I saw this over on Jenna @ Falling Letters a few months ago, and I don’t think there’s actually an original person to have done this? It looks like a long, winding journey of different versions where, originally, there were additional questions to answer, and that meant it could take different turns, but it looks like it’s settled on these questions for a bit, which is just fine by me because I rather enjoyed reading Jenna’s answers, and I’m excited to answer them myself!

Would you rather read from a hardback, paperback or e-book?

I have a special fondness for hardbacks. I do love paperbacks every now and then, though I’m known for breaking the spine and folding them over (say whatever you want, they’re my books, and I’ll do with them what I please), but there’s just something about hardbacks that I love more. They’re sturdy, easy to hold open, and a solid weapon.

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Would you rather crack the spine of a paperback book
or ruin a hardback’s dust jacket?

Definitely crack the spine of a paperback. I already do this, and if you’ve ever seen me do it, I apologize because I know it’s horrible to witness, but, as soon as I get a paperback, if it’s a thick one, I’ll open it halfway and just crack it back. It’s so hard to hold them open otherwise, and it just drives me crazy, so, since I own it, why not make things easier on myself? Obviously, I would never do that to someone else’s book. I love dust jackets, though, and if I realize I’m accidentally ruining one while reading, I’ll take it off.

There was an instance recently, though, where the hardcover that I was reading was impossible to hold open, and I wished so badly that it was a paperback so I could crack it, so if you thought I wasn’t a monster, well.

Would you prefer info dump on a world/magic system
to a drip-feed technique?

Oh, hm. This is a tough one. This is definitely cheating, but I kind of like both? Like, both at the same time. I like getting only a bit in the beginning, slowly fed to me over the course of a few chaotic chapters, and I like some serious info dumping as we get closer to the middle. Let me be confused for a while before the ooooooh okay revelation finally happens.

Would you rather have a soft magic system or a hard magic system?

Soft, all the way. I’m not a huge science fiction fan, and when I do read scifi, I love when it’s reality-based (think The Martian, real people in a real situation, but also, not a thing that’s ever happened–yet) rather than something like Doctor Who. Granted, I adore Doctor Who, and I’ll watch it until the end of my days, but if I was going to pick something I had to consume as media, it would definitely be a soft magic system. All of my books are urban fantasy, and much of what I read is either set in the real world or has real world application inside of fantasy worlds.

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Would you rather jump on board with a book series and wait to see if it gets traction or wait for a successful book series to be brought to your attention?

Both happen all the time, and I don’t think I do one or the other on purpose. I’m not hugely swayed by hype, honestly. Though it definitely looks like it since I read a lot of books that other people love, I really just have a wide palate and like a lot of things. If a book is being hyped, but I know I won’t be into it, I don’t usually fall victim to it. If I think about this enough, though, I can see that I’ve definitely not dived into series because so many of them have already been published, and starting a 12-book series feels daunting. There’s this weird got to finish what you started mentality with series that, if you’re reading the first one, that means you’re committing to the other 11. I guess, okay, now that I’m actually talking myself through it, I probably would never wait. If someone had handed me a Shadowhunters book right now, and I found out just how large the universe was, I’d probably run in the other direction. I don’t know, I’ve got myself all turned around.

Would you rather have dinner with your favourite character or author?

This might be the hardest question I’ve ever been asked. Author? I think author, yeah, because I can relate to them more given that we’re both writers, and we both probably write similar types of characters, and, you know what, yup, I’m totally convincing myself because having dinner with my favorite character would be terrifying. Granted, Samwise would be pretty chill about the whole thing, and he’d probably be as nervous as me, but I’d much rather pick Tolkien’s brain than any of his characters.

Would you rather read duologies, trilogies or standalone books?

DUOLOGIES! They’re my favorite to read & write. I don’t mind standalone books, though I largely prefer them to be contemporaries, and though I’ve read plenty of standalone fantasies, I much prefer fantasies as duologies. Trilogies give me hives, both reading and writing, and I just hate them so much. (She says, while currently withering into ash & dust over the trilogy she’s writing, UGH.) Duologies are the perfect length, though. And! I wrote an entire post on why.

