonants that feel like a waterfall through my teeth, and I wish I was better at it because it’s already so close to singing that I want to add melodies and see what happens then. I heard Drell sing once, or rather hum under his breath. When he noticed me looking at him, though, he stopped and pretended it never happened.
I think there is much more to Drell than he lets on.
Drell is very patient with me, which is a good thing. A kind thing. Because Sela is so very busy with all her dragon council business I hardly see her, and without someone to talk to, I would feel swallowed up by this mountain. By the dragons.
Drell helped me root out some dandelions for Orman this morning. At first, I thought Orman was needing them for potions, or magical ingredients of some sort. But Drell thinks the wizard is just trying to make wine.
I think there is more to Orman Thistleby than he lets on, too, but I don’t dare ask. The man can whither a grape to a raisin with one glare of those gray eyes. I’m always trapped between wanting to get his attention, and hoping he’ll never notice me. He keeps talking about how old he is, how tired and frail he is, but I’ve never seen a star burn so bright. Right inside those gray eyes of his.
I held a stone in my palm last night. One of the little nubs Orman is trying to drench in magic. He’s been stripped of all his crystals and things; we all lost everything when we fled Esra to come to Leland. Orman feels the loss more than the rest of us, I think. He thinks he’s powerless without his stones, but I don’t believe he is. Not really. Because when I held the pebble of amber glass (it had fallen from his desk, I was putting it back), I felt it alive. It pulsed through my hand, into my wrist.
He must be doing something right, to make that stone respond to my touch the way it did. As though it knew I was there, in the room, keeping it company. When I laid it back on Orman’s desk, it stopped shivering, and went to sleep.
I almost spoke, to reassure it I would be back, before I realized what I was doing. Strange though. I could swear that crystal already knew what I was about to say.
One of these days, I would like to ask Orman about it. If I can just face those eyes. Maybe today, since Layce has asked me to ask him if he will meet her under the giant fir.
More tomorrow.
Gladdis
{ About the Author }
Jackie Gamber is the award-winning author of many short stories, screenplays, and novels, including “Redheart”, “Sela”, and “Reclamation”, Books one through three of the Leland Dragon Series. For more information about Jackie and her mosaic mind, visit http://www.jackiegamber.com
And meet Jackie elsewhere on the world-wide web at:
If this doesn’t prompt one to soak into the Leland Dragon series, I am not sure what would! Laughs. I think when you find yourself over the moon in joy in reading a series, you want to read each new installment as quick as lightning, or at least, this is the place I have reached with Leland Dragons! I am ever so very thankful to Ms. Gamber for creating and sharing this little treasure of a glimpse into Reclamation! I will be posting a review of Reclamation on Friday, 28th of February, so please be sure to drop back to read my observations and thoughts therein! I am delighted beyond joy itself for being able to participate on this blog tour because this is one series that I feel so very strongly attached too! Its one of those series that you discover during your ordinary hours of reading, and become struck by the awe of the world which illuminates into view! You get excited at each turnt of a page and your heart leaps a bit in anxiety to see what is going to occur next! This is what I live for whilst reading one story after another! To discover the stories that never quite leave you, and leave a small impression inside your memory!
Be sure to catch the next installments of this showcase on JLAS:
Jorie reviews “Reclamation” & interviews Ms. Gamber within the week!
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: Cover art of “triptych of Leland Dragon series” by Matthew Perry and the tour host badge were all provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Jorie submitted a request to host a Character Post as part of the tour and received this special post in response by Ms. Gamber through Stephen Zimmer; for which she is grateful!}
I loved the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity that it gives the reader! :) Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read which would provide a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! :) Love the concept! Therefore, this weekly meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading!?
What did you recently finish reading!?
What do you think you’ll read next!?
After which, your meant to click over to Should Be Reading to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! :) Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!
What are you currently reading!? {a two-week retrospective!}
I am continuing to read Crown of Vengeance by Stephen Zimmer, as it will mark my last post tied to the Sci-Fi Experience! I had wanted to read a few more books towards this reading challenge, but I lost too many hours during January to accomplish this task. I, am, however, continuing to read the books I outlined on my participation page for the Experience! I selected a few books for the Wicked Valentine’s Readathon which are as follows:
{*} As previously disclosed, this boomeranged back to the local library; am awaiting its return!
