Tag: Jackie Gamber

#TopTenTuesday XII | Top 16x Books with Single-Word Titles I’ve read as a Book Blogger

Posted Tuesday, 3 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday blog banner created by Jorie in Canva.

[Official Blurb] Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature / weekly meme created by The Broke & the Bookish. The meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke & the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your Top 10 Lists! In January, 2018 this meme is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

[Topic of the Day: Books With Single-Word Titles
(submitted by Kitty from Kitty Marie’s Reading Corner) ]

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Why I nearly didn’t write-up a post for today’s topic:

I’ve noticed over the years (as a reader) and as a book blogger, I have the tendency of reading stories which have either a phrase within their book titles and/or are titles which evolve through the theme of their genre, world or other cognitive connection to the stories or series I am reading. It is rare (by memory) for me to be able to bring back to mind the stories which were singled out which featured a *single-word title* – which is why in order to participate I decided to look through my Story Vault and was quite surprised by the results I found within!

The *biggest!* shocker?! I’ve read FAR MORE single-titled stories than I first realised!

I’ll be discussing how my memory aligns with the stories vs their titles and how rather uniquely why I’m highlighting 16x stories with a bonus selection where I will journal out the rest of the single-titled entries which have evolved into my reading life these past seven years  (*as hallo, hallo Jorie Loves A Story’s 7th Blogoversary is the 31st!)

And, to think I wasn’t going to write this post for #TopTenTuesday because I thought as a reader I couldn’t relate to the topic! lol It is definitely an excercise in how we align our memories, how stories speak to us in different ways than linear recognition & how chasing through our book blog archives becomes a bit of a hoot for the reader whose breathed in such a lifetime of lives through the unexpected passageways the books brought into her bookish & readerly life!

When you set about writing this week’s topic – did you struggle to remember if the stories you had read had single word titles OR do you regularly gravitate towards them and they’ve become old hat? I’d love to know how other readers & book bloggers felt about the topic and if they found it a challenging one (like me) or an insta-fit?

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I was quite surprised most of the stories on this List were beloved reads of mine – but I’ve remembered them by the world they were set (if they were series) or by their characters or something else which stood out in my memories far longer than the length of their titles! I think I just had a mental disconnect when I originally saw the topic today! lol

*NOTE: all of these stories were sent to me in exchange for honest reviews with a few exceptions such as “Pride” and “Wonder” which I borrowed through my local library.

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Posted Tuesday, 3 March, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday No.8 | Top Twelve Authors Who Deserve More Recommendation (feat. their characters I loved discovering!)

Posted Tuesday, 8 October, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday blog banner created by Jorie in Canva.

[Official Blurb] Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature / weekly meme created by The Broke & the Bookish. The meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke & the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your Top 10 Lists! In January, 2018 this meme is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

[ Topic of 8th October, 2019:
Character Traits I Love;
Personality Traits I Love to See In Book Characters:
Things That Make Me Love a Character ]

Which works brilliantly into a Top Ten Tuesday post
I originally wrote to coincide with the Topic of 2nd July, 2019:

We needed to discuss *characters!* with an OPEN THEME/CHOICE:

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recommendation
(and their characters I loved discovering!)

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Today’s entry was inspiring to me for the following reasons:

As avid readers, we meet so many dearly incredible characters throughout our bookish journeys – it would make sense, somewhere over the score of time – we are going to come across authors & characters who leave imprinted impressions on our bookish hearts which not just effect us through time and space but they leave such a distinction of presence on our readerly lives. Sometimes they never quite leave us – as there is a part of them inside us still – all these hours after they’ve left our thoughts, because for each character we’ve met in a story, their life and their experiences have bled into our own; their memories are now our memories as for each story we read, there is a potential there to live another life, through another person’s shoes irregardless of their gender; their essence affects us because we’ve breathed in their life.

It is hard to even speculate which characters in the *six years!* I’ve blogged have staid with me the longest and which stories I ache the most to re-read and re-visit alongside – those are goals and dreams I have for Winters long spent by fireside cosy nooks of space where knitting needles, hot tea and scones await me as cats linger in dreamscapes and snow gently falls outside frozen windows. Until then, when I’m granted the joy of a seasonal experience outside of volcanic Summers and blink-you-missed-it Winters, I happily appreciate the hours I have to spend with the characters as their stories ‘greet’ me on the pages their writers left me to find.

