Forms! Options! Triumph!

So, I have fought with Google Docs for the right to make forms, and I do believe I've won.
*triumphant clash of cymbals*

Now commences stage two of reading for a good cause! Putting up the cash. Or more accurately, saying how much cash you'll put up on the 10th of October. (After I've racked my body with caffeine and sugar and ruined my eyes with reading. I'm so excited. :D) Right now I am just collecting pledges.

There are three ways you can pledge money to Candlelighters. (Which provides support for families affected by Childhood Cancer, does research into Childhood Cancers, and is generally awesome.)

• OPTION ONE: BY THE HOUR.
• In this one, you pledge to give a certain amount for every hour I, (or any of the other readers,) keep reading. 
• OPTION TWO: BY NUMBER OF BOOKS READ
• Or, as I read fast, you could pledge to give a certain amount per book I (or any of the other readers) read! 
• *hand held high* I promise I will not resort to speeding through the Franklin books if all the pledges are of that sort. (Heh.) 
• I estimate I can read 12 books in 24 hours, and that is what I'm going to aim for.
• OPTION THREE: FOR SPECIFIC BOOK
• And for option three, you could pay what you think is a fair amount to make me read a book and review it. As long as I can get ahold of the book and it does not offend my morals, I will read it. I might review VERY SARCASTICALLY, but yes, I will read it. :D
• I'm the only one you can sponsor this way, as Bonny wants to choose her own books. No imagination, that girl.
• And yes, if you want me to read Twilight, I reserve the right to ask for the money up front. Not going through that again without some reassurance that I'm actually making money for Candlelighters.
• Because I estimate I'm only getting through 12 books in 24 hours, I am taking a maximum of 12 of these sponsorships. 
• And I promise you I will not sleep until those books are read.

The form for signing up to pledge is right below.

HERE IS THE FORM YOU WANT TO FILL OUT TO PLEDGE!

Alternatively, you have just give money right away, and worry not about amount of books read, hours gone without sleep, or any of that fun stuff.

YOU CAN GIVE MONEY WITHOUT FURTHER ADO HERE

And, thank you.

Reading is for awesome people. See?

Thank you so much.

The Princess Bride, William Goldman

"What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."

I am tempted to leave my description of the plot there, as whoever wrote the jacket copy of this edition was really good at his/her job.  :D Plus, most people have seen the movie already, so they know what happens! Yeah, I'll leave the plot description there.

I'd seen the movie before I read the book, and I was rather surprised on reading the book to get the narrator's long ruminations on how love was basically impossible. One of the big points in the book is that Buttercup and Westley are in love, true love, which is something almost as rare as Buttercup's beauty.

This annoyed me.

I have witnessed many long marriages that are happy, loving, and even cringe-ingly passionate. (Okay, if it was your parents, you wouldn't want to know either. That's all I'm saying.) The whole clever OH AREN"T WE SO CYNICAL thing vexed me mightily.

BUT, the overall story still amuses me. :D I like the old-school adventure, and I really really like the fact that we go more into depth with Miracle Max, Fezzik and Inigo Montoya, as they were my favourite characters in the movie.

It was certainly very engrossing, I was just vexed and stressed out by certain aspects of the story. And I gave it four stars out of five.

P.S. The torture scenes creeped me the ross out. GAH.

Radiant Shadows, Melissa Marr

This is the fourth book in the Faerie courts trilogy, and it mainly deals with the shrapnel that's still falling from the actions of Keenan, Irial, Seth and Ash. The Summer Court is weak because Keenan and Ash both have mixed focus due to Ash not being seduceable for Keenan, since she's still in love with Seth, who's left her. Seth is hanging out as a solitary Fae, and dealing mostly with the Dark Court. The Dark Court, on the other hand, is reeling because of the whole almost-starvation thing they just lived through, and change in leadership. The Winter court is probably building armies, they're not talking to anyone that much, which leaves the High Court. Where Sorcha, the Unchangeable, is obsessed with her new son to the point that her realm is turning to fog. Oh, and Bannach, Chaos Personified, is loving it. She's prowling around starting wars. Which, y'know, is always a GREAT sign. So that's the setting.

