Feature and Follow Friday #203

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 ayou 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 - Think Books

1. When did you start blogging?

A friend of mine introduced me to Goodreads and that is how my book blogging madness began. My first post was January 25, 2012, over 2 years ago! It was a review of Clockwork Prince. I remember being so nervous about my first post and rewriting my review half a dozen times.

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

Well, of course, there are the books I get to read! More than that though, are all of the great people I have met through blogging. It's really amazing to be a part of a community with such a passion for reading!

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

Most of the books I end up reviewing are YA Dystopian, since that's my favorite genre. However, I like reading fantasy and scifi and sometimes contemporary.

4. What are your favorite books?

Oh wow! This is such a hard question... I love anything by Neil Gaiman, particularly Stardust. Of course, The Mortal Instruments series or anything by Cassandra Clare! Also, books by Lauren Oliver, Suzanne Collins... and so many more!

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

I have met amazing bloggers and authors and been able to do things I never thought I could do. I once won a Kindle Fire. I participated in a Blast that entered everyone into a drawing. OMG! I flipped when I got the e-mail. Honestly though, the best thing is that I have proven to myself I can stick with something!

Question of the Week: How important is good writing to you? In an ideal world, a book would be beautifully written AND have great character development, plot, etc. But in the real world, which do you prefer: (1) Great characters and plot with lousy writing or (2) Middling character development and plot but gorgeous writing

*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.

Good writing is less important to me than plot and character development. That's an overly simplistic statement. A book can't be well written without good plot and character development. I'm talking more about flowery writing. I'm not that interested in MFA writing meant to show how smart the author is. I appreciate good writing, but I don't want the writing itself to be a character in the novel. I feel like that's the case with many literary novels. But when I think back to the classics - most classics are well written, but they're classics because of the story. Fanciful writing can't hide a shoddy plot.

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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:

What are your non-book guilty pleasures? Like TV shows, food, websites, hobbies, etc.

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