Fab Friday

This week we have bella aire of not so closet geeks here with us.

What is the link to your blog?
We actually have two Not So Closet Geek sister sites: www.myspace.com/not_so_cg and http://not-so-cg.blogspot.com. The MySpace has a bit more clutter but also a little more detail. The BlogSpot tends to be more organized. Otherwise, the sites are nearly identical. It usually comes down to whether our readers frequent MySpace or BlogSpot more.

Why did you start it?
This summer I came across a popular MySpace book review site know as Book Chic. I loved the idea of reviewing books. At the time, my bookshelf already resembled a small library, and I gave my friends recommendations constantly.. It just made sense to make the recommendations more in depth and widespread. Most of the review sites I noticed were run by one or two people, but the majority of my friends are wonderful readers, so I decided to include them in my little book review scheme. Now there are 6 semi-active NSCG reviewers involved: Angela, Liesel, Viola, Halley, Nora, and Bella Aire (me). There are two other people interested in reviewing. If they’re serious enough about it, we’ll be seeing some reviews from them in the future. Hmmm. I may have gotten slightly off topic here. Ooops.

When did you start it?
I think the MySpace site was created in early July, but it wasn’t really active for a few months. The BlogSpot was probably created in October.

How many people subscribe?
Oh, dear. This is where my computer incompetence gets me in trouble. I added a little “subscribe to” thingee mahbobber to the BlogSpot about a week and a half ago, but I don’t know how to figure out how many subscribers there are (if any). I also added the “follow” feature at the same time (we currently have only 12 followers- feel free to join ;D). On MySpace we have 500 friends (and 4 subscribed readers- again, all are welcome to join). I’d like to thank our 16 official readers. You guys are amazing!

Any advice for new bloggers?
Use the blogs you love as inspiration for your blog, but avoid stealing their ideas. For book review sites, I suggest starting with the popular In My Mailbox feature that The Story Siren has generously shared with all bloggers. If you start this feature, you can leave a link of the post on The Story Siren’s blog. This may gather a bit of blog publicity. For more about this feature, check out The Story Siren’s blog here: http://www.thestorysiren.com/ I’ve also heard that hosting contests gets more readers.. Due to a complication (the NSCGs lack cash for shipping), we’ve never been able to do this, but contests have attracted me to tons of blogs in the past. Remember to blog for the love of blogging and not for ulterior motives.


What is your favorite review posted on your blog?
Hmmm. I’ll pick from one of my own reviews, since I’m more familiar with them. I’d say Triple Shot Bettys in Love by Jody Gehrman. I think it may be because it’s a great book, and the review has some fun words in it…abstruse…besotted…sabotage…dynamic…provocative…boyfriend stealing demon… I may have gone a little overboard, now that I think about it, but it was still fun to write.

Can we have a snipet?
Of course!
“In great contrast to Geena's muddled relationship with Ben is her mother's stable relationship with her new boyfriend. Nothing seems to be going right for Geena as her life grows more intricate and abstruse…I loved the dynamic relationship between Geena and Ben and watched in horror as Sophie sabotaged it. And Sophie was truly the boyfriend stealing demon from every girl's nightmares. She proved a fashionable, sleek, and provocative opponent for a not-so-fashionable, slightly insecure skater girl like Geena. At first, readers may be unsure if Geena's views of Sophie stem from Geena's insecurities or from actuality. But by the end, readers will have no doubts of Sophie's true motives. Though Sophie may add to the problems between Geena and Ben, the greatest enemy is Geena's insecurity which is magnified when the Sophie-catalyst is added to the equation. Her feelings of inadequacy are emotions thousands of teenage girls can empathize with.”
Read more from this particular review here: http://not-so-cg.blogspot.com/2008/11/triple-shot-bettys-in-love-by-jody.html

Thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed! If you would like to be interviewed in a future Fab Friday please email me.