REVIEW, INTERVIEW, & GIVEAWAY Cruxim by Karin Cox

CRUXIM BY KARIN COX

Amedeo is Cruxim—a rare, winged supernatural creature who knows neither his purpose nor his past, save but to feed on the vampires that plague the earth. When his one weakness, the girl and novice nun Joslyn, is taken and turned by his enemies, Amedeo vows never to rest until vampires are expunged from his world, even if that means killing Joslyn. But can he?

On his quest, he meets Sabine: a guardian. Half-woman, half-lioness, she is a Sphinx who has been protecting humans from vampires since the dawn of time. But when she fails in her task of protecting a young boy, she is relentlessly pursued by her evil employer, Dr. Claus Gandler, a scientist collecting a sideshow of freaks, and both she and Amedeo are captured and cruelly paraded in Gandler's Circus of Curiosities.

When the stakes are eternity in a cage, what will Amedeo sacrifice to save one or both of the women he loves?

This gothic paranormal novel explores the beast within amid a setting of mythology and forbidden love. Cruxim's dark world and conflicted characters are the antithesis of the sparkly vampire genre.

HERE'S WHAT I THOUGHT

After reading the blurb for Cruxim, I knew that I would most likely enjoy this book. It's paranormal/mythical characters are something I enjoy reading about, and I'd never read about a Syphinx, never mind ever heard about a Cruxim. So, I knew it was going to be a new adventure for me when I began reading.

We experience Amedeo's story through his point of view, something that was fairly new to me as well! I've read a few books in which it was a males point of view, but they were contemporary romances novels. Nothing prepared me to read through the eyes of age old, vampire hunting angel, and I loved it. Ame is focused on his mission and is hard and unattached, unless it comes to Joslyn or Sabine, both women who love him deeply. He loves them as well, but in very different ways.

I really enjoyed that aspect of the story, a kind of love triangle between Joslyn, a girl turned vampire, and Sabine, a Sphinx he finds that eases his pain of the fate of Joslyn. It's interesting and complex and you can feel Ame's emotions throughout the story as he battles his inner self over his love for both of these creatures. But what fuels Amedeo most is revenge, and that always makes for one heck of a story.

Although Ame is a strong and lovable character, it's the ladies of this book that really capture my heart. My affection for Joslyn was out of control. She's so innocent and pure, even when she endures the pain and challenges that she's faced and her body may no longer be innocent, her mind and love for Ame stays with her. I'm a sucker for a romance like that.

The other smaller characters that you meet along the way will capture your heart, freaks and oddities as they are. Cruxim  is filled with passion, revenge, action, and love all mixed together to form this story that is unlike any I've ever read. The ending had me in near in tears, but now I have to find out what fate lies ahead for Amedeo in the next book!

I GAVE CRUXIM

FIVE CUPCAKES 

Q&A WITH KARIN COX

A big thank you to the wonderful Karin Cox! She answered my questions with grace as I picked her brain! Want to know about a previous soap opera addicted boss, what her favorite part to write was, and how she writes or dies! I loved getting to know a little more about this author and I hope you guys do, too.

I know you’ve written over twenty-eight books and not all in the same genre! What was the genre that inspired your first book? Which was your favorite to write?
My first book was creative non-fiction, and it was inspired by the life story of an incredible Australian woman called Roma Blair, who spent three years in a prisoner of war camp in Indonesia during the second world war and then went on to become a Yoga Swami. I have ghostwritten several life stories in the first person. Ghostwriting creative non-fiction or memoir is great exercise in novel writing, because you already have the plot and the characters (although it takes a lot of time talking to the person and going through photographs and letters to get a good sense of them). From there, my job was to write it true, to make it interesting using scene breaks and pacing, and to structure it for maximum emotional appeal. I no longer ghostwrite, because much as I enjoyed it, I’d just prefer to be doing my own thing, telling my own stories, and publishing them under my own name. Most of my books have been children’s fiction or non-fiction, but I also love writing about history. I enjoy writing just about anything, bar shopping lists. But fiction and poetry are my true passions.   

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from when writing? Do they just come to you or are they based on your own experiences or interests?
Mostly, they just come to me. Usually at 2 am in the morning when I’m trying to sleep—I am an insomniac. But I think every author weaves some of their own experiences or interests into their novels. Cruxim was such pure fantasy that it doesn’t have a great deal of the real “me” in there. I’ve never been a vampire, or in a freakshow (thank goodness), but I have been in a situation where I’ve felt like I was in love with two people before (and neither of them even knew it), so I can relate to the feelings Amedeo experiences. 

