Tag Archives: JenB

Changes! And Swagstuff!

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And I totally lost my train of thought. I meant to do this on Saturday. Then Tuesday. And both days time got away from me and now I cannot for the life of me remember what the third thing was.

So, first of all, changes are reviews! They’re going to be happening! I haven’t quite set a schedule yet. (As the “team” hasn’t been finalized. Nor requests. A work in progress, here!)

Secondly… more posts. Different posts! I know some [all] of you were like “more giveaways!” and I agree. Who doesn’t like a good giveaway? Nobody. That’s who. But – this blog was getting a little… :X author heavy, don’t you think? As I’ve said my intention was never to make this a promo blog. So, more reader contributions are in the works. (Which is also why I decided to pursue reviewing more seriously.)

I’m thinking Monday for reviews. I like it. I also plan on [pre?] dating one for February, once I re-read the book so it’s fresher in my memory. We’ll see about frequency.

But! You have a choice for the rest! As you know I’m working on starting a feature on male romance readers. And I’m also going to have a friend do random posts on… make up! [Cuz she refuses to talk about books because she’s a hater like that.] Anyway, said person is Jen B., otherwise known as Jen the Ginger Kid, and we can come up with a different name for her because I know there’s another equally awesome Jen B. who is a frequent visitor here. I like JTGK, personally.

My point is – what day would you like to see additional posts? Any preference at all, say it now or forever hold your peace!

Now! On to Swagbucks! I talk about them every so often. WTF is Swagbucks you ask? It’s a virtual dollar on the web. WordPress also always strips my links and yet I try. I try. The thing is, I’ve made quite a bit of spending money from them. At no cost to myself. You can earn rewards for doing things you normally would online. I’ve written a post about it even, trying to explain the basic ins and outs.

So it’s Swagbucks’s birthday come Monday. They’re doing this whole extravaganza and 130 in SB codes will be up for grabs, which kills me because I won’t be at my computer for prime SB winning time. You can “join the party” by copying and pasting the link I will put in the comments. (Sorry, unhosted wordpress sites don’t allow for affiliate links.) Up for grabs is $1,000! And you might say “but Lime – nobody ever wins those things!” I have. I’ve been really lucky. It definitely wasn’t 1K, but it was enough to make me happy. (A grand would make me really happy.)

If you haven’t signed up – you totally should do so. AND if you do want to sign up – before you complete the process, there’s a “enter swag code” line – contact me. I have a code you can enter to start you off with 140 additional swagbucks. Quick note, 450 SBs gets you a $5 Amazon GC. 625 SB’s gets you a $5 B&N GC. (Yeah I dunno why the disparity, but whatever. If you sign up with the code, you’re 1/3 of the way to a $5 Amazon giftcard!) What’s also cool is… if you want your ‘net usage to be altruistic? You can donate your swagbucks to charity as well! The code is good through February 27th, and worth 110 SB’s. (You normally start out with 30, which is how I got to 140.)

To all of you who have already signed up… I’m sorry. I keep asking the guy to give us codes. So, maybe some day. Or he’ll cut me off. One of the two. Let’s hope for the former.

And that’s all!

Recap:

A. Reviews to be regularly posted!

B. Girly stuff coming! Let me know what days you’d like to see additional posts!

C. Swagbucks Birthday Bash!

p.s. Thea Harrison had the whim idea yesterday (or the day before?) on twitter to do a feature on men who read romance – you can see it here – so you know – if there are any reading unicorns here lurking about, join her badass bunch!

Special Guest: JenB!!!!!! <3

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Today, we have Jen B visiting with us! I know I say this a lot (or do I? I think it a lot…) but she’s one of my favorite people [ever]! She’s one of the first few people I started talking to online. I’m not even sure how it happened – I think she visited TGTBTU? And then it was twitter, emails, and instant messaging. We’re very similar, but also very different, and it works. Although we don’t talk as much now because obviously she doesn’t love me anymore and is too good for me. *sobs* It really has nothing to do with her job, or being pregnant (congrats, future mommy! <3) … Hee. Anyway, I obviously need more sugar. Or less. O_o Enough of me. [No really, I’m sure Jen B expected me to do and say something absolutely crazy for her post… she’d be disappointed if I didn’t!]

Hi! I’m Jen B, former blogger/reviewer extraordinaire. 🙂 Lime invited me months ago to come up with a post, and I completely forgot till this week. Eep! Fortunately Lime gave me a gentle reminder. :X (and if you know Lime, you know just how gentle that reminder was) [*Gasp!* I am hurt and outraged you would so malign me on my own blog! Defamation! Libel!]

