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| Lucky sits among my convention stash. Will he be lucky on Friday the 13th? |
We are counting down the days 'til my children and I fly to LA for the RWA National Conference. You may be wondering why my children are coming ... I'll address that issue on Sunday. Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing Elf from the READING ADDICT (at this link). Elf is truly an avid reader/reviewer of many genres. I invited her to join us for a cozy chat today ...
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| Ivy is a future Reading Addict! |
Kim: You are truly a reading addict! How do you define an A/five star book?
Elf: A five star book for me is one that I race to finish to the exclusion of all other books and then promptly go back and either revisit favorite scenes throughout the book or start rereading it almost immediately. Usually I am reading two or three books at a time (in different genres so that I don't confuse the storylines) and one that will make me ignore the others is fairly rare. A five star book enraptures me every time I pick it up so that I get lost in it for minutes to hours just savoring some of my favorite scenes. I very rarely purchase hardback books but will definitely purchase titles that I consider five stars.
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| A pirate at the RT Book Fair! |
Kim: What have you learned about the Romance World since you have started your blog, THE READING ADDICT?
Elf: I have learned that authors are incredibly hard working and have been surprised to discover that seeing your work published does not necessarily mean that you can make a living by writing. Authors have the same everyday challenges that most of us have including dealing with family, nature (heat, drought, rains, snow, etc.) and job obligations. I have also been really pleasantly surprised to discover that many authors really enjoy interacting with their fans since, as you know, I am usually a bit shy about pushing forward and talking to perfect strangers...no matter how much I adore their writing. There is a beautifully warm network that most successful authors participate in to support and encourage each other. I have a friend who was an aspiring author but was stifled by her critique group's negativity and I have been very pleasantly surprised to discover that this is not the norm. There is naturally some competition but most of the time authors seem to share resources and act as each other's sounding boards and cheering sections. I have also learned that we truly have made the entire world into a 'village' with the internet since I have been able to interact with people all over the world in countries that I will never have the opportunity to visit. There is also a fantastic network of bloggers who bring their enthusiasm and varied perspectives to add to the mix.
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| World Book Night on Bellows Beach |
Kim: I am looking forward to seeing you at the RWA Literacy Signing. Who are you looking forward to seeing?
Elf: I am so happy that you and I are going to be able to renew our acquaintance and that I will have the opportunity to meet two of the three men in your life! I am also really thrilled to discover that Stephanie Laurens is going to be the keynote speaker because she is my very favorite Regency Romance author. I have high hopes that I will get a chance to meet her at the Literacy signing affair. I also hope to meet some of my other faves...Suzanne Brockmann, Lauren Dane, Sylvia Day, Beth Kery, Julia Quinn, Brenda Novak, Jayne Anne Krentz (whose works I have been reading since she wrote for series romances!), and I'd really love to meet Nora Roberts but I figure she'll be so swamped that I'll never get close! The other highlight will be to renew my acquaintance with Susan Gibberman who was the RWA librarian of the year a few years ago.
Thanks so much for having me visit, see you soon!
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| Library on board the USS Missouri |
Mahalo, Elf, for joining us at SOS Aloha! In honor of Elf's wide range of reading interests, I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about what you have learned about the Romance World in the past year.
I've learned that there is a wide variety of blogs to cater to different readers.
2. This giveaway is open to all readers.
3. Comments are open through Saturday, July 14, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 15.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
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| Reading on Barking Sands |
Great blog!! I have learned that it is better to mix my reading rather than to stay with just the historical romances. I also enjoy contemporary, SciFi, and paranormal romance.
ReplyDeletePeople love bsdm lol
ReplyDeleteGreat prize thanks
Kimh
I've been learning a lot about how authors respond differently to negative reviews.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me visit Kim! See you soon.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that I will NEVER run out of books to read. Great authors, writing great books.
ReplyDeleteHave a good time!!!! I've learned never judge a person by the books they read!!!
ReplyDeleteKim - Have a wonderful time and safe travels!!! Great interview ... and I have to agree that (especially) indie authors are a hard-working and generous group of people! xx, Lauren
ReplyDeleteI've learned that reading will cause lack of sleeping, but still loving and doing it again. ;>
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday the 13th, be wary! =)
ReplyDeleteThe Romance genre is vast, so many authors with their own versions of events and imaginations. I love the variety. I am never bored! Historical to urban fantasy to Steampunk and even some melded inbetween!
Are your kids excited to go??
I have learned that I never have to fear that I won't find any good books to read in the romance world, cause new authors are always popping up. Also, I learned that some of my favorite authors can still susprise me and give me a craving for more of their books.
ReplyDelete~Heather F.
book_lover6983@yahoo.com
I have learned that there is something for everyone. Not to mention, the authors are so amazingly nice and willing to participate in contests and communicate with the fans. There is a vast community that is very accepting of everyone.
