Fictional Candy: Blogger On Blogger Interview

Here we are! The very first Blogger On Blogger Interview! And my first victim...err...sacrifice.... um...friend! My first friend to get interviewed is Franny who runs Mind Reader! Now, before I get to the interview, if you are interested in being interviewed yourself, there is an embedded form at the end of this post. Please fill it out and I will get back to you within the week! Please note that I am booked until early December on Interviews, and I post them (mostly) in a first come first serve basis!

Ok, about this new feature! I interview a lot of authors, we all do. And it is really a lot of fun. But who is it behind those interviews? You!!! So now I want to interview you! I plan on running this post every Thursday. There are some occasions I will post a day early or late, if I already have too many posts on a given date, or a holiday. And I will add the links up in a tab in my menu bar. Please tell your friends!

Ok, here we go!!!

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Hey Franny! Thank you for being the first sacrificial lamb, err… I mean, interviewee (is that a word??) to my new feature!

Hi Liz! Thank you for having me on your blog! Actually I volunteered, so it’s a pleasure to be here! J

First of all, you run Mind Reader. Can you tell us how that came about (and how long have you been book blogging)?

To be honest, I have to thank the Royal Wedding for giving me the push to start blogging again. I used to have a blog on wordpress, but I wasn’t constant with it, and it was mainly to get things off my chest. I realized it was time to get a grip on my life and do something, and blog about books was one of them. I’ve been blogging since May 2011.

Are you the only person who posts at Mind Reader?

Yep. I actually have been discussing this with Silvia (Darkest Sins) this past couple of days, after seeing blogs with several admins, but although it would be really helpful with posts and maybe it’s increase my blog stats a little, I wouldn’t have any other one, as I wouldn’t feel it my blog anymore. I don’t know if it makes sense, but I’m Mind Reader, and bloggers associate that blog name with me, so I like to keep it that way.

Mind Reader has a gorgeous design, which was designed by Silvia, you said. What is it like, having someone else (who is obviously so talented!!) design your blog?

Click button to visit Mind Reader

Actually it’s a good thing, because Silvia is such a talented artist. I’ve known her for years, and even though I was doing some design stuff at first, this is clearly not my thing, so I leave the graphic side to her. She’s also a terrific video editor, and if you look at the book trailers she made (such as The Demon Trappers Series by Jana Oliver, or the recent Vaempires Christmas by Thomas Winship) you can see why.

And for other readers to come see you, what genres do you focus on?

Urban/dark fantasy, paranormal romance, historical romance and dark erotica. I’ve been neglecting some of these genres, though, but these are the ones I like to read.

And aside from Mind Reader you also run Dark Mind Book Tours, which I am in love with. How do you balance running two fabulous sites? And how are you not bald from pulling your hair out??

You know I’m really glad you feel that way! To be honest, I don’t know. I just read the post you’ll be featuring on my blog soon, and it makes me wonder how YOU do all that stuff :)
I’m glad I’ve got Silvia to share my work with, and we make a hell of a team! Sometimes it’s really difficult, because we have our own lives to deal with. Plus we are starting our own business together (which I’m not allowed to say anything about, for now), and sometimes there are episodes so impossible that I just want to bang my head on the wall and scream. That’s why we have the rule that we never work on weekends. We work hard and late all week, so the weekend it’s the only time we have for ourselves. Of course, sometimes we break that rule, but most of the times we’re ok.
Luckily I’m not bald, but I have to say I have a few grey hair caused by all the stress.

You and I have spoken a little bit about different features on our sites, and you have mentioned having some guest posters (like me!) on. Can you give us a little teaser about who else is coming up?

Well, you’ll be the first blogger guest post I’ll have, so we’re even =D
I’ve just had my new author friend Tara S. Wood sharing some Man Candy, plus author Danielle D. Smith will talk abouther art. Keep checking my blog for all this goodness J

Franny, you also have a feature called Dear Franny… What’s that all about?

Basically I’ve seen lots of bloggers featuring posts about new bloggers, so I’ve decided to have one on my own, in which I’ll answer questions about book blogging for newbies. If there’s a new blog here at Fictional Candy, don’t be afraid and email me. I’ll be happy to answer your questions!

What is your favorite part of book blogging?

If you asked me this question last year, I would have said that my fave part was to get free books. But it’s not that anymore. I’ve grown up and after discovering how this world works, my absolute fave part of book blogging is getting to meet new people. Since I started blogging, I’ve met so many wonderful people (both authors and bloggers) whom I can share my passions with, and some of them have also become dear friends. It’s wonderful how close I’ve got with people I never knew existed before!

And who are your favorite authors? Do you have any books that you tell friends they MUST read?

I can tell you many, but the ones I always say, are Laurell K. Hamilton, Jana Oliver and Larissa Ione. Of course there are others, but these are the ones I like the most. And If I had to choose, lately a series I’ve been bragging about a lot, is The Demon Trappers Series by Jana Oliver. Its fourth and final book has just been released in UK, and it’s simply GREAT. Everyone who enjoys a YA paranormal and enjoys ass-kicking characters in a book should definitely read it.

Ok, here is a tough one… bitten by a vampire or bitten by a werewolf?

Ha! Both, so I become a hybrid and am more powerful than both species J

If you could bring any character from a book to life for 3 days, who and why?

Uhm, does it have to be only one? Because I would love to bring Anita Blake (Vampire Hunter series by L.K. Hamilton) back for during the day, so she can teach me how to shoot and fight, and… uhm… Ares (Lord Of Deliverance by Larissa Ione) at night… and I’ll let you figure out why ;)

What is your favorite website, that is not your own!

Uhm, a website website or a blog? Because if it’s a website, I’d have to say Food Nework UK, as I love cooking, and for the blog… well, Darkest Sins, obviously!

How do you feel about hosting giveaways on your site? Do you do them often?

I like giveaways, but I rarely do them because I can’t afford them. At the moment I have one, just for my followers, and it just got three comments, so I hope more people will join.
To be honest sometimes I feel a bit sad because I see so many blogs doing huge giveaways and I can’t even afford to have a small one. I have a “Paypal donate button”, so if bloggers wanted to contribute, I’d be able to host giveaways more often (and big).

I’m pretty new to blogging myself, and I haven’t been to any conventions. Have you been to any, or do you plan on going to any?

Not for the time being. Unfortunately all the fun ones are in the US, so since I live in UK it’s really hard for me to go. But I’d love to try one, although they seem really chaotic.

And lastly, what advice would you give a new blogger?

Be patient. When I started blogging I moaned that I wasn’t getting any review copies and I always complained that people were given books for review and I wasn’t. That comes with experience. Make yourself known to the blogger community and things will happen on their own. The most important thing is to have respect of everyone, otherwise you won’t go far.

Thank you so much for being my inaugural interviewee!

Thanks again for having me, it was a pleasure and I had really fun!!

Now if you want to get ahold of Franny and stalk her all over the interwebs, just click on these links below! But I warn you, even though she is incredibly nice, I think she might be crazy.... ahem.. :)

Do you want to be interviewed by me? Here is the form!