As a genre dancer – it is even harder to pin down the characters I regularly interact with as they could be a fantastical creature, a science fiction adventurer, a Magical Realism time bender or they’re living Contemporary or Historical lives – they could be young, old, or somewhere between; sorting out their lives or re-defining a second career or tackling adversity inasmuch as they are giving love a second chance. I love stories and for all the lovelies I regularly read there are still so many more horizons out there in the literary realms I desire to explore further, read harder and read particularly closer to the eras of time I love exploring most.

Whilst at the same time, if I can disappear into my favourite eras such as the Victorian, Regency & Edwardian periods of England – the Highlands of Scotland and criss-cross through a time portal which skips round the historical past from Ancient times to present-day on all the continents of curiosity and interest; wells, you can see where the well of possibilities deepens greatly!

Narrowing down this list of choices was a bit of a curiously serendipitous experience – I went with the inspiration at the moment and as this was originally composed in July, I dearly had to break the 11 references into 12 as – oh, my dear sweet bookish heavens – those Spinsters have left me hungering for more of their stories! I cannot wait to re-invest into their lives as I move into the second novel having consumed (er, devoured?) the first and fourth!

It goes without saying but I will remind you: brew your favourite cuppa & get comfy as this is a seriously long post about the stories and authors I hope might encourage a few new choices on your TBR Lists!Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

DUE NOTE: all the books featured on this Top Ten Tuesday post were complimentary books sent to me for review consideration and/or were sent in exchange for an honest review at some point or another over the past few years. I received them from publishers, publicists, authors and/or blog touring companies. I was not obligated to feature them on this Top Ten Tuesday post but wanted to feature them due to how incredibly attached I became to their narratives, characters and the immersive experience I felt as I read their stories.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

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Posted Tuesday, 8 October, 2019 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Top Ten Tuesday

+Blog Book Tour+ The Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber, a book blogger’s recollection of a beloved #dragonfiction trilogy!

Posted Sunday, 14 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , 9 Comments

Parajunkee Designs

 Trilogy Tour with Jackie Gamber & H. David Blalock via Tomorrow Comes Media

Featuring the Creative Works of Indie Authors from Seventh Star Press!

I’m focusing on Jackie Gamber’s the Leland Dragon series as I was given the amazing opportunity to discover the beauty within Gamber’s YA Fantasy series last Autumn; whereupon I received Redheart in exchange for an honest review ‘off-tour’. From the very first moment I broached the covers of this novel of #dragonfiction, I *knew!* I had stumbled across a writer who breathed her heart and spirit into her literary exploits. This was a special story for me to read, as I always wanted to read about dragons in fiction, inasmuch as I was a bonefide reader of Science Fiction & Fantasy since I was quite young until my reading wanderings took an abrupt stop in my late teens.

Author Biography: Jackie Gamber

Jackie Gamber

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 novels Redheart, Sela, Reclamation 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.

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Wordsmiths are my favourites next to research enthusiasts:

Ms. Gamber has a way of weaving the opening bits of this tale in such a way that your hungry for each new sentence that alights in your mind! She has a way of showing the interactions between a freaked out of her skull human and a disgruntled and reclusive dragon as though this were an ordinary tale, set in an ordinary time, and one that would easily be taken as ‘written’ and ‘true’. Her ease of giving the reader the chance to soak into her narrative is brilliant when you consider this is an epic fantasy, with a world created fully unknown to the reader who picks up the book!

Next to (writers who are) research enthusiasts, my next favourite writer is the wordsmith! The one who uses a palette of words to paint the portraits of what evolves into the stories that light up our imaginations with such a vigorous intensity! They use words in a fashion that infuses emotion, heart, and observation in a way that is both poetic and brilliantly unique. And, being emotional beings (dragons), I would wager could lead to disappointments, misunderstandings, and grievously difficult emotional keels! She eclipses the depth of their personality with deft skill! Soulful! Dragons to me, have always come across as being ‘soulful’, filt to the brim with an ageless wisdom and a mission to seek out understanding in things that they do not always understand at first.

– quoted from my review of Redheart

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The Leland Dragon series :
A Book Blogger’s Retrospective on a Trilogy

Discovering a touring company (Tomorrow Comes Media) whilst browsing the book blogosphere last September and seeing this curiously purple & black logo winking at me in the sidebar of one of my click through visits changed my life as I couldn’t sign-up to be a Tour Hostess fast enough! My first blog tour to host for TCM (I always smile at the initials because I am always thinking of Turner Classic Movies when I use it!) was for “The Boxcar Baby” by J.L. Mulvihill where I tackled a Dystopian Steampunked world for the first time. My review for The Boxcar Baby posted on 29th of September whereas Redheart followed on 30th of October, making it my fourth novel from Seventh Star Press and my fourth Indie Science Fiction or Fantasy author to be read of all-time. As even though I always grativated towards Indie Press & Publishers as much as I did Self-Published authors — there was never an easy route to seek them out on a regular basis. By becoming a book blogger not only was I discovering how wide of a net the Indies encompass nowadays but I was able to cross paths with more writers like me who think outside the box of the traditional paradigm of the world of publishing. Being in a position to ‘host!’ the author and their stories was both an honour and an absolute incredible blessing!

