It’s time for DAY TWO of my bloggy celebrations. (You can grab a piece of cake and see the shenanigans from day 1 here.) I’ve taken a low-key approach to the celebrations of 4 years of blogging, but scroll to the end of this (gargantuan) post to enter the giveaways!
Whilst brainstorming ideas for “what on earth can I do that is different and somewhat interesting for my blogversary” I hit on this ingenious idea.
WHY DON’T I ANSWER QUESTIONS?!
Maybe I’m just nosey, but I always squint at other bloggers whilst reading their fantastic blogs and wonder things about them. Plus I wanted to make sure everyone knows I’m not too scary to talk to and chat about the weird and random! WE ARE FRIENDS. Friends chat. So I asked for questions and you all obliged. The questions are quite fabulous, my friends.
So grab some tea (or hot chocolate since we’ve recently established it is the BEST drink) and let’s get chatting!
NOTE: All questions are answered totally deadpan and serious. OF COURSE. I have never been sarcastic. Never. Your overlord is nothing if not fabulously honest.
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Q: Apart from being an amazing author, is there anything else you have considered doing for a career? ~ Rachel
I’ve often wanted to be a dragon, actually. A very fierce one with possible black scales. Like Toothless. Basically Toothless.
I want to be Toothless.
What’s your favourite thing about living in Australia? ~ Felicity
This isn’t a simple question! I’ve always lived in Australia. I don’t know what it’s like to not live in Australia. How can I compare it to anything?! HELP.
Q: Why do you always apologize for writing negative reviews? Be bold! Own your opinion! ~ Julie
This is true! I AGREE! I should be. YOU SPEAK GLORIOUSNESS, JULIE. And I don’t ever approve of unnecessary apologies all over the place…but as to why I do it. WELL. Basically I feel bad. Because a) a publisher has probably given me the book for free and I’m telling them it sucked?! #awkward, and b) I know how hard it is to write a book and how awful it’d be if the author found my review. Hence I say sorry. But you are right: I really don’t need to.
Q: What is the biggest struggle you’ve had trying to be published? (or is it not over yet?) ~ Shanti
Well I’m not published so I’d say THAT is the struggle! I think it’s waiting. Waiting to hear from my agent, waiting to hear from the publisher, waiting to hear from a beta reader. Then there’s the whole still-believing-in-oneself when the rejections start. GOSH, THAT’S HARD.
Q: How do you choose new books to read, and how do you decide which books to review? Do you review every book you’ve read, or only the ones that you’ve particularly enjoyed or dislike? I must know this. ~ Aine
Also an excellent question! (You guys rock so much, oh gosh.) I have very very boring methods, okay? I basically ONLY review books I’ve been given by publishers. So yes, I swallow the library regularly, but those reviews only appear on Goodreads. (Basically: stalk me on Goodreads.) And how do I pick? I read whichever book needs reviewing next (like upcoming release dates, or I’ve had it too long and ignored it) or whichever is smallest. BECAUSE BIG BOOKS SCARE ME.
Q: Self-publishing seems to be growing in popularity. Have you ever thought about self-publishing your books rather than going the traditional-publishing route? ~ La Coccinelle
I have. Then I hurriedly tossed the idea because: SCARY. Call me weird (actually don’t, I’m sensitive, I’ll cry) but I don’t want to self-publish because, a) I want to see my books in a bookshop, b) there’s a lot of money involved in self-publishing, c) there’s no one to help with publicity, and d) self-pubbed authors have to prove themselves so, so much, which isn’t necessarily fair but it is true. I also don’t want to be the SOLE person in charge of my book. I don’t trust me that much!
Q: What is one book you have LOVED that everyone seems to hate? What is one book you HATE that everyone seems to love? ~ Rachel
I really really love Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth. I LOVE IT. I had a controversial ending, a clashing romance, and a not-emotion-full heroine. But hey, I just loved it. I thought it stayed true to the characters! True to the story! True to breaking my heart! SAD ENDINGS EVERY TIME.
On the opposite side…I really hated 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I thought it was (gasp) despicable. I know. What am I even saying?! But it’s basically about a mentally ill girl who becomes an emotionally abusive bully — BUT WAIT. The mentally ill girl is the hero, the kids being abused are the villains. I smell something wrong here.
Q: What’s your favourite movie(s)? ~ Mahra
Oh, oh, this is a hard question. Any “favourite” questions are HARD. YOU TORTURER, YOU. Okay, but I’m a huge Marvel geek. I love all the Marvel movies, but particularly Iron Man. I also love Sherlock Holmes (1 & 2), The Prestige, The Help, The Fault in Our Stars, Catching Fire, Frozen (not ashamed), Master and Commander, and The A-Team. Basically movies were things get blown up, yes?
Q: Who made your blog? ~ Erica
ME! Okay, okay…I totally lie. My brother-in-law did the layout and I did the art. So basically he did everything and I just passed him a piece of paper and said, “Make this be the header”.
Q: What’s your absolute favourite food EVER? ~ Aimee
This is a cruel question, Aimee. And I thought we were friends. THAT’S IT. WE’RE THROUGH. How can you make me pick?! You could’ve at least narrowed ti to “favourite dessert” or “favourite meal involving lamb mince”. Sheesh. Okay, but I really really love lasagna. Like, I don’t share lasagna.
Q: How long have you been blogging? And what made you start a blog? ~ Felicity
This is 4th bloversary! YAY. I’m finished being a toddler and I’m practically grown up and ready to go destroy things. ‘Scuse me. I’m getting emotional.
But I started blogging because I went to China for a month and my oldest sister said, “You should start a blog!” To which I said, “A say what?” So my blog went from a travel-blog, to a writing-blog, to a book-blog. Because I’m indecisive like that.
Q: Favourite Avenger? ~ Felicity
Iron Man. There is no competition at all.
Q: How do you cope with the utter adorableness of your nieces and nephew? They are SOO CUTE! ~ Elly
They are rather sickeningly adorable, aren’t they? It helps to call them both “Frank” instead of their individual names. (That stops one getting too attached too.) And now and again, if you drop one on its head, it develops a healthy distrust between both of you which is entirely helpful.
Q: How do you respond to all the comments AND read ALL the books AND write reviews for them all AND write your own books AND create Etsy stuff AND take gorgeous pictures? Are you secretly a whole army of cloned Caits? ~ Shannon
YOU GOT ME. There are actually 9 of me. Right now you’re talking to Clone Cait 7. Clone Cait 7 is prone to bouts of sarcasm and is extraordinarily untrustworthy. Like, please, don’t believe anything she says. (Unless she says she loves lasagna and in that case, she’s telling the truth.)
Q: How do you read so fast? Is it magic? ~ Emma
No, see above. I have clones.
Q: How do you DO so much ~ Gemma
I HAVE CLONES. Clone Cait 7 is the ambitious one. You don’t even want to talk to Clone Cait 4. She doesn’t do anything she’s supposed to.
Q: Are you secretly stealing all of my cake ~ Emma
I AM INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.
Q: Favourite book series? Mwahaha I bet this will be hard for you. ~ Felicity
This is hard, you cruel, cruel thing. I CAN’T.
Okay. Fine. Everything by Maggie Stiefvater. She is queen.
Q: Do you read and/or finish all of your ARC reviews? If not, did you when you first started getting them? A couple of the ones I’ve been lucky enough to receive turned out to be not-so-great, or it wasn’t my type of book. One of them I was given to by the author, and one of them I heard about and then requested. I feel bad about them, and I’m nervous that it will affect my chances of getting other ARC’s. Should I contact the author/publisher to let them know? (I’ve only used NetGalley so far.) ~ Emily
Emily, this is a fabulous question. And firstly: I FEEL YOUR PAIN. My first ARC was, luckily, awesome (it was Hate Is Such a Strong Word) and I happily gave it a rave review and felt like The Most Awesome Blogger Ever. Then…I think the next five I got where awful. Nuuuugh.
I always turn my reviews back into publishers. Basically I say “This one didn’t work so well for me, but thanks for the opportunity to review for you”, which makes me feel like a marginally better human.
Oh, but…um, maybe I’m a cheater? But I NEVER take review-requests directly from authors. This is purely because I never want to say to an author’s face, “HEY YOU SUCK” even if they do. It’s too awkward.
You have to figure out what you’re comfortable with and then go from there. (I kind of love Netgalley because sending negative reviews back is painless.
Q: Dresses, skirts or shorts? ~ Shanti
Shorts or jeans. I wear practical clothes so when the zombie apocalypse happens, I’ll be ready. This is completely legit.
Q: When can we read/find your book(s)?! ~ Rachel & Erica & Maraia
If you steal my laptop you will find ALL my books. But I don’t recommend this because a) I have a horribly vicious puppy that will attach your ankles, and b) we won’t be friends anymore. ALTERNATELY: you can kidnap me and bribe me with cake so I’ll give my books to you. We might still be friends.
So far, I have no books published. I KNOW. It sucks. Trust me, I cry about it more than you. But one day?! Hopefully?
Q: HOW DO YOU READ SO MUCH? I don’t understand speed reading – do you skim or are you just a lot faster? Do you still retain all the information? ~ Vlora
I have a lot of time to read and yes! I read fast. If a book is sucky then I’ll skim. And pfft, with my brain? Nope. I don’t retain everything. But, dude, I don’t even remember what I blogged about last week. I have a notoriously swiss cheese memory. (This is a big part of the reason I review absolutely everything I read. It helps me remember!)
Not sure I ever had it though.
Q: How did you find the courage to start talking about your writing in public? To put up blurbs and covers and descriptions of your (unfinished) novels? ~ Kaja
It’s not an easy thing to do at first. Can I cheat and say “it takes time”?! OKAY! OKAY! I’ll give you a real answer. I’ve been writing for 6 years and in the beginning I sucked so bad…but I had a lot of really encouraging friends. People read my books. They said nice stuff. I got confident! I kept writing and I got better! Criticism always hurts, but it gets better. But seriously?! I don’t blog a lot about my writing because I’m nervous about it. It definitely takes time.
Q: I would love to know your favourite flavour of icecream, and I would love to know how you manage to be so fabulous. ~ Liz
Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, please and thank you. I’m fabulous because I told you I’m fabulous and you believe me. Also I throw glitter at you and somehow that makes me fabulouser.
Q: Which countries have you been to? Which countries do you wish to go to? ~ Shanti
I’ve been to China! FOR A WHOLE MONTH. It was incredible and amazing and too noisy and I never want to go back. I would like to go to Paris. (All the great writers do, right?!) Like, I’m quite obsessed with the idea of going to Paris. Someone take me? PLEASE?
Q: Are you talkative in real life? ~ Shanti
No.
That was me, in real life. If I need to say 10 words, I say 2. If I need to say 2 words, I say none. Logic.
Q: Would you survive a unicorn apocalypse? How or how not? ~ Aimee
I would totally survive. I’ve been training for the zombie apocalypse, so I figure unicorns would be less notorious. I mean, sure they can gouge you, but zombies want to snack on your flesh. That sounds sufficiently more scary.
Q: If you could only be part of one fandom (bookish or otherwise), which one would you choose? ~ Kate
This is the meanest question yet. HORRENDOUSLY MEAN. What is it with you people and being unfair to me? I will pout.
Okay, but I’ll cheat (just a little). Supernatural for anything on screen. And Maggie Steifvater for anything on page.
Q: What make and model camera you use for your photographs? ~ La La in the Library
I finally bought myself a camera! So it’s a Nikon D3200. (But I used to use my parents Nikon D60.) I only use automatic because I’m a deluded pineapple frond. But one day I will learn.
