Monday, December 13, 2010

Guest Post by Chelsea Swiggett

I’ve known Kristi for years. We met because of our shared love for reading, which inspired both of us to start blogs. Back then, it was like testing the waters. There weren’t a lot of other book blogs to compare to, and the community wasn’t as built and strong as it is now. So we talked about it. We both started our blogs around the same time, so we both dipped our feet in and started this crazy journey together. We emailed, Myspaced (it was really cool back then, shut up) and became quick friends.

Eventually, we met at a book signing for Cassandra Clare and Lisa McMann. It was awesome to be able to meet her in person, and she was just as cool as she is online. She’s hilarious, down-to-earth, and incredibly nice.

And over the years, we’ve gone to a ton of book events together. We’ve taken long road trips to ALA and lugged books around to get signed. We ate at restaurants (even when our waiters burned things) while talking about fictional characters. We’ve laughed and laughed. We’ve made fun of each other (especially when I thought our hotel room was haunted and Kristi wouldn’t stop teasing me.) We’ve become friends.

I remember sitting in a car, driving, while she told me about her turkey. She used to have one, you know, on a farm. And it looked up in the sky while it was raining and drowned itself. I’m a huge animal lover, so I probably should have been horrified, but I kind of laughed. “Turkeys are dumb!” she shouted. And that’s when I knew she was awesome. I mean, I knew before, but that pretty much solidified it.
She’s really an incredibly nice, humble person. When we were walking around ALA and authors recognized her, she’d look at me and let out this little eeping sound that I think might have ruptured my eardrums. She’s just incredibly ecstatic and passionate about books, which you’d obviously realize just by glancing at her blog.

And she puts so much dedication and work into it. Seriously, a lot of work. She finds pictures, links, and summaries. She writes reviews, hosts interviews, keeps up with her email, sends out books, hosts contests, communicates with authors and publishers, and still manages to go to work and live. I have no idea how she does it. I’ve thought, numerous times, that maybe she was a robot. But she’s too nice to be a robot. (All robots are evil, obviously.) The amount of work she puts into The Story Siren is jaw-dropping. And I admire her so much for it. I can’t even begin to say how much.

It really wasn’t hard writing this post. I could easily write more, but I don’t want to hog the entire page. Suffice to say, Kristi deserves a huge ovation for what she’s doing. I, for one, definitely appreciate it.
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Chelsea
thepageflipper.blogspot.com

7 comments:

  1. So nice to recognize her and all her efforts and hard work! Thanks for doing this. You're pretty swell too, by the way.

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  2. I think it's really neat that books can bring out some great friendships :)

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  3. Hi Chelsea :)
    Thanks for the heartfelt post!
    All the best,
    Rob

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  4. Oh my gosh about the turkey, ahhh! That would freak me out. But I'm so glad you guys formed such a great friendship! Sometimes making friends on the internet can be super creepy/dangerous/etc, but not in this community!

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  5. Turkey's are dumb! And not as water-resistant as Siren's. Great post, Chelsea.

    AND, I agree with Tara, 100%

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  6. Such a wonderful post, Chelsea! Heartfelt, amusing, and true. Kristi's blog always amazes me, because I know how difficult it is just to get a few posts up per week, let alone the amount she manages.

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