Tag: Winterdream

#TheSundayPost VIII | From the misery of a cold to a revival of random bookish joy! [with a bit of an #unboxing reveal for #FindingEsme!]

Posted Sunday, 1 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 14 Comments

The Sunday Post badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

[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!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

From the misery of a cold to a revival of random bookish joy,…

IF I had to speculate how my February would have concluded on a sour note of a severely intensive Winter cold which not only rendered me undone by a severely crippingly migraine (as it was unfortunately attached to said cold) but also incredibly *sore!* ears (wherein it affected ALL attempts at listening ot audiobooks previously highlighted via my last Sunday Post!), a throat which felt like strep and at the very end of it all – I nearly lost my voice just like Mum! She had it for just under a week and a half – whilst I’ve barely squeaked out of it under a fortnight but as its still ‘with me’ that’s not exactly conclusive yet!

I found myself getting down quite a bit about it – normally I can ride out a cold with reading but this one was unrelenting with side issues and a heap of unwelcomed fatigue; so in essence, unless it was a streaming television series (here’s looking @ Star Trek: Enterprise & Zoey’s Playlist!) odds are in great favour I passed the hours of the final weeks of February without many stories in my hands or arriving inside my headphones. The one audiobook I attempted to read didn’t work out very well and I regret I had to postpone listening to it. I’ve already requeued it to be heard this March.

Meanwhile, I also learnt a harder truth about expectations and failed inspirations in regards to Star Trek: Picard (see also my last #BookishNotBookish – updated that section!) and on a happier note, we had a ‘second chance’ Wintry weather spurt which left me wickedly happy despite how real the struggle was to embrace brisk winds (with sore ears, throat and a migraine!) and colder than ice temperatures – a part of me was trying to remember why I love grey skies, cold Wintry days and how good it felt to have a vacation from the Sun! Colds like this one muddle your senses and your ability to enjoy everything you normally *love!* – but despite that, there was one day where Mum took me out for cinnamon bagels and hot tea which reminded me to anchour into small joys and random serendipity rather than feeling curtailed by a situation I had zero control.

In the midst of feeling quite unwell, I did have a turning bit of tide in regards to how I recaptured some bookish JOY this week! I had to stack all my #bookpost into different piles – flat parcels together, bundled boxes together and it became a bit of a tricky situation as I wasn’t sure if any of the short piles would fall! lol I definitely have drawn a bit of curiosity from postal workers lately and I can’t wait to reveal a few thoughts of joy to the one who enquired about a few recent arrivals. She’s one of the few who enjoy chatting to me and hearing snippets of my life as a book blogger – which makes getting #bookmail ever more exciting when you can talk about it with others.

There was a keenly hidden SURPRISE though this week as I entered a bookaway whilst I was taken ill and to be quite honest, had FORGOTTEN all about it! I was visiting with a bookish friend of mine whose also an author of the stories I enjoy reading in her Speculative worlds of interest: Jennifer Silverwood (via her blog) when I noticed a curious review about a Middle Grade Fantasy novel called: Finding Esme! Wait til you discover the happiness this #bookmail brought into my life! I mean, talk about a total 360 experience from feeling taken under by the cold and being lifted in pure joy by what the author sent me!! I can’t remember getting quite a bookaway like this before except for one which I won from Jane Porter prior to being a book blogger.

Whilst I have some bookish updates regarding being an influencer and book ambassador with the Once Upon A Book Club subscription box service! Further updates are arriving this Tuesday and next Tuesday respectivefully! I also might have another bit of news to share next Sunday in regards to a new opportunity which came into my life this weekend – however, mum’s the word as I am still finalising the details.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Parajunkee Designs

*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!

To help celebrate my #blogoversary @ the end of the month – I’ll be tweaking, blogging and finishing my edits for my *End of the Year Survey, 2019* – thereby allowing me to dig into the past years which were unable to be featured previously and will be time capsules of the recent past about the stories and authors I loved discovering, reading and spending time with as a reader! Due to stay tuned for this special post arriving on 31.March!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Some updates about where my bookish adventures took me this final week of February and what I am planning to do my first week of March as a bit of a renewal of resuming where I left off with the stories and books themselves. I feel like I lost so many *hours!* and yet, despite that well of inactivity I had quite a busy week overall! Even though technically speaking you’ll find that my #bookpost stacked up a bit to where I had the joy of revealling a heap of loveliness all at once!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Callisto Publishing Club : what Jorie requested in February

