Posted Sunday, 1 February, 2015 by jorielov A Woman of Fortune, Amy Durham, Asher's Mark, Becca Stevens, Berni Stevens, Brenda S. Anderson, C.A. Gray, Camille Eide, Chandice Probst & Tana Besendorfer, Dance Until Dawn, First Frost, Gluten-Free On A Budget, Henriette Gyland, Impossible, Katy Haye, Kellie Coates Gilbert, Letters to my Future Husband, Like There's No Tomorrow, Lisa McKendrick, Marilee Jackson, Midnight Runner, Pieces of Granite, S.C. Barrus, Sarah Addison Allen, Stephen J. Valentine, The Gin Thief, The Last Gatekeeper, The Lazarus Game, The Way of Tea and Justice, Up Close 2 Comments
One of the happiest moments for a book blogger is eagerly going to their postbox & seeing what delightfully wicked print books have arrived for their reading pleasure! I have always held a keen interest in postal mail, being a long-term postal letter correspondent which has given me such a heart of joy seeing envelopes & bundles of love arrive from dear friends around the world. Imagine my new excitement in seeing the books I am reviewing arriving by publisher, author, publicist, or literary agent! Such an exciting new chapter in postal splendor!
I have been wanting to blog about my excitement about being placed on certain blog tours and/or in receiving books for review direct from authors, publishers, or publicists. I originally came across a weekly meme on Mondays entitled Mailbox Monday and you could say, that my new feature on Jorie Loves A Story is an extended idea from the original! Except to say, with one minor switch-up! Although I attempt to write down when books arrive by Post, I am never quite as certain when the books arrive as I am always reading the next book in hand! Therefore, please join me as I get excited about the books on my shelf which are next in line to read!
I apologise I was not able to keep up with my posts for this Feature. Most of the latter half of 2014 was a bit difficult for different reasons, wherein I simply tried to read all the books I could whilst I had captured the hours to give to them. I was too wrapped up in my readings to realise I had forgotten to post about upcoming books of interest! You will happily see a resurgence of this post hitting weekly starting this Winter 2015!
I am working on completing my “End of the Year Survey 2014”:
Spring & Summer might have dissolved into each other and collided straight into Autumn, but I must confess I read a heap of beautiful writ stories! Enchanting my mind, endearing my heart, and enveloping me inside a knitted eclipse of story craft by writers who know how to give readers a pause out of their hours and a settling inside their spirits as they turn page after page of evoking narrative which never fully leaves you once you place the novel on your bookshelf!
By the time it came around for the *End of the Year Survey* to be written, I must admit I was still working on a few reviews whilst resting a bit after New Year’s as I love to watch the ball drop in Times Square! I have been compiling the survey for more than a month now, working on it off/on whenever I have a few free hours to go back over the books I read during the past year, inasmuch as sort out my final thoughts as where they might ‘fit’ into the survey itself. I plan to release my “Top Picks of 2014” and the completed survey quite soon! Stay tuned to see what truly captured my mind from last year!
I have several carry-overs from January,
of which I will be reading whilst tweeting about this week:
- Impossible by C.A. Gray (last book in the Piercing the Veil series: Book 1, Book 2, Interview)
- The Last Gatekeeper by Katy Haye (part of my readings for Sci Fi Experience 2015)
- The Gin Thief: Ep 1 by S.C. Barrus (manuscript I served as a betareader)
- First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen (part of Book Browse First Impressions)
- Up Close by Henriette Gyland (romantic suspense by ChocLitUK)
- Dance Until Dawn by Berni Stevens (vampire romance by ChocLitUK)
- A Woman of Fortune by Kellie Coates Gilbert (author contacted me about her books)
- *I will be talking about the library books I’m reading lateron in the week!
