2012 Blogger Goals

Happy New Year's Day, everybody!

Wow.. 2011 was kind of crazy, wasn't it? I can't believe how fast it flew by! At the beginning of last year, I had a lot of goals that I wanted to accomplish as a book blogger. Some things I accomplished, some things I did not. Obviously, this biggest curve ball for me last year was my cervical cancer debacle. Thanks to the surgery, recovery and so many other things that followed.. I got really behind on this blog. I don't want to do that again. Ever.

Since it's the beginning of a new year, I thought I would go ahead and write down things I'd like to accomplish and goals I'd like to achieve as a book blogger in 2012. Hopefully these plans will help to improve not only myself, but the quality of content found on this blog.

1. Download my blog weekly. I've heard too many horror stories of blogs disappearing and people losing all of their hard work. I invest entirely too much of my life in this blog to have it all go missing on a whim.
2. Schedule posts 2+ weeks in advance. This was going well for me last year until Blogger decided to mess things up. I think (and hope) I have it fixed. Unfortunately, I have to start from scratch.
3. Bring Before & After feature back permanently. This was one of those things that worked out marvelously, then life happened and I couldn't keep up. I have a back-up plan in preparation just in case something comes up, so I'm positive this will stay around.
4. Post author profiles frequently. The best way for people to discover new authors is to have a source of information on them at hand. I plan on making it a habit to post about new, old and favorite authors as much as possible.
5. Update all information on this blog. New navigation, updated links, new tagging system, etc.. all in hopes to succeed where I failed last year.
6. Be more available. Last year's phone debacles (yes, plural - I went through a few Blackberry Curves) and the fact that I was out of town a lot really hindered my communication relating to this blog. I just put a nice chunk of money into a better phone that seems up to par for all of my needs, so I'm hoping this is already fixed.
7. Post more reviews. Upon reviewing my 'read' list on Goodreads, I discovered that I have not posted nearly as many reviews as I have read books.. and this makes me sad. This year, I not only need to review books as I read them, but also review books I've already read to post on the blog. The more information out there, the better.
8. Find a more efficient template for review posts and utilize it. I want more information in a very organized way. I need to find a happy medium soon and possibly re-work all of my past reviews with the same template.
9. Purge my Gmail account. Since August, my inbox has been a hot mess. I need to clean it up, then go through and get rid of e-mails in folders that are not longer needed.
10. Update contacts. I have a whole lot of contacts and a not-so-very-organized way of listing them. This needs to change ASAP.
11. Try a more polished layout. I absolutely LOVE my header and color scheme for this blog, but sometimes I feel as though it needs to be a little more professional looking. I plan on making a few tweaks to help settle that unease.
12. Be more social. I don't reply to comments, tweet or interact with all of you lovely people much at all. This makes me sad. It's definitely one of my priorities to change in 2012.
13. Just be happy! Sometimes, life happens and things come up. I need to stop stressing over this.

Well, that's it for my blog. I also have a few goals for my blogging life outside of Missy's Reads & Reviews. They include:

1. Be more active on Young Adult Books Central. I help review for this site and it's quite possibly the BEST site I've seen for YA books. Helping to make it one of the best sources of YA information is a big goal of mine.
2. Write 3-5 articles per week for Examiner. I've finally decided to hop on the Examiner bandwagon to get more exposure for my blog, books I love to review, and awesome authors. I want to make sure I utilize this opportunity to its maximum potential.
3. Be more efficient. I want to get my name out there as much as possible and be one of the many voices of books that people recognize. Obviously, this takes work. I'm more than willing to put my blood, sweat and tears into that work.

Blog Tour Review: My Own Worst Frenemy, by Kimberly Reid

Straight outta the Mile High City, Chanti Evans is an undercover cop's daughter and an exclusive private school's newest student. But Chanti is learning fast that when it comes to con games, the streets have nothing on Langdon Prep.

With barely a foot in the door, fifteen-year-old Chanti gets on the bad side of school queen bee Lissa and snobbish Headmistress Smythe. They've made it their mission to take Chanti down and she needs to find out why, especially when stuff begins disappearing around campus, making her the most wanted girl in school, and not in a good way. But the last straw comes when she and her Langdon crush, the seriously hot Marco Ruiz, are set up to take the heat for a series of home burglaries--and worse. . . .

Mysteries are typically hit or miss with me -- usually because, nine times out of ten, I guess everything before I'm remotely close to the end. I blame years of reading Nancy Drew and watching Scooby Doo for this. Who knew it would lead to years of bitter reading because I think I have everything figured out? Thankfully, I can't say that I was bitter at all reading My Own Worst Frenemy. I may have guessed a bit before the end, but the journey there was no less enjoyable.

Chanti is a character that you just can't help but like from the very first page. It takes a while to know her whole story but once you get there, your view of her really doesn't change. She's still the likable girl that you related to from the very first page.. just with a little more depth. Marco is a good interest for Chanti, but I wish we got to know more about him. A lot of the supporting characters fell a little flat for me because they weren't as well developed as Chanti. If any of them popped out though, it was definitely Bethanie - but, again, you want to know more about her.

The plot is good, if not a little simple. I liked the mystery, it definitely had some aspects to it that did keep me second-guessing myself through a good portion of the book. The cat fights were.. entertaining. The description of those as well as the surroundings kept you believing you were right there in the story with the characters. Overall, I think Kimberly did an incredible job with this book and I will be sticking around to read more from her.