And the characters? Ani is the half-human daughter of Gabriel, leader of the wild hunt. Too faerie to survive in the mortal world, and too human to be allowed to run with the hunt, it's not a great position. Her father Gabe, brother Rabbit, friend Irial and sister Tish are trying to take care of her, but that's difficult when the person you're caring for is a.) fed by touch, but b.) not allowed to ravish the members of the wild hunt, because she's c.) Ani. Because being the kind of girl she is, it's more to protect the hunt than her that she's not allowed to get freaky in the stables. (Did I just write that? Oh my word. Imma go laugh with shame now.)

Devlin is the brother of both Bannach and Sorcha, and the liason between both. He's chosen to be as logical and Sorcha-like as possible, and she reacts by using him as her assassin.

Neither one is really loving life right now.

And then they meet, and the plot unreels in an entirely inevitable way.

I'm in the weird position now of really loving the characters, but not caring what happens to them. I especially love Rabbit. And Tish, and Irial, and Ani, and Devlin, and oh man do I love Gabriel. But the plot, I'm really not sure about. I liked the plot in Wicked Lovely, and LOVED it in Ink Exchange. Both times it seemed inexorable, but in a good way. I liked what happened for aesthetic reasons, if not liking the actual things that happened. But for two books now, I've just seen things happen to people I like, and I don't like what's happening on any level. It's because of the characters that I give it three stars, and because of the plot that it's not four or higher.

Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs

Anna had no idea werewolves existed until three years ago, when she was attacked by one. She survived, more from innate stubbornness than from anything to look forward too. Since she healed from the attack, she's spent the intervening time learning that werewolves are monsters, and the more dominant a wolf is, the more she'll want to forget any encounter with him afterwards. Her pack spent the three years violently teaching her her place, and feminism has NOT hit them yet.

But last weekend there was a power change in her pack. A lot of people she isn't going to mourn died. The enforcer who did the killing, (who specifically was able to kill the alpha because he's even more dominant,) tells her their wolves have decided they're mated, and he asked her to come home with him. And she went, maybe not even for the usual keeping-her-head-down ways. Now Anna and Charles have to get to know each other, and also oh, btw, ancient evil is prowling around in the woods, maybe you should look into that before it eats your soul.

Okay, this is a romance, no denying. And I liked it. :D I could actually track emotional developments, and  I could identify with the characters' romantic interest. As I believe I've mentioned, this hardly ever happens. But I liked following along with Charles learning not to glare at his girl, and Anna learning she's allowed to be bossy when her man is gonna HURT himself cause he won't let himself HEAL. *exasperated sigh and pushes him around*

Within Patricia Briggs' world-building, werewolves deal with being basically two people in one changeable body. The human and the wolf. The wolf is generally not the peaceful one with the relationship. Which is why, given that they barely know each other, both the angry, defiant and damaged little girl and the super powerful hitman everyone's scared of are rather disconcerted by their wolves' interest in curling up and snuggling around the other person.

And in this book, the snuggling was what interested me. (Sigh, I really am a girl, aren't I? Drat.)  It was just sweet! :D And yes, this is a "sweet" romance, not "steamy." Which is possibly why I also liked it. I could enjoy following the emotional arc without having to go "AUGH, I"M TOO YOUNG," and there was more focus on building friendship, instead of half the book being depictions of body parts and how there's heightened blood flow. Which really, you know, I'm just not that interested.

There was an actual plot, beyond making friends with each other, and I did approve of how it ended. For me, it was more of a vehicle for the making-of-friends than a key player, so I'm not gonna deal with it. Because of my somewhat "meh" reaction to the plot, I gave it three stars out of five.

The 50,000 Word Question

As you may have noticed, NaNoWriMo is coming up soon. Like, really soon. Like, OMG NEXT MONTH AUGH WHAT AM I GOING TO WRITE?

*panics*

*five minutes pass*

*slaps self in head*

Ahem. As I see it, I have three real options, which I am now going to ramble about incomprehensibly. In the first corner, we have re-writing Merchant's Daughter. I wrote it once years ago, but now I have to pull out the entire middle and inject all the characters with life. So I don't feel bad about calling that an option, seeing as I'm going to change ALL THE WORDS. Also my idea of kissing being bad has changed, so I kinda have to re-jig some characters' morality, and you know, maybe not killing all the children would be good... And what's it like?