Alongside the books I pulled for Wicked Valentine, I am also in position to start reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (as part of the #LitChat War & Peace Book Club), & Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (as part of the @RiverheadBooks RAL). Once I start to dig into these select classics, I am on my way towards revealing how I have such a hearty affinity for reading classical literature! Over the years I have dreamt of which classics to read first and which to follow in their wake. 2014 marks the year I am finally able to set aside time to start to explore the classical literary world with a curious eye towards the unknown adventures which lie ahead!
What did you recently finish reading!?
I have only finished a handful of novels within the past fortnight or thereabouts, all of which I posted reviews on my blog: The Brotherhood of the Dwarves, Dangerous Decisions, Sebastian’s Way, and the Writers Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy. The latter of course, was an anthology collection of essays and interviews compiled together to present an excellent primer on genre writing; even if your genre is outside the scope of the title! I found myself writing quite a heap about my recollections and the musings therein which were extracted from the readings!
I am in the process of reading several novels at the moment for each of my different reading challenges as well as having finished my first blog tour book review stop for Penguin Group (USA). As I am reading multiple books concurrently, I will be revealing where I am by page count rather than by chapter or section next Wednesday! I am hoping to be at the end of Chapter X or XI of Wuthering Heights by the 21st (Friday) as well as complete my reading of Crown of Vengeance to round out my focus week for Seventh Star Press! At the close of February, I am equally as hopeful to have read approx. 200 pages of War and Peacewhereas my goals for the 23rd of February are too complete Somerset & most of Roses! The Ladies Paradise is on my reading table as well, as I am attempting to read in tandem at the moment! I felt best to initiate a bit of a page count goal per book in order to best ignite a pattern of reading classics in-between modern literature I explore either outside of blog tours or within them! I always have such a fanciful heart to explore literature in all of its beauty, that I felt this might help me focus on books I truly want to finish reading within the time I am allotting! Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s journal of WWW to see how well I did!
A Fall of Marigoldstook me backwards into my memories for the shirtwaist factory fire of 1911 as evidenced and exhumed into a breath of life by Meredith Tax’s Rivington Street; whilst bringing forward haunting memories of observing the horrors of September 11th by telecast. I felt honoured to be asked to be a book review stop on her blog tour, and as you can read in my review, the novel itself touched me on a very deep level. It was a blessing to find closure and peace after two events in history profoundly affected me.
I received word that my ILL holds are in queue to arrive within a few week’s time in which I cannot wait to see what is waiting for me inside Leviathan Wakes, Jaran, and The Divining!
Oh, happy book discovery day for me! Ms. Wood I found "The Divining!" via ILL! (inter-library loan!) Now, I'll sit back & wait: #LitChat
Launched myself into a bit of mini-quest to find other “foodie fiction” titles that I could plausibly devour at some point in my reading future! Laughs within a smile! Oh, the wondrous thrill of the ‘discovery’!!
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (started; need to finish!)
The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister (sequel to above; goes w/o saying!)
Chocolat by Joanne Harris (birthday gift; need to read!)
The Colour of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe (borrowed; returned unread)
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (opted for the motion picture!)
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Ronald Dahl (always saw the films!)
How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O’ Neal (loved!)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (murmurs of curiosity!)
When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison
The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses (borrowed, need to finish!)
The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santos
Eat. Pray. Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (opted for the motion picture!)
The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
Coffeehouse mysteries by Cleo Coyle (need to read all of them!)
White House Chef mystery series by Julie Hyzy (need to keep up to date!)
The China Bayles mysteries by Laura Childs (revolves around a teahouse!)
Courtesy of Ms. Lisa via TLC Book Tours the following were also suggested:
The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry
Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge
The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher
Maman’s Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan
Hungry by Darlene Barnes
& the forementioned The Colour of Tea & The Lost Art of Mixing
The next books I am drinking in will be books for review and I am quite excited for them to grace my mind’s eye! For I get the absolute pleasure of re-entering the world of the #LelandDragons, as I re-read Redheart by Jackie Gamber before continuing forward into Sela and the bookend third of the trilogy: Reclamation! The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte by Ruth Hull Chatlien is a hearty tome of an account of a side of the Bonaparte family I never had heard of beforehand! My pursuit of Bonaparte has re-strengthened since I read Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb! Whereas Citadel by Kate Mosse is an interest which was encouraged by my Mum when she gave me Labyrinth; in lieu of knowing where I put the book, I have borrowed the two previous books from my local library!