Redheart had such a strong effect on me, as the world within where Kallon Redheart lives is such an intricately created world with layered dimensions at every turn. The fact that I *devoured!* this novel rather than slowly soaked into its heart, is an understatement!

I was so new to hosting for TCM when I posted my review for Redheart I didn’t have the official author’s biography for Gamber nor did I realise I could have posted the Book Synopsis! I was still in the opening months of understanding how I wanted to blog and share my reading adventures as much as defining myself as a Blog Book Tour Hostess. I’ve kept my archives as true to my posts as they were posted originally with only updating font, size of typography, and/or updating badges or post dividers. I wanted an honest recollection of my journey and of the materials I had at my disposal when I was blogging about the books as I met them. I still remain true to how I started, however, in that I am always seeking permission to use Press Kit Materials on behalf of novels & their authors. To me it is not only a courtesy but a rule of thumb as a book blogger.

I truly need to re-read and re-visit the entire trilogy of which I reflected recently and even included my ‘dream setting’ in which to do it:

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Posted Sunday, 14 September, 2014 by jorielov in #HorrorOctober, A to Z Challenge, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Cliffhanger Ending, Dragon Fiction, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Good vs. Evil, Indie Art, Indie Author, Light vs Dark, Nature & Wildlife Photography Antidotes of Jorie, Retrospective Memories of a Series, Sci-Fi November, Seventh Star Press, YA Fantasy

+Blog Book Tour+ The Top Ten Dragon Favourites of Jackie Gamber {author of} my beloved Leland Dragon series!

Posted Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

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If you are a regular reader of mine or a frequent visitor, you might have noticed I have always been quite eager to host and devour the Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber! I was first introduced to this wicked fantasy series last Autumn, whereupon I read Redheart – a story that set my world afire for the Leland Province and the dragons who nestled into my heart! I have even created a #DragonFiction tag on Twitter to help promote my booklove for dragons as much as to help encourage others to spread the joy of dragons in fiction! I regular converse on the chatter channels of #FantasyChat & #CreatureChat meeting up with like-minded souls who appreciate dragons, gryphons, and all the lovely characters who enchant our minds & hearts in the fantasy realms. I’ll admit I’ve learnt quite a heap from my fellow chatters!

When the Trilogy tour came along for Jackie Gamber, I *knew!* I wanted to be a part of the continued celebration of a series I know I will be re-reading quite a heap in the years to come! The multi-layers knitted into her world-building and the strong characters, both dragon and human make the story and the series evolve inside your mind as you read it; each time discovering something that hadn’t affected you the time before. On Sunday, I will be talking about each of the three stories within the trilogy and my overall recollections of the series as a whole.

Today, I happily invited Ms. Gamber to share her Top Favourite Dragons, which would have been quite keen if I had been able to post this on Tuesday as scheduled as Tuesdays are *always!* wicked happy for Top Ten Tuesday lists! Forgive the slight delay, my migraine would not allow this to appear sooner!

“Top Ten Dragon Favorites by Jackie Gamber”

Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber
Artwork Credit: Matthew Perry

Since I’ve been a genre girl as long as I can remember, and since writing the Leland Dragon series, lots of folks ask me, “Why?” And more specifically, “Why dragons?”

The quick answer is, “Why not?” The longer version is a something along the lines of, “I don’t know.”

What I do know is that the road to the Leland Dragon Series has been paved by dragons that have come before, that have either influenced me a great deal, or enhanced my enjoyment because they are dragon-related. I’ve compiled a list of them, as the top dragon-related goodies I have personally enjoyed over the years.

1.  Book:My Father’s Dragon” by Ruth Stiles Gannett,
Random House Children’s Book.

This is very likely the book that started it all, for me. I have cherished this book since I first laid hands on it as a child. The version still on my bookshelf, worn and loved, is the Weekly Reader Book Club edition, copyright 1948.

