Meet Alanna
Name: Alanna Diane Powell
Name: Alanna Diane Powell
Location: Timmins, Ontario, Canada
Age: In my mind, I'm still 25. I always feel younger than I really am. But I just turned 30 this year and I'm LOVING it so far. Great things have happened for me so far, so I shouldn't really complain - even though I so have days where I feel like a crotchety old woman.
Occupation/Grade: I'm an Administrative Assistant for a project management/consulting firm. It's still a very new position for me - it still has New Job smell.
Favourite genre: Oh boy, I love so many of them! But I think Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi-Fantasy, and HeebieJeebie have to my favorites.
Favourite author: Gah!!! I can only pick one!? You're killing me! I'll give you my Top 5 instead, and in no particular order of preference: Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, J.K Rowling ... and as a bonus, I have to add Jacqueline Carey to this list
Favourite book: Again, I can only pick ONE?! Well, I've always really adored Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Pretty much anything Diana Gabaldon has put her hands on ends up on the favorite's list.
First book you ever remember reading (for leisure): Well, I really got in to The Babysitter's Club when I was younger, and I loved the Ramona and Beezus novels. But my fondest memory of reading for leisure was either Charlette's Web or Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I tried to be like Veruca Salt one day, and stuck a wad of chewing gum behind my ear. I ended up cutting out a chunk of hair when I realized that this wasn't the place to stick gum. To this day, I have no idea how Veruca managed it.
Are you a “casual” reader or an “avid” reader? What makes you so?: Definitely avid. There is forever a book either in my hands, in my purse (they're quite large, my purses. More like big fabric pits), on my night stand, on the coffee table ... and they usually aren't an individual copy being trotted all around the house. There's at least two or three books I'm reading at any given time.
Most recent read: The Mortal Instruments has taken over my life!! I just finished reading Book 3, and bought Book 4 on Saturday. I'm also nearing the end of Full Dark, No Star by Stephen King, and I just started HORNS by Joe Hill. I've also got two other books on my Kindle that have temporarily been forgotten. The Night Walk Men by Jason McIntyre and The Haunted Hikikimori by Lawrence Pearce.
Next read: I just started HORNS. But once I finish Full Dark, No Star I'm probably going to either read Book 4 of the Mortal Instruments, or return to my Kindle.
Favourite place to read: It's a toss up between the couch, or in bed. You can pretty much bet on those two. Plus, I tend to do a lot of bathroom reading when I take a bath - as a result, my baths are quite long.
Dream vacation: I'm hopefully taking it in February! My partner's family are living in Dubai and we're hoping to go there to visit the, (and skip 3 weeks of winter in the process!)
Favourite drink while reading: If it's during the day, it's usually a good hot, steaming mug of coffee. Bathtub reading will sometimes be occupied by a glass of red wine, or a vodka cooler.
If you could think of the most ideal, fantasy, crazy perfect situation for reading a book, what would it be?: My perfect situation is usually cold and rainy Sundays. I love those kind of days. They remind me of home, where the rest of my family is (Newfoundland, Canada). Rain and fog and grey skies will forever feel like home. However, reading during thunderstorms is always delightful too.
How do you choose your books: Haphazardly, haha. I picked up the first book my Diana Gabaldon because the front cover art was interesting, and the notion of time travel intrigued me. I read Between based purely on advice from a stranger I met on Twitter who was also a fan of Cyndi Tefft and Diana Gabaldon. Generally speaking though, I read the fly-leaf where you can usually find some kind of synposis about the book. But sometimes though, if there's a book who's cover art always catches my eye and I'm constantly gawking at it ... then I'll usually pick it up. That's how I picked up The Sisters Brother's (which I read for the longest time as Sisters and Brothers, ha!). It was definitely an odd sort of read for me, and a good example that judging by cover art isn't always a good idea.
How is your bookshelf organized? (Alphabetically by title, author, by colour, random): By series and author. Ideally. Right now, I have bits of one author on two different book shelves. My big book shelf is full, so I've resorted to the shelving built in to the divide between the living room and kitchen. I have authors and they're series together (most of them). Then I have a graphic novel section, an autobiographical section and a To Be Read section.
