Posted Tuesday, 28 April, 2020 by jorielov Avelynn, Bel Nemeton, Eric Schumacher, Forged by Iron, Guinevere's Tale, Legionary – A Next Chapter Imprint, Olaf's Saga, The Lost Queen 1 Comment
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
As you might have noticed – I’ve been gathering a keen interest in Viking Historical Fiction, sagas set round Anglo-Saxons and after canon stories about Camelot in recent years – continuing into this vortex of interest, I came across a rather curious novel called “Forged by Iron” – which I immediately wanted to read except to say it is a digital first release – meaning, there isn’t a print copy yet available to be read!
My interest in this story and the series it is attached to parlays into my interest I’ve been expressing in regards to the following authors: Marissa Campbell (ie. Avelynn series), Nicole Evelina (ie. Guinevere Trilogy), Signe Pike (ie. The Lost Queen), Jon Black (“Bel Nemeton”) and others like them I haven’t yet discovered! As I have come to realise there are a few niches of Historical Fiction which are curiously drawing my attention towards reading areas of History I might otherwise have overlooked or felt were just outside my zone of comfort to read.
Part of the allure is delving into lost histories of people who lived long enough not to be remembered by contemporary descendants is also an appeal because it allows the writers to draw a strength of believability in how they approach writing their character’s stories. I love getting lost in those kinds of stories where there is a lot of supposition about what actually happened and a wealth of industrious guesswork towards how these people not only lived but thrived, struggled and overcame their adversities just as readily as we face our own paths to walk in our own lives. There is a cunning sense of research stemming out of these kinds of stories intermixed with the human condition and the belief that despite the age of where the story can become set, there is a permeating confluence of interest in how these characters can tuck themselves into our heart for their compellingly brilliant courage and the strength of their character as they lived rather extraordinary lives indeed!
As soon as I read the premise of this lovely, I knew I wanted to host an interview with the author – if only to dig out a bit of the story itself, as a way of presenting what you can find as a reader if you delve into “Forged by Iron” whilst I want in the wings for a day wherein a print copy might surface and I too, can take this journey inside his story about Olaf. For now, I hope my questions and my curiosities help you choose to decide if this is also a saga you feel is right for you as a reader – as that is why I love blogging my readerly life – sharing my route into literature might spark a newfound curiosity for another reader as they stumble into a new area of literary adventure they might not have known about previously!
Brew yourself a cuppa and hug close to the convo!
Forged by Iron (Interview)
Subtitle: Olaf's Saga (Book One)
by Eric Schumacher
From the bestselling author of Hakon’s Saga comes Forged by Iron, the first in a series of thrilling tales about Olaf Tryggvason, one of the most legendary and enigmatic kings of the Viking Age.
Norway, AD 960. The fabric that has held the Northern realm together is tearing. The sons of Erik Bloodaxe have returned and are systematically killing all opposition to the High Seat. Through treachery, Harald Eriksson slays Jarl Trygvi, an heir to the throne, and then he comes for Trygvi’s wife, Astrid, and son, Olaf.
Astrid and Olaf flee their home with the help of Astrid’s foster father, Torolv Loose-beard, and his son, Torgil, who are oath-sworn to protect them. The group escapes east, through the dark, forested land of the Swedes and across the treacherous East Sea, all the while evading the clutches of Harald’s brutal henchmen.
But the gods are fickle and the group is torn apart, leaving them to fend for themselves in Forged by Iron, a must-read for all who enjoy action-packed historical fiction.
Genres: Action & Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction, Archaeological | Anthropological Historical Perspectives, Norse Mythos | Legacies Places to find the book:
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 979-8627636924
ASIN: B085DDRK7M
Also by this author: Sigurd's Swords
Series: Olaf's Saga
Published by Legionary – A Next Chapter Imprint
on 25th April, 2020
Published by: Legionary – A Next Chapter Imprint
Converse via: #Viking/s, #HistFic OR #HistoricalFiction
This is a Digital First Release – however, hours after my interview posted I received word the paperback release is now available to be seen. I’ve added the ISBN to the book info section. I’ve also edited the pub date to reflect the new paperback now available to be purchased.