 2.  Movie:Pete’s Dragon”, 1977.

If I could hug a movie, it would be this one. I think it was my first introduction to the concept of a friendly dragon. It seemed logical at the time to think of a dragon as lovable, and I wanted one of my very own to love. No doubt, this movie made an impression.

I share a joy of Pete’s Dragon as this was one of my favourite motion pictures whilst  I was growing up as I simply loved how you could have a dragon as a best friend! I had the same sentiments truly; as I never created the concept that dragons were inherently cruel hearted nor evil; I always felt that although there are bad dragons, there were more good dragons out there to befriend, love, and welcome into my world!

 3.  Movie:Dragonslayer”, 1981.

I’m not against bad guy dragons, however. This film has a bad dragon. Much of what I enjoy is more than just the dragon, though, such as a clever maiden trying to disqualify herself for a dangerous lottery by…no longer being a maiden, if you know what I mean. How is she the first girl to think of this?

 4.  Book:The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende.

This is a German book, translated and published in English in 1983. I love the concept of the ‘never ending story’ in the book, which is impossible to duplicate in the movie. Read the book!

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Posted Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Folklore and Mythology, Motion Picture Inter-related to Bookish Topic, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Tomorrow Comes Media, Top Ten Tuesday, YA Fantasy

_+ #atozchallenge _+ 26 Days | 26 Essays [epic journey] Today is Letter “D”. Hint: Emotes <3 in Fire!

Posted Friday, 4 April, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

A to Z Challenge Day 4 Letter DI am involved in a world-wide globally connected blogosphere challenge where each blogger who signs into the participant linky is quite literally confirming their express desire to blog straight [except on Sundays!] for *26 Days!* whilst writing *26!* most intriguing & thought-producing alphabet essays! Or, to be comically inspiring, randomly cheeky, and otherwise delightfully entertaining! The bloggers who have signed into the challenge are from all walks of blogosphere life: book bloggers united alongside lifestyle gurus; writers of all literary styles nudged up against travelogues; the gambit runs the full course of each and every theme, topic, subject, and genre you could possibly light your heart with joy to broach in a blog! And, the curious bit to the journey is where your posts lead you as much as where other blogger’s posts inspire you! It’s this fantastic community to celebrate the spirit within the blogosphere as much as the spirit of connection amongst the bloggers who might not have crossed paths with each other otherwise. After all, the road map for blogs is as wide and large as the actual world outside the nethersphere of websites, pixels, and memes! Walk with us whilst we discover a bit about ourselves, our blog, & each other!

I am blogger #552 out of 2279!


D R A G O N F I C T I O N has been a part of my life ever since I first saw Pete’s Dragon, as it combined two of my favourite loves: fantasy & musicals! The interaction of the cast and of course, the dragon is what endeared me to dragons throughout my childhood! And, yet it wasn’t until I was in my late teens to where I started to seek out D R A G O N F I C T I O N with a passion for finding works of literature which bespoke of the dragons I had hoped to encounter! There is such a cross-sect of literary works featuring dragons that its hard to pick amongst them to bring forward the ones that I am hoping will become the dragons who fill my heart with joy!

Dragons to me, always felt to encompass human-like characteristics that gave you the impression that if any species could live in an accord with us, it would be the dragons! They are generally emotionally driven, feel things deeply with their hearts, and they have keen observation and hearing skills that make them in a position to have empathy and tolerance. I always had the sense inside me that a dragon is as curious in nature as humans, and oft-times could get themselves into a bit of trouble untoward that regard!

– quoted from my review of Redheart by Jackie Gamber

I am not necessarily against dragons who have less empathy and humanity inside them such as the more brutish types found in the Harry Potter series, but I do happen to lean more towards the dragons of the Leland Dragons series by Jackie Gamber! I had the honour of reading the complete series whilst hosting either a book review or blog tour with Tomorrow

Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber
Artwork Credit: Mathew Perry

Comes Media on behalf of the Seventh Star Press trilogy! The dragons inside Gamber’s series has a penchant for heart and soul, a dedication to community, and a willingness to seek peace over violent warfare. The stories soaked straight into my heart and overflowed me the kind of happiness a reader hopes to stumble across whilst finding both a new author to pursue reading as much as finding a new niche in literature which excites her! It was my honour and pleasure to blog about each installment as they alighted into my hands, and I was thrilled to peaches to be a part of the blog tour for the final novel Reclamation as it contained such a powerful and spiritual ending of epic scale!

