Q&A Part 3 – The Cat Edition

Hello again- it’s been what, a few hours? Did you miss me? Just here to conclude my Q&A in a post that talks an awful lot about cats. Anyhoo, please do check out all the lovely people who asked questions and feel free to check out parts 1 and 2.

NEL @ REACTIONARY TALES

I would ask you if you’ve ever been to the states?

Sadly only as a layover (and btw my only impression was that the security is super strict, they took my fingerprints just for the privilege of going from one end of the airport to the other and grilled me about whether I wanted to stay forever…)

Is orangutan your favourite animal?

Well… This confession might get me in trouble, but my actual favourite animal is an ocelot. And also CATSSS in general

Which makes sense if you think about it, cos it’d be silly if it was an orangutan- like a human whose fave animal was a human…

Have you ever been to a book expo and/or met one of your favourite authors?

I’ve never had the chance to go to a book expo, BUT I was actually really lucky as a child that quite a few authors came to the schools I went to- the best one was the author of the Noughts and Crosses series Malorie Blackman

Also, can I come visit?

Haha sure, if you’re ever in London hit me up and we’ll go for tea 😉

42 is the meaning of life eh? Why 42?

Hehe and yes, Daley kindly answered, but just to clarify- 42 is the meaning of life according to Douglas Adams

BOOKSTOOGE

What is your deepest, darkest secret? The one you swore a blood oath to never reveal. Because we want to know.
*the following is to be said in Valley Girl accent*
“And we’re obviously WAY more important than some blood oath, duh!”

Hahaha well I have to confess now and this relates to my mentioning of CATSSS before- I have been harbouring a fugitive- meet Cecil the Lion:

 

I am so full of pride that I managed to keep it a secret for this long, but I suppose the cat’s out of the bag now… (yes I did just share that so I could make that joke #noshame)

MARIE @ DRIZZLE AND HURRICANE BOOKS

What countries / cities would you like to visit ?

I’d really really like to go to Athens is at the top of my list right now (so maybe I’ll get to go in a few years 😉 )

Not really a question but would you share MORE about your WIP? Like, a snippet, a sentence or anything?! 

Haha I’m so stingy with info about my WIP, I just get too nervous about sharing anything, but here’s a pithy line from the last chapter I edited:

“Power was a treasure trove and all politics was piracy”

What’s your favourite animal ?

JK but as you may have noticed from my early cat-related comments, I do really like CATTTS, specifically ocelots.

What’s one thing that other people do that you can’t stand?

Ask me if I’ve been blessed by the beautiful light that is JC… and by that I mean Jeremy Corbyn (hello Corbynistas- please can you stop spamming me- thanks!) So yeah, annoying political spammers…

Adding this picture in because spammers actually got the original meme taken down 😂

Did you think you’d blog for so long? 

To be honest, I *never* thought I would fall in love with blogging like this. When I first started I was blogging I wrote a post a month and just thought I’d review books every so often.

BRUCEONTHEFRINGE

If you were shipwrecked on a desert island and the waves were about to wash away the complete collection of Terry Pratchett’s books and you only had time to save one, which would it be?

OH GOD SO HARD!! I’m gonna go with Mort, but I’m so tempted to say Going Postal or arghhh see what I mean, hard!

Also, if you weren’t an orang-utan what other creature would you like to be? (mooses are pretty awesome)

Hahaha moose are awesome! I think this post might be getting feline heavy- so I’m gonna pick a penguin. I mean check out their waddle 😉

BOOKS, VERTIGO AND TEA

If you had to compare yourself to a fictional character, who would it be and why?

Well I always think something of a cross between Luna Lovegood and Alice

Do you have a favorite recipe for bananas? 

I like banana bread but I am a horrible horrible baker.

What is something that the blogging community does not know about you?

Haha today is just full of confessions, isn’t it? Hmm some people are actually surprised to find out I like dresses (oh and I’m also a girl, not everyone knows that)

DANI @ PERSPECTIVE OF A WRITER

What book describes you best? (Is it a particular character, the cover or the story?) Oh and it would be super cool if you could draw something for your super reveal post!

