Genre: Time Slip and/or Time Shift

Author Interview | Conversing with Historical novelist Debbie Rix from #Bookouture!

Posted Tuesday, 26 April, 2016 by jorielov Bookouture, Daughters of the Silk Road, Debbie Rix 0 Comments

One of the blessings of hosting the authors of Bookouture, has been happily finding all the lovely styles of stories emerging out of this UK Indie publisher! I have a soft spot for historicals – when I can curl inside a slice of the historical past I have not yet had the pleasure of exploring, there is an overwhelming bubbling of joy bursting in my readerly heart! I love travelling through the different portals of time, but I also, love finding myself being in a position where I can learn something about History through the eyes and lives of strongly writ characters who endear you to their stories inasmuch as the timescape by which they are living!

Daughters of the Silk Road appealed to my sensibility for antiques and the artifacts passed down through generations which withhold stories of their own, as they are moved through time from one person to another. This is one reason I find it incredible to be browsing through an antique emporium and/or attending an auction – what curious thoughts dance through a writer’s head inasmuch as a reader – what would all those objects of art and antiquity or ordinary life speak on behalf of their own journey? What could we gleam in knowledge about how life was lived through those pieces as well? What curious fascinations of thought course through your veins as you happily ponder all the lovely mysteries attached to everything set before your eyes!

Such a joy for me to be featuring Ms Rix today – celebrating her new book but also, the excitement of finding how history cross-sects with destiny!

To gain a bit of a back-story on how I came to host Bookouture authors,

please visit my first conversation I featured with this publisher with Teresa Driscoll!

Venice 1441: Maria and her brother Daniele arrive in the birthplace of their father, Niccolo de Conti. An Italian merchant who has travelled far and wide, Niccolo has brought spices from India, lengths of silk and damask from the lands east of India and porcelain; a vase of pure white, it’s surface painted with bright cobalt blue flowers and dragons, the symbols of good fortune.

Maria settles in her new home, watching the magnificent and bustling city come to life each morning from her bedroom window. But while her father is away travelling, she soon finds herself and Daniele in terrible danger. She must protect her brother at whatever cost, and shemust guard the delicate vase.

London 2015: Single mother Miranda is struggling to make ends meet and build a new life for her and daughter Georgie. When Miranda meets the charming but mysterious Charles, she is intrigued. Could he be her second chance at love? And why is he so fascinated by the old vase sitting on her hall table…

A stunning and richly evocative story following the journey of a precious family treasure passed down from one generation to another.

What drew you towards writing a time slip narrative, which unites the 20th Century with the 15th Century? Was the dexterity of owning both eras part of what appealed to you most? As this isn’t the first time you’ve used this story arc to tell a tale straight out of history’s mirror.

Rix responds: I feel that time-slip is both a useful and enjoyable discipline – both for myself as the writer, and I hope, for the reader. The presence of a modern hero or heroine guides the reader gently into the old story. The tricky part is to create a modern story that is as compelling as the historical one.

It is almost inevitable that the historical element will be interesting; that it will introduce the reader to a character in history, or to a time and a place in the past about which they know very little. But It is harder to do that with a modern story. I was determined, with this second book, to create a modern narrative that really engaged with the reader, so they were keen to ‘get back’ to Miranda’s modern story.

As a writer, there is also a certain joy in having two stories running simultaneously. You feel pleasure as you take up one narrative and leave the other behind. It keeps things fresh. And I like the puzzle element of it – of weaving the two stories together so they create a satisfying whole. Read More

Posted Tuesday, 26 April, 2016 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Bookouture, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Reader Submitted Author Interview, The Writers Life, Time Slip, Women's Fiction, Writing Style & Voice

Author Interview | Conversing with #HistFic novelist Natalie Meg Evans on her writerly technique to bring the past to life! #Bookouture

Posted Wednesday, 30 March, 2016 by jorielov A Gown of Thorns, Bookouture, Natalie Meg Evans 2 Comments

I have a penchant for items which curate a story out of the historical past, as there have been a few incredible pieces of historical fiction stemming out of an article of clothing – A Vintage of Affair by Isabel Wolff (a hidden gem discovered at my local library!) and A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (of which I happily had the pleasure of reviewing!) come to mind instantly! One features a boutique of vintage clothes and the other, has a story threading through the history of a scarf – both have a particular strife attached to their back-stories, as the clothes of the first go back to the World War era and the scarf tackles a modern tragedy and the Shirt Waist Industry from the early Nineteen Hundreds.