It's set in Eastern Germany in the early eleventh century, and it's all political backstabbing and plans and possibly a secret romance or more accurately two people who really like to fight each other, and get married so they could fight more efficiently. The feel of it in my head is quiet, and controlled, with snow and noisy hearths, and small wooden spaces and being an outsider. YA Historical Fiction.

Then we have the Medusa-ish Story, which is based on a line in Dr. Who, and my feeling that the monsters should all be the heros every so often. I mean really, I'll be making up this plot on the go. I think it's a prison break. Maybe. Possibly finding out your bosses are killing you. WHO EVEN KNOWS? The feel in my head is about open spaces, and tents and metal and stone (possibly after the fall of "modern" civilization?) Bits of sensory deprivation, and children used as weapons, and climbing. Cliffs and floating prisons and storms. :D *bounces at the feel of the world* The characters are older, so I think it's straight up Fantasy. Heh. I have Sirens and Succubus, so yeah, no YA. HOW many FTBs, plot? I'm not sure, let's find out!

And for contender number three, there is my Selkie Kidnapping, which is set- shockingly- in the modern day. For tradition's sake, there is bound to be a storage container. It has a PLOT, and feels like being about family, and wondering who you trust, and book hunting, and escaping a small town. It smells of salt water and blood and wind and rock. Cold, and low income, and fighting the seductive sexy mysterious paranormal boys. :D This would either be the closest to a paranormal romance that I've got, or be about the death of romance and how you should stab the opposite sex on sight. I'm not sure yet.

SO YEAH. With those wonderful descriptions, what do YOU think? :P

Reading for a good cause.

Those of you who follow this blog might have noticed that I like to read.

Those of you who notice time stamps might have noticed that I like to stay up till all hours

So it was pretty obvious that I was going to be participating in Dewey's 24-Hour read-a-thon.

What is Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon? For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.   

PARTICULARLY because I'm Canadian, and I get Canadian Thanksgiving, so that's a three day weekend for me, so I don't fall asleep at work the day after. :D Lord Willing. It could still happen. ^_^

But, I should really have a reason to give to my family for staying up for 24 hours, beyond the usual "people on the internet are doing it." So I thought, and I decided I should raise money for a CAUSE! As one usually does with an a-thon. (I'm so clever.)

And then I had to think about what I should raise money for, which was a hard game! Only it wasn't, because the idea that came to mind immediately was to raise money for the Candlelighters Association.

Those of you who know me might know that I'm from a family that's been affected by Childhood Cancer. My little brother Gideon was diagnosed with a Wilms' Tumor when he was four, and he passed away when he was five. As a result, I am rather interested in funding research into childhood cancers, and the Candlelighters Association is one of the few groups which does this.

Wait, can't I just give to the Canadian Cancer Society? No, the Canadian Cancer Scociety does not fund research into cancers which only affect children, as that's such a small segment of the population, and they want to get the most bang for their buck, so to speak. Wilms' only affects children. Oh, and the Candlelighters also puts funds towards awesome things like Oncology Camps for childhood cancer survivors and children affected by childhood cancer, including siblings and bereaved siblings, which I FULLY SUPPORT. My family looks forward to Camp Delight for basically the whole year. :D

And I'm getting off topic. But- Candlelighters are awesome, and reading is awesome, and not sleeping is awesome, and TOGETHER we can be UNSTOPPABLE. Ahem.

Now I'm looking for two things; people to read with me, and people to support me!

The Dewey read-a-thon is already an awesomely put together organization, and as long as you like reading and caffeine you'll have a blast, I am sure. :D Talk to me, I will be delighted to walk you through signing up. (No you don't have to raise money, I just want a reason to keep me going past hour 12, and this is a good one for me.)

For funding, there are several ways you could give the Candlelighters money. You could pledge to give a certain amount, (a dollar is popular, five dollars is for awesome people,) for  every hour I read. Or, as I read fast, you could pledge to give a certain amount per book read! I promise I will not resort to reading through the Franklin books if all my pledges are of that sort. (Heh.) And for option three, you could pay a certain amount ($15.00 would be a good starting point) to make me read a book and review it. As long as I can get ahold of the book and it does not offend my morals, I will read it. I might review VERY SARCASTICALLY, but yes, I will read it. :D

There you have it! My plans for Thanksgiving weekend. Read for a good cause.