Hard question! I think I find more in common with characters, rather than stories or covers. I’ve already mentioned Luna and Alice, but I think someone else who I really relate to is Isla from Isla and the Happily Ever After. And even though the story doesn’t really describe my life (I mean, there is a distinct absence of bananas) I feel like I’d have done *a lot* of the same things in her position.

(I also hope I fulfilled the drawing requirement 😉 )

So that’s all for today- hope you enjoyed these Q&As- I certainly enjoyed making them! And now I want to know what is *your* favourite animal? And how do you feel about CATSSS? Let me know in the comments!

Q&A Part 2 – Books and Weirdness Edition

Hello all- I’m back with part 2 of my Q&A. In case you missed it Part 1 is here and I’ve linked to all of the *awesome* bloggers who provided questions, so please do check them out!!

And cos there was an awful lot for one post- I’ve ended up putting the last set of Qs and As into one more post for this afternoon! Trust me, you won’t wanna miss that one 😉

DREW @ THE TATTOOED BOOK GEEK

If you wrote an autobiography what would you call it?

Confessions of a Bananaholic

What colour are Orangutans? Orange or Ginger?

Orange!

If you were given the chance to rewrite a book which book would you choose and why?

Hmm this one’s pretty hard- but I’d probably pick one of those dreadful dragon-but-not-really-a-dragon books like Talon- I’d just make them act like *actual* dragons. (You know, eat hunters instead of falling in love with them)

If you could punch an author in the face which author would you choose and why?

Hahaha what a question!! Well I don’t want to punch any author in the face, but can I pick someone like Chairman Mao or Hitler since they technically wrote books? Or maybe a Hitler apologist like Roald Dahl (yeah I think I might have just ruined some people’s childhood…)

Snog, marry, avoid and the choices are Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May or Turtle face himself Nigel Farage!

Eww what a question! Okay… so I actually asked advice on how to answer this one, cos I was stumped, and they said just go in age order, which means…

Snog Farage, marry May, and avoid Corbyn. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just thrown up in my mouth a little…

DALEY DOWNING @ THE INVISIBLE MOTH

If you could change the ending to one particular book, which book would it be and how would you rewrite the ending?

Well I’m gonna resurrect my Marauder’s fangirl stage and bring Sirius Black back to life

STUART MCEWAN

If you could create an entirely new genre of books, novels and all things readable and glorious, what would it be

Orangutan steampunk-fantasy crossover 😉

ZEZEE

For some reason, I can’t think of any questions. My mind is blank.
Actually, my question is what do you do when your mind is blank and you’re stuck at a work cocktail party where you MUST talk to other orangutans?

Hehehe well I’m actually a rather chatty ape- when I get excited I talk, when I’m bored I talk, when I’m nervous I talk… you get the idea. Here are some actual conversation topics I’ve talked about at work dos:

• Lucid dreaming
• Why are there no medium sized models?
• Places I’d like to visit
• Internet strangeness
• Politics (on second thoughts *don’t* do this one- it never ends well…)

ANNA @ TSUNDOKIST 

Which book character makes you so angry that you want to punch them in the face/throw the book against the wall/feed them vomit-flavoured Bertie Botts beans, etc?

Humbert Humbert hands down. He deserves to eat nothing but vomit flavoured Bertie Botts beans forever (FYI Lolita still holds the record for “book I threw against the wall the most times”)

EMMA THE BOOK LOVER

My question is: What was the last book you gave 5 stars to and why? 

Just looking at this sexy book makes me want to read the second one- WHY IS THE POST SO SLOW!!! (seriously I feel a bit like a drug addict waiting for my next fix right now)

Well hope you enjoyed that craziness!! See you all again very soon!!

 

Q&A Part 1 – The Happy Ice Cream Edition

Hello all!! Phew- I’ve been so lousy with blogging lately- I do hope to rectify that asap- but in the meantime, here’s my promised Q&A! Well the first part at least- I found it was much too much for one post, so I split them up.

Thank you so so much for the absolutely incredible questions!! All the questions are linked up to the bloggers- do check them out- they’re all amazing!!

