Meet the Book Blogger Tag!
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Introduction
1. Introduce yourself!
Hi hello! I'm Megan and I'm the blogger here at Under the Book Cover. I'm 29 (holy crap I'm turning 30 this year someone help me) and I'm a stay-at-home recovering cancer patient. I also have a grim sense of humor about my cancer journey, surprise. I live in a small town outside of Atlanta, Georgia with my husband and our corgi, Sora, and we like to work conventions around the state such as MomoCon and DragonCon. My favorite form of punctuation to use is an exclamation mark, and I will never turn down the opportunity to eat pizza. Before you ask, yes, I do support pineapple on pizza. I'm convinced that the most interesting thing about me is that I had cancer but I also like to think that me collecting multiple copies of a book is pretty cool as well. Oh, and my favorite color is purple.
2. Something most everyone wants to know… do you have any pets?
I do! As I said above, I have a corgi named Sora. He's a Pembroke Welsh and the absolute love of my life. I got him on October 20th, 2018 after I was finished with chemotherapy and radiation and it was an unforgettable day. I had wanted a corgi for years and it was never really a possibility, sadly. But while I was going through chemo, I was struggling. I never wanted to go to my appointments or get my infusions and it was just an all-around awful time in my life. But knowing that I wanted a corgi, my husband (who was and continues to be my caregiver to this day) told me that if I did my regimen and finished everything like I was supposed to, he would get me a corgi. And now, here we are! He's such an amazing kiddo and I am so in love with him. I've never seen a happier dog who just wants to play and be your best friend and I feel like we got so lucky when we were able to bring him into our lives. I'm one of those dog moms that not only has made him an Instagram, but I have also posted a photo of him every single day since he came home, so if you're interested in seeing some cute corgi photos, his Instagram is @sora.the.corgi and it's also linked in my socials sidebar!
3. What is your favorite thing to drink?
I love juice. Like, most forms of juice really. All flavors of lemonade (that's definitely juice, right?), apple, orange, grape, white grape, cranberry. I also love Coca Cola! Because saying I love Coke sounds bad if you see the phrase out of context. I couldn’t have it during my chemotherapy treatments so when I discovered afterwards that I could taste and enjoy it again, I dove head first into Coca Cola. I’m also a fan of Cool Blue Gatorade but I just call it blue Gatorade because if you don’t call Gatorade by the color, I assume you’re a cop.
4. What is your favorite season?
Definitely Fall! Although I do live in Georgia where we have every season in one day sometimes so I don’t know if I really get to experience what I would consider to be true Fall. But I love when it starts to cool down and it’s not too cold, not too hot, and all you really need is a light jacket. Jokes aside, Fall is amazing. I love the leaves changing colors and the weather being just right for me to go outside and sit with Sora to watch the cats drive by. Fall also means Halloween which is my favorite holiday!
5. Do you have any special talents?
Not really anymore, I don’t think. In middle school, I played the violin and I was first chair. But once I got to high school, I dropped violin for drama classes. Anyone that knows me is never surprised when I tell them I’m a drama club kid. But I can’t really play the violin anymore, sadly. I can speak Pig Latin but is that really a special talent? Oh, I can raise one eyebrow at a time! And I’m really good at getting ideas for books I want to write and then never writing them. I’m starting to realize I don’t have any special talents.
Blogging
6. When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog on January 6th, 2014 with a review of Legend by Marie Lu. Honestly, it's probably horrible and I cringe when I think about going to look at what my posts used to look like when I was first starting out. But I started my blog simply because I had read a book and wanted to share my thoughts on it! I never thought anything would come of it and I certainly never thought I would still be blogging in 2022, but I love this little blog of mine. I'm definitely still a small blogger and don't think I really have a following or anything like a lot of other bloggers have, but this is my corner of the internet where I can share how I felt about a book I just read and I wouldn't give it up for anything. This blog has given me so many opportunities that I will always be grateful for and I'm really excited to see how I continue to grow and change as a blogger in the years to come!
7. What is something that you wish you knew about blogging when you first started?
Don't be super focused on how many views your posts get or don't get. I used to be so sad when I noticed my posts only getting a handful of views and it really discouraged me at first. No one wanted to read what I wrote so why should I even bother posting on my blog, right? Wrong. Don't do it for the views or the attention, do it because you love it and you want to.
8. What has been the hardest part about blogging?
Figuring out how I want to blog. I feel like I'm still searching for my style and how I want to format not only my posts but my blog as a whole. Under the Book Cover has gone through many changes throughout the years and I almost wish I had a snapshot of all of the different versions that it has been! But it's also been a fun challenge because it allows me to learn new things in terms of design and how I want things to flow on my blog. It's definitely an always evolving thing and I'm almost positive that by the end of the year, my blog and my posts will both look very different!
9. What has been the most rewarding part of blogging?
The awesome opportunities that I’ve gotten to experience! I’ve gotten to read ARCs of books by some of my favorite authors, I’ve met authors and become friends with them (shoutout to Megan Linski who I adore and will always let torture me with her books!), I’ve discovered books I don’t think I ever would have found if I hadn’t been blogging (I discovered RH books through a blog tour I signed up for and had no idea what I was getting into but now it’s one of my most read genres), and I’ve made a few friends along the way because of blogging. I just love getting to say that I’m a part of the bookish community and that I have a little space to talk about books that I read.