Devilish, Maureen Johnson

Jane is brilliant, sarcastic, loyal, and failing school because she can't really be bothered to care about her standing. Why engage in class when it's all politics and drama, and you can do the advanced school work in your 15 minutes before the bus arrives? She does care for the sake of her friend Ally, though, and if Ally wants to participate in traditions like Big Little day, where Freshmen (Littles) choose Senior mentors (Bigs), she'll be damned if she's gonna see Ally go without a Little.

She's been best friends with Ally since forever. Which means she's in a prime position to notice when her BFF, (after a really tragic public vomiting incident,) starts acting- differently. To the point of sudden knowledge of Latin, entire wardrobe and style change, and new personality to go with the hair.

Jane's never really been one to take No for an answer, or acknowledge subtle hinting to back off, so it doesn't take many self-igniting text books and freak hail storms before she's figured out that Ally's actually sold her soul to the devil, via a new girl at school. And now this middleman for Hell is willing to strike a deal with Jane for Ally's freedom, just sign here please...

Maureen Johnson is a hilarious writer, and I really think this is the most fun I've had with any of her books I loled irl at least once a chapter, and was grinning like a maniac at the page for the rest of the time. Maybe I find demon possession hilarious. DON'T JUDGE ME OKAY?

But I both found it hilarious, and my religious sensibilities weren't (really) freaked out by the treatment of demons. There was no falling in love with fallen angels, for example. I always find that one a little bit hard to buy into, given the whole trust component in falling in love. Instead this time, the love interest was SO CUTE I just want to RUFFLE HIS HAIR and grin at him. *cough*

So yes, I loved the characters, including her whole family and the teachers, I loved the dialogue, the plot was satisfying, and I generally enjoyed it. I gave it four stars out of five.

Lord Sunday, Garth Nix

Arthur Penhaligon has battled, snuck, fled, been chased, been carried, and fought his way through six levels of the House on his quest as the Heir to find and carry out the Will of the Architect. As a necessary byproduct of his quest, he's forfeited his humanity along the way. This isn't the normal "I'm not the same person I started as," thing. He is literally no longer human. He's given that up, along with seeing friends and family fall, because he believes that that's the only way to stop the tide of Nothing that's steadily destroying the House, and from there what we know as the world.

But everything that's been sacrificed might not be enough, now that he's fallen from the Incomparable Gardens.

I started this series because Kemendraugh (points accusingly to Kemendraugh) handed me the book and said read. And I am nothing if not obedient (okay I was obedient that day,) and so I read! I was so far into being obedient and not really looking at the book, that I thought it was a.) written 50 years ago, and b.) I had no idea who wrote the series. I only put "Garth Nix" together with "The Guy Who Wrote Those Sabriel Books" after reading Superior Saturday.

Yes, I am so observant.

ANYHOW, once I put those together, I was all going OOOOOOO, of COURSE! *headdesks repeatedly*  Nixian trademarks are all over. Like, say;

• The military not necessarily being the bad guys. 
• (How often does that happen in YA?)
• The power of words, and more specifically of writing.
• The physical and mental transformation of characters in the pursuit of something necessary.
• (And not necessarily in ways they would have liked.)
• The awesomeness of minor characters, who then die.
• Flawed and possibly dangerous characters who you're forced to trust.
• Fighting against impossible odds
• (Maybe winning, maybe not.)
• The necessity and cost of the fight.
• (Which is one of the reasons these books feel so old to me. It's not really a modern sentiment.)

I think everyone's very conscious of another series of war books that have been written recently. (You know, the ones with fire and birds and hunger in the titles?I will write more about them later.) I'd like to put forward the idea that these also are war books, and they quite possibly do a better job of communicating the aching decisions that must be made, and supported later. Like sometimes you have to take responsibility for being a pawn, say. And the enemy is made up of people, with hopes and dreams and families, and they will still kill you if given the chance.