I had a bountiful bookish postal surprise day
in which I happily welcomed in the following books for review:
I decided to join the 2014 Chunkster Challenge, as I had no idea how many novels I’d read over the score of the year which would qualify as being labeled ‘a tome of a book greater than 450 pages!’ Clearly, I have already begun to read stories in greater quantity of depth, but this is going to be a good record of seeing how many I gravitate towards over a regular year’s worth of reading!
Likewise, I have released posts in part of my participation of:
All of which I curate on my RALs & Challenges page, of which I update my progress as well as on my Part II of Reading Challenge Addict! I decided to pull back from several reading & bookish challenges this year, as although they appealed to me in the beginning when I was on the verge of signing into them, I decided in the long-term I would be better off honing in on the ones which were at this point in time the most keen of the lot to participate in! There will undoubtedly be more RALs, Thons, & Challenges forthcoming but these will be the main ones I am concentrating on except to say for the two Jane Austen novels I am reading to correlate with the Jane Austen Readings hosted by Reading is Fun Again!
Quite the exciting time for a bookish soul, eh!?
Have your literary wanderings been as expansive and lovely as mine!?
And, do you have a ‘foodie fiction’ recommendations for me!?
{SOURCE: The WWW Wednesday badge created by Jorie in Canva as a way to
promote the weekly meme for those who want to take part in it.}
I was contacted by the author (Susan Meissner) herself through Twitter (@SusanMeissner) back in December, 2013 about the possibility of receiving “A Fall of Marigolds” in exchange for an honest review which would be included on her official blog tour for its February release! I was beyond delighted at having been approached by her and readily agreed. As I have a non-giveaway policy for Jorie Loves A Story, this blog tour stop is not hosting the tour giveaway, but rather is solely a book review of the novel which is posted whilst the official tour is going on. I received a complimentary ARC of “A Fall of Marigolds” direct from Ms. Meissner in exchange for an honest review. In January 2014, I received the press materials from her publicist Ms. Clark at Penguin Group (USA). I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity, not only to read my first novel by Ms. Meissner but to host my first blog tour book review for Penguin Group (USA)! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
The inspiring moment for me is when I realised that although I hadn’t known about A Fall of Marigolds releasing February 2014, I had already planned to read Ms. Meissner’s novels! You might have noticed her name is threaded into my 70 Authors Challenge of which has a focus on Inspirational fiction!? All the authors I am reading over the 24 months of the challenge are linked to their main websites in my blog’s sidebar! The books I selected to read of hers are as follows: The Girl in the Glass, A Sound Among the Trees, and Widows and Orphans which starts the Legal Mystery series. As you will read on my 70 Authors Challenge page, I found the inspiration to select all 70 authors due to my readings of Writing for Christ, which is Ms. Casey Herringshaw’s bookish blog! She is also a stop on this tour and I feel I have come full circle from being a reader of bookish blogs to curating my very own! I am further esteemed to be in the company of an author group blog I started to hang out around in January 2013 [Southern Belle View Daily] and a reader blog I came to cherish as much as Ms. Herringshaw’s [Relz Reviews]!
I never dreamt that I would be hosting a blog tour for one of the authors I selected to read and I am humbled by the honour of having Ms. Meissner seek me out in the first place! She’s a wonderfully sweet woman and I am thankful our paths have crossed!
Book Synopsis in the Author’s words:
The book is about two women who never meet as they are separated by a century. One woman, Taryn, is a 9/11 widow and single mother who is about to mark the tenth anniversary of her husband’s passing. The other is a nurse, Clara, who witnessed the tragic death of the man she loved in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in Manhattan in 1911.In her sorrow, Clara imposes on herself an exile of sorts; she takes a post at the hospital on Ellis Island so that she can hover in an in-between place while she wrestles with her grief. She meets an immigrant who wears the scarf of the wife he lost crossing the Atlantic, a scarf patterned in marigolds. The scarf becomes emblematic of the beauty and risk inherent in loving people, and it eventually finds it way to Taryn one hundred years later on the morning a plane crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The story is about the resiliency of love, and the notion that the weight of the world is made more bearable because of it, even though it exposes us to the risk of loss.