In Cruxim, we get to read from the point of view of Amedeo, a male immortal angel. How was it writing from a male’s point of view? Any different than from a females?
I don’t think males and females are all that different in terms of what we truly want out of life, but I do feel that, in relationships at least, men feel a real need to be a protector and I wanted to work in those strong feels of having to take care of the women in his life in the novel. That he is unable to protect them both, or even to really give either of them his entire heart, gives Amedeo a lot of guilt. Of course, Sabine almost resents his protection, because she is very strong herself, but his feelings towards Joslyn are largely paternal yet are confused by her beauty and his baser masculine instincts. It was hard for me to ensure that I made that realistic and that it didn’t come off too pervy. I hope that I managed to write a convincing male lead. Of course, him being a supernatural creature helps. He doesn’t have to be a typical man, in a sense. 

Anything that really sets the mood when you write? Do you need music? Or maybe just a quiet spot to hide away in? Any writing rituals?
I get very absorbed in my world, so I prefer to write late at night, from 9 pm to 2 am. I like the silence then, when my kid and my partner are asleep and my imagination can run away with itself. The biggest writing ritual I have at present is a program called Write or Die. I’ve spent so many years editing that it can be hard for me to let go and just hammer out a first draft. Very hard. And I am a terrible procrastinator, so if I have to fact-check, I’ll spend an hour googling a place or an object for historical reference, even if it only appears for one line in the novel! I set Write or Die to kamikaze, which means it will start eating my words if I linger for too long, and I force myself to do 1000 words in an hour. Then I later edit, research, fact-check and rewrite the heck out of it. It works for me. 

I always like to know about characters names and their origins. Where did Amedeo, Joslyn, and Sabine come from?
Funnily enough, Amedeo got his name from an ex of mine, a lovely Italian guy I met on my travels. However, the real Ame and my imaginary Ame have little in common, either in looks or personality (although the real Amedeo is also a great guy). He knows the character is named after him, too. I chose it because his name means “Lover of God” in Italian, and I wanted something with faint religious undertones and that was unusual but not hard to pronounce. Joslyn’s name was originally Josette, until I had a client send me a novel about vampires to edit and her lead was, coincidentally, Josette! Eventually, I came to like Joslyn better anyway.

And Sabine was always Sabine in my head, from the day I conceived the idea of writing a paranormal novel with a female Sphinx in it. The Sabines were a warlike Italian tribe, and in literature, the women were known to have thrown themselves between the warring armies of their tribe and the Romans, who abducted the Sabine women for wives, to end the conflict. I thought it was a fitting name for Sabine, who sometimes leaps in to save Amedeo’s butt. 

What was your favorite part of Cruxim to write? Which part was the hardest?
My favourite parts to write were the love scenes, or what I see to be love scenes: when Joslyn’s love for Amedeo first becomes clear, with the passion-fruit scene; Amedeo and Danette, and what happens to her; and the scene where he tries to save Sabine from the burning tent.

The hardest part was definitely writing the ending. I worried that some readers would be annoyed about what happened to some of the characters. But much more is explained in the sequel, which I am currently writing and which explains why things turned out that way. Basically, Amedeo finds out that maybe his upbringing isn’t as typical for a Cruxim as he thought it was.  

If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
Probably still an editor. I’ve worked as an editor for fifteen years, and I still love it; however, I really want to focus on writing my own books for a little while now.  

Since you’re your own boss now, tell us about the worst boss or job you’ve ever had.
Oh, goodness me—that’s classified information. I’ve had a few doozies. Working in the creative arts, you’re often working with people who are very passionate about what they do. That’s a great thing, but sometimes that goes hand in hand with mental illnesses or personality disorders, which can make things tricky. One hilarious boss I had, whom I loved to bits, was when I was backpacking around Europe. I worked for a lovely former beauty queen, who was sixty-odd by then and ran a restaurant on a Greek island. I worked there for several months and lived on her couch.

She had a huge appetite for wine (which often led to maudlin waterworks), for “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and being European for wandering about the house in the nude. But she was a real card. “Darleenk, come and watch the beautiful love story with me,” she would say when “The Bold and the Beautiful” came on, patting the couch (my bed!) next to her nude form. She was also always trying to set me up with rich Greek men, because she believed you had to marry money to be happy (and I certainly don’t believe that!). I think if I ever wrote about my time in Greece, people wouldn’t believe it was real. Truth is stranger than fiction! But she was a wonderfully generous and funny woman. 