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Posted Sunday, 1 February, 2015 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Cookery, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Down Syndrome, Equality In Literature, Gluten-Free Foods, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Jorie's Box of Joy, Life Shift, New Adult Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Royal Social Media, Science Fiction, Special Needs Children, Steampunk, Street Team for Author, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Women's Fiction
Posted Monday, 1 December, 2014 by jorielov All Our Yesterdays, Anthony Russo, B.R. Maul, Berni Stevens, Blood for Blood, Brenda S. Anderson, C.A. Gray, Camille Eide, Christina Courtenay, Coming Home series, Cristin Terrill, Crown of Dust, Dance Until Dawn, Dare to Kiss, Deborah Heal, E. Chris Garrison, French Toast, French Twist, Glynis Astie, History Mystery Trilogy, I Walter, Laura Brown, Like There's No Tomorrow, Lila's Choice, Mari Passananti, Mary Volmer, Mike Hartner, New England Rocks, Paranormal Texas, Paul Mark Tag, Pieces of Granite, Piercing the Veil series, Portals Passages & Pathways, S.B. Alexander, S.C. Barrus, S.K. Rizzolo, Science Thrillers Trilogy, Sharon Cameron, Sinking Down, The Dark Unwinding, The Dragon of Unrest, The Gin Thief, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, The Rose in the Wheel, Trade Winds, Tui Snider, Unexpected Texas 1 Comment
Each of us who joyfully blogs about books will find at times, even our best laid plans to host concurrent blog events can sometimes become a bit hard to juggle when our personal lives intercede on the time we had scheduled to devout to the events themselves. I found myself in this particular pickle last Sci Fi November, but this year, I felt I had shifted a few things around to where I had more hours to give and thereby could redeem myself from what I could not put together last year. Suffice to say, a few unexpected issues arose the least of which were a knock-out of my internet connection by a severe lightning storm and a broken toe of which looked far worse than the injury itself yet gave me enough wincing pain to forestall my blogging.
I was able to jump dive into the #RRSciFiMonth chat at the very tail-end of the conversation, whereupon I happily enjoyed speaking with Ms. Czerneda, Asti, Ana, and Rachel Noel (@Silelda & Purple Owl Reviews)! It was during this part of the convo, I expressed my desire to carry forward into December the posts I was unable to contribute during the last fortnight of SFN: 2014! I was happily surprised to find others were in agreement; November for whichever reason had become a bit of a quagmire for a lot of us, and I was not the only one wanting to extend the celebrations!
*I received a bit of a surprise whilst getting the link for Rachel Noel’s blog! (read: 2014 Thanks) I have always appreciated the randomness to my conversations with Rachel Noel on Twitter & I had always meant to expand our connection by visiting her blog. To see my name listed as a part of a note of gratitude of whom gave her the most joy and support in 2014 was simply an unexpected blessing to discover. Our lives touch each other in ways we do not always realise have an impact that gives us all a boost when we need it most. I can attest the same in return! Read More
Posted Monday, 1 December, 2014 by jorielov in #IndieWriterMonth, #SciFiReadathon, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Junkie Promotions, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Cosy Historical Mystery, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Dystopian, Fantasy Fiction, France Book Tours, Go Indie, Hard Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Memoir, Month9Books, Non-Fiction, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Royal Social Media, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, Seventh Star Press, SFN Bingo, Small Towne Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Steampunk, Sweet Romance, Time Travel, TLC Book Tours, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event, Western Fiction
Posted Monday, 10 November, 2014 by jorielov C.A. Gray, Invincible, Piercing the Veil series, Wanderlust Publishing 1 Comment
Invincible by C.A. Gray
Published By: Wanderlust Publishing
Official Author Websites: Site | Blog | @AuthorCAGray | Facebook | GoodReads
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, E-book
Converse on Twitter via: #PiercingTheVeilSeries
Acquired Book By: I worked with Ms. Bauer (of Royal Social Media) whilst hosting Ms. Krupa (author of the debut novel “Safe & Sound”) and I always left the door open to work with her again as hosting T.S. Krupa was quite lovely and I considered myself blessed to be able to cross paths with both Ms. Bauer and Ms. Krupa at the same time. A writer I am highlighting in November Glynis Astie also shares a connection to Ms. Bauer (as she is her publicist) but this time around, Ms. Bauer approached me to host Ms. Gray and her Young Adult Fantasy series Piercing the Veil. I immediately fell in love with the series premise and the layering effect of the story overall out of the vision Ms. Gray had for her series. Therefore I received a complimentary copy of “Invincible” direct from the author C.A. Gray in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
The Afterword is a true gift:
Ms. Gray did a wonderful job at describing the finer points of the science included in the first two installments of the Piercing the Veil series as much as she went on to describe in broad terms what can be found throughout the trilogy. You can drink in information about the following: Penumbra, Nimbus, the Taijitu; including how the Penumbra can cross between worlds; why alchemy plays a part in the back-stories; further explanation on the Philosopher’s Stone and the role of the Arthurian legends. The layers of quantum physics, super-string theories, and the role of each of the extraordinary events etched out of theoretical science and chaos theory are given a special area of notation to break down the basics in layman’s terms to how everything provided the gateway for grounding the Piercing the Veil series in known science.
I appreciate seeing how the author’s research not only heightened the enjoyment of reading a Sci-Fantasy novel, but how each piece of her research went to building the structure of not only the world within the series but the elemental moments of where metaphysics meets the quantum realms of conceptability. It is a strong series for those readers who enjoy a compelling series wrought out of keeping science a forefront of merit within science fiction & fantasy.
