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@books.with.tutus_and_sons

Hey everyone! I’m so excited to introduce you to a sweet bookstagrammer friend of mine-Meet Ivana, book lover & ballet teacher! Check out our Q&A below!

Xoxo,

Kristyn

Hi Ivana! It has been so fun getting to interact with you on bookstagram! Tell us a little about yourself.

Hi Kristyn! It’s been fun interacting with you as well! You’ve covered the most interesting thing about me, I’d say. I live in Croatia, I’m a mom of two boys, I love to read, and yeah, for the last 10 years, I’ve been working as a ballet teacher. I have actually finished full ballet education and have worked for years in a National Theater as a professional ballet dancer before continuing my career as a teacher.

What genre do you lean towards the most in your reading? I find that since I started blogging I tend to be all over the place!

It’s always literary and/ or contemporary fiction for me. I can read a romance and a thriller occasionally to break out of a pattern, but I tend to stick to these. I’m also a fan of historical fiction (except for the ww2 stories).

What’s the last book that made the biggest impact on you?

I have just recently finished The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It’s an emotional and heartbreaking story about Syrian refugees and it just made me feel so much.

What is something that helps when you’re in a reading rut? Burnout is real!!

The first thing I usually do is decide if it’s about a certain book I’m reading. Like if I am not as invested or interested in it, or if the source of a slump is something else. If it’s something else, I stop reading for a couple of days. I’ll find some tv series to binge, go out with my friends or take a walk…after a couple of days I’m usually ready to continue with my readings.

What is one book you think everyone should read?

I always recommend two books to everyone: Beartown by Fredrik Backman and This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel.  Beartown is a powerful, multilayered story about a life in a small town, but also about parenthood, friendship, loyalty, love and betrayal. The characters are so real, with all their imperfections, but also so lovable.

This Is How It Always Is is a book about a transgender child that I truly believe everyone should read. It portrays the effect of the gender transition on the family as a whole and the struggles of parents who want to be there for their kid, but also feel the judgmental looks of the community.

How long after finishing a book before you start another? (For me this could be minutes to a few hours lol! I can’t seem to make it 24 hours.)

It varies, but usually I take a day between finishing a book and starting with a new one. Kinda like the feeling of a reset and starting fresh.

How has having a platform to share your love of reading impacted your life?

It has definitely enriched it with so many wonderful people. I never felt I’d find myself as a part of a community where people are so excited to talk about books. But it’s not only that, it has made it possible to communicate with people from all around the world, chat with authors and publishers, and it has given me all kinds of options that I never even thought existed.

Thank you so much Ivana for joining me on this Q&A! I enjoyed getting to know you better & I know others will as well. And you’re right, this platform has been an amazing place to meet people all over the world! I mean, who knew I would make such a sweet friend in Croatia?! I’ve never been a dancer, but I’m always so intrigued by ballet and the skill and dedication it takes.

P.S. Beartown is on my list to read in 2022! I’ve had it forever and just haven’t made it a priority, but now it’s bumped to the top!

Readers: post a book in the comments that I should read in 2022!

You can follow Ivana on IG or subscribe to her blog!

Winter Survival & 2021 Wrap-up

Winter is my LEAST favorite season, but I manage to get through it! Want to know some of my survival tools?

Books (lots of books), warm blankets, candles, and cozy sweaters! How do you take on winter? Give me your tips in the comments!

2021 Wrap-up

It was a fantastic book year for me. 130+ books, lots of tours, features, and new friends! I couldn’t be more thankful for all of the authors, publishers, and book friends I’ve met along the way.

Everyone is doing their top favorite books of 2021……well I had a LOT of favorites so I’m not doing that! BUT, I will give you a glimpse into my 2021 bookstagram-in picture form of course. Check the slide show below!

P.S. Stay tuned for some new bookstagrammer & author Q&A’s coming up!

Q&A With Author Emma St. Clair

Hey Book lovers! I hope you had a merry Christmas. Wow, I can’t believe 2022 will be here in a few days! I want to thank you all for your support on this blogging journey, it has definitely been an incredible experience!

Today I’m featuring Emma St. Clair aka Kirsten/Kiki. I started following her on instagram this past year and just love her personality. She’s seriously hilarious-she gets my humor, especially in her books! I started The Love Cliches Series a few months ago and I’m about to start the last one, Falling for Your Enemy. I constantly find myself smiling and laughing while I’m reading them which is why I’m so excited to get to know her a little better! Check out the Q&A below!

Xoxo,

Kristyn

I read all kinds of books, but romcoms are a particular favorite of mine. However, some are WAY too steamy for my taste-still great, but steamy! I know your niche is writing closed-door romcoms and you do it amazingly well without them being cheesy (for lack of a better word!) How do you decide how far to take things?