ReplyDeleteMel
I've learned that they are loads more romance book lovers than I originally thought. I actually thought that I was only one of a few that loved these books. I also learned of your blog, so that made me happy.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful and happy time in LA with your boys.
I've learned that there are way more romance books and writers than I ever dreamed ... thank goodness, I've been lucky enough to find some wonderful blogs on romance authors from around the world..
ReplyDeleteI've learned about how independent publishing is expanding choices and opportunities for romance readers and writers.
ReplyDeleteDuring the last year I became more active on Facebook and met great new authors and discovered new books.
ReplyDeleteAloha Kim!
ReplyDeleteI hope you and the boys have a great time at RWA National Conference in LA! How I miss the days that my 2 sons were their age! Fortunately I now have grandsons to fill my life with Dr, Suess books again!
Since our only local bookstore closed in December in 2011 I have learned to depend on some wonderful blogs including your 3 blogs to learn what going on in the "Romance World" more than ever before! Without you and your fellow bloggers I never would have "met" some of my favorite "new" authors or known about the releases of my "old" favorites!
It's only by the grace and kindness of bloggers like you that I've been able to get some wonderful "real" books but also great reads for my Kindle. I miss the pleasure of having a "real" book at times so I can turn the corners of my favorite scenes and chapters but I've also learned to love the opportunity to "pre-order" on my Kindle so a great author's new release is there waiting for me on release day.
Most of all I've "met" some wonderful people like you that I now consider a friend even if we've only met on the internet. My only regret is that you didn't end up moving to the East Coast so that I could have the opportunity to meet you.
During the last year, I have really delved into following blogs and tried out so many indie authors and found so many great authors and bloggers to follow.
ReplyDeleteOh, Lucky is a cutie. I didn't realize it was Friday the 13th but wishing lots of luck to everyone out there.
ReplyDeleteI am seeing how much love their is in the romance world and that many bloggers are open to introducing readers to as many new ones as possible, indies included. I also see many authors publishing both traditionally and self and it's interesting to see what works for them. I'm just happy to find so many new authors. I think this past year I've finally gotten the chance to try new authors and also those I'm been meaning to forever. Often I have bloggers to thank for this for bringing the books to my attention.
Oh, I think I learn something every single day. One of the best things is the "meeting" of so many wonderful and generous people - readers, authors, and bloggers.
ReplyDeleteI keep finding new-to-me authors through social media and blogs. I've also found the names of some of the hot cover models!
ReplyDeleteI've learned that there is such a wide range of romance - there's something for everyone's taste. I've branched out to steampunk romance, as well as science fiction romance and I've been reading more contemporary romance than I ever did before. I've come across some great debut authors this last year, I'm so glad to see new faces releasing wonderful stories.
ReplyDeleteI know you asked a specific question...but I have to comment on the World Book Night photo. I also was a WBN Giver of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I also did a couple of book discussion with the class to which I distributed them. It was great fun. I also love the Library picture on the USS Missouri. The shelves look a little sparse! I hope it's because a lot of the books are checked out or because they've moved to more ebooks. As a librarian, I like to see lots of books on the shelves so readers have lots of choices.
ReplyDeleteAh... you lucky ladies have fun!!! This is on my bucket list to go to RWA!
ReplyDeleteI've also learned that there are so many fabulous and fun reading blogs! I'm pretty much an isolated reader as no one in my family or friends read as voraciously or intensely as I do. So I was so happy to stumble onto these blogs and find a community of readers as passionate and dedicated as me :)
That it contains some of the nicest people who are always willing to talk to others about the things both love - romance books!
ReplyDeleteI've learned that no matter what your taste is, there are many romance novels for you to read.
ReplyDeleteI've learned about the generosity and friendliness within the romance community, including the bloggers.
ReplyDeletei learn that i will never stop reading romance book and believe that there is one day romance novel will be happen in real life :D
ReplyDeleteLucky is beautful! And he is indeed lucky to be sitting in so many books. I wish I was sitting in that stash. lol!
ReplyDeleteI've learned that some romance authors are not very nice. And I've learned that some blogs are nothing but popularity contests. Not yours though, Kim. I had a great Friday the 13th. It is always a good day for me. Aloha!
ELF and Kim, that was a great blog post. You both have fun and we'll be waiting to hear all about it.
ReplyDeleteI think I learn something new all the time, but this year I think I learned that even in the romance book world there are fads that come and go...the one that seems to be big right now that I hope goes away soon is the book covers with headless bodies. lol
Wonderful interview. I agree with Elf, most authors are very friendly and enjoy interacting with their fans, at least from what I have seen. The whole Romance community seems to be accepting, responsive and awesome in my opinion! Have fun at RWA, ladies. :)
ReplyDeleteI have learned that there are a lot of great books I would never have known about if I didn't visit the blogs that I do.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot in the romance world in the past year when interacting with different people through book blogs and the social media. It's been great discovering new to me authors and delving into the different sub-genres of romance :)
ReplyDeleteI learned that there are a lot of new genres and authors.
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