Weekend Blog Hop (4) + Follow Friday (3)

TGIF... It's been one cold, rainy week in the Charlotte, NC area.  I'm so excited for the weekend, and not least because of Follow Friday (hosted by Parajunkee's View) and the Weekend Book Blog Hop (hosted at Crazy-for-Books).  If you've stumbled upon or hopped by my blog for the first time, then welcome!  If you've visited a few times before, then you might notice I've made a few design changes (READ: spent three all-nighters in a row completely re-designing the entire blog).  I like the new look much better. 


This week's Blog Hop question is

"What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?"

Well, I've never stopped following anyone's blog.  The only reason I might even consider doing that is if they just haven't posted anything new in a few months and seem to have abandoned their blog to the void of the Internet altogether.  I've never yet lost a follower, but then again I don't exactly have a legion of die-hard followers. :)  Just a few faithful fellow bloggers who comment on posts and make my day.  Thank you, guys! 

I've noticed time and time again that the blogs with the most followers seem to be the ones who host frequent giveaways-- hey, it's a blunt truth.  I love giveaways as much as the next person, but I always try to check out the newest posts on my (rapidly extending) blogroll and drop comments.  Our hostess at Crazy-for-Books has challenged everyone partcipating in the Hop this week to pick one blog that they genuinely want to follow and actually follow them, the goal being to make five different comments on five different posts of theirs as the week goes on.  Finding awesome new book blogs is my favorite part of the Blog Hop-- though  (hopefully) getting new followers is a big bonus!-- so I'm all-ready for this one. :)

And this week the Follow Friday Featured Blogger is Monica @ The Bibliophilic Book Blog.  The question is...

Who are your favorite authors??

Well, my immediate response is: do you want a blog post, or an (excessively lengthy and gushing) essay?  I have dozens of favorite authors, but my very favorites include: Neil Gaiman (the man's a genius), JK Rowling (of course), Holly Black (she's way cooler than a rock star in my book), Scott Westerfeld, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana Wynne Jones, Chris Wooding, and Libba Bray.  Recently discovered rock stars include Sarah Rees Brennan, Carrie Ryan, and Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl of Beautiful Creatures.  I'm also something of a Tolkienite and have a penchant for writing secret messages in Tengwar (the script of Middle Earth. :) 

Once again, thanks for hopping by and following-- have an amazing weekend.