10. Do you write your posts ahead of time or write them the day of posting?
Well, it’s a mixture of both I’d have to say. I’ve been doing really well about getting posts done before I want them to go live but there are times (like right now) where I’m in bed finishing up a post on the day I want it to go up. I like to think that I’m trying to become more organized and get things done ahead of time but honestly, my life has been taken over by Final Fantasy XIV and I tend to forget that I have posts I want to write for the week. So balancing my need to level all of my jobs to 90 and also have a post ready every Wednesday is a bit difficult sometimes. But I’m getting there, slowly but surely!
Reading
11. Who are your top 5 favorite authors?
This is a difficult one to answer because honestly, I have one favorite author and that is V.E. Schwab. Her books are incredible and genuinely saved me while I was going through chemo and while I’ve been in recovery. One day I’ll make a dedicated post about that because there’s so much that went into my decision that she was my favorite author and I’d love to share that story! But if I have to pick five? V.E. Schwab, Rachel Caine, Riley Sager, Katee Robert, and Sarah J. Maas. All for different reasons of course. Rachel Caine (may her life be a memory) because I grew up reading her Morganville Vampires and Weather Warden books and they’ve stuck with me well into my adult life. Riley Sager because he writes amazing horror/thriller books and I’ve given every single book of his five stars. Katee Robert because she’s amazing at writing the spicy books I never knew I wanted to read. Sarah J. Maas because she gave me Mor, who reminds me every day to not let the hard days win.
But what really defines a favorite author? If you give every book that a certain author has written 5 stars then does that make them a favorite? If you really connected with a particular book of theirs on an emotional level, does that make them a favorite? If you’ve read all of their books they’ve ever written (withholding ratings), does that make them a favorite? I struggle to determine what makes someone a favorite author and I think Kayla from Books and Lala did a really great job at opening up the discussion as to what makes a favorite author a favorite. I highly recommend watching her video on the topic as she makes some great points and really opens up the floor for a discussion on how we as readers determine our favorite authors!
12. What genre do you read the most?
RH (or reverse harem) probably. I think smutty books in general would probably be a better answer because if you look at my Kindle or my KU history, it’s filled with smutty romance books. And no, I’m not ashamed to admit that. A close second is definitely horror/thriller because I’m a huge horror fan and love reading scary and/or thrilling books!
13. What genre surprised you with how much you loved it?
Reverse harem! I never ever thought I’d read a book in that genre because it always felt so adult and so taboo. Despite me being an adult, I always thought I couldn’t read those types of books because if my mother ever found out what I was reading she would be shook. Even though I live with my husband and our corgi and my mother has no idea what I read and would only find out if I told her. Which I would never do. Because it’s awkward to think about. My husband, on the other hand, had the pleasure of taking my iPad one night while I was reading A Court of Mist and Fury and discovered Chapter 55. Needless to say, he leaves me be now! But yes, I never thought I’d invest myself so fully in a reverse harem book let alone several long series in the genre, but here I am absolutely obsessed.
14. Which popular book didn’t live up to the hype for you?
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Now, I will be honest and say I don’t think I even got past the first chapter of this book. I don’t know what it was but something about it just made it difficult to read and I remember spending my time thinking, “This is the book everyone is falling for?” I should probably give it another shot seeing as how I couldn’t even read the full first chapter, but for now, I just don’t get it. Another one could be Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. It was good but it wasn’t anything spectacular for me, personally. I liked it and I’ll probably be reading the rest of the series but it just feels like I’ve been left out of the hype or that I’m missing something that everyone else is getting about this book series.
15. Who are some popular authors you haven’t read from?
Well, I think counting Jennifer L. Armentrout is fair. Colleen Hoover is another and I’ll likely never read one of her books as they’ve never interested me. Is John Green still popular? Never read from him and after getting my heart broken by the The Fault in our Stars movie, I won’t be picking up any of his books. Although I do love Hank Green on TikTok because I’m always learning something new from him! Anne Rice is one and it pains me to say that because I’ve always wanted to read her Vampire Chronicles series. And I’ll end with Cassandra Clare. I’m not prepared for anyone coming after me about this question!
16. What upcoming release are you excited to read?
The Pawn and the Puppet by Brandi Elise Szeker. I’ve been following Brandi’s journey with this book on TikTok and I’m so excited to finally read this book that she’s worked so hard on! It comes out on April 1st and it cannot get her soon enough!
17. Do you listen to music while reading?
You know, I never used to because I would get distracted by the lyrics and just start messing around doing other things while listening to music. But lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of lo-fi music while I read and it’s so relaxing. I read Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes (check out my review for it here!) while listening to a cool space lo-fi channel and it made my reading experience so much more immersive. I have a few different channels on YouTube that I’ll flip between while reading but I’ve found that lo-fi is definitely my go-to for some calming reading music.
18. Where else can we find you online?
You can find me on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads! I also have my social medias linked in my side bar on my main blog page so check them out there if these links here don’t work. But please come say hi, I don’t bite and I’d love to be friends!
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And that does it for the Meet the Book Blogger tag! I had a lot of fun sort of re-introducing myself and talking about some of the cool things that were included in this tag. Don’t forget to check out the original post which is linked above and go show Lauren some love! I don’t really have anyone to tag so if you’re reading this and want to do the tag yourself, consider yourself tagged! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
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