Will be reading this coming week:

  • The Story of Frida Kahlo: A Biography Book for New Readers by Susan B Katz
  • The Easy 5 Ingredient Vegan Cookbook: 100 Healthy Plant Based Recipes by Nancy Montuori
  • Super Green Smoothies: Veggie-Based Recipes to Boost Your Health and Well-Being by Danielle Omar
  • → [arriving this week] Essential Vegetable Fermentation: 70 Inventive Recipes to Make Your Own Pickles, Kraut, Kimchi, and More by Kelly McVicker

Sort of goes without too much saying that when your under the weather as severely as I was (and of which the main details are not shared!) reading or viewing food isn’t exactly going to be your top priority! I could barely eat most days be as it were! However, within the last day or so I’ve started to go through my #bookpost and I’ve had the joy of rediscovering these Callisto books which arrived! I am overjoyed truly because the cookbooks are beyond budget friendly and the biography is awe-inspiring on so many levels – plus I love the graphic design and bright colours they used to illuminate Frida’s life as a young girl.

The one which is still enroute is the Veg Fermentation – I have my eye on the kimchi section as I’ve heard such good things about that over the years. Plus, if I can finally slay the mystery of fermenting my own foods I’m one step closer to my self-sufficiency goals as I eventually want to harvest my own garden of fruit, veg, herb and cut flowers whilst canning for Winter, etc. I have appreciated the concept of eating macrobiotically since my early twenties and fermented foods are a part of that lifestyle. I’m definitely leant more towards a macro-vegetarian vegan and GF lifestyle any other way of eating as those are the foods which I have found help my health and wellness the most. Thereby you’ll be seeing me requeue my #TheBookishFoodie sections on Jorie Loves A Story as we move into Spring and I can start reviewing cookbooks again! Read More

Divider

Posted Sunday, 1 March, 2020 by jorielov in #bookclubVIP, #Unboxing BookMail, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Birthdays & Blogoversaries, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Subscription Boxes, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Jorie's Box of Joy, Library Loot, Once Upon A Book Club, Photography of Jorie, Spontaneous Musings, Stories of Jorie, The Sunday Post

An Audiobook Spotlight | “Winterdream” (a Nutcracker retelling) by Chantal Gadoury, narrated by Anne Marie Lewis

Posted Saturday, 22 February, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Audiobook Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Audiobook By: I started to listen to audiobooks in [2016] as a way to offset my readings of print books whilst noting there was a rumour about how audiobooks could help curb chronic migraines as you are switching up how your reading rather than allowing only one format to be your bookish choice. As I found colouring, knitting and playing solitaire agreeable companions to listening to audiobooks, I embarked on a new chapter of my reading life where I spend time outside of print editions of the stories I love reading and exchange them for audio versions.

Through hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions, I’ve expanded my knowledge of authors who are producing audio versions of their stories whilst finding podcasters who are sharing their bookish lives through pods. Meanwhile, I am also curating my own wanderings in audio via my local library who uses Overdrive for their digital audiobook catalogue wherein I can also request new digital audiobooks to become added to their OverDrive selections. Aside from OverDrive I also enjoy having Audible & Scribd memberships as my budget allows. It is a wonderful new journey and one I enjoy sharing – I have been able to expand the percentage of how many audios I listen to per year since 2018.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Winterdream” via Audiobookworm Promotion who is working with Chantal Gadoury on this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Why I was excited to be listening to WINTERDREAM:

A ballet [“The Nutcracker”] I once had the pleasure of seeing on stage during Christmastide (ie. 2001) as a friend of mine surprised me with tickets. It was the first time I had seen the story come alive in this way and the beauty of the actors and dancers on stage has never quite left me! It was such a magical experience because I had known a bit about the story ahead of seeing it burst to life in front of me, I felt I had had a more enriched experience than several people sitting near me who were completely in the dark. Thus, as I move into listening to Winterdream – I feel as if I will continue to make the transitions from the perspective of a reader who already loves the story!

Fairy-tale retellings and after canon sequels, inspired-by stories or re-tellings are some of my favourites to discover as a book blogger! I have tried to seek out the after canon narratives which not only pay homage to the originals but they seek to have their own individual stamp on how to tell the story from a refreshing perspective of entrance! These are the stories which give you a wicked good read whilst endeavouring you to re-see the past in a different dimension of thoughtfulness.

