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.
Several book bloggers have helped spread the word about my books to each other and readers with their reviews and by hosting me with guest posts, interviews and giveaways. There's no way to know for sure how many sales they brought, but I do know that thousands of people would have never heard of my books if not for book bloggers.
So this week, I'm featuring a handful who have really made a difference in my writing career. I've turned the tables by interviewing them with those same tough questions they give me. Haha! And they've come back with fantastic answers!
Yesterday for BBAW, you met Jessica, who introduced me to Lisa, whom I'm introducing to you today. Shortly after Jessica and I connected, she was telling me all about her bloggy friend Lisa at A Life Bound by Books and that she couldn't wait for Promise to come out so she could read and review it. Whoa. Another blogger wanted to read my book before it was even out??? Of course I sent her an ARC immediately! And another great friendship was born.
Lisa has been incredibly supportive of my books and whenever she has something special going on with her blog, she thinks of me to contribute. In fact, in a couple weeks, she and Jessica launch their Haunted Halloween, where Alexis, Tristan and Owen will be sharing a ghost story on A Life Bound by Books. They do awesome things like that.Anyway, Lisa's reviews are always fantastic! If you're ever on the fence about whether to read something or not, check out her blog. In the meantime, let's get to know her better.
KC: Tell us about yourself in 10 words.
L: Wife. Aunt. Daughter. Sister. Reader. Blogger. Caring.
#Idrathergivethanreceive. #movieandTVbuff. #coldweatherjunkie.
In case any of you are wondering about the hashtag or #, it’s
a twitter thing. So, I cheated lol :P
KC: If you tweeted a general message about your blog, what
would it say (140 characters or less)?
L: A Life Bound By Books, 1 book review, interview, guest post
& giveaway at a time. Drop in, take a peek, leave a comment & visit
again soon!
WOW, that was really hard! LOL I don’t even think I came up
with a good tweet, but… it gets the point across, right? At least I hope it
does.
KC: What’s your favorite genre to read?
L: I tend to read more YA paranormal romance than anything
else, BUT… I pretty much always go with the idea of if it sounds good I’ll give
it a try. So, my taste goes all over the board when it comes to YA. I usually
stay away from historicals, BUT this year I’ve read a few that I have really
enjoyed, so now I’ll sometimes give those a try as well. As for adult titles, I also tend to love
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy/Supernatural Romance. I’ve read some chick lit as
well, but usually it’s those Para/UNF/SPN Romances that get me each and every
time.
KC: What are your favorite blogs to follow?
L: I’m going to do this one in a list for you:
Confessions of a Bookahlic - http://www.totalbookaholic.com/
Mindful Musings - http://themindfulmusingsbookblog.blogspot.com/
Le Femme Readers - http://lafemmereaders.blogspot.com/
Wicked Awesome Books - http://www.wickedawesomebooks.com/
Teens Read & Write - http://www.teensreadandwrite.com/
The Book Vixen - http://www.thebookvixen.com/
The Book Pixie - http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/
The Book Cellar - http://www.thebookcellarx.com/
The Book Scout - http://thebookscout.blogspot.com/
Just to name a few. More of my favorite blogs, blogs I read
can be found in my blogroll on my site.
KC: Have any bloggers inspired you or your blog?
L: A few bloggers have inspired me. Though they probably don’t
know it, but they have. Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic inspires me
daily. She’s such an amazing person who knows me, gets me and I totally love to
death! Another person who has inspired me is Natalie from Mindful Musings.
She’s another great person who I love talking to and I miss! Natalie, if you’re
reading this, we really need to catch up! Also, Eleni from La Femme Readers, I
don’t know her well, but I love her reviews and what she’s created for herself
and the readers on her blog.
So many other amazing bloggers out there, I could go on and on!
Seriously, it was hard to stick to just these 3. So many of you need to pat
yourselves on the back for the impact you’ve made on others inside and outside
of the book blogging community.
KC: How did you get started blogging?
L: I started blogging 2 years ago now. WOW, how time flies! I
wanted a hobby that had to do with reading. My family has some readers in it,
but we usually never like reading the same things, so it’s always hard to talk
books with them. Truly I was looking for an outlet to find others out there who
I could gush and squeeee and talk about books with. While surfing around the
internet about 3-4 months or so before I started blogging, I found a couple
that I liked to read and then I found Goodreads and the rest kind of happened
from there. Since I always am trying to make it better, I’ll forever think of
my blog as being a work in progress.
KC: What is your favorite part about being a blogger?
L: My favorite part about being a blogger – easy question! The
friends I’ve made and amazing books and authors I’ve found because of all the
amazing bloggers and various other people out there. Hands down, best and
favorite part is the friendships I’ve made that I know will last a long, long
time.
KC: What’s the hardest part of being a blogger?
L: The hardest part about being a blogger, that’s a good
question! Sometimes it’s actually writing reviews. Finding a way to use
different words or find different ways on how to express how I’m feeling about
a book can be hard because I always feel like I get stuck. It’s more of how to
maneuver around those words that are stuck in my head to find bigger, better
and more epic things to say. It’s not all the time, but that is one part for
me. Another part would be… and this is more of an observation, but the need for
some bloggers out there (and NO, I’m not talking about YOU, yeah, YOU reading
this. And I’m not talking about your BFF or any one blogger in particular, so
please don’t think it’s you or your sister, brother or friend) feel the need to
make this into a jealous battle between one another. I mean seriously, we all
do this because we love to read. Why does it have to be made into anything BUT
the books and authors? I love to hear the great books that my friend might get
and I can’t wait to read because I’m excited for them. So that’s another part
that’s hard when it comes to being a blogger.
KC: What do you do when a book you agreed to review just
isn’t working for you?
L: This is a REALLY hard question. First, I feel really guilty.
Then, I have to remember that not everyone is going to love everything that is
out there. It might sound good, amazing even, something I’m excited about
reading… and sometimes it falls flat, or
I don’t connect with the characters, etc. However I try really hard to read
each and every book that I receive for review and sometimes, the book and I… we
just don’t “fit”. There have been a couple of books recently that I’ve agreed
to read and review and it was difficult for me to finish, but I did. Will I
continue with that same practice in the future? It’ll really all depend on the
book.
KC: Do you ever get reviewer’s block or in a reading slump?
L: I think that happens to us all from time to time. As I
mentioned above, somewhat recently I’ve read a few books in a row that just
didn’t “fit” with me. I finished them, but they seemed to drag. I try to take
breaks here and there as well to help keep me out of a reading slump. Some days
I might only read a few pages, which doesn’t help me in tackling my stack of
books for review! However, I think it does help keep me from falling into a
huge reading slump, so it all evens out. Or at least I hope it does lol. Now
for reviewer’s block – that would be a HUGE yes! Also, as mentioned above -
often feel like I use many of the same words, or don’t talk enough about what I
liked or didn’t like about a book. I never want to spoil anyone, so I try to
stick to things that won’t give anything away. Which that in itself can
sometimes be a struggle, but it’s a struggle I don’t mind.
KC: How can we connect with you?
L:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/BoundByBooks
Thank you, Lisa, for joining us today! I look forward to reading all the reviews you have in store for us.
Have a question for Lisa? Ask it here!
Lisa! You're SO right! We DO need to catch up! :) I miss you, but I've officially jumped back into the blogosphere, so hopefully we'll get to talk more often!
ReplyDeleteGreat list of bloggers, and I'm flattered that you mentioned me. You inspire me too, darlin'!