Meissner anchoured her story with a duality of plots which fascinated me and emotionally gutted me at the very same time! Wolff entranced me by how the ‘clothes’ slipped the past into view, front and center. Between the two novels, I realised I have a passion for how objects and ‘things’ can become transportative whilst giving us a plausible step ‘backwards in time’!

This is why I continue to seek out stories which parlay on the same general themes as A Gown of Thorns the latest of which I will be reading next is The Black Velvet Coat by Jill G. Hall whilst I continue reading my challenge reads (Summer & Fall) on behalf of BookSparks this Spring. It is also why I was so wicked happy to be in a position to interview Ms Evans on her new release A Gown of Thorns as you will see in our conversation how invested I am in this topic and thankful our convo became a lively one where we explore the context of her story!

To gain a bit of a back-story on how I came to host Bookouture authors,

please visit my first conversation I featured with this publisher with Teresa Driscoll!

From the multi-award winning and bestselling author, comes a bittersweet romantic story set against the backdrop of the French Dordogne valley.

Hidden within the wardrobe’s embrace, she rifled through the folds of cloth until her fingers stopped at a gown of violet, lavender and silver-grey pleats. She lifted it off its hanger and turned towards the mirror…

Shauna Vincent arrives in the little French village of Chemignac after accepting an offer to be an au pair to the grandchildren of an old family friend.

As she begins to explore her new home at the ancient Chateau de Chemignac with it’s beautiful vineyards, she discovers a locked tower room where she unearths a treasure trove of exquisite vintage dresses. One gown feels unsettlingly familiar.

When Shauna falls asleep one afternoon in a valley full of birdsong, she has a strange dream of a vintage aircraft circling threateningly overhead. So when she suddenly awakes to find charming local landowner Laurent standing over her – Shauna wonders if he might be just the person to help her untangle this unexpected message from the past.

A Gown of Thorns draws you into a richly evocative world steeped in secrets that will mesmerize fans of Rachel Hauck’s The Wedding Dress, Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale and Adriani Trigiani.

I love hidden secrets which unravel a portraiture of history stitched inside a historical narrative – in many ways, this is why I loved reading A Vintage Affair by Isobel Wolff because the article of clothing is a tipping stone towards the heart of the story. How did you approach developing the setting of the back-drop of your story against the gown which is the link to the past inside A Gown of Thorns?

Evans responds: An interesting question. What came first, the backdrop or the gown? When I am musing over a new story, I rarely think it out in a linear way. I tend to get a whole picture all at once. In the case of Gown of Thorns, the sun-scorched vineyards of the Dordogne simply arrived in my head and I knew I wanted to make the backdrop a wine estate. Grape growing and pressing is a piquant and lush affair, and the scents and colours of the region add layers of richness.

The dress, the Gown of Thorns, of the title slipped into my head when I envisaged a stone tower that housed a dress whose history was checkered and passionate. That it was a Fortuny Delphos gown was established after I had looked at many, many photographs of vintage evening dresses on line. It jumped out at me as a style of dress that was so alluring and simple, that it was entirely believable that three generations of women should fall under its spell. Read More

Posted Wednesday, 30 March, 2016 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Bookouture, Fashion Fiction, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Reader Submitted Author Interview, The Writers Life, Vintage Clothes & Boutiques, Women's Fiction, Writing Advice & Tips, Writing Style & Voice

Author Interview | A story inspires Jorie to seek out the back-story behind the genesis of the novel’s creation whilst developing a wicked good convo with author Susan Ornbratt on behalf of her #GillianPugsley!

Posted Friday, 4 March, 2016 by jorielov Light Messages Publishing, Susan Ornbratt, The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley 2 Comments

As soon as I finished reading #GillianPugsley’s story, I felt so connected to the heart and spirit of the characters’ of whom had entertained my mind for so many lovely moons of a stay, I did not wish to depart them. Even though I knew my time with them was coming to a close, I wanted to learn a bit more about the back-story of how this particular novel was composed so eloquently but also, how real-life provided such a hearty level of inspiration, as there are points within the novel’s scope of depth where you can feel quite attune and attached to the author’s journey inasmuch as her characters!