I thought it was very well done, and a very inexorable, satisfying ending to the series. I didn't really emotionally connect with the characters, (other than Leaf,) but I would still like to look into possessing this series for myself, and I'd recommend it, for SURE. I gave it three stars out of five.

What happens in MY house at night.

I got a package in the mail

I love packages!

Let's see what's inside.

It's a book!

I love books! 

Especially books named Paranormalcy!

Let's show Paranormalcy her new home! First things first- tea.

But Paranormalcy, there are no clean mugs!

So we must clean one! Paranormalcy gets to sit safely on a plastic bag. WORRY NOT, I do not ENDANGER books.

Paranormalcy watches as the appropriate teabag is added.

Paranormalcy is used to Dr. Pepper, not this strange liturgy of boiling water! (See how shocked and taken aback she is?) But she'll have to get used to it- this is Canada. :D 

Add sugar. Do you take your tea sweet, Paranormalcy?

Yes, Paranormalcy does take her tea sweet.

Milk?

Well, when in Rome!

Now we're ready to go! Just gotta test the tea first...

Everyone's excited to meet you, Paranormalcy! They sent out the favourites!

Hi guys! I'm Paranormalcy! Nice to meet you!

Can I come in? I've got cool girls and fights and snark!

We love you! Come snuggle.

^_^

Photography provided by Yinsen the Macbook.

---

Oh, and tragically I mostly forgot to take pictures with ME and Paranormalcy in them, as requested in Kiersten White's contest? OOPS. *ruffles through them again.* Let me find one for my contest entry...

I swear we're at home. See above for proof. :D

Oh My Word.

So I was just browsing blogs to avoid writing the-story-which-I-love (aka Karma Police,) and I saw this.
 

These are the books up for grabs at in which a girl reads' blogoversary contest.

So really, why are you still here? GO! RUN, don't walk! Enter!

P.S. I'm trying Hubris on for size now. Can you tell?

Let's cut to the chase. (Dude, I love that phrase. Don't you love that phrase? Man, I love that phrase. *looks around* Oh yes, chase. Need to cut to it. *cough)

Yes I haven't been blogging. No, my hands have not been eaten by a toothy snail in my sleep. No, I probably won't be much better about regular posting in the future.

BUT. I am here to share some NEWS with you.

First of all, I did NOT sell the film right to my most excellent story Expendables The film that you might have heard about is not- I repeat, NOT- the story that I've mentioned and excerpted here in the past. ^_^ I thought I'd mention that and save us all some pain and confusion.

In connection to my not selling the film rights to my WONDERFUL AND AWESOME stories, I've been putting much of my income towards paying off some debts of mine incurred in the ENRICHMENT OF MY MIND. If I do not spend any money at all in September, I do believe I- Lord Willing And The Creek Don't Rise- will be free of debts at the end of the month.

In the interest in keeping myself HONOURABLE and keeping my visa card out of my grabby hands in the middle of the night when I'm busy surfing the blogs of debut authors, (no, this totally didn't happen last month, why do you say that,) I am going to join A Girl Reads a Book's Book Buying Ban.

Aren't I pretty?

Because a picture of a chained pig is what I REALLY need to get me through the dark nights. (Don't think about that one too hard. *pause* I warned you. ^_^)

ALSO, there are OTHER NEWSES TO SHARE.

I, uh, won an award. *beams*

My very first award! And it's all green and loopy!

DUUUUUUUUUUUDE.

Here's the instructions for the award. *stares at them*

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

Right So. I was actually awarded this TWICE, from both shield Maiden @ Wings of Daedalus and Bahnree @ I am, Therefore I Write. They're both lovely, and you should check them out. :D (YES DO IT.) However, shield maiden isn't blogging there any more, so you have to toodle over to her new collab site with her husband, location TBA.

Let's see, what's next? Things about me! Oh boy. Well....

