Book Tagged Again!!

This is a fun new way to meet

and get to know other bloggers!

This time, I've been tagged by Amy at

Amy's Book Den!!!

(She tagged me back!)

How this works:

1.  You must post the rules.

2.  Answer the questions the tagger set

for you in their post and then

 create ten new questions to

ask the people that you have tagged.

3.  Tag ten people and link to them

on your post.

4.   Let them know you’ve tagged them!

These are the blogs I'm tagging!

Jamie @ A Book Club of One

Kristyn @ A Turn of Page

Aleksandra @ Aleksandra's Corner

Amy @ Amy Jones Young Adult Fantasy

Annie @ Annie in Wonderland

J-9 @ Blood Rose Books

Yay @ Book That Thing!

Shawna LeAn @ Dreaming In the Pages

Aparajita @ Le' Grande Codex

Grace @ Livre D'Amour

These are Amy's questions:

1.  Why did you decide to become a book blogger?

As I explained in my previous book tag post, a coworker introduced me to the idea.   She said that, since I loved books so much, I should be blogging about them!  I had never thought about doing this before, but as soon as she mentioned it, I started getting excited about it.  So I plunged right in, and here I am!  I published my very first post on September 22, 2010.

2.  How did you come up with the name for your blog?

Since I'm an obsessed Twilight Saga fan, I originally decided to name my blog "Twilight and Other Dreams".  However, after a while, I began to wonder if potential visitors were being turned off by the title, thinking that my blog was just another Twilight fan site.  Therefore, I felt I had to change the name.  I wanted to keep the word "dream" in it, too, because dreams are tied to the imagination, and I consider every fiction novel that has a fantasy element a waking dream spun by the author. 

Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" came to mind.  I had already based the title of one of my fan fiction stories on it -- "A Night's Dream of Music".  (This is a Phantom of the Opera story.)  I really liked this title, so I simply substituted "Books" for "Music", and I had my new blog name!  I've finally come up with a header that reflects that name, too, which I'm very happy about!

3.  How much time do you spend working on your blog every day? 

Well, this is the tough part... I have two jobs, and they do take up a lot of my time.  I need them both, though, in order to make a decent living.  My day job schedule is from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.  My night job schedule is from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, Monday to Thursday.  So I basically do my blogging on weekends, starting on Friday nights.  I might do a bit of blogging during the week, but whenever I do, I usually go to bed at about 1:00 AM (especially when I publish my "Waiting On Wednesday" post).  This is not good, since I have to wake up at 7:00 AM the next day... 

Bottom line?  I try to do some blogging on week nights, but I pay for it the next day.  Therefore, it's the weekends for me!

Another thing about blogging, for me,  is that I'm a perfectionist, so I edit and re-edit a post until I feel it's perfect.  Naturally, this does take a lot of time, as well.

4.  Quick!  Favorite book that comes to mind!

My two all-time faves: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, and Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. (I'm referring to the first book in The Twilight Saga.)

5.  What book's release are you most excited about this year?

Again, two books come to mind: Winter's Light, by M.J. Hearle, and Until I Die, by Amy Plum.

6.  If you could get two fictional characters to meet (from different stories), who would they be, and what would they do? 

I think I would choose Jane Eyre, from the book by the same name, and Catherine Earnshaw, from Wuthering Heights.   I would have Jane explain to Catherine that one must never, ever, forsake love in favor of money and social position.  Jane initially left Edward Rochester, yes, but she did so for moral reasons, and she did this in spite of his wealth and social position.  Catherine, in contrast, did not follow her heart.  She loved Heathcliff, but he had no money or standing in society.  She chose Linton instead, and thus set off a series of tragic, evil events that make the novel a horrible account of the cruelty of the man she spurned. 

Jane could have passionately told Catherine that she was wrong, that she should have initially chosen Heathcliff.  This would have resulted in an entirely different book, of course...

7.  What book do you wish they made into a movie or TV series?

Oh, now I'm thinking of three: Winter's Shadow, by M.J. Hearle, Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer, and Die For Me, by Amy Plum.  I would love for them all to be made into movies, though, not TV series.

8.  What is the longest book series you've read, and how many books did it have?

That would be The Harry Potter series, which contains 7 books.

9.  What's your favorite genre, and why?

Well, I do have several, but I guess my very favorite is paranormal romance.  The romantic heroes in these novels are always alluring, mysterious, and utterly devoted to the female leads!  They absolutely fascinate me! 

I'm also fascinated by anything fantastical, otherworldly, out of the ordinary.  Aside from paranormal romance, traditional fantasy and urban fantasy are also my favorite genres.  Of course, paranormal romance and urban fantasy frequently overlap.

10. If you could meet a favorite author, who would it be and why?

This is a really hard question for me!  I can't point to only one favorite author, since I have quite a few!  I'll mention J.R.R. Tolkien, Charlotte Bronte, Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Charles Dickens, Hermann Hesse, and Charles De Lint.  (And that's just for starters!) I've just bought a novel by Philippa Gregory, and she's soon to join my faves, for sure!

The reason I'd want to meet any of these authors is that their work has fascinated me to the point that I have become completely absorbed in the fictional worlds they have created!  Whenever I have left off reading one of their novels  in order to attend to more mundane matters (unfortunately), the plot and characters have followed me around all day!  In each case, I just couldn't wait to get back to the book!   

If I were to meet with any of these authors, I'd ask them a zillion questions, and I would want to follow them around for a few days (which I know they probably wouldn't like, but still...), so I could immerse myself in their creative process. 

Here are my questions! 

1.) What's your favorite book meme and/or blog hop?  You can name more than one.

2.) Would you ever like to reach more than 1,000 followers? Why or why not?

3.) When you first started blogging, did you simply follow the steps at Blogger (or some other platform), read a book/books about blogging, or visit blog instruction websites?  Did you do all three?  Please name any books or sites you've used.

4.) Have you ever read a book that you felt should never make it to the movie screen?  Name the book, and why you feel this way.  If you haven't read such a book, then give the title of a book whose synopsis you've read on Goodreads or Amazon.  If you can't come up with any book, just skip this question.

5.) Do you enjoy participating in blog tours?  Why or why not?

6.) If you like romance novels, do you prefer realistic human men, or paranormal/fantasy ones?  Please explain your choice.  If you don't like romance novels, feel free to skip this question.

7.) Some readers think that the romance genre is "trashy reading".  Do you agree? Why or why not?

8.) Have you ever read a book that you think you could have written much better?  Which book is it?  Name one thing you would change about this book -- whether it's the overall plot, the ending, a character's personality, or anything else you can think of.

9.) What would cause you to stop reading a book in disgust?

10.) What personality traits make it easy for you to like a specific character in a novel?