Chat with Julie from Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks

Today I am chatting it up with Julie from Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks.

 

Hi Julie, welcome to Fiction Vixen. For those that do not know you, tell us a little bit about yourself and your blog.

Thanks for having me! I can’t wait to get started. This should be so much fun (and easy)!

Okay, a little bit about me and my blog. Hi, I’m Julie and I’m a book-a-holic. I’ve been married to my husband Jason for 8 years and I’m the mother of two young children. I also run a daycare from my home caring for 4 two year olds and three kids before and after school.

My blog is called “Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks”. I’ve been blogging since the end of May 2010. My blog is primarily a Book Blog focusing on Reviews of Romance and Urban Fantasy titles. My goal with my blog is to post something at least 6 days per week, but I can’t read quick enough to in order to post that many book reviews in a week. So, until I develop some new speed reading abilities and until the toddlers learn to change their own diapers, I post at least two book review per week and fill in the other days with either a reader question or some silly stuff I find online or some book related news or I write about my life’s quirks. Most of all, I try to make people giggle.

 

I love the name of your blog. Tell me, who is your all-time favorite ‘Yummy Man’ and ‘Kick Ass Chick’ and why?

Well, that’s easy enough. My all-time favorite ‘Yummy Man’ is my husband, Jason…LOL! Whoa…I almost got by with a straight face on that one. I would love to say that he is, but he’s just too…real.

For my favorite Kick Ass Chick, I’d say Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series. She’s fantastic and I want to be her when I grow up. She’s strong and sassy, yet real and relatable. Love. Now for the Yummy Man, I would have to say…crap, this is though. I have four that I just love to read and that make me giddy the moment they appear on the page. None are big surprises really. I love Curran (Kate Daniels series), Bones (Night Huntress series), Barrons (Fever series) and Valek (Study series). Now those are some yummy men.

 

What makes a book good for you? What are the essential elements that make a book stand out among the rest?

Humor and romance are my two biggest things. I read for entertainment but also to bring me places my real life won’t. So I need me some romance. (Okay, that may have come across a little wrong…) I also need great characters. Even if the premise of the story is sort of crap, if the characters are strong I’ll still chug through the book.

There are many reasons to love romance, but what turns you on/turns you off, figuratively speaking, when it comes to the romance genre in general?

I can tell you what turns me off. I don’t like it when the author sticks sex scenes just to make a book steamy. Yes, there is such a thing as too much pointless sex. (I know right?! Shocking.) Steamy scenes should be used to show the characters’ passion and feelings and they need to make sense! And the language. C’mon people! You don’t have to stick overly harsh words just to let the reader know you know them! I mean, you could be reading a beautifully written piece of descriptive prose, and suddenly out of nowhere the word c*nt is thrown in! Wtf?! It just ruins the moment.

Arrange the following in order of preference. Number one being your favorite: Contemporary, PNR, UF, Historical.

1. PNR, UF, Contemporary

2.

3.

4. Historical

What, no good? *sigh* fine. 1. This one is a tie between PNR and UF. 2. Contemporary and 4. Historical. I have a lot of trouble getting through historical titles. Don’t know why…but it’s always going to be at #4. (Sorry historical books…)

 

Clearly you are a romance/urban fantasy novel lover like me but is there any other genre that you like to dabble in when not reading about yummy men and kick ass chicks?

Not so much, no. I used to be a strict YA reader. I thought they would be lighter and easier to read than ‘grown up’ books. Boy was I wrong. YA is so depressing! But I still read Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series because I started it back then and I’m curious to see where it’s headed. Also, I love Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter world. So anything she writes about that (even if it is YA) I’ll read. I actually find that I have trouble getting into YA stories now. Apparently I need smex and chicks with guns in order to enjoy a story now! So, other than those two exceptions, I’m strictly a romance and UF reader now.

 

Do you recall your first paranormal romance novel? Do tell.

Okay, well his parents weren’t home and we took advantage of the situation. It took all of three minutes. Oh wait…that’s my first something else (and I’m totally kidding…it lasted 4 minutes). Summer 2009. I had recently discovered Maria V. Snyder and wanted to read anything she wrote. I was telling my husband that she had a story in “The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance” but that I would never buy a book with that title. Well, Jason was tired of my talking about it so he went out and bought it for me (insert “Awww…”). I read Maria’s story first then I figured since I had the book anyways, I may as well read the rest of it. Well, the second story in the book was really cute then…holy frikin’ cow! There was sex in that story. Descriptive sex! I covered my eyes but my fingers refused to stay closed! The story was hot and I wanted more. Then I found myself a little sad when the next story didn’t have the sex in it. That experience convinced me that ‘sex books’ weren’t written by the devil but by creative writers who knew how to weave a story filled with complex yet realistic and passionate characters. So, I decided to give the romance genre a try. I had been eyeing a certain series of books and the only reason I had refused to give them a try was because of the titles and because they lived in the ‘naughty’ section of the book store. You may have heard of them? The Black Dagger Brotherhood? I ordered them online (because goodness knows I couldn’t go into the store and buy those books in person *shiver*) and was instantly hooked. Now, I’ve taken the stick out of my ass, shed my nun outfit and come out of my romance reading closet!