1. My job means that I meet all kinds of people. (I work at a bank.) I mean think about it. EVERYONE comes to the bank. In fact, today I helped out an elderly man who had some old-school tattoos. You know the ancient signs that are a hand holding a flower or something? He had one of those, and a ribbon with what seemed to be another language on it, and quite a few others. A cool, respectable old man who didn't even need hearing aids. And then I looked at his date of birth and realized he was 94. Which just impressed me. :D And proved that if you have the right KIND of tattoos, they can still last. Service jobs, teaching you about what kind of tattoos to get since the beginning of time.
2. And speaking of tattoos, boys with tats seem to be the most well behaved, at least at MY work. They come in and are respectful, and smile shyly- if at all, and don't- you know, leer or boss me around or make creepy remarks, like the church boys or the old men with lots of grandkids or the married men. It's gotten so that I see a guy inked up with multiple piercings and my first reaction is "what a nice boy." So yeah. That'll get me far in the outside world.
3.  I drank Twinnings Earl Grey tea with religious fervour while at College. Now the taste or even the smell of that tea makes me feel smart. ^_^
4. I play one-person computer games as a group activity. I sit on the couch, and my little siblings sit beside me on the cushions or arms (and hang over the back of said furniture) and they point out things to me. For example, today Elizabeth was in charge of informing me when I needed to collect taxes from my villagers, and Bonny told me what my objectives were when needed. :D
5. When I get sleep deprived, I get depressed. Weirdly enough, I'm only making the connection between late night dark valleys of the soul and getting by on six hours of sleep NOW...
6. I also watch television as though it's a multi-person contest. Quotes must be identified, songs must be named, and commercials must be mocked. And if we're watching Jeopardy, well, I play along. 
7. I don't like getting my hair cut. So I just grow it, and grow it, and grow it, until I finally explode into exasperation and cut off two feet or more at a blow. I have become so frustrated that I have seriously considered shaving my head. Fortunately my mom was there to haul me back into the car.

So- there's my weird fact. Oh- they weren't supposed to be weird? HAH well with me weird is what you're gonna get. Learn it love it LIVE it, babeh. 

Hmm, now I have to tell you about 15 blogs that I adore, and found recently. Well, found within the last two years is recent, right? Right? SURE. *beams* 

*starts to go over blog list*

PIcking just 15 is HARD. 

*hyperventilates* 

*cries over computer*

*leaves list, make tea, comes back*

Okay these are my top 15 bookish/nerdish blogs. They're the ones that whenever I see they've posted, I am gleeful and I dash over to see what they wrote. ^_^ I'll give you the link, how I found them, some suff you should know to expect, and why I love them. (I just realized these are all blogs written by women. Hah. Sorry Kyle Cassidy, you almost made the cut, but not QUITE as much love for you and your ilk.)