On the significance of ‘marigolds’:
Marigolds aren’t like most other flowers. They aren’t beautiful and fragrant. You don’t see them in bridal bouquets or prom corsages or funeral sprays. They don’t come in gentle colors like pink and lavender and baby blue. Marigolds are hearty, pungent and brassy. They are able to bloom in the autumn months, well past the point when many other flowers can’t. In that respect, I see marigolds as being symbolic of the strength of the human spirit to risk loving again after loss. Because, face it. We live in a messy world. Yet it’s the only one we’ve got. We either love here or we don’t. The title of the book has a sort of double-meaning. Both the historical and contemporary story take place primarily in the autumn. Secondarily, when Clara sees the scarf for the first time, dangling from an immigrant’s shoulders as he enters the hospital building, she sees the floral pattern in the threads, notes how similar they are to the flames she saw in the fire that changed everything for her, and she describes the cascading blooms woven into the scarf as “a fall of marigolds.”
A time slip between two worlds of New York frozen in time itself:
I am not unfamiliar with the shirtwaist industry, as I previously disclosed I have read Rivington Street by Meredith Tax, of whom gives such a visceral experience through her narrative there is no illusion of the reality the girls faced in that industry. A Fall of Marigolds begins rather acutely in post-911 New York. To find myself curling into a fabric store made my crafters heart turn giddy indeed! I am plumb knitty over knitting, but what I truly want to explore in the future is quilting and sewing clothes! My heart warmed with the warmth of an internal fire whilst soaking in the first chapter as a customer murmured her gratitude for the shoppe! (My affection for quilting, mind you, grew out of my wanderings inside the world of Elm Creek by Jennifer Chiaverini!)
One of the early echoes of the novel is that for everything we see beauty inside, a story alights just outside of our view. I found myself resonating with this particular statement, as due to the nature of why I created the title of my own bookish blog: Jorie Loves A Story! Stories exist across mediums not merely hinged to the printed text of literature or even of spoken voice or motion picture. I heart the ability to seek out stories which endeavour us to step a bit closer to the greater picture of why living and experiencing everything we can bring into full focus. Stories enchant us as much as they evoke our deepest most gutting emotions. Stories have the ability to transcend time and sustain us during the roughest of seas which entreat on our everyday hours. I grew on the living histories which in of themselves were stories set into action by the voices of my grand-parents, great-grandmother, and parents. We inhabit such a small vacuüm of space whilst we’re here, but alas! The stories live past us and stitch into the tapestry of the world’s interconnected thread!
This fascination and intrepid enchantment of history and story, might even go as far to explain my personal preferences towards seeking out the skills of old world arts & crafts inasmuch as antiquing! The older a piece of furniture is in my mind is a greater chance of having the unique addition thus far amiss from a room! I like the tangibility effect of touching the past in ways that are visible in the modern age. I like wandering around antique emporiums as much as ambling through a small towne set to a pace fifty years in the past. There is a subtle nudge to slow down, breathe, and live in harmony. Pieces of stories live all around us, each day we walk outside the door and wonder, “What if? And, what does that person do? What are their experiences? Where did that particular something or other come from?” It’s in our nature to wonder, to strive towards unearthing the mysteries, to put a history inside of an explanation which sounds more like the legacy of a life told through a story!
The etching desire of both lead characters needing closure for the traumas of their past is eclipsed by their stalwart resolve to leave out of step with time. To gather their wits by being withdrawn into a world which lives a harpoon throw from the reality neither wants to approach or excavate out the memories which haunt them. A time slip was naturally going to occur for Taryn and Clara, as each of them are on the precipice of living half in stasis and half in motion.
