Weekly Geeks - 2010-08: What Is It About “THAT” Author

I ask my followers on my blog E.H. On Books N' More a few weeks ago to tell me about why they love the authors that they do. I said

This topic relates to my son and I going to the latest release of Derek Landy book – The Faceless One a few months ago. This book forms a part of the Skulduggery Pleasant series. From the moment the book blurb hit the internet my child went gaga….

Fast-forward almost ten months later and it’s release day and I am being hauled to HMV at 8.30am for a book that cost 22 Pounds – yup you heard me right 22 quid.

We got there so early not even the boxes were unpacked as yet so we joined the little queue that was there. People, when my son got his hardback in his hand he literally hyperventilated – seriously, we had to sit down for a good half an hour for him to settle down.

During this time he was clutching this book to his chest like manna from heaven.



I remembered asking him what is it about this book and this author that makes you go mental. He told me Landy writes like he is writing to him and of all the books that he has read even the ones that has not gotten rave reviews Landy’s books were just perfect for him…

How could I not think my 22 quid was well spent after that.

This brings me to today's Weekly Geeks questions.

• Tell your readers what is it about "an" author that you are most passionate about, that have you coming back for more from them, following their every blog post – literally blackmailing people to read their books?

• Who are some of your all time favourite authors?

• And what is it about them that makes you keep going back for more?

Be as creative as you want with this topic, use excerpt if you wish to convey the authors style, Use pic as necessary and make your readers see why you love the authors you do.

Remember to come back and let us know how you got on..

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Wrap-Up for 2010-07: Commenting

Receiving a comment on a blog post often makes us giddy with joy, whether it be a kindly thought, a rousing discussion point, or an insightful idea. Then there are those not so welcome comments. You know the ones. The comments that aren't so nice or the dreaded spam. This week Chris asked Geeks to share their thoughts and ideas on the topic of Commenting.

This is what a few of you had to say:

Care of Care's Online Bookclub took the time to write out a Commenting Policy, complete with how enthusiastic she is when she receives comments, her unequivocal stance on deleting spam and rude comments, and encouraging Geeks to comment on other participants' blogs, all the while having, in Care's words, "fun with it."

Many of us are thrilled when an author stops by and leaves a comment on our blogs, not to mention a bit unbelieving. So, it's easy to understand why KT from Literary Transgressions went so far as to delete a comment from author David Liss, not believing it could really be him. (Be sure and read through the comments. David Liss has a great sense of humor as does KT.)

Shannon from Confuzzled Books and Julie from A Small Accomplishment are not alone in feeling that they are not so good about leaving comments for others--or knowing what to say. I think we all can relate to feeling that way at times.

While some of us do not use any form of spam filter, others of us do. Adele (aka Hagelrat) from Un:bound uses word verification and Allegra from Here's To Us chooses to moderate comments; and while either have yet to receive a rude comment, they would not hesitate to delete one if it came their way.

Megan from Leafing Through Life had this to say about commenting:

In a busy life where it's hard to carve out time even for a hobby that I love, it's good to know that my words are being read and appreciated by others, and I often wish I had more time to show my great appreciation for all of you bloggers out there who are often working thanklessly to produce great blogs that people want to read.

Many thanks to Chris for this week's topic about commenting. Thank you to all who took the time to participate in this week's topic! If you haven't had a chance yet to read all the responses, please check out Mr. Linky on the original topic post and do so at your leisure. I hope you will join us again tomorrow for another exciting topic!

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