Care to indulge us with three facts that your fans may not know about you?
I have two elbow creases on each arm, which sounds weirder than it looks (thankfully).

I can ride a horse like a maniac, when I get the chance, and I pretty much grew up on horseback.

I adore cats. They can be cruel and selfish and self-absorbed, but they’re so darn cute and funny and deeply self-conscious at times. I can’t help it.   

Do you have any nicknames? Share even the embarrassing ones
I have more nicknames than you can poke a stick at. Hardly anyone actually calls me Karin. Most people who know me well, including my family and friends, call me Kaz or Kazzy or Spazzy (because it rhymes with Kazzy!). My favourite nickname is one my dad called me as a kid: Grumbles. Because I grumbled a lot as a baby, apparently. My UK friends call me Skippy, for the obvious reason that I am Australian. My highschool friends no longer dare to call me Raggedy Anne (I was a gangly, scrawny rag-doll looking teenager). My partner calls me Kazmafarian, or another nickname that is endearing but too mortifying to ever be made public. 

If you had to pick one song to be played every time you walked into a room, what would it be and why?
Wow. Like a title fight song? That’s a hard one. “Kung Fu Fighting”—just for fun.

If I take a look inside your refrigerator what would I find?
At the moment: a big old mess! The power was off all day yesterday thanks to flooding in Australia, so it needs a good clean. Usually, you can count on finding cheese, lots of cheese. And wine. And there’s always milk and bread in there too, and broccoli (which is my toddler’s favourite food, weirdly).

And one last question. Any teasers, blurbs, or information about the next book in the series? I know I’m dying to know who that is at the end of the book!
Book II is tentatively titled Creche, and it reveals a lot about Amedeo that he doesn’t even know himself. Some of that helps to explain why things are as they are. There is also a lot more about Sphinxes and how they came to be, and, of course, Amedeo has to work through his feelings of guilt about what happens to his lady loves and find a way to fix things. Plus, there’s still plenty of vampires to fight. The lady at the end of the book will play a big role in Amedeo’s life, and was destined to.

CHECK CRUXIM OUT YOURSELF

You can find Cruxim on Amazon and Goodreads.
Check out Karin Cox on Facebook and her blog.

EXTRA, EXTRA! GIVEAWAY TIME!

Can we get an extra big hug over Karin's way? She's offered to giveaway FIVE Kindle copies(.mobi) away to my readers! Seriously, how awesome is that?! Make sure you send some love her way!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

I RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST OPINION.

REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW Embrace (Gryphon #2) by Stacey Rourke

EMBRACE BY STACEY ROURKE

Whether she likes it or not, eighteen year old Celeste Garrett has come to terms with being the Chosen One. She knew having a “normal life” would be tricky, between intense training sessions and epic demonic battles, but she didn’t know at what cost it would come. That is, until a dear friend is harmed by the malicious forces hunting her.

Now, she’d like nothing more than to retreat into a hermit lifestyle to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. But startling revelations, amazing new abilities, and mortifying moments in front of insanely hot guys won’t allow time for that. Soon, Celeste finds herself surrounded by darkness and wondering who she can trust—if anyone.

HERE'S WHAT I THOUGHT

After reading The Conduit, I knew I wanted to find out more in this series. Celeste, even though she's a kick booty girl with powers that will make you gasp, is still a magnet for trouble. Actually, not only that, she's a magnet for boys and relationships that will not end well! I actually feel pretty sorry for Celeste through the first book and halfway into Embrace. She just doesn't catch a break! 

I loved that this book was full of lots of actions and plot twists. I'm a sucker for these two things in a book and when the plot twists are ones that make me look like I just saw a ghost, you know that they're good ones! Celeste really shines throughout the book, though. Her confidence has remained and bloomed even more since we last saw her. She finally starts putting her foot down about making her own decisions and choices with regards to what she believes is the right path for her to take. Even at times when her choices seem questionable, I still find myself rooting her on! She has a good heart.

Then come a few handsome men into her life, especially one hunky Irishman named Caleb. Oh Caleb, how you make all our hearts go pitter patter with your raven black hair and accent. Oh, that's just me? And maybe Celeste, too, I guess. I am trying not to spoil anything but I'll say this....man that Caleb! You'll just have to read and find out why I'm saying that! 

