I am ecstatic to have
Book Blogger, Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay, aka D.D.S. from http://b00kr3vi3ws.blogspot.com today. She is an inveterate book reviewer and can hold eight books between her finger slots at a time. But since I can't find that picture, I'll post her bookshelf instead.
First question is really stupid. What would you like us to call you? D.D.S. stands for Doctor of Dental Science and gives me shivers with memories of shrill drill sounds.
First question is really stupid. What would you like us to call you? D.D.S. stands for Doctor of Dental Science and gives me shivers with memories of shrill drill sounds.
Answer:
Oho! I didn’t think of it that way. But don’t worry, I have no drills with me
and I pretty easy going. So you can call me anything at all – Debdatta – Deb –
Mrs.Sahay ;) or even ‘that book-greedy girl’. I don’t mind at all.
Okay, book-greedy-girl, aka, BGG, cool name for your
blog. Let me guess, you work for a computer security company and they make you
change your passwords all the time, so you do the zero for an "o" and
three for an "e" trick?
Answer:
I only wish my answer was something that glamorous or interesting. But the
truth is ‘book reviews’ was taken and that’s all I wanted for my blog address.
So had to do the zero for an "o" and three for an "e"
trick. I had also thought of replacing ‘I’ with ‘1’ and the ‘s’ with ‘5’.
Ha, ha, that would make a great secret code. Let me try it out b00kr3vi3w5.b10g5p0t.c0m. Okay, now to the brass tacks. Books! Tell me what
enthuses you about books so much that you've put up a blog with eleven tabs?
Yes, I counted the tabs. The more tabs the more important your blog, so your
blog must be Mondo-important.
Answer:
Ummm… that’s a hard question. Actually I have never understood why some people
do not read at all or even those who do, why don’t they love it like me. Give
me never ending supply of books and coffee and I’ll be in heaven for the rest
of my life. As for the number of tabs (I haven’t counted them and can’t believe
you did.) – They have a mind of their own. I just wanted to give all the
features of my blog equal opportunity to be ‘seen’ along with the review. So,
Interviews / Guest Posts / Special Feature / New girl on the blog / Blog tours
and Giveaways all have their own space.
Answer:
Frankly, all I look for in a book is the plot, character and good writing. If a
book has all three of them then publisher, book cover, size-shape-colour,
nothing else matters to me. I didn’t even know that indie books existed before
I started blogging. I had read a few, but I had never thought of paying
attention to the publisher unless a book I was looking for was out of stock at
my favorite bookstore. Once I started blogging, I got to read a lot more of
Indie books thanks to the review copies I get. Besides my review copies, I
hardly get to read indie books since due to obvious reasons. They hardly ever
make to bookstores in India and buying online through Amazon and TBD is kind of
a hassle and expensive.
What is the one
characteristic you like about indie books, assuming you can find something they
have in common? Ha, you should have known I'd have a trick question in
here somewhere.
Answer:
I actually know what exactly are in common – they all have plots, characters
and good writing. And they have me in common – I love them both. Still if you
made me choose anyway, then I think I would choose Indie books because I hear
that it takes much shorter period of time to get your book out. That means I
can get more books quickly. Or, maybe I would choose traditional publishing
because that means the books are more readily available?! Never mind – don’t
make me choose between books please… I can’t – I love them all and want to give
a place to each and every one of them at my home.
Yay! and on your ereader too. Now that Amazon has
opened the Kindle bookstore in India, do you think e-book reading will explode
there? How many of your friends read e-books versus dead-tree books? [Oops, did
I make a disparaging remark? so sorry!]
Answer:
I think so. People here are very Tech Savvy and they do love their gadgets. I
am hoping that the mobility will encourage people to pick up a kindle.
I
think you should know that I am one of those ‘dead-tree book’ readers. I read
on my laptop, on my mobile and on my Nook, but that is only because most of the
review copies that I get are e-copies. I have bought maybe 4-5 e-books so far.
