Armchair BEA: Introductions

Welcome! For those of you who are regular visitors, welcome back.  For newcomers, I hope you enjoy getting to know me.  I can't believe this is my third year participating.  I'm looking forward to a great week of Armchair BEA fun!


Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

Hi! I'm Michelle and in August, I will have been blogging for three years.  I was introduced to book blogging by my friend Ryan at Wordsmithonia.  I had been informally blogging about what I was reading on MySpace when I discovered Twitter.  I met Ryan, checked out his blog, and the rest is history.  After a few pointers from him, I jumped in feet first! Now, not only do I host this blog, but I also have a horror/speculative fiction blog, Castle Macabre, and twelve other blogs including a Christmas blog, a writing blog, a history blog plus a reading challenge blog and blogs for the four reading challenges I host (check them out in the left sidebar, if you like).  I host four week long, seasonal read-a-thons a year and have recently created a dedicated blog to host them from (Seasons of Reading).  I have always been an avid reader, but in the past three years, reading (and blogging about it) has taken over my life...literally.  I wouldn't change that for the world!

On a personal note, I'm the mom of two boys (who recently started their own blog, G n R Book Club) and two cat daughters, Alice and Arya.  I'm a stay-at-home mom, only just recently employed (see below) and I'm writing my first novel, set in 14th century Italy.  It's a full life!

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012? 

What am I not currently reading?  *wink*  Let's see...The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood, Middlemarch by George Eliot, The Queen's Pleasure by Brandy Purdy, and A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.  My favorite read so far this year?  Ghost Story by Peter Straub

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I have been searching for years and years for a legitimate work from home job.  I've made many attempts to work as a virtual assistant because my past job experience qualifies me for that type of work, but no one would ever give me a chance or what I did find was not legit.  Well, all of my hard work finally paid off.  I was recently hired on as a Virtual Assistant and although I'll be in a trial period at first, I finally have the work from home job I have long sought after.  Yay!

What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)? 

I'm a firm believer that cats and books go together so every Thursday, I host a feature called Cat Thursday.  Within this feature, every second Thursday of the month is Cat Thursday:  Authors and their cats.  I have several participants who are of a like mind about cats.  Cats are just so lovely. <3

Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read? 

I'm a firm believer in being yourself in blogging so this post is a favorite I wrote just a little while back:   http://thetruebookaddict.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-like-your-blog.html 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed your visit.