My Review of A Fall of Marigolds:
In choking honesty, Meissner draws us backwards into the morning when the world woke up once more to a day out of step with the reality we all knew. September 11th, 2001 is a day no one will soon forget, whether or not they lived in America or whether they lived overseas. The newsfeeds overtook the channels, and for this reader in particular who had spent the aching early morning hours in knee-deep research was a groggy grand-daughter at the other end of the line whilst her grandmother urgently tried to shake her to her senses about ‘a plane went down in New York’. I was caught in the segue between deep sleep and awareness, so I truly only heard ‘a plane went down’ which I mumbled was terrible before the line clicked off and I was snoring most likely oblivious to the world’s reaction. I remember waking by four o’ clock in the afternoon, eyes full of sleep and wandering into the living room to catch a light-hearted tv show of an unremembered name. Instead, as Taryn reflects on her part of standing underneath the Towers at ground-zero, I was only a bit past a thousand miles south completely gobsmacked to numbness taking in every channel as the tv flickered into view; I was simply transfixed. I grabbed the phone without recognition and rang my grandmother. The fullness of that day I oft try to push aside and not reflect on. Images broadcasted on television left a dulling ache inside my soul, as it was all too much to process and see in vivid real-time reality. Half of what I saw was pulled as soon as it aired as it wasn’t even being filtered. Meissner deftly drew me back emotionally into the heart of that fateful day, and attached me directly into the heart of her lead character: Taryn!
The breath of realism breathed into each section touches you as the transition from Taryn to Clara arrive as mere whispers and shadows of each other. Meissner is a sensory writer giving her readers a treat to trick one’s mind into experiencing everything the characters are seeing, sensing, and internalising. The anguished heartache of Clara came propelling back to the forefront of my mind as the bits of information disclosed about the shirtwaist factory fire ignited in my memories from Rivington Street, the book I have previously mentioned reminded me that I have a sensitive heart and best tread cautiously in future readings by what I choose to internalise.
Grief wrapped up in the guilt of never knowing what could have been is one of our greatest struggles as we survive those who pass on. Whether or not, we were properly tethered to them or if they were a loved spirit who gave us joy during our days; gutting sorrow overtakes our sense of normalcy. We cannot always filter out our emotions anymore than we can filter out our memories. Our minds love to play games with us, toying us with images we witnessed as well as the incidents of terror which gripped us like a plague. Clara and Taryn are anchored by the very moments where their lives intersected with tragedy beyond logical reason. Their gutting emotional strife is brought to life in such an intoxicating manner, you’re finding your fingers pressed into the softness of the book cover nearly afeared for what you will find on the next page! Hours melt away as you drink through their lives as if you would be left adrift in not knowing where their days will lead them next.
I liked Clara as instantly as I endeared myself to Taryn, which is always a credit to the writer! Clara is one of the few bourne to find herself drawn to blood rather than bolt away from it on sight. A doctor’s daughter endued with the gift for nursing set a claim on her to find her way to Ellis Island taking care of the infirmed immigrants who felt muddled by how they were not walking ashore instead. Transposed against the brutal anguish of standing below the Towers as they fell on September 11th, my ears echoed with the pounding shock of the ‘noise’* of that day as it was heard in the late afternoon. I felt shell-shocked at four o ‘clock on the 11th, I felt as though Meissner dug into our conjoined memories of that horrid day and led us out the other end. To hold onto something more than the worst bits our centermost memories stored and tucked out of sight. The scarf of marigolds was a talisman of Hope and of Life.
The strangest realisation which washed over for me (towards the middle of the novel), is that I have purposely avoided medical dramas and medical-heavy stories for numerous years as I felt as though I needed an honest break from them. I had seen more than my fair share of medical dramas on television and perhaps, had unexpectedly burnt out from the viewings. Whilst wrapped up inside Clara’s side of the story, I nearly had forgotten she was a registered nurse on the front lines of combating diseases like scarlet fever, which of itself lends to a certain medical-esque narrative!
*noise: Here refers to all the conjoined sounds, screams, shatterments of glass, sirens, confused murmurings of the haggardly confused survivors, the intensity of the news anchors overwhelmed by anguish and grief, and the chaos of the events flickering into broad view on the television screen. Followed by eerie oblivion which characterised the silence, whilst everyone’s face and bodies were shrouded in whitish-grey. The absence of light and dark was obscured by debris falling like snowflakes. Everything merged together, everything felt oppressively real, the shock took forever to wear off, even if I was merely observing the horrors of those who were front and center.
All the emotions I had tied into my throat pummeled out of me by page 238. Overwhelming emotion and the stark despair of what Taryn realised in that pivotal moment which clouded her vision in despair. I felt her anguish and I felt it because of what I had witnessed myself on video feedback. Meissner humanised the disparity of the survivors and the observers. She breathed life into the stories of everyone we never knew before that awful morning when the world paused by the sheer terror of it all.