 

What about your first Urban Fantasy?

I know it’s listed in the romance category, but I find that Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series is more Urban Fantasy. That would be the first books I read of that genre. But if you are a stickler and you need the name of a book that actually lives in the Fantasy section of the book store, then that would have to be Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels books. Not much of a story behind the ‘why’ for either of them really. I just looked online for a series of books that included paranormal aspects and got good reader ratings. They both received glorious reviews so I picked them up. Now I’m one of many who send their husbands to the book store the day a new title comes out in the series. The end.

 

What is your favorite book for 2010 so far? (I know I’m being unfair but only pick one)

OMG! You are the meanest person ever! Geez…it’s like asking me to pick my favorite pair of socks or my favorite page in the dictionary! *sigh* Okay…I guess my favorite book that I’ve read in 2010 that was published in 2010 would be “Double Cross” by Carolyn Crane. (And now I feel like I’ve betrayed all of the other books that I’ve read. Thanks Sophia *mumble grumble*)

 

Are there any new up and coming authors that you have read this year that you see giving the big guns a run for their money?

I have really enjoyed Kelly Meding, Carolyn Crane and Stacia Kane’s work this year. (Notice, all UF). Their world building and imagination have just blown me away. In the romance genre, I enjoyed what I’ve read from Zoe Archer. Her stuff is historical (go figure) but not the proper hoity-toity historical stuff. It’s action-adventure stuff, so I can get into it. Quite fun and sexy.

 

How many books do you typically read in a month?

My average is around 12 books per month. Sometimes a couple more and sometimes a couple less. It all depends on whether or not real life gets in the way of my reading. (Damn real life…*mumble grumble*)

 

Do you have a spending budget for books or do you say screw the bills, I need to get my read on?

I take care of the finances in my house, so I think I’d give myself a stroke if I ever said “screw the bills” lol. I’d like to say I budget a specific amount for books, but I don’t. But I don’t go crazy either. Jason and I have come to an agreement of sorts. Since I went years without buying anything for myself really, I get to buy books now. And if he wants to buy a video game, then that means that I automatically get a ride to the book store. Also, my friends and family know that if they are to get me a gift for any reason, they should get me a gift card for the book store. Is there a better gift than that, really?!

 

I’ve made no secret about my fear of the overstuffed book shelf. Are you a book hoarder or do you read and purge like me?

I have boxes in the basement where I keep the books that I will never read again or that I bought and then thought “what the hell was I thinking? I’ll never read this!” I love to organize my books (on the evenings when my husband isn’t around). I love organizing things and my books are all so pretty so I organize them often. Besides, I have to arrange them in a way that looks like I only have a few and not the dozens and dozens and dozens that I actually have. Must keep Jason from finding out the truth. (Oh and Jason, if you are reading this, all of the above is an absolute lie. I only have about 28 books in our room and the boxes in the basement don’t truly exist.*innocently batting eyelashes*)

 

Where do you store your keepers? Out in the Open? Locked Safe?  Thumb print security system with controlled climate and laser maze?

LOL Thumb print security system… Well, maybe when the kids get a little older and I have to hide my smut a little better, but for now they are in my book closet. It’s an armoire that lives in my room that used to house Jason’s work shirts back in the day when he had to dress up for work. His dress code has changed so now the armoire is mine. I put a bookshelf in it and voila! My book closet! Sometimes, I open it up just to look inside. It makes me happy. It worries Jason sometimes how I’ll just stare at my books for minutes at a time… *dreamy sigh*

 

You’re about to become stranded on a desert island with little hope of being rescued. Who do you take with you? Vampire, Demon, Angel, Fae, or Werewolf. Keep in mind your fellow castaway cannot assist in your rescue.

Wow, who knew you’d ask such thought provoking questions?! Well, I don’t think I’d go with the vampire seeing that, unless he is “anti-feeding on humans”, I’d be his only source of food. That’s probably not the greatest of ideas. And if I was stuck with an angel, I wouldn’t be able to curse. And I would really want to curse since I’d be suddenly stuck on a desert island. Fae are just too creepy and…creepy. A werewolf might kill me when the moon turns full. Not cool either. And a demon…well. If they are anything like the ones in Larissa Ione’s Demonica series, then hells yes! That would do quite nicely. Rawr…

 

And finally, the just for fun lightening round:

Snickers or Twix?

Twix. Snickers is nasty.

Sandals or Sneakers?

Sneakers.

Emo or Goth?

Goth (I’m picturing Jason’s face if ever I came home dressed in either…lol)

Batman or Superman?

Superman. Don’t know why.

Shaken or Stirred?

Pop the bottle.

Fantasy or Reality?

50/50

Call or Text?

Call (just because my cell phone is so ancient it can’t text).

Yummy Man or Kick Ass Chick

Kick Ass Chick. Wait…depends for what.

So that’s it then?! Ok, cool. Whoa, I need an Advil…or a drink. Easy my ass! *mumble grumble* :p

 

That’s it!  See I told you I’d be gentle *g*  Thanks so much for stopping by today Julie, it was fun chatting with you.

 

You can visit Julie on her blog, twitter, GoodReads

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