It would be well over a year ago that I noticed a blog called Blue Castle Considerations begin to follow Shallowreader. I clicked over to the site and discovered the absolutely hilarious Valancy writing on all things romance and Anne of Green Gables and retro Mills & Boon with flare and gif savvy. I have since been fortunate enough to meet Valancy in person (even though she lives far far far far away in a far far far away land). She is funny and sweet and ever so insightful when it comes to reading and related things.

Valancy

Can You Describe Yourself? 

In search of sleep, sanity, & The Shire. Here to serve the cat overlords.

Co-creater of bolognese soup. It’s true. Even if Google doesn’t acknowledge it.

Lover of all HEAs.

Secret Disney Princess devotee.

Heyer aficionado.

What is your main reading medium (books, blogs, games, news, etc) and how much time do you spend reading a week?

Books and blogs. I spend FAR too many hours on both. It means less work, but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.

What or who is your joyful reading (guilty or otherwise) pleasure?

I cannot ever go past a fairytale retelling. Regardless of whether it is good, bad or indifferent. I will buy it. I will read it. You had me at Once Upon a Time.

Go-to comfort reads: Georgette Heyer & Betty Neels.

Secret Reading Addiction: Vintage Harlequin and Mills & Boon from the 60s, 70s & 80s. Alpha-hole males, punishing kisses, hateful face slaps and women who end up being married to anti-hero-turned-hero in a far flung country with nothing but jersey dress and fringed leather jacket to their name. So Bad. So Good. I will read them all.

Do you have a favourite storyline or plot? And do you have one you will not read?  

Did you know that Mozambique National Demining Institute has trained African Giant Pouch Rats to sniff out explosives?? Apparently they are cheap, small, efficient and tireless in their search.

Oh, sorry, my point? It’s a long bow, but that is pretty much me in my indefatigable search for any kind of book that has a romance in it. My favourite plot is anything, as long as it is leavened by an affaire de coeur.

Yep. I am that easy. 🙂

Why do you/don’t you use a public library?

Always.

Online libraries for ebooks and physical libraries for the smell of dust and sandwich wrappers mixed with that soupçon of frowsty damp. (or maybe that’s just my public library…?) Plus I love finding super old relic books that haven’t been cracked open in years.

Case in point: A 1986 compilation of the year’s cutting edge technology: featuring Walkmans, animated Etch-a-Sketch, Discmans and Nintendo NES… I die.

Do you RUI*. If so, what?

I have a super fine knife edge balance of 3 glasses of wine and imminent slumber;

I am a fall-asleep-er under the influence.

Do you have a favourite reading spot?

See pic.

And Bed. Because beds are awesome. If everyone worked from beds, instead of offices, I feel that world peace would not be just something Miss Universe cited, but an actual, tangible possibility.

Think about.

You can’t get cranky in bed. Or throw a temper tantrum; it is always welcoming and never rejects you. Things that make you snap rage would hold no water against an ergonomic mattress and memory foam pillows. Bonus: super short commute.

Toilet reading:

No. Just No.

That is 23 shades of wrong.

POO germs people, they are a THING.

And that has suddenly made me want to completely rethink my public library usage.

So um…thanks.

Romance fiction of the Happily Ever After (not the love tragedy) kind – are you a Lover or a Hater and why?

HEA. Always.

I can manage a HFN too, but only because I do this while no-one is looking:

https://bluecastleconsiderations.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/unicorn-guy.gif

I cite previous Disney Princess & fairytale references. Life sucks too much already, I don’t need that kind of realism in my one legal form of escapism.

What would you give up reading for**?

Um. Nothing. Don’t tell my cats…but I really don’t think I could, not even for them.

Can a romance/crime/super/etc hero be the driver of a hatchback?

Being a driver of said hatchback, I do have a slight bias towards them; so YES, but with a caveat: Only if it has four doors.

NO self respecting hero can ever be knight errant with only two doors. Trust me on this. It is physically impossible. Not only does it make for the MOST UNGRACEFUL exit known to humankind; the doors are heavy and have a tendency to make sweepingly graceful closures on one’s behind. Or hand. Or foot. Or head.

Just saying y’all.

🙂