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, 18 August, 2014 by jorielov Anna Lee Huber, Aunty Lee's Delights, Blade of the Samurai, Carolyn Steele, Claws of the Cat, French Twist, Glynis Astie, Jane Austen, Lady Darby Mysteries, Leo Tolstoy, Maggie's Wars, Mortal Arts, Ovidia Yu, Phil Pisani, Rebecca H. Jamison, Romancing the Soul, Sarah Tranter, Sense & Sensibility, Susan Spann, The Story Hour, Thrity Umrigar, War and Peace, Willow Springs 4 Comments
My participation in the Bout this time around simply made sense due to the fact that I have a booked schedule between now & the start of September! I’d love to share journalling bits of where I am on my reading adventures, as much as interact with other Bout’ers when I could use a break between page turns! I am keeping in place the lovely paragraph I spoke on behalf of my participation in Bout 9.0 as it simply echoes my sentiments right now! :) Of course, I *love!* to push myself to read a bit more than I normally can during a Bout, but this time around, I seriously do have 8 books being read for review! On the flipside, I’m a late Austen in August reader who wants to *catch!* up a bit by soaking into her first picks for the challenge which celebrates her admiration and love of all things Jane Austen! I have a heap in store for my blog this next week, both for the readathon, for blog tours, and a few surprises outside of those too!
{Official Blurb}:
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog – From the Bout of Books team
I, Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story is not only a seriously addicted reader of books which wrap me inside stories which enchant my mind and murmur reflections in my heart after I put the books down, but I am a girl who is positively happy whilst caught up in the book blogosphere events which unite readers with books, and stories with readers who love to chatter about why they love to read what they read! I am going to sit back and enjoy this Bout, as I’ll be reading up a wicked storm of fiction whilst hosting wicked awesome blog tours & reviews! I will be spending equal time on Twitter & in the blogosphere visiting other bloggers who are participating. Here’s to being spontaneous and seeing where the Bout takes me next!
Whose going to join me!?
One year ago I participated in my *first!* Bout of Books!
I am #851 (signups) + #378 (goals)! Rock on, dear hearts!
A celebration of my life as a book blogger who celebrated her 1st Blog’s Birthday starts this week as well! Stay tuned for the start of 12 posts which journal back through my adventures!
Converse with Bout’ers:#boutofbooks | @BoutofBooks
Hostesses:@ + @
Personal Goals & Motivations of Bout 11.0!
Books to Absorb during Bout of Books 9.0:
Books for Review:
The Gin Thief by S.C. Barrus
Willow Springs Blog Tour via Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
Romancing the Soul by Sarah Tranter
Maggie's Wars by Phil Pisani
Blade of the Samurai by Susan Spann
French Twist by Glynis Astie
The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison
- Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison (a Jane Austen re-telling)
- The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar (a soul-stirring Literary fiction)
French Twist by Glynis Astie (a Contemporary Romance) Re-scheduled due to exhaustion- The Gin Thief by S.C. Barrus (as a beta reader)
- Blade of the Samurai by Susan Spann (a sequel to a Cosy Historical Mystery)
Maggie’s Wars by Phil Pisani (a war drama Historical Fiction) Re-scheduled/Self-Hosting blog!- Romancing the Soul by Sarah Tranter (a parapsychological Romance)
- Willow Springs by Carolyn Steele (an Inspirational Romance)
Author Interviews this week:
Books Aiming to Read in Addition:
- Claws of the Cat by Susan Spann (the first Shinobi mystery)
- Aunty Lee’s Delights by Ovidia Yu (the first Singaporean mystery)
- Mortal Arts by Anna Lee Huber (sequel to the Lady Darby mystery series)*
- {to be revealed} by Jane Austen (for Austen in August)*updating Austen in August MP
- The first 25 pages of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (a RAL w/ @LitChat & my tCC List)
*my review of “The Anatomist’s Wife” (the first Lady Darby mystery) will post during the Bout!
Bookish Posts Forthcoming:
Jorie’s Box of Joy : Inbound Books for Review- Austen in August : an modified reading list & proper update
Top Ten Tuesday : ?WWW Wednesday : An update on last week & this week’s readings- 10 Bookish & Not So Bookish Thoughts : my 1st contribution!
- Jorie Loves A Story 1st Birthday Celebration Post
- August 2013 to August 2014 : First Month Retrospective
- Read A Romance Month : Participation & why I adore reading Romance novels!
Bout 11.0 Events I will be joining in on the fun:
Seven days,
168 hours,
with the prospect of devouring itching to read books and savouring the joy of discovering the ones which I am reading for a blog book tour!
Ooh, let the readathon be underway!
