Today, I’m going to be spotlighting Miss Jordy Leigh’s new book, Isolated. This novella about a girl struggling to survive alone in the forest is quite fascinating, and I’m looking forward to reviewing it further later on.
However, for now, I’ll just be talking about the main character of Isolated (as well as a little bit about the book, because, honestly, isn’t it more fun to talk about characters when you know where they’re coming from?).

About the Book

About the Author

As you can see, it’s a great story, and Jordy is a great person – and, more importantly, a girl with a strong faith in Jesus Christ striving to reflect that faith in both her blog and books (as well as her life, I presume).
Let me just take a moment to admit that every time I hear the name Jordy I see a reddish-brown-headed Scotsman with a mischievous gleam in his eye. So I think of her as Jordy Leigh instead of just Jordy most of the time. Kinda Southern Belle-ish. It’s cool.

I’ve always admired Jordy’s clear thinking and strong conclusions, so reading her book (it being Christian fiction) was a real pleasure.
Isolated was really a great story. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I was a little irritated with Louise’s stubbornness, but only because I see it so strongly reflected in myself (meet the girl who would do anything rather than give in), and that was just annoying. Because reading about yourself is infuriating. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I have to write about Ruby* again.
*Ruby is my alter-ego, if you will. I created her as a character who resembled myself, and my first-ever human-character book was about her (and her sister, who was kinda the best friend I’d always wanted but never had … which is weird, since I have a BFF now, and she in no way resembles Ruby’s sister!). However, I have since lost that book, and I’ve yet to complete another with her in it. I’m currently writing about her grandparents, actually. 😉
However, after reading this character interview with Louise (me asking the questions, Louise answering them), I found my irritation waning, and I am looking forward to hearing from Louise again sometime in the future.

It seems you started your adventure with few survival skills. How much of what you did was based on actual knowledge … and how much was based on instinct or common sense?

I did start out with some knowledge. For example, I knew not to drink the water from the lake or river. My mom used to teach survival techniques at a Bible-school-cross-outdoors-activities-center. More than that, it was her passion (or obsession as I used to view it) and she would spout out random survival trivia any time of the day. Thus, even though I wasn’t into it and hardly paid attention, I guess I did end up absorbing some of it.
But my knowledge wasn’t enough to get me through, though. I’ll take a stab and say it was the basis for 25% of what I did. Common sense told me I needed a shelter. Instinct told me some branches weren’t strong enough to use for certain purposes. And some things I learned from experience, such as that dead leaves acted as an insulator of sorts for my shelter.

Why do you think it was that, growing up in a Christian home as you did, God never seemed real to you?

I suppose He seemed more like an interest than anything else. Or rather, Christianity seemed like an interest. You know, some people choose photography, some choose ballet, some choose God.
Not that ballet and photography aren’t real, but they’re a matter of personal preference. Now I know that God’s ways are like the law of gravity that applies to everyone no matter how much we might insist it’s “not our thing,” you know? My dad was the exception, though. If my life had continued as normal, I think the only chance I would have had at seeing that God is eternally important would be through my dad’s example. He treated God sincerely, not like a matter of interest.

What’s your favorite genre of book? Why?

Thrillers. Urban thrillers that involve crime and justice… and a bit of mystery. I suppose I always thought books were far more exciting than my mundane life. Ha!

Would you call yourself introverted or extroverted? A dreamer or a realist? A thinker or a feeler? A rule-breaker or a rule-follower?

Introvert. Realist. A thinker and a rule-follower for sure. Except, I’ve found out that there are times when it’s okay to break rules.
My Comment on the Answer: ISTJ. Whoa. That’s my sister’s personality … well, one of my sisters.

If Miss Leigh let you, would you change anything about yourself or your book?

You know, I’ve thought many times over about whether or not I would have gone through it all. To people who have never been in my place, literally starving and severely dehydrated to the point of death, I just don’t think I can get across just how excruciating it all was.
If I found myself literally at a fork in the road able to choose whether or not I would be isolated on that island struggling for my life… I don’t know what I would choose. I just don’t know. I mean, in the end, God used those events to literally save my soul. Was it easy? No! Did I enjoy it? Certainly not! But would I change it… I know this is all hypothetical, but I hope He would help me choose wisely.

Wasn’t that awesome? I really loved hearing more about Louise and her goals and motivations. Character interviews are just fun, y’know?

About the Tour

Schedule

• Monday, September 4th – Kellyn Roth, reveriesreviews.wordpress.com (Here!)
• Tuesday, September 5th – Lana, themusicofwords.wordpress.com
• Wednesday, September 6th – Emily, apurposeandapromise.blogspot.com
• Thursday, September 7th – Leona, GreatBooksForGodsGirls.wordpress.com
• Friday, September 8th – Hosanna Emily, HavingaHeartLikeHis.blogspost.com
• Saturday, September 9th – Crystal, purelybyfaithreviews.wordpress.com

Follow along in the next few days!

~Kellyn Roth~

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p.s.

Do you enjoy survival stories? What about Christian fiction? (if you said “yes” to both of those, you’ll love Isolated!) Have you heard of Jordy Leigh & her blog before? (You should follow her!) Do you enjoy character interviews? I know some people don’t.