1. Just A Good Book
1. Origin of Discovery: We've been best friends for almost three years now, and I love her in general and also her reviews. Kemendraugh's only been book blogging for a little while, but that just means you get to get in on the ground floor. 
2. Whois: Library Tech. Snarky writer girl. Older sister. Canadian. Lover of hilarious quotes.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's Kemendraugh.
2. I Am, Therefore I Write 
1. Origin of Discovery: Bahnree and I were housemates. She got me to read Star Wars and Dune and Manga, and start blogging, and introduced me to the joys of salacious comments. 
2. Whois: English Major. Writer. Christian. American.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's Bahnree.
3. Reading Writing Rachel
1. Origin of Discovery: Um. Let me think. OH YEAH, I follow the tenners on LJ, and she posted there to enthuse about her lovely cover for Hex Hall. I followed the links to her blog, found it was hilarious, and bookmarked. After I read her book and found it to be hilarious (sometimes the blog love does not last through the book, sadly,) I decided to stop by more often. 
2. Whois: Rachel Hawkins. Alabama- (Subset of American.) Mom of an energetic Small Son. Writer of snarky YA fiction which I lurve. Conscience which extends to giving things and money, not just fixing WrongThinking.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's hilarious, whether talking about books, life, writing or marketing. And I like hilarious.
4. Natural/Artificial
1. Origin of Discovery: I blame Kiersen White. She linked about something, and then i found a blog full of pictures of beautiful british men. I will confess I was there for several visits before I noticed the mention of the book she's writing. (I've pre-ordered, and I don't even read romance successfully. She's so adorable I'm hoping this book will be magic. ^_^)
2. Whois: Stephanie Perkins. Blue hair. Happily Married. Pictures of british men- just accept and enjoy. Writer about the magic of normal life. American Paris fan-girl.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's adorably funny, and honest about how hard it is to write, and adorable. My inner bouncy-happy-girl comes out when I read her blog. 
5. Kiersen Writes
1. Origin of Discovery: Someone on twitter RTed something about a friend getting a book deal, and how she totally deserved it! And I clicked through and found a post about almost dying a year ago, and how now she just signed a three book deal with HarperTeen.
2. Whois: Happily married mom of two adorable kids. San Diegoer- (subset of Californian- (subset of American.). Paranormal YA writer. Mormon. Helpful and caring.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's snarky funny and clever and honest. And she's openly short. Which makes her seem so much more approachable? I don't know! Also I heart her book, which helps.
6. Liyanaland
1. Origin of Discovery: Um. I think this one was Kiersen White as well! Maybe. Or perhaps it was Sarah Rees Breenan. ANYHOW, I discovered her, and I bounce whenever she posts blogs.
2. Whois: Book Blogging from Singapore! That's all I know, really. It's all about the books.
3. Why I <3 Her: Well written, well thought out, well PUNCTUATED posts about YA books. I can't even tell you how much of a relief that is. Not much hilarity, but she's also on the bleeding edge of discovering books before they're buzzing, which makes this a darn useful site. I just enjoy it. ^_^
7. Attention Rebellious Jezebels
1. Origin of Discovery: UMMMMMMMMMMMM. *points madly* Sarah Rees Breenan! It was HER!  
2. Whois: Karen Healey. YA writer. Classicists. Feminist. Australian and New Zealand politics. Social Conscience. Painfully Liberal 
1. A I mean that not in a mocking way, but in that she will go to lengths that are unboubtedly personally painful to make sure that she's not inadverntaly engaging in issues like sizeism. This is where I learned about mansplaining, what on earth it is to be cis-gendered, and the incredible sincerity that is behind people who talk about inclusion with those wide eyes. Which was, as someone who was raised in a pretty Conservative and conservative house, rather illuminating. We don't agree on everything, but she generally makes me think. Which I find useful. :D
3. Why I <3 Her: She's hilarious. (Sensing a theme, eh?) She has "adventures in lying"as a tag on her journal. Also, her incredible sincerity is refreshing. Given that I work at a bank, as above noted. NOT the most sincere of people
8. Occupation: Girl
1. Origin of Discovery: Banhree sent me a link, I read, and I said first, "so THIS is where you get all your  hilarious and useful links," And then I said "WHY AM I NOT FOLLOWING HER?" So then I followed her. 
2. Whois: CleoLinda. Nerd-girl. Reader. Watcher of movies. Mocker of movies. Mocker of books. Mocker of life, surgery, death, pain, and all the rest. LINK_MISTRESS_EXTRAORDINARY.
3. Why I <3 Her:  I like people who can look at hospitals and then walk out and laugh at Twilight. And she LAUGHS. 
9. Sarah Tells Tales
1. Origin of Discovery: Spartezda linked a quote about gratuitous vampires. I followed the link and found MAGIC.
2. Whois: Sarah Rees Breenan. Feminist. Writer of YA paranormals. Social Conscience, in the manner of Karen Healey. Irish- (not really a subset of English.)