KRISTIN @ KRISTIN KRAVES BOOKS

I would love to know what your perfect day looks like!

What a wonderful question! I’m not sure exactly- but it would probably involve a sunny beach, a book and lots and lots of ice cream!! And fireworks!

JOURNEYINTOBOOKS

I’d love to know what your favourite historical period is and what your perfect reading nook would look like 

Definitely the roaring 20s! And something like this…

CHARLOTTE

If you had the ability to write like any author, who would you choose?

Hard one! Well since we’re talking *any* author I would choose to be (or not to be) Shakespeare- forsooth why not? I may as well pick the best author of all time!

Also, would you rather bungee jump or go sky diving?

Hahaha well that’s a scary question for an acrophobic!! I don’t think I could ever jump out of a plane- so bungee jumping (though I hope I never have to do either!!!)

JACKIE B @ DEATH BY TSUNDOKU

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Chocolate!

What is the book that hooked you into reading?

Harry Potter- the most standard answer ever 😉

If you could build the perfect home library with unlimited funds what would it look like?

This:

Why do you blog? How did you start and what keeps you going?

Well I started it to rant about Captain Corelli’s Mandolin… And I continued cos it ended up being so much fun and I met so many wonderful people doing it- you guys are the best!!

AMELIA IN HULL

What is your fave number?

22 because my friends and I were stalked by it for a year… (ooh scary I know :p )

LIIS @ COVER TO COVER

If you could be a plant which one would you be and why?

Haha I have no idea- a rose maybe cos get prickly sometimes 😉

If the supply of bananas ran out what would you do?

Cry

Why Orangutan?

Well if you’re asking how I came up with the name, I based it on Ook from Discworld. But if you’re asking why on a more metaphysical level, it’s because I *am* an orangutan 😉

Provided the Mars colonisation comes to plan, would you go live on Mars or stay on Earth, why?

Haha there is NO WAY I would go to Mars- I’ve read the Martian! Mostly cos I’m too busy trying to convince my enemies to go 😉 (you know standard “it’ll be great, you’ll have an amazing time, we can communicate by skype maybe…”)

If you could time travel what year or decade would you go to live in for 5-10 years?

Ha- well I already used up my 20s answer- so the 60s! The music was ace! Also the fashion was better than the 70s- I mean look at this craziness:

If you could genetically modify humans, what new ‘ability’ would you choose to give humans?

Telekinesis- cos then I’d never have to say “pass the remote” again.

EVA@BRILLIANTLY BOOKISH

If you could only eat one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Banana split- no word of a lie it’s my favourite- it has all the best things- especially ice cream (life is better with ice cream)

MEGGY | CHOCOLATE’N’WAFFLES

What’s your favorite letter of the alphabet?

Q

Which seat do you choose when booking a flight?

Preferably one far away from everyone else 😉 JK I usually let the airline decide- I’m not really fussed

Skirt or shorts?

Shorts! (maybe just cos I have these awesome ones from banana republic that I’m loving right now)

What’s your favourite crisps flavour?

Okay- so this is a very British thing and all the Europeans are gonna say “ewww” but salt and vinegar crisps (one problem when you’re travelling is you can never find them *anywhere*) So yeah, the way to my heart is through a bag of these:

SOPHIE @ BLAME CHOCOLATE

What’s the strangest book title you’ve ever come across?

So I had to google that and this is what I found (among other things):

Smooth peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter?

Hmm smooth, but I don’t really mind crunchy on occasion. It’s not like juice with pulp 😉

If you could travel to any place right now, and money was not a problem, which one would it be?

Hong Kong!

Okay I think that’s a nice note to end on for now- I still have *loads* of awesome questions to get through- so stay tuned for more! And let me know in the comments what your favourite flavour of ice cream is!

Q&A – Everything You Could Possibly Want To Know And Some Things You Didn’t

So this is super long overdue- but here is my Q&A post, as promised! Thank you all once again for helping me reach 400 followers!! You’re the best!!

