Posted Thursday, 14 May, 2015 by jorielov Amy Durham, Andee Reilly, Asher's Mark, Carolyn Eide, Carolyn Menke, Catherine Ryan Hyde, ChocLitUK, Christina Courtenay, Colleen Oakes, Crown of Dust, Dear Carolina, E. Chris Garrison, Eight Hundred Grapes, Elly in Bloom, Emily Kiebel, Erin Lindsay McCabe, FAE, Fool's Gold, French Twist series, Glynis Astie, Highland Dreams, I Shall Be Near To You, Ignoring Gravity, It's You, Jan Moran, Jane Porter, June McCrary Jacobs, Kamy Wiscoff, Kate Johnson, Kathleen Shoop, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Laura Brown, Laura Dave, Like There's No Tomorrow, Lila's Choice, Lynn Carthage, Mary Kubica, Mary Volmer, Maybe in Another Life, Melissa Hart, On the Edge, Pretty Baby, Rebecca Mascull, Return to Me, Rhonda Parrish, Robin Antalek, Robin's Reward, S.C. Barrus, Safe & Sound, Sandra Danby, Satisfaction, Scent of Triumph, Serenade, Seventh Star Press, Starting Over, Sue Moorcroft, Suzanne Palmieri, T.S. Krupa, Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Gin Thief, The Gravity of Birds, The Grown-Ups, The Residence, The Road Home, The Shepherdess of Siena, The Untied Kingdom, The Visitors, The Wedding Cake Tree, The Witch of Bourbon Street, Tracy Guzeman, Trade Winds, Trans-Continetal: Girl in the Gears, Wild Within, Wishful Thinking, World Weaver Press, Worthy, Zana Bell 2 Comments
Week of Thursday, 30th of April thru 7th 14th of May, 2015 | Hostess List
I’ve honestly wanted to start participating in this weekly meme in 2014, however, I would always seem to get distracted during the hours leading up to Thursdays OR completely forget to compose my thoughts for this meme until into the weekend; at which point, the time had come and gone. I like the fact we can exchange thoughts percolating in our minds that run the gambit of the bookish world, creative outlets, or thoughts we want to share that might show a bit more about who we are behind the bookish blog we maintain. I am going to attempt to thread the journal of my 10 Bookish / Not Bookish Thoughts by order of the entries arrival into my life rather than a preference of 1-10.
NOTE: This list was originally meant to publish on the 7th of May, however, due to unforeseen reasons which delayed it’s posting, I had intended to share it on the 14th of May when I came down with a migraine, thus taking me away from finishing the edits as I found out a few things earlier in that second week I had not known originally on the 7th. I am back-posting this on the 14th (today) on the 19th of May, as that is the day it belongs hereafter to be seen. A new list will be generated for this upcoming Thursday, the 21st!
No. 1 | Borrowing the BBC through my local library
One of my favourite joys of being a regular library patron is the access to the BBC through either direct purchases made by my local library OR the ability to ILL serial dvd collections for mini-series, tv serials, or motion pictures! For the past two to three weeks, I’ve had the incredible joy of being able to catch up with one of my favourite BBC serials: Foyle’s War! I have a soft spot for war dramas and for mystery series because I truly grew up on murder mysteries on tv!
Michael Kitchen plays the title lead as Foyle, and it is such a convicting narrative of stories pulled out of research by the series creator and writer Anthony Horowitz. I knew of his works previously through Alex Rider, as I watched the motion picture hoping there would be more installments; however, this was a bit like hoping the latest Nancy Drew film would have sequels starring Emma Roberts. I cannot even express how much I celebrated there is a Series 7 and a Series 8, except to say, it equaled the joy I had in realising there is a Series 3 for Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries!
You’re taking back to the world wars of the early 20th Century going straight through to the start of the Cold War; the transition in Series 6 to 7 is impressive because Horowitz has amazing continuity by giving his audience the pleasure of staying with characters they are attached too and seeing them move forward with their lives. The only characters I regretted not seeing come forward were Foyle’s partner Paul Milner and of course, Foyle’s son Andrew. Andrew was portrayed by singer Julian Ovenden and his exit I believe was nearly predicted by the fact his career took off. I was thankful I could participate in a live chat with him via PBS last year, and he even answered one of my questions! This was not in reference of Foyle’s War but for his guest starring role on Downton Abbey.
