#Curse you Jennifer for always giving me more questions! lol

[katrinegrey]

More 'A Fire in the Flesh' thoughts

Now that I've gotten a little bit of sleep, I have more thoughts.

JLA making such a big deal about the relationship between Attes and Kyn throughout the entirety of A Fire in the Flesh and at the very end of the book having Nyktos point out that Kyn lost his memories after Ascending (thus most likely being one of the catalysts to him being the "evil twin") makes me so scared for Malec. We still don't know what happened to make him leave Iliseeum. Between Attes and Kyn's issues and Eythos and Kolis' story, the track record for male twins in this series isn't very good.

I'm also so curious about how and why he ends up in Atlantia and how Atlantia was created in the supposedly sacred Bonelands.

[uclaradio]

Interview with City Girl

Interviewed by Jennifer Liaw

album art for Time Falls Like Moonlight, by vickisigh

City Girl is a rising LA-based lo-fi/chillhop producer that incorporates a lot of soft piano and guitar intertwined with electronic beats and vocals. Starting out on Bandcamp and Soundcloud only 10 months ago, they now have three albums out on Spotify, the latest being Time Falls Like Moonlight, released in April.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? What was growing up in that city like?

I grew up in California close to LA. To be honest once I found music I never really went outside. Before that I was just playing video games and watching cartoons. I guess the internet was more of where I grew up, as opposed to any geographical place.

What music did you listen to a lot growing up? What were your favorite artists back in like middle school, for example?

In middle school it was John Frusciante, all day everyday. Something about his guitar playing really inspired me. It was soulful and beautiful and just felt perfect, like every note was exactly where it should be. In high school my music taste exploded, but John Frusciante was the majority of the first music I learned and played.

Tell us a little about how City Girl first got started.

I uploaded on the train somewhere between my apartment and you 10 months ago on Soundcloud and just emailed a bunch of Youtube channels that were taking submissions. Aurarian music accepted that first release and put it out on Youtube and got the ball rolling so City Girl could get some attention back when it was only 10-20 followers.

How did you come up with the name City Girl?

To be honest, its in honor of “City Girl” by Kevin Shields from the Lost In Translation soundtrack. I’m a huge My Bloody Valentine fan and that song of his is just so amazing.

When did you first start making music? How did you get into it, and how did you first learn how to produce a beat?

I got into guitar playing when I was 12 or so. I just played because my older brother had a guitar. I took it and just Googled how to play guitar and taught myself songs and chords. It was the most fun I’d ever had. It felt so special. I didn’t start producing for like another seven years though. I would just record onto a Tascam tape recorder and jam with friends in garages. I had friends who made lofi beats waay back when it was like CULP and Simo and Onra and john wayne and stuff, but I never got into it, I was more focused on improvising and expanding my musical repertoire in a more performance-focused way.

Are there any instruments that you would like to try out incorporating into your music that you haven't tried yet?

I want live drums but I live in an apartment. If I could record drums that would be so cool, since I play drums too and I miss it badly.

Where do you usually record your music? Describe your studio space to us.

It’s about five feet no joke from my bed haha. It’s a desk and a midi keyboard and some guitars and other little instruments like the melodica. I have speakers and an old mic. It’s super cozy, my bedroom at my apartment is just covered with vickisigh’s art, like everywhere you look it’s just cute sexy ladies in pastel colors, I love it.

vickisigh’s (Vicki Tsai) artwork, from her instagram

How would you describe the lo-fi/chillhop genre and subculture to someone who’s never been exposed to it?

It’s just a bunch of people who love making music on their computers, and to be honest only one percent is unique and actually worth your time, but the same goes for all genres, 99 percent of it is just not that good. I would be more specific but at this point lofi stands for so so much that you can’t really go much further than that.

What do you think of the lo-fi hip hop/chillhop genre in general? It's really popular right now what with the YouTube 24hr lo-fi hip hop studying beats stream and the Spotify lo-fi hip hop studying beats playlists as well... There's literally probably thousands of really similar chillhop producers on SoundCloud... does that ever make you feel swallowed up, in a sense? Or does it feel more like a really large community? How do you try to stand out as an artist among all these other producers?

It’s a tough question to answer, because you can go from quickly, quickly to in love with a ghost and still call it lofi if you want to. These artists share playlists together and Youtube mixes. Who’s to say quickly, quickly isn’t just jazz? Who’s to say in love with a ghost isn’t just electronic music? It’s not so much a genre as it is a movement of instrumental music becoming the focus itself rather than the singer/rapper. Staying unique seems simple to me as I grew up playing and learning music by ear, so I just follow my interests/inspiration and play whatever seems cool.

Which artists would you say are your biggest inspirations or that you're just blown away by and really admire within your genre? How about outside of your genre?

Well in love with a ghost stands out, like most peeps I found them on Youtube. All the tracks from Let’s Go and Healing by them are amazing. Just super cool textures and melodies, really lovely and creative music. Kupla is amazing too, he’s an amazing piano player, all of his music is great. Outside of my genre I’d say Sheena Ringo, especially her album Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana - it’s pretty much game over, this album does everything better in every regard imaginable than any other music I’ve heard. Don’t know if you can get access to it in US tho, the copyright lawyers are hard at work on this one.

What artist outside of the lo-fi hip hop genre would you really really love to collaborate with? Can you describe the kind of track you'd want to make with them?

With anyone, well shit Beyoncé right? I mean she’s the best vocalist alive next to Frank Ocean. I would just want to make something really beautiful, some In Rainbows type stuff.

Being an artist based out of Bandcamp/Soundcloud in this day means a lot of your career is kind of born out of the internet. What are your favorite and least favorite parts about the internet and spending so much time on the internet/interacting with people on the internet/sharing yourself through the internet?

I love the internet because I can share whatever I want when I want. I don’t feel a lot of pressure because I don’t have any personal accounts on social media and never have, I always just read a lot of books and listened to records and stuff. I’m sure some people think it’s mysterious or whatever that I never cared for social media, instead opting to just read Sartre or watch old movies, but nowadays all I do is make music and play Skyrim so it’s all good. The internet gives me access to all that goodness so I can find it offline.

What are your top five favorite artists right now?

Tom Misch, Swell, quickly quickly, in love with a ghost, and Sam Gellaitry

What are your top five favorite female artists?

Sheena Ringo, Beyoncé, Aivi Tran, MISO (from club eskimo - a collective including Crush, Dean, offonoff, 2xxx!, millic, and more), and tiffi.

Do you have a favorite spot in LA that you wouldn't want to share with anyone else?

Wherever YAYAYI and JALENTUNA happen to be any given saturday night in k-town is a pretty special vibe that honestly can’t be shared even if I wanted it to be. God there was this $5 flat pho place on Western Ave. that was run by this old couple but it closed like 5 years ago, that was the best place ever and it straight up was ALWAYS empty, no one ate there. I think it was like Pho 36 haha one of those LA pho places that has a random number after it.

What are some things that you really enjoy doing for yourself? When you need to take a day for yourself, what are things that you'll usually do?

Skyrim is a go-to. It’s usually video games but a lot of times it’s just making music. You gotta understand music is like an addiction to me. I never stop thinking about sounds and I feel uneasy not making music.

So we know you like video games… what are some of your favorite video games of all time? Do you have any funny anecdotes from playing games online with strangers?

Favorite of all time is Psychonauts. Such a creative game and Scott Campbell’s art is the absolute bee’s knees. Right now my favorite is Skyrim as mentioned. I love RPG and adventure games, the immersion gets me good. I loved games growing up, played anything. I have a lot of anecdotes about gaming but I honestly can’t think of just one. Haha well when Xbox Live came out online gaming was brand new and I remember my dad getting on the headset asking people not to cuss (since I was just a kid) and THEY STOPPED. They were like “Oh sorry dude we didn’t know there were kids playing we will keep the cursing to a minimum.” Can you imagine that nowadays? It would never happen. That shit still blows my mind.

Do you play Fortnite? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

I played Fortnite with Chance, thrash, and Maru the other night and I hate it so much lol. The vibe is so terrible, the aesthetic makes me want to barf it’s so ugly. That was the only time I’ve really played it and it hasn’t been on my mind, the itch isn’t there so I guess no hype for me.

What are your favorite K-Pop bands or members?

SNSD was the OG. That old video of Sooyoung going “OP-EHHHH! OP-EH EH EH EH EH” lol that shit is so funny. I don’t follow it much anymore but MISO is the queen right now, she’s the best. I watched all of Jessica and Krystal when it came out too, that’s good stuff.

Ok I also saw on Twitter that you have a cat... tell us about your cat!

Ah yes, Seymour, the Russian Blue. He is a very handsome and beautiful man. He is a shadow in the night. Every part of him is gray except his lil tongue which is pink and his eyes which are green. He lives at my parents house so I don’t see him except at holidays, but he is my good soft boy. I think of him very often.

art from Snow Rose, by vickisigh

What would you say is your favorite track that you've produced?

“Anything Like Her” with tiffi is prob my fav. Tiffi is so cool and that song is really different sounding from other City Girl songs so I think it’s cool.

What is your favorite track off of Time Falls Like Moonlight?

“Sunset Lullaby” is probably my favorite. The second half with the acoustic and electric guitar just feels really special.

What was your inspiration for Time Falls Like Moonlight?

I make so much music, the inspiration doesn’t really ever make sense, I am inspired by everything in each moment, I am inspired by my own passion to make music. Not understanding what is going on is really important to how I work, it makes things exciting. I just want the music to make people feel loved and understood for who they are, that there is a purpose for them, a life they can live and be loved in.

When you make songs, are they ever about specific things, people, or events in your life?

Not really, it’s just all my emotions sort of bleeding into the computer. I don’t know if I could write about any particular thing, but I do enjoy imagining lots of people and situations to my music after I made it. Like oh this sounds like Moonlight Hill (from Kingdom Hearts) or this sounds like a tender look from someone or this sounds like a lonely plaza in the middle of some city. It’s all free and open to interpretation.

“Winter Fields” is one of my favorite tracks of yours... mostly because of the lovely violin part by mklachu. It's so dreamy and kind of reminds me of some of my favorite Ryuichi Sakamoto pieces, too. Can you tell us a little about this track?

It’s random but the track started as a like, flex? I was watching Joji’s Youtube aliases and god they are just awful I mean like him fucking with people and being super lewd and nasty I hate it but I was watching it anyway to like fry my brain and I thought it would be fun to make a nasty trap beat that would fit with his videos and I made “Winter Fields” (I know it doesn’t make sense at all). The song slowly got more romantic as I added piano layers the next day and then mklachu tweeted at me out of nowhere and I asked her to play over it and yeah it’s just what happens when you work on music all the time, everything going on makes it into the song.

Another one of my favorites is “Chateau Fountain.” I love the slow buildup, and then the talking portion that kind of just emerges and goes into like an acoustic drop... ahhhh.. I was wondering where that talking portion is from actually. The guy is like, "Take the flowers," and the girl is like "I’m all right!" and it sounds like an uncomfortable struggle...a common pattern in society where... men force women to do things regardless of their autonomy or feelings (ha ha). Does it have any significance to the meaning behind the track? What were your reasons for choosing to put that particular snippet in this track? It's interesting because for me, I think I'm more sensitive than the average person to these kind of power dynamics or like...oppression against women in all aspects of daily interactions or media that I consume, so when I listen to this track it's like a soft buildup to this point of conflict that is kind of grating, but then evolves back into a calming acoustic melody. That's personal, of course, but it's interesting.

DUDE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ATONEMENT? Omg that movie is so incredible. It’s James McAvoy talking to Kiera Knightley and they have all this tension because they love each other but they can���t be together and ooooooooooooooooooh it’s so good. Their love is so beautiful and honest but it’s injected with all this tension and conflict from society and politics. I felt that snippet fit so perfectly into the emotions of the song, it’s one of the few few times I’ve used movie snippets because I felt it actually added to the track in a creative way.

How do you think you've evolved from the first songs you put out on Bandcamp/Soundcloud, and your first album Loveless Shadows, to now?

I know a lot more about mixing, especially with bass and drums. I try to make more upbeat stuff now, but honestly I still end up making a lot of downtempo stuff. I know a lot more jazz piano than I did before so that’s nice too.

What are some artists that you think are really underrated that you'd like to give a shoutout to and encourage people to check out?

frenesi is criminally underrated.

What are your goals for City Girl for the next few years?

Just put out an incredible amount of music and keep building the world of City Girl. I want people to feel relaxed and loved and understood when they listen to City Girl. Honestly I just want to expand the harmonic and melodic depth of City Girl, I want people to head bump and cry in the same track, I want to find that fusion of beautiful and funky that all great music has for me.

I know you just released an album, but besides that, do you have any upcoming events or projects your fans should be looking forward to?

I have another album finished already, but with the way vickisigh (I won’t put out something without her art on it) works it won’t be out until probably another two-three months. So by the time that comes out I’ll have another album done and so on the process repeats. So just look forward to a new album every two-three months for as long as I’m rockin in the free world.

art from Loveless Shadows, by vickisigh

Check out City Girl’s latest album, Time Falls Like Moonlight, out on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp! They also have two other albums, Snow Rose from December, and Loveless Shadows from August that are equally as beautiful. Follow them on Soundcloud for all their music updates and on Twitter for all their promo updates!

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

21 Questions Tag!

Wrote this up a couple days ago but a quick update on my whereabouts: currently going through finals, submitted a final assignment, and am now taking advantage of my free time!

I was tagged by @leannao! :)

1. Short stories, novels or poems?

I primarily write novels, but recently completed a short story with @sarahkelsiwrites and @imdisappointed and had a lot of fun! Short fiction is definitely a form I’ve yet to break into, but I plan on doing so as soon as I can! Short stories are really satisfying to look back on I dunno why.

2. What genre do you prefer reading?

Contemporary is my jammm.

3. What genre do you prefer writing?

I prefer writing contemporary also, though 5/8 books I’ve written are a veryyyy soft dystopian. @sarahkelsiwrites and I were just talking about how weird my dystopians are? The FOSTERED books are kind of straight up contemporary at this point with dystopian elements. lol.

4. Are you a planner or a write-as-I-go kind of person?

This really depends! I’m currently planning a few projects, whereas I’ve pantsed all of my novels besides I’M DISAPPOINTED (which was half pantsed lol). Though, when I’m writing, I like to have an idea of the scene I’m going into, so I do a bit of both.

5. What music do you listen to while writing?

Sometimes I don't listen to music while writing (which has become increasingly more common lol), but since my house is usually a very loud place, I’ll put on either the book’s playlist, or Daughter (particularly Music From Before the Storm since it’s primarily instrumental). My favourite bands that are on these playlists: Current Joys, The Strokes, Daughter (bless), Surf Curse, Ed Sheeran, Whitney.

6. Fave books/movies?

Oooh. My favourite book since I was 11 has been The Host by Stephenie Meyer. The atmosphere in that book always gets me lol. I haven’t read it in a couple of years, so I’d have to see how I’d fair at this point in time (a re-read this year is probs coming via audiobook), but reading that book always felt like going home! The Darkest Minds trilogy is also one of my all time faves, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews gives me so much life, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven has impacted and improved my quality out of life by 250%, and Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore is so blessed (the audiobook is EXCELLENT). (I re-read it twice in the span of like 4 months??) As for movies, my favourite movie of life is the adaptation of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (the screenplay is 10/10, the cinematography is 10/10, the colour grading tHO). Across the Universe also steals my heart, and is in a close second place!

7. Any current WIPs?

Yep! I’m currently having a *very* hard time finishing the last book in my behemoth FOSTERED series! I’m also outlining this series’ spinoff (and have been doing so for a year lol)! I’m also (very slowly) planning a contemporary called SIXTEEN CENTS (tho this has been a thing for almost three years so progress is snail pace ha).

8. If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

I love this question so much. My standard outfit is literally the angstiest angst outfit, @sssoto has seen proof ha. For the winter my go to angst outfit is:

- A black t-shirt from value village

- Black jeans also from value village

- A black trench coat that reaches like mid-calves from my mom

- A black beanie i got from the dollar store

- Black gloves if I need ‘em from walmart HA

- Knockoff black doc martens that I got from the thrift store for 8 bucks bless

(do you see the trend)

^^^ This

like everything is black I'm an amorphous blob I am literally a vortex I am a black hole I love this??

The summer version of this is pretty similar it goes like:

- A black t-shirt

- Black jeans

- Any sort of grungy jacket from the thrift store (I have a bit of a jacket obsession, literally can’t exit Value Village without a new one thrifting is life)

- These shoes my mom gave me:

The topmost sneakers are me, the lit oxfords are @sarahkelsiwrites​’ staple and in this photo we are hanging at a Surf Curse show ha (picture is also Sarah’s).

9. Create a character description for yourself:

Oh myyyyy. I’m going to do this list-style because I feel like I’ll do a really bad job if I actually write one lol

- Could be your local cashier at Hot Topic

- “Local edgy goth kid smoking a skinny cigarette at the corner store.” --@imdisappointed)

(tho I don't smoke)

- Kind of clunky and awkward

- Shoulder length blue hair that sometimes clashes with her skin tone and makes her look like an Oompa Loompa

- Lopsided face tho it’s kind of charming sort of

- Wears black square-ish glasses of which always fall off her face, hence face is always semi scrunched up to anchor said glasses to face

- Eyes always are shut halfway so she always looks unamused/uninterested/pissed off/contemplating life

^^^ Example A do you see the eyelid thing HA and this is my ‘trying to model well’ face so I mean, I guess it’s worse IRL? oh my i have resting angst face

When did this become a roast yourself, lolz

10. Do you actually like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

No, I don’t usually! This obviously still occurs subconsciously, so a couple of my characters will most likely have qualities of people I know. The most notable of these would probably be my best friend Ashley @imdisappointed​, and @sarahkelsiwrites​! I don’t think many other people make subtle appearances in any of my books. For example, Ash has inspired maaaaany attributes of characters (@ Ben’s sarcasm and memey life, @ Darren’s hugs and excellent listening skillz, @ Harrison’s humour, @ Sydney’s eyes @ Sydney’s love for puns), and Sarah has inspired a ton too (@ Harrison x Lonan’s Mom of the Group vibes, @ Lonan’s Get to the Point attitude/Girl You Better Have Some Facts To Back Up Your Point Cuz Actually spirit, @ Spencer’s style/Spencer).

Though I wouldn’t say these attributes were taken directly from these two amazing people and put into my books, since I don’t actively do this (unless I’m like, naming a random side character and want to give them shout outs). Funny though, I did say yesterday that I’d really like to base a character off my dog Liuna (pronounced LUNA don’t ask lolz), because she would be this hella amazing confident character? Like? Liuna human needs to happen?? She would?? Actually?? Be?? Lonan?? Though? Did I base Lonan off my dog??

Liuna: left, Samson: right.

(so real quick cute story Luna the name [minus the i] means moon and Samson means sun and we adopted Samson so i mean if this AINT MEANT TO BE)

11. Are you kill-happy with characters?

Ha, 12-year-old Rachel would’ve said yes because apparently a book wasn’t a book unless someone died?? I now rarely kill off characters, though. The last time I killed off a character was in FOSTERED #4 ha.

12. Dream job?

It’s sort of ironic that I’m not going to say writer for this, because that is what I plan to study in uni and what I do spend all of my life doing. I just don’t think (right now at least) that I could be a very good full time writer/use that time productively. I think it would take a ton of time to adjust to writing full time, and hasn’t ever really been my endgame. I know a lot of people I know in real life assume I know what career path I’d like to go down, when in actuality, I don’t really know! Anything creative, I guess I’m lucky in that way, where I have a lot of creative outlets I’m passionate about. I’ve been saying I’d like to work in film for a bit, so maybe that?

13. Coffee or tea while writing?

Okk, so I figured this was a perfect opportunity to confess something lol: I don’t like coffee.

*ah*

*but why*

*ur account is called coffee and calligraphy ahh what**

I used to really enjoy coffee when I was veryyy young, and again when I was 12-14 (around when I created this blog ha), but I’m not a huge fan anymore. I don’t have anything against it or anything, and if I’m going to drink it, I’ll usually like it because I’m not picky (but I can’t do it with homemade coffee anymore ah) so I guess saying I dislike it is sorta untrue. Though I will gladly drink store bought coffee! GREEN TEA on the other hand. Green tea is my *bitch* yes. Love me some green tea. I drink like 15 cups of that shit a dayyyy fam. I’m a green tea connoisseur I’ve been tasting green tea my whole liiiife fam.

14. Slow or fast writer?

I used to be a fast writer, but now I’m pretty slow. I used to write 2.5 books a year that were of substantial length (like 100k+?), but now I can’t do that. It’s taken me almost four months to draft 25k of Rewired lol. Though I shouldn’t say this because I’m sure my pace will slow down even more. I’m not mad about this particularly though because the quality of writing has sky-rocketed since I slowed down!

15. Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

This is a fun question because right now I’m v/ uninspired… So it’s making me think! I’ll draw inspo from music mainly? Maybe television shows/movies for mood and tone. Nick’s lyrics in Current Joys inspires me to think about Clifford (and then make fun of Clifford because that’s my favourite thing to do lolz). Photographs are nice, though I guess I don’t really draw inspiration from too many things!

16. if you were put into a fantasy world, what would you be?

@sarahkelsiwrites​ and I were talking about this in math class and I decided I would be the annoying peasant who talks too much and does nothing helpful to resolve the world’s various problems until the end where I accidentally do something that actually helps!

17. Most fave book cliche? Least face book cliché?

I really enjoy the sassy best friend or lowkey sassy best friend lol. My least favourite cliché would be insta-romance probably? Insta-romance often kills my ability to enjoy the book because the romantic subplot progresses wayyyy too fast which affects the main plot oftentimes and so then the pacing feels very off/like I missed out on 50% of the book.

18. Fave places to write:

My kitchen table! It was actually super uncomfortable to sit at my table until we recently replaced it, but it’s always been my fave, just because there’s a huge window to my right and I loooove sunlight. I can’t really write anywhere else, ha. The kitchen table is also around two feet away from the kettle, so endless green tea.

19. Fave scenes to write?

I’ve recently been writing a lot of developing friendship scenes ft. character flaws, so that could be one. I also enjoy scenes with any sort of tension which is broad, but if my MC is conflicted, it’s a yes from me. Romantical happenings are also fun lol.

20. Most productive time of day for writing?

After 7PM

21. Reason for writing?

I literally love the answer @leannao​ put for this:

Constantly daydreaming and thinking about imaginary people without writing would feel like missing the best part of my life.

I like giving characters stories. I think all of them have lives of their own, and if I didn’t write their stories, I’d prevent them from having their home. Also when I find a really great verb or adjective and the sentence clicks into place and it’s blessed—that’s a huge source of ahh life is blessed this is why I write for me.

This was super fun! I’m going to tag @sarahkelsiwrites, @sssoto and @shaelinwrites to do this if you haven't already!

--Rachel

[alice-paperback]

50 Bookish Questions Tag

Thanks to @erinthebookworm for tagging me! :)

1. What is your favourite book and/or book series of all time?

This is literally impossible to answer! My latest favorite is The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic.

2. What is the longest book you have ever read? How many pages?

This may be cheating since it’s technically two books.... Lux:Beginnings by Jennifer L. Armentrout

3. What is the oldest book you have ever read? (Based on its written date)

LOL I have no clue!!! I also lack the dedication to find out, sorry :p. Probably an old classic.

4. What is a book series that everyone else loves but you do not?

The Mortal Instruments Series!! I’ve just never been able to get into it (believe me, I’ve tried!).

5. What book or book series would you like to see turned into a film/ TV series?

None of them!! I always get completely unrealistic expectations when it comes to adaptions (and unsurprisingly, am consistently disappointed). I’d rather just avoid the matter altogether.

6. What is your favourite stand-alone book?

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

7. What is a book that you feel glad for not reading?

The Fault in Our Stars.... no thanks! Too sad for me.

8. What is a book that you feel guilty for not reading?

The Assassin’s Blade by  Sarah J. Maas. I LOVE the Throne of Glass Series, but I gave up halfway through this one :( everytime Sarah says it is “required reading” I die a little bit inside.

9. What is a book you have read that is set in your country of birth?

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

10. What is a book that you own more than one copy of?

The Hunger Games... the exact same original cover...the box set was just on sale for cheaper than the last two books alone! Strange, right?

11. What horror book made you really scared?

Horror books have never actually scared me, still love them though :)

12. What book do you passionately hate?

The Opposite of Geek by  Ria Voros. One of the most horrendous books I have ever endured.

13. What is the biggest book series you have read? How many books are in it?

Literally anything with Percy Jackson (my true love) in it.

14. What book gives you happy memories?

Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore. I can’t recall any details about the plot (I read it a LONG time ago) but the city and two characters have always remained bizarrely vivid in my mind.

15. What book made you cry?

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo was ROUGH. Also, End of Days by Susan Ee. I am easily manipulated and extremely overemotional when it comes to handsome villains.

16. What book made you laugh?

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

17. What is your favourite book that contains an LGBTQ+ character?

Off the top of my head, The Raven Cycle and The Foxhole Court.

18. Have you read a book with a male protagonist? What is it?

.... have I talked enough about Percy Jackson yet?

19. Have you read a book set on another planet? What is it?

Fake planets, yes. Real planets, no.

20. Have you ever been glad to not finish a series? Which?

No, leaving a series unfinished (even when I have no desire to complete it) always makes me feel bad.

21. Have you ever read a book series because you were pressured?

Yeah...The Mortal Instruments Series lol.

22. What famous author have you not read any books by?

Too many to list. I DO NOT want to talk about it lmao.

23. Who is your favourite author of all time?

Again with the “all time.” Too much pressure! Current favorite is Tahereh Mafi

24. How many bookshelves do you own?

One big one, two makeshift small ones, and a lot of permanent stacks that I now consider shelves.

25. How many books do you own?

No clue :)))) I am a very unorganized person.

26. What is your favourite non-fiction book?

Nothing comes to mind :/ I haven’t read a lot of good non-fiction outside of school.

27. What is your favourite children’s/middle-grade book?

If it wasn’t already obvious...... PJO and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

28. What is your next book on your TBR?

Unite Me by Tahereh Mafi

29. What book are you currently reading?

The Gauntlet by Megan Shepherd.

30. What book are you planning on buying next?

None. I am certifiably broke- off to the library!

31. What was the cheapest book you bought?

The entire animorphs series for 99 cents at a garage sale lmao.

32. What was the most expensive book you bought?

Books are really expensive!! Probably around $24 for a hardcover.

33. What is a book you read after seeing the movie/ TV series?

Never done this :)

34. What is the newest book you have bought?

The Gauntlet by Megan Shepherd.

35. What three books are you most looking forward to reading this year?

The new Noah Shaw book, the new book by Danielle Vega, and Leigh Bardugo’s short story collection novel. As you can see, it is question 35 and I have lost all of my will to do a google search and provide helpful answers.

36. What is a book you love that has a terrible trope? (Love triangle, etc)

LMAOOOO literally every book I have ever read and love. I LOVE TRASH, give me overused tropes and special snowflake Mary Sue heroine for DAYS- I will eat them up shamelessly. Angsty, brooding bad boys too!

37. Have you read a book in a different language? What was it?

No, maybe someday :).

38. What is a book you’ve read that is set in a time period before you were born?

The Valiant by Lesley Leighton

39. What book offended you?

Books don’t really offend me.

40. What is the weirdest book you have read?

This seems like a huge matter of perspective and my perception of “weird” is probably a bit skewed.

41. What is your favourite duology?

SIX OF CROWS/CROOKED KINGDOM!!!!

42. What is your favourite trilogy?

At the moment, The Winner’s Curse trilogy. Also, lmao, by question 42 I have named a new favourite trilogy- completely contradicting my “all time favourite book” answer.

43. What book did you buy because of its cover?

Made You Up and I am forever grateful that I did.

44. What is a book that you love, but has a terrible cover?

....almost every book ever!? Enough with the models on the cover, please!!! Ex. The Winner’s Kiss.

45. Do you own a poetry anthology? What is your favourite poem from it?

Nope :/

46. Do you own any colouring books based off other books?

Nope.

47. Do you own any historical fiction?

Nah, I get most of my historical fiction from the library since it’s so hit or miss for me.

48. What book made you angry?

I usually leave books sad or happy... can’t say I’ve ever been mad tbh.

49. What book has inspired you?

All of them, especially the bad ones.

50. What book got you into reading?

I’ve been reading since forever, so no clue. Perhaps Geronimo Stilton?? I know the book that launched by involvement with online communities was The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (and strangely- Panic by Lauren Oliver, although I don’t consider that anywhere near a favourite).

II tag:

@bookwormsshallruletheworld @northernreads @aesthetic-bookworm

and anyone else who sees this and wants to complete it, because 50 questions is a lot longer than it seems lol.

[heavensentgohansrage]

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 18

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

Aphrodite isn't a part of Heracles’ legend at any point, either by actual appearance or by mentioning through an indirective effect she has left on his life. Unlike other unmentioned gods, which I refrain to include even when I really wanted for them to make an appearance- I had to use her in order to help with an important point in the plot.

Moreover, Heracles has never committed Hubris. While he is sometimes described as quite arrogant and supercilious, he has never sinned against the gods to receive a punishment for his attitude (although some would argue that he did so by attacking the Oracle, when she refused to give him something to redeem himself over the murder of Iphitus, which was caused by one of his sudden burst of rage).

Erinyes, better known by their Roman equivalents, the Furies (the latter was also, unfortunately, the one to be mentioned in the show by Matt, in 2x10) are the incarnate spirits of vengeance and retribution, who were in charge for giving a punishing fate for mortal sinners.

Ero, also more known by his Roman version, Cupid, was a minor god and an assistant of Aphrodite in matters that had to do with love (while she herself was in the head of other issues, such as beauty and pleasure). He was carrying a bow and flaming arrows with him, which lightened the flame of love in one’s heart- a fact which influenced the term ‘cupid’s bow’, which I had to use as it is since it wouldn’t be understood otherwise. 

A story which belonged to the 11th Labour (with the Apples of the Hesperides) and I didn’t include until now is that of Busiris, an Egyptian king (and a son of Posideon) who received the prophecy that the nine years of scarcity in his country will end if he sacrifices a foreigner to Zeus once a year. During his search for the Apples, Heracles visited Egypt at some point, where the Busiris tried to kidnap him for said sacrifice- but he managed to escape, and once he killed the king he continued in his journey. I didn’t use that story in the right point in the timeline of the legend since there was too much happening in the chapter of the 11th Labour, and adding this on top of that was too much- so I decided to indirectly include that in this chapter, where Stiles was about to be sacrificed instead of asking to be burned in fire, like Heracles originally did, and it was done so by someone who needed the help of Zeus in order to restore a flow (of magic, though, and not water lol). 

Ironically (aka another moment of me fangirling of a match between the show to the legend and my plan for the fic :P ) Jennifer’s original name, Julia, is either a Greek name or derived from Zeus’ Roman counterpart, Jupiter, and parallelly, some of her powers are related to the weather. You can read more about it here.

Deïaneira was Heracles’ second wife, who led him to a tragic event in the name of her love, which eventually would cause Heracles’ death: One day, when she and her husband went on a trip by a river- she asked a Centaur named Nessos to help her cross it. He compiled, only once they both crossed the river he grabbed her and ran away, trying to take her for himself. She screamed and yelled for help, and after a long journey her husband eventually caught up and took Nessos down- not before the latter told her about the possible usage of his blood, as a love poison. In a fear of her husband putting an eye on another damsel, Deïaneira took some of the Centaur's blood in a little bottle she carried and kept it with her ever since. Later, once they were back home, she sewed a new cloak for Heracles and dipped it in Nessos' blood. The moment he tried it on it, though, she discovered too late the trickster's lie, and what was believed to be a love poison turned out to be nothing but blood mixed with the Hydra’s venom from Heracles’ arrow. She tried to pull the cloak over, only it was too late- and killed herself.

Heracles, suffering in an unending pain by the venom, asked to be burned. It was then where Zeus approached him and asked him if he wanted to have his divine part slipt from his mortal part so he could join the Olympus and live there forever- to which Heracles agreed. Then, as his mortal part was burnt entirely- his other half was taken to the Olympus, where he became a god with the role of the protector of the Olympus, and married Zeus’ daughter (ugh), Hebe. Obviously, reading about it as I took a look at the full version legend for the first time, it was a hard decision to make regarding what it was going to convert to the FIC, because I definitely not started that project for it to end up as an MCD fic (killing the main character in an original story is one thing for me, but Stiles?! MY BABY?!??1111), no matter to what level of angst I brought the main characters to xD After a while of brainstorming, I decided that Zeus was going to use Stiles’ divinity anyway as a Daemone, but that the strength was going to stay with Stiles as it was an addition that has nothing to do with him being a son of a god, so Stiles still gets to continue his life with Heracles’ main feature, but without the given skills, which means he will have to work on redeveloping them, or at least to a level as high as he can, on his own.

In Greek tragedies, those who were about to die looked up and refer to never seeing the sun again- and so it is something I included in the fic as well as a thought of Stiles, even though it wasn’t a very outstanding moment.

King Midas is known for his ability to turn anything he touched into gold, but surprisingly, even though the idea indeed came out of greed, it wasn’t given out of punishment- but a gift, as Dionysus granted him one wish out of honest gratitude for taking care of his drunk, stray son.

The idea of the divinity making Stiles immune to the Hydra's venom may look a little bullshitty, but because in the legend it takes a while for Heracles until he finds someone to help him put an end to his misery- I made it so Stiles survived with the cloak from early in the morning until midday.

An affair between males (known as “eromenoi”) in the Ancient Greek culture was really something that made one seem manlier (which is why Heracles had many lovers beside the two influencing women in his life). I made sure to keep it as an the historical fact it is, with nothing to do with the mythology, as, at least in the Olympus in this fic’s universe- the Olympians see no need for sexual/romantic orientation, as basically everyone is Pansexual lol (but I still consider Stiles as Bi, as the differences between the genders are apparent to him, even if not significantly).

General Recap

The actual quote from the Notting Hills film (which I personally love as well, and one of the main reasons is indeed Hugh Grant :P But I made Stiles love it too mainly to be able to use this idea lol) is: “Men go to bed with Gilda, but wake up with me”, which was said by the real-life actress Rita Hayworth, in regard to one of her popular characters which she portrayed.

Deïaneira’s story inspired the presentation Meg in the Disney film, and perhaps what was supposed to be both of their deaths- although, according to her name and the fact Hercules had no other woman before her, as much as we know- she is supposed to be similar in her story to his first love, Megara.

Just to make it a bit clearer, as I didn’t really have a way to explain it in the fic: just like my headcanon for the show, there’s no such a thing as a love magic, and the only spell similar enough is one which makes a person think obsessively over something else, be it another person or any other random subject. Another thing I wanted to clarify is that, while the Nemeton is inside the borders of Beacon Hills’ preserve- the tree itself is neutral, which means it doesn’t belong to Beacom Hills even while inside its territory, and that’s why Jeniffer could perform her sacrifice there.

While it was not easy for me to let Stiles live, in contrast on the legend (although it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for me to kill him T-T) and more similar than I would have preferred to the film, it was clear to me that Derek had to enter the fire and get injured, but instead of explaining the reasons that are easy to figure anyway, I’ll let you to just go to the ask box and curse me to death, because I definitely deserve that (for the entire chapter/fic too, actually).

The idea of “Mischief” is based on what the Sheriff told about Stiles in 6a, even though I haven't watched any scene from that season apart of this one, as far as I remember xD

Fun Facts

This chapter and the previous one were supposed to be one chapter (that’s why, for a while, it was tagged with having only 18 chapters), but in retrospective, with all the drama in that one- I’m glad that it was too long and I had to split it xD

So this is where I supposed to say that the new presented god in that chapter, Aphrodite, is based on a character from One Punch Man like the other gods- but she’s actually not, lol. Unlike the others, I didn’t want to make her look ridiculous, but I hope I’ve made a good job with her anyway xD

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

[sweetest--melody]

4,5,6,7,8,9,14,17,23,25,26,29,30-39,44,47,50,51,52,55,58,62,67,68,71,77,80,82,83,84,85,86,88,90,94,97,99,100. i did not read over the post to find out what questions those all are, i picked them at random.

aaaaaAAAAAAAAAA SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG i’ve been so dang busy these few weeks, december is hell where i work lol

4 do you like your name? why?

tbh I never really liked my name, but I’ve slowly stopped caring. there’s a lot of reasons, some that i wont talk about, but mostly because there are too many “frank”s in the world and i just hate how it sounds and it just feels wrong to say or hear and just think “yes that is my name”

5 what is your relationship status?

very, very single lmao, things didnt work out with that girl i was talking to

6 describe your personality in 3 words or less

bad at people

7 what color hair do you have?

brown!

8 what kind of car do you drive? color?

ive got a 2008 ford focus, with this grey-ish brown color

9 where do you shop? 

mostly online, but I get clothes from random places, mostly just some of the stores in this dying mall near where i live (sears n old navy n shit)

14 if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?

orlando, just the right amount of city with highways that aren’t complete ass garbage, even if the traffic could suck. i just wish it wasnt so humid / hot cause i dont like heat and man my hair is not happy there lol

17 how many times a week do you shower?

most every night, depends on when i work sometimes, sometimes i skip a day if i dont work the next day cause like i dont really end up smelling or feeling bad, and im not going anywhere.

23 describe your dream date

we get semi-nicely dressed up, go out and watch the sunset together, maybe with some food like a picnic or something! then we either go to a theater or home, but we hang out see a movie and cuddle the whole time

25 what color socks are you wearing?

i got these super soft and thick socks, they are so warm i love them. and they are a tan brown lol

26 how many pillows do you sleep with?

i have 4 on my bed, but i only use 2

29 whats the worst thing you have ever done?

i pretty badly hurt an old close friend of mine by dumping a bunch of negative emotion onto them and making them go through my nonsense while they were already hurting themselves, and even ignoring the fact that they were uh... pretty sick.

30 whats your favorite candle scent?

hmmm i havent used candles in a long while, i think the one that we always used was this cinnamon apple one

31 3 favorite boy names

james, jack, chris

32 3 favorite girl names

MELODY, Rose, Lily

33 favorite actor?

jack black will always have a special place in my heart, he’s not necessarily the best at acting but the energy and personality he brings can NEVER be ignored

34 favorite actress?

can i cheat a bit and use a voice actress? cause i just adore jennifer hale, she’s just got that kind of voice that you can always tell its hers and she does some really solid voicework.

35 who is your celebrity crush?

dave grohl, he’s such a fucking babe

36 favorite movie?

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD!! its SUCH a well-made stylistically brilliant film with REALLY good casting that sold the tone so fucking well, with really good music and the most brilliant editing I have ever seen.

37 do you read a lot? whats your favorite book?

i dont read much, no, but i loved when i read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, just so many profound themes working perfectly in tandem with one another.

38 money or brains?

as in which would i rather have or which would i prefer in a person? id go with money for myself so i can like be happy and content in most aspects of life and like be able to give more gifts to my friends and family and stuff, but brains in another person cause i am just REALLY bad with talking to people and making friends so having someone that can pick up on all my unusual cues and that would know how to keep me in a conversation would help a ton.

39 do you have a nickname? what is it?

some older friends call me “francis”, and people at work call me “PT” - ponytail, because i wear my hair back when i work.

44 what is your biggest fear?

the ruling going on today, if this anti-net neutrality stuff passes, then i could possibly lose contact with all of my friends and pretty much my entire support system, and my future that i am already afraid of is absolutely going to be worse with how much im going to have to pay to even get the basics that are provided to us now. all my online shopping? nope. online research? nah. my entire possible line of work?? good luck uploading anything to sites you cant access buddy.

47 what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)

i am fortunate enough to be in a pretty big house right now

50 what was the last text you sent?

“They said it’s gonna be a few minutes” - to my manager

51 how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

like 8 or 9, i knew cause i was awake and heard my dad walking out with the presents, i could hear the wrapping paper rustling and him cursing when he almost dropped something. he was really mad when i told him i knew for some reason lol

52 what is your dream car?

a tesla, such beautiful, energy efficient cars

55 what is your dream job?

i would love to be a journalist, one promoting completely impartial by-the-book news and investigations, being the change we all want to see in news media.

58 do you have freckles?

nope

62 do you still watch cartoons?

absolutely, three of my favorite pieces of media PERIOD are cartoons, BoJack Horseman, Samurai Jack, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. animation deserves to be respected, it is an art form unlike any other with such humongous possibilities for visual expression and storytelling.

67 what are your hobbies?

i love video games so much like jfc

68 can you draw?

sort of, ive never been really good at it and my hands are not very steady, and i cant do figures very well, but if theres something i need to convey that i cant through words i can draw it.

71 tea or coffee?

i like them both, but prefer coffee more often. should try more teas though, sometimes coffee makes me feel like trash lol

77 do you miss anyone right now?

of course, i miss my last group of friends dearly, they were all such wonderful people that were constantly enjoyable to be around, everyone except for one of them, we disagreed and clashed on a lot of things, and our personalities just did not mix well at all, so it caused a lot of problems and ended in me being ghosted out. and of course i miss someone else buuut not as much anymore, we’re solid friends now, i just cant help but miss some things.

80 what is your biggest pet peeve?

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO 60 MILES AN HOUR IN A 35 AT 5 PM WHERE YOU NEED TO WEAVE IN AND OUT OF LANES OVER AND OVER AGAIN JUST SLOW DOWN AND STOP PUTTING OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES AT RISK BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET SOMEWHERE THIRTY SECONDS EARLIER

82 favorite ice cream flavor?

cokie dough! i always get the ben n jerry’s half baked!

83 regular oreos or golden oreos?

i love them both, but i prefer the regular!

 84chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?

now that i dont have a preference for

85 what shirt are you wearing?

black t shirt like usual

86 what is your phone background?

88 do you like it when people play with your hair?

you have NO idea. OH AND I JUST SWITCHED HAIR PRODUCTS AND IT IS SO FUCKING SOFT RIGHT NOW NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME

90 do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?

both in the morning and at night

94 favorite lyrics right now

tbh the entirety of Sugar we’re Goin Down by Fall Out Boy, it’s been stuck in my head for a while mostly because its fun to sing but MAN there is some interesting writing going on here, positively loaded with metaphor and double-meanings.

97 dark, milk, or white chocolate?

milk! i never really liked the other two that much, though white chocolate has grown on me a bit

99 what is your zodiac sign

i’m a capricorn!

100 who was the last person you cried in front of?

oh jeez i havent cried in a while, especially not in front of someone... maybe i sister? i think i got drunk with her sometime last year, came out to her, and talked about our dead dad so there was definitely some tears there but was that the last time i cried in front of someone??

[nikihawkes]

My Blog Snapshot!

I tagged myself for this feature after enjoying it on the awesome Bookstooge‘s website (it was originally created by Stuart from Always Trust In Books).

I’m using this tag to express my blogging philosophies (and status quo), and found it very interesting to see how my style has evolved over the years. I wont be tagging anyone, but if you complete it, I’d love it if you’d leave me a link in the comments so I can come check it out. 🙂 You may want to reference the original, as I made a lot of changes.

The Last 5 books you read:

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Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

[June 27, 2017] Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan

Naamah’s Curse by Jacqueline Carey

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley

All excellent titles. 🙂

Spoilers or Spoiler free?

I really, really hate spoilers. Even a minor one can wreck my enjoyment of a book. As a bookseller for all those years, I can’t tell you how many books were ruined for me by inconsiderate customers (things as blatant as – “oh, you’ll love this book! Although I was a total wreck at the end when the dragon died…”). My aversion is so bad, I won’t even read overviews if I can help it. They always seem to include major plot points I’d rather discover on my own. So it goes without saying, I keep my reviews spoiler free.

How long have you been book blogging?

I started blogging in 2012 to give myself a platform for the novels I was writing. However, by 2013 book blogging became a passion in itself and has brought me a lot more joy than writing ever did.

Your favorite genre?

Anything under the Speculative Fiction umbrella:

A broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. -dictionary.com

Preferred book size? (novella, tome…etc).

It’s not the size that matters. ;P

Number of books on your TBR pile?

A million. Okay, not that many, but Goodreads tells me I have almost 1500 titles on my to-read shelf, and most are just first in series.

Books you have recently DNFed?

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Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Gilded by Christina Farley

I gave myself permission to be picky lately – best decision I ever made! Life’s too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

Recent awards or milestones?

Reaching my 4th year blogging was a big milestone for me. I noticed most of the bloggers I started out with petered out after about 2 years (I miss all of you). Sustaining my blog for 4 years and to still be having a ball with it feels noteworthy.

Best interaction with an author?

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Dan Wells

Patricia Briggs

Brandon Mull

Mindy McGinnis

Best: Easily my best author interaction was meeting Patricia Briggs. She was so nice – answering all of my questions and signing every hardback I brought along. She definitely made me feel like a valued fan. 🙂

Mindy McGinnis was another awesome experience. She’s such a funny gal, and I loved the answers she gave me for what lay beyond her “Not a Drop to Drink” duology.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes I met while working the Vegas Valley Book Festival a few years ago. I had fangirled to my DM about how much I loved “The Naturals” and she made a point to snag me when Barnes stopped by. I was so excited – I embarrassed myself a bit haha.

Brandon Mull is a Utah native, and it was a total delight to host him at the BN I used to work for. He did a fun Q&A beforehand and, despite having seen a couple hundred people before me, was every bit as enthusiastic about my comments as he was to the first in line. This was when I got the first hint of the now recently released “Dragonwatch.” Awesome!

I’d been wanting to meet Dan Wells for ages – having totally love his Partials Sequence. It was a delight to get to meet him and pick his brain a little bit about his writing process (I had done an e-interview with him before, but still had some questions). The only awkward this was that he was signing with a couple of family members (his wife and brother I think, but don’t quote me) who are also published authors. They made me feel a bit guilty about not being interested in their books at the time, as I’d traveled 4 hours just to see Dan Wells. Oh well, lol.

DJ Machale was also a delight to meet – we got lost on the way to the Vegas bookstore where he was signing, so I missed the Q&A, but we snuck in at the last moment and had a great one-on-one Q&A, so it worked out haha. He signed all of my Pendragon hardcovers and geeked out about that series in general. 🙂

Worst: Richelle Mead, and not because of anything she did. I was battling a huge headache, my row was near the last to meet her, even though I had been one of the first to arrive (poor moderating), and I was so nervous that I kept repeating myself. Overall, not a good impression lol.

For the record, I would still love to meet Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Anthony Ryan, Ray Carson, Glenda Larke, Scott Lynch, and Kim Harrison, just to name a few in a very long line of favorites. 🙂

Average number of books you read per month?

7. And no matter what I do, that number seldom changes.

Top three publishers?

TOR, Shadow Mountain, and Berkley!

They always have the best ARCs on Netgalley, but beyond that, they’re also the ones I’m considering sending my manuscripts to (I’m not even close yet).

Social media sites your blog uses?

I think my blog is linked to most social media sites, but I’m only active on Goodreads (are we friends on there yet? If not we should be – find me here).

Average amount of time you spend networking?

All f*cking day. Although I don’t look at it as “networking” so much as just spending time with my online reading friends. I was recently made a moderator for my favorite Goodreads group – Fantasy Buddy Reads – and I noticed my time spent on social media didn’t have to increase to accommodate it lol.

Sum up your blogging style in 5 words?

Recommending Brilliant Speculative Fiction Books.

Next time I’ll try for a Haiku.

18). A blog you looked up to starting out?

I had a few that dazzled me when I was just getting started, but I don’t follow them anymore. One I looked up to because she was a brilliant writer, had an amazing blogging concept, and had over 20,000 followers. She help me find my blogging “identity” as The Obsessive Bookseller because I appreciated how well branded her site was. However, due to infrequent posting and the fact that her and I did not enjoy the same type of books, I’ve since stopped following.

The other blog I’ll admit to unashamed blog-envy. She obviously spent a lot of time and money beyond what I was able to afford, and because of that her blog looks sooo professional. She also attended all of the big book conventions and was practically swimming in ARCs. I was jealous, lol. I eventually stopped following because her reviews always had a lot of negative undertones and I found her somewhat unfriendly.

The best book you have reviewed so far?

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The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb

Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Just a few of my favorites from the last few months. Some awesome titles!  

Best piece of blogging advice?

Don’t try to limit yourself by what bloggers “should” and “shouldn’t” do. This is your creative space to express yourself however you please. Blog when it’s fun too. Stop when it’s not. Above all: make your own rules! You’ll gain and lose followers no matter what you do, so you might as well produce content that gives you joy. If I had stuck to what I thought should/shouldn’t be posted on a book blog, I never would have created my Simplifies Life series, which is definitely one of my favorite features I’ve ever done and it’s only partially book-related. I also never would have started doing mini book reviews… as stupid as it sounds, I thought anything short of a full review was against the “rules.” 🙂

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my blogging snapshot. 🙂

by Niki Hawkes

Chronicles of an Obsessive Bookseller: My Blog Snapshot! My Blog Snapshot! I tagged myself for this feature after enjoying it on the awesome Bookstooge…