Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Really Want to Meet (Besides Kevin Hearne)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books That I Would Really Like to Meet



1. Kevin Hearne
Author of The Iron Druid Chornicles
I fangirl for him so hard, that I'm surprised that he hasn't put a restraining order against me. Well, maybe if I COULD ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO A DAMNED SIGNING (!!!) he would. *sigh* The closest he's came to me is Dallas, but something always comes up. One day, I'll make it, and I'm sure there will be millions of people in line because he's so awesome.

Sad Kayla is sad.





2. Neil Gaiman
Author of Coraline, Neverwhere, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, American Gods, Sandman and many more terrific books
I loved Good Omens first out of all of his books, but I think The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the only one that I've read that I didn't love. I also love love love The Doctor's Wife, the episode of Doctor Who that he wrote. (I didn't care for Nightmare in Silver as much, but it's probably because I hate Clara.) Anywho, he's a handsome man who writes good stuff.

Armchair BEA 2013: Introduction

To learn more about Armchair BEA, visit HERE.
This is the second year that I've participated in Armchair BEA, and I'm very excited about it. In fact, I'm currently sitting in a hotel room, taking time from my vacation to write this post. Truth be told, this is the only thing keeping me from dying of jealousy of the bloggers that are actually going to BEA this year. I've gotten more than a few invitation to some publishers' blogger parties, and each one has made me die a little inside because I WANT TO GO! But I digress. I think I should get on to my introduction questions.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

*waves* I'm Kayla, and I am very happy to meet you. I've had Bibliophilia, Please since June 2011, but I didn't really start using it consistently until December 2011. I got into blogging because I needed another outlet to profess my love of Kevin Hearne, and my personal life blog wasn't really the place for it. I haven't reviewed one of his books on here in ages, but I try to bring him up at least once a week here. So if you think you'll be sticking around for a while, brace yourself for the Kevin Hearne fangirliness. I even have Will here with me now, who I met through Kevin Hearne fandom. Aren't we just adorkable?

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?

Fall Into Fantasy Giveaway Hop (INT)

Welcome to my stop on the Fall Into Fantasy Giveaway Hop hosted by the fantastical blogs, I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and The Write Path!
I am super excited about this hop because fantasy was my favorite genre growing up, and there were actually times that I ran out of books to read. Let me tell you that it is a horrible feeling, and I hope you never experience it.My very favorite author until I finally got Tolkien in my teen years was Piers Anthony. My mom introduced his books to me while we were on vacation, and I had run out of books to read.

What You Can Win

I started out with Mr. Anthony's Xanth novels (though all of his books are fantastic), and that's what you can win today. You will get to choose any one Xanth novel, but I ask that we do the paperback version. These books are completely safe for readers of all ages, and they also stand alone.

Giveaway Requirements

• Be thirteen (13) years old, have parental consent, or lie about it. (Please don't do that.)
•  Live somewhere that can get shipments from Amazon, Fishpond, or the Book Depository for free.
• Be Awesome (and fill out the Rafflecopter).
• Following is NOT required, but it is always appreciated. Your options are on my sidebar, but I will tell you that I am yet to figure out Linky.
• You can help me spread the word, but it isn't required either.

Best Escapist Book Locations

I thought about making a list of my favorite book settings for next week's Top Ten Tuesday (based on the June 7, 2011 post for The Broke and the Bookish), but after starting on this one, I knew this was too huge of a topic for just one post. Each week I am going to pick another world or fictionalized version of our own to which I would love to escape.

Xanth

No, that is not Florida. Piers Anthony, the author of the fantastic Xanth series, lives in Florida an imagined a parallel world that shares many similarities. There is one main difference - Xanth is a magical realm. There is some accidental travel between lands, and there are "Waves" of civilization that comes from Mundania (our world) to Xanth. The one catch is, when someone travels to Mundania, there is no guarantee about which peninsula or time period in which you arrive.

Every human who is born in Xanth has a magical talent. Think of superheros that have just one super power. These talents can range from minor "spot on the wall" abilities where that individual can change the color of a spot on the wall or make dust devils. Then there are the Magicians. These people have extremely strong magic, such as transforming any living object into something else or making inanimate objects speak. Centaurs also have magical talents as they are mostly human, and goblins and harpies have half-talents since they are only half human.

The land is magical in every corner of its existence and plagued with puns. A breadfruit tree in Xanth has fruit that is literally made of bread. Oh, if you put someone on a pedestal, they are literally on a pedestal and cannot get down of their own accord. It is utter, blissful silliness and I would hate to tell you more and spoil the epic puns.

I read my first Xanth novel when I was nine. Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn caught my eye in a used bookstore in Rock Springs, Wyoming. It is the eighth book in the series, but I was bored and book-starved since I was traveling with my mom and her work. Imagine a summer with no kids your age. Yeah, you'll read anything. I managed to luck out with this one. I had the book read in a day. Then I reread it. I rinsed and repeated that cycle a few times, until my mother took me to a bookstore with a proper selection of books. I devoured every novel in the series that had been written up to that point. My friends even started to read about Xanth because I would talk of nothing else. I would be at a bookstore on release day after each book came out and would have it read within a day. My family still picks on me about that.

I am not obsessed with Xanth anymore, sadly. I grew up and lost interest in the childhood fantasy. I think I stopped around book #25 - Anthony has published thirty-five in the series now. I always say that I'm going to catch up, but I never do. However, I did have to go back to Xanth one more time when I was desperately ill last March. There was no greater comfort while I was hospitalized than visiting old friends in Question Quest - the one book that I have reread more than any other. I don't mean just from the Xanth series. I am not exaggerating in the slightest (probably grossly underestimating) when I tell you that I have read that book more than thirty times. Can you blame me? We all need a safe, familiar place to escape to sometimes.