Blogger Spotlight! – INTERVIEW

Hey Guys!
So I am a terrible host, truly I am. I almost forgot to post this and I think Melissa would be giving me the death glare. Eeek! But, because you’ve all been patient and waited an entire month, you’ll be glad to know this interview is well worth the wait.
I introduce you all to… MELISSA!

Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m 26, I love reading, writing creatively, and now, blogging. I’m slightly in love (some might say obsessed) with the color purple. I love learning in any form. I have my BA in Sociology as well as an AA in Psychology. Someday, I’d like to get a Masters in either Psychology or Library Sciences. Personality wise, I’m a pretty laid back person, I try to get along with everyone, and I like to help people in any way that I can. I’m also a major night owl, although that has changed slightly in recent months. I just seem to get a lot more done at night.

Do you enjoy running your blog?
Yes! I enjoy running my blog very much! This isn’t my first blog, I had a personal, more daily journal type blog on another site but I have to say that this one is a lot more fun. I’ve gotten the chance to meet so many cool bloggers, and also to connect with authors, which is something I never thought I would do. The only thing I wish is that I had more hours in the day to read because I’m incredibly behind on reviews at the moment and my TBR pile isn’t getting any smaller :S

When you started, did you ever think that it would end up the way it has?
No, I had no idea that my blog would grow to the proportions that it has. I didn’t think I would ever have any followers,  I mainly started the blog for myself as a way to keep track of my reviews, and now I have over 100 followers, and that is just amazing to me. I love interacting with my followers and just bloggers in general because they’re such a cool group of people.

Is there an interesting background story to the name of your blog, if there is, tell us!
The name behind my blog is partly because I’m just nerdy and I like the alliteration, and partly because of my habits as a night owl. I’ve always been one of those people who stays up late. I think it’s the fact that it’s really quiet at night, and I love to just sit in the quiet and think, so I’m almost always up past midnight. Goodreads has contributed to this too, ever since I started entering giveaways there I find myself always staying up til midnight to see if I’ve won anything.

As we’ve got this far without mentioning it, why not tell us a little something about your blog, what you post, how it runs, who you cater to, etc.
My blog isn’t genre specific. I read a little bit of everything. My goal is to post at least 3 times a week, but as I’m a bit behind right now I haven’t quite been able to keep up with that lately, but that’s going to change. I mainly post reviews, but I do a few memes, the occasional author interview, and in the past I’ve had a few general posts about my life thrown in here and there but I’ve tried to keep those to a minimum and mainly focus on books. And of course I do the occasional giveaway as well. Most of my posts are scheduled for the midnight hour to correspond with the name of my blog (and many of them are written then, too)

Do you participate or host and blog memes? If you do, which is your favourite?
My favorite blog meme that I participate in has to be Behind the Blog, which I am a co-host of, along with my two favorite and most awesome blogger buddies, Faye and Kathe. It’s been so much fun to come up with topics and to read as people let us know a little more about themselves and add in that personal touch to their blogs. I also participate in Sunday Post, which is a  book haul meme. I’ve also done the occasional Teaser Tuesday post as well.

What about blog tours and blog hops? Have you ever or do you ever want to participate in them?
I’ve never been asked to participate in a blog tour or blog hop. I’m definitely open to participating in them though.

What is the best book you read in 2011?
I read a lot of books that I really enjoyed in 2011 but if I had to choose a favorite I would definitely have to say A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I absolutely loved it, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series, Shadow of Night which is released in a few short days!

What about in 2012?
So far in 2012 I would have to say that my favorite book I’ve read is any of the Hunger Games series. I can’t choose just one, they’re all so good!

Has there ever been a book that you haven’t been able to finish? If so, what was it? And why couldn’t you finish?
There have been a couple of books I haven’t been able to finish, but not many. I have a shelf called ‘abandoned’ on Goodreads and it only has 5 books on it because not finishing books is a pet peeve of mine. The main reason that I couldn’t finish them was because of the writing style. If it just doesn’t grab me, or I have to struggle to get through it, I just won’t finish the book.

What is your favourite book genre?
Ohhh it’s so hard to name a favorite book genre! I like pretty much everything, but I really enjoy memoirs and biographies, and I’m also a sucker for Women’s Fiction aka “chick-lit”

Quick Fire Round

ebook or hardcopy?
Hardcopy. Although I’ve started reading e-books more often, I’ll always be a hardcopy person, just because I love the feel of a book in my hands
ya or adult?
Oooh so hard to choose! There are good books in both, though I’d say I lean more towards YA because I’ll always be a kid at heart
vampires or werewolves?
Vampires. I’ve read more stories with vampires in them, so I have to go with them.
chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate. Hands down
harry potter or twilight?
Harry Potter forever. I’ll always be waiting for my letter from Hogwarts. Admittedly I still have not finished the Twilight series.
four or peeta?
Peeta. I haven’t read any of the Lorien Legacies series, so I can’t say whether I would like Four or not.
series or single?
Hmmm. I’ve read some really good series and some really good singles, but if I had to choose I’d say series, because I’m one of those people who likes to learn all the details they can about a story and characters, and in series you get so much more of that background than in standalone books (usually).
blogger or wordpress?
Blogger. I’ve never used WordPress, but I’ve heard good things about it. And although Blogger has its issues at times I do like it. I especially like the post scheduling feature.

And finally,
Is there anything else you would like to say about you or your blog?
I’d like to thank the lovely Faye for having me on her blog today. And for being such an awesome blogger and friend. I’d also like to thank everyone who stops by my blog to comment or even just to read, it means a lot that you take the time to see what I have to say. It’s been an amazing 6+months of blogging and I can’t wait to see what the next 6 months (and beyond) holds for me in the blogging world and in life.   Even though my blog hasn’t been as active as I’d like lately, I hope you’ll check it out sometime!

So now you know more about her, go follow her glorious blog!