As for the rest of the gang, they aren't left out at all! Lots of things happen to them in their ever changing world as well. I'll try not to give anything away except for some of my reactions to things I read. I said outloud - "REALLY?" "What! No way!" "Aww, how sweet!" And maybe a little of "FINALLY!" So, just get yourself a copy and read this, okay?

I GAVE EMBRACE

FOUR CUPCAKES 

EXTRA, EXTRA! INTERVIEW WITH STACEY ROURKE!

Not only did I get the pleasure to read her books, Stacey took some time to answer some questions for me as well! That's something I always appreciate and love digging into the mind of some of my favorite people. She lets us in on her writing rituals, her dream cast, what we can expect from Sacrifice, and her  love for crabs! The only thing I couldn't get her to give up was her nickname! And a big sorry to her admin, Jenn! Don't give Stacey too many lashings with a wet noodle for answering some silly questions! 

Let’s talk about inspiration. Was there any particular authors or books that inspired you when you first started out as an author? 

I have tons of favorite authors, all of which inspire me with their works. Yet every time I get asked that question I blank on all books I have read … ever. I will say that as of late I have been reading primarily indie books and they never cease to inspire me not only with their story telling but also with their drive and determination to get their voices heard.

What about experiences? Are any of them based on something that happened in your life or is everything just pulled straight from your imagination?

A lot of Celeste’s awkwardness she gets from me. Embarrassing herself in front of hot guys? Totally me. The original draft of Conduit had real life experiences of my extreme dating failures in it, but those were taken out. The fantasy elements come from my imagination, but I utilize personalities and stories from people I know to make the characters as real as possible. 

So, how did you end up writing in the fantasy/paranormal genre? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

Fantasy really is just fun. Who doesn’t dream of being able to fly? Or bench press a car? In fantasy we can break through the rules of reality and anything is possible. That is just too tempting to pass up!

What’s the most challenging part of writer? And what part makes it all worth it?

Right now the literary world is in a state of upheaval. We’re in the midst of the indie revolution. There are so many author’s struggling to get their name out there and their voices heard right now that it is insanely hard not to get lost in the crowd. But those moments when a fan contacts me to say they loved my book, or a teen that tells me they could relate to Celeste? Those are the moments that make it worthwhile. Those are the moments that drive me to push on. 

Are you a sit down and plan, let the characters run wild, or a little of both when it comes to writing?

Little bit of both. I plan and plot the story out, so I know where I’m going with it. Yet the story always manages to surprise me. When I’m in the moment with my characters the story usually ends up taking me places I hadn’t intended. And ya know what? Those are the moments that make the story real and the characters authentic.  

In the Gryphon series, which character do you relate to the most and why? Personally, I’m a Grams trapped in Celeste’s body! Wild and crazy but clumsy as heck!

Celeste, definitely. Her and I both speak fluent sarcasm. LOL

Any stories about how Celeste, Keni or Gabe got their names? (Or any other characters!)

For Celeste I wanted her name to have an origin to the ancestry where her calling began; in the hills of Ireland in the 1700s. Here’s a little known fact; in the prologue of The Conduit the Garrett’s ancestor is eluded to, but not named. Well in the original version she had a name; Celia. I modernized that for present time and that’s how I ended up with Celeste. Then there’s Kendall, our creature of love. She was named in loving memory of my Uncle Ken that passed away when I was eight years old. Gabe? No real story for him. He’s a strong, badass dude and I want him to have a strong, uber-manly name. Hence, Gabe. 

Anything that really sets the mood when you write? Do you need music? Or maybe just a quiet spot to hide away in? Any writing rituals?

I have to be comfy. Preferably on my bed with my laptop, a drink and fuzzy socks on the chilly days. I can not have the TV on because it’s way too distracting for me, but music is a must. I usually flip through my play list until I can find a song that sets the mood for the scene and –much to my husband’s annoyance—I play it on repeat until I get through that moment. 

Have you had the chance to travel anywhere since releasing The Gryphon Series? Any funny stories or interactions with fans that stick out in your brain that you’d love to share? I

 have got to travel a bit, with appearances in Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, and—of course—my home state of Michigan scheduled for this year! I have had a few incidents where people recognized my name and told me how much they or someone they know loves my books and that is insanely cool. But for the most part people don’t do the starstruck thing around me. They read my books, they interact with me through social media and they know I’m a big geek that they can feel free to be themselves around and I wouldn’t change that for the world! 

If the series were to go to the big screen (and I hope it does), do you have a dream cast cooked up already?

I do, and I’m attaching my dream cast graphic just for you!  

