Blogger Interview with Jessica Samuelson from Writing Pearls

In celebration of all those marvelous book bloggers out there I am participating in  Blogger Thon hosted by Bemused Bookworm.  Today I am sharing an interview with Jessica from Writing Pearls.  I’ve been reading her blog for a while now and enjoy reading her thoughtful reviews.  I appreciate her thoughts even more now after learning of our shared admiration for Jane Austen and coveting of the same books growing up.
 
1.  What
is your first bookish memory – 

Reading The Secret Garden and The Little
House on the Prairie books on a cross country trip from Mississippi to
Alaska.

2. What were your favorite books  growing up and what
are they now? 

Growing up my favorites were The Secret Garden, Little
Women, and The Little House on the Prairie books. I read them over and
over again! Now my favorites are anything C.S. Lewis, Mysteries, And
Cozy Mysteries.

3.  If
you could eat lunch with any author (living or dead) who would it be
and why? 

It would be Jane Austen. It’s possible that she is a distant
relative of mine. I also envy her success of writing classics that have
survived the test of time over and over again.

4. In
your “about” page you describe pearls as a gorgeous thing provoked by
junk name one “pearl” you have read and and on junk read.

Kate
Triumph by Shari Arnold is one of my top Pearl reads. I don’t advertise
the “junk” on my site because I am about building writers up not
putting them down. If I don’t like something, I just put it aside and
forget about it. Being a writer myself, I need to be careful how I
critique my contemporaries. 

5. What
was the last book you read and would you recommend it? 

 I just finished
Dead Lies by Cybele Loening and Merry Mary by Ashley H. Farley and I
would recommend them both highly!

6.  If you
could visit any fictional setting where would it be? 

Right now it would
be Numaterra. It is a fictional world I created for my Revelation series
starting with the Revelation of the White Stone which will be coming
out early next year… I kind of live in this world right now as I am
writing the series so I guess that makes me partial to it. 

 

7. Who are your favorite fictional characters? 

Auntie Scotty from Ms. Conception by Jen Cumming

8.
How do you decide what to read next? 

 Usually by what Blog Tour is
coming up. I do a lot of those. Then it’s the ARC’s that are set to be
published. Then after that it’s pretty random. I have asked my husband
to design me a TBR application that I can enter all my books into and it
chooses for me. That will be coming soon.

9. Do you have an author who is an “instant buy” 

Right now it is Jennifer Peele

10.
I love descriptive books and draws me into the story. What captivates
you to read/continue a novel 

I’m drawn into solid story-arcs paired with
solid character arcs… I would say I am more drawn to the characters
and how they progress through the story.