Armchair BEA 2012 - #1: Introduction

design credit to Nina Reads

One of my biggest dreams is to one day attend BEA; however, that didn't happen this year due to, well, life getting in the way.  Luckily for those of us who aren't in NYC, there's an amazing site called Armchair BEA, which lets bloggers who aren't AT BEA still participate via discussion posts, giveaways, and the like.  This year, I thought I'd participate! 

Each day there is a different topic for bloggers to talk about, and today's post is an introductory one - both for new bloggers we might meet, and for existing followers to learn a bit more about me!


1) Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you?  How long have you been blogging?  Why did you get into blogging?

Oh, this one is super fun and easy.  My name is Molli, and I am an unapologetic book worm.  I have been known to literally squee over new books when buying them. 

I've been blogging for a little over a year, and I have to say, I ADORE it.  I started my blog because, other than Goodreads, I didn't really have a place to share my nerd-ish love of good books.  I'm not lucky enough to have very many friends who read as avidly as I do; the majority of people I know tend NOT to read any more than they absolutely have to, which is a bummer and something I Just Don't Get.  But, their loss! 

Hence...the blog was born!  Suz at A Soul Unsung had just started hers and was loving blogging, and I had the feeling that if I joined, I would meet wonderful fellow book lovers...and I did!  I haven't ever looked back.

2) What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

Another easy one; my favorite book so far of 2012 is Leigh Bardugo's debut fantasy, SHADOW AND BONE.  It's absolutely everything I could ever want in a book: a well-developed mythos, a sweeping history, a heart-wrenching romance, a headstrong and self-aware, but sympathetic main female characters.  It's just perfection.  Don't believe me?  Read my review here. 

3) Tell us one non-book related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

Non-book related?  What's that all about?  Hmmm.  This IS book-ish, but well.  Outside of my blog, family, friends, and work, my biggest passion is my writing.  I've recently put away several characters from the past in a tear-filled move, but in order to focus on new characters, and breathe fresh life into my writing.  I write YA contemporary, just for fun for now, though one day I might want to be published!  If I'm not writing, I'm usually thinking about my characters, what to put them through, how they will triumph.  I live and breathe writing. 


4) What is your favorite feature on your blog?

Hmm.  That's tough, since I like everything I post here.  I would have to say either my reviews (in which I get to be as fangirlish as I want to be), or my original feature, If I Could Write a Letter to Me. 

5) Where do you see your blog in five years?

Hopefully still successful - and by that I mean, while I would love to continue gaining followers, I also want to continue to gain READERS, loyal fellow bloggers who come back to my blog to check out my new posts and such.  I would love to keep working with publishers, both ones I'm currently in touch with, and new ones, as well as continue to prove myself as an enthusiastic, intelligent blogger. 

6) Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?

HARD QUESTION.  Wow.  To date, probably my 2011 "year in review" post.  2012 is my first FULL year in the blogging community but in the 2011 wrap up post, I got to highlight my "best of" 2011 and that meant a lot to me. 

7) If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

V.C. Andrews.  I'd need a time machine since she's deceased, but she inspired me...to read, to write, to speak up, to have an opinion, and to never give up and I'd love to thank her for that. 


8) What literary location would you most like to visit?  Why?

Another hard question!  I think I'd love to see where Jane Austen lived and wrote.

9) What is your favorite part about the book blogging community?  Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?

My favorite part is the sense of family that there is to this community.  What I'd like to change is for there to be more places for brand-new book bloggers to gather, maybe a site that compiles features like Rachel's Book Blogging 101 and other types along with a forum where more experienced bloggers can reach out to the new ones, new bloggers can introduce themselves and ask questions and such. 

10) Have you reading tastes changed since you started blogging?  How?

I'm definitely reading much, much more YA than I ever did before.  I think it's fascinating how in some ways, the lines between "YA" and "adult" literature are blurring!  But I still have my other loves, like paranormal romance, and sci-fi/fantasy!