Invincible
Peter Stewart is a dead ringer for the legendary King Arthur, and because of that, everyone in Carlion believes that he is the Child of the Prophecy, destined to destroy the Shadow Lord. But Peter doesn’t want to be a hero; all he wants to be is left alone.
Lily Portman also fits the prophecy. Having spent her entire life as an orphan and a misfit, Lily would love nothing more than to be the Child of the Prophecy, so she envies Peter… but she’s also developing a crush on him. And it seems to her that he couldn’t care less.
Isdemus and the Watchers believe that it is only a matter of time before Peter’s twin brother Kane betrays them all and frees the Shadow Lord. The winner of the war to come depends on who has the legendary Philosopher's Stone—the only problem is, it has been lost since the days of Arthur. With the help of a skeptical anthropologist, the Watchers attempt to decode the ancient treasure maps that lead them to the heart of Egypt and the dawn of time. Meanwhile, Lily and Peter discover that Peter holds the real key to the mystery... but will they be too late?
Places to find the book:
Series: Piercing the Veil, No. 2
Also in this series: Intangible
on 27th April, 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 422
The search for the Child of Prophecy continues
to expand in proportion to the hunt for Excalibur:
Gray doesn’t allow her readers to take too much of a breath between installments in her Piercing the Veil series, as the opening Prologue of Invincible directly picks up where Intangible leaves off. A mortal wounding battle between the Light and Dark combatants forged in the ending of the first installment are not only attempting to make sense of what happened but the truer revelation of what was revealed by the disappearance of Kane. Kane from the moment he stepped into Peter’s life was a bane of his existence; always pushing Peter towards self-discovery in a near destructive way to pit Peter’s life against the knowledge of who Peter is within the Prophecy itself. Kane instinctively acts impulsively to further his own curious mind towards discovering the true meaning of all of their lives. He grew up with the stories of their worlds colliding into legend and prophecy but he is not entirely on the side of the Light; his heart became embittered by the fact he considered Peter’s role in his life to be a nuisance rather than a gift.
Kane is a character whose foundation of his spirit is hinged to a pursuit of glory whereas Peter’s heart was always tethered to his father and his mother. His parents grounded him even if he had a bit of growth to undertake as far as how to live without bitterness and how to grasp a hold of patience in the face of repetitive structure he felt was beneath him. Each of the young boys had a glimmer of insight towards what is right and what is inherently wrong, but one of them is closer to aligning themselves with a true darkness that could effectively worsen their lot in the life they were meant to ascend inside.
Kane pursued Excalibur for personal vindication and the glorified success finding it secure in his hands would afford him within the boundaries of his world and the laws therein. He was seeking a self-righteous path to outwit and outstep Peter; whereas Peter was merely trying to sort out how the logical side of his brain needed to start to accept what exists outside of science and tangible wisdom.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Monday, 10 November, 2014 by jorielov in Arthurian Legend, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Bullies and the Bullied, Coming-Of Age, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Domestic Violence, Earthen Magic, England, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Foster Care, Genre-bender, Good vs. Evil, Indie Author, Light vs Dark, Mental Health, Modern Day, Mythological Societies, Naturopathic Medicine, Orphans & Guardians, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Passionate Researcher, Quantum Physics, Retrospective Memories of a Series, Royal Social Media, School Life & Situations, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays, Sci-Fi November, Science Fantasy, Seers, Social Services, Speculative Fiction, Spin-Off Authors, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Superstrings, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Time Shift, Transfer Student at School, Writing Style & Voice, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Posted Saturday, 8 November, 2014 by jorielov C.A. Gray, Intangible, King of the Mutants, Samantha Verant 0 Comments
OOoh my dear wicked sweet ghouls!!
I was quite literally stalking this main page of yours — I was so seriously committed to getting the new Bingo card you have NO IDEA!! The joy this gave me is beyond Jupiter’s moons!! Bless you! :)
And, guess what?! CA Gray’s Piercing the Veil series is not only Sci-Fantasy (a genrebender between science fiction & fantasy) but it will be marking off my FIRST square: parallel universe! Wicked awesome!
– Jorie commenting on the official posting of this year’s BINGO CARD!
This lovely card was created by Asti @ Oh! the Books
Let the Reading Challenge Commence!
B1 – Steampunk:
B2 – Superheroes:
B3 – Teleportation: time travel via teleporation (A Stitch in Time)
B4 – Invisibility:
B5 – Shapeshifters:
I1 – Absent-Minded Professor:
I2 – Apocalypse or World Wide Disaster:
I3 – Colonization of Other Planets:
I4 – Drugs and Medication:
I5 – Parallel Universe: modern England & Arthurian parallel world (Intangible)
N1 – Space Opera:
N2 – Mind Control:
N3 – Free!
