Please welcome, Melissa!!! (interview, giveaway)

Tell our lovely readers and followers a bit about yourself.

Before my son was born I worked as a behavior analyst – I created and implemented curriculums for special needs students (mostly kiddos on the autism spectrum).  I still do research and coursework to keep up with my BCaBA certification, but since I became a Mom I’ve been spending the bulk of my days (and nights) raising my wonderfully rambunctious little boy.

I love shiraz and paneer, but not necessarily together, and I drink my coffee black.  I recently became a vegetarian, I’m addicted to my Fitbit, and I absolutely adore watching my husband play with our son.  I hate shoes.  I  have two cats. Umm…  wow, this is harder than I thought!  I have four tattoos and plans for at least two more.  I live on the tenth floor and use one of those old lady shopping cart thingies to get my groceries upstairs.  I’m especially sexy looking when I push the cart while wearing the baby in his sling.  I can’t believe no one stops me on the street to tell me how beautiful I am with my granny cart pushing baby wearing self.   Seriously.  It’s breathtaking.  

What genres do you enjoy reading the most?

My two favorite genres are memoirs and sci-fi/fantasy, but I’ll give any book a hundred pages to convince me to keep reading.

What is your favorite book, if you have one?

My favorite book is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson.  I have my mother’s copy of the book – she read it in college – and I try to read it once a year.  I still cry every time.

What would you like our readers and authors to know about your review style?

I spent a few years teaching engineering students how to write research papers, which essentially means I taught the art of writing at its most basic: organization, consistency, grammar.  Trying to write without mastery of language is like trying to cook without pots and pans: you might end up with something edible, but everyone knows that microwaved pizza tastes like cardboard. If an author puts a book up for review, at the very least it ought to be grammatically and organizationally proficient (and if it’s not, you better believe I’m going to let you know).  I think good writing shows without telling, and I think every writer should read their work aloud, a page at a time, at least a dozen times.  At least.

What was your initial reaction when I first asked you to review a book for my blog?

I’d never written a book review before, and you seemed to be having so much fun with Every Free Chance that I wanted in on the action.  Of course I agreed!

What was your reaction when I asked you to be a regular reviewer?

I wish I would have played hard to get — I heard you were going to woo me with a bottle of wine if I was reluctant — but I was super excited.  I’m pretty sure I agreed to do it before you even finished asking (don’t tell my husband, though… I never actually said “yes” when he proposed…).

You’ve been reviewing with me for a few months now and are starting to appear regularly (It will be even more consistent in the upcoming months.) What do you think of book reviewing so far?

I like it!  I have more deadlines than I did at my last job, but it’s tough to beat a job you can do in your pj’s.  I worked as a writing tutor several years ago and absolutely adored it, and book reviewing is similar in all the right ways.

What are you looking forward to on this blogging adventure?

I’m excited to read more memoirs – it’s such an eclectic genre, and one I didn’t know how much I loved until I started working at Every Free Chance.

Oh, and just for the record – I really DO like some books, I promise!  Maybe I’ll even give a book five stars some day.  Maybe…