To see Honeysuckle Weeks return as Sam and Foyle to be back as the moral backbone of MI5 is such a true delight of authenticity, I can only hope others are seeking out Foyle as much as I am! He has become such a delight to watch, my family hopes like I do that we have much more Foyle yet to come! It is definitely a series where fans are helping guide the series forward, as it was cancelled and revived!
After Foyle, I wanted to keep the joy of selecting to see new BBC serials, (either newly released or past releases still unknown) which is why I selected to watch Last Tango in Halifax. A drama about two families that are on the verge of coming together due to the fact their Mum and Dad have fallen in love with each other after reuniting after living 60 years apart! It’s such a tragic opening to the story, where a lost letter does not get delivered and they each went their separate ways!
They find each other on social media and as they meet-up for the first time after all these decades, learnt that they are still very much as important to each other as they were then. However, the drama of what ensues is both honest and representative of a families in transition and shifting in/out of difficulties that arise whilst life continues to carry on. The last episode of the 1st Series nearly put me under, because of what happens to Alan, but thankfully, we read up a bit about the series finding that as this is based on a real-life couple who found each other and wedded after a 60 year absence, the series is thriving on fans in the UK who love the show! Already in it’s 3rd Series and moving towards it’s 4th, I can say we devourted the 1st and are about to embark on the 2nd! Read More
Posted Thursday, 14 May, 2015 by jorielov in #SRC2015 | BookSparks, 10 Bookish (& Not-So-Bookish Thoughts), Blogosphere Events & Happenings, CSI: Cyber, Foyle's War, Last Tango in Halifax, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, NCIS, When Calls the Heart
Posted Monday, 11 May, 2015 by jorielov Advantage Media Group, BookBaby, On the Edge, Safe & Sound, Self Published, T.S. Krupa, TS Krupa LLC 1 Comment
One my favourite novels of [2014] as a 1st Year Book Blogger was Safe & Sound because it broke through a few literary barriers and told an honest story from a contemporary point of view whilst giving you a hearty Romance and a narrative that owned itself to it’s own living truth inside the world Krupa created. I appreciated the fact the equality in lit inclusion of a happily engaged couple proved that when you seek out diversity and stories of equality, there can be a softness to the inclusion to where everything feels quite natural and organic, rather than purposely included to be ‘different’.
I like honest stories and especially Romances rooted in relationships, as these are my favourite kinds to read and thereby the ones I seek out the most to devour! On the contemporary and modern side of the ledger, since I read Safe & Sound and even a bit before, there is a bit of a gap in my reading life as I recently mentioned on a post I’m still composing to publish (it’s my first attempt to release a ’10 Bookish and Not Bookish Thoughts’ meme!) as much as I related a bit about this on my review of Robin’s Reward.
My initial reaction to hearing about the premise of On the Edge proves my wicked good cheer to celebrate Krupa’s sophomore release:
I’m focusing on military stories in June, and the week of Flag Day has two highlighted already (Meant to Be by Jessica James and Those Who Remain by Ruth Crocker), so if I were to mark down the 20th of June (that Saturday) it would be a full week of military stories! :) I love war dramas, which you may or may not have known, and therefore I have a soft spot for military families and stories of war widows. Another contemporary author whose approached this is Mary McNear with her Butternut Lake series; I reviewed the first two novels (Up on Butternut Lake | Butternut Summer) and upcoming at the end of May will be the third.
I’ve been itching to know where you were going to take us next and this story, wow. It’s aces for me, because your talking about topics and subjects that are right up my alley! And, snowboarding!? Did you catch my Winter Olympic & X-Games tweeting!? I *LOVE!* snowboarding events! It’s one of the most viewed sports in my family! Wicked awesome!
I feel if you can take a modern day setting and domestic situations to knit a compelling drama out of a story any reader can feel attached to by the novel’s central heart, than your a novelist who has an ace in the hole such as Krupa because she writes the stories that are both convicting as much as they are inspiring. You feel uplifted by the emotional journey you’ve taken with her characters, and I can only foresee this happening again as I get to know those who inhabit On the Edge.