When was the last time you went to a bookstore?: Since I don't think the book section of Wal-Mart counts (which was on Saturday) it would have been last Friday when I picked up the newest offering from Margaret Atwood - MaddAdam, the third and final book in the triology (the first beign Oryx and Crake, and The Year of The Flood being the second) and a detective mystery novel by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling (the secret identity slipped out a little early, but by now the cat is long out of the bag)
What drew you to Between/Aiden?: Well, I heard through the Twitterverse that Aiden was based on one of Diana Gabaldon's characters - Jamie. For that reason mainly, I downloaded Between to my Kindle. Once I started reading though, I was pleased to find that despite similarities to Jamie, Aiden is very much his own person, unique and beautiful and very charming. His devotion to the woman he loves is really heartwarming. Once I got near the end of Between, the whole fire scene was really, really beautiful.
One cool fact about you?: I hardly think I qualify as cool, haha. But when I stretch my arms out, I can my touch my elbows together.
How can Angels connect with you?: I had an entirely different answer written for this - until I realized that I had read the question wrong! I'm on Twitter, mostly! @rebellion83 I am a part of other social media sites, but this is where you can find me pretty much all the time.
If you'd like to be featured on Aiden's Angels email Vicki at vicki.trask@gmail. com
How do you choose your books: Haphazardly, haha. I picked up the first book my Diana Gabaldon because the front cover art was interesting, and the notion of time travel intrigued me. I read Between based purely on advice from a stranger I met on Twitter who was also a fan of Cyndi Tefft and Diana Gabaldon. Generally speaking though, I read the fly-leaf where you can usually find some kind of synposis about the book. But sometimes though, if there's a book who's cover art always catches my eye and I'm constantly gawking at it ... then I'll usually pick it up. That's how I picked up The Sisters Brother's (which I read for the longest time as Sisters and Brothers, ha!). It was definitely an odd sort of read for me, and a good example that judging by cover art isn't always a good idea.
How is your bookshelf organized? (Alphabetically by title, author, by colour, random): By series and author. Ideally. Right now, I have bits of one author on two different book shelves. My big book shelf is full, so I've resorted to the shelving built in to the divide between the living room and kitchen. I have authors and they're series together (most of them). Then I have a graphic novel section, an autobiographical section and a To Be Read section.
When was the last time you went to a bookstore?: Since I don't think the book section of Wal-Mart counts (which was on Saturday) it would have been last Friday when I picked up the newest offering from Margaret Atwood - MaddAdam, the third and final book in the triology (the first beign Oryx and Crake, and The Year of The Flood being the second) and a detective mystery novel by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling (the secret identity slipped out a little early, but by now the cat is long out of the bag)
What drew you to Between/Aiden?: Well, I heard through the Twitterverse that Aiden was based on one of Diana Gabaldon's characters - Jamie. For that reason mainly, I downloaded Between to my Kindle. Once I started reading though, I was pleased to find that despite similarities to Jamie, Aiden is very much his own person, unique and beautiful and very charming. His devotion to the woman he loves is really heartwarming. Once I got near the end of Between, the whole fire scene was really, really beautiful.
One cool fact about you?: I hardly think I qualify as cool, haha. But when I stretch my arms out, I can my touch my elbows together.
How can Angels connect with you?: I had an entirely different answer written for this - until I realized that I had read the question wrong! I'm on Twitter, mostly! @rebellion83 I am a part of other social media sites, but this is where you can find me pretty much all the time.
If you'd like to be featured on Aiden's Angels email Vicki at vicki.trask@gmail. com
Great interview, Alana! It was awesome to learn more about you. Have a wonderful vacation in Dubai. I am totally jealous. I love that you discovered Between because of Outlander (which happens to be my favorite book of all time; we are both huge Gabaldon fans!). I think Jamie and Aiden would have gotten along splendidly. LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us Angels peek into your life!
Hugs,
Cyndi