I know this is different for every author. I’ve come into this with a general idea of what’s too far for ME. I want to show real, healthy desire while still keeping the bedroom door closed. When writing my first drafts, I don’t censor myself as much and sometimes have to go back and edit. I also do listen to readers (both in reviews and when I get messages) and weigh that feedback against my own lines. I sometimes get reviews that I’m too “clean” and others that say I’m too “steamy.” Ultimately, I answer to myself but I also want to serve my readership well! 

Which Love Clichés book is your favorite?

Oh gosh! That’s so hard. I like them all for different reasons. I think Falling for Your Enemy is high on the list because of all it tied together. It’s got multiple weddings and the epiclogue forty years in the future. But I love little things about all books, both the experience of writing and the characters and stories themselves. 

With 5 kids (6 counting your husband) how do you write so fast? You just keep them coming!

Right now, I’m our main income, so my husband is super helpful with our littlest one, who is still home. They each are in school. For me, writing is life-giving. I’ve always needed to have a creative outlet, but it took YEARS of having kids to be able to write books. I kept trying and wasn’t able. When my youngest was two, I finally had the mental bandwidth to come back to books. I write when I can, and squeeze words in even when I’m running on the elliptical, which is when I do a lot of my writing. 

You have several names that you go by: Kikimojo, Emma St. Clair, Kirsten….where did you come up with these & which one is the real you?!

In real life, I’m interchangeably Kirsten and Kiki. Kikimojo was a nickname that became my roller derby name. (Yes, I played roller derby!) Emma is my writing name, but it’s more about marketing than faking a new person. What I post as Emma is definitely my personality. But I speak of her more in the third person. 

You’ve made your husband IG famous, does he enjoy the attention 🤣? 

He does! My hubby is up for most things—I always ask first. He’s no stranger to the camera and has applied for reality shows like Survivor, the Amazing Race, and American Gladiators. He was supposed to be on Gladiators but it filmed when our first child was due. Rob’s brother actually went on the show and won! He starred in his first film, Santa Killer, which is on YouTube. 

Who is another author you would love to sit down and chat with?

Jennifer Lyn Barnes!!! I have an obsession with The Inheritance Games. Another would be Sally Thorne. I LOVE her use of language and writing style. 

Besides romcoms, what other genre do you think you would like to write?

Before romcoms, I wrote contemporary romance, some with Christian themes.  I also write paranormal YA under the pen name Sullivan Gray. I LOVE vampires and wolf shifters and things that go bump in the night. I think I’ll end up writing a lot of genres in the end. 

What are you currently reading/watching?

I’m between books right now though I read about one a day. Since covid, I’ve been mostly sticking to romcoms. I just started watching the two new Psych movies with my hubby and we also watch Survivor. On my own, I watch shows like Project Runway. I love creative competitions!! 

What do you want your readers to know about you?

I think I’d want them to know that I’m so grateful to them for reading, and I’m always keeping them in mind while writing. And also, that typos—they happen no matter how many rounds of proofing and early readers we have. 

I know a new series is in the works and I couldn’t be more excited! Can you tell us more about it?

Yes! I still haven’t finalized a name for the series, but it follows Harper’s brothers and dad, whom we met in Falling for Your Best Friend. Tank (their dad) buys a small town called Sheet Cake, Texas and wants the family to relocate there to build up their brewery. This plan meets with resistance from both his sons AND the town. There will be lots of small- town drama and hilarity but also maybe some deeper themes. And you’ll get some appearances from some of your favorite Love Clichés characters!

My favorite questions:

What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done in public?

In high school, I tripped over a bike rack and fell instinct of basically the whole school. I happened to be in a pleated skirt and… well. I flashed the whole school behind me. Which was most of the school.

When is the last time you googled yourself, and what did you find?

I haven’t! Maybe now I should! I’m scared. 

Has any hugely popular novel left you thinking you could write it better? (you don’t have to name it 😂)

Not write it better, but I’ve definitely been disappointed or had ideas for other endings. 

​What’s the best typo you’ve found in one of your books?

I can’t think of any off the top of my head but sometimes I post them on Instagram. Because I write a lot on my phone, the combo of typos and autocorrect is so bad. 

​If you could be any character in one of your books, who would it be?

Oh man! This is hard! Maybe Princess Serafina from Royally Rearranged, because I LOVE Rafe. Or Abby, so I could throw some lobsters. 

Thank you so much Kirsten for taking the time to answer these questions! I can’t wait for your new series and to read The Buy-In! I agree with your last answer…Serafina definitely, because hello…I want to be a princess…and of course Rafe!

To check out Emma on Instagram click here!

Check out her books:

The Love Cliches Series

Royally Rearranged

The Buy-In ( A spin off of the Love Cliches series)- Coming January 15th 2022!

