Saturday Spotlight #1: Paranormal Wastelands

Hello and welcome to the first ever Saturday Spotlight here at I Write, I Read, I Review. This is the place where I invite fellow book bloggers to chat about all of the awesome things going on within their own slice of the book blogging pie. And do I have a treat for you this week... 

*Darkfallen and Greta walk on stage, wearing Halloween costumes.*

Kathy: Alright! Let's give a big warm welcome to Darkfallen and Greta from Paranormal Wastelands! Thanks so much for coming! :) 

Special clothes for a special occasion or 'Evil never looked so cute.' ;)

Kathy: So, why did you start blogging?

Darkfallen: Hello there fellow bloggy bloggers! *waves* Soooo why did I start blogging? You really wanna know? OK then here is the part where I tell you that it was because I am crazy. Yep that's right! One too many bats flew over this girls coo coo nest. I mean lets all be honest here...creating and maintaining a blog takes a certain level of sanity. Or should we say lack there of? You have to be willing to let your freak flag fly on any given moment, and your constantly lost in the land of chaos that is deadlines & so many reviews, so little time. But it's worth it!

Greta: HI! My name is Greta! Blogging actually freaks me the hells to the bells out but one day Darkfallen wanted to take the leap and started Paranormal Wastelands. I kept saying 'ow ow ow! Do this! Do this!!" ANd then all of the sudden I found myself wanting to help her and one thing led to another and we became bloggy buddies. I think what is the most fun is our duel reviews. We get to smack each other and whip out the chainsaws. I guess what makes us unique is we have no problem what so ever with severing each other's virtual arm just to get what we want ;)

Darkfallen: HAHA don't let her lie. My dear Greta suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. I tied her up in the basement of the Wastelands frat house almost a year ago. *winks*

Greta: Damn! Well, that explains it. I thought I was giving myself Indian Burns in my sleep... Little did I know that the world really isn't dark and musty and zomg... what the hell do you have down here Darkfallen?!! It's growling at me!!

Kathy: What do you guys view as your greatest accomplishment as book bloggers?

Greta: One of the most fun things for me on PW was working on "Waiting on Forever" week. You could hear us fan girl squee for like WEEKS as we prepared that one.

And I think our most FAB review was for "HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER" (Kathy: Two things: Hilarious, but not YA.).  That was our first duel review and zomg it was sooo super fun!! That was the introduction to the chainsaw... and Darkfallen learned she wasn't allowed to look at Lykaes. Even though she says I gave her Bowen, I'm not sure I remember that one ;) RAWR!

Do they come in pink? Yes, yes they do. ;)

Darkfallen: Hold on kids...brb *breaks out the chainsaw...AGAIN* There that's better! And don't worry she will regenerate that leg in about 3-4 days...I think. *winks*

I have to agree with my pet here on this one. Waiting On Forever was soooooo much fun. I had giant moths in my stomach trying to break free in anticipation for that one. Although I will say that Zompacolypse 2011 has been one hell of a ride!

Oh and despite what Greta says...the Lykaes are MINE!!!!!! *growls posessively*

Greta: HAH!! In your dreams!! Damn it!! Untie me!!

Kathy: What advice would you give to other bloggers?

Greta: Just do it!! IT doesn't hurt to try!! Just get out there and make one up and fly by the seat of your pants!! It's totally not as hard as some people make it out to be and if IT IS then you are doing it wrong. Book blogging should be FUN!!! And if it's not fun then you are doing it WRONG!

*Darkfallen sings wrong wrong wrong. wrong wrong wrong*

Greta: I do recommend that you have a buddy on board with you. I would have never done this if it wasn't for Darkfallen. She makes it way more fun!

*Darkfallen sings. fun fun fun. fun fun fun*

Greta: As for social networking I don't think we do a too awful lot of that. If we do then that's all Darkfallen's area. She's our pimp and I just like to watch.. oh yeah Darkfallen!! SLOW it down!! That's the stuff... MAMA LIKES! ;P hahahahs!

Darkfallen: Definitely your have to have FUN!! If it is stressing you out, and you find your post sounding all "stuffy" then STOP! Go back. And ask yourself why your doing this. I do this to have fun and help authors spread the love that is their new booky wook. I can't tell you the amount of authors that email us saying how much fun it was to work with us.

How we run our site so differently then the others. And that leaves me feeling sad/happy. I'm happy to know that we have cut a nitch for ourselves here in the blog realm. But sad that other bloggers aren't having as much fun.

NUMBER ONE THING TO REMEMBER: These authors are just like you and me. They are regular normal people, that sit at home making fun of things like bad porn & the neighboor with all the cats next door, all while munching on Hamburger Helper. I even bet the female authors spend most of thier time saying things like "The toliet paper is in the closet, just LOOK!" and "Ewww do you really have to fart in front of me?" So when your working with them on promoting their book keep it fun and full of laughs. It makes life so much better for both you and the author ;)

As for social networking I say stick to Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Oh And Greta? Yes I pimp us daily ;) lolz

Greta: See... How would I know? You have me in your damn basement!! And the growling is getting closer!!!

Kathy: Care to share some of the blogs you love to visit?

Darkfallen: Really? There are just so many awesome blogs out there, that there is no way we could possible list em all. And I would hate to get lynched for leaving someone out. So I'll just...

*mumbles under her breath*

Satin's Bookish Corner 
(http://satinsbookishcorner.blogspot.com/)

I'm Loving Books 
(http://imlovingbooks.com/)

Nymfaux 
(http://nymfaux.blogspot.com/)

Meg @ Riverina Romantics 
(http://riverinaromantics.blogpost.com)

EEKKKK I've already said to much.... *hears lynch mob in the distance*

Greta: hahahs!! Get her!!!!