This is one of those special novels which becomes an experience of it’s own to read – where you feel inter-connected through time and the pages of where words bridge the gap between what can be well-envisioned of a lived life and where fiction tucks in the differences and grants us a personal glimpse of ‘what could have been’. Such is the beauty behind “The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley” as you are treated to such a heart-moving story about a granddaughter’s search for the truth about her grandmother’s life!

I was overjoyed when Ms Örnbratt was open to an interview, as there were questions which were coming to me as I read the story and some came after I concluded the final bits which left my cheeks watered with tears and a choking realisation all is known, and all is quite a bit lost except for the happiness of having crossed paths with both Gilly and Gillian Pugsley! Two women who should leave an impression on each woman who reads their story, for they had such a legacy of words, love and a voice of a life lived whilst in pursuit of finding one’s voice and owning the path you choose.

Here is the conversation the novel inspired me to compose
and the responses on behalf of Ms Örnbratt I believe will inspire you!

She has written a heart-centred story befit for granddaughters who achingly miss their grandmothers whose close-knit connection was a dear part of their lives. This is a story told from a granddaughter’s perception about their grandmother’s story – as Gillian is best understood through the graceful wisdom of Gilly; two women who share not only a name but an old soul mentality about life, living and the circles of love. It has such a powerful thread of story, you do not realise at first how hard-hitting #GillianPugsley will be until you tuck yourself inside it’s chapters and fear for the moment where your fingers turn the ending pages, revealling not only the fuller scope of what you’ve consumed but the theory you first realised when you began reading it.

The ‘particular appeal’ of #GillianPugsley is she’s an ‘every woman’ character, writ solid with a dimensional story arc not limited by time nor country. Hers is a story of fortitude of strength and a zest for adventure; where accepting limitations is not her mantra and where embracing life as it arrives is part of her nature. She’s particularly appealing because of her moxie and her deep commitment to living life on her terms. She softens by love and she is renewed in the spirit of living by the one man she never had to explain herself too as he already understood her quirky nature. If war and time had not been erased of the clock, you start to wonder – would their lives have been writ differently?

This is a story written from the living hours straight through to the resolution of the tomorrow Gilly captures from her grandmother. It’s an ode to grandmothers and granddaughters of whom intrinsically know more than they let on about each other.

-taken from my review of The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley

From the opening sequences of the novel, I instinctively felt the poems were the foreshadowing of this story to be layered through autobiographical data left behind and/or passed down to you. How did you approach crafting the story out of the poems, as this was also a measure of Gilly’s journey as well? Were the two connected or did you expound a bit away from your own living truth?

Örnbratt responds: The poems are autobiographical. Of this, I have no doubt. How I interpreted them on the other hand, was left to my imagination. Indeed, they foreshadow much of the story and yes, I drew bits and pieces from my own and my grandmother’s life, eg. setting (London, Tobermory, Berkshire), my grandmother working as a nanny for a maharaja of India, a sister named Beaty, etc. But the actual story is fictional.

I had a general idea of where I wanted the story to go. In this way, the crafting was rather loose, at least far from rigid. I let the feeling of the poems drive the story. My writing was very much connected to them through the entire process. At times, I would write a chapter and the poem I had originally chosen to accompany it, fit better somewhere else. There was shifting throughout which was easy to do because I understood there was a common thread through all of them. They were about love, passion and commitment. This worked well for the story’s purpose. I drew from between those lines. Even if my interpretation wasn’t my grandmother’s actual history, I could imagine some of the poems deriving from a first love and others, the settled, familiarity of marriage.

Gilly, the granddaughter’s journey is definitely connected to the poems. It is a journey that also mirrors my own in ways. Both my character and myself as a writer became reacquainted with a grandmother and the writer neither of us knew she was. As I learned that my own grandmother had a past, that she was once a young woman filled with passion and dreams, so did my character. Read More

Posted Friday, 4 March, 2016 by jorielov in Author Interview, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Light Messages Publishing

Special Event | LIVE Author Q&A with Aaron Blaylock, debut novelist of “The Land of Look Behind”!

Posted Thursday, 25 February, 2016 by jorielov Aaron Blaylock, Bonneville Books, Cedar Fort Inc, The Land of Look Behind 28 Comments

Late last year, whilst the blog tour for The Land of Look Behind was being assembled, I was exchanging ideas with Mr Blaylock on behalf of what I could host in regards to a ‘guest author feature’ on my blog in conjunction with my review for his debut novel when I mentioned hosting a LIVE Author Q&A wherein we could invite everyone to visit my blog during the day of the interview to leave questions behind for him to answer in the afternoon and evening. This has been done a few times in the past on Jorie Loves A Story, much to the happy delight of attendees and authors alike!