Being that I spent December & January this year binge-watching my favourite (new & old) Hallmark Christmas movies – I have been trying to ‘extend!’ the joy of reading Christmas stories and/or Christmas Romances this February & March. I was originally going to cap it at Valentine’s Day but it took me a bit longer to get into the rhythm of reading this New Year whilst two of my library purchase requests are taking a bit longer to reach me via my local library! One is a Christmas story and the other is a Valentine’s romance. Therefore, shifting into Winterdream just felt like the right timing as I still haven’t ‘let go’ of Christmas!

Having said this – I wonder if any of my followers and subscribers are as attached as I am to stories which seek to re-tell a famous story? To see it from a different angle or a different era of choice? Sometimes they can even gender-bend the lead characters or move from a Historical to Contemporary setting (or vice versa) whilst sometimes even endeavouring to be explored through elements of Speculative Fiction! Whichever way you slice it – I oft wonder who else *loves!* to unearth these stories and soak into the author’s vision for them?

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

An Audiobook Spotlight  | “Winterdream” (a Nutcracker retelling) by Chantal Gadoury, narrated by Anne Marie LewisWinterdream
by Chantal Gadoury
Source: Audiobook via Audiobookworm Promotions
Narrator: Anne Marie Lewis

This Christmas Eve, no creature was stirring, except, maybe, a mouse.

At long last, can true love break the Nutcracker’s curse?

For Clara Stahlbaum, this Christmas means the end of her youth. A daughter of the aristocracy, Clara is expected to give up her dreams of adventures and the extraordinary for more normal days as the wife of a cruel viscount.

But when magical Uncle Drosselmeyer returns with his wondrous, dancing contraptions and one special gift for Clara, she is beckoned to the land of Winter Dream, where she is thrust into the greatest adventure of her wildest dreams.

But will she be able to break the Nutcracker's curse? Uncle Drosselmeyer’s apprentice Anton is handsome as he is mysterious. But what is it about him Clara finds so alluring?

Winter Dream is a phenomenal retelling of The Nutcracker from the eyes of Clara Stahlbaum with all the magic of the Holiday season. If you loved S. Jae-Jones’ Wintersong, you’ll fall in love with this stunning tale of love, war, redemption, and Christmas magic.

Genres: After Canons, Fantasy Fiction, Re-telling &/or Sequel



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1790211678

ASIN: B083BWPQSQ

Also by this author: Narrator Interview (Winterdream)

Published by The Parliament House

on 31st December, 2019

Format: Audiobook | Digital

Length: 10 hours and 22 minutes (unabridged)

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #WinterDream + #AudioReads, #Audiobook

as well as #ClassicLit Re-Telling of #TheNutcracker

About Chantal Gadoury

Chantal Gadoury

Amazon Bestselling Author, Chantal Gadoury, is a 2011 graduate from Susquehanna University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing.

Since graduation, she has published The Songs in Our Hearts and The Songs We Remember with 48Fourteen Publishing. Allerleirauh, Between the Sea and Stars, Blinding Night and Winterdream with the Parliament House Press. Chantal first started writing stories at the age of seven and continues with that love of writing today. For Chantal, writing novels has become a lifelong dream come true! When she’s not typing away at her next project, she enjoys painting, drinking lots of iced coffee, and watching Disney Classics. Chantal lives in Muncy, Pennsylvania with her Mom, sister and furry-‘brother’ Taran.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

Divider

Posted Saturday, 22 February, 2020 by jorielov in After the Canon, Audiobook, Audiobookworm Promotions, Blog Tour Host, Classical Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories

An interview with an Audiobook Narrator | “In conversation with Anne Marie Lewis, the narrator behind “Winterdream” – a Nutcracker retelling by Chantal Gadoury

Posted Monday, 17 February, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Audiobook Narrator Blog Banner made by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am pleased as punch to bring another NEW audiobook narrator interview to Jorie Loves A Story! I love finding out the narrator’s process for bringing their character’s to life whilst getting a bit of a glimpse ‘behind-the-book’ itself and knowing a bit more about what inspires or motivates narrators to lend their voices to the stories we all love to seek out as #AudioReads.