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Posted Tuesday, 28 April, 2020 by jorielov in Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, Olaf Tryggvason, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Viking History
Posted Sunday, 16 February, 2020 by jorielov (Narrator) Benjamin Fife, (Narrator) Brittany Pressley, (Narrator) Eric Jason Martin, (Narrator) Jayme Mattler, (Narrator) Laura Linney, Always the One, An Unconventional Countess, Andrew Krivak, Anita Abriel, Anne Marie Lewis, Annette Hubbell, Bright Dreams: The Brilliant Ideas of Nikola Tesla, Carrie Callaghan, Chantal Gadoury, Christmas Once Again, Collins Hemingway, Daughter of Sun Bride of Ice, Dayla and the Magic Ink Bottle, Edale Lane, Elizabeth Strout, Ellie Midwood, Emma S. Jackson, Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, Eternity Through the Rearview Mirror, Ghost of the Bamboo Road, Good Boy, H.L. Burke, J.M. Evenson, Janice Broyles, Jenni Fletcher, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jina Bacarr, Julia Kelly, Longbourn Dragon Entail, Margarita Montimore, Maria Grace, Mary Pauline Lowry, Merchants of Milan, Metropolis, Molly Divine RD, My Name Is Lucy Barton, Nancy Montuori, Nicole Derseweh, Oona Out of Order, Pemberley: Mr Darcy's Dragon, Rachel Hauck, Recipe for Persuasion, Regina Scott, Rona Munro, Salt the Snow, Sapphira Olsen, Sense without Sensibility, Signe Pike, Sonali Dev, Soraya M. Lane, Stanley Park, Stef Wade, Susan B Katz, Suzy Spitfire series, Tara Randel, The Bear, The Devil's Bride, The Easy 5 Ingredient Vegan Cookbook: 100 Healthy Plant Based Recipes, The Fifth Avenue Story Society, The Girls of Pearl Harbour, The Highlander's English Bride, The Light After the War, The Light Over London, The Lost Queen, The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, The Matchmaker's Rogue, The Quill Collective, The Roxy Letters, The Runaway Heir, The Secret Heir, The Story of Frida Kahlo: A Biography Book for New Readers, The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook, The Very Last Leaf, Tracy Dockray, Vanessa Kelly, Whitney Lauritsen, Winterdream, Yuletide 12 Comments
[Official Blurb] The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!
- Enter your link on the post-
- Sundays beginning at 12:01 am (CST) (link will be open all week)
- Link back to this post or this blog
- Visit others who have linked up
- Read this week’s #TheSundayPost!
A note about the format I am using to journal #TheSundayPost:
I am finding I like being able to give my readers who cannot visit my blog each time a new post, review or guest feature goes live a digest journal of what is happening on #JLASblog each week! If you are familiar with the style in which I journal my readerly adventures via #WWWednesdays (see also Archive) you’ll know why I like this journalled style for #TheSundayPost!
It’s a way of talking about what is bookishly on my mind whilst sharing where my travels in Fiction & Non-Fiction took me through the last seven days! Quite stellar – so very thankful I was encouraged to participate as I love being able to think about which stories settled into my heart and which of the stories I am most eager to see arrive by postal mail and/or via audiobook! It’s a bit of a lovely way to journal your bookish life and have a weekly reminder of the experiences of you’ve gathered and love to remember! In regards to getting back into the groove with #WWWeds – I’m either going to make the meme bi-monthly or monthly which I’ll decide within the next fortnight.