I always prefer reading print books because I had fallen in love with books
when e-books were mere dreams/concepts. I love the smell of the books (both
brand new & dusty old). I love the way they feel in my hands and the
comfort that it provides. Okay, okay, let me not scare you with what my hubby
puts as ‘crazy book talk’. But yes most of my friends and family prefer reading
print books too as they find it ‘irritating’ to read on a computer. But that
may change, with the launch of Kindle – the younger generation may just start
to prefer e-books too. But for the older generation and old souls like me –
Print book it is!
Well, then I must mail you a dead-tree book so it can sit on your wonderful bookshelf. You must be inundated
with review requests. How do you decide what book to read next?
Answer:
Right now I have stopped accepting any review request, because unless I review
5 books a week, I am booked till the end of January! Seriously backlogged!!
I
usually read the review copies in the order I receive them. In case I am not in
the mood for the genre that my next review copy is, I usually squeeze in a few
personal choices then. But yes I always read & review in the order of request
received.
If you could give a piece
of advice to indie authors, what would it be?
Answer:
Get a professional editor please. I have read quite a few books with good plot
& characters but the potential of the book and my personal reading
experience was marred by terrible typos and grammatical errors.
Do you watch TV and
movies or you prefer reading? What are some of your favorite movies, books, TV
shows?
Answer:
I prefer READING over everything. My all-time favorite author is Satyajit Ray
and I read his books over and over again. Besides those, I also love Count of
Monte Cristo, Shall we tell the President, Harry Potter, Kite Runner, The City
of Joy (that’s actually based on my hometown)… List goes on. My recent indie favorites
are Bridge of Death by MCV Egan, Torn Together by Emlyn Chand, Michal’s Window
by… ahem, you-know-who and Alicia Trent Series by Eileen Harris. But I also
enjoy watching TV from time to time. I enjoy Castle, Lie to Me and The Vampire
Diaries (I actually did not like the book series much, but I watch the tv
series anyway. One name - Ian Somerhalder! Swoon!!) Coming to Movies, I am so
in love with Shah Rukh Khan that I always make sure I catch the first day-first
show of all his movies at a theatre. I also like George Clooney, Bruce Willis
& Jason Statham. I love action and romantic movies. But I hate it when they
make movies based on books – they always manage to spoil the best part. Can you
imagine the Half Blood Prince without the Hogwarts fight? The exception to this
rule being P.S. I Love You – the movie was way better than the book there.
Answer:
Easy… it’s Kajol. She is a Bollywood actress and my all-time favorite. She also
happens to be a Bengali like me. Among Hollywood actresses, I would choose
Sandra Bullock ‘coz she can make it cool to be nerdy J
Kajol is a beaut. Tell us a bit about your likes
and dislikes. Free association here, first thing that comes to mind.
Mysteries or romance? Hands down - Mystery.
Turmeric or Vanilla? Vanilla – I like the flavor
and the smell both. Can’t say the same about turmeric.
Stilettos or flip-flops? Flip flops – I am so
clumsy that I manage to trip on plain smooth floor without any help. Wonder
what I’d do to myself if I wore stilettos?
Hollywood or Bollywood? Bollywood – I love the
songs & dances that Hollywood doesn’t have.
Ittai or Phalti? Ittai – Kunal Kapoor is
stuck on my mind.
[Oh, gosh, do I agree with you! Michal and Ittai sitting in a tree. For more Kunal Kapoor images. Those of you who haven't read Michal's Window, this is a teaser for you. And check out #IndieReadaThon Wrap-Up Post for more favorites.]
Thanks for chatting with
us. Where would you like people to contact you?
I just adore Debdatta! Wonderful to see you both here. Thanks for sharing a great interview.
ReplyDeleteHi Deb :D Ara here, I am not sure if you remember me :D One of your followers!
ReplyDelete"Frankly, all I look for in a book is the plot, character and good writing. If a book has all three of them then publisher, book cover, size-shape-colour, nothing else matters to me. - I agree with you entirely.
Great interview, Deb and Rachelle :D
I'm one of those crazy book people who love the smell and feel of "real" books, too! Unfortunately, with my arthritis it is painful to hold them open now; an e-reader is a good alternative so I can still enjoy all those books!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, ladies!