Today I am featuring a re-telling of “The Nutcracker” – a ballet I once had the pleasure of seeing on stage during Christmastide (ie. 2001) as a friend of mine surprised me with tickets. It was the first time I had seen the story come alive in this way and the beauty of the actors and dancers on stage has never quite left me! It was such a magical experience because I had known a bit about the story ahead of seeing it burst to life in front of me, I felt I had had a more enriched experience than several people sitting near me who were completely in the dark. Thus, as I move into listening to Winterdream – I feel as if I will continue to make the transitions from the perspective of a reader who already loves the story!

Fairy-tale retellings and after canon sequels, inspired-by stories or re-tellings are some of my favourites to discover as a book blogger! I have tried to seek out the after canon narratives which not only pay homage to the originals but they seek to have their own individual stamp on how to tell the story from a refreshing perspective of entrance! These are the stories which give you a wicked good read whilst endeavouring you to re-see the past in a different dimension of thoughtfulness.

Being that I spent December & January this year binge-watching my favourite (new & old) Hallmark Christmas movies – I have been trying to ‘extend!’ the joy of reading Christmas stories and/or Christmas Romances this February & March. I was originally going to cap it at Valentine’s Day but it took me a bit longer to get into the rhythm of reading this New Year whilst two of my library purchase requests are taking a bit longer to reach me via my local library! One is a Christmas story and the other is a Valentine’s romance. Therefore, shifting into Winterdream just felt like the right timing as I still haven’t ‘let go’ of Christmas!

Having said this – I wonder if any of my followers and subscribers are as attached as I am to stories which seek to re-tell a famous story? To see it from a different angle or a different era of choice? Sometimes they can even gender-bend the lead characters or move from a Historical to Contemporary setting (or vice versa) whilst sometimes even endeavouring to be explored through elements of Speculative Fiction! Whichever way you slice it – I oft wonder who else *loves!* to unearth these stories and soak into the author’s vision for them?

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Without further adieu,

Let’s find out more about this narrator’s approach

to performing & narrating audiobooks!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Winter Dream by Chantal Gadoury

This Christmas Eve, no creature was stirring, except, maybe, a mouse.

At long last, can true love break the Nutcracker’s curse?

For Clara Stahlbaum, this Christmas means the end of her youth. A daughter of the aristocracy, Clara is expected to give up her dreams of adventures and the extraordinary for more normal days as the wife of a cruel viscount.

But when magical Uncle Drosselmeyer returns with his wondrous, dancing contraptions and one special gift for Clara, she is beckoned to the land of Winter Dream, where she is thrust into the greatest adventure of her wildest dreams.

But will she be able to break the Nutcracker’s curse? Uncle Drosselmeyer’s apprentice Anton is handsome as he is mysterious. But what is it about him Clara finds so alluring?

Winter Dream is a phenomenal retelling of The Nutcracker from the eyes of Clara Stahlbaum with all the magic of the Holiday season. If you loved S. Jae-Jones’ Wintersong, you’ll fall in love with this stunning tale of love, war, redemption, and Christmas magic.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #WinterDream + #AudioReads, #Audiobook

as well as #ClassicLit Re-Telling of #TheNutcracker

About Chantal Gadoury

Chantal Gadoury

Amazon Bestselling Author, Chantal Gadoury, is a 2011 graduate from Susquehanna University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing.

Since graduation, she has published The Songs in Our Hearts and The Songs We Remember with 48Fourteen Publishing. Allerleirauh, Between the Sea and Stars, Blinding Night and Winterdream with the Parliament House Press. Chantal first started writing stories at the age of seven and continues with that love of writing today. For Chantal, writing novels has become a lifelong dream come true! When she’s not typing away at her next project, she enjoys painting, drinking lots of iced coffee, and watching Disney Classics. Chantal lives in Muncy, Pennsylvania with her Mom, sister and furry-‘brother’ Taran.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

Divider

Posted Monday, 17 February, 2020 by jorielov in After the Canon, Audiobook, Audiobookworm Promotions, Blog Tour Host, Classical Literature, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, Jane Austen Sequel, Pride & Prejudice Re-telling

#TheSundayPost VII | Just your average book blogger celebrating her seven years being socially engaged online!

Posted Sunday, 16 February, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

The Sunday Post badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

[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.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

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].

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Parajunkee Designs

*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!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

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)

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

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

Divider

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