And, then,…
Jorie finally returns to journalling her weekly bookish adventures,…
Finding the motivation to write #TheSundayPost has been a bit tricky the past few years, which is why you’ve noticed a staunch reduction in posts alighting in my feeds! I had a lot of good intentions to resume this lovely meme I was enjoying participating in but structuring it the way I wanted to have my weekly journalled notes to appear on my blog was part of the issue and the other half of it really is that I have a lot to shuffle behind-the-blog so to speak (we all do,..) to where I was thankful I had the hours I needed to maintain Jorie Loves A Story but when it came to writing up supplemental posts and keeping in step with the memes I love to blog about – long ago, I realised something had to ‘give’ and these were the posts I had to put on hiatus.
Some months I thought I might be able to return to them sooner, so there are a few notes here or there saying “#TheSundayPost” is returning this week or that week, but no, they haven’t returnt until now! I have a lot of news I never had the chance to share from past reading challenges or past milestones of the blog – I might tuck those into some retrospective posts as the months move forward. For now, I simply wanted to try to recapture a bit of what has been going on since January and then, I’ll tackle what I want to share from [2019-back].
*UPcoming!* blog & Twitter milestones:
(celebrating my 7th Year as a book blogger and joyful tweeter : dates to remember!)
I created my blog on the 31st of March, 2013 – my blogoversary!
I launched it LIVE to the world on 6th August, 2013 – my blog’s birthday!
I waited til the 13th of November, 2013 to join Twitter – my #twitterversary!
I almost cannot believe *seven years!* have elapsed since I first created this idea I had for a book blog and undertook the journey of what has emerged through seeking out the bookish and readerly adventures I’ve curated ever since I first started to blog my bookish and geeky life wayy back in [2013] !! I hadn’t known then how my life would be tenfold #blessed by the authors, their stories and the bookish culture I would endeavour to become a part of until I was into my first few years as a book blogger. There was no guide and blueprint towards sorting out this book blogosphere world nor the twitterverse where I undertook getting socially chatty on a platform I never expected I’d take like a duck to water to explore, engage and carve out my own joyfully tweeting presence seven years in the making!
I’ve worked with publishers in the United States, Canada, the UK and aboard whilst I have had the chance to get to host blog tours with genre focused blog touring companies inasmuch as innovative and insightful touring companies who either focus on select works of Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry. Each step of the way, I was not just hosting blog tours or seeking stories for review consideration but I was endeavouring with each opportunity which crossed my path to read deeper and to seek out the stories which :pushed: me into new horizons of literary exploration. For me, that was always the key goal: to find the stories being writ by the authors who are giving me a wicked good read!
I never knew if I could balance my online readerly life the same way I balance my IRL readerly life – but I have found being a hybrid reader has had its best benefits because I can move between mainstream and INSPY offerings by publishers, publicists, authors, agents and touring companies quite easily. Each year, I have decided to seek out new adventures and to re-shift what I wanted to focus on – I started to reduce how many blog tours I would host each month back in [2016] something I happily maintained until this February [2020] where I slide back into a bit of a chaotic blog schedule! (laughs)
Through the years, I’ve disclosed snippets of my walk in faith, my struggles of being a migraineur (someone who has chronic migraines) and have found that I love hosting guest features where I get to interview different guests – authors, editors, narrators (of audiobooks), actors (for Indie Film projects) and other creatives who have crossed my path. I still love blogging the heart out of the stories I am reading – not just to examine the story as a discerning reader myself but to truly give a strong impression about what I found inside the story in order to help someone else choose whether or not the story I’ve read and blogged about is a good ‘fit’ for their own readerly curiosities. As we all gravitate towards different stories at different times – we all dance through genres and literary styles – a book which appeals to us today might not resonate with us when we go to read it, etc. I find I love visiting with the book bloggers who give me something to ‘chew on’ as I’m reading their blogs – from their reviews, to their guest features to their discussion posts. I want to know more than the surface layer of their reactions to stories and that is what I try to bring to my own readers here on Jorie Loves A Story. (and yes, the “a” is purposefully shown in caps!) Read More
Posted Sunday, 16 February, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Birthdays & Blogoversaries, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Photography of Jorie, Spontaneous Musings, Stories of Jorie, The Sunday Post