Feature and Follow Friday #199

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

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Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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How To Become a Featured Blog?

We pick our featured blogs randomly each week from the blogs who participated the week before.

Please be sure to feature your e-mail address clearly on your blog. Either on the main blog, on a Contact page, or on an About Me page. If I can't find your email easily, I will choose a different blog to feature.

Our Feature - Journey Through Fiction

1. When did you start blogging?

I created my blog at the end of January of this year (2014), but I didn't start fully committing to posting until about a month later, toward the end of February.

I’m a complete newbie to blogging and I had only basic knowledge of coding (and I mean basic!) so it felt very overwhelming back then when I first started. I wasn’t very confident or happy with the layouts of things on blogger (plus, I’m a bit of a control freak…) so I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and learn a little on how to HTML customise and compose posts etc. I’m settling in a bit now, and really loving it.

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

The community. Before I started blogging, I could sense the close-knit vibes, but I didn’t really believe or understand it fully until I joined in. The friendliness, support and openness is incredible. I’m not the most outgoing person in the world, and to feel comfortable hopping from blog to blog is amazing.

3. What type of books do you mainly blog about?

I read all types of fiction, so it entirely depends on what mood I’m in at the time. I love anything with a paranormal or fantasy twist, so Sci-fi, Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic, Urban Fantasy, Horror… I’ll read and blog about them all. I’m noticing I’ve starting to read more Contemporary fiction lately as well, so I guess I subconsciously decided I needed a change of pace!

4. What are your favorite books?

This is a tough question to answer accurately, as I never have the same answer twice. My favourite classic would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and that would be my most consistent answer! Everything else depends on my mind-frame on the day… so right now I’d answer The Hunger Games Trilogy by Susan Collins, Easy by Tammara Webber and Angelfall by Susan Ee.

5. What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

I’m really new to blogging, so it’s hard to answer this. My answer is probably silly to a lot of the more established bloggers, but… the first time I got NetGalley approval to read an ARC. That was an awesome feeling!

Question of the Week: Share! Tell us about one of your hobbies that is NOT reading.

*First thing:  A reminder that if you want to be chosen as the Feature for #FF, please have your email address somewhere on your blog. I know there are other ways to contact people including Twitter and contact forms, but I've set up my #FF system in such a way that I need an email address. So for better or worse, that's the requirement for now.

Hmm...

I love listening to podcasts. I'm subscribed to several hundred - some of which update weekly, some monthly, and some practically never. I don't listen to all of them, but I love having headphone friends and I learn some really cool information. For example, did you know the US military has 20 trained sea lions? If they find an intruder in US waters, they're trained to attach a clamp to a person's leg and bring them into custody. They're true Navy Seals. I learned that on NPR's How to do Everything podcast.

I also recently took up fencing. I am not very good, but it's a lot of fun and a sport that attracts cool nerdy people.

I'm a fan of cooking and baking, although I go through phases of how ambitious I am with both. I'd like to try making bread. I've only done it a few times but I enjoyed it.

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Now for the Follow Fun!

With GFC going the way of the dodo bird for many bloggers, there is no better time to start following blogs via RSS feed. If you use a reader, it would be great if you followed my RSS directly.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

We have a new button, so update your blogs if you are used to doing this meme!

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Next Week's Question:

Share! Tell us about one of your hobbies that is NOT reading.

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