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Undersea Spotlight: Kelly at Radiant Shadows

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 20, 2012 | 0 Comments

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.

This is an exciting week for me, as Radiant Shadows is one of my fave blogs!

Meet Kelly!

My name’s Kelly, I’m 25 and I recently got married! I live in Halifax, NS with the hubs and our two cats, Mumble (named after “Mumble” in Happy Feet) and Chubs (a nickname that just stuck!). I graduated University back in 2009 (with a BA in Philosophy), and had planned on going to Law school shortly after – but the thought of more school (and more student loan debt!) had me cringing. So for now, I work in retail selling phones. Recently, I’ve actually thought about taking some kind of design course – maybe at my local community college? – since I have so much fun making things for my blog!

[Jessi] Ohh, I’d love to take a design course! Maybe if you learn, you can teach me??? ;D

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

I have been blogging for just over a year! Hard to believe, because it still feels like just yesterday I decided to make a book blog!

I’ve been a Goodreads user for a few years, and I was reading a review for The Replacements by Brenna Yovanoff that had me in stitches! I noticed a link at the end of the review, saying I could find more reviews on this person’s blog (it was Lea, from LC’s Adventure’s in Wonderland, if you’re curious!). After figuring out what the heck a blog was – let alone a book blog – I decided it might be a fun hobby to take up, in order to help organize my thoughts on the many YA books I had been reading.

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

I love to go to the movies (I’ve seen Pitch Perfect twice; it’s so funny!), I work a lot and the hubs (his name’s Aaron) and I try to have a date night once a week – even if it’s just getting out of the house together to go for a walk.

I want to see that movie SO bad!!

What is your favorite part about blogging? Least favorite?

Favourite part has got to be the discussions I have with people – whether they agree or disagree with something I’ve said. I love engaging people in things I’m passionate about, and I’ve found that book bloggers are VERY passionate people!

The least favourite has got to be the drama that seems to pop up from time-to-time. Can’t we just bake a cake with butterflies and rainbows so we can all be happy? (Mean Girls, anyone?) But in all seriousness, it can be quite the downer – especially when tenured bloggers decide it’s enough for them to walk away from blogging.

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

I tried a lot of generic things – like Kelly’s Book Blog! or Kelly’s Bookcase to Heaven (which was a Stairway to Heaven reference that I wasn’t sure was transparent enough…) anyways, after googling “book blog” those types of titles came up most often. I wanted something different, something that avid book readers would recognize as being book related.

So then I thought, “I wonder if I have any books on my bookcase that would make the perfect blog title?” And then my eyes landed on the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr. Radiant Shadows stuck out for some reason.

Do you have any specific book bloggers that inspire you?

I really love Rachel from [Fikt]shun‘s “Random Thoughts” – they’re always so thought provoking! She definitely inspires me to be more creative and passionate with my discussion pieces.

Giselle from Xpresso Reads is another big inspiration – she’s so active on her blog, Facebook and Twitter AND she somehow finds time to visit blogs and comment! Her social skills just amaze me, so I aspire to more like her in that way.

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

I love a clean design and an easy-to-read layout. I’m usually there because of the content, so if there’s flashing sidebars, or music, or a lot of clutter I’m usually turned off pretty quickly. Again, I really love passionate people so any blog that has that kind of passion – or really great discussion pieces – is a for-sure follow for me!

What’s your favorite book(s)?

Like my emotions, that changes with the wind! If I’m in the mood to have my heart handed to me on a platter, Burned by Ellen Hopkins is an instant sobfest. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry puts an instant smile on my face, and pulls at my heartstrings. And pretty much anything by Maggie Stiefvater. That woman spins words into pure gold.

Favorite author?

I’m pretty sure I’ll always buy Cassandra Clare’s latest book…and Maggie Stiefvater’s for that matter. I don’t know that I would call either of them my absolute favourite author though.

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

I think love triangles are grossly overdone in YA, but I’d have to say the biggest turn off is insta-love; the type where the protagonist feels like they’ve known the romantic interest forever, when it’s only been a matter of days. My annoyance only grows when it turns out the protagonist has met the romantic interest in the past in some way (reincarnation, for example). Again, overdone and predictable.

Ugh, me too! I absolutely DESPISE instalove. In fact, despise is too nice of a word. Detest with the fire of a thousands suns, maybe…

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

I’m a cover snob. A good blurb makes me buy the book, but the cover is usually the only reason I pick it up in the first place.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Passionate. Stubborn. Realist.

Name a random fact about yourself.

I got my first tattoo when I was sixteen – it’s the symbol for Gemini – on the back of my neck. I’ve always felt like the description for Geminis (stubborn, intelligent and dual-personalities) fit me to a tee!

Do you have a job? If so, what do you do?

I have a dreaded full-time job, blech. Actually, the job’s not so bad, I just don’t like working period!
I work for TELUS, selling cell phones.

What did you want to be when you were little? Has that changed?

Everything! I was going to be an astronaut, a marine biologist and a lawyer. I’d still love to be all three, but I imagine only one is realistic at this point.