Bookstagrammer Feature @thebookannelid

Hey Everyone! Two Days until Christmas, I can’t believe it! I hope you’re done with your shopping because stores are chaos (It’s not like I waited until the last minute and tried to go out and buy something yesterday “ahem”). Anyway, I hope this post finds you well and that you will enjoy this bookstagrammer feature & getting to know Bekah aka @thebookannelid, she is SO FUN and look at that precious photo 💕. I love her IG name and learned what it meant:

an·ne·lid/ˈanəˌlid/noun: a segmented worm of the phylum Annelida, such as an earthworm (so…she’s the book worm!)–defintion from Oxford Languages and Google.

  1. Hi Bekah! Thank you so much for joining me for this bookstagrammer feature! I know your very active on Instagram, but noticed that you have a blog website as well. Tell us a little bit about what made you want to start these platforms.

Thank you for choosing the feature me! It is a pleasure. For most of my life I have always been “that friend who gives great book suggestions” or “the one always reading the latest things”. I had my own “library” as a kid and rented out books to friends that I tracked with a numbering system and everything. Many people told me that I should blog about my book suggestions and what I was always reading so that they could keep up, and then I discovered “bookstgram” as a book blogger and love that platform even more! My blog is also www.thebookannelid.com

  1. What books did you grow up reading?

Wow this is tough! I read everything! As a very young child I lived and breathed The Magic Treehouse series. As I grew older I read any fantasy series that I could get my hands on- Inkheart and Percy Jackson are favorites I distinctly remember. In High School I got very into romance and historical fiction and in college I discovered thrillers. There are not many genres that I do not read!

  1. Do you use star ratings when you review books? If so, can you tell us how your rating system is broken down?

Yes!

5 stars– Would recommend to almost anyone- dug deeper than just enjoyable- made me think or kept me extremely engaged throughout- could be enjoyed for generations to come.

4 stars– An enjoyable read, would recommend to people- no groundbreaking new thoughts, plots, or ideas, but one I am glad that I read.

3 stars– Good/fair read but would probably only recommend to someone I knew would be specifically interested. Lost my attention in parts/ slower read.

2 stars– Did not like this book, but can appreciate that others could and I respect its value as a piece of literature.

1 star– Awful. Would never recommend this book. ( I rarely ever get these because I usually would not finish a book like this.)

4. Is there a new author you found in 2021 that you love?

Bookstagram made me do it….and I am so glad…Colleen Hoover!!! I read Verity, It Ends With Us, and Layla in 2021 and liked them all.

  1. How do you feel about reels and booktok? Do you participate in these? I love seeing them, but I personally can’t keep up!

I am slowly learning how to make better reels, but I personally feel they are viewed less than normal photo content! At least that is how it seems to be for me. I prefer going live if I am doing video. I do not have a tiktok, but have been tempted to join the booktok community and could be convinced!

6. Are you a mood reader?

100% yes. This is a big problem for my TBR because I will go through big phases of wanting thrillers or historical fiction, or romance etc…and collect a lot of those genres of books…and then switch moods and not go back to those for a while.

  1. Tell us more about this Holiday Blind Book Exchange game you referenced on one of your recent posts! I may need to do this!

Of course!! It is super fun. You can check out the article with instructions on how to do a blind book exchange with your book club or friend group here: https://www.thebookannelid.com/for-the-real-nerds/Blind-date-book-swap

My book club does them every Christmas and it is like blind-date- books meet a White Elephant gift swap!

  1. What is a book that you would recommend to anybody?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

  1. Who are some of your favorite bookstagrammers/bloggers that we should follow?

Favorite Booktuber: Merphy Napier

Favorite Bookstore: Cicada Books and Coffee in Huntington, WV

Favorite Bookstagrammers: @readingwithedison @catshavebookstagram @kingarthurof_cat_onsville and my fellow Huntington Bookstagrammers: @amy.readsbooks , @beerandbookpairings @checkyourshelves and @reading.by.flashlight

  1. This or that (bookworm edition):

Ebook/physical?

Romance/thriller?

Fiction/nonfiction?

Read at night/read during the day?

Background noise/no noise?

Bookmark/anything within reach?

Character driven/plot driven?

What’s something we wouldn’t guess about you by looking at your bookstagram?

I am a zoologist by trade and I own and operate my own wildlife rescue center!

Wow, Bekah this was so much fun! I cannot believe you have your own wildlife rescue center, that is amazing. I found Colleen Hoover on bookstagram as well a couple of years ago and she is just one of the most amazing authors ever 💕. This is what I love about doing these features-finding out so much about a person with a few simple questions. I really appreciate your time and for sharing a little bit about yourself with us! If you’d like to know more about Bekah you can follow her here on instagram, or sign up here for her blog!