Life is an intricate fabric. We weave in the threads with each day we dare to breathe in and drink in all that we can learn or experience. It’s the in-between hours of when we are truly alive. The moments when we are not even realising where we are headed or how we are meant to reach our destinations. The living hours of where truth reveals itself to those willing to listen. Faith is lived best by accepting what we do not yet understand as a measure of hope for what we do. Love is the binding of our souls to help grasp the understanding which sometimes is blinded by fear, trauma, and grief. All of life has a purpose which propels us forward to greet each new day with the possibility that it will afford. Compassion. Empathy. Acceptance is the final gate we must cross through to complete the circle our footfalls led us to arrive inside.
New York | a backdrop I love:
I am uncertain if I have ever disclosed on Jorie Loves A Story, if my affection for New York City has been attached to me as long as I have watched motion picture set inside the city from my youth!? The fanciful synergy of a city bent on creativity and indulgence in an all-inclusive playground has held my esteem attention! Transferring off the screen into the world of print books and hearty narratives by wordsmiths who paint the city aflame with a pulsating heart where the story of success and of love go together in tandem! Mysteries eking out of the shadows and humbling stories of humanity which surround your soul in a respite of rumination. My journeys have not yet taken me to the city I’ve read about to the level I have, but a part of me feels as though I have been there. Lived a bit even. As the old saying tends to go, if you have a book in hand, you have a compass point in your soul! Travel doesn’t always have to be walked through the soles of your feet. There are times when the light of a novel can illuminate a specific setting and locale in a crystal of reason unseen by a living experience. Novels transport us beyond where time and space have earthly limits. We enter into the conscience linings of characters and in part, take out a piece of them into our own wanderings of imagination. Perhaps then, the essence of the city of New York has always held such a strong grasp of my yearnings.
It’s the city’s tenacity and resilience to overcome what befalls her that gives all of us the greatest hope of all for seeking a community of such unfaltering strength. They rally and bolster each other up whilst dealing with the impossible, soldiering through unspeakable horrors and rebounding together as though they had risen out of the ashes as one entity rather than thousands. New York City’s greatest blessing is the ability to hold onto Hope in the midst of devastation and rise again as a Phoenix.
A note of gratitude to Ms. Meissner:
I am full of gratitude to the author for writing a convincing story without pushing the envelope past what this particular sensitive heart can endure. The sequences in which she gave riveting and honest accounts of the scenes Clara experienced after the shirtwaist factory fire and of ground-zero for Taryn were bang-on brilliant in their conveyances. I applaud the choices Meissner made in eluding to the horror without having to take us there completely by imagery. What was included was expected as some living horrors can only be spared so far, but in her gentle grace of knowing the limits of tender heart readers, her own heart shined. The stories of Taryn and Clara evoke the realities of women like them who lived a life counterpart to their fictional ones. Meissner has writ a story with the softness and grace of a historian but with the ease of a novelist. I am forever grateful she approached me, as I feel our paths would surely have intersected if she hadn’t. Her writings draw me into the depth of where she is leading us and I feel blessed to have read this story of New York as my first Susan Meissner novel!
This book review is courtesy of the author: Susan Meissner
I give my gratitude to Ms. Meissner & to Penguin Group (USA) for allowing me the honour to be a stop on the “A Fall of Marigolds” blog tour! I was happily delighted I could participate! I hope I will be able to participate in future blog tours if the opportunity were to arise! Until then, please drop by my Bookish Events Featured on JLASto see what is coming up next!
**Please Note: This is a non-giveaway stop on the blog tour. I do not host giveaways or bookaways of any kind on Jorie Loves A Story (as you can read in my Review Policy). Which is why my blog is not included in the giveaway hop via the author’s website. I agreed only to host a review stop whilst the tour was in-progress. Therefore, I do encourage you to leave me a comment but it will not be counted as an entry in the tour’s giveaway. Thank you for understanding!**
{SOURCES: Cover art of “A Fall of Marigolds”, Susan Meissner’s photograph; snippets of the book synopsis (taken from the Press Kit Q&A section), were all provided by Ms. Meissner’s publicity agent at Penguin Group (USA) and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Tweets were able to be embedded by the codes provided by Twitter.}
