Category: Site Announcements
A Big Thank You to the Following Authors
Not only is it you guys, my readers, that make blogging possible, it’s the wonderful authors I interact with. I must admit that not every author has been the most pleasant person I’ve ever worked with, but they were definitely anomalies. All the same, there are some amazing authors who have left big impressions on me because of their kindness, which is why I would like to thank the following people:
Andy Szpuk, Andrew Levkoff, Matt Myklusch, Tara West, Krystal Wade, John Heldt, Zeinab Alayan, Michelle Hansen, Steve Poling, Marcus Matherne and Henry Venmore-Rowland.
If I’ve left any people out it’s definitely my own fault and is more of a reflection of my poor memory than of anything else. But a thanks like that is very generic, which is why I want to thank every one individually:
Andy Szpuk: Thanks so much for asking me to review your book. It has now finally returned from my father and my uncle and they both loved it, which is a huge achievement since they’re both more critical than I am.
Andrew Levkoff: Thank you for the amazing interview and for being the first author I actually ‘knew’ whose book I reviewed.
Matt Myklusch: I can’t thank you enough for sending along free signed copies of the last two books in your trilogy. Thank you for paying the shipping to Canada and for the great interview.
Tara West: Thanks for being so cooperative and taking the time and money to send me a physical copy of your book. I can’t wait to do a giveaway with you next year!
Krystal Wade: Well, what can I say? I’m glad you contacted me after seeing my review and agreeing to not only do two interviews with me, but to give me access to bonus content for your upcoming books. You’re still cruel for torturing me about Wilde’s Meadow, though.
John Heldt: Thank you for contacting me to review your first book and now the second book in your trilogy! I admit that I really did have my doubts when I saw the time travel premise, but you pulled it off so well.
Zeinab Alayan: Thank you for everything! The giveaway, the interview, for contacting me to review your book in the first place…I would have missed out on an amazing book if you hadn’t.
Michelle Hansen: You had the courage to contact a reviewer like me about my good review of your book and I really admire you for taking that chance. Thank you for helping me host my first-ever giveaway and for doing such an amazing interview.
Steve Poling: Where do I start? Thanks for doing an interview and being so generous when it came to handing out prizes for your giveaway. I look forward to reading your work in the future.
Marcus Matherne: Thank you for brightening my day with My Status Update Journey! Not many books can make me smile so much, but yours did and I hope it gets the attention it deserves online.
Henry Venmore-Rowland: Thank you for not judging me for my stupidity when I asked you about Septimius Severus when you had actually written about Aulus Caecina Severus. Yes, I know, two completely different people. After I sounded like a complete moron you still agreed to an interview and I’m very grateful for that. Maybe I’ll find time to read your book soon!
So here’s a big thank you to everyone! Thank you for making my book reviewing experience awesome and for making all of the hard work worth it.
7×7 Link Award
Yes, I won an award and this time I’m accepting it. (‘Tis the season, after all.) So what is this award? Well, it’s called the 7×7 link award and I found these guidelines on a different post, so here they are:
The 7 x 7 Link Award rules are as follows:
1. Tell everyone 7 facts that no one else may know about you
2. Link to one of 7 posts that you feel best fits the following categories: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most Popular Piece, Most Controversial Piece, Most Surprisingly Successful Piece, Most Underrated Piece, and Most Pride-Worthy Piece
3. Pass this award to 7 other bloggers
7 Facts No One Else May Know About Me
1. My hatred of spiders stems from an incident when I was three years old and I suddenly found a spider on my hand. The spider bit me and I’ve hated them ever since.
2. I just watched my first 3D movie three weeks ago.
3. In general, I don’t enjoy Mozart’s music, especially his ‘operas’. (Other than Le Nozze di Figaro.)
4. I am the worst procrastinator you will ever meet. In real life or online.
5. I am probably the only person alive who doesn’t look back wistfully on their childhood. Screw nostalgia; I like actually having rights and generally being spoken to like a real human being.
6. I’m a sucker for chivalry, but I nearly faint from shock whenever a man goes and opens the door for me.
7. I talk to my cat. Yes, I am a crazy cat lady.
7 Category-Fitting Posts
1. Most Beautiful Piece: A Letter to My 14 Year Old Self at Humans Are Weird.
2. Most Helpful Piece: 5 Common Pieces of Advice That Are Almost Always Wrong by John Cheese.
3. Most Popular Piece: The Ten Minute Suicide Guide by David Wong
4. Most Controversial Piece: Self-Publishers Aren’t Killing The Industry, They’re Saving It by David Gaughran.
5. Most Surprisingly Successful Piece: Faults with Women by dribblingpensioner.
6. Most Underrated Piece: Five movie clichés that make me want to chew my own arm off with my grandmother’s dentures by dionnelisterwriter.
7. Most Pride-Worthy Piece: Gay Rights and the Big Picture by the quiet voice.
My 7×7 Link Award Nominees
6. 20four12
Finding Time Contest Winners
Well, the contest didn’t exactly go as I hoped, but we got three great entries and Steve Poling generously decided to award Kindle copies of his book, Finding Time, to all three.
I have the email addresses of Judy Ridgley and Andy Szpuk (and I hope you guys have already received your copies!), but I need the address of SP Mount. So Mr. Mount, I would really appreciate it if you would DM me your email address on Twitter or even take the time to fill out the contact form to send it to me. Then I can pass it on to Steve and he can give you your free copy of his book! Or if any of you reading this are friends of his, could you please let him know and ask him to get in touch?
If I don’t get a reply within seven days, I’ll spam his blog until he knows he won. But out of courtesy to him, I’d really rather not.
A Question Regarding the Holidays
Everyone knows that December=Christmas for most of us in the Western world. There are some other great religious holidays out there that also occur in December and I am by no means trying to diminish their importance. It’s just that for me, I was raised thinking December=Christmas in the secular Santa way. That’s what happens when you grow up in rural Saskatchewan in a predominantly white community.
My childhood aside, what I want to know is: Will you, my readers, be okay with me doing some Christmas/holiday-themed posts? Don’t worry, I’m not about to go nuts over it. What I’m talking about is maybe a holiday book buying guide for parents or grandparents looking to buy books for the teenagers in their lives. Maybe I’ll review one or two books with Christmas themes, but that’s it.
I know that everyone gets inundated with Christmas-themed content on the internet in December, so I’m not about to go overboard. But just in case: What do you guys think of a few Christmas-themed posts?
Another Special Milestone
You probably didn’t know this, but tomorrow, on Monday, I will be publishing my 250th review.
When you say it like that, it sounds like a lot. Yet it doesn’t feel like all that much: I read a book, I write a review. A year ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of starting a book blog, but now I can’t dream of a time when I don’t read a book and share my opinion on it with the world. Obviously I don’t have any plans to stop The Mad Reviewer, especially not with my one year anniversary coming up on January 13th. I’m not one for giving up, especially when I’m only halfway to 500 reviews. An impressive number when you say it like that.
Yet, once again, I have to thank you, my readers! I’ve said it over and over because it’s true: without you, this blog and my 250th milestone would not be possible. Thank you to the people who have stuck with me since the beginning and welcome to my new followers. Hopefully you’ll stick around for my next big milestone.
As for what book I’ll review for my 250th review, here’s a hint: it’s the first book I’ve read by the author, despite following his blog for at least three years.