I welcomed the chance to host another event like this one, as it allows a real-time interactive conversation between the bookish and the author whose story is gaining traction with readers. It’s a great way to attend an author event outside of the twitterverse and bring everyone together in a good old fashioned social gathering where the comment threads become the spirit of the party!

I must admit I was quite surprised by the resolution of The Land of Look Behind as I think like most readers, I had a different impression of where the story might lead us on this quest Gideon undertakes for himself, but it’s how Blaylock wrote in a curveball which ultimately changed the course of Gideon’s life which held salt. I even appreciated the ending pages of the novel itself as they were so beautifully composed and expressed; an ending befit of the core of this novel’s heart but it was so much about the journey a soul takes to understand it’s path whilst it’s travelling through a lived life here on Earth.

You will find the questions I wanted to highlight ahead of the LIVE Q&A tonight, which I am hoping will help you formulate your own questions, comments and curiosities! I am hopeful those who are on the blog tour will drop by inasmuch as fellow book bloggers, readers, and writers who want to contribute to the evolving conversation! I look forward to seeing your enquiries and chatting with you, tonight! I composed a few ‘click to tweets’ to help you pass on the word of this event via Twitter; which you will find at the end of this interview!

Welcoming Aaron Blaylock

to Jorie Loves A Story,

for an Interview

**ahead of the LIVE! Author Q&A!**

FULL DETAILS:

Jorie interviews Mr Blaylock ahead of the 6:30pm (EST) | 4:30pm (MST) live commenting blog event which will take place in the comment threads of this post! IF you are unable to drop back during the time in which Mr Blaylock will be responding to reader comments, questions, and compliments please make sure to leave your response *early!* in order for him to respond! All comments are still moderated by Jorie, who will be on hand during the live event making sure all comments get through! Once approved you will have the ability to post a direct response without waiting.

Readers of Jorie Loves A Story, visitors on the blog tour route, fellow book bloggers and writers can easily leave a comment by using Email, WP, Google+, Facebook & Twitter interfaces without the stress of captcha as I do not use that service! *Remember!* return back to this page at 6:30pm (EST) | 4:30pm (MST) to make sure you do not miss Mr Blaylock! I do recommend subscribing to the comments in order to keep in the loop! The author will be on hand to respond LIVE for a block of two hours!

Posted Thursday, 25 February, 2016 by jorielov in Author Interview, Blog Tour Host, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Interview & Live Author Q&A

Blog Book Tour | “Worlds of Ink and Shadow” by Lena Coakley The Brontes arrive on #JLASblog, in this aptly atmospheric and wicked emotionally dramatic inspired-by young adult novel!

Posted Sunday, 24 January, 2016 by jorielov Amulet Books, HarperCollins Canada, Lena Coakley, Worlds of Ink and Shadow 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Chapter by Chapter, where I receive opportunities to host Cover Reveals & Author Guest Features on behalf of the Indie Publisher Month9Books. I began hosting another Indie Publisher: Rebelight Publishing of whom I love the stories by their Middle Grade & YA authors during 2015.

This time around, it’s a new publisher who offered the chance to read an exciting new young adult novel inspired by the Brontë siblings: Charlotte (of whom I’m reading ‘Jane Eyre’), Branwell (of whom I never knew existed!), Emily and Anne. I am appreciating the diversity of choices being offered through Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours, as I am not only getting the chance to become introduced to new Indie Publishers but new writers of wicked good fiction for young readers! This is most inspiring as I love re-connecting with this generation of stories directly being crafted to readers of MG & YA from a Prospective Adoptive Mum and current Auntie of nieces/nephews point of view; inasmuch as a reader who found herself re-inspired by what she found inside the novels!

I received a complimentary copy of “Worlds by Ink and Shadow” direct from the publisher Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

A note about Charlotte and why I love Gothic Lit:

For a girl who has not yet finished her proper first reading of Jane Eyre it might seem a bit shocking to learn that Charlotte Brontë is amongst my favourite Classical authors to read! I appreciate a wide spectrum of literature as a rule, however, when it comes to the structure of Gothic Literature (both in Classical Lit and in Southern Gothic Lit) there is an undertone of suspense that lends itself towards the psychological analysis of fear and what can be perceived as fear by those who are placed inside a story whose narrative is meant to surprise it’s reader in more than one vein of thought.

