Book Blogger Love-a-thon! Check out my interview responses!

You can check out the full schedule for the 2014 Book Blogger Love-a-thon here!

Alexa Loves Books and Kate's Tales of Books and Bands have put together a really awesome weekend event for book bloggers!

It's a great way to learn about the bloggers you follow and discover more great blogs to follow for that next great read!

I'm going to have fun introducing myself to you today, and hope you enjoy reading my responses just as much!


(Maybe I can get Kat to do this, too, since she's still new to many of you!)
~*~

An interview with...
me, Bonnie @ A Backwards Story!

How did you come up with your blog name?


I had seen something similar on a long list back when I still had a LiveJournal account and they began recycling unused usernames. I liked the name, but it didn't fit with anything. Later on when I was putting together my book blog, I remembered the use of the word "backwards" and spun it in a new way to create my blog name.
If I hadn't done that, I'd probably have gone with The Book Dealer. My former manager used to always call me that, and I think it would a really fun, catchy blog name...with a great silhouetted header to match!

What genre or subject matter do you read and review most on your blog?

I read more fantasy than I do anything else. I especially love high fantasy (Such as Tamora Pierce, Kristin Cashore, Rae Carson, etc.) This past week, I was able to read one book of choice, and I was really missing my fantasy. So now I'm reading QUEEN OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen even though it doesn't come out until the summer. Just because!

I'm also a fan of fairy tale and mythological retellings. You probably already know this, since you just lived through A Week of Rapunzel with me! I'll have the wrap-up post tomorrow, as well as an official announcement about this year's Fairy Tale Fortnight! (And Monday is the LAST DAY for many of those Rapunzel giveaways, though the Marissa Meyer prize package is extended until March due to snow and delayed signings!)

Name the three books you're excited for in 2014!

Just three?? Erk! I would have to say RUIN AND RISING by Leigh Bardugo, the still-untitled Goldscryer book by Rae Carson, and THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS by Rick Riordan, and...can I do one more? Because I'm REALLY excited that the long-delayed ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins is finally coming out!
See? Totally a fantasy girl! ^.~
Where in the world are you blogging from?

Pennsylvania. I'm close to Philly, though I sadly know how to navigate NYC better than I do my own local city!

Tell us -- how did you get into blogging in the first place?

I had a lot of friends who would ask what I was reading and what I thought about said book. I got sick of restating my opinion and decided to blog.

The first year, I had less than ten followers and maybe 30 entries for the year. But it was just for me! My New Year's Resolution was to get serious about blogging...and look where I am now! I'm made so many fantastic friends, read some really great books, and really got into reading YA after "outgrowing" the genre for "adult novels!" I have found my heart through blogging!

Apart from reading, what other hobbies/interests do you have?

I love to write and would love to one day be published! My best ideas are, yep, fantasy, but I'm actually about to start writing something that's 100% YA Contemporary, which will be a challenge for me!
I also love graphic design and fussing around in Photoshop. I can't draw, but I'm able to manipulate images together to form something new!
I also love to travel. I lived in Japan for two years and was bit pretty hard by the traveling bug. I haven't traveled much since returning to the States, but I hope to change that soon! My favorite local place to travel to is New York City. I like going there for author signings and to see various Broadway shows! (I love my musicals!)

If you were stuck on a deserted island, which books would you bring with you?

I would bring my nook because it has ALL THE BOOKS. Then I don't have to choose just a couple! I have enough books stockpiled on that sucker to last me a good long time! 
(Er...hopefully there's power...or, oh, they make those solar-powered bamboo charger thingies now, and also the Eton ones that you wind and charge, so there is that...!)

If you were stuck in some dangerous situation (like a fire, a sinking ship, a war zone), which book boy or girl would you want to come and save you?
Oh, hard question! Definitely a survivor. I really love Katniss from The Hunger Games trilogy and Tris from the Divergent trilogy. Those girls are survivors!

Then again, there's something to be said about a hot guy saving you and then becoming your own love interest!
You're at a party with your friends. Suddenly, the DJ changes the song and it's YOUR song -- what song would that be?

This would never play at a party, but one of my all-time favorite songs is "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde. It can be taken 100% out of context and refer to anything in your life. It's a great motivational song for me! Another such song is "A Moment Like This" by Kelly Clarkson, preferably the live version where she wins the competition and can't get through the song because she's crying and the song is just so much more meaningful!

What three movies would you love to have your favorite author turn into a book, or vice versa?

When I was younger, I loved seeing movies turned into novels so I could read my favorite parts again and again.

Now, however, I'd rather see a book made into a movie. Sometimes, I don't even want to watch the movie because if it's a favorite, it's usually not adapted well. BUT at the same time, it gives exposure to my beloved books and brings in new fans. 

