Hi, carmelpie! Thanks so much for agreeing to share a little bit about yourself today. You’ve been a participant of Cannonball Read since CBR13. How did you find your way to us? What’s your favorite part of CBR?
I found Cannonball Read via Pajiba. I’ve been a Pajiba reader for at least fifteen years. Still, it didn’t occur to me to join a reading challenge until the winter of 2020, when my boredom and free time skyrocketed. I thought, “Hey, maybe I would enjoy writing reviews for all of these YA fantasy books I’ve been reading.” I started with Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study and subsequently fell down the rabbit hole of fantasy and dystopian stories with the Young World trilogy by Chris Weitz (who adapted Murderbot for TV), The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, and so on and so forth.
My favorite part of CBR is the community. It’s a place where I feel entirely safe and supported while complaining about books. Cannonball Read: Where it’s okay to hate a book. Just because you hate one book doesn’t mean you hate the author or any other books the author wrote. I love Murakami’s Dance Dance Dance, and I hate 1Q84. That’s okay!
You’ve indicated that you’re interested in the fanfiction of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle books. What draws you to fanfiction in general and this fanfiction specifically?
I was never a fanfiction reader or writer until 2021. I can’t remember how I came across AO3 (Archive of Our Own), but damn, were my eyes opened.
I started writing fanfiction when I realized that it was a fun, low-stakes, and rewarding way for me to document the weird little movies about my favorite characters that continuously loop in my head. I get to hone my writing skills and connect with an audience that is primed to like my content. In the four years I’ve been writing, I’ve seen how my influences and inspirations have grown, how awed I am by the grace and talent of my fellow writers, and how much more courageous I am with sharing my own writing. Since then, I’ve taken some in-person writing courses and have a beta reader for the draft of my novel and my non-fanfiction-related short stories.
As for The Raven Cycle books, I’m a die-hard Pynch fan (Adam Parrish/Ronan Lynch). These spikey a**holes are so much fun to drop into tender and angsty scenarios. Something about this pairing resonates with me, so much so that I’m hitting the three-year mark on this hyperfixation. Their relationship fits well into so many AUs (alternate universes). Two reviews I’ve written about this pair were for a Hunger Games AU and, of all other things, a Normal People AU.
The first graphic novel of The Raven Boys came out on July 29th, and yes, mine is on the way.
What’s your favorite medium to absorb book content with? What makes it work for you?
Ebooks are my favorite. I love reading paper books, but the sheer volume and variety of ebooks I can get from my library surpass my need to read paper books.
My favorite shopping trip is going to Half Price Books when I’m home and grabbing as many novels as I can pack while remaining above the weight limit of my suitcase. I can get used English books here in Europe, but it takes some hunting, and the bestsellers and reader favorites are harder to come by. Discounted books are great because I get the paperback experience, and I get to try new authors. I also have an in-person book club, and we constantly swap books.
I want to be a paper book person, but I can’t quit the library, and I don’t want to. Shout out to the Seattle Public Library and its librarians. I’m originally from a part of the US where librarians are being fired or targeted for not bowing to a minority of vocal conservative activists. Protect our libraries! Protect our librarians!
You’re a romance reader and you’ve shared that your all-time favorite movie is Dirty Dancing. What is your favorite romance novel in general, and is there also one that you love because it has Dirty Dancing vibes?
My favorite romance is We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. It’s tender and sweet and hilarious. I’m kind of surprised that my favorite romance is a closed-door romance, but what can I say? Great characters, tenderness, and humor elevate a book from great to spectacular. My second and third favorites are Heated Rivalry and The Long Game by Rachel Reid.
Your number one book that you’ve ever read is Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami. What makes this one special?
I lived in Japan for eight years. Dance Dance Dance is a strange book. My favorite genre is urban fantasy, and while I can’t say that this book is truly satisfying, it is an entirely immersive experience for me. I can picture everything so clearly because I’ve had all of those tiny little real-life interactions and experiences, and reading about the details makes me so happy. I also love it because we never really know what the hell is going on. What happened to the protagonist’s girlfriend? The stakes are very high and also very low at the same time. I’ve read this book twice, and I could pick it up again at any time. I don’t reread many books, but this is one weird, dreamy, bizarre journey that I’m happy to revisit.
Have you written a review of Dance Dance Dance for Cannonball Read? We’d love to share the link of this review with our readers.
No, I don’t think so. The last time I read it was six or seven years ago, so maybe I’m due for a reread.
KD Edwards is your favorite author. If you were to recommend just one of their books to someone, what would it be and why?
The Last Sun – It’s the first book in The Tarot Sequence. The main character, Rune, is the heir of a fallen dynasty. Lacking any financial or social status, he has been forced to become a talented spell caster despite his limited resources. It reminds me of the show Burn Notice, but if the homemade bombs and weapons were made from strung-together bits of magic. Think of it this way. If you were a teenager and had just enough talent to make your brother’s magical smoke bombs smell like essential oils, so that every time he left a scene, everything smelled like vanilla or patchouli, why wouldn’t you use your powers for stupid pranks? Rune’s motivation is to protect what remains of his family while unearthing the conspiracy that led to the death of his father when Rune was fifteen.
Carmelpie, thank you so much for sharing with us today. We’ve now reached that point in the interview where things get dangerous because people have OPINIONS. Let’s play Kiss Marry Kill with the cast of Star Trek: the Next Generation. Which character would you pick for which and why?
Kiss Captain Picard – He’s irresistible. Q had it right the whole time.
Marry Dr. Crusher – She’s a brilliant scientist, leader, she’s super nerdy, and she doesn’t take crap from anybody.
Kill Worf: He’d be into it. The greatest honor a Klingon can receive is to die in battle. We’d party the night before with some blood wine and gagh, and then bust out our bat’leths the next day to fight to the death, ultimately sending Worf to Sto’Vo’Kor (the Klingon afterlife).
Now that you’ve learned all about carmelpie, head over and see what she’s been reading lately. Or meet other Cannonballers we’ve interviewed recently.