Blog Tour: Author This or That with Jaime Reed

Today, it's my pleasure to have author Jaime Reed stop by the blog to answer a few This or That questions so we can get to know her better.


Chocolate or Coffee?
Chocolate flavored coffee.

Pen or Pencil?
Pen. I’m all about commitment.

E-mail or Phone call?
Email. I have this awkward thing where I don’t know how to wrap up a phone call. At least in email I can think of a closing sentence.

Sun or Moon?
Moon. You can stare at it and not go blind.

Summer or Winter?
Winter. Death is only pretty in weather.

Cats or Dogs?
Dogs. Cat’s think they’re better than you. I should know. I have a cat.

Reading or Writing?
Both. They go hand in hand in my field.

Desktop or Laptop?
Laptop. When the power goes out, you have the backup battery.

Books or Movies?
Movies. My ADD requires constant activity.

Paper Books or E-books?
Ebook. The same reason I prefer MP3 over CDs: space-saver.

Series or Stand-Alone?
Stand alone.

Sci-Fi or Fantasy?
Fantasy. Sci-fi is too technical.

Good or Evil?
Evil. They have the most fun.

Cause or Effect?
Effect. There’s more action.

Vampires or Werewolves?
Werewolves, they have a special time of the month too. We can relate. Plus I like their sense of unity with pack members and mates.


A big thanks to Jaime for dropping by. On a personal note, I totally agree that cats think they're better than us -- at least, mine does!

To see more of Jaime's blog tour stops, be sure to drop by the Teen Book Scene tour page. I'll be back in January with my review for Living Violet. (Spoiler alert: I really liked it!)

Blog Tour: Q&A with author Kimberly Reid

Kimberly Reid
· Website
· Blog
· Facebook
· Twitter

Kimberly Reid Books
· My Own Worst Frenemy (2011)
· Creeping With The Enemy (2012)

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How does writing differ from other jobs you've had in the past?
Writing is the only job I’ve had in which I have complete control. Once the manuscript leaves my laptop and goes off into the world, there is very little I can control about the publishing business, what readers think about the book, or whether the stars align in a way that makes my book a blockbuster (if only). But when I’m in front of the keyboard creating worlds, characters and stories, I run the show. Since I have a mild case of control-freak, writing is the perfect job for me– that and the fact I get paid to make stuff up. I’m so lucky.

What is the most rewarding part of writing for you?
When readers tell me they enjoy my work. No doubt – that’s the best part. Writing is a way of understanding yourself and the world, but it’s also a way to connect with others. It’s kind of ironic that writers want our work to find readers, but during the actual writing we might be so deep into our own heads we wouldn’t notice a parade of readers going by the window. But once the book is done, I can get out of my head, rejoin the rest of the world, and have a life beyond the one my characters are living. Then, I can’t wait for people to read it. The main thing I want to do is entertain people, whatever entertainment means to each reader. When someone tells me my book entertained them, I’m buzzing off that for the next couple of days.

How did the idea for My Own Worst Frenemy come about?
I stole it from my life, but somehow it never occurred to me to do that until I was watching an episode of Veronica Mars. It’s a TV show about a girl in high school who starts solving crimes using the knowledge she’s gained from her father, a single dad and cop-turned-private detective. I had a light-bulb moment when it occurred to me that I was once in high school at the same time my single-mom was a cop and maybe I could write a character like Veronica. Like my main character, I also won a scholarship to a cushy private school way across town from my not-so-great neighborhood. Switching between those two worlds every day was slightly crazy-making. So Chanti and I have a lot in common, but she’s far more adventurous than I was. I wanted to solve crimes but didn’t have the nerve. I did give my mother my two cents on some of her cases. It was probably more like ten cents.

What was the most challenging part of writing this story?
I had a hard time deciding if I was writing a mystery or a thriller. A straight mystery usually has the crime happen at the beginning and the hero has to solve it. A thriller brings more urgency – a race against the clock to prevent some jeopardy for the hero or someone she cares about. Mystery grabs the reader’s brain, and they work alongside the hero trying to figure out whodunit. A thriller grabs the readers gut, and they sit on the edge of their seats hoping the hero figures it all out in time to save themselves or their loved one. I ended up writing a hybrid, which is great because I love both genres. I think people who know these things actually call it a mystery thriller. And then I added a dash of romance because I remember high school was made much more bearable by the presence of cute boys, even when they didn’t know I existed.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you can tell us about?
My Own Worst Frenemy is the first book in the Langdon Prep series. The second book, Creeping With the Enemy, will be out in April 2012, and right now I’m working on a third book in the series. The title of that one won’t include any words that contain enemy.

Quick Note on Semi-Hiatus

Hello, lovelies!

This is just a small little post to let you know that, yes, I'm sort of not around right now but, no, this is not the end of Missy's Reads & Reviews. Actually, quite the opposite!

While life is pretty much keeping me physically away from my blog right now because of the holidays and such, the blog is never mentally kept away from me. Christmas time always means lots of time running around, spending many consecutive nights out of town, and trying my best to find time to spend quality time with the husband. And on top of this that Blogger isn't liking me much and not letting me schedule posts for when I am away - and that looks like a very inactive blog. For that, I'm sorry.

But while I'm away, I'm keeping my blog [paper] journal with me to jot down reviews of books I've read, ideas for 2012 and anything else I may think of for this blog. I have plenty that will be worked on when Christmas is over, including the return of the Before & After Feature for debut authors - which is very exciting for me because I've sincerely missed doing these posts.

So, don't give up on me! I'll be back very soon - better than ever! =D