It's Book Blogger Appreciation Week! AKA BBAW - September 12-15. Book bloggers everywhere are sharing their love of books and blogging with each other and their followers, but, as an author, I wanted to share my love of book bloggers in my own way. Why? Because I wouldn't be where I am without them. Seriously.
Our last-but-not-least book blogger this week is Stella at Ex Libris. I was absolutely thrilled when Stella agreed to read Promise because it meant my book was going overseas for the first time. See, Stella lives in Budapest, Hungary! What a thrill it was, as a new author, to have my book "reviewed internationally." Turns out there are lots of awesome bloggers all around the world, but it was - and still is - way cool. Although Alexis and Tristan do some world traveling (*cough* hint for Devotion *cough*), I never imagined Promise making its way around the globe, especially before it even came out.So, yeah, I was a little excited, but what my email discussions with Stella really drove home back then was how widespread and diverse readers of American books are. It made me feel pretty small because here were all these people reading literature not written in their native languages and I can barely remember 20 words in each of the three (yes, three!) languages I took in high school and college. I'm so pathetic. I know.
But I'm eternally grateful to Stella and all the other international readers and bloggers. Thank you! Merci! Gratzi! Gracias! Danke! (And I remember the Russian word for "thank you" but not how to spell it with the Latin alphabet. :-P)
Anyway, let's get to know Stella!
KC: Tell us about
yourself in 10 words.
S: Passionate reader and dreamer, loyal friend and devoted big
sister. :-)
KC: If you tweeted a
general message about your blog, what would it say (140 characters or less)?
S: Curious to know what I just read and what I thought of it? Swing
by Ex Libris for a fun chat about books, characters, genres and a lot more! :-)
KC: What’s your favorite
genre to read?
S: Romance and urban fantasy!
KC: What are you favorite
blogs to follow?
S:
Just to name a few, but there are so many
wonderful ones!
KC: Have any bloggers inspired
you or your blog?
S: Book Chick City was one of the first blogs I stumbled
upon when I discovered book blogs existed and was amazed at how shiny and full
of info it was.
I was a big fan of
Book Lovers Inc. and now I’m part of their team and love all the girls! :-D
Steph from Paper Cut Reviews inspires me all the time. She
is full of wonderfully creative ideas to make the blogosphere a better world
and bring bloggers closer. She is one of the kindest and most generous people I
know :-)
KC: How did you get
started blogging?
S: One
of my colleagues told me about cooking blogs and after a few days I wondered if
there were blogs where people talked about books. Oh, I had no idea! So I
googled it and happened upon tons of book blogs! I debated for about 1 week
whether to create one of my own, whether I would have the time and whether I
could contribute anything besides so many great blogs, but I wanted so much to
talk about books I have read, that I thought, what the hell, I’ll start and
we’ll see. And it has been 1.5 years since then and I’m loving it :-D
KC: What is your favorite
part about being a blogger?
S: The community! Meeting other bloggers with whom
we can passionately debate about books and characters and the big revelation
was discovering how friendly and approachable authors are! I’m still amazed :-)
KC: What’s the hardest
part of being a blogger?
S: Organizing everything! I have a 10 hour-a-day full
time job and there simply isn’t enough hours in the day for me. My inbox is one
of the things I fear the most and am constantly battling with, my guilt will be
the death of me.
KC: What do you do when a
book you agreed to review just isn’t working for you?
S: I try to write an
objective and balanced review where I tell the things what didn’t work for me.
It may not be the book’s problem, it might simply be that it wasn’t the book
for me.
KC: Do you ever get
reviewer’s block or in a reading slump?
S: Reviewer’s block yes! I am usually
struck by inspiration when I’m walking to the bus stop or around town, full
sentences just flow in my mind about what I want to say about a novel, then
when I am on a deadline and see the blank page those wonderfully constructed
sentences are lost and I can’t recall them. I am a procrastinator Queen, so
sometimes scheduled reviews are left until the very last minute, when that
puts some additional pressure on me as well ;-p
KC: How can we connect
with you?
Thank you, Stella! And thank you to all our book bloggers this week who participated and all of those I didn't get a chance to interview. One common thread I've seen all week long is that these lovely ladies' favorite part of what they do is the book blogging community, which should tell you something. It really is a fabulous community.
If you're not involved in it, I encourage you to follow a few book blogs. I've given you 5 this week and they've each provided even more links. Check them out. Find the reviewers you click with most. Support your favorites. And if you have your own book blog, please list it in the comments below.
S: You can reach me at my blog: Ex Libris (www.stella-exlibris.com ), Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Stella_ExLibris, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucyriver/posts/262885640409066#!/pages/Ex-Libris/105923872768585
and Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/stella_exlibris
Thank you, Stella! And thank you to all our book bloggers this week who participated and all of those I didn't get a chance to interview. One common thread I've seen all week long is that these lovely ladies' favorite part of what they do is the book blogging community, which should tell you something. It really is a fabulous community.
If you're not involved in it, I encourage you to follow a few book blogs. I've given you 5 this week and they've each provided even more links. Check them out. Find the reviewers you click with most. Support your favorites. And if you have your own book blog, please list it in the comments below.
How did I miss book blogger appreciation week?! I feel so bad. *weeps* I love book bloggers! They always keep me in good books and what they do for authors is inspiring. :)
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