Featured Follower Friday: How to Maintain A Life/Blog Balance! by Vivienne

I'm thrilled to be able to give a warm welcome to Vivienne from Serendipity reviews here on Escape In A Book today. Vivienne is here to give us her advice on how we can maintain a balance between blogging, reading, family, other hobbies etc..


How to Maintain A Life/Blog Balance!

I was over the moon when Mari asked me to write a guest post, so that her readers could get to know each other better and she suggested that I write a post about how I manage my time in between blogging, reading, writing and managing a family. I began to laugh hysterically, as half the time I really don’t manage at all. I think I am often a reactive person rather than a proactive person; I skip from one major diversion to another. I have my good days where I keep religiously to the list in my Page A Day diary and fly through my tasks, leaving half an hour to catch up on my reading. Then other days, (which seem more often than not) I barely achieve three tasks on my list and begin pulling my hair out through stress and begin throwing a rather childlike tantrum.

Photo by: iotdfi

Monday’s are normally my best day. I am refreshed after a weekend of chilling out with the family and I have avoided the gym via too many excuses. I have normally eaten my way through a giant bar of Cadbury’s Milk, which completely defeats the object of going to the gym in the first place. I can’t help but envisage myself as a hamster going round and round on one of those wheels and achieving absolutely zilch. Anyway, as I was saying on Monday I am Super Organised Mum. I clean the house whilst the kids are still wiping the sleep from their eyes. I endure 45 of a grim spinning class which can cause walking to become a physically impossible challenge. Then I get home, get showered, catch up on the blogs and dive straight into writing a week’s worth of blog posts. Yes, you read that right! I write seven to eight posts all in advance, so I know exactly what is going on with my blog and so I can devote the rest of the week to writing my first ever Young Adult novel.

Yes, I am one of those bloggers who is desperate to see her name on a book! I am extremely slow at writing though and I may hit the YA market after collecting my first pension.

Why am I slow at writing, I hear you ask?

Because, I procrastinate!

I check blogs, I set up extra blog posts for a rainy day, I update Goodreads and then I settle down into a serious Tweeting session. Twitter is the bane of my life and will be the reason I will never get published. I spend far too much time chatting about nothing on Twitter. Luckily many people enjoy reading my nothingness, so I won’t moan, but I do need to learn to step away from the Internet on a regular basis.

I have a really bad habit and I know I should break it. I don’t always reply to comments on my blog and I know that is just terrible behaviour. I don’t know why I don’t do it, as I love to get comments on my blog. I think I never know where to reply. Should I answer comments on my blog post, which drags people back to my blog for a second time, or should I email them? If someone asks me a direct question, I will contact them on Twitter, email them or answer on their own blog post, that way I know they will be read. If anyone has any suggestions on how to solve this problem, please email me. Also apologies to anyone I haven’t replied to, I do value your comments.

Photo: seanj

I know a lot of writers like to write late into the evenings, but I can’t do that. My evenings are when I read. As soon as all my chores are done, such as making dinner, ironing, sorting out lunch boxes, listening to my children both talk to me at once and walking the dog, I then sit down with a good book or two. I have this nasty habit of reading two books at once. I can’t help myself and I have to swap them around throughout the evening. I know it is a terrible habit, but there are just so many good books out there to read. I try to stay up as late as possible to read and I have been known to swig a Red Bull at around 10pm, just so I can stay awake to finish a book. However, tiredness often gets the better of me around 11pm and I normally fall asleep with the light still on and the book still in my hands.

So when considering a life/blog balance, I am quite convinced that I don’t have one. I think it depends on my mood on the day. Some days I won’t even turn on the computer, other days I am checking my stats, answering comments and writing furiously. I play it by ear.

My advice to any new bloggers is probably not to get into the habit of writing a post every day, as it is extremely difficult to break. Write three or four posts a week and check other blogs on those days. The other days, live life and enjoy it or do as I do and read a book.

To visit Vivienne's blog just click on the header above.

I loved reading how you manage your time, Vivienne, and I have to say that I think you're advice to new bloggers was excellent.

Oh, and procrastinate is word that I wish didn't apply to me, like we all do I imagine, but alas it does(and that in big fat letters as well).

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Featured Follower Friday: Brodie shares her favorite Aussie YA novels.

Today I'm pleased to announce that Brodie from the book blog Eleusinian Mysteries, has kindly agreed to share her Australian YA favorites with us today. Have you seen a more magical header than Brodies' by the way?

Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres: The cover alone is a kind of otherworldly gorgeous. And let me tell you, the story definitely lives up to it's wrapping. Retra runs away from her reclusive "Seal" community to find her brother who left for the thrilling, hedonistic world of Ixion, where rules are few and all within the island are encouraged to give into their desires. Marianne takes you on such a darkly intoxicating ride you can't possibly pull away from. Ixion is so imaginative and the secrets of the Ripers, guardians of Ixion, are so creepy and fascinating. Burn Bright sets itself apart from YA novels by offering something fresh and so utterly addictive!

Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart: Oh how I adored this book. Rhiannon Hart is definitely one debut author we should all keep our eyes on. You'll be swept away in her thoroughly captivating world and the creepy Lharmellins are so unlike any other blood-craving creature I've read about. I had trouble pulling away from the novel as whole, but the climax was just spectacular. The story offers a delightfully spunky heroine, deliciously infuriating love interest and a shared witty banter that will force you to reread every scene between the pair. Blood Song is an amazing start to the series and a definite MUST READ for all.

Good Oil by Laura Buzo: Haven't we all had an unrequited love? That unattainable guy who filled your daydream? Amelia and Chris were such fantastic, real, flawed characters and you can really see that potential spark between the pair. There is chemistry. But he's 21, she's just 15 and the age difference is an issue. It's told in large portions split between the two characters and Chris' narration in particular is so engrossing. It's a bittersweet, emotionally compelling novel that I recommend to all. Contemporary lovers, especially, will absolutely devour this!

Stolen by Lucy Christopher: This is written by a UK author, but set in a harsh and remote Australian desert. Stolen is such an emotionally confusing read. Along with Gemma, the reader begins to form an emotional attachment to the young man who kidnapped her, Tyler. Never before have I sympathised so much with someone who should be considered the villain. And the arid, scarily desolate atmosphere is just the perfect backdrop, you can literally feel the searing sun beating down on you. It's is a powerful, thought provoking novel that will twist your emotions into one great tangled mess.


Silvermay by James Maloney: This was my first novel by James Maloney and it definitely won't be my last! He hooks you in with a shockingly powerful prologue and demands your attention until the very last page. It's a stunning tale of love, loyalty, magic, power and courage with enough twists and danger to maintain suspense and intrigue throughout. I loved learning about the unique Wyrdborn and the relationships that formed between the main trio - our 16 year old protagonist Silvermay, the enigmatic and handsome Tamlyn and Nerigold, weak yet fueled by an incredibly powerful love for her baby son, Lucien, whose secrets lay at the heart of this stunning tale.


Thank you so much to Mari for allowing me to share some of my favourite Aussie reads with you all! I hope I've managed to put a few new titles on you wishlist :)

The pleasure was all mine, Brodie. I'm pleased to find Silvermay and Blood Song on your list because I've already ordered(well, pre-ordered Blood Song) both of them :D


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Featured Follower Friday: Why paranormal YA always fail for me by Blodeuedd

Welcome to our first ever Featured Follower Friday! 

Today I'm honored to present to you all Blodeuedd from the book blog Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell(have you noticed her fab blog address by the way? book-forlife.blogspot.com, I love it!).

Mari asked me for a guest blog and here I am. I am going to talk why paranormal YA always fail for me. Truth be told I do not know why this is. Sure adult pnr is not a fav either. I enjoy reading it but it never really rocks my world. A few books do but most fall in that category of ok because in the end I enjoyed, smiled at, but perhaps I will not get book 2 since there are so many other books out there. From the library yes, to buy, no. I am not saying they are bad, most I highly enjoy reading and can’t stop. But the drive to make me crave more seems to be missing 85 % of the time. Still I would recommend many anyway.


But let’s get back to YA pnr that has never worked, mostly it just annoy the hell out of me. First we have the mean girls, honestly why are always kids so bitchy? I hate bitches, and YA books seem to be crawling with them. Next up we have the love triangle. If adult books have love triangles they are always somewhat different, and I can live with them. But in YA these love triangles have a life of their own. And everything is always so life and death, ok chill down children. You have your entire life to live still, and that guy will be forgotten in 10 years. So is that my whole problem? Not really there is one thing that bothers me still and that is insta-love. Yes that so happen to me all the time, I see a guy and am in love. That is called lust not love. That feeling that you just want to kiss him, yes lust again. And again with the life and death with their insta-love scenarios. I am not a fan of insta-love anywhere and here it just bothers me. It’s lust! Lol, when I saw my boyfriend for the first time I thought damn he is cute! But I did not fall in love. That takes time; you have to get to know a person to love a person.

Oh, I am totally dissing YA pnr! Sorry! I do not mean to but honestly I never really read it when I was still YA. I think I never even was a teen, I kind of jumped over it.

Ok back to PNR. I do love romance but truth be told maybe that is where one big problem is. I love romance, but I just don’t love it. It does not make me crazy like fantasy, it does not occupy my thoughts days afterwards. It makes me happy for the moment, blissfully sometimes, but it never pushes me over the edge so I will stay there. Which is totally weird since have you seen my blog? Pink and fluffy.

Who knows maybe one day I will find a good YA pnr that just doesn’t make me want to smack those kids over the head. I am rambling on. Have I reached an analysis? I do not know. I blame the books for being too YA. Yes I know you can’t say that, but they are. I wasn’t that YA 10 years ago, but the books always are. I might just be a lost case.

I think that if a book is going to change my mind if must be well-written, not have that YA feeling, not any love-triangles and insta-love, not have the feeling the world is ending if you do not see the guy tomorrow. It have to feel real even though it is a paranormal for me to love it, well it has to have that something extra. Like with the few adult books I truly loved, I fell for Marta Acosta’s books cos they were funny and not really PNR, I fell for Kresley Cole cos her men were just hot!, or the hilarious and sexy books by Jill Myles. But in the end most adult books that I enjoy for a little while are still better than the PNR YA ones..

There you have it, my little story for YA pnr and I do not go hand in hand. I think I might change my mind one day but then it must be crossovers, like PNR UF mix, PNR steampunk or something like that.

Thank you for this wonderful guest post, Blodeuedd, it's been a real pleasure having you over. You know I've always wondered what it was about this particular genre that made you not being able to love it.


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