Adele Blair – Kraftireader

Thank you to Ellie Holmes for this lovely interview with book blogger, Adele Blair, this month.

I am delighted to welcome Adele Blair to the RNA Blog’s monthly series where we speak to book bloggers and get an insight into their world. Welcome Adele.

I love the name of your blog – Kraftireader – and your motto “A book and tea puts a smile on me”. Can you tell us how long you have been running your blog and share your review policy with us?

I started my blog back in the summer of 2014.  My preferred book genres are contemporary fiction, romcoms, chicklit, historical romance, and family sagas. I love this quote about a “book and tea”. There is nothing more comforting than sitting down and finding yourself a nice quiet corner to read a book and pair it with your favourite cuppa.

What’s the best and worst thing about running a blog?

The best thing about running a blog is discovering new authors, especially indie authors.  I feel that bloggers are indie authors’ best friends as we can help bring their work to the limelight.  As a consumer when we are searching for our next read we do tend to look for the authors we know and have heard about.  However, there are some wonderful gems out there in the indie author world and I love championing this.  The worst thing about having a blog is time, I don't have enough time to read all that I'd love to read.

Do you ever read just for fun or do you review every book you read?

I would say especially this year that my reading has been 95% for reviews.  I'm thinking of blocking a week off each month to read a book for fun.

What was your standout book of 2017?

My standout book of 2017 is always such a difficult question to ask any book lover.  However, I do have a book series that I've completely fallen in love with and that is the Wild Warriners by Virginia Heath.  It is a Regency Romance series published by Mills & Boon Historical about four brothers trying to break away from their father's bad reputation, trying to build their family farm back to what it was in its prime and trying to find how they fit in the world.  Virginia Heath has created a wonderful series with each book concentrating on one of the brothers (we've met two already).  There is heartache, family saga, romance, comedy; the Warriners are like a 19th century rural middle England 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'.

I see from your blog that you are very active on NetGalley. Can you tell us a little about that?

NetGalley is a portal for authors, publishers and professional readers: a place where authors and publishers can offer their books out for early review to professional readers.  Professional readers do have to prove themselves with links to their previous reviews on various websites.

I know you are a keen crafter. What are you working on at the moment and do you get torn between your crafting and reading? 

When I first started my blog it was to share what I love: reading, crafting, food etc. However, once my blog became established and I found I was really enjoying learning about new authors, the reading has ultimately taken over but my other interests are still there waiting for me.  One of the last projects I crafted was découpaging a pre-bought paper mâché owl.  I'd never done découpaging before and it was quite easy to pick up. The end result was such a treat, my owl has pride of place in my home...I must do some more découpage and it would be an ideal project to do to make as a gift.

I love the fact you describe yourself as a “recipe hoarder” (me, too!).   If you were able to host a fantasy dinner party for your favourite authors (alive or dead), who would you choose as your guests and what would you prepare for them?

Oh my goodness that's a difficult question...I would love the following authors at my table:  Jojo Moyes (I'm in awe of her stories); Lesley Downer (I read and was completely captivated by her historical romance The Shogun's Queen, I had the pleasure of meeting her recently and she has so much knowledge and experience of Japan, fascinating insight); Beatrix Potter (her illustrations and imagination around the animals she clearly adored); Milly Johnson (she's a Yorkshire lass whose warmth radiates in her books and I've had the pleasure of meeting her a few times) and Jacqueline Susann (I read Valley of the Dolls last year and was transfixed).  I would cook a big pot of chilli that would be warming and comforting and it's one dish I can do a pretty decent job of!

We often ask agents and publishers what they consider to be the next “big thing” - what do you hope to see in 2018?

I would love indie authors to become the spotlight.  I'd love it if a big glossy mag would do a series of bringing the spotlight to these unsung heroes in the book world.

Thank you, Adele for being such a wonderful guest.

Find out more about Adele via these links:

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Twitter  

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About Ellie

Ellie Holmes writes commercial women’s fiction with her heart in the town and her soul in the country. Ellie’s debut release was The Flower Seller. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Alliance of Independent Authors, Ellie’s latest book, White Lies is out now.

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