Follow Me Friday: Blog Style

Hi! Welcome to Follow Me Friday: Blog Style! I believe that book bloggers should help one another, because well, we all have one thing in common- the love of blogging, and books. I've had the pleasure of meeting and networking with some great bloggers out there, and my little tribute to everyone is to start up this fun Friday post! The power of uniting has helped Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More grow into what it is today, and I'm not about to forget the help I've gotten to achieve this goal. My hopes in starting this is to get other blogs some more followers, whether they are a well known blog or a small one, a blog that's just starting out. I'm here to help.

This Friday I'd like to feature Harlie’s’ Book Blog The owner/create of this blog is Marika Weber I hope you'll follow along as I ask some questions pertaining to the blog, and a few fun questions. Ready? Let's begin!

Hi! Welcome to Storm Goddess Book Reviews and More! I'm really excited about this, and glad that you have taken part of the fun!

So, tell us a little bit about yourself! Right now I’m a stay at home mom getting ready to move to another town next month. It’s been hectic but exciting. I’m also an aspiring writer with the rejections to prove it. J I’m actually pretty boring…married to a wonderful man, 7 year old son and love to read and blog.

What made you decide to start a blog? The blog came to fruition when my parents and husband suggested that I “talk” about the books that I read. Plus, I wasn’t working at the time so it was easy.

How did you come up with a blog name? Harlie is my alter ego and I came up with the name because I love Harlequin books. Yep, I love Harlequin. Most people make fun of them but I read all the lines and have followed them when they write for other publisher’s and such.

How many people do you have on staff, and how do you decide who does what job? I have three ladies that are helping me and I really need to get their pages up on the blog. One takes care of our fan page and the others have submitted reviews and interviews.

How long has your blog been live/active? Been live since 2010.

What type of things do you do? Services you provide? I just review/interview/guest posts/blog tours. The normal stuff I guess. I don’t do author services. I used to beta read for some well-known authors but I don’t do that anymore.

What are THREE unique things about your blog? 1. Biggest thing…no spoilers. You can read with confidence that a review will not have any spoilers. 2. I try not to cuss either. I keep it PG-13. 3. I review anything. I’m very diverse.

How do you go about spreading the word about your blog, and the posts? I’m on Facebook with a fan page and personal page. I’m on Twitter, Shelfari, Goodreads and Pinterest.

What's the best thing about blogging? Meeting the readers and reading their comments and opinions.

What's the hardest thing about being a blogger? Getting publishers to read my blog. J

Besides blogging, what are some of your other hobbies and passions? I’m a HUGE sports fanatic. I used to work for the Dallas Stars Hockey team during the Stanley Cup years and that was a blast. Baseball (Texas Rangers, Houston Astros), University of Oklahoma anything, Olympics, Houston Texans football, NASCAR, watching the college world series right now.

Which author have you not hosted on your blog that you'd LOVE to have? Dream team: Julie Garwood, Linda Howard, Rachel Gibson, Cherry Adair, Jayne Ann Krantz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Tom Clancy. Can you imagine the roundtable discussion with that group? J John Grisham would be a dream, too. I could just stare at him from across the table and sigh at his accent.

How does one go about getting a review request to you? I have review request form on the blog.

How does one go about becoming a reviewer for you? I also have a form for reviewers to fill out.

Where can readers find you? Pinterest: MarikaWeber25, Twitter: @marika67, Facebook personal: Marika Weber http://www.facebook.com/marika.weber2, Facebook Page: Harlie’s Book Blog http://www.facebook.com/HarliesBookBlog, Goodreads: Brian’s Mom/Marika Weber, How many ways to follow do you have? Linky Followers, GFC, email, Networked Blogs.

How do you accept review requests? What genre's do you review? I will review anything but YA and true Sci Fi. None of us on Harlie’s read them. I know, bad reviewer.

How would an author go about getting a feature, whether it be an interview, guest post, etc? Just fill out the form on the page or email me. Plus, I’m a blog tour host, too.

Most memorable post/even? I’m really not sure but I’ve had people really dislike some of my reviews and vow to never send me a book again to read. One in particular caused a stink because I wasn’t “toeing the line” and being a good little minion. Sorry, the book didn’t work for me and hey, it’s just my opinion. Everything worked out in the end but that had to be my defining moment when I wrote that review and still stand behind it today. In fact after that review, Harlie’s exploded. In some way, I will always be grateful for that one book.

Let's share some firsts!

First post: Opening Muse October 18, 2010

First review: Emma Jay’s Two Step Temptation

First author interview: October 19, 2011 Stacy Eaton

First guest post: Sable Hunter, September 9, 2011

First milestone: Honestly I don’t know. J

First great compliment about your blog: Cherry Adair loved it and gave me a shot on a blog tour.

First time your quote has been put in a book- whether it be print or ebook) Talk to Me (print) by Cassandra Carr. It was her debut novel and still a top book for me.

First publisher you got to send you review requests regularly. Ellora’s Cave. Thank you Lily Harlem.

And now for some fun questions!

Three books on your keeper's shelf. Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood, all of the MacKenzie books from Linda Howard and Cherry Adair’s first ever TFLAC book which was a Harlequin Temptation, “The Mercenary”. Yep, its original and no, I will never sell it, give it away or trade for it and yes, Cherry knows that I have it. J

Favorite authors? My roundtable dream team: Cherry Adair, Jayne Ann Krantz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, John Grisham, Tom Clancy.

Book you've re-read the most? All of Cherry’s TFLAC series at least a dozen times and Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood.

Favorite TV show? White Collar-Matt Bomer, The Closer, Friday Night Lights (even though it’s over), Dirty Jobs (Mike Rowe is sexy, in a dirty kind of way), Hawaii 5-0 and The Client List.

Favorite color? Blue

What's your dream job? Getting paid to review/blog. Also being an acquisitions editor for a publisher.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, no money holding you back, where would you go? Ireland, Scotland and Northern England.

Anything else you'd like to add in, maybe something I didn't ask in the interview that you'd love to share with readers? No I think you pretty much covered everything. J

I really appreciate you answering my questions. It's great getting to know other bloggers that share the same interests as I do.

Readers, I hope you'll check out this blog and give it a follow if you haven't already!