I appreciate Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Psychological Suspense (including those stories that are bent more readily towards Cosy Horror) in equal measures due to the nature of how intricate the writers who craft stories inside these layers of genre endeavour to take you on a visceral journey you may or may not imagine outside of their own vision. Gothic Lit for me is quite well suited to my appreciation for the mysterious and to be suspended inside a story that brokers itself to be equal parts fantastical and psychologically spellbinding.

I like to see where writers will take a Gothic tale – will they yield to the suspense within the hidden in-between or will they break my tolerance levels and go a bit too hard into the visual realms? I am quite Hitchcockian in wanting to keep quite a bit outside of view and fully feel the emotional anguish and the undercurrents of suspense by what can only be imagined. It isn’t oft I am in a position to explore a work of Gothic Lit, which is why each time I am able to pick up a work of narrative that befits this arm of literature, I am beyond delighted for the respite inside it’s story.

Notation about the Cover Art: I’ve blogged and actively tweeted about how ‘cover art’ by itself doesn’t sway me one way or another to read a novel; to be honest, if the premise of a story isn’t fetching in of itself, the cover art will not be the swing vote to convince me to read it. I have to feel something before I read a story: be that curiosity or a perk of interest towards seeing where the journey of a character takes me, *something!* must yield a flickerment of earnest desire to ‘know’ what happens as I open the pages of a novel. Stories are such personal experiences – however, I normally do not cross-compare a cover to another cover. Except to say, I truly much prefer this one on the Canadian edition over the American one I received:

Simply because I think it warms you to the spirit of the character of whom it’s based upon; Charlotte is such a well-known authoress who has inspired readers throughout centuries of literary wanderings. It provides a proper rooting of the narrative’s voice; and goodness! how clever too, with the dual portraits within the whole of the frame? I love cross-overlays and curious nods to narratives! The cover art on the American one is a bit too vague, but I do give them full props of gratitude for making the interior pages so very enticing to turn! Especially if your a writer who appreciates old world things such as ink wells, parchment paper, wax seals and those blessed ‘ink splotches’ from quill pens!

Worlds of Ink and Shadow
Subtitle: A Novel of the Brontes
by Lena Coakley
Source: Publisher via Chapter by Chapter

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been inseparable. After all, nothing can bond four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage out on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict upbringing, actually transporting them into their created worlds: the glittering Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy Gondal. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as their characters—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.

Gorgeously written and based on the Brontës’ juvenilia, Worlds of Ink & Shadow brings to life one of history’s most celebrated literary families.

Genres: Canadian Lit, Cosy Horror, Genre-bender, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Metafiction, Suspense, Time Slip and/or Time Shift, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781419710346

Published by Amulet Books

on 5th January, 2016

Format: Hardcover Edition

Pages: 352

Published By: Amulet Books

an imprint of Abrams (@abramskids)

a division of La Martiniere Groupe

Cross-released with HarperCollins Canada (@HarperCollinsCa)

Converse via: #WorldsOfInkAndShadow & #YALit OR #CanLit
Available Formats: Hardcover and Ebook

About Lena Coakley

Lena Coakley was born in Milford, Connecticut and grew up on Long Island. In High School, Creative Writing was the only course she ever failed (nothing was ever good enough to hand in!), but, undeterred, she went on to study writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in Toronto, Canada. Witchlanders was her debut novel.

Photo Credit: Emma-Lee Photography

Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Books Of Eyre

Posted Sunday, 24 January, 2016 by jorielov in 19th Century, After the Canon, Anne Bronte, ArchDemons or Demonic Entities, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Bookish Discussions, Branwell Bronte, Brothers and Sisters, Canadian Literature, Castles & Estates, Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours, Charlotte Bronte, Childhood Friendship, Classical Literature, Coming-Of Age, Cosy Horror, Crime Fiction, Death of a Sibling, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Emily Bronte, England, Fantasy Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Folklore, Good vs. Evil, Gothic Literature, Gothic Mystery, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Metafiction, Siblings, Sisters & the Bond Between Them, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Supernatural Fiction, Superstitions & Old World Beliefs, Suspense, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, the Victorian era, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction