I recently came across Maia's blog and I absolutely love it. Definitely one of my recent favourite blog! If you don't already, I really recommend that you follow Maia's blog and to follow her on Twitter...
Firstly, can you tell me something about yourself and your blog?
Well I'm Maia, I'm 24 years old and work in IT, and blog at http://maiamoorereads.
I have a secret double life as an actress that I don't tend to talk about in the blogging world (keeping them separate for some reason) but I've got to do some really cool things through that (my favourite being throwing a pint at someone, which was filmed in slow motion and looks AWESOME - small things please me greatly).
I also write my own stories and completed the first draft of my first novel last year, which was a big achievement for me. I hope to have people posting reviews of my books on their blogs in the not too distant future!
How did you begin being a book blogger? What is it about books that makes you excited to talk about books on your blog?
I started blogging at the beginning of the year, on a whim really. I had no idea about blogging or Twitter or the community I was getting into, but I'm so glad I did it. It such a friendly, supportive community to be a part of.
I've always loved reading - you couldn't find me without a book in my hand as a teenager - and I've always thought YA books were the best ones for me. I've read a few 'adult' books but I never seem to get into them or enjoy them as much.
What would you like to have known about book blogging before you got started that you didn't know beforehand?
Argh so much! Mostly technical things and really silly little things - like the font on my first few posts was really tiny, and I didn't think what that would be like for people tp read (silly, I know). And I wish I'd known how great it was so I could have started sooner. I would have loved to have something like this when I was a teenager (though I don't think blogs were around so much then *sobs at being old*)
When you're not reading or blogging, what do you do with yourself?
I work, and that involves 3 hours of travel a day as well, which is where I get most of my reading done. I love horror films and video games and writing my own stories too. And because these are all pretty sedentary activities I've started jogging this year, which is less awful than I thought it would be.
What type of things do you champion on your blog? What would you like your blog to be known for?
I don't really have a 'thing' like some of the others do - like contemporary, or UKYA. But I think one of the things I'd like to work on with my blog is some older books which I think need more recognition - the kind of things I read as a teenager and people would have raved about on blogs and Twitter if they'd been around then.
What has been the best experience of being a book blogger so far?
Probably the UKYA Extravanganza in Birmingham. Even though I was super shy and hardly spoke to anyone, it was a really great day. I loved being involved with the blog tour that led up to it and interviewing an author for the first time (the lovely Rachel Ward). It really showed me what an open and friendly community it is.
What is your biggest struggle as a book blogger?
I think getting obsessed with page views and followers and the like. As a newbie, it can be disheartening to see all the established people with thousands of followers and getting more views in a day than I've had in a lifetime. It can be frustrating, but I also have to remind myself it's not a numbers game. I really enjoy what I do and I just like being able to share my views and talk about books with people.
You can do it, what is your absolute favourite book?
Oof you're cruel!
But my go to answer for this is usually The Borrible Trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti. And it's not cheating to choose a trilogy because my copy is all in one big book! That's one of the slightly older books that I'd love to see people reading nowadays.
What books or authors or series would you like more people to be aware of?
Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn - they're the first ones I reviewed on my blog and I love them so much. Also The Echorium Sequence by Katherine Roberts and The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.
Have you discovered any books or authors through blogging that you might not have otherwise found?
Oh tons. Since going to uni about 5 years ago I stopped reading so much (bogged down by text books) so there's a massive amount of books I've missed out on, and I've been able to catch up by recommendations from other bloggers. I love the buzz that's around debut authors as well, I think it's so great that they often have bloggers on their side and buzzing about them before they've been published.
Name your top 5 UK book bloggers!
That's another cruel one...
Is it cheating if I put you on the list?! Too late cos I'm gonna...
Stacie at http://parkerandme.co.uk who does books and lifestyle
Katie at http://queenofteenfiction.
Michelle at http://talesofyesterday.co.
And http://www.
If you could meet your favourite author, who would it be?
I'd say Michael de Larrabeiti, seeing as I put his book as my favourite. Unfortunately he died a few years ago - I found out because Waterstones had a display of recently dead authors books and his was on there, it was mortifying!
What would you like to see more or less of in the books you read?
Less awful romances! I feel like there's a real trend towards love triangles and romance for the sake of romance at the moment, and it really doesn't interest me (unless it's extremely well done). I'm interested to see more kinds of relationships, sibling relationships in particular
And finally, who is your ultimate book crush?
I'm not really a book crush-er person, but I'd say Knocker from The Borrible Trilogy, as my first love.
Thank you so much for that, Maia!
Thank you so much for that, Maia!
Tell Maia and I what you think of her answers in comments! Agree or disagree?
No comments:
Post a Comment
HI! Thank you for leaving a comment, you've just become my new best friend :)