bookblogging | Meet The Authors

Today we travel to Menstrie, a small village in Clackmannanshire, Scotland to chat with Louise Cannon of Bookmarks and Stages about how the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, discovering authors and books, being shortlisted as Citizen of the Year, resilience, a bucket list, visiting museums, and exploring places come together as part of Louise’s past and current life.

A dedication from Louise who just recently lost her gran:

Dedicated to my wonderful, fun and strong gran – June Hoffman who died aged 90. On April 25, 2020, my wonderful gran died of Covid 19 in her care home. Gran worked for the NHS before retirement as a secretary to a Consultant. My blog will still go on as best as I can manage. My support to readers and authors and publishers is still there.

Why did you choose to be a book blogger or how did you come to be a book blogger? How long have you been bookblogging?

My blog is called Bookmarks and Stages. I became a blogger after meeting up with Scottish crime author – Wendy H. Jones at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland, for what started off as an innocent coffee. I was then asked if I blogged/reviewed/tweeted by her and Kelly Lacy from Love Books blog tours. I didn’t do any of these things.

I returned home and a fortnight later, the idea mulled around my mind and so did some research and taught myself how to blog. My first blogs were at Bloody Scotland in Stirling, since I had tickets and then at Morecambe and Vice, since I was meeting Hugh Fraser there. I have done many book reviews since then and also was invited to return to Morecambe and Vice in 2019 to review it and Bloody Scotland now have me on their files. I have been blogging for just over a year and a half. My blog is called Bookmarks and Stages because I love books, festivals and theatre and love reviewing all of those.

Are you accepting requests at the moment? How do you prefer to be contacted?

I am accepting requests and there is a Contact button on my Bookmarks and Stages blog.

What information do you want to receive with the request?

The info I like is a bit about yourself and blurb and any photos you would like to appear on my blog. If there is a specific date you would like a review to be published on my blog, that is useful, but not necessary. These things can be talked about via email, after initial contact has been made.

What types of book blog posts do you offer? Reviews, interviews, book spotlight, guest posts, etc.

I offer reviews and interviews. I have not done spotlight or guest post, but I am absolutely open to them both.

What is your preferred book format to read? If digital, what digital file do you prefer?

I prefer print copy. I won’t necessarily say no to PDF or Kindle, if there is no other option, it just isn’t my first choice, especially if print is an option.

Do you only participate in official blog tours or do you accept requests from authors? Do you accept request from indie authors, or indie publishers?

I accept requests from Indie publishers and authors. I also accept request from larger, mainstream publishers and authors and I also participate in blog tours. I like to be inclusive to all.

What is your preferred genre? Do you read nonfiction, memoirs, or any style of poetry? What genres do you NOT read?

I read all genres of books and both fiction and non-fiction and occasionally poetry. I prefer not to review the more hardcore horror.

Do you write a review if you did not like the book? Do you use a star rating system for reviews you write?

I use a star rating – 1 to 5. 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.

Once contacted, when can the author or blog tour operator expect to hear from you?

On the whole, I respond either on the same day or the day after. I like to respond as quickly as I can, so not to have people waiting too long.

What is your favorite aspect of bookblogging?

Favourite aspect of blogging is hard. I love blogging so much, from having contact with the author, publisher, and/or blog tour operator to the reading of the book to the writing of the review/blog post, to the publishing and sharing of the review/blog post. I also love discovering authors and books I have not read before or considered before and being pleasantly surprised by them.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Journeys in the Wild by Gavin Thurston. The award winning cameraman who films for David Attenborough.

What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through reading and book blogging?

The most surprising thing I have discovered about blogging is that I may be alright at doing it and people actually seem to want and like to read my blogs. For all those people, I am forever grateful and thankful.

What is the craziest or most inspiring thing that has happened to you?

The most crazy thing, is that I come from a small village and am just being me and yet met so many lovely authors/actors and for where I come from, that’s not considered as all that average. Yes, that and that I was shortlisted for Citizen of the Year for volunteer work I do and have done. I’ve done nearly 19 years volunteer work so far. Always feeling grateful for all of that.

At this stage in your life, what advice would your young self give to your more mature self?

At this stage of my life, my young self would tell my mature self, I would say that bullying will reduce and life will become interesting. I would say that life challenges always present themselves, but resilience and determination will often kick in. I would also say that the bucket list was worth creating in your teenage years and sometimes good things will happen and some of the bucket list will be ticked off and other things may be at some point.

What do you do when not reading or writing book blog posts?

When I am not reading or writing a blog post, I work in the day job and do some voluntary work. I also like being in cafes and restaurants with friends. I love walking, visiting museums and art galleries. I also love going to the theatre, food and book festivals and gigs. I like exploring places. I also enjoy cooking.

It was wonderful to have you be a part of MTA, Louise. I am so very sorry that you lost your gran. Sending you much love as your family works through this loss. All the best to you .. – Camilla

Connect with Louise:

Blog link: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/

Twitter: twitter.com/Lou_Bookmarks

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/bookmarksandstages.home.blog/

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To support this website and the bloggers and authors interviewed, visit Support MTA for suggestions. Thank you! – Camilla, Founder and Host

Welcome to this new series! We’re shaking things up at Meeting the Authors. Once or twice per month, MTA is turning the tables to feature Book Bloggers. A huge and hearty welcome to the second book blogger to take the Turning the Tables Plunge!

