Through the bookish glass

 

How long have you been a blogger?

Technically on this blog only for like 2 months. My sister currently has a Nancy Drew focused blog that I sometimes do guest reviews on. Our goal is to go through all the Nancy Drew novels and write reviews for all of them. She called it The Nancy Drew Project. It has taken a little bit of a back burner quality since she brought a tiny girl human into the world though J

At what point do you think you will stop?

I don’t know if there is an easy way to answer that. Presently this blog is for me, and my book minded friends. I am thoroughly doing it and don’t believe I will be stopping anytime soon. That being said I could see myself stopping simply if it does not become enjoyable anymore. Like with any hobby, once it becomes a chore and you no longer have fun then should you really be doing it? (Obviously that changes if it is your source of income)

 

What is the best thing?

My decision to join the Book Blogging community stemmed from my love of reading others’ blogs. For 8 years I worked at a Barnes & Noble so I never had an issue being exposed to different books, new books, and old titles waiting to be discovered. But since leaving to follow my passion, technical theatre, it became harder and harder to keep up on book releases and what was going on with authors. I didn’t have the luxury of “cover shopping” when new books in and reading hundreds of dust jackets until I found books I knew I would like. That is when I turned to the bookstagram community and, consequently, this community. So, in short ;), the best thing is meeting new people here, and learning about new books!

What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

The hardest part for me is trying to balance all the aspects of my life. I have a job at a school in the theatre program, I run my own Etsy business, I’m trying to build up a successful bookstagram, and now I’m trying to get myself into the book blogging community. Two of those things rely on one thing: reading. With all of those interests, plus having a happy marriage that involves a lot of video games, I often don’t carve out enough time to actually read. Which is the thing that I love most of all, and never seem to have enough time to do.

How long does it take you to create/find pictures to use?

So far my photos have been book covers that I have pulled for optimum resolution. But in the future I will most likely be pulling photos from my bookstagram. And that involves big photoshoots on the weekends, usually with the aid (or hindrance) of 1 of our 3 cats.

 

Who is your book crush?

Ummmm Valek Ixia is my number one book boyfriend/book husband. I love him soooo much J A close runner up would be Jesse de Silva in Meg Cabot’s the mediator series. He can call me querida any day!

What author would you like to have on your blog?

I’m going to go ahead and agree with my friend Bree at thebookishlifeblog and note how amazing it would be to have Maria Snyder on my blog. Although I cannot promise that it wouldn’t involve some insane fangirling and begging her to never stop writing about Valek. Having Meg Cabot would also be amazing, she is just hilarious! Other authors include: Barry Lyga, Sarah J Maas, Mary E Pearson, and Marissa Meyer.

What do you wear when you write your blog?

Either I’m on my couch with my cats in sweatpants and oversized Disney shirts, or I’m in my normal style of leggings, oversize shirts, and boots sitting at the Starbucks by my work because it’s the only place I can get some peace and quiet away from my students J

How long does it take you to prepare?

It depends on the type of blog post. If it’s random book musings I can be as natural as writing down what I’m thinking for a while, but then coming back and editing and deleting and adding. With book reviews I try and think of types of things I would like to be putting in my reviews as I’m reading the book. Usually by about halfway through a book I can tell if it’s a book that I’m going to want to go all out with and review. Sometimes the prep work involves posts, like this one, that I writing in advance for days where I really want to make sure I am able to post, but life is going to be too busy for me to actually take the time to sit down and write one.

How do you feel about the book blogger community/culture?
I haven’t been a part of it for very long, but it seems like a very open and accepting community! I’m excited to meet so many more book minded people, and not people who think I’m nuts for bothering to read after college graduation.

What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?

I think it can be so easy to just write about what you think people want to read. But if you aren’t passionate about what your writing/reading then it is going to show in your blog. I believe that being successful just really means being passionate about what you want to read, and get excited about sharing that with your readers. If you are bored by what you are reading, then people will be bored reading your posts as well!