Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Chat Details & Reader Interview: Karen

Okay, so I've finally got myself organized re the chat. Here are the details -if there are any changes, they'll be on the blog, so swing by here if you want to double check.

Wednesday 20th
8pm Eastern*

The Knight Agency Chat Room
*
(that's 5pm Pacific and for any Kiwis, it's Thursday 2pm)

To get into the chat, just go to this link (http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=115545), enter a User Name of your choice and hit Login. Easy!

At the moment, I'll say the chat will go for an hour, but if you all have lots of questions, we'll extend it. :-) Just a reminder - this chat is for discussion of Mine to Possess & previous books in the series, so spoilers will be allowed. If you haven't read MtP yet, don't worry - I'll open the spoiler thread on the blog after the chat finishes and you can exchange comments with other readers there too.

Now, it's onto the reader interview! Today's interviewee is Karen (whose TBR pile sounds like mine!).

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm an overworked college student who is currently working 25 hours, taking 13 credit hours, trying to transfer out of community college into a four year school AND trying to have a social life (sort of? My poor boyfriend…sometimes I just want to read, and he wants me to spend time with him!)

Oh yes, and of course I need to find time to read. How else am I going to blow off steam from all of this stress? On top of that my muse tends to be evil and keep me until the wee hours of the morning writing. It feels like writing is sometimes more necessary than breathing for me. Although my body tends to remind me that breathing is a habit it likes.

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

*blushes* I AM a hoarder. However I am a sharing hoarder. When I read something I absolutely love, and just can't keep to myself I'll LOAN it to one of my bibliophile friends. Then we can talk about how awesome the book was, and if it's a series what the author is going to do next. My collection is somewhere between 300-500 books, but considering that space is limited right now it's about right. Oh man! I feel sorry for the poor man who ends up with me. I think he might be driven out by all the books…because I'm sure that when space isn't a problem anymore the books will be coming up like weeds then…(loveable dandelion weeds)

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

This is a hard one. I love some many authors! I think I'd be tempted to stalk Richelle Mead because her writing is so awesome. (And she's a redhead who reminds me of one of my dear friends) Or maybe J.K. Rowling would be my stalked of choice. I'd like to debate the Harry Potter books. (I still disagree about Dumbledore being gay. It seems too patchy and thrown together. Why didn't he tell us himself?) And quite possible you…although New Zealand is very far away from Chicago… But that's why they invented planes, right?

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

Incredibly. *grins* I love chocolate at least as much as I love writing, and books, and maybe less than breathing (stupid pesky breathing.) I dunno what would win if I had to choose between good yummy chocolate and breathing. (Probably breathing, otherwise how would I enjoy the chocolate?) The best combination is probably good
chocolate+ good book+ comfy chair=happy me.

5. Favorite book? Why?

Aww damn, do I have to choose? It's so hard because I'll read a book I love, and then I'll read another book I love just as much or more. I think of the books that I keep coming back to it's a tie between Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky, the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop, and The Merlin Series by Mary Stewart. Oh yes, and Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. It's only a four way tie. I love all of these books because of how well they're written, because I can identify with the characters, and because the authors just rock my world.

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?


i. My boyfriend (or if I'm not currently in a relationship a sex slave) in order to you know have fun with…and that way he can do all the manual labor

ii. A book that will give you any story you want anytime. (Or an e-book reader, but I like paper books better...there's something about the way the pages feel in your hands versus looking at a screen... ) So if I want Black Jewels one day I have it, but if I want Slave to Sensation the next I have that too (Or if this has to be real…then a book, just don't ask me which one because I don't know.)

iii. Chocolate

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

I ate a slice of tombstone garlic pizza. It was yummy. (I'm weird and dislike breakfast foods, except for pancakes and waffles for like dinner.)

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

Uhm, *looks side to side* would it seem bad if I told you I kind of lost count? The pile seems to be growing exponentially. I can't stop my fingers when they're at Amazon.com, and therefore I buy books much faster than I can read them.

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

Someone who is happy with themselves and comfortable in their own skin is my idea of a perfect hero. That someone would also be able to love me (or the heroine) for who I am (or she is).