Today we travel to South Yorkshire to chat with Kayleigh Whittle of Cooking the Books about how guinea pigs, chocolate, becoming a teaching assistant, coffee, the smell of a paperback, and Indie authors come together as part of Kayleigh’s life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in the UK originally from Norfolk. I now live in South Yorkshire with my two boys, 9 and 5, who keep me on my toes! Our two Guinea pigs and my partner of 14 years. A long term sufferer of anxiety, reading is my escape. I am your typical stay at home mum our family dynamic has meant that I have stayed at home whilst Daddy goes to work.

Reading is my main hobby and the past two years almost is when I have really gone at it and found some pretty fabulous authors. Now that my youngest son is at school full time I am pursuing a career as a teaching assistant, something I have wanted to do for a long time. Whilst reading I love to snack! Probably not the best idea when reading a paperback! My favourite things to eat are, chocolate, nuts and crisps and of course coffee. Although I have to drink decaf because it plays havoc with my anxiety, sorry coffee lovers! That’s me.

Why did you choose to be a book blogger or how did you come to be a book blogger? How long have you been bookblogging?

I became a book blogger purely because of the fantastic Indie authors I have discovered over the past 18 months. They get little or no recognition and I wanted to change that. They need and deserve to be seen. I have been book blogging since around May last year so almost a year. I do love it, especially when it’s a book or an author I really love. I love to be able to share such great books.

Are you accepting requests at the moment? How do you prefer to be contacted?

I do accept requests and have had authors email me after finding me on Book Connectors facebook group.

What information do you want to receive with the request?

When they contact me I found almost all of the time they ask if I would like to review, what genre the book is and a blurb and most of the time a purchase link. This is perfect for me I don’t really need any other information apart from that.

What types of book blog posts do you offer? Reviews, interviews, book spotlight, guest posts, etc.

I offer reviews, reviews for blog tours and I offer Indie author spotlights once a month which can be anything that the author wants me to blog ie a review, Q&A or an extract from a new book or one that needs more exposure.

What is your preferred book format to read? If digital, what digital file do you prefer?

I love a paperback! The feel, the smell, the fact it’s yet another book filling my bookshelf I mean what’s not to love? I do have a few hardcovers but I don’t typically buy those. I do read digitally via the kindle app on my fire 7 and prefer a Mobi or epub file. But I much prefer a paperback.

Do you only participate in official blog tours or do you accept requests from authors? Do you accept request from indie authors, or indie publishers? Would you like to share a few of your favorite blog tour operators?

I typically only take part in official blog tours organised by blog tour operators. I mainly do blog tours with Rachel from https://www.rachelsrandomresources.com/. She is fantastic at what she does its always a breeze and I have never had any issues. She gets some great books for tours. I have and always will jump at the chance to read for review for an Indie author or Indie publisher. #iheartindieauthors they are my absolute favourite authors. That is not to say I don’t love trad pub authors because I have some great interactions with them and a lot of them are genuinely lovely people.

What is your preferred genre? Do you read nonfiction, memoirs, or any style of poetry? What genres do you NOT read?

I am pretty eclectic when it comes to reading and will read most genres. Now I am going to contradict myself a little bit here. Non-fiction is something that I rarely read if at all if I am honest. I read to escape. To get lost in a make-believe world or a new place with a fun story. My favourite genres are Rom-com, Historical Fiction especially world war 2 based although I am partial for to historical fiction that has a fantasy element, for example, Helen Pryke’s The Innocenti Saga. YA fantasy, horror, sci-fi and contemporary fiction. So quite a few genres.

Do you write a review if you did not like the book? Do you use a star rating system for reviews you write?

Never, never, never. No, absolutely not. If I really dislike a book, and it’s a rarity then that is my opinion and one I keep to myself. I find it pointless to publically slam and slate an author and rip apart their hard work. Who is it really helping? It’s a no-no for me. Yes, I do use a star rating 3 being a minimum but again that is very rare.

Once contacted, when can the author or blog tour operator expect to hear from you?

When a blog tour organiser or an author asks me to review or be on a blog tour I try my best to reply to their email the same day. I always try to get back to everyone sometimes a few here and there might slip through.

What is your favorite aspect of bookblogging?

My favourite aspect of book blogging is showcasing the talents of Indie authors. They are very much underrated in my opinion. They give so much yet receive so little. The attitudes surrounding them as authors are poor in some book circles, I personally happen to think they are brilliant. So anything I can do to shine a light on the fantastic stories they write and to give them much needed exposure I will do.

If you could have a fantasy coffee date with an author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

If I could have a fantasy coffee, always coffee, with any author, and it will be a reality one day, it would be my beautiful Indie author friends Helen Pryke and Sarah Northwood. I know I’ve cheated and picked two but these two lovely Indie authors have given me so much. They are an inspiration to me. We are very close even though we have never met. We have shared similar journies in life, we get each other and we support each other in whatever it is we are doing. I would be lost without them.