How are you today? Also, what color are your favorite socks? (you never said the questions had to be relevant, haha!). Last one: are you a hug person? Donna @ Chocolate Waffles

I’m wonderful! My favourite socks are my Halloween ones, which are white and orange. And I am a hug person!! *hugs all round*

How do you handle being so awesome? Maria @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

Thank you, thank you *takes a bow*

HOW DO YOU EDIT, I am lost and I am crazy, hahaha and you are the EDITING QUEEN? Maria @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

This could be a whole post on its own! I don’t know about being the editing Queen- but I am a weirdo who loves editing. This is my basic process, although every book is different so may do it slightly differently depending on the book:

Step 1: I usually iron out any structural changes first- making notes as I go and changing them when necessary. I know a lot of people are against editing as you go, but if you don’t do this and you leave something that should’ve been changed right away, you will regret it!

Step 2: Proof read. Then you can look out for more of those pesky changes you need to make in the structure. Also, this is a good time to look for grammatical errors- cos I am a grammar nazi and can’t cope with grammatical errors. And finally- the bit everyone hates- killing your babies- which basically means deleting all the unnecessary poncey bits that don’t work (though I don’t do this nearly as much as other people- cos I’m actually a fan of purple prose- sorry!) The best way to do this is to use Track Changes (which I learnt as a proof reader- I swear it has changed my life!)

Step 3: Lather, rinse, repeat- literally keep going over the manuscript until it feels right. It’s a good idea to leave it to rest between edits.

Other tips are: reading it aloud and printing it all out to basically deface it (although, as I said, I prefer defacing it on track changes)

What’s the city/place in the world you’d like to go to, the moooost? Maria @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

Well my answer to this is usually Egypt- but right now I actually feel like going somewhere more European that I’ve never been to before, like Florence. I mean, doesn’t that look magical…

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why? ViviHeartBooks

Okay, now I’m just gonna say Egypt, cos I’ve always been obsessed with ancient Egyptian culture!

What are your favourite holiday destinations of the ones you’ve been to? Nicole @ Thoughts on Fantasy

Two- just two? Well I’ll go with the two I went on this year: Barcelona and Prague- cos they were amazing!!

What do you usually prefer to watch: TV shows or movies? Nicole @ Thoughts on Fantasy

That literally changes depending on what’s on TV and how many movies I have that I haven’t seen. Sometimes I go months without watching a single movie, and sometimes I go months without watching any TV. At the moment I’m obsessed with Homeland and Game of Thrones!

What was the last dream you had? Porter Girl

I always dream. Last night was particularly weird. I had a dream about a parrot and chocolate raisins. Basically, the parrot was trying to break in through the window cos my mum said it was angry about being kept as a pet. It was using a golf club to break the glass- which was odd cos it could’ve used its beak. And then the parrot disappeared and my mum gave us chocolate raisins. I could’ve stopped at the parrot and chocolate raisins- it wasn’t gonna get more normal… Moving on…

What do you daydream about? Brown Books and Green Tea

Hot guys :p

I’m curious about metaphysical quandaries? KathyLauren @ A View to Book

So am I! The basic answer to all metaphysical quandaries is 42.

Speaking of metaphysical quandaries…

The answer to every big question (for example, ‘What is life’s purpose?’) is ‘violet cheese’. But why? Sarina @ Cookie Break

Because it is purple and pungent. Speaking of smells…

What’s your favourite smell? Kat @ Life and Other Disasters

Spring.

If you could invent any life-changing gadget instantly today, what would you invent and why? Sara @ Cookie Break

Honestly? A real flying broomstick- cos wouldn’t that be awesome!

Silly questions: are you a real orangutan? Are you a real librarian? Emily @ Rose Read

Of course- to both questions :p What are you insinuating? :p

Serious question: what’s the first book you would read to your child? Emily @ Rose Read

The first book I would read my theoretical child is probably the Tiger Who Came To Tea- I loved that as a little-un

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? Imagalaxygirl

Hehe this feels like a job interview. Honestly I don’t know- I can’t seem to see 5 days down the line let alone 5 years!

Do you plan on stopping blogging after a certain time period? Imagalaxygirl

Nope.