She said I could talk about anything, be it books, tea, makeup, editing, pregnancy, or gardening. I’ll spare you the pregnancy talk, though it was tempting to describe how it feels to have a fetus using my bladder as a trampoline and my intestines as punching bags. 😉

So I think today I’ll talk about how I became a romance reader.

I’ve always been a reader, and I’ve pretty much always gravitated toward love stories. Even in elementary school, my favorite books were the ones with a boy and a girl who liked each other. If they held hands or kissed, even better! I gobbled up Sweet Valley books like candy. Though I also considered Flowers in the Attic a romance, which might explain my warped reading tastes now… Something for a psychologist to investigate later, I guess. 😉

In college I took a hiatus from pleasure reading. I was a language major (English and Spanish), and all that homework in two languages kept me away from “fun” books for a few years.

In 2007 I got back into reading for enjoyment, and I owe it all to AT&T (I wish they’d pay me to say that). My husband and I were going to convert over to U-Verse, and AT&T “accidentally” disconnected our TV and internet service a week earlier than planned, with no way to reconnect it. No TV! No internet! What were we to do??? We gave it some careful consideration and dragged our grumpy butts down to Half Price Books. Someone had recommended Deveraux’s A Knight in Shining Armor, so I picked it up and took it home… And devoured it. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t move from that couch until I’d finished it. Then I went back for more! I consulted the same pal who’d rec’d AKISA, and she listed a few more titles. I think I picked up 10 more books on that return trip to the UBS, all Deveraux and Lindsey. For about a year, I was reading an average of 5 paperbacks a week. I spent hours combing Amazon reviews and discussion boards for my next read, organizing and reorganizing my virtual and physical bookshelves, and for a while my husband and I were spending whatever extra cash we had on books. It was a wonderful time. *happy sigh*

I discovered reviewing during this time too, and I got a lot of enjoyment out of posting my thoughts on Amazon. I discovered m/m romance and e-books as well, and I started a discussion group just for m/m romance fans. Through them I was introduced to my first book blog, which led me to hundreds more. By May 2008 I had my own blog for reviewing and discussing all the books I loved.

In 2008 I also started beta-reading and proofing for a few e-published authors, and by early 2009 I’d snagged my first freelance copy editing job for a m/m romance e-publisher. In March of 2010 I quit my day job and started editing full-time. All romance, all the time. What more could a romance reader ask for?

Reviewing dulled my passion for pleasure reading a little, and editing takes up a lot of time, so I’ve been through several slumps and dry periods, but I’ve never stopped loving romance novels. I still browse Amazon for reviews and recommendations (though nowadays I stay away from the wackadoodles on the Amazon discussion boards). I follow several of my favorite authors and bookish pals on Twitter and Facebook, and I try to keep up with gossip and new releases. And of course I’m still reading an average of 3-5 books a week for work. I still love nothing more than to browse a used book store on a slow afternoon or hit Borders with my husband on the weekend. Sometimes I don’t buy anything. Sometimes I just pick up books, smell them (Don’t look at me like that. You know you do it too!), read the back copy, and put them back.

It’s been so interesting to see how my tastes have changed over the years, and how my preferences cycle. Just recently I gave 5 stars to an urban fantasy romance that had been a DNF for me a year and a half ago. And lately I find myself grabbing books off my shelf that I’d ignored for a year or more—and loving them! It’s been a really fun hobby that’s broadened my horizons and introduced me to many good friends, people I think I’d continue to talk to even if I stopped reading altogether.

These days my pleasure reading has been reduced to about one paperback every 10-14 days, and I’m okay with that for now. I wish I had the time and energy for a paperback a night, but I really can’t complain. Maybe someday I’ll have that old hunger back. I keep thinking I’ll have more time to read in November after the baby gets here and I’m off work for a month, but people keep telling me I’m crazy. 😉 We’ll see!

Thanks for letting me share my story. I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe yours is similar. I’d love to hear all about it in comments. 🙂

Isn’t she adorabubbles? I heart JenB. Who really actually goes by Jennifer, but everyone online calls her “Jen” or “JenB.” Probably because we’re lazy and don’t like typing out 4-5 additional letters. That or we’re a crazy affectionate bunch and like nicknaming everyone. I actually refer to her as “jtgk” often due to her screen/twitter name.

Anyway I’m curious too! What got you started on reading romances? Got a favorite romance to share? Ever give a book a second chance and be glad you did?