Since you’re your own boss now, tell us about the worst boss or job you’ve ever had.

I once worked for a photographer that was constantly trying to get me to pose in bikini pictures because according to him I “didn’t know how truly beautiful I was.” Yeah, nice try slick. I may not think I’m beautiful, but I do think I’m smart enough to keep clothed and away from creeps like him. I didn’t not stay with that job long. 

Care to indulge us with three facts that your fans may not know about you?

-I once won a talent show dancing to the song Hey Mickey. Even rocked a side ponytail

-I can touch my tongue to my nose

-My admin, Jenn, hates it when I say random stuff like this in interviews and she will give me hell for this. 

Do you have a nickname? Come on, share even the embarrassing ones!

-Hahahahahaaaa!!! No. Not gonna happen. LOL

What’s a story that your family will never let you live down?

My step-dad warned me repeatedly not to jump on the stairs. But seven year old me didn’t listen and went ahead and jumped from the top of the stairs down. Didn’t clear the staircase and bounced my head off every stair on the way down. Hence securing my future as some that has to learn things the hard way…

READY TO GET SILLY? OKAY, HERE WE GO!

If you were a t-shirt, what color would you be? Why? 

Purple. I have a purple tee and it’s my favorite.

If I take a look inside your refrigerator what would I find?  

Take-out leftovers and coffee creamer. I’m not so much with the cooking.

If you had to pick one song to be played every time you walked into a room, what would it be and why?  

Sexy B*tch! It is impossible not to strut to that song!

What’s your idea of an amazing meal? 

A bucket of crab from Joe’s Crab Shack!! YES!!!!

And one last question, have any juicy hints, details, or blurbs you can share with us about what we can see next from you? Maybe a little Celeste and Caleb action? (Since I’m assuming you won’t share who Bernard is!)

Sacrifice … the story goes to a deeper, darker place. The humor is still there, but I will be taking you on an emotional roller coaster ride. Things will heat up between Celeste and Caleb, but Rowan is also a big player in this book. There’s a wedding, a painful good-bye and Grams doing Jello shots. What more could you want?!

 

THANK YOU

Once again, big thank you to Stacey Rourke for giving us some juicy answers to my wondering mind!
You can check out Embrace on Amazon and Goodreads.
Check out Stacey Rourke on her blog, Facebook, and Goodreads.


 I RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST OPINION.

BLOG TOUR Bloggers Love Bloggers

Today we get a special treat! An interview with another blogger. This blog tour rocks! So I'd like to introduce Brooke of The Cover Contessa. Unforurtunetly, Blogger decided to delete her blog for spam(even though she's anything but spam!), so she's been blogging over at Contessa at the Crossroads! You can also check her out on Facebook! She interviewed me in the very beginning of January and now it's my turn to return the favor! A big thank you to Brooke! It was lovely meeting you. Check your her blog and show some love!


Can you tell us a little about yourself? 
Well, my name is Brooke. I’m 41 years old and I have three young boys who are 9, 6 and 3. I am a nurse. I have been married to my husband, Jeff, for 11 years. We met through Match.com! And, of course, I LOVE books, or else why would I be blogging about them, right?

What are three unique, quirky, or silly talents or habits that you may have? 
Hmmm…interesting question. The first thing I can think of is my shower routine, I have to do everything in the same order every time I take a shower, or else I feel all discombobulated. Second thing I can think of is that I turn the tab of my soda can slightly to the right after I open it, so I always know what can is mine! Finally, I can’t stop reading a book in the middle of a chapter. I must finish the chapter or I feel incomplete!

What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod(or you know, other musical device)? 
Funny, I really just listen to the radio, so it’s whatever comes on when I’m listening. Although, I tend to stay on the 80s music station on in my car. And if I had to choose something to listen to, it would ALWAYS be something by Duran Duran.

When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time? 
Free time, what the heck is that? I don’t have much of that, with my three rug rats running around, but when I do get some free time I spend it reading, of course!

What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up? 
The last book was Asunder (Newsoul #2) by Jodi Meadows. I had three times in the book where I got teary eyed, didn’t actually cry, tho. 

What’s your idea of an amazing meal?

 Anything Italian, really. I love love love eggplant parm or rolatini. A good Italian meal includes that, antipasti, bread and a glass of awesome red wine.

What story does your family always tell about you? 
My uncle tells the story of the first time he met me (he’s my aunt’s second husband). They pulled up in front of my building and all he saw was this little stick of a girl doing cartwheels down the street towards him. He says that his first impression of me was spot on: hyper, funny, fun, talkative and ALWAYS on the move!