My heart still flutters back to the very beginning, when I first became invested into the lives of Kallon and Riza, as it was the singular moment I had realised that there is truly a niche inside dragon fiction which has captured my heart! I was struck by the breadth of the world-building as much as the genuine dialogue of how dragons live, work, and interact with not only their kind but with the humans who live on the fringes of their societies. Not everything was always roses, mind you, but it was a bit like gathering an insider’s glimpse into a world you never expected to have such an intimate portrait of! As I walked further into their realm, I started to see the similarities and the differences between their culture and the humans they were always afeared to become close too.

– quoted from my review of Reclamation by Jackie Gamber

Prior to reading this lovely series, I was one of the ones who went to see How to Train Your Dragon with the high hopes of nestling into a new dragon film which harked back to my love of Pete’s Dragon! Who wouldn’t love seeing how the Vikings would interact with the misunderstood and oft-times persecuted dragons!? I longed for this particular film to spark a sequel, and I am bursting with excitement for Summer 2014 when it become a release on the silver screen! Sometimes your dreams come true in ways that your not always expecting, and for me, finding ways to have D R A G O N F I C T I O N a focal point in my life has been this book blogger’s life’s ambition! Through book blogging, I am getting the proper chance to exchange conversations with a wider audience of readers, and therein lies the joy! I am meeting fellow fantasy lovers who not only read dragon stories, but are forthcoming about which authors they appreciate and which authors they are hoping to dig into next! Prior to being involved with my own book blog, I found the waters of how to traverse this exciting branch of literature beyond daunting as those readers I would come across at libraries or bookshoppes were not as straight forward on which narratives spoke to them the most! I am thinking this might have something to do with the fact most of those in-person readers were blokes, and I oft noticed there was a discrepancy between their views and my own. As if perhaps a girl couldn’t hold her salt in the fantasy realms. Sad, yes. True, most definitely! Online I notice the divide doesn’t exist. If you dig fantasy, you rock to the fantasy lovers! Gender doesn’t even enter into the conversation, and that is something to celebrate! Of course, this might not be true ‘everywhere’ but I can only relate what my personal experiences have been and hence how my experiences might differ from others. I do hope in the future to be in an area where there is a wider net of readers and ones who are not as prejudicial towards each other as readers are here.

Next to (writers who are) research enthusiasts, my next favourite writer is the wordsmith! The one who uses a palette of words to paint the portraits of what evolves into the stories that light up our imaginations with such a vigorous intensity! They use words in a fashion that infuses emotion, heart, and observation in a way that is both poetic and brilliantly unique. And, being emotional beings (dragons), I would wager could lead to disappointments, misunderstandings, and grievously difficult emotional keels! She eclipses the depth of their personality with deft skill! Soulful! Dragons to me, have always come across as being ‘soulful’, filt to the brim with an ageless wisdom and a mission to seek out understanding in things that they do not always understand at first.

– quoted from my review of Redheart by Jackie Gamber

In March, whilst visiting Fantasy Cafe [one of my favourite fantasy-based book bloggers!] I started to have a bookish discussion about ‘D R A G O N F I C T I O N‘:

I had not realised that I had written down Robin Hobb as a perspective D R A G O N F I C T I O N author whilst curating a short list underneath my review of Redheart, which proves that sometimes time and memory are not as they ought to be! I was most esteemed of this conversation because it proved to me that I am on the right path as far as the writers I am seeking out and the novels of which interest me the most! When she had mentioned the series by Marie Brennan I was enraptured as soon as I pulled up information about the book series! I mean, who wouldn’t want to soak into a world based on a ‘dragon naturalist’ perspective!? I have always been properly hinged to the natural world, and this felt to me as though a piece of my own world was crossing into my fictional wanderings! The sketches and illustrations which are featured in the novel’s cover-art is beyond impressive!

Likewise, I’ve been attending the #genrechat sessions on Twitter, whereupon a heap of topics are discussed but mostly we’re appreciators of science fiction & fantasy, and thereby this conversation was a lead-in:

On my own, I have stumbled across a few authors who speak to me as being writers I could sink my teeth into their fantastical worlds where dragons roam and my heart can alight inside a well-built world. Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede is one of the series I latched onto due to the following reasons and I happily stumbled across an interview of Wrede’s whilst typing this post!

Meet Patricia C. Wrede via Open Road Media Videos

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is another series I came across as I tried to unearth series that were a bit set aside from the norm. I wanted to try to find dragons I would appreciate reading but also have an undercurrent heart of a story which would resonate with me as a deep appreciator of historical fiction. In fantasy, I love the writers who build these well-lit worlds where you can nearly fill your eyes with their entirety by the time you conclude each individual story. Your mind and heart fill with such a warm glow of visiting that you immediately want to duck back inside and see what has happened since you last had been there.

Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik : Book Trailer via Naomi Novik

There are a few book bloggers I try to regularly read who have the same affinity for fantasy as I do:

  • Fantasy Cafe – I enjoy how she goes beyond the basics of the books she reads and her fondness for chatting about the books she enjoys!
  • Bookish Whimsy – She actually first inspired me to seek out Finnikin of the Rock & Classics Re-Told! Always inspiring on my visits!
  • On Starships and Dragonwings – Hostess of the Friday link exchange for Science Fiction & Fantasy reviews, discussions, & giveaways!
  • Once Upon A Time – One of the book bloggers who most inspired me whilst I was creating Jorie Loves A Story!

Each of these book bloggers brings something new and different to the table. In the way they shape their reviews to the way they are willing to engage with readers and book bloggers alike! I have always appreciated their kindnesses and once I get back into visiting blogs on a more regularly basis, I am hoping to leave comments regularly and continue to seek out the books they are introducing me too! They have a wealth of information that I do encourage you to seek out yourself!

Being that I am posting my “Letter D” a full day after it was meant to be featured, I had the pleasure of dropping by:

I was attempting not to reveal my pure joy in seeing that Amrita posted about ‘dragons’ on her Letter D day!! I was elated beyond what I can express seeing that we share such a wicked sweet affinity for the lovely creatures! And, to think that we each are seeking out the same ‘humanness’ in D R A G O N F I C T I O N is quite stellar indeed!

A short listing of books & authors of D R A G O N F I C T I O N I have uncovered:

  • Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, Book 1) by Christopher Paolini (*earmarked to read for TBR Challenge)
  • A Natural History of Dragons (Memoirs of Lady Trent, Book 1) by Marie Brennan
  • The Dragon Keeeper (The Rain Wilds, Book 1) by Robin Hobb after reading Farseer, Liveship Traders, and Tawny Man series!
  • His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1) by Naomi Novik
  • the World of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (I am still trying to sort out where to ‘begin’)
  • Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
  • The authors Mr. Hallowell recommended Rachel Hartman, James Stevens, and A.D. Trosper (the last two of whom I need to research!)
  • The Dragon Whisperer by Lucinda Hare
  • Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Book Trailer via Random House Kids

I will not know for sure which new stories of D R A G O N F I C T I O N will take my breath away, but I do know this, the mere fact that there are new dragons to meet and new characters outside of dragonkind to embrace, I am going to be a happy dragon girl for a very, very long time yet to come! In the meantime, I was inspired to create my own contribution to spreading the joy of reading this sub-genre of fantasy by giving those of us on Twitter a hashtag to use for conversations &/or book suggestions: #dragonfiction! Start using it today! Rock on, dear hearts! Rock on!


 Thank you for joining me on DAY 4 | A to Z Challenge!

I am a girl named Jorie who loves a story!
I am a bookish library girl on a quest for literary enlightenment!
I am predominately self-taught and library educated!
I am Mademoiselle Jorie!
Thank you for joining me on this journey!

This marks my fourth post for the:

A to Z Challenge

And, might I ask a Question I previously broached on Jorie Loves A Story on Day 4? 

IF your a reader of dragon lore and fiction, which books and series stand out in your mind as the next ‘best’ read for me to engage in!? I’ll compile a list, and when I go to sit down with more books of this nature, I will pull your suggestions together and see how many I can read! I do have copies of “Eragon” & “Brisinger” on my self as much as I am curious about: the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, the Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb, Pern by Anne MacCaffrey, and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, of which I have stumbled across thus far! IF you’ve read any of these, which were your favourites!? And, what warmed you to the story of Leland Province, as I reviewed the trilogy!? Have you read and enjoyed any of the other authors or books I have mentioned!?

{SOURCES: A to Z Challenge Participant & Letter D Badge provided by the A to Z Challenge site for bloggers to use on their individual posts & blogs to help promote the challenge to others. Trilogy book covers for the Leland Dragon series provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. The book trailers Crucible of Gold & Seraphina as well as the author interview by Open Road Media Videos had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel & film. Tweets were able to be embedded by codes via Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Friday, 4 April, 2014 by jorielov in A to Z Challenge, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Cafe, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Good vs. Evil, High Fantasy, Motion Picture Inter-related to Bookish Topic, Seventh Star Press, Tomorrow Comes Media, YA Fantasy