I edit on picmonkey.com, but I wish I could do more professional editing.
Q: Why do you think people like your blog (because obviously they do, because you get loads of comments)? Oh, and how do you manage to read so much? ~ Annika
Because I a) talk about cake a lot and people like cake so therefore they like me, b) I have actual wizardry powers so you’re all under my spell and have to keep coming back, c) I’m nice, ignore anyone who says differently, d) I talk to a lot of people and assume we’re gonna be best buddies because why not? and e) I try to make people laugh because people always like to laugh.
I have a lot of time to read and I read fast. Sometimes my dog reads for me and then summarises for me so I don’t have to read it.
ALSO! Peoples! My blog didn’t get big over night! It’s taken four years and lots of networking. Gah. It’s been exhausting. Hard work, peoples, hard work.
Q: How many siblings do you have? Are you the oldest or the youngest or whatever? ~ Naomi
I have 5 siblings, they’re all crazy and I’m the best one of the bunch. (Trust me.) I’m the second-to-last baby.
Q: How do you come up with so many awesome blog ideas and any tips for slow readers? ~ Kitty
I DON’T EVEN KNOW. I just do. Some weeks, I got nothing. But any tiny idea I have, I go for it — ridiculous or weird or odd, I just write it. And I find the more I blog, the more ideas I get. I aim for 2 reviews a week, so (if you’re like this) you don’t need to read a lot to have a lot of posts! I get a lot of topics out of what I read. For instance, I just read a book with a ridiculous setting, so I’m going to write a post about what-I-like-to-read-in-book-settings. Or I could write a list of settings-I-don’t-care-about. Look for tiny things and then expand them. You get unique discussions and it’s totally fun.
Q: You’ve just been given a hundred free copies of your any book of your choosing to give to all your friends. Which book do you choose? ~ Kate
This is a deliciously hard question. I had to really consider it. Because while I want to shout THE RAVEN BOYS! it’s not actually a very easy book to read, because it’s slow and sometimes confusing. (I love it, though.) So…let me say, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Because I think if more people understood what it’s like to be an introvert and socially inept, they might be more understanding, and the world would be a better place.
Q: How much time do you spend writing every day? (I’m a writer myself, so I love to know.) ~ Naomi
Okay, this is embarrassing…I DON’T. I a binge-writer. I know the adage is “write every day!” and I do…I blog nearly every day. But writing books? Nope. I will write several books a year and it’ll be in intense bouts: like a week of 8,000-words per day. Then I won’t write anything for 2 months. Don’t try this at home, kids. It’s a bit crazy.
Q: What is your first order of business as supreme ruler of the world? ~ Kate
Well, that’s easy. I’m glad you asked that question. Very good.
I will be impossibly evil, and impossibly fabulous, and very nefarious. I will be fair but firmly cruel. I will make WiFi free and beautiful book covers mandatory and the people will eat cake.
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Don’t forget to enter the giveaways! (All INT!) Find more details about them here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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firstly, thank you for asking me great and interesting questions!! and if you have anymore? shout ’em in the comments!! NOW IS YOUR CHANCE. okay, but there’s one small condition…if you want to ask me a question, you have to tell me something about yourself first. I HAVE CAKE! TEA! CHOCOLATE! let’s chat.
Okay, so firstly (and you might have to just excuse me on this one): ASDFGHJKL YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION! EEP!
Secondly: I’m going to Paris in the summer. I could sneak you in my suitcase and, in return, you could give me cloning tips. How does that sound??
But shhhh, don’t tell anyone!
Elly xx
ZOMG, YOU ARE ADORABLE, ELLY. LEMME JUST HUG YOU AND ALSO SMUSH CAKE IN YOUR FACE. Yes. Pack me in your suitcase asap. Just leave me a kindle and some delicious snacks and I will be perfect.
Naww, thank you!
Ooh, what kind of cake?
And what kind of snacks do you fancy? And what kindle books?
I like hugs *Hugs back*
CHOCOLATE CAKE. Is there any other kind?????
Woah, ALL THE QUESTIONS. This was an insanely long post with so much great content here. But first, here’s the virtual cake to bribe you into posting more stuff on Wattpad, because c’mon, WHERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER OF TDBAPC?
I can’t believe you chose Iron Man. Okay, I can, but you do realise he’s the worst person ever to take over the world, right? Pepper would be so much more competent. And Black Widow who watches regimes fall.
The header art is beautiful! I’ve learned so much HTML and CSS just by necessity and copy-pasting from design and coding blogs. I think I spend more time fretting over my blog design than actually writing posts. May I ask which Cait responds to the comments, which Cait eats the cake, and which Cait writes stuff and needs to be more efficient? XD
YESSSs. Very long. I wanted to split it into two, but I think everyone would be sick of me by the. HEEHE. Zomg, my Paper Cut book DIED. *cries* I came on this huge plot hole and the entire book needed reworking to fix it. So yeah. >.> I promise I will get back to it eventually. I PROMISE. I love Black Widow, I DO. But Iron Man is my first Marvel love.
Clone Cait 3 responds to comments. And what do you even MEAN?!! ALL THE CLONES EAT CAKE. They’re made in the image of their master after all.
LOVED this! Honestly, I don’t know how you do it but you make me smile even on the most rubbish of days!! I have a few questions… what’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? What’s your favourite book beginning with the letter C? What is your theme song?
3 facts about me in return – 1) I was brought up on a small island off the west coast of Scotland 2) I used to be a rally navigator. 3) I don’t trust people that don’t like chocolate cake! xx
OMG, YOU HAD A RUBBISH DAY? *tackle hugs you and rubs chocolate cake in your hair* THERE. IT IS BETTER NOW.
1. Scariest thing? I took a bite of my 2yrs niece’s cupcake once. Like, the tantrum that ensued was holy terror. I feared for my existence, I tell you.
2. CATCHING FIRE (lol that’s the first book that came to mind, but I really do love it)
3. That theme song from Emperor’s new groove. *nods*
(I don’t trust people who don’t like chocolate cake either. LIKE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?? What went wrong in their childhood?!!)
Feeling much better now thanks! 😀
Thanks for answering my questions. I just had to google The Emperor’s New Groove theme though. Tis rather awesome PLUS Tom Jones… I definitely approve. xx
If you ever do become a Dragon… Please let me be your protege. Please.
I agree with your thoughts on self-publishing, too! I give props to all those indie authors who are extremely popular because… HOW DID YOU DO IT??
And yes to Iron Man. There is no other correct answer.
I’m Chinese and I’m ashamed to say I’ve NEVER been to China. Lots of my classmates have told me that people there can be really… aggressive. I’ve been to Taiwan though, and it is GLORIOUS there.
Thank you for answering my question. Now that I know you can survive a unicorn apocalypse, when one shows up at my door I will call you for help.
YES. You can be my protege. I might eat you, tho, like, accidents happen…but we’ll give it a go.
I knooooow. I have so much admiration for them, especially when their books are phenomenal. But I just feel like being a self-pubbed author must feel like feeding yourself to pariahs. o.O Ahhh, yes. China is super loud and pushy. Elbows everywhere. And they don’t really care if the subway is crammed and they need to be sitting in your lap to get on. LIKE, THAT IS NOT OKAY WITH ME. I HAVE A PERSONAL BUBBLE. *sobs because China was good but scary*
VERRRRY INTERESTING *files away information for future use* I want you to be published so badddllyyyyyy so that I can say to people “LOOK AT THIS! LOOK! I KNOW THIS PERSON I AM FAMOUS!!” And then of course you’ll acknowledge me as the inspiration for everything you write, and it’ll be glorious 😉
I KID I KID.
But yeah, four years of hard work and lots of clones – the secret to blogging. My blog has grown so much since I started and I like my little community <3
I WANT TO BE PUBLISHED SO BADLY SO I CAN WRITE A REALLY DORKY DEDICATION. Zomg, it’ll be so fun. I’ll dedicate my book to pizza or something.
Oh the fabulousness! I approve your love of lasagna and Frozen. I also hated 13 Reasons Why for the same reasons. Like, if you have a problem with something someone’s done, tell them, or tell someone, don’t lord it over people’s heads after you’ve killed yourself. If people really knew how stuff got to her, maybe some of them would have cared and tried to make things right. And she didn’t give them that chance. And I loved Allegiant because Tris is so emotionless–she’s like me in real life (for the most part). And the ending. ajkasdfjlk
I respect your reasons for not wanting to self-publish–they’re basically mine. And I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of pressure from nice people who mean well to self-publish. But if I want the money (and I’m totally doing it for just the money, yeah…) self-publishing is just counterintuitive because I don’t even have the money to pay for it. Rant over.
Also, I love your blog design and all your different posts. I wish I had as much time and as many clones as you (I only have three). I do think it’s brilliant to delegate some books to your dog. I should try that with my rat. I am also a binge writer like you (when it comes to drafting–I wrote 4.5 books last November) but I do like to edit every day.
So, happy birthday to your little darling blog!!!!
Here is my fact about myself: I’m a black belt in karate.
And here is my question: If book characters came to life and started forming armies (in order to, you know, fight each other) which army would you join and who would be on your side?
All the “reasons” that Hannah killed herself were perfectly logical reasons…for someone who is chronically depressed. YES. But I feel like that issue wasn’t addressed AT ALL in the book and it kind of made it sound like killing yourself is okay and you can get revenge and blah blah, nOOOOOO. It was a terrifying message. Particularly when the kid who narrated wasn’t even involved she just felt like torturing him?!
(I’m emotionless IRL too, hehe. That’s probably why I Love Tris so much.xD)
True and truer about self-publishing. I really don’t have anything against it and if I’m 80 years old and still not published? I’ll do it. But I’m young and I want to try the big wide scary world first. xD
JUST CLONE MORE CLONES. I mean, yeah I have 9, but the 9th one is kinda loopy. I think the copy of a copy of a copy is getting a bit ridiculous, but the malfunctioning ones are fun to set loose on twitter. *nods* Clone 3 is damage control.
ZOMG 4.5 BOOKS IN NOVEMBER?!!! DUUUUUUDE. YOU INSANE MAGICAL WIZARD THING. Also black belt in karate? I think I need to be your best friend.
But which book characters. WHICH?!! IT MATTERS. And tbh, I would probably do nothing. I’m non-confrontational. Unless it’s over something like who-gets-the-last-piece-of-lasagna, and then yes I can wield a steak knife.
I agree, her reasons were logical, and I wanted to feel sorry for her. Maybe it’s just me, but she didn’t strike me as all that depressed–she struck me as cruel. And I get that she’s just a character in a book, so whatever, but I didn’t feel like Jay Asher handled it well.
Also, yes, we can be best friends. We can throw a party and I will bring lasagna and you will bring cake. (And by 4.5 books, I mean, the craptastic first drafts of 4.5 books. I’m much slower when it comes to editing.)
Okay, so I’ll rephrase my question a little. The characters from six of your favorite books escape into real life. Some are trying to steal all the lasagna in the world. Who are the enemies (AKA, lasagna stealers) and who are the ones who will wield steak knives at your side?
I kind of want to ask if there was more than depression? Like the “bullying” she received wasn’t horrendous compared to experiences of bullying I’ve heard about…not that I want to downplay what happened to her, or anything. But it makes me wonder if she had a delusion disorder too, maybe? Or bipolar? I DON’T KNOW. But it was just so badly handled and I hate saying a book is badly written…but the plot? Just no. I felt so SICK after I read that book I actually stopped reading for a while because I despaired of humanity.
FIRST DRAFTS ARE AWFUL BUT NECESSARY. *hi fives* I think mine are absolutely craptastic too. GRAHHHH. *glares at all the first drafts* Yet I find them so much easier to write than to edit. So I admire your editing. 😉 I should do that at some point…
OKAY. The Shadowhunters stole the lasagna. Celeana and Chaol and Dorian and I will get it back. :’)
I haven’t laughed so hard in AGES. Basically you are FABULOUS and I love that you are clones and want to be toothless and that you are STILL LETTING US EAT CAKE! ALL THE SUGAR. I love the questions and I adore your answers and basically YOU LOVE MAGGIE STIEFVATER SO I AM CLAIMING YOU AS MY FRIEND. HA.
SUGAR COMAS ALL ROUND!! *tosses sprinkles and dances in them* ZOMG YOU ARE A MAGGIE STIEFVATER FANGIRL TOO?!! WE ARE OFFICIALLY BEST FRIENDS, ROSY.
Your borther-in-law did amazing job with this website. If I ever save up enough money for new blog layout, I will probably hire him 🙂
I love your sarcasm, btw!
WHAT?!! THERE WAS NO SARCASM IN THIS POST. *glares at Clone Cait 7*
Cait what a super fascinating post! I often do wonder how you manage to do so much, and no wonder! I wonder which clone is commenting tonight? It’s funny how you mention the coming up with awesome content, it’s like the more content you write and the more your headspace is dedicated to it, the more you churn out. But other times it’s like the Sahara desert. And I totally agree, I LOVE MARVEL AND SUPERNATURAL AS WELL AND THIS IS WHY WE ARE FRIENDS. That, and books. I’m glad you mentioned that it does take time and networking to get your blog comments up, I only learnt that 1 year in as well!
You’re speaking with Clone Cait 2. *nods* This clone will soon be on damage control on twitter after all the dubious truths Clone Cait 7 let loose in this post. GEE. THE MESSES.
Yesss! I always think inspiration just produces inspiration! Which sucks when one gets into an epic slump and…it completely goes desert dry. -_- It’s hard to get out of those slumps right?!
YES I MAKE THE BESTEST OF FRIENDS, REALLY. *shares pie with you*
OMG Cait, luv, your posts never cease to make me laugh, and this is hilarious!:)
Toothless! I love him! I love all dragons, Period. My favourite is probably Eragon’s Saphira.
I am a DC girl all the way – because BATMAN! – but I do love myself some Marvel. Especially Iron Man, because he’s so adorable:)
I can’t wait to see what else you’ve planned for your blogoversary!
FAJDKSLA THANK YOU, MISHMA, THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY. IT REALLY DOES. :’) Dragons are just stupendous. I want one. Or to be one, as we’ve already covered. bUT STILL. WHY CAN’T THERE BE DRAGONS IN THIS UNIVERSE??? *has small breakdown*
Wait…what. Mishma. Did you just say DC GIRL?!!! *throws salt at you and backs away* Okay, but I can’t talk because I love Batman but he’s the only exception to the traitorous DC. heheeeee.
Oh, but this is the end. *sniffles* Just a two-day splurge this year.
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…
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Sorry about that, I was finishing my cake – don’t want to talk with my mouth full, do I? 😉 Okay, so my question: What do you like to see on other blogs? (Trying to learn from the Master.)
You requested that we share something about ourselves… I’m not sure what to tell you… I have the most naughtiest cat in the world. Seriously, I wish she would behave herself. I, like you, am not a talkative person; my dad jokes about how it can be difficult to get a conversation out of me, but if I don’t have anything to say then I won’t say anything – I’m not one for small-talk. But I’m also socially awkward, so I often don’t know what to say when meeting new people – other than hello, then my mind usually goes blank. 😀 Anyways… Shall we have more cake? 🙂
WELL. MANNERS ARE ADMIRABLE. I…don’t…have many. *swallows cake* BUT I APPRECIATE YOURS.
Zomg, haha! That is a hard question. xD I like reading anything on other blogs, come now!! Probably discussions!? I love to hear people’s opinions about interesting topics. But I am one small bean in a world of many beans. *nods sagely*
We should have more cake to celebrate our mutual socially awkwardness. I take awkwardness to a whole level of “ZOMG SOMEONE TALKED TO ME FREEZE UP, MIND, GO COMPLETELY BLANK. THAT’S SO HELPFUL.” *cries* I use up all my words on the internet. Gah, your cat and my dog sound like twins. -_-
Loving all the answers to the questions. Just out of curiosity, where did you get your clones from? I’m been think about getting a couple for a while, so would love a good recommendation. My only fear is whether or not the world can cope with with two of me. Well, not my problem….
TWO? DUDE. NO. You need at least 5. And be careful to copy the original because I’ve been cloning clones of clones and geee they get a little kooky at the end there. We dont’ talk about Clone Cait 9. We accept it for who it is but we don’t talk about it.
asdfghjkl Why are you so cute? I always have the strong urge to put you in my pocket after reading your posts.
hehe I agree with you on the self-publishing thing. I thought about self-publishing a book of queer fairy tale retellings, BUT IT’S SO MUCH WORK. I’m bad at promoting myself, and I don’t have the money to invest in something doomed to fail.
woo binge writers unite! I try to write every day, but I prefer to write during times like NaNoWriMo when everything is crazy and the world is self-destructing around me. xD
And I just read what you have of The Dead Boy and the Paper Cut on wattpad and I NEED MORE. Seriously, not cool to leave such awesomeness hanging like that. If you ever need an evil minion beta reader, I’m available. :3
Hmm, something about myself? Well, I’m kind of really boring, but I do play viola and piano. I’m also 6ft, so does that make me slightly more interesting? No? *awkward tall person slinks back into boring cave*
My question for you: How did you get over social awkwardness and talk to people online? Was it different because you weren’t face to face, or did you have to scrounge around for courage? As a really socially awkward person, I need to know the secret?
*snuggles in your pocket* I SHALL LIVE HERE SO LONG AS YOU FEED ME CAKE CRUMBS. I’m low maintenance, yes. Wait. Is there wifi in your pocket?
I feel like one would need a HUGE audience to self-publish. Like, massive. And so. much. publicity. gaaaah. Plus I see typos in books that are edited by professional publishing houses. WHAT IF I DID IT ALONE?! I’m a little bit dyslexic so it’d be doomed from the first chapter. XD *hi fives for binge writers tho* NaNo was a fabulous push. I do need to work on SOMETHING this year, though, because I’ve really done zlich. hehe.
AHHH I’M SO SORRY!!! >_< I kind of died on that project because I fell into a plot hole so large I ended up in Wonderland. Which then means I need to rehaul, like, everything, and I just didn't have the energy at that time. SO I WILL GET BACK TO IT. I PROMISE. I have such a soft spot for that adorable book. :')
I'm like 5'1. I really WOULD fit in your pocket, omg. Viola! YAY! I play cello and I used to play violin, and I somewhat play piano. Actually I basically play nothing atm because it’s winter and my fingers are cold. bUT I GOT SKILLS.
Ooh, good question. WELL. It took time. Like I’ve been yabbing on for 4 years, and I cringe at my earlier posts, honest I do. So I think, for me, I’m actually quite terrified of people IRL. I’m so so socially inept. Online I feel really free to be ME and I feel like typing words let’s me say what I WANT to say, whereas in real life I always stumble and trip over my thoughts. Gah. It’s frustrating. OMG BUT I CAN’T TALK TO PEOPLE SOMETIMES. Like really really awesome bloggers? I’m to scared, because they’re so awesome. And I never tweet my favourite authors because fadjlksafd it’s too much. nope.
I totally agree about 13 Reasons Why! I hated how the girl blamed everyone else for her suicide, when it was her choice, ultimately. No one forced her. The only thing I liked about it was the message of knowing that everything you do affects someone else. ANYWAY, I also love Frozen! NO SHAME!
I totally get what you mean, although she did have depression and depression and how to cope with it isn’t a choice. I don’t really believe suicide IS the fault of the victim if the victim had a severe mental illness…which Hannah did! But I fell like THAT WAS NEVER ADDRESSED IN THE BOOK. *cries in desperation* It was NOT the “bullies” (because, let’s face it, they weren’t even that horrific) fault she killed herself. It was her illness. But the book just skimmed that part and it makes me sick.
*Frozen hi five*
I never meant to imply that she killed herself for no reason, I’m sorry! I meant that in the book, like you said, it is never addressed why, just blamed on others. I feel like the author could have done a better job exploring the reason behind the suicide. Younger readers might get the wrong impression.
*Frozen high five back*
I’m always FLABBERGASTED at how much you DO, Cait. You make me feel so laaazzy. YOU SUPERHUMAN. I loved this post!! And the giveaways! Gosh, I’m so excited about the giveaways! I need one of your book necklaces. If I don’t win one, I’m going to order one ’cause THEY’RE SO CUTE. Anyway, thanks for answering my question! I feel so much better. Oh, and I can never imagine you as a quiet person, but I’m the exact same way! I type what I need to say. I don’t like saying them. 😉
HA I AM NO SUPERHUMAN. Wait. I mean, yes I am. *hair flip* I’m just searching for immorality to go along with my SuperGirl outfit. *nods*
Plus I find it sooo easier to communicate through writing. I can actually say what I think! What I feel! Whereas in real life I’m like, “Erm. Yeah>” And the conversation dies eerily…*listens to crickets*
as I was reading your answer to what your favourite food was inside was I practically chanting lasagna, lasagna. Then I came across you saying lasagna. 🙂 Go lasagna!
OMG DO WE SHARE A FAVOURITE FOOD?!! *shares lasagna with you*
This is so awesome. And definitely helpful!
Do people/publishers/I have no idea who try to make you change your books dramatically in order for them to be published? And I say “dramatically” as in to fit into the standards of what they consider is “in” at the moment or to fit into a formula plot that they like or to go with the kind of books that they are looking to publish this year, etc?
I always wanted to publish traditionally. But in recent years I’ve actually thought about self-publishing. I haven’t looked into it thoroughly. In part because I’m not ready for that stage yet, and also it is so SCARY! You have to do everything yourself. That’s a ton of work. And I stink at the business and legal side of anything. Me and fine print don’t work well together. It’s too tedious. It would make formatting the least of my worries which is saying something. But I don’t exactly trust other people with my book; though at the same time I do not trust me with my book either. . . What is one to do? Just KNOW ALL THE THINGS ABOUT BOOKS! Gee, I wish I had all the time in the world to do that. It would be awesome to be a book expert. Also, I’m not good at advertising and getting myself out there, but I’ve heard you have to do that a lot even if you publish traditionally.
Oh, and do you like your agent? Do you both have this undying love for your books and he/she is like your publishing advocate? I’ve read that agents are like a publishing advocate in a way. Of course, that is truth. But I’m a skeptic, I guess. I need to hear things from real people instead of books and the general internet.
Please excuse my massive ignorance.
No no! It’s not massive ignorance!! I had ALL THESE QUESTIONS too, and mostly I just googled and bothered people with questions all the time till I figured it out.
But yes! That’s exactly what an agent is: an agent submits your books directly to publishers. If you google a lot of publisher websites (ones like HarperCollins and Random House and Penguin) they’ll be like “no unsolicited manuscripts”. An agent cuts through that. They have contacts in the publishing world and they know editors and they know where to pitch your book and how to make it sound delicious. AND YUS. My agent is so enthusiastic about my book. Like, up until I signed with her, I never had anyone “get” my book like she did. IT WAS SO EXCITING. *flails*
Okay, but to be honest…I don’t want to say “publishers change your books!” but I will cautiously say…if you want to make a career from traditional publishing, yes, you do need to fit in with what publishers want. I feel like a lot of people think this is a great sin. Like **gasp** you’re changing yourself for the market! But it’s not really like that. It’s more like you could waltz into a job interview at a clothes store and be wearing work boots and a hard hat and they’re going to think you’re nuts.
I personally did change my book (that’s currently with my agent) a lot, but a lot of the things we changed I was the one who wanted to do it!! I was never happy with it, but now? I’M REALLY HAPPY. And it’s so so incredible to have a professional (my agent used to be an editor, too,) give you advice to make your book absolutely brilliant. *hyperventilates*
Zomg, so I’ve basically written a little novel in reply. XD I hope this made sense?!
I was going to comment yesterday and spout off all sorts of happy congratulations at making your blog so wonderful and leaving the toddler years behind.
Instead I stayed up all night long and helped my best friend, who also happens to be my sister-in-law, welcome one of the most precious and amazing humans into the world.
I am currently holding this breathtaking bundle in my arms as I read your blog and try to keep her from practicing using her lungs so her mama can sleep.
So, from both of us, “Happy Blog Anniversary!”
And, my little sweet niece is very happy to almost share a birthday with your blog. Only, she’s seven hours and eleven minutes old, not four years and several days… 😉
All this to say:
Well done, Cait, on your amazing blog!
OMGGG CONGRATULATIONS, AUNTIE LYDIA!!!! Awwwwww. *whispers* What’s her name?! Babies are soooo cute. XD I have two new nieces now, like both are under 1 month old. SO CUTE. So small and pink and squishy. *flails*
Aww, thank you! Her name (which I couldn’t write before because they hadn’t announced it to the rest of the family) is Clara Jeanne, the Jeanne part is after our grandma. I’ve spent the whole day with her which has been amazing.
I also have a nephew who’s just a little over a month old but I haven’t met the darling yet.
You really should post more about your adorable little nieces and nephews. Posts about your life are so much fun!
OHHH SO CUTEEEE!!! My sister called her daughter Juniper Claire. Claire and Clara are SO SIMILAR THOUGH. And their initials are like swapped. :O That’s so weird but amazing and incredibly cute. XD And I totally should show pictures! Except every time I hold Juniper she cries. -_- I think this might have to do with the fact I always accidentally call her Jupiter?! I DON’T KNOW. I might be mildly dyslexic or something, lol. I’ve started calling her “Jupey” and now all the kids are doing it and it’s quite hilarious because…it’s completely wrong. XD
If you’re looking for new photo editing software, Windows Gallery and Gimp are actually pretty good…and FREE, which to me is super important. I use WG for all my general editing (brightness, sharpness, color saturation, etc.), and I use Gimp for any errors that need fixing (background gaps, foreground wrinkles, crumbs I missed on the plate, etc.). WG is really user friendly, but Gimp takes some tutorial watching to learn how to use certain tools.
I used to use gimp on my windows…is there gimp for mac? I probably should look into it again and then learn how to use it PROPERLY. I used to make fantasy maps on gimp because I’m a dork like that. xD
This could be it, though I’d check to make sure none of the links have anything funky attached: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14597/gimp
SUCH A LONG POST. But good, always good.
I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, but I thought that was about the pastry chef in me, not the writer in me. MAYBE IT’S BOTH. Now I have a double excuse to go. And I’m a binge -writer too. Sorta. It really depends. Sometimes I follow the rules and write nicely for the same amount of time every day. THEN I finish a novel. And I don’t write for months. Then when I start again, I will do a week of 5,000 words a day and get to the middle and then I go back to following the writing rules.
YES I KNOW. I nearly broke it in two but I thought you guys might get a bit sick of me after a while. hehe.
DOUBLE EXCUSE. And you’re a pastry chef?! ZOMG YOU’VE BEEN HOLDING OUT ON ME, AINE. Btw, I’m your new best friend and we really need to go to Paris, like, tomorrow and eat pastry. Make it happen, Aine. I believe in you.
I’m not technically a pastry chef YET. But I’m on the waiting list for a pastry program to actually get certified, and I’m constantly baking, and that’s what I want to be, so that’s what I meant. AND I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. EVENTUALLY.
First I need a couple thousand dollars.
BUT YOU’RE CONSTANTLY BAKING. That’s good enough for me. YOU GOTTA MAKE IT HAPPEN. We should steal the moon, sell it, and then fund your pastry chefness and my books. *nods* Let’s do this.
What are some great teen/YA novels with little to none romance?
Ooh, great question. Okay, I really love The Raven Boys because while it DOES have romance, it’s very very low-key since the protagonist is cursed to kill her lover, so she basically doesn’t want a lover. xD
Also I just read Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman. Zilch romance. It’s about schizophrenia.
The Skulduggery Pleasant series is AMAZING and hilarious and dryly witty and there’s no romance in the first few books.
The Maze Runner is pretty non-romantic. There’s a love interest and everything, but they’re all focused on surviving so the romance isn’t big.
There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake = no romance at all. It’s kind of thrillery and a bit WEIRD but I liked it!
The Knife of Never Letting Go doesn’t have a lot of romance either….it’s sort of sci-fi and really really good.
Happy Blogversary! Four years is a big deal!
Awesome answers to all of the questions – I think clone #7 did a good job. Q&A’s are always fun.
Speaking of clones – they would be seriously helpful. One to do school, a couple to help with blogging, one for dealing with my family. And then I could just do whatever I wanted.
So, I’m curious – how many author signing have you been to? Because, I was thinking about this and then I realized that you may not get many signings in Australia. Do you have any major book events is Australia similar to BEA? (I know, totally random question.)
I’m having trouble thinking of a fact about myself, so i’m just going to start saying random stuff.
I run my school book club.
And now for a story. I had been following book bloggers and watching book vloggers for probably around two years. I took me until about two months ago to finally start my own blog (which I now love and am so happy that I did) Cait, you are my favorite blogger and have inspired me a lot. It’s from following fabulous bloggers like yourself that made me want to start my own blog and inspired me to finally just do it. So thank you!
Okay, this comment is way long…so, I’m done now. 🙂
YES. Everyone needs clones. Very specific clones. But seriously, don’t do copies of copies or you’ll end up, like me, with Clone Cait 9. Gah, we don’t talk about it. Like ever.
NONE! No author signings AT ALL. I guess there are some? Like at writer festivals. We have nothing like BEA. We a “version” but it’s completely different and it’s in Sydney so I haven’t been. I don’t live in a major city either, which is sadness, so when interesting things DO happen (like Sarah J Maas, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare are ALL coming to Oz this year!!) I’m too far away to even go. 🙁
FAJDSKLAD YOU MAKE ME BLUSH. ZOMG, OLIVIA! *smushes cake of happiness in your hair* I’m so glad you decided to blog!! Blogging is so freeing and fun and exciting and the possibilities are endless.
You want to be a dragon? You definitely had to meet my brother since he’s obsessed with it too! Anyway, this post is seriously made my day. I’m so bored today, but then I read your post and it makes me laugh!
I have a question : what did you do for fun beside reading and blogging/writing? And you can’t say that you like to sleep since it’s like everyone’s hobby 😉
In exchange for that, here’s a fact about myself : for an Indonesian, I rarely read a book by Indonesian author *hides in shame* I guess it’s because I’m not interested with the plot and I’m used with reading English books.
Once again, happy blogoversary! Great post, Cait <33
I’m unhealthily obsessed with dragons right now. I’M WRITING A BOOK ABOUT DRAGONS. And when I write a book I get so caught up in the topic that everyone just rolls their eyes at me. But draaaagons. AFJDKSL I’M SO GLAD I MADE YOU LAUGH!!! THAT MAKES MY DAY!!
Okay, but, believe it or not…I don’t really have any other hobbies! I like to walk. But does that count as a hobby?! SERIOUSLY ALL I DO IS CENTERED AROUND BOOKS. Photography is a small hobby of mine, but still,…I only take photos of books. -_- I’m very obsessive, apparently.
Oh don’t worry my friend, for an Australian I barely ever read books by Australians. We shall unite in this. XD
HAPPY BLOGVERSARY, CAIT!!! *flings confetti everywhere*
My baby blog will be a year old in just under two weeks! Not sure how I will be celebrating yet… (And thank you for the shout-out in yesterday’s post! I’m very frabjously happy that I found your blog a few years ago because you are just all kinds of awesome and I would very happily be your minion, should you take over the world.)
My dear, dear Cait, how do you possibly expect me to pick only one of your fabulous little book necklaces? YOU HAVE ALL MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES. Pride and Prejudice, Raven Boys, LOTR… GAH! Um… okay, if I HAD to pick just one… I’d probably go with Raven Boys, though I’d be a little scared to wear it in public because of some of the stuff in Raven Boys (explaining that my favorite book has occult stuff in it would be a little awkward…).
Question for you: where is your favorite place to write? My favorite place to write is at my lovely desk (though I need a desk chair because the chair I have makes my back hurt… ah, old age) or on my bed (which is beside my desk and I can still see my lovely bulletin board).
OMG SO YOU KNOW…I was looking at my last year’s post of thanking people, and I totally wrote “thank you to Robyn, you really need to blog you know”. XDXD HAAAH. And now you blog. :’) Life is so good.
I actually originally read, like, 2 pages of The Raven Boys and sent it back because I was like “omg! The occult! I’m too pure for this!” Well. That didn’t last long. -_- I embraced my dark side. And not that anyone asks me what The Raven Boys is about, but I’d explain it as a search for a lost Welsh king. *nods* Because the rest doesn’t really make sense. ZOMG THE BOOK IS SO HARD TO EXPLAIN. It’s about “occults and dead welsh kings and dream manipulation and a girl who exists on yogurt and also death and bee stings and ghosts.” *facepalm*
MY BED. I sometimes write at my desk and try to be professional, but, bah. My bed is on front of the window and looks down this valley and it’s very inspiring and great to stare at when one has writers block. Which is like 89% of the time for me.
YES. I RECALL QUITE WELL! :DD
“Hunt for Welsh King” would definitely be a better way to explain The Raven Boys. 😛 My thing about RB is that if I had read it two or three years ago, I would’ve been scandalized enough to put it down and never pick it up again. Not just from the occult stuff, either.
Most of my writing happens on the bed, in a chair in the family room, or at the dining room table. In fact… I should be editing now. Lovely thing, procrastination is! XD
Ah how we grow and change, right? 😉
Which just proves beds are BEST for writing on. *nods* Except when my little minions come to visit and crowd me off my own bed and I end up writing on the floor. -_- OH YOU PROCRASTINATOR. TUT TUT. 😉
Indeed. My writing content has changed in that time, as well.
I can see how minions could kick you off the bed. XD
I KNOW. *is scolded now*
But I did get three chapters edited between then and now. So, it’s not too bad… (I’m doing plot-edits and two of those chapters didn’t need much, but never mind that!) 🙂
This is amazing, you are amazing, Allegiant is amazing, Amen.
Another question: how do you find such relevant and amazing GIFs? Does it take you hours? I need to know your secrets.
AMAZINGNESS ALL ROUND. With all this amazing I really think we ought to turn into Amazing Spidermen. Spiderwomen. Spiders.
Ohhh, the gifs are hard. Sometimes it DOES take a long time and I feel so guilty that I wrote a post in like 15 minutes and then spent an hour finding gifs. AHHHH. The things I do. xD I usually search for the emotion though, like in google search I go “gif tumblr angry” or something. If I have a theme I’ll go “gif tumblr mulan angry” and see what comes up. I put the “tumblr” in the google search ’cause I feel like it brings up more gifs? Don’t actually know if that’s true or not BUT I TRY. XD
It’s funny, but for some reason I assumed you were near the top of the list for birth order in your family! But I’m probably a bad judge of those sorts of things; I only have one sibling.
It’s also interesting that you say you don’t want to be the sole person in charge of your book. I think that’s a reason why lots of people choose to self-publish: the control! But isn’t it nice that we live in a world where authors can choose which route to publication they’d like to follow?
Well I’m HONOURED. You don’t seem me as the spoiled baby? 😉 Heeeeh. But I really only feel like a middle-child, because my older brother and younger sister and I basically grew up together with the older 3 having already left home. (We have quite a big gap between Child 3 and Child 4.) Middle kids are great. They get away with everything. XD AHEM.
But yes, I know right?! I’ve seen so many people choose self-publishing because of the control and here I am saying “DON’T LET ME BE IN CHARGE. I’LL MESS IT UP.” I think I have self-confidence issues.
I love movies, where things blow up, and A Team is hilarious. You have clones, so that’s how you do it. I was amazed with your consistent blogging, commenting, and the hundreds of books you consume. Mystery solved. 🙂 I want to watch Supernatural, but the 10 season thing is daunting.
And A-Team is so CLEVER. Like their plans?!! SERIOUSLY WHAT. xD I’ve seen that movie like 3 times and I almost never rewatch movies. heeh. Yes, now you can all rest easy knowing my clone secrets. AH, yes, actually S10 wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. They hyped up the finale to be WORSE than S5, but it wasn’t. I’m actually quite okay. *nods semi-psychotically*
It’s like you’re ME talking to MEEEE! (No not really that’d be weird, but close!) Loving ALL of these answers, even though I’m mad at you because WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ASKING QUESTIONS?!
I’m going to ask anyways, even if they’re not gunna be on this page. I need to know:
1) Did you ever try cooking bacon in the oven like I suggested? And
2) How much cake do I need to send to Australia to get a copy of your book?! Also, where can I find what they’re about? You’ve hardly said anything about them since we’ve met! I don’t even know the synopsis! (but I DO know it’s amazing because I love everything you write)
Also, I AM having cake! It’s featured on my blog today (armchair BEA day two- visual expressions) I’d send you the link but that seems pretentious. It seems like there’s only metaphorical cake in my future, but the truth is there is actual REAL cake in my fridge right now! I was going to take a picture with it to brag but my hair refused to be in any sort of public eye. The wisdom of hair. Ho hum.
And happy day two!
I DIIIIIID. Although I probably should’ve asked several times. I asked in my last Weekly recap thingy. Gee, was that like 2 weeks ago? lol I definitely should’ve asked twice. XD BUT YOU CAN MAKE UP FOR IT NOW AND THAT IS GOOD AND GLORIOUS.
1) I did not because I’m lazy and also discovered that my sister can be blackmailed into cleaning pans so…#win
2) WHICH BOOK. I have so many books. OKay, but if you look in my header there’s a row of pages? Like “about” and “Contact” and stuff? Under the “about” there’s a sub-page that says “I write” and if you click on that there’s ALL THE INFO about my books! YAY. Although I’m gonna update it soon because it’s horrifically set out.
*whispers* It’s not pretentious. I shall go straightway to your blog and see this glorious cake. I WANT CAKE. I haven’t had cake in such a long time, actually *sniffles* because I can’t have nuts or flour atm. IT IS TORTURE.
I’m going to check out your book page RIGHT NOW.
I know of a blog that gives recipes for gluten free stuff! (Even though the things that you can substitute them for are the kind of ingredients that will require an adventure to some far away “health” land where few have ever been. (Few Americans, at least.) Also, I can’t find it D:
But I DO know it’s out there! And at your insistence, I will continue my search!
Aww, Danni. XD YOU’RE SO NICE. But don’t worry! I know all about Gluten free. 😉 I have sooo many allergies. BLAH. So atm, I’m Paleo (which means I basically eat meat and veggies and coconut) but HOPEFULLY eventually I can move back to nuts and nuts = cakes. Which would be heavenly. *sigh of deep longing*
I ask very tough questions and I am not sorry. *laughs evilly*
But anyway, I approve of that answer, because lasagna is delicious and I love it as well. So perhaps there’s hope left for our friendship, somehow…
THERE IS HOPE. We can be buds through the trials of difficult questions. *nods*
Awe, thanks Cait so much for answering my question(s). I surely hope to read one of your books someday. So much enjoyment from just your blog posts, I imagine the same would come from your books.
TOOTHLESS, YES TO TOOTHLESS. He’s my main squeeze, so technically you would be my main squeeze 😛
Okay, okay, don’t hate me…I love all things chocolate, literally all, except for chocolate cake.. AH! I mean, I would totally eat it, but I would rather have a vanilla piece. WHATS WRONG WITH ME?! Though, I do agree, the best drink is hot chocolate, yummy in my tummy.
Okay, I’m rambling…but who cares…I have questions…
1. If you could recommend only one book for the rest of your days, which book would it be?
2. What is your biggest fear?
3. Dean or Sam?
So, I’ll give you my answers and that’ll be my facts about muahhhhh…
1. I’d say Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
2. Clowns…hate those things…
3. Dean…he likes food, i like food…it’s inevitable.
Thanks for asking really EPIC questions, Erica!! I will share my half uneaten raw fish with you.
YES. What is wrong with you? LIKE. CAN I EVEN TRUST YOU NOW? YOU ARE SO WEIRD. hehhh. Okay, but since you like hot chocolate I think we can still be friends. *nods* Chocolate is imporant.
1. ZERMAGERSH. That is hard. I seriously want to just whisper Maggie Stiefvater. I think I do recommend her so fiercely anyway. But to pick one of her books?! SO HARD.
2. Being left alone! I KNOW. I’m so cliche. But loneliness sucks. xD
3. DEAN. DUDE. HECK YEAH DEAN. I want to punch him a lot, but his protectiveness over his little brother is just adorable and I’ve always been that way with my little sister so what can I say? We are connected.
OKAY. SO I OFFICIALLY NEED TO READ UGLY LOVE. Since you hate clowns, you are Sam. I am Dean. I shall adopt you.
TOOTHLESSSSSS. .< But seriously, nobody like TOLD me all the ins and outs and dos and don'ts of the book reviewing world! I need there to be like a manual to book-blogging! *flail* I don't even know if this is a question, it's more of a confusion, but if any of that doesn't form itself well into a question, how about: How does you book reviewing process go?)
GLITTER GIFS. Sam is so adorbz even though I haven't watched him. XD
Oh my goodness and I just saw that if I ask a question, which I sort of did, I have to tell you something about me. Meep. Um. Okay, I went on a totally random spontaneous 12-hour roadtrip with my brothers over the weekend, and I was chatting to them about Cait-the-crazy-Australian-book-blogger-girl (seriously, that's what I call you when my family asks who I'm talking about when I'm regaling them with tales of your humor and nefariousness), and then we ended up turning on a lot of Australian country music songs to listen to for the drive because of that. There. That's a thing about me. XD
HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY AGAIIIIIIN. YOU ARE THE BEST. <3
OH NO IT ATE THE MIDDLE OF MY COMMENT GAAAAHHH. Sorry, just ignore that. -_- Here it is again:
TOOTHLESSSSSS. He’s the most adorable ever and I want one.
Big books scare me too. O_O KINDRED SPIRITS
YOUR GOODREADS IS THE BEST. Also it’s so fun to stalk your
Lasagna is totally one of the best things EVAR. Basically everything Italian and/or noodley.
CLONES. Suddenly your absurd productivity makes sense. XD (For real though. HOW. O_O)
Thanks for the awesome answer to the ARC question! (I actually have a related ish question too. *shifty eyes* You talk about turning in reviews to the publishers and I’m now so confused because I’ve only ever gotten a few books to review, but I mostly asked the authors, but I read the book and then put up reviews on all the big review sites and my blog, BUT AM I SUPPOSED TO LIKE EMAIL IT TO THE PUBLISHER TOO AND IF SO HOW?? AND WHAT. I’M SO CONFUSED. -_- Ahem. I’m probably just totally clueless. *sigh* I need there to be like a manual to book-blogging! *flail* But if that’s not clear enough as a question, more of a confusion, how about: what’s your book receiving/reading/reviewing process like?)
GLITTER GIFS. Sam is so adorbz even though I haven’t watched him. XD
Oh my goodness and I just saw that if I ask a question which I sort of did, I have to tell you something about me. Meep. Um. Okay, I went on a totally random spontaneous 12-hour roadtrip with my brothers over the weekend, and I was chatting to them about Cait-the-crazy-Australian-blogger-girl (seriously, that’s what I call you when my family asks who I’m talking about when I’m regaling them with tales of your humor and nefariousness), and then we ended up turning on a lot of Australian country music songs because of that. There. That’s a thing about me. XD
HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY AGAIIIIIIN. YOU ARE THE BEST. <3
*stalk your Goodreads reading challenge, I meant to say.
(Sorry, I think my computer hates me today. -_-)
AHHH YOU MAKE ME SMILE SO MUCH.
Okay! I SHALL ANSWER. Although, tbh, you don’t need a book blogging manual because I personally believe there’s no wrong way to do it 😉 So do you get books to review FROM publishers? If you win a book or read a book from the library or buy it yourself you DO NOT need to send to publishers. The whole I-go-an-ARC-now-I-must-review-it-and-give-feedback-to-publishers is because they’re paying you (with a book, not money) for the publicity space on your blog. If you don’t get the book for free from them, you don’t own ’em anything. Make sense?
But if you have gotten a review from the publishers, then yes, it’s nice to email them a link to the review. (That’s how we do it in Oz anyway.) If you don’t have an email address for the publicity, just cruise around in the contacts on their website. Email the person that has “publicity” in the email address. And you can always tweet the publisher the link too (just tag them with the @ sign). That could count as emailing I think? GAH. I DON’T KNOW. Sometimes I do that and forget to email. >.>
sO YEAH. Totally ask me anything! I DON’T MIND. Although I think this answer was more confusing than anything.
AFSFJSDKL YoU TALK ABOUT ME? ERMAGERSH. I FEEL SERIOUSLY HONOURED RIGHT NOW. *squishes my little Deborah friend* But I think instead of “crazy” you meant to say “extraordinarily incredible and perfect”. *nods* I’m sure that was just a typo on your behalf, yes.
Here’s a fun fact about me: I’VE NEVER LISTENED TO AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY MUSIC. How is it?? XD
CAIT I HAVE FOUND SOMEONE ELSE WHO HATED 13 REASONS WHY! I read it a long time ago, but from what I remember I really wasn’t impressed and thought that the whole shtick of it was stupid and very mean. Also, the Mushu and Crickee GIF is everything. And Maggie Stiefvater IS queen.
WELL, THANK YOU, MALLORY. WE REALLY NEED TO UNITE IN THIS BECAUSE WE ARE SUCH A 13 REASONS WHY MINORITY. That book made me so physically sick I didn’t read for like a week because I despaired of humanity. o.O Luckily that’s never happened again, but, ugh.
*flails for Maggie Stiefvater*
AH! SO MANY QUESTIONS. I loved reading your answers to these questions, Cait. I can totally relate to not wanting to self publish because it is so much work to gain credibility. I once considered self publishing because before I didn’t know that it was possible for a normal person to just publish a book. (I know; I was really weird before.) Now that I know that pretty much all authors started out as just normal people who cold queried agents, I do aspire to traditional publishing. With self publishing there’s so much added stress, and it’s so difficult to market. I mean, it’s difficult to get published in any way, but I think both are worth it in their own ways.
Pfft, you weren’t weird. When I was 12 I honestly thought if one wanted to publish a book, they printed it and took it to a bookshop and THEY sold it. -_- I was…not the most knowledgable 12-year-old. (I think I read School Story and finally got an education on publishing, haha.) ANYWAY. The credibility scares me. There are a lot of badly published books out there that’ve really dragged the term “self-publishing” through the mud, which is sad.
I was going to ask questions, but it looks like everybody asked all the things I wanted to know. I especially wanted to know what you use to edit: your edits on PicMonkey look so much more professional than mine! It’s so impressive and pretty, and I’m always super impressed with the graphics you use.
Thanks for sharing so much about you, though. Your style of answering questions is smile-worthy. 😀
The secret to edition on Picmonkey is to brighten everything and then contrast everything…although careful on the contrast not to make it too wild…but when the colours pop?! THAT IS LIFE. Although, tbh, I really wish I could edit on photoshop or something. People can make photos look sooooo amazing.
Thanks for answering my questions:) Mmm, cake sounds really good right now!
Thanks for asking!! They were all such fun questions!!
BWaHAHAhA at your answers, totally made my day. I was laughing under the covers when I read them before my brother called me a freak.. Anyway, the questions you have gotten are hilarious too especially Aimee’s. It’s great how your personality shows through your writing. Awesome post!
WELL. YOUR BROTHER SOUNDS LIKE MY BROTHER. XD Heh, either way YOU ARE NOT A FREAK. You are fabulous. And it secretly makes me dance like a platypus that this made you laugh! YAY.
Cait, you are hilarious. (And you’re probably like, “Tell me something I don’t know.” XDDD) I almost laughed out loud at the one about dropping nieces/nephews on their heads to establish healthy distrust, which would’ve been awkward because I’m in a library…
I have a random question to add, yes: what’s your medieval/fantasy weapon of choice?
Hmm, tell you something about myself, you say? …….. Well, if I were to answer that question about weapons, I’d pick a bow. (And NO, Katniss Everdeen did not influence that choice.) I doubt I’m strong enough to swing a sword, and something about clubs and maces and other bludgeoning things seems awfully cruel. Which is kind of ridiculous, because so’s a blade or flurry of arrows. >.<
Anyways, awesome birthday bash! Loved both yesterday's post and today's! 😀
DRAGON. that’s a medieval weapon right? Okay, I swear I don’t usually have dragon obsessions. Just today apparently (Pfft, I’m plotting a dragon book so that’s totally why I’m like this.) Irritating yet loveable. That’s me. :’)
Anyway. BOWS ARE COOL, THOUGH. I don’t think I could stab someone’s face, but shoot ’em from a distance? I could do that. #braveCait
Of course that counts! I love dragons. (And you’re plotting a dragon book? Awesome!) ^^
Yep, exactly. It’s a tiny bit less scary. XD
Oh my goodness, these GIFs are absolutely glorious. I love them.
Thanks for answering my questions 🙂 oh! I actually have one more. Who is your favourite (or one of your favourite) characters in Percy Jackson & the Olympians? I like Percy. But then I like Annbabeth. And Thalia. And oh I love so many characters I just can’t choose!
When you become ruler of the world, I’ll be happy. Sounds like a good time.
And good choice of avenger. I like iron man too. But I love all the avengers actually…
ZERMAGERD. That’s hard. I’ll cheat and say I adore Percy…but to be less obvious…I actually like Luke. I’m unsure if this is because movie-Luke is adorable or because I like misguided villains. But Luke…he really didn’t mean it. *cries for Luke*
Oh my gosh, I seriously just love this post. There’s just SO much I could talk about here that I’m not going to because I’m kind of tired! Haha, HOWEVER, you killed me when you had like three questions in a row and answered them all by talking about clones. xD That was awesome.
You have a TON of siblings, that’s insanity. How do you live? 😉 Just kidding! I love the advice you gave about blogging and discussion ideas.
Also, you have an agent? What in the world? Haha, I wasn’t sure if you were serious when you said that.
You are quite astounding with your ability to read, write, comment, make jewelry, blog, interact and still get sleep. 🙂 <3 Teach me.
Anyway, HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY DAY 2.
I tooootally cheated, didn’t I? BLAME CLONE CAIT 7. IT IS NOT MY FAULT. *glares at wayward clones*
Well, tbh, only my little sister and I live at home and only 1 of my oldest sisters lives in our town. SO IT’S OKAY. They’re all so weird though, so, yes.
YES I’M SERIOUS!! I’m actually agented and on subs to publishers!! *crosses fingers and toes and eyes*
Yay, you answered my question! Unfortunately, I don’t like the answer. Based on how much I (and everyone else) like reading your blog, I can only assume that I would also like your books. I very much hope that you will be published one day and that the day will be sooner (a.k.a tomorrow) rather than later.
FANGIRL FANGIRL FANGIRL. Everyone should read Fangirl. Also, please become a dragon.
My next question is whether you still need beta readers sometimes (I’m assuming you already have a million offers, but it doesn’t hurt to ask). I’m also curious to know where in Australia you live, not because I’m a creeper, but because I’ve always had a mild to extreme obsession with Australia and have visited twice.
Let’s see…the first time I went to Australia was with my parents at age 11, and I can’t even tell you how excited I was to be there. It was quite literally a dream come true, and I loved every second of it. We started in Queensland, spent a few days on Lady Elliot Island, stayed with friends (whom we met in an airport in Greece several years earlier) in Canberra, stayed with other friends in Adelaide, and spent a few days on Kangaroo Island (OH MY GOD, AMAZING). I saw nearly every wild animal on my list.
I then spent 6 weeks in Australia when I was 16. The first 4 1/2 were spent informally interning at a veterinary clinic in Toowoomba. I met the family on Lady Elliot Island during my first trip to Australia. I also went back to visit the friends in Canberra. It was a much different trip than the first one, and I’m still somewhat traumatized by the day I spent at a private school in Toowoomba. Did you go to a public or a private school, or were you homeschooled? (Oh no, that’s another question! Okay, I’m left-handed, and it’s the BEST THING EVER.)
I’m not sure if that counts as one or two things about myself, so I’ll add that (obviously) I’m not afraid of strangers. BUT they have to be completely anonymous strangers in places that aren’t my home. I have no problem exchanging addresses with these strangers, inviting them to stay with me, or going to stay with them. On the other hand, I’m terrible at meeting new people/peers where I live. I turn into a bumbling, awkward mess.
Uh oh, I thought of another question. I have a feeling you’re going to regret opening up the floor…
Can we be pen pals? Either with real letters, which are awesome, or by email, which is slightly less exciting. I feel like I always have too much to say when I comment on your posts, and I miss getting letters from my Aussie friends. There was always lots of glitter involved.
Like you, I am much more loquacious. I never know what to say in real life.
I DIDN’T LIKE THAT ANSWER EITHER. *cries for self and for world* Seriously the world is so missing out on my fabulousness in book form. HEAVY SIGH. But one day? Puh-lease, universe….
Ahem.
OKAY SO
a) beta reader: I don’t actually have any…because I rarely get to draft 2s where things are safe to read, HAHA. BUT LIKE WHEN I DO GET THERE, I shall ask for tributes, I promise. x)
b) New South Wales! Heh, I trust you’re not a creeper. YOU ARE TOO FABULOUS, TBH. I live like 4 hours away from Brisbane even though I’m in NSW. I don’t like Sydney. o.O Too many people.
c) MY FAMILY USED TO LIVE IN TOOWOOMBA. Like, way before my time though. And I’ve never been to Canberra. *sniffles* I’ve been to Beijing for crying out loud BUT NOT MY OWN CAPITAL CITY. There is something severely wrong here.
d) I went to a Christian private school for like 10 weeks in Grade 2. THAT’S IT. In my family I win the award for least time spent in school. xD (My mum was really sick for a while there, that’s why.)
e) DUDE THE PEN PAL THING SOUNDS REALLY FUN, ACTUALLY. Although believe it or not I’m awful at communication BUT HEY WE SHOULD TRY THIS. YOU ARE TOO AWESOME AND I WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND.
I can understand why you don’t want to self-publish, though. It doesn’t sound very fulfilling.
Hey, that’s cool! Toowoomba was a pretty normal place, but it has a completely fantastic name. I’ve never been to NSW or Sydney. There are definitely places in NSW I’d like to visit (I’m in love with the name “Melbourne”), but Sydney has never made my list. It seems like a city I could visit anywhere, and I’m not particularly fond of opera, anyway.
At least you know Canberra’s your capital! I hope that’s not unusual in an Australian, though. I think I’m one of five people in the States who realizes Sydney isn’t your capital, haha. Canberra was really nice, though, and our friends took us to an amazing nature park. I think it burned down a couple years after we were there, unfortunately. I keep telling everyone I know to visit Australia before it burns or floods away. 🙁
I’m sorry that your mom was sick. (I hope she’s okay now?) I’m glad you survived school, though! The public school I visited in Canberra was wonderful, but the private school kids in Toowoomba were SO MEAN. I felt like I was in the movie Mean Girls. I swear the girls were unintentionally directly quoting it. Also, the kids were absolutely horrible to their teachers, not just their peers. I couldn’t believe it. I guess you can’t tell me if that’s normal for Australian schools, but WOW.
I don’t see your email on your blog, so I will DM you mine on Twitter, and then if you trust me with your address, I will send you a letter! 😀
Pfft, you’re doing well. I’ve been asked why Australians speak English, what part of Europe we’re in, and why our weather is “backward”. -_- *despairs for humanity* DUDE WE’RE NOT GOING TO BURN AWAY! Flood, probably yes. Burn, nah.
ZOMG! Sounds scary!! haha! I guess everyone in Year 2 are still too nice to know how to be mean girls?! I don’t even know, I’ve always been socially clueless. xDXD
I GOT YOUR DM AND I WILL RESPOND ASAP!!
People can be so ignorant sometimes. *sighs* At risk of sounding ignorant myself, is Australia not plagued by massive fires anymore? I thought that was a huge problem! Or have the floods just replaced the fires?
Socially clueless is definitely preferable to spiteful and horrible.
Oh we do get fires! WE DO. It’s just seasonal. Like we’ll burn before Christmas and then flood after Christmas. Flooding is more common where I live. Like LOTS of flooding. And fires are more common down south.
I love learning about your fabulousness, Cait. But are you sure you want to be a dragon? I can arrange that, but you need to know that there’s no turning back. At least then you can be the supreme dragon queen of the world!
Anyway, here’s a fact about me: I’m one of queen Cait’s most loyal minions 😉
My question: What would you do if cake suddenly became illegal?
I AM READY FOR THIS LIFE COMMITMENT. I will be fire. I will be death. That is a fabulous fact, though, I highly approve. I would eat cake illegally, of course.
I’ve always wondered how you get so much done Cait – reading, writing, commenting, etc. Now I know your secret about being a clone and I don’t feel so unproductive – LOL.
And gah…I can’t wait for the day when you become published. Just from reading all your posts over the years (ha…this makes me sound so old) I can just tell that you really have an amazing way of implementing personality into your writing. That’s so hard to do, and you do it easily; and you can tell that because of that your characters will be amazing.
And ooh! I have a good question for you! Which Hogwarts House, Camp Half-Blood cabin, Divergent faction and Hunger Games district would you live in?
YES. I’m only human. It’s just I’m lots of humans. It’s so efficient of me, tbh. PFFFT YOU FEEL OLD? I FEEL OLD. XD I feel like I’m a little blogging veteran or something, because everyone I meet has only been going for a year or two. hehe. Awww, thank you. XD But seriously, look at my older posts. It’s like a wooden plank wrote them. *shudders* WAIT. DON’T LOOK AT THEM. Ugh.
OH THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION. OKAY!
Hogwarts: I’m Slytherin. Are you surprised? 😉
Camp Half Blood: I think I got Athena in my test, and idek if it sounds right, but I would like to be sisters with Annabeth. XD
Divergent: um…Erudite. *hides*
Hunger Games: WHICH DISTRICT HAS WIFI?
thanks for answering my questions! The zombie apocalypse (may be ) coming and WE MUST BE PREPARED. Gosh, your family is huge! I have to say that having three siblings is quite unusual to a lot of people but your family takes the cake (okay you can take all the cake). I have cousins who are in a family of 8 and it is an awful lot of fun when we see them:). More people to play boardgames, am I right? (I’m guessing that you like Risk) My last question is: Do you like to dance? I totally do. Hmm, I should probably tell you a few things about myself because you answered all my questions: I like instant coffee much better than real coffee. My school holidays start today. I learnt how to make ginger beer yesterday. I love mountains. I am much taller (okay like 6 centimetres) than my sister Shar. Autumn is my favourite season.
There we go! And happy blogoversary (again) Cait!!
YES WE MUST BE PREPARED! I’m stocking up on books and peanut butter also. *nods* haah, we do take the cake. We take ALL THE CAKE. Most of my siblings are grown up and have kids now, though, so there are like 5 (soon to be 6) babies running around and it’s quite scary. I dread Christmases. XD
BAHHH. I never ever ever have danced. Okay, maybe I’ve done a little wiggle with my niece while we sing some insanely annoying baby ditty, but that’s about it. hehe. I admire people who dance though! IT LOOKS FUN. I just can’t move. No, literally. I cannot move to dance. hah.
**gasps** INSTANT COFFEE??! SHANTI. NO.
Yay for holidays though!! Holidays are the best, tbh. And someone needs to make me ginger beer because zomg, that’s the best drink in the world (apart from hot chocolate). Does Shar glare at you for being taller, though? That’s the REAL question. I’m 2cm taller than my younger sister. I live in mortal dread that she’ll get vengeful and outgrow me. :O
Very, very fabulous idea for celebrating your blogoversary, but then again I expected nothing less from the Future Emperor of the Universe. 😉
I totally feel you about the negative reviews thing, though. I don’t think I apologize (basically admitting here that I don’t proofread my reviews, oops), but I still feel HORRIBLE when I write negative ones. Which happens more often than not, because I’m such a picky reader. The only time I don’t feel guilty is when the book was really shitty and kind of deserved it. It’s happened, heh.
And whoo boy, I feel so relieved after reading that you enjoyed Allegiant! I’ve seen way too many negative reviews for that one, and I’m re-reading Insurgent right now in preparation for what will hopefully be an epic finale. I already got spoiled on what will happen to a certain someone (WHY DO SPOILERS EVEN EXIST *shakes fist at sky*) but I’m still interested. That’s a good sign, right? Right. I have more faith in the Divergent trilogy now thanks to you. 😀
Okay, of all the things you could have answered, I so totally did not expect clones. How did I not expect that?! I should have seen it coming! Now you need to tell me how you made those clones in the first place, so I can do the same and show everyone how efficient I am and how I’m definitely not a lazy pain-in-the-butt!
We come for the cake and stay for the crazy Cait clones. 😉
*commences emperorish bow* WHY THANK YOU, MEGAN. XD And we, as picky readers, need unite! *whispers* I sometimes am a bit harsh on negative books too, I think, because I’ve just read so many INCREDIBLE ones that it’s so so hard to stay calm and nice when a book is just blah. 😐 I maybe just wrote a bit of a rant for the last book I read. GAH. I CAN’T HELP IT SOMETIMES.
Spoilers are AWFUL. My sister looked over my shoulder for the review I’d just written and saw all my spoilers!!! >_.>
Phewie that sure is a lot of questions, but I love how you answered them all. Some seriously, some not. I do think it is amazing how much you read, and how high your productivity levels can be! I think mine are pretty high too but since I do so much other stuff sometimes finding time to write can be harder than I think. Especially with all the reading. How do you find the balance?
One thing about me in exchange of course! Hm… well I was eating spaghetti yesterday and I had one plate for the meat part and one plate with the actual spaghetti and cheese in it. I have weird ways of eating food and I am not a huge fan of combining stuff xD Yep, just weird like that 😛
I KNOW! Gah! It was probably too much for one post (I like to keep posts shorter than this. >_<) but I figured I should just get it all out the way before you guys get sick of me tossing cake around. 😉 Gah, I have no idea how to balance things. I really don't. For instance, I haven't written very much at all this year because I've been too focused on reading. 😐
YOU'RE NOT WEIRD. I AM LIKE THAT TOO. I would so rather have all my food separately. I always have to eat off the same plate, though, so we can be odd together. 😉
Yay! Happy Blogversary to youuuuuuuu! You are one of my favorite bloggers Cait, and I will totally support your plan of world domination. (Ofcourse, I’ll only be even more willing if you offer me cake…) XD EESH, the book covers are all so beautifully gorgeous… I’d have to say my favorite is The Lord of the Rings or The Book Thief.
AWWWWW. *flails and blushes and squishes you in a hug* OF COURSE I WILL GIVE YOU CAKE. LOTS OF CAKE.
Something about me… um… I’m currently a bookseller. But before that (and the job I had before that), I studied Journalism at uni. And before that I studied Cosmetic Make-Up and Beauty Consultancy. Neither really fit me. But I discovered the love of writing, and so now I blog! 🙂
So you loved Allegiant (which I have yet to read… I didn’t know there was a sad ending. Oh dear.) and loved it. But when have you most disliked an author for the things s/he did to their characters? 🙂
Also, can one of your clones move to the UK? I think you should come to some of our UKYA blogger events, it would be fun! You could bring cake to #PicnicYA!
DUDE YOU HAVE DONE SO MUCH!!! Bookselling sounds epic though. My dream is to own a small bookstore, one day, and also a cafe, and like sell bookish food (like Harry Potter drinks and Turkish delight and Iron Man cupcakes. IDON’T KNOW BUT IT’LL BE SO AWESOME.) *nods*
Ohhh, I hate George RR Martin and I’m only on book 2 of his!! >_< But I think he's pretty much a hating-author-given. hehe. So probably Sarah J Maas. ZOMG THE THINGS SHE PUT CELAENA THROUGH AND NOW SHE'S TORTURING THE OTHER CHARACTERS AND WAAHH. MY BABIES. *hyperventilates*
Oh for sure, I should definitely send a clone to the UK. It can be my UK representative and learn to speak with a British accent because I won't lie, that'd be awesome. I'll send the clone that's best at making cake. *nods*
Haha, it doesn’t feel like I’ve done much. Bookselling isn’t bad, but the shelving can get monotonous. If you get a bookshop, make it a nice small one than a huuuge store! I am loving the sound of the bookish cafe, though! That’s amazing! You could decorate it with book cover posters and your origami! You could sell character’s favourite food! I’m going to stop imagining your dream now, I’m getting hungry. But I would come to Australia just to do to that bookshop and cafe! 🙂
I’ve yet to read anything in the Throne of Glass series. >.> But cool answer! I am intrigued!
I am looking forward to meeting your soon-to-be-living-in-the-UK clone! 😉
YES YOU MUST COME TO AUSTRALIA TO SEE MY BOOKSHOP WHEN IT IS BORN. I love organising books, though. I think I was born to work in a library stacking shelves or something. xD
8000 words though. I *THINK* the most I did on one day was 6000 and I about collapsed afterwards and it was only on that one day. I do have another question: ARE YOU HUMAN?
I guess I have to tell you something about myself now. Iron Man is also my favorite Avenger, but sometimes I want to hit him over the head. Which is probably part of his charm.
I totally get you on the swiss cheese memory. Sometimes i go back to something I’ve written a while ago and I’m like …when the hell did I write that? Is it good?? How does it end? THE SUSPENSE. 😀
I WROTE 18,000-WORDS IN ONE DAY ONCE. I was not human. My hands ached so badly the next day. I think I lost like 9 trillion braincells, hence I had to make more clones because the original me is like a puddle. ANYWAY. Yus. Big word counts are killer. 😉
Tis true. His charm is that he’s often awful. BUT IT’S JUST A FRONT. :’) He’s awful because he cares too much.
I wrote a post on the same subject twice, got it all edited up and scheduled and then though…hey maybe I have written about this before. I searched my blog and YUP. I had. -_- HEHE. But I do that with my books too! I’m constantly sitting there going, “Woah. Great twist. Didn’t see that coming at all.” XDXD
Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!!!! Just another reason you’re great – that’s my favourite, too. Ben & Jerry’s to be exact. Slovenia is weird about ice cream (pfft artisanal and made from free-range eggs or something?) so I can only buy it at 1 store in town – which is probably cool because otherwise I’d eat it all. the. time.
Thanks for answering my question! 🙂
*mouth waters all over keyboard* ZOMG YOU’RE MAKING ME CRAVE THAT GLORIOUS STUFF.
Boo hiss! Captain America all the way!
WHAT? AMBER. NO.
Thank you for indulging my curiosity Cait! Hahah I just love finding out new information about my bloggy friends, y’all are just so interesting okay. Loved reading your answers (:
We all want to be Toothless, let’s be honest. I mean who wouldn’t want to be the cutest dragon in all of existence?? Yeah, exactly. Lol living in Australia seems so amazing to me, but I suppose a large part of that is because I don’t live there myself. Like I’m sure some (crazy coughhh) person probably thinks Canada is some completely interesting place. Being one of the most impatient people ever I definitely feel you on the waiting struggle. Alfkjdlksfjsdlkjfsl, and especially when there’s nothing you can really do about it.
We should become movie bffs BECAUSE ALL OF THE MOVIES YOU’VE LISTED FOR YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE (what an impossible question tbh) are SO AMAZING AND GREAT. And wtf favorite food!? Clearly the people asking these questions adore watching you struggle :p Lasagna is pretty good girl! Definitely a favorite of mine too. I just love pasta and cheese and meat and everything and food <33 Oooooo you used to have a travel blog?? Haha, secret time over here- I've been toying around with the idea of making a travel blog myself. And you have CLONES??? …..Makes sense [; Really though, I have no idea how you do everything you do. You're like a blogging superhero tbh.
Cookie dough icecream is amazing because of the cookie dough. Cookie dough <33 Always better than the cookies. I've been to Paris! But not China oh my god, bet that was amazing. Let's make a deal, you tour me around China and I'll tour you around Paris [; And glad you know I only comment on your blog because of cake. Good thing we got that straightened out. Hahaha! Obviously kidding, I comment because you're fab and basically my fave.