{My Bout’er Updates:}
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Monday 18th: I was quite literally consumed inside the world of “Sense & Sensibility” through the dramatic re-telling of Rebecca H. Jamison! She not only proved that she could write a believable story, but for me, she added in so many realistic elements of what can happen that at times I felt emotionally blindsided! One particular event held my breath in my throat as what I hadn’t disclosed in my review is there is a motorcycle crash in the latter chapters that puts your heart out of your chest! My family has always been cognisant of cycles on the road & want to find one of those bumper stickers to reflect awareness for everyone else too. I am not sure how much of the story follows in line with Jane Austen, but for me, I could not read the story fast enough as I was completely tied and invested inside the lives of the characters in this modern re-telling! I lost all sense of time, and I can only hope my thoughts I left behind can convey how much I enjoyed reading the story! I might have found a few wrinkles (my ‘fly in the ointment’) but that did not stop my pleasure of the novel overall! I find that even the most celebrated works I discover at times have a few things I might have found rubbed me the wrong way, but it is presence of where the writer took me in the text that gives all stories the ability to have me transcend directly into the world they gave to us as they penned the story! I was hoping other Janeites & Austenites would leave comments about cross-referencing the original canon to what I disclosed on this re-telling as that is one element I could not give this year. This was also the day I did the most tweeting for Bout’ers and slightly missed the chance to ‘talk’ during the live chat!
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Tuesday 19th: Whilst I edited my Author Interview for Thrity Umrigar, I started to read her novel “The Story Hour”, only to find that despite the allure of the synopsis, I was having a bit of trouble shifting into the story, as the characters were being presented in a way that felt a bit disconjointed for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the Questions I had composed for the Interview, as it was one of the few times where an author has such a breadth of media posted online and in different mediums like: podcast, YouTube interview, print media, and other blogger Interviews! The day dissolved before my eyes and turnt into Wednesday,…
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Wednesday 20th: I was attempting to accomplish so very much today, as I sort of had a late start, as I found I had overslept and that completely threw off *everything!* I not only wanted to blog about (as I wanted to work on the *Bookish Posts* section of this challenge, but it threw off my focus to dig into “Claws of the Cat” before the day I was meant to post my review of “Blade of the Samurai!” I did accomplish one wicked sweet thing: I not only read, edited, and commented on “The Gin Thief” — I actually learnt a few new tricks on how to use added features of Word! I was most delighted as I had not sorted out the ‘insert comment’ & the ‘track changes’ features prior to my project and work with S.C. Barrus as one of his Beta Readers work a work-in-progress! I appreciated the work immensely especially being that his writing style is so far outside my own that it felt like a joyful adventure! I can see why writers talk about being a Beta for stories not only outside your comfort zone but outside what you were normally read, as it heightens your eyes to seeing what might not be working and/or to give a different intensity of feedback. As the night was folding into midnight, I was still working on my double showcase for Ms. Spann. The Interview Questions arrived whilst I was firming together how I wanted the Interview to look and feel inside the post, and then, I rather happily staid posed at my keyboard until nearly 3am sorting out how I wanted to add replies! It was a special Interview to host, as it always is when I have previously known a writer I feature on my blog! The hours I was spending working on everything overlapped with the hours I wanted to tweet & thus, I missed the second chat for the Bout! I also wanted to soak into the French Twist series by Glynis Astie, as I was striving to post my book review for “French Twist” — there are some days the hours dissolve faster than we’re able to grab them!
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Thursday 21st:
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Friday 22nd: Oh, my dear goodness – I never thought it would be possible to self-host my blog within 24 hours, but necessity was the (work in progress)
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Saturday 23rd:
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Sunday 24th:
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Monday 25th:
{SOURCE: Bout of Books Badge created by Jorie in Canva to give readers & visitors who come to her blog a way to know of its existence and therefore increasing the mystery & lore surrounding it!! Badges for Proud Book Nerd, Read All Day, & Coffee are given to bloggers to add personality to their blogs by Squeesome Designs.Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Book Covers: “Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison provided by the author; “The Story Hour” by Thrity Umrigar provided by TLC Book Tours; “French Twist” by Glynis Astie provided by the author; “Blade of the Samurai” by Susan Spann provided by the author; “Maggie’s Wars” by Phil Pisani provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours; “Romancing the Soul” by Sarah Tranter provided by ChocLitUK; Willow Springs tour banner provided by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media; “The Gin Thief” by S.C. Barrus provided by the author; all Press Materials are used with permission for both review and promotion on my blog.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
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Posted Monday, 18 August, 2014 by jorielov in Bout of Books, RALs | Thons via Blogs