Drama is best written when the reader feels as if they’ve transitioned through the story’s arc and come out the opposite end in much the same fashion as the character they’ve lived the experience alongside; to me, this is one reason I actively seek out Romantic dramas a bit more than Romantic comedies; although I appreciate both equally, the dramas simply speak to me in a way that pull your heart closer to the humanity threaded throughout all of literature.
It’s an honour to welcome back Ms Krupa for her Cover Reveal and Book Birthday Announcement on behalf of ‘On the Edge’ because I truly am wicked happy to see her new release a year after her debut! I hope that each of my readers have taken stock of her stories as they alight on my blog, and have settled into Safe & Sound knowing they will have a new favourite writer to read and follow.
Don’t be shy —
leave Ms Krupa a comment or question in the threads below this post OR tweet her directly @TS_Krupa!
Biography for T.S. Krupa:
T.S. Krupa was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Raised in a Polish household with a blended American culture, she is fluent in Polish. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce University, where she also played field hockey. She earned her Master’s from Texas Tech University and recently graduated with her Doctor of Education from North Carolina State University. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and her dog.
In 2014, T.S. Krupa published her award-winning debut novel Safe & Sound. On The Edge is her second novel.
Read More
Posted Monday, 11 May, 2015 by jorielov in Author Found me On Twitter, Bookish Discussions, Contemporary Romance, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Life Shift, Military Families of the Deployed, Military Fiction, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Royal Social Media, Self-Published Author, Single Mothers, Snowboarding | Half Pipe OR Slope, The Olympic Games (Winter or Summer), Widows & Widowers, Women's Fiction
Posted Friday, 28 March, 2014 by jorielov Advantage Media Group, Safe & Sound, T.S. Krupa 2 Comments
Published By: Advantage Media Group, 1 January, 2014
Author Connections: Site | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads
Converse via: #SafeandSound
Genres: Fiction | Women’s Fiction | Contemporary Romance | Life Shift
Available Formats: Softcover and E-Book
Page Count: 312
Biography for T.S. Krupa:
T.S. Krupa was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Krupa and her younger sister were raised in a Polish household with a blended American culture by her parents Stan and Krys; she is fluent in Polish and frequently travels to visit family abroad. Growing up in Clinton, Connecticut Krupa attended The Morgan High School. She started playing field hockey in the seventh grade after being cut from the soccer team. She was accepted to Franklin Pierce University (College then), where she continued playing field hockey for four years. She made it almost all ten years of her field hockey career without any injuries only to break her nose playing during her senior year.
After college, Krupa traveled cross-country for a job at Texas Tech University. While there, she earned her Master’s and became a Red Raider (Guns Up!) and college football fan. It was there that she started coaching club lacrosse and found an instant connection with coaching. The next chapter in her life took Krupa from Texas to be with her then fiancé in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She continued coaching club lacrosse and then began coaching club field hockey. She is now in her seventh year of coaching club field hockey. In 2009, she finally started work on her childhood goal and began work on her Doctorate of Education from North Carolina State University.
Her dissertation topic focuses on ethical decision-making. Krupa plans to graduate in May 2014. Krupa now lives in North Carolina with her husband and dog, Chase. Chase came into her and her husband’s life after a neighbor found him at a gas station. Krupa’s husband brought him home and told her that he had a surprise and if she wanted to keep it she needed to buy dog food. It was love at first sight and Chase is now spoiled rotten.
Along the way T.S. Krupa has always written in journals and enjoyed writing. It was only recently when the stories could no longer just run through her daydreams that she felt the need to put them down on paper. Safe & Sound is her first novel.
Acquired Book By:
My path crossed with Ms. T.S. Krupa whilst checking Twitter, seeing what was new and finding that a wicked sweet Indie author had found me! She asked me to check out her website and the premise of her début Indie novel “Safe & Sound”. I was offered to receive the novel in exchange for an honest review as well as host a special feature to coincide with the book if I elected to. I received a complimentary copy of the novel “Safe & Sound” direct from the author T.S. Krupa. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
My Connection to the Author:
Although we only tweeted a few times and exchanged preliminary emails to have this special showcase of her novel Safe & Sound featured on Jorie Loves A Story, I feel as though I have had the pleasure of getting to know her a bit better in the process! And, by extension her publicist Ms. Caitlin O’Brient Bauer (of Royal Social Media). As you will see as you retreat back to the Author Interview & Live Author Q&A threads of conversation, you will find Ms. Krupa to be warm, engaging, and inspiring! I am blessed twice over for our paths to have crossed and I have my Jorie Loves A Story Twitter account to thank for bringing us together! I am hopeful I can continue to work with her on future book releases as well as with Ms. Bauer on forthcoming new clients. I appreciate both of them as they give book bloggers their time and grace.