<33 again loved reading this girl
I will be honest and agree with you: WE ALL WANT TO BE TOOTHLESS. Dragon adorableness. We can split half eaten raw fish together. #ultimatefriendship BUT TOO TRUE. I think Canada is interesting!! I think we all think other countries are more interesting than our own…grass is greener on the other side?! lol I don’t think I’d want to live anywhere except Australia BUT YEAH. It’s just normal and average. *shrugs*
ZOMG. WE HAVE EPIC MOVIE TASTE THEN OBVIOUSLY. AND YES, EVERYONE LIKES TO BE MEAN TO ME. BUT AT LEAST I’M A GOOD SPORT. I’m like 1/4 Italian, so all the delicious pasta food is like in my heritage. I NEEEEEED IT. And, in fact, I wrote this post and that night we had lasagna, so mega win there. My mum can read minds. ^-^
OKAY. IT’S A DEAL. Paris is going to rock when we’re there. *nods* CROISSANTS AND EIFFEL TOWERS HERE WE COME. I shall probably lose you in China because, let’s face it, a “small” crowd is like nine billion million trillion people. *hyperventilates*
I love this post!! I love learning more about you. You are awesome. And Paris is AMAZING!! I went for my honeymoon. I am also living in Italy right now so I have been able to travel back there. It is one of my favorite cities ever.
I SERIOUSLY NEED TO GO TO EUROPE. I want to go to Holland and see the tulips too. Basically I have a huge bucket list….someone make me a famous author so I can go on tour. HEHEHEE.
YOU WENT TO CHINA! I WENT TO CHINA TOO! What did you do there? Yes, very noisy. Sometimes I feel like going back but… I need to rest a little more first.
YAY FOR CHINA!!!! My sister used to live there (an older sister not the one I used to blog with hehe) and we went to visit. Basically we spent 3/4 of the time in Nanning. (Gee I hope I spelt it right.) And it was INCREDIBLE because we were doing more of the touristy stuff at street level (so like the local markets and things) and the food was so good. We did Beijing too, though, so the Forbidden City and the Wall and the gardens and fjadlskad it was pretty darn amazing.
BUT SO MANY PEOPLE. :O
Aww, thank you for answering my questions, Cait! I have twice as many siblings as you. 🙂 Well, I’m the second of ten. Oh dear, sorry for giving you an embarrassing question! I definitely do not write fiction every day either.
Something about me: I prefer spending a weekend in my room with my things than going on an expensive vacation to Italy. 🙂
ANOTHER question for you: Do you have a day job? Will you have one? Are you studying anything? (Anything besides being a fantabulous, kind blogger, that is!)
I LOVE your wit. 🙂
~ Naomi
WOAH. DUDE. REALLY?!!! That’s a lot of siblings!!! Also, yes, I would prefer to live in my room instead of travelling too. *nods* There’s not even a contest there.
I work for myself atm (because I have some health issues, which is sucky) so basically I run an etsy store and freelance a bit online and nanny. I studied childcare for a bit but decided it’s probably not my forte. lol
It’s so crazy. I live near Frankfurt and if I want, i can take the train and be in three or four hours in Paris. When thinking about you living in Australia it feels so near haha. Even if I never was in Paris and …. uhm don’t know. It’s not that I DON’T want to see Paris, but there are so many places I would rather be. I can’t talk French, because I choose Latin in school. And I’m so happy because I had the choice between French and Paris and Latin and Rom. So I was in Rom this month and I think it was absolutly the right choice. I can’t understand why everybody seems so obsessed with Paris :DD
And 5 siblings … that’s a lot. For ma as a lonelychild (?) without siblings it would be horror haha. And then all the clones around you – it must be crazy and very loud the whole day 😀
At least you can be very happy you have so much time for read. I’m not a slowly reader, but the school and friends and all of these stuffs take so much time. And series. I’m so in love with series that I nearly can’t spend a day without them 😮
ZOMG YOU LIVE LIKE 4 HOURS FROM PARIS AND HAVEN’T BEEN?!!!! *flails* We live 4 hours from the biggest city closest to us and we go all the time. hehe. Australia is SO BIG and everything in Europe is so close together. xD I’m jealous. ROOOOOMEEEEE!!! LUCKY YOU. I SHALL JUST BE HERE POUTING IN MY JEALOUSY. hehe. 😉 Just kidding!
I am never lonely with my clones, that’s for sure.
Oh my god, four hours away from your next big city? And I thought I would be a villagechild (best translation ever :D)! It would be so annoying to live so far away from like everything.
But for me Paris is far away, even if it’s only four hours in real. But go to Paris is going in vacation and it’s not like that I’m traveling around all the time.
Oh yes, Rome was so wonderful! Good weather, sun all the time, perfect summer holidays. Because this WAS my summer holidays because I always stay at home in summer, we never go to travel.
Loved reading all of your responses, Cait!!
Yay!!! I AM SO PLEASED.
DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAAAAAAAAAN?
Also. Iron Man is everything.
I’ll totally bribe you with all the cake you want to read your books. *cough cough*
I LOVED READING THIS EVEN THOUGH I CAN’T TAKE A LOT OF THESE ANSWERS SERIOUSLY.
YES I DO WANNA BULID A SNOWMAN ACTUALLY. WE WILL THROW MAGICAL SNOWBALLS TOGETHER.
What. What do you mean you can’t take the answers seriously? I WAS NOTHING IF NOT PERFECTLY HONEST. Except for, ya know, one or two answers. Or maybe 80%. Idek. I think the entire post is probably suspicious, personally. BLAME THE CLONES.
Awesome answers! Very Cait-like. XD I must say I am quite excited to start blogging at the end of the year, gsh I don’t even know what my first posts will be, I think I’ll just end up fangirling A LOT. And probably putting lots of images and edits and general fangirling on it. 😀 Basically, your blog is my inspiration because of how fun t is to read it! I hope my blog becomes almost as fun one day! (but I’ll leave the supreme ruling of the world to you) 😀
ALSO YAY I AM NOT ALONE IN THE WORLD I LOVED ALLEGIANT TOO!!!! (And sobbed so much, but you already know how much of an emotional person I am, unlike CaitVulcan.)
Something about me: I love reading blogs, but I don’t always have time, and then I binge read them and spend 4 hours commenting, also I always thank the blogger because writing posts takes TIME and EFFORT and yes. I just like to appreciate that. Also, I’m sure I will understand more when I start my own blog later in the year. 😀 (’tis an exciting process!)
MY QUESTION TIME!!! *mwuhahahaha* How much time do you spend blogging/reading books/blogs each day?
Thanks for sharing and Happy Blogversary again!!!!
xoxo
I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL YOU START BLOGGING!! I SHALL BE THERE TO FLAIL WITH YOU. Why thank you though. *commences majestic hair flip* There can only be one world ruler after all. But OF COURSE your blog is going to be fun and wonderful. I believe in you.
Ohhh, a LOT of time, probably. In between working my etsy business. But basically I blog at night *nods*
I KNEW IT! Cloned Caits had to be the answer. Now, since my question was asked, I don’t know that I can think of another because my brain is a bit BEA-fried. But I will tell you something!
I started this comment YESTERDAY but I can’t think of anything good or particularly exciting to tell you. I was even going to go with embarrassing, but I am like, fresh out of stuff to tell! Okay- I totally agree with you on the self-pub thing. Kudos to those authors, but… nope, not for me.
1. My phone’s ring tone is the Mockingjay whistle.
2. I just bought a blue refrigerator because my boring old white one broke, and I am kind of glad
3. My mom just bought me a new bookcase and it should be here in a couple days YAYYY.
4. I just finished my Cherry Coke Zero and now I miss it.
Now I AM going to ask you a question, because I came up with things. Are you ever going to come to the US and play with us at BEA? (Please say yes, for my life will be incomplete if I never get to meet at least one of the Cait Clones….)
Just wanted to stop by and say Happy Blogversary! Now lets eat cake! 😀
Happy Blogversary! Yours is a great, fun, and wildly entertaining site — I love your sense of humour!
In looking over your Q&A, I noted that you rejected the possibility of self-publishing, a choice I wholly agree with. It’s extremely difficult to be successful as a self-published writer, and only a handful ever succeed in selling more than a couple of hundred copies of any given title. That said, self-publishing is an undeniable force in publishing, accounting for more than a third of the income generated from book sales (largely because of the vast number of people self-publishing). A consequence of this has been that the traditional industry is losing ground; and as a result, it’s becoming more and more difficult to get published the traditional way. Even those of us who do succeed, can generally look forward to smaller advances than in the past and fewer sales. (People only have so much money to spend on books, after all.)
The percentage of writers whose sole income derives from their writing has diminished dramatically over the past decade and it continues to drop (from nearly thirty percent to under twelve percent in Britain, for example). That, however, shouldn’t discourage writers from trying the traditional path. I always recommend to anyone aspiring to be a writer that if he/she believes in what he/she has written, then it doesn’t hurt to try the traditional route first. I also tell them that it is an almost absolute must that they get an agent, because an agent will not only ensure that their books are the best they can be before they’re shopped around to publishers, but agents also do a lot of the heavy-lifting for a writer, allowing writers to do what writers want to do, which it write books.
Unfortunately, a lot of aspiring writers are impatient — they just want to crank out a manuscript in a few months and then have it out there for the public to read. They think the money just start rolling in after that. Many also delude themselves that their novels are perfect the way they are. Editors? Who needs them? They’ll only ruin the vision of what the book should be. Copy-editing? Why bother? What’s a few typos and grammatical errors and inconsistencies?
It’s true that increasingly self-published authors are hiring editors and proofreaders, etc. But as you pointed out, that’s expensive. If you get traditionally published, the publisher does all that. Yes, the traditional route can take years, and there’s a lot waiting involved. A lot! Then, of course, there are, as you mentioned, the rejections. But when you make it, there’s no feeling like it, and you won’t regret having taken that path.
You already have an agent, so you’re well on your way to success, and I suspect that before you have your fifth blogversary, you’ll be announcing the impending publication of your debut novel! I look forward to it and to the day when I see your book on the shelves of my local bookstore.
All the best! Here’s to many more years of you entertaining us with your sharp wit and ready humour!
With warm regards,
Lindsay Brambles
Love. This. Post. You are hysterical. xD
Ugh, waiting is the worst. 😛 I hate it. I am not a patient person, and being in the book industry, patience seems to be key. I’m working on it. It helps to distract yourself with more books and writing projects. Sometimes . . .
CLONES. Finally, I find out your secret! I’ve been wondering how in the world you get so much done. So I’m curious, what are Clone Cait #2 and #4 like?
Do you have a favorite meal involving lamb mince? 😉
I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE! Paris it is, I’m booking tickets now. And obviously if we’re bringing books to read there, we have to take Anna and the French Kiss, because what better a time to read it than in Paris?
Ooh, yes, Fangirl is an excellent choice!! Great reason behind it, too. If all extroverts and introverts understood how everyone is wired, it’d be so much easier to interact with people. 😛
I’m down with free WiFi and beautiful book covers and cake. Where do I sign up to be one of your henchmen?
(Also, as a side note, TEEN WOLF IS KILLING ME. I HATE THIS STUPID SHOW AND ALSO LOVE IT BUT HATE IT BUT GAHHHH.)
Sorry it took me so long to get to this marveleous post! Yes, yes, yes to everything Maggie! And The Prestige????? I am so impressed. I loooooovvvveeeed that movie. Your blog is popular because it is entertaining, for sure. This is why I always roll my eyes when I see these “how to have a successful blog” posts some bloggers do that say people won’t read reviews if you don’t follow a formal format, and never to use more than one gif (preferably none). Keep up the stellar work, my friend becuse my life would be severely duller without your blog.
‘I will make WiFi free and beautiful book covers mandatory and the people will eat cake’ CAIT WHY ARE YOU NOT RULER YET THE WORLD NEEDS YOU
Great answers! You made me laugh a lot 😀 Toothless is a great career choice. Besides, who says you can’t write being Toothless? You could be the first writing dragon (which would also be great publicity. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a book written by a DRAGON?!)