3. Why I <3 Her: I think this was the first feminist blog I read and actually agreed with what she was saying. All of it. ^_^ That didn't happen with EVERY blog post, but basically with all "Ladies, carry on being awesome," posts I'm up in my room going PREACH IT at the computer. Which is- one reason. The real reason I keep checking back, if I am honest about my OH SHINY mind, is because she is hilarious and talks about books I want to read but didn't know until she mentioned it. The woman can make me want to be stuck in trains and rescued by a grim ex-marine so that I can write blog posts like that.
10. Maureen Johnson's Blog
1. Origin of Discovery: Twitter told me to follow her. What was I to do?
2. Whois: Maureen Johnson. YA Writer. Abba-worshiper. Irreverent but sincere (which is another version of Laugh So You Don't Cry.) Keeps her twitter followers in jars. New Yorker (specialized subset of American.)
3. Why I <3 Her: She's HILARIOUS. I spammed many of my facebook friends with her post about how to move into a dorm. Sometimes you just need to read someone who makes you smile. :D
11. Waiting For Antlers
1. Origin of Discovery: I noticed Merc was talking to someone a lot on twitter, and then followed the SIGNS down through LJ and found the blog. She talks about SNAKES, yo. And slashfiction. o.O And biological awesomeness that makes this happy basement-dweller think that maybe outside is also cool. 
2. Whois: Californian (subset of American.) Keeps snakes and mice and other creatures. Wears feathery earrings. Has an awesome family. Writer of Fantasy and SF, in such a way that makes me want to read stories WAY above my usual rating.  (I don't even know what snake musk IS!)
3. Why I <3 Her: She has hilarity and snakes and writing. "I pretty much never want to eat again. I will subsist on tea and souls, like some sort of librarian demon." Nuff said. 
12. Fire, Guns and Zombies
1. Origin of Discovery: Bahnree followed her blogspot blog, back when I followed blogspot blogs that I couldn't have delivered to my email. :D And then I followed the links to LJ, where I live now. It's easy. And people talk to me in text form. Oh man I need to finish this post and then regrow my brain.
2. Whois: Merc Rustad. Prolific and published Horror Writer. Minnesota, (subset of American.) Ferret-owner. :D Does not talk politics or religion, so really I have no idea. 
3. Why I <3 Her: She's a nice person who is encouraging about writing (including mine) and has a sarcastic, sketchy sense of humour, and she's from Minnesota. EXOTIC LOCALES.
13. Rules For Anchorites
1. Origin of Discovery: Merc RTed something about a writer who needed support and signal boosting for a book she was writing to pay the bills of her and her lover. (This was already a sign that I was moving outside of my normal blog paths.) As they needed the money NOW, not a year down the road, she was putting the book online and asking for crowd funding. The book was The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Boat Of Her Own Making, and I am very glad that it was the first crowdfunded story I'd ever found, because I got burned pretty hard in the next few weeks clicking through other links. But Fairyland was incredibly strange and tactile and fascinating, and the blog was- brutal.
2. Whois: Catherine Valente. Pagan. Feminist. Bisexual. Spinner and knitter and beader and crocheter and maker of beautiful things. Writer of SF and Fantasy. Happily married to a Russian computer boy. (I am too shot to remember the name of someone who codes? Coder? He does computers.) Player of rockband. User of profanity for dramatic effect. Cook and Baker and Honest to the point of pain, all the time.
3. Why I <3 Her: Cat lives in a world that shares almost no common points with mine. I doubt that we would agree on any point of politics, or music, or reading, or art. We might agree on food. But she is SO sincere and articulate and honest that I always want to see what she is saying. This is her life blog, and she talks about good things in her life, crappy things in her life, and whatever is annoying her at the moment. (I think she has a temper much like mine, only she writes vicious blog posts instead of slapping people.) Expect passion. (And swearing. Really, it doesn't bother me, but some people might be miffed. And yeah- heresy too.)
14. Stephanie Burgis
1. Origin of Discovery: Someone- I think it was Linyanaland posted a link to the first chapter of her book, A Most Improper Magick. I read, loved, and followed links to her blog. :D And I've just stayed, cause she makes me happy. 
2. Whois: Stephanie Burgis. YA Paranormal Historical Fiction Writer. American Ex-pat living in Wales. (Not really a subset of England.) Happily married mom of one. 
3. Why I <3 Her: From her blog, I just feel like I know her, and she's a lovely person. :D She talks about writing, and enjoying it and life, and family, and chocolate, and is currently writing a book described as Pride and Prejudice with Dragons. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE? Also, she's just lovely. :D
15. Angela Mary Butler's Photostream
1. Origin of Discovery: My dad was cruising Flickr, as one does, and looking at the pictures tagged with the Janeway, which is the hospital my brother Gideon was treated at. Through those he found a girl who'd just been diagnosed with cancer and was photo-blogging her way along. Our whole family has become friends with her now, and I follow her photo-stream with great glee. ^_^
2. Whois: Angela Mary Butler. First year art school student. Photographer. Cancer survivor. Gamer nerd. Teenager. Funny.
3. Why I <3 Her: She's Angela. 

Also, you should check out The Book Smugglers, and Presenting Lenore, Book Bloggers extraordinary.

Wow, that was painful. I don't think I'm accepting any more awards. *dies*