On a side note: the mere fact that Ms. Krupa is published by an Indie Publisher who generally focuses on all subjects outside the realms of Women’s Fiction / Contemporary Romance, one could say she has enough moxie to make her mark in the literary world quite memorable indeed! Hence, why I called her a ‘rebel with a cause’ during the Live Q&A! The fact that Advantage Media Group believes in the principles of tree-neutral publishing practices warmed my heart as well! I had spoken about my passion for green publishing practices whilst Ms. Leesmith was enjoying a spontaneous conversation thread erupting underneath her Cover Reveal for “Love’s Promises”!
I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her ahead of reading her début novel. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time.
Book Synopsis for Safe & Sound:
When great love is lost forever, what does it take to find the courage to move on?
When Jill met Jay Greenfield she knew she had found her forever love. She was a kindergarten teacher, he was a high-powered attorney and their lives were perfect. But when a tragic accident takes Jay’s life, this young bride is left to pick up the pieces.
Jill finds herself a young widow facing multiple decisions she thought she had a lifetime to decide. With support from her childhood best friends, Lanie and Stella, Jill attempts to piece her life back together. With nightmares plaguing her dreams and the struggles of constant grief over Jay’s passing, Stella and Lanie keep near constant vigilance over her. In the process of settling the estate, Jill learns that her husband was not quite the man she thought he was. She finds herself transported to the small beach town of Oak Island, North Carolina but the fairy tale ending she envisioned no longer exists. She must face the reality that Jay is gone as she finds herself having a chance at love one more time.
Safe & Sound follows a yearlong journey of love, loss, friendship, and conquering the
unexpected.
On death, loss, and the aftermath of grief:
One the hardest events in our lives is the acceptance of the death of a loved one we hold most dear. None of us are ever prepared for the passing of someone whose full essence is stitched and tied to our own reality. We cherish those who take up residence in our hearts, as they are the guiding lights who pepper our days with memories full of joy. Accepting our mortality is one of the marks of our human condition and a reminder that despite how deeply we affirm our time on earth, all of us are living off of a clock of allotted days. It’s how we choose to face tragedy in the hardening hours of its unwanted presence that will determine our strength as much as our resolve.
Being that I grew up in an industry surrounding death, I have had a front row seat on grief and sorrow, to where I found it quite remarkable how others might not be as aware of the end of life arrangements that are necessary. As I was watching over Jill struggle to understand why a death certificate was needed to pay her bills as they were in her husband’s name, it helped me see life from another point-of-view of someone who hadn’t grown up in the field like I had. There are a few things I suppose I took for granted, as everything you can think of that could happen or go wrong in a person’s life is something I have known about for a long time. The scenes in the hospital brought back reflections of being in waiting rooms as loved ones either had surgery or were recovering from illnesses.
The bits and bobbles I could relate to directly were the instability of the hours as you walk through the motions of your life prior to when the death occurred. Numbed by the instant disconnection and shocked to be awake when you’d rather be asleep. Voiding out the world and the emotional onslaught of memories which shift into focus as soon as your heart catches up to your mind. The transitions are the worst in grief because everyone grieves differently and goes through the stages at different intervals. No two losses are alike, and even if we become adaptable to loss we can never fully resolve the measure of sadness welling into our spirits where the person’s presence is wanted.
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Posted Friday, 28 March, 2014 by jorielov in Author Found me On Twitter, Book Review (non-blog tour), Bookish Discussions, Contemporary Romance, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, Green-Minded Publishers, Honeymoons & Weddings, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life Shift, Modern Day, Romance Fiction, Royal Social Media, Second Chance Love, Sustainability Practices inside the Publishing Industry, Tree-Neutral Printers, Unexpected Inheritance, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