Extra Reader Submitted Questions

* Which character in a book do you relate most with?

I relate to Jaenelle in the Black Jewels trilogy. She went through hell with the abuse that happened to her, but she came back stronger for it. I really identify with heroines who have overcome abuse (of any kind) and are still willing to kick the bad guy's butt. I really believe strong women are whom I identify with most.

* Where do you live?

Chi-town, baby (otherwise known as Chicago)

* So what would people think was a perfect heroine?

Strong woman is the perfect heroine. I don't like wilting flowers that can't do anything for themselves. (Don't get me wrong I think the Changeling idea of the Mating Bond is kick-ass, but Sasha, Faith, and Brenna all had a fighting spirit to begin with…) I like women who can fight for what's right, who can defeat their demons and ultimately the "bad guy".

6 comments :

Shaymless Aymless said...

I am really looking forward to the chat.

*still doing conga* Congrats on the New York Times extended bestseller list and USA Today bestseller list!!!

Karen: I so agree with the sex/manual labor "slave". I gave mine the title of "cabana boy" ;-)

bel_78 said...

Hi :)

N: I think that I´ll miss the chat, I don´t want to read spoilers until I get my book. But if you put a link to the questions and answer I´d love to read it afterwards, to have a better idea regarding the future of the series, and well, just to find out if anybody have the same ideas I do about them :)

K: I agree with you regarding strong women, taking into account that "strong" means many things (Faith, Sasha and Brenna are all "strong" in different ways). That´s one of the many reasons why I like N´s books so much, and the main reason why I don´t buy Feehan´s book anymore even though I like the concept behind her Dark series. From my point of view, F´s characters have become victims that continue to be victims, and end up liking it :(

Anonymous said...

Like ms. aymless, I am really looking foward to the chat. Have been waiting for the chat since I got the book, it's slow agony. >_<

Will miss you in the chat ms. bel, but you're coming to the spoiler link, right?

Ms. Karen (and ms. bel)-I also agree on the strong female characters. As nice as it is to have some strong hot man to protect those they care for, I think it's important for the women to be able to kick some major butt in their own right. Inner strength and backbone.
The need for chocolate like air is something I completely agree with. ^_~
And as much as I love trees, I also love books in their paper form. Something about the touch, the scent, the feel of books that kindle and ebooks really just cannot capture.

bel_78 said...

Hi, Alice :)

Yes, I´ll go to the spoiler thread, once I get hold of the book (I´ll read it in less than a day, even if I don´t sleep at night). I love living in Buenos Aires, but one of the few drawbacks is that books from US take forever to arrive here :)

Unknown said...

**squee** I'm sucha dork, it was cool to see my interview up on Nalini's blog. And Ms. Bel I agree with you Nalini's heroines are all strong in different ways. However, none of them are withering flowers. I like how they are a good combination of kick butt and yet they still have the ability to let their man be protective when they need it. And Ms. Alice- nothing can replace the feeling of paper between your fingers. Not to mention that for me staring at a screen for too long gives me a headache.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Bel- I read MTP in 3 hrs with very little break in between. Oh, you're so far~~~ >_< the book should be there soon though...soon I say. As for Ms. Feehan's books, I met her a while back and as much as I love the lady (she's really awesome), I agree with the female victimization part. I do love her books, but even in Dark Magic...eh...she explained, reasoned, and justified it enough, but still, I was never too comfortable with what happened. We can definitely do some comparison and analysis in the spoiler thread. I'd wiggle my eyebrows, but the computer screen isn't letting me. ~_~

Ms. Karen: Staring at the computer screen too long makes my eyes hurt and blur. >_< Books, we can curl up in bed, on the couch, stick in the bag and read whenever. *happy sigh*
It slipped my mind, but the Dumbledore thing, I kinda agree. The gay parts fine, but if Ms. Rowling was willing to announce it with a bunch of school children, she should have written it into the series. Unless the publishers didn't let her... Still, I would have been more proud of a gay Dumbledore if he had said it himself. Or, some other character clearly exhibited their sexuality. Instead, it's all hetero-paired...all the way...

I do love chatting with the people here, you're all so nice.