So I can't choose anything specific that I want to see because my brain doesn't work like that. I can't even envision movie casts for books.

How about, instead, movies I know I want to see this year that have come from books? Because I really want to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. I'm cautiously optimistic for Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars, even though I'm not a fan of the main actress. And I'm wary of how bloody Mockingjay, Part I will be because I'm really squeamish. We'll see...! (Actually, the movies I most want to see this year are musicals I adore making their way to film such as Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years, as well as brand-new musical Can A Song Save Your Life? from the producers of Once!)


I'm excited to see who else is participating and what answers you've chosen!

Leave me a link so I can visit you this weekend!

If you're not participating, still feel free to join in on the discussion below!

  ~*~

Comments

  1. Yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Divergent movie. Probably more realistic than optimistic because I expect it to vary a lot. I was so surprised by Catching Fire though, that perhaps we'll be rewarded again?

    And just because I fail at Blogspot comments and having them link to the right account, here's my blog to help you figure out who I am! :P Playing Jokers

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  2. I love you blog name! And I'm a huge fan of Kristin Cashore, and not so much a fan of the lead actress in Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars- I'm hoping she proves me wrong though!

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  3. It was so much fun to read your interview! I hadn't known you've lived in Japan before- I love Japanese culture and photos I've seen of the place so I'd love to hear more about your time there! And I am definitely a mythology and fairy tale retelling fan too, as you know, so it was fun to read about that! Yay for Fairy Tale Fortnight! A Week of Cress has been so much fun as well, by the way! It was wonderful to read a bit more about you, and I am always happy to chat about musicals, travel, and books!

    Violet

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  4. FANTASY FOREVER! You and I both share that as a mutual love, and I can't wait to go back to my roots and indulge in more fantasy reads this year. (I think February has become fantasy month for me unofficially).

    Anywhoo, I still think you're the coolest for having lived in Japan. I've visited before and it's an amazing place. I seriously want to go back again!

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  5. It was great reading your interview! I totally get what you mean about NYC! I live outside of Philly too, but know NYC so much better. I loved reading about how you got your blog name. The Book Dealer part was funny! I haven't read much fantasy, but it was one of the genres I started out reading. I really love Tamora Pierce's The Immortals quartet. It used to be my favorite series and still is high on my favorites list!
    I've also got the travel bite when I studied abroad! If you ever need a NYC travel buddy let me know! And if you ever want to talk travel, Broadway, or books I'd love to chat! :)

    -NicoleLynn

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  6. Such great answers! I am also a huge fan of fantasy, and I think we have basically the same top 3 books for 2014!!! I can't wait for those!

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  7. I do love the creative names you come up with for your blog name. I will be first in line getting your book since I know where you live.

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  8. This was a fun post to read. I really enjoying reading your blog especially all your fairy tale reviews. I read Breadcumbs mostly because of your review and it was great. A Week of Rapunzel was great.

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  9. I love your blog name! It's so creative & memorable! Have you ever read Cinda Williams Chima? She writes some amazing fantasy that you might enjoy!

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  10. Bonnie! This is my first time visiting your blog, but wow! I loved your interview! How cool is that that you lived in Japan?!? That sounds really awesome. I wish I could travel to New York as well. I'm stuck here in Oklahoma where there are hardly any musicals and even less author signings. *le sigh* I'm just now getting into reading fantasy, but I do plan on reading some Rae Carson soon. Her books sound awesome, and a lot of people really enjoy them! I'm also really excited about Ruin & Rising? Plus did you see that beautiful cover? It rocks! Anyways, I'm glad you participated in #LoveAThon so I could discover your blog :) Thanks for sharing!

    xo, Becca @Pivot Book Reviews

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  11. What an awesome post! I love how you said you outgrew the "adult books" and started reading YA! Haha these are all great answers :)

    -Kimi at Geeky Chiquitas

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  12. I agree about book being adapted into movies. Sometimes it turns our really bad and it makes me so sad. Game of Trons is one the rare examples of great adaptations.

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  13. I thought Catching Fire was fantastic and so I'm hoping Mockingjay, Part 1 (and Part 2, eventually) will be equally awesome! I'm a little dubious about them splitting it up into 2 parts (grrrrr everyone is doing that these days, to make more money...) but I think the events of the third book might actually lend themselves better to the screen than to the page. There's a lot of explosions and fighting and running and that sort of thing, and personally I don't find that particularly captivating in a book (I can't visualize it all that well) but I think I'd find it more so in movie form. We'll see...

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  14. I love "A Backwards Story", but The Book Dealer would have been a fun name too! One of my friends calls me that.

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