I’m so thrilled to showcase some of the talented people behind the scenes of the book world. Hopefully, you’ll meet some new-to-you bloggers, authors, artists, photographers, editors, models, and more!
One of the newer blogs on the scene—if 2016 can be considered new— is the fabulous BOOKGASMS BOOK BLOG! These ladies (hookers) are a HOOT, so check out our fun interview below and let me know what you think! <3
~Brooke
1. Please state your name(s), your blog, and how long you’ve been doin’ the damn thing.
**waves** Hey, I’m Shelly Suhr – I started blogging/reviewing in April of 2015 (hot damn – I’ve been in the book world for over 3 years!). Missy and I started Bookgasms with our co-blogger Ratula in December, 2016.
**takes the mic from Shelly** And I’m Missy Borucki, co-founder of Bookgasms Book Blog. I’ve been editing/blogging/reviewing since July 2014. Whoa, my 4 year anniversary is coming up! Shelly, Ratula and I banded together to throw our hats in the blogger ring in December, 2016, though my husband thinks this is a much more recent occurrence—like 2 months ago recent. Keep my secret, ‘kay?
2. What’s the focus of your blog? Do you just want peace and sprinkles and to make the world happy with your reviews? Do you want to day drink and post all the twenty thousand new releases? Tell me (and the three people reading this) what you’re all about and what makes your blog stand out.
Shelly: Puppies! Kidding. But we should feature more puppies probably. Beyond the fact that our reviews are little rays of sunshine infusing all of Booklandia with great joy, we mostly just wanted to find a safe place in which we could do all our flailing. That is, we’re voracious readers with strong opinions and decent writing skills. We wanted a platform from which to shout our love for the books we’ve had the privilege of reading and the ability to expand as we’re able. I have started reviewing audiobooks and am working on adding some sort of regular review feature to that end. We try to add a personal touch to everything we post and while it’s possible that we may post about books we’ve not yet read, we only post about books that interest us.
Missy: So, some days we want rainbows and sprinkles and others we need ALL the alcohol we can muster. We are avid readers–some would say we’re voracious readers… we typically review over 20 books a month because we have zero self control. We started Bookgasms because we wanted—to quote a little Laverne and Shirley, “…And we’ll do it our way, yes our way…” We wanted to review and promote and shout out our love of books, authors, other blogs at will. We wanted to find the joy in reading again. And I think we have—well, most of the time, except when we’re sweating it on a Sunday morning looking down at the calendar and realizing we have way too many books to read and review by Tuesday night. LOL
3. Do you have genres you prefer to read and promote, or are you one of those if-it-catches-my-eye-I-wants-it blogs?
Shelly: I am predominantly a contemporary romance reader (with a very special place in my heart for sports romance), but I sometimes get a wild hair and dabble in other genres. NA, YA, Women’s Fiction, Dystopian, PNR, Thriller have all been in rotation at some point or another, but probably 90% of what I read is contemporary romance. I’m the “sweet” one in our group *bats lashes*, and also the most vanilla reader of the three of us.
Missy: LOL, you are the lesser daring of us, I think, Shelly! Ratula and I read some crazy stuff! Well, I read just about anything! I love most romance genres including contemporary, PNR, SciFi, LGBTQ (god, give me a MMF and I am in H-E-A-V-E-N). I am not a fan of sweet, I need some heat to keep me reading. And some of the “taboo” stuff is a hard no. But I just love a well told, well-paced romance. I’m up for an adventure with pretty much anything romance related.
4. We all know blogging can be a thankless job…err, hobby, rather. The long hours, the no pay, the rude people you want to shove off a bridge… Tell me one example of something that’s made all the hard work worth it.
Shelly: Well, I mean, I’m giving an interview right now. In some circles that’s a sure sign that I’ve officially arrived. But seriously – I get all lit up inside when I see a quote from one of my reviews “in the wild”. It’s such a small thing, but it makes me feel like something I did was noteworthy and that feels sort of amazing.
Missy: I’m with Shelly on this one. The fact that I’m answering these questions right now is pretty damn cool. And I *love* spotting a quote from any of our review “in the wild”—be it a teaser, an editorial review, in an author newsletter. I spotted one on an author’s website just yesterday that put a big goofy smile on my face.
5. What can an author do to make your life 1.2 million times easier? Or better? Easier and better? And don’t say give you money, remember, most of us don’t have any.
Shelly: You could babysit my kids. That would be ahhhmazing. Okay fine – real talk: send ARCs in a timely manner — or — if that’s not possible, allow a reasonable amount of time for ARCs to be read. As someone whose greedy little grabby hands land her an ARC load just a smidge past “responsible amount” – I count on having at least 10 days to read, and base my schedule around that. The trend has shifted to allow less time and that hurts bloggers and – depending on how late we get it – it feels disrespectful of our time.
Missy: I so agree on the ARC thing. Really, respect us and our time. If an author knows the ARC is going to cut it close, a simple “heads up” would be appreciated so we can adjust our reading schedules in anticipation of the new date. And please reach out more than two weeks from publishing to see if we’d like to read and review an ARC. There are so many requests received at the last minute and with us scheduling reviews months ahead, it’s usually impossible to fit in another ARC in a crunch.
6. If someone put a knife to your throat (~CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC~) and forced you to tell them your favorite read this year and five words that describe it, what would you say? Remember, this is life or death here. Don’t fuck it up.
Shelly: Aw shit. Imma die for sure. Do you know how HARD this is? I spent like an hour on this question – silently apologizing to all the books I had to kick off the island to save my own life. So I’m going with More than Words by Mia Sheridan. Five words to describe it: raw, exhilarating, enchanting, emotional perfection.
Missy: Well, this is me totally fucking it up. Might as well just stab me now… FML… *to all the other amazing books I’ve read this year, trust me you’re still my favorites…* Oh for fuck’s sake… I’m going to go with The Pilot and the Puckup by Pippa Grant. Five words: smart, sexy, snarky, surprising, fun.
7. If you were to be stuck on a…well, not an island, because where do you bathe, and not an elevator because that’s just too claustrophobic for me… Okay, let’s say a high-class, luxury apartment. Yeah, that’s better. If you had to be stuck in some deserted, high-class, luxury apartment, what book boyfriend or girlfriend would be the one serving you grapes and why?
Shelly: So, here’s the thing. I’m a bit of a book boyfriend whore. I mean, I basically have them all jammed together like some sort of little harem in my heart. Which actually probably serves me well for this question because now I just have a group of men fawning over me in a constant rotation. #winning
Missy: How the hell do I compete with that answer? Damn it… But I feel the same way. Honestly, my book boyfriend of the moment is usually wrapped up in the book I’m reading… however, I still hold a serious torch for Jack Eversea from Natasha Boyd’s Butler Cove series.
8. So, speaking as a fellow lowly starving artist, I’m always looking for books and authors that also need a bit more SHOUTING OUT, DAMMIT. What book(s)/author(s) do you wish more people would get the hell behind? (Feel free to include a link to your review.)
Missy: I’m totally taking the easy way out. I’m going with my dear friend, Beth Cranford. She’s coming up on her one year anniversary of her first book, The Brightest Star, and I couldn’t be more proud of her and the additional books she’s published this year! She’s amazingly talented.
Shelly: Beth Cranford for sure. The Avenue series is currently owning my heart, basically. Also, Charlotte West is amazing. Ratula and I DIED over Good Lies and then I literally almost lost my mind (and my heart. forever.) with Hard Lessons. There’s a new one coming in a few weeks and I’m suuuper excited for it!
There are at least a dozen more people who should be on this list – shoot us an email if you want the extended remix because I had this whole wordy thing and then decided to just #BeLikeMissy and just pick one (well, two if you count the one I piggybacked on). (Hey look! I made it wordy anyway!)
Missy: Oh man, you’re so right, Shelly, on the “at least a dozen more” comment! We will happily share our opinions on other authors, books, etc. We have recommendations for all romance tropes. Just email us and we’ll give you a long list!
9. Since you stated on your questionnaire that you at least tolerate me (thank you!), I’d love to know which of my books you tolerated the mostestest. Feel free to use more than five words for this one. 😉
Shelly: TRICK QUESTION! D) all of the above. No, but seriously, if I HAD to pick a favorite, I think it would be Hooker (because: Star Wars Underwear). But Licked was the first Brooke Blaine book I ever read, so it has a special place in my heart. But then there are the M/M books which have knocked my socks off consistently. So, honestly, everything I’ve read has been wonderful. It’s why I’m a super fan. Doy.
Missy: Well, hell, way to put us on the spot. I’ve really loved everything I’ve read that you’ve written. But, I do especially love the L.A. Liaisons series because, hello, what’s not to love?
10. How can we all stalk your ass? (Aka LIST YO LINKS.)
We have a newish website that needs more attention (and some content): www.bookgasms.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/BookgasmsBookBlog
Instagram: @bookgasmsbookblog
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/BookgasmsGR
Twitter: @BlogBookgasm
DON’T-THINK-JUST-ANSWER ROUND
· Favorite Disney Princess?
Shelly: Belle would be the obvious one, and she’s a close second. But I freaking love Rapunzel a la Tangled.
Missy: Easy, Cinderella.
· You see your ex at a party. Quick, what shots do you down?
Shelly: Lemon drops, straight tequila if it’s new and he’s with another girl
Missy: Patron, and keep it coming…
· Nsync or Backstreet Boys (there’s only one right answer on this one.)
Shelly: NKOTB
Missy: Um… neither… I’m old… boy bands hit big when I was in my 20’s.
· What is the best type of cheese?
Shelly: Curd
Missy: Wisconsin sharp cheddar. Yum!
· Favorite bingeworthy show we should all be watching?
Shelly: Uh, I haven’t had the luxury of regular show watching since like 2014. I’m over here all “Dawson’s Creek!” because I only live in the past now, apparently.
Missy: Well, since the only TV show I watch is The Goldbergs, guess I’m going with that….
· Of all the fictional worlds, where would you most like to live?
Shelly: Hogwarts would be a hoot!
Missy: Oh, yeah, Hogwarts would be pretty damn amazing.
· What’s the most annoying habit other people have?
Shelly: Vaguebooking. Man, I cannot even handle that passive aggressive tomfoolery.
Missy: My eyes are stuck in permanent roll with all the vaguebooking, oh, and the vigilante mindset that some people have hiding behind their keyboards.
· What job would you be terrible at?
Shelly: Telemarketing. I hate the phone. And I hate selling things. And I am like the most nonconfrontational person ever. I would likely wind up buying whatever I was selling for the people because I felt bad.
Missy: Bill collecting. I am a softy. “Oh you can only afford $1 a month on your $10,000 visa debt, okay.”
· You’ve started a cult. ~gasp~ What kind is it?
Shelly: Obviously it would be bookish and require members to spend at least three hours per day reading. Stretchy pants and shirts with witty puns required. Daily ice cream sacraments. Mandatory naps. Members would need to bring me offerings: like hot men, or puppies, or decadent desserts. BRB, I’m gonna go start a…thing!
Missy: Well, hell… I want to join Shelly’s cult. Fuck figuring out my own.
Thank you so much for letting me feature you ladies on Brooke’s Blog Showcase, Shelly & Missy (and we missed you, Ratula)! I adore you, and I appreciate you and your support so much.
Speaking of support, go give these ladies allllll the love by checking out their links! (Refer back to question #10, spank you, come again.)
The pics below are courtesy of Shelly & Missy! Look at these beautiful bloggers! <3