NOW ONTO SOME FUN BLOG STUFF!

What book did you most recently read or are reading now? 
I just finished an ARC of Dualed (Dualed #1) by Elsie Chapman. Currently I am reading an ARC of Fire Country (Country #1) by David Estes.

What was the first book you read that you just knew you had to let the author know how much you loved it? 
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I was flabbergasted with this book. It just floored me. I immediately sent her a note telling her how amazing it was. Since them I have come across many authors that I’ve sent notes: Christine Fonseca, A.G. Howard, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Julie Reece. L.S. Murphy, Emi Gayle, and my list could go on and on!

What genre do you like to read the best? 
I love the YA genre, and I’ll pretty much read any sub-genre of that, although I stay away from the really creepy stuff (it’s gives me bad dreams). I tend to gravitate towards the paranormal and dystopian books, tho.

Were you always a reader or is it something that you didn’t enjoy until later in life?
 I was a big reader when I was younger, through my 20s and into my early 30s. As a matter of fact, my first degree is in English! Then I got married and had kids and it kind of dwindled away having to deal with raising children, activities, work, and keeping a house together. I started reading again about a year and a half ago and I haven’t stopped since! I love reading and would rather be doing that than any other activity.

Out of all the books you’ve read which character do you relate to or see yourself in? Why? 
This is a hard one because most of the books I read focus on teens, and I’m a 41 year old woman! LOL! What I can say is that the characters who are the strongest are the ones I can relate to the most. A few I can think of off the top of my head are Alex from the Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and Mac from Emi Gayle’s After Dark (The 19^th year #1). These two characters are really strong and independent and that is definitely who I am.

Any books that you thought you weren’t going to enjoy, but ended up really loving? 
Splintered by A.G. Howard. It sounded quite good, but I’m not usually a fan or such macabre works. It’s based on Alice in Wonderland, but it’s much darker. I ended up truly loving it and now I’m a huge fan of Howard. Also, Laurie Faria Stolarz’s Deadly Little Secrets series. I picked up the first book because she was going to be at an author signing I was going to and I thought I should read her book. I tore through it in less than a day.

How you first got involved in with blogging?
 I wanted to share my thoughts and love of books. It really is something that I just do for fun. I don’t make money doing it. I have met so many great people and authors on Goodreads my blog has just kind of blossomed. Plus, I have become friendly with a few editors and publicists and that has really made blogging special for me (I feel like I’m really a part of helping authors get their books out there to be read and loved).

What do you do when you aren’t working on your blog? 
I am a nurse at a nursing home not far from my house. I don’t do direct patient care, but I still get to interact with the residents and families. When I’m not working, I’m taking care of my three small children and my house. Any other time I’m usually blogging, reading or finding stuff on the internet that has to do with books!

Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?  
Kathy from I Am A Reader Not a Writer, because her blog is great. Jean Book Nerd because she has some of the most awesomest interviews and giveaways. The girls at WinterHavenBooks, because their blog is fun and spectacular. Kay Leigh from KBooks because she’s so helpful whenever I have questions and we’ve just become buddies. There are so many more I can list (and I’m actually compiling a list so I can thank everyone when my one year bloggaversary comes around).

Have you got to meet or interview anyone that has made you star struck?  
I got to meet so many authors this last year, I am not sure where to start! LOL! I met Jennifer L. Armentrout twice, and I am just awed by her and her ability to blast out books. I got to meet Tahereh Mafi last Spring and she is just so down to earth and funny. I just met Kate Brian over this last weekend and I’m amazed at how much she has written with having children and a life outside of writing! Cyn Balag and Jennier Murgia who organized a huge YA festival in Easton PA last year with over 30 authors. And pretty much every author I have met, which are so many to list here right now you’d be crossing your eyes! 

NOW FOR A FEW SILLY ONES! 
  
If you could have one superpower, what would it be? 
Invisibility. I don’t know why, to be honest. I just think it would be cool that no one could see me but I could see them. I love to people watch!

Craziest thing you've ever done? 
 Honestly, I don’t do crazy things. Probably skinny dipping in the ocean in Miami with my friend and her boyfriend.

What's the funniest prank you've ever pulled?
I’ll admit, I’m boring, I can’t think of a prank that has really been all that funny. I do remember calling my neighbors as a child to ask if their refrigerator was running. When they said yes I would shout “then you better go chase it!” and hang up!