Interview…with Lucia from iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books

This week we’re welcoming Lucia to Aside from Writing for an interview about her love of books and the blog iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books.

So let’s get started – can you tell us a little about yourself and the iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books blog?

Hi, all! Thanks for inviting me! My name is Lucia (pronounced Lou-Chee-Ya) and I’m an American-Asian high school teen. I’ve been blogging since January of last year, so it’s been over a year now. I’ve been reading ever since I can remember and I love books almost as much as chocolate! There. I said it.

What prompted you to start writing your blog and was there anything particular you wanted it to achieve when you began?

I kind of just did it on a whim, with no real ideas of how far I would get. Now, I don’t want this to become a pity party or anything, but I started blogging almost a year after I was diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease. Because of this disease, I had to quit a lot of extra-curriculars and miss out on fun events with my friends to rest. Thus, this “house arrest” led to me searching on Google and discovering the blogosphere. I needed something to do, and what better than to lie in bed and read.

What’s been the best part of running the blog? Any particular highlights so far?

The best part? Oh, there’s too much! Meeting awesome bloggers and authors and publishers. Everybody’s so nice! I loved going to ALA Summer last year, and I hope to go sometime again! I had to miss out on the recent Midwinter Convention.

And the hardest parts?

Sometimes the amount of posting and reading that I’m supposed to be doing weighs down on my shoulders. It can get difficult to balance school and blogging, you know? Bonnie: Yep – definitely know what that feels like – although it’s work and writing for me 🙂

What’s an ideal day for you – and how do you fit the blog into that?

An ideal day… Waking up at a comfortable time, such as 11 AM. Going out to lunch with the fam. Returning home and reading until my eyes fall out. Okay, not really. But reading counts as blogging, right? Really, a super nice day for me is no homework and getting to Tweet and write blog posts and read all day. I would much rather do that than, say, WHAP. (See? Blogging is my ideal day!)

Running your blog you must meet a lot of authors – what do you like best about the engagement you get with them writing the blog?

Honestly, just feeling their awesomeness. I respect authors, every single one of them. And if they wrote the book that I totally loved and shamelessly fangirled about on Twitter, it’s hard to describe how amazed I am to get to talk to them! They’re real people! It’s nice to talk about books and normal things with them.

And what’s the best bit about connecting with fellow readers?

Pretty much just as good as talking to the authors. Man, these awesome bloggers and readers that are willing to do the fangirling (or fanboying…) along with me feel like my best friends!

What genres/authors do you love to read?

I’ll read just about anything teen and middle grade. Contemporary, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, you name it!

Any ‘must have’ books that you want to get hold of in 2012?

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer. Maximum Ride: Nevermore by James Patterson. SQUEEEEE. All by authors I have loved since middle school. (I’m sure there are plenty of great authors and books that I read in high school, but these have special, older connections with me.)

Random Questions:

If you could be a character from any book – who would it be and why?

Oh, gosh. A hard one. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. Why? Because she’s brilliant and strong and one of the best female characters ever. And she has a British accent.

Favourite fictional world – where would you live?

NARNIA!!!! C.S. Lewis’s series is my all-time favorite. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read the series, but I read it first in second grade.

Best super-evil baddie?

President Snow from The Hunger Games is pretty despicable and twisted. I can’t wait to see him and his bloody roses (pun intended) in the film. The only reason I said him is because I already mentioned HP up there so I didn’t say Voldemort. Galbatorix is pretty evil, too.

Thank-you for taking time to talk to us today!

THANK YOU!!! (Sorry if I blabbed too much. I do that a lot.)