Undersea Spotlight: Jazz at Ebony Black Lines

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 27, 2012 | 0 Comments


USSpotlight
I started this feature here at ASR in order to know your fellow bloggers a little better! If you are interested in being featured please fill out the form
 
USSfeature

Meet Jazz! 

Hi, my name is..well..I can’t tell you that! But my pen/blogger name is Jazz and I am a teenage home-schooled book addicted blogging lover from the UK! I taught myself to read (seriously!) and ever since then I have been hooked…books are my life but I also love photography and writing and all things vintage which I talk about over at my other blog that I have aside from my book one

[Jessi] Taught yourself to read…that’s pretty impressive!!

How long have you been blogging? What made you want to start a book blog?

I have been blogging for – I was actually calculating this today! – about nine months which I am pretty proud of! It may not seem long to all you lovely seasoned bloggers, but it’s a huge achievement for me, the girl who starts things and never finishes them! I originally started a blog just because I loved writing, and my aunt had showed me her blog and it looked pretty cool. I didn’t actually know what I was going to write about; I just made one, and as a result of not having a specific idea of what to blog about..my name kept changing over and over…and then I discovered book blogs, and I dived into that head first (being a massive book addict) and I loved it!
 

What do you do when you’re not blogging or reading?

I adore photography, crafts, and drawing, so I dabble in a bit of that and I also write. I’m working on a novella at the moment, but as I mentioned before…I have a habit of never finishing anything and I’m a bit of a pessimist when it comes to my own work – I never like it, so we’ll see if I even get past a few thousand words! Other than that, I’m a sporty girl at heart and I play a lot of basketball and football. I did a self-defense for a long time, and also competitive trampolining, so that takes up a lot of my time. I like to just sit outside and work on the scrap book I have and watch the clouds as well. I’m pretty lazy so when it comes to work; I’m a bit of a procrastinator, but I have exams so I revise a lot in my “free time.” Oh and tumblr! I could stay on there all day if I had the time!!!!!
 

What is your favorite part about blogging? Least favorite?

My favourite part? The lovely, lovely, lovely people you meet that you would never have met if you hadn’t started blogging. That wins hands down, as I have made some very good friends through my blogging. Other than that, I just love sharing my opinions on books and not having people making faces at me – *cough* my siblings and parents *cough* – when I go on too long! And I love how you can get to know authors and publishers as well…before I started blogging, I thought it was impossible because in my eyes they were like celebrities. I used to think of them as The Name On The Book; that person that had managed to write a book and publish it, so I and other people could read it. But now that I’ve talked to a lot of them, it makes me appreciate the ‘written word’ a lot more because I know how much time and effort it takes to write a book. I have talked to some amazingly helpful authors that gave me some great advice, helped build up my blog, and have given me a lot of support. I’m really thankful to them. :)
I can’t really think of anything particularly bad about blogging. Maybe just the fact that once you start receiving books to review you are constantly busy! But that’s a good thing, really…you can never have too many books!
 

Where did you come up with the name for your blog?

Oh no…the question I always dread!! Let me just give you this: a bit of the answer to the same question asked of me by the lovely Eileen from Singing and Reading In The Rain:
“I changed my blog name a lot at the start. In the beginning it was called Don’t Forget to Smile and the URL was ASmileIsAlwaysInStyle. The more I started blogging the more I started thinking about a set theme for my blog as I had changed it again to Me, Undivided and the URL to TheWorldThroughColouredEyes so I could blog about anything and everything.
After a while I decided to limit what I blogged about and just concentrate on books at the forefront of my blog and little bits of art, writing and photography on the side. Then there was a question of the name…After a lot of thought I decided on Ebony Black Lines; my current name and the URL being the same, so it would be easier to find. It was short, easy to remember and in my mind it represents the black lines in a book; lines of a drawing, and lines of writing on a page…”
 

I don’t really know how I came up with the name..it was a more of a *for goodness sake why are all the names I want already used let me just try any of them* spur of the moment type of thing…and then it stuck!

 

Do you have any specific book bloggers that inspire you?

I have a lot but being picky, here are some…

 ….and many many more!

 

What do you look for in a blog when following? What are your pet peeves?

I look for an engaging way of writing, and interesting but simple book reviews that I would actually read instead of skimming through. The only pet peeve I have really is when a blog isn’t laid out properly and there are so many widgets and buttons cluttering the blog that it takes ages to load. *shakes fist* I hate that! Also when you can’t find the ”follow” button among every thing else…I just give up!!
 

What’s your favorite book(s)?

I think this question should be illegal to ask to book bloggers. I have sooooo many I can’t even count!! I will give it a try though..sorry if I go on too long!

  • Between Shades Of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 
  • Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian 
  • The Cat Royal Series by Julia Golding 
  • All books by Marie Louise Jensen and Elizabeth Laird 
  • What’s Left Of Me by Kat Zhang 
  • Divergent by Veronica Roth 
  • The Fault In Our Starts by John Green 
  • Crewel by Gennifer Albin 
  • Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur 
  • Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid 
  • The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins 
  • The Weight Of Water by Sarah Crossan 

and loads, loads, loads more!

 

Favorite author?

A toss up between Gennifer Albin, Kat Zhang, Marie Louise Jensen & Elizabeth Laird.
 

What is the biggest turn off for you when you’re reading a book?

Stereotypical, fake characters. I cannot stand it when the characters are not relatable. I put the book down immediately.
Bad quality of writing. For me, even if the plot is wonderful and the characters are amazing, if the book isn’t written well I won’t read it. :(
 

What first draws you to a book to make you want to read it?

I hate admitting this, but it’s the cover. *hides in shame* But ultimately the book description is what determines if I will read a book or not. I’ve read books with drool worthy covers that have been huge let downs and amazing books with a less than stellar cover.
 

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Stubborn/Strong-willed, Creative, Sporty.
 

Name a random fact about yourself.

I am super small. 5 feet…forever I guess!
 

Randomness

Cats or dogs?
Kittens.

Favorite animal?
Horses.

White, dark, or milk chocolate?
*gasp* I’m actually not a chocolate person…I’d more like a big bowl of berries or a a packet of crisps!

Coke or Pepsi?
Water. o.O Fizzy drinks are not for me…

Favorite TV show?
Downtown Abbey…?!

Favorite movie?
Titanic!!

Color?
All of them. :)

 

Thanks for being here, Jazz! It was fantastic getting to know you!

 

Find Jazz:

Blog (books) | Blog (life/craft/photography) | Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr
Jessi (Geo)

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