What inspired your name? Imagalaxygirl

Terry Pratchett’s Librarian- Ook!

Do you like orangutans? Imagalaxygirl

Of course!

If you could go back to any time in history, which time would that be? Demmi Writist

The roaring 20s!

What’s your go-to book recommendation(s)? Joralene @ Page Chronicles

Picture of Dorian Gray and the Yellow Wallpaper

What are your blogging tips for newbies? Joralene @ Page Chronicles

Enjoy yourself! And get stuck into it! the more you put in the more you get out!

What did you want to be when you were a kid? Joralene @ Page Chronicles

An inventor! (I wanted to invent that real-life broomstick I mentioned earlier- I was obviously a very practical child)

What is the weirdest desire you’ve ever had? Keira @ Signing On

To eat a whole sachet of ketchup on its own- I achieved this goal and I am very proud of myself :p

Top 5 fave Discworld, (Or Terry Pratchett in general), characters? Combustible Reviews

These are all gonna be Discworld related and very unoriginal. In no particular order: Death, Captain Vimes, Vetinari, Carrot and Ook!! (That was so hard to narrow down!!)

If you could time travel who would you want to meet? The Daily AM

Well, after the last question, I’m gonna have to go with Terry Pratchett

And also which cartoon/anime character would you like to bring to life? The Daily AM

Dimitri from Anastasia cos I had a crush on him as a child and want to know if I’d like him in real life

If you could be any character from any book, which one would you wanna be? A Bibliophile’s Obsession

Smaug

Which one book character would you bring to life to be your best friend? Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction

Probably also Smaug- cos I’m in a very Smaug-like mood- and because he’d offer the best protection as a best friend- nothing beats fire breathing dragon as an ally (I learnt that from Shrek).

Who’s your fictional crush?❤ I Adore Paper

Ok, don’t worry- I’m not gonna go with Smaug for this one! Even though he’s gay, it’s got to be Baz from Carry On

If you could make moderate to significant changes (plot, characters, setting, whatever) to a popular YA novel that ended up seriously disappointing you, which book would you choose, and how would you change it? Hey Ashers

That is such a hard question! I think the one that springs to mind is Thirteen Reasons Why, because I actually liked the idea behind that one, but felt like the author didn’t do it justice. I did a post about it here where I go into a lot more depth about what was wrong with it (which would be all the things I’d change).

What was the biggest bookish plot twist you have ever read? hashtaglovebooks

Ooh hard!! The one in Jude- that I’m not going to mention cos it’s too spoilery- but you’ll know what I mean if you’ve read it- that was scarring!!

What was the strangest movie or book you liked as a child? Jess’ Reading Nook

Fantasia and Bambi were my two favourite movies as a child- I used to sit and cry when I watched Bambi and then spin frantically round the room while watching Fantasia- I was an odd child.

If you could erase one embarrassing moment, which would it be? Being a Book Nerd

When I ranted about quorn for half an hour before someone told me that’s what was for dinner

Do you prefer a fork or a spoon? (I know some people who eat everything with spoons.) Zezee

I’m a monkey, I use my hands.

And what is your favourite colour and how would you react if you woke up one morning and can only see that colour? Zezee

That literally changes every day- but let’s go with orange, cos I’d find it funny if I woke up and everything was orange.

If you instantly won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would spend it on? Samer T

I’m  torn between the totally sensible and the totally bizarre for this one- so I’m gonna try and combine the two. A dilapidated house – cos it’s always been my dream to restore an ancient property- I’ve watched way too much Grand Designs (and yes I have browsed the National Trust database cos I’m just that cool).

Ooh, and any blogging tips you could send my way! Samer T

I’ve already said have fun, so I’d suggest connecting with loads of other bloggers cos it makes the experience loads more fun!

What would your Thank You card say to Voldemort if he somehow made you look permanently identical to him? Sublime Reads

Hey Voldy….. Look up! 

And then I’d punch him in the face. (Obviously I’d have to deliver it by hand for this to work)

And that’s a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did! I had a lot of fun answering all of your interesting, wacky and frankly absurd questions!