Dec 25 2008
Meet Poisoned Rationality
Blog Name: Poisoned Rationality
Blog URL: http://lastexilewords.blogspot.com
Blog Owner: Lexie
1. What motivated you to create a book review blog?
I needed a way to not only keep track of what I was reading, but also to speak my opinion as honestly as I could about a variety of books. I review for a site as well, but the site is limited to Romance books 6 months or older. Since I tend to read a lot of older books or fantasy, I wanted somewhere to talk about those as well.
2. What do you find most rewarding about book reviewing?
Reading the books and maybe helping someone’s opinions. I try to be detailed about what issues I felt had arisen in the books I read, though that leads to spoilers occasionally. I try to keep major plot spoilers out of the reviews though. Whenever I read reviews I would always get a general idea of how the reviewer felt, but then when reading the book I’d think ‘Doesn’t anyone else find it aggrevating that the male lead’s age has changed twice?’ because its those sorts of nitpicks that bother me and possibly others. Better to be forewarned and forearmed as they say.
3. What types of books do you review?
Urban fantasy, high fantasy, young adult, Regency Romance, Time Travel Romance, Star Trek (TnG, DS9, Mirror Universe), Anthologies, Science Fiction Romance, and Dark Fantasy. I also read mysteries, regular fiction and historical fiction, but only if the premise sparks my interest.
4. In what genre do you consider yourself to have the most expertise?
Fantasy or Regency, since those are my main two reading categories. I’m branching into Urban Fantasy a lot more lately and manga/Japanese Light Novels are also a large category for me.
5. Is there any type of book that you absolutely will not review?
I try to avoid erotic romances–my younger (16) sister tends to read a lot of the books I get for her school’s newspaper. Horror along the lines of Stephen King or John Saul is a definite never as well as most auto-biographies/memoir sort of books. Hard Science Fiction is a hit or miss for me as is contemporary romance, inspirational romance and teen ‘drama’ books (like Gossip Girl or Clique).
6. Do you accept submissions from self-published authors?
Yes, see no reason not to.
7. Do you accept PDF versions or e-books for review?
I do, but they tend to take longer for me to review because a) I can’t stand staring at my computer screen for more then a hour at most and b) I don’t have a printer to print the book out to read at my leisure.
8. Can an author guest blog for you?
That would have to be negociated between myself and the author. Since my blog is pretty much all about my interests and fandoms, the author would have to understand that their guest blog would have to fit within those parameters.
9. Do you host book giveaways?
As of right now I am a poor college student who babysits on the side to earn gas/bill money. In the future, if I get a better job, maybe, but right not I can’t economically do that.
10. Do you interview authors?
Haven’t done it before, but I love to e-mail authors and ask them questions so I can’t see it being any different right?
11. Do you ever host stops on an organized book tour?
Never even seen a book tour, so I’d have to say not.
12. What is the average turnaround time for a review, from the time the book arrives in your mailbox until the review is posted?
For print books anywhere from two days to a month, depending on personal life, mood and length of the book. Like I said above e-books take longer and tend to be closer to two months depending on length.
13. Do you cross-post reviews to Amazon or other sites?
No, only because Amazon has dealt me unfairly in the past when I try to post my honest opinion about books. Plus since they require you to purchase the book now its even harder.
14. Will you notify an author by email when a review is posted?
If they’d like. Since all my reviews have been about relatively older books so far, don’t see any reason to. I’ll send them a copy of the review before I post it, if they would like even so that we can discuss any problems I might have had and I can adjust my review accordingly.
15. Do you have any specific requirements for review submission?
Please e-mail me first with a synopsis or back cover blurb, as well as the genre/page count/publication date/etc. If there is a time sensitivity for the review, let me know that as well so that I know to read that before a book that isn’t due for another 3 months. If the book is part of a series please also mention that, as well as if its first in the series or if I should bone up on the other books first.
16. Where can authors submit review queries and to whom should they be addressed?
Lexie at Lexie.Cenni (at) gmail.com I check my mail on a daily (if not every five hour) basis except when I’m babysitting.