N4 – Virtual Reality:
N5 – Domed City:
G1 – Immortality: the Shadow Lord takes centerstage (Invincible)
G2 – Lost Civilizations:
G3 – Human Zoo: Mutants living in captivity who were once human (King of the Mutants)
G4 – Mad Scientists:
G5 – Award Winning:
O1 – Floating City:
O2 – Sci-Fi Classic:
O3 – Alien Invasion:
O4 – Resizing:
O5 – Military Sci-Fi:
SFN Reading List: [combination of scheduled & alternates]
- Intangible by C.A. Gray (review) YA Fantasy
- King of the Mutants by Samantha Vérant (review) MG Fantasy | the reason I selected this for the ‘Human Zoo’ category is because of the fact the mutant children are different species of animals as you might expect to find in a traditional zoo
- Invincible by C.A. Gray (review) YA Fanatasy
- A Stitch in Time by Amanda James (review) Time Travel Romance
It will be a wondrous mystery to me to see which elements of these books will enter into the formation of the Bingo card’s taken spaces! I am certain that if I can read the # of books I scheduled to read this month, it will be quite the feat in of itself! I am not curating a list ahead of time but rather will see where my reading journeys take me on the card this year!
Stay tuned!
Rock on, dear hearts!
This post is brought to you by:
{SOURCES: Asti at Oh! the Books made the SFN Bingo Card for SFN 2014 participants to take part in the joy of an undisciplined reading challenge! The Bingo card is used with permission. Sci-Fi November Badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
Tweets in regards to the SFN 2014 Bingo Challenge:
Posted Saturday, 8 November, 2014 by jorielov in Dystopian, Fantasy Fiction, Reading Challenge Addict, Reading Challenges, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Steampunk, Time Travel
Posted Monday, 3 November, 2014 by jorielov C.A. Gray, Impossible, Intangible, Invincible, Piercing the Veil series, Wanderlust Publishing 152 Comments
Mondays:
Fantasy Showcase : the Piercing the Veil series Invalid book: 0
Book Blitz & Announcement of Piercing the Veil Showcase (prior to SFN)
The Book Blitz includes an Excerpt of the novel Impossible. I discussed my joy in discovering this is a ‘clean read’ for all ages. You can view the book trailer as well.
Review: Intangible by C.A. Gray (prior to SFN)
Review: Invincible by C.A. Gray (10 Nov)
Review: Impossible by C.A. Gray (17 Nov)
SPECIAL SHOWCASE: Piercing the Veil Serial Overview (24 Nov)
I encourage everyone who is dropping by for the LIVE Author Q&A with Ms. Gray tonight, to take a moment to go through the links I’ve provided on the calendar of events above where I am featuring her novels & collective works in order to get a proper introduction to the author’s writing style, voice, and her commitment to writing rock solid world-building narrative arcs within the fantasy genre. To me, she embodies the purist essence of a genre-bending author, as her YA Fantasy series is most definitely fantasy driven, yet there are incredible elements knitted into the heart of the characters and the story’s foundation which are rooted on science fact. I felt a better way of describing her works might be to add the attribution of “Sci-Fantasy” as she has found a way to bridge both worlds of Speculative Fiction quite brilliantly.
Welcoming C.A. Gray to Jorie Loves A Story,
featuring an Interview & *LIVE!* Author Q&A!
FULL DETAILS:
Jorie interviews Ms. Gray ahead of the 8:00pm (EST) 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 Ms. Gray will be responding to reader comments, questions, and compliments please make sure to leave your response *early!* in order for her 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 and visitors of Jorie Loves A Story 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 in the mid evening hour of 8 o’ clock to make sure you do not miss Ms. Gray! 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!
Remember to continue to leave comments, questions, & thoughts to share with Ms. Gray throughout the month of November during the Sci Fi November event! I will be updating her when new commentary is arriving & she will respond as soon as she can to your enquiries! I consider this a Sci-Fantasy genrebender novel as it has firm grounding in science as much as in fantasy!
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Posted Monday, 3 November, 2014 by jorielov in Angels, ArchDemons or Demonic Entities, Arthurian Legend, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Doctor Who, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Foster Care, Genre-bender, Good vs. Evil, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Interview & Live Author Q&A, Light vs Dark, Macgyver, Methodology of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy, Naturopathic Medicine, Orphans & Guardians, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Quantum Leap, Quantum Physics, Royal Social Media, Sci-Fi November, Science Fantasy, Single Fathers, Social Services, Speculative Fiction, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Supernatural Fiction, Superstrings, The Writers Life, Warfare & Power Realignment, Writing Advice & Tips, Writing Style & Voice, YA Fantasy