Would you rather read self-published or traditionally published authors for 2 years straight?

I know this is ruuuuuuude and snobby and so ugh, but traditionally published. I can count on one hand the amount of self-published books I’ve read, and I don’t actually know if there’s any counting involved, because it’s entirely possible I’ve never read any. Look, I don’t want to get into this because I know what it all sounds like, but there’s a reason traditional publishing exists, and I think we should move onto the next question.

Would you rather be stuck in your favourite SFF world
or your favourite SFF book?

Is there a difference? Oh, yeah, I guess I get it. With the world, you could just hang out and do your thing, but with the book, you’re bound to follow that specific plot. Definitely world, then. I don’t want to be part of a war or anything insanely dramatic, so I’d like to just be able to explore the world at my leisure.

Would you rather read fantasy or science-fiction?

Fantasy, all the way. I wrote a post one time–oh, it’s going to take me ages to find it, but it explains my issues with scifi so well. Hold, please. Huzzah! I like very realistic science fiction, which really just means that I like reading about astronauts, and there’s not a whole lot of that out there that doesn’t employ other traditional scifi elements. And, honestly, even if there were a ton, I’d still pick fantasy. I absolutely love fantasy. I have four of the eight foot tall Billy bookcases, and one of them is entirely taken up by high fantasy. Most of another one is taken up by urban fantasy, so it’s pretty evident where I lean.

Would you rather have your favourite book adapted into a film
or into a television series?

This one really depends, and I also wrote a post about adaptations! I want to say television series because that’s almost never let me down, but then I think about the idea of a LOTR TV show, and I just want to run away. Those belong as a movie, and some things really do, so it depends. For a long time, I wanted everything to be an HBO show, too, but then they went and fucked up GOT, which worked really well as a show, and now I just want everything to be adapted by Netflix. But then there are some shows that I think need to be adapted by Freeform or the CW, but that’s just because of the types of books that I read. It depends! And I don’t know what the line is, why some work better as a book and some as a show, and this is probably a really fun post to write and break down.

Would you rather have to reread your least favourite book every month, or never read your favourite book again?

Never read my favorite again, easy. I’ve already reread Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater almost ten times, and I know exactly what happens in every single page of it, so I’m totally fine never reading it again. And yes, despite my unending love for LOTR, it’s not my top favorite book, and I’m alright with admitting that. But having to reread my least favorite book would mean having to reread, like, Wuthering Heights or Spellhacker or Ink, and that would just–make me not want to read anymore.

Would you rather secretly love a book everyone else hates, or secretly hate a book everyone else loves?

I don’t do anything secretly by any means, hahahaha. I’m very upfront when I do & don’t love a book, to the point where I post full rants about why I don’t love something, or I just obsessively bring up something I do love to the point where I’m forcing everyone else to love it, too. I know I’m supposed to pick one of these, too, but I would probably implode if I tried to be secret about either of these, soooo.

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Would you rather dog-ear your book,
or never be able to mark your place?

WELL, I already dog-ear my books, so this is easy. And while I could just mark my page in Goodreads and follow it like that, that would make me mental, so I’m gonna keep on keeping on dog-earing.

Would you rather listen to your favourite book as an audiobook narrated by the worst narrator ever, or never read it again?

This is a really hard question for me to answer because I’ve never actually listened to an audiobook, and though it’s possible that things could change in the future, I don’t envision myself ever listening to one. Who knows! Maybe I’ll be kicking myself in the ass by this time next year because I’ll be a huge lover of audiobooks. As it stands, I have a really hard time both listening to things and watching things because I don’t like being stationary unless I’ve got a book in my hand, which should be the same with an audiobook, but then my hands would be free, and I’d end up pacing.

Would you rather have a disappointing end/unfulfilled cliffhanger,
or lose your favourite character?

If the loss of the favorite character was done really well, that all the way. I hate unsatisfying endings. It completely changes my good feelings over the whole book, so I’d much rather lose my favorite character in an epic, well-written way that’ll definitely make me cry.