Kathy: What fabulous thing(s) are you doing on your blog right now? Got anything awesome planned for the future?

Click me! Click me!

Greta: THe most fabu thing on Paranormal Wastelands right now is Zompacolypse. That is our three headed baby!! We super put a ton of effort in it... well, kinda... well, sorta.... WE put a bit in but it was just so super easy to do that it just kinda fell together.

Zompacolypse is a month long celebration full of scary reviews, interviews with famous authors, fangtastic giveaways, and even stories. It is so awesome that we hope that it puts us in the Treehouse of Horror's history books.

Darkfallen: I ditto all the above....plus add a few Xanax. Lolz No really it was/is/going to be A LOT of fun! So feel free to stop on by and join in on the fun!

Kathy: Alright. We've done a lot of talk about blogging. Now let's get to the good stuff. Books! First up: I'm sure you've read lots of books. Is there one you really love? A book you would feel confident in calling an absolute must read? why do you love it? What makes it great?

Greta: The one book that I recommend to everyone is "Hunger Like No Other". That's one of my all time favs. It has EVERYTHING!! Highlander werewolf noms with nommy muscles and most awesome hair, a girly girl who fights back and thinks for herself, vampires, valkaryies, and bathtubs OH MY!! It's just fabulous!!! Lover dovers it!!!

Darkfallen: LMAO!! Yes hse does reccomend this book to EVERYONE! So much so that I even started a segment called Because Greta Said So and featured Hunger Like No Other. Greta and me got a little out of control on that post...like chainsaw out of control.

Kathy: Yeah, just an FYI for those reading... I made the mistake of having a root beer while I read the article linked above. A suggestion? Don't do that. Root beer burns when it comes out your nose.

Anyway... As book bloggers we are constantly reading new books and finding those that we really enjoy. Has there been a book that you've read recently that you've loved and would recommend? Why do you love it? What makes it great?

Greta: Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Luke Davies is the most recent book that I have read, fell in love with, and would tell everyone to read. I totally adore it because it is so raw, so full of life, so draining, yet so pure. It's about a dude who has a heroin addiction, falls in love with a girl, and watches his life go through a series of ups and downs, high and lows, heres and nowhere in betweens. It's freaking awesome!! What makes it so great is you can't ever predict what will happen next!! I super loved it! (Wanna learn more? Click here for the review.)

Darkfallen: Hands down no matter what if you haven't read Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma then you are missing out. That book will change your life in ways that will both disturb you and break your heart. You will look at the yourself & see the world differently after that book. (Click here for Darkfallen & Greta's joint review.)

Kathy: Yeah, I'll definitely need to get ahold of that and read it so I can review it during Just Contemporary next month. Thanks!

So we've talked about old favorites and current loves. But then there are all of those books that are coming out in the future. It never really stops. So, what upcoming book are you dying to read? What has you excited? And what crazy, zany thing would you do if it meant you could have it *right now*? :D

Greta: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! The book I am super duper most totally excited as a squirrel with too many nuts is Lothaire by Kresley Cole!! Zo-mah-gawd!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And what has me excited? SUper duper duhs!! It's KRESLEY COLE!! It's IMMORTALS AFTER DARK!!! And it's going to be soooo super duper delicious that I'm going to squee myself and not worry about the mess!!! And I have Darkfallen to thank because she already has got it for me for xmas but I have to wait till Febs to reads it (We're doing xmas in February cuz we're awesome). EEEEEEE!!! Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kathy: I get the feeling that I am really missing something not having read Kelsey Cole. I really might have to fix that soon.

Darkfallen: Thanks to the Greta up there I have to say I am too drooling of this Lothaire num num! In fact we just pre-ordered our copies the other day! Although I just finished readingVampire Wake by Tim O'Rourke and I have to say that I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW!!! For those of you that haven't heard about this series please, even Greta will tell you, it is a much read! Book one is Vampire Shift, book 2 is Vampire Wake, and book 3 will be out in Decmeber and is calledVampire Hunt. This author will take you on a ride that you would be able to get enough of!

Kathy: That's one heck of a cover. She reminds me of my character from World of Warcraft. *shakes head* 

Okay! Now it's your turn to ask everyone a question. :)

Greta: What is the hokey pokey really all about? And why do we keep doing it?

Don't try this at home!

Kathy: ??? ... Is that like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? ;) Okay, seriously now... I am not sure what the hokey pokey's all about or why we keep doing it. All I know is that it's best avoided when wearing 5 inch heels. 

*Darkfallen sings. you put you right foot in. you take your right foot out.*

*stares at foot that just fell off and stayed "in"*

*Kathy thinks the stage is going to need a lot of cleaning tomorrow. ;)* Apparently it's also best avoided when the stage is being infested by zombies. Where is that chainsaw again?

Greta: Never mind her this zombie plague is really getting to her. *winks*

Darkfallen: Ummmm Why isn't my husband a Lykea? Anyone?!

Greta: I swear once I get untied I'm gassing up my chainsaw!!!

Kathy: Darkfalen and Greta, thanks so much for being my first victims *cough* I mean visitors for Saturday Spotlight. You guys were super fun to interview.

Greta: Thanks so much for having us and hope to see you guys around the Wastelands!!

Darkfallen: Yes YES thanx a million! Hope we didn't scare you too awefully much, and for those of you that actually liked our interview...well I have good news, and bad news. Bad news, your just as nuts as us. Good news, there is a room for you in the Wastelands!! Lolz