Thoughtful Tuesday - Fame

Today, I've decided to post random thoughts (sort of) that fall under one topic...

Fame

Yep, that's the topic. It's vague, I agree, so let me unvague it(yes, I made that one up :p  ). When I first began blogging, I followed some blogs (and still do) that have tons of followers and comments. I was like, 'Damn, I want that.' It took months for me to even get ten followers. And now I'm up to 134. I still don't get many comments, but I don't get much time to go comment on others, so I can't complain much.

I will read, follow, and comment (when I can) on any blog whether they do the same for me. It just seems like the natural thing to do. I love to support people because that's just my personality. I get off (yes, that's the phrase choice that came to mind :p ) on supporting people. That's why I do my Mention Mondays and my TAG!s, it's even why I do my book reviews on Wednesdays. Supporting others makes me feel good.

I've become such a fan of the self-pub and Indie authors because I've found so many wonderful people and books. They don't get a quarter of the recognition they deserve. There are books out there that are better than Laurell K Hamilton and James Patterson (both of these authors are two of my favorites btw) and yet they don't have half of the fanbase that LKH and JP have. But they DESERVE it.

The Indie and Self-pubbed authors don't boast and brag about their awesomeness, most of them are so humble they don't even realize it, but sadly nowhere near enough other people realize it either. LKH has an FB page and she can post a picture of her dog and get thousands of comments on it. Why? Because she's 'famous'. But does fame make her dog cuter than Author Jane Doe? No, it doesn't. Yet people treat it that way. (Yes, I chose dog pics, but it's just to give an example that demonstrates what I'm saying.)

We live in a world full of celebrities and people are all over those celebs, but I never get it. They're just people. Self-pubbers and Indies are just people too, so what about them? What does it take to get people to see their names? They write wonderfully, they interact with fans and treat them as friends, and they humbly and graciously accept compliments and they're under appreciated.

I'm rambling, sorry :/  But I do have a point...

Fame is measured by the number of people who are willing to recognize the 'celebrity.' I follow several blogs, many of them published authors, and I think they're all famous. Alex J Cavanaugh is famous in my eyes. If I met him I'd be slightly fan-girlish because he's just that awesome. I recently talked about Karen Amanda Hooper (here) and CK Bryant (here). If I met either of them, I'd be a bit fan-girlish there too. These are only three of the awesome people I've had the privilege of getting to know more. And each of them are awesome in their own way, but they're awesome in a special way too. They're my friends even though I've never met them in person (and even if they don't think of me that way :p  ). With Karen and CK, I've exchanged a few emails and Tweets, and every encounter was special to me. With Alex, it's his comments on my blog as well as replies to my comments on his, but every time, it's special. Knowing them, makes me feel like I know some famous people and they all deserve that feeling.

They are famous, even if I don't think enough people realize that. Which now brings me to the point (sorry this has been so long). It's okay to be a fan of someone whose name is EVERYWHERE, someone who has a HUGE fanbase. BUT make sure to recognize the other people who are famous, yet unrecognized. Brag about these under appreciated celebrities, tweet about them, 'like' them, follow them, talk talk talk about them. They deserve as much fame as any other celeb out there, some of them deserve it more. The unrecognized celebrities (especially in the Author industry) DESERVE to be recognized. Spread the word, tell the world, '*Insert name* is AWESOME and everyone should know.'

Now, go tell it!

Happy Thoughts :)

Mention Monday - C.K. Bryant

First off, there wasn't a week wrap up this past Saturday because I didn't really have much to say. But at least it gave my Thursday TAG! w/ DC Rich some extra screen time, so that's a positive.

Anyway, today I'm shouting out someone who is particualarily full of all kinds of AWESOME! She's so sweet and an awesome writer. Her first book, BOUND, as made it into my top books of 2012 as well as top of all time. I have the second book in the series, BROKEN, on my TBR and it's a special case so it gets to move to the top of the TBR list.

I won her first book during NaNoWrimo, an online writer conference from Ninjas Write. I read it fast and loved every bit. You can check out my review of BOUND, right here. Plus, it's FREE on Amazon right now. :D

Christine is an Indie author who is a member of the Indelibles. Aside from her full books, you can read a short story by her in the In His Eyes Anthology. I should really have more to say about her because she so awesome,  but really that's all I got....She's AWESOME! There's no reason not to check her out, so, go check her out. Visit her blog, read her books, she's awesome :D

Day Dreamer (blog)
BOUND (Amazon link to book 1)
BROKEN (Link to book 2)
IN HIS EYES ANTHOLOGY (It's free too!)
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
The Indelibles

Check her out, spread the love. And Happy Mentioning :)

Review: Bound by C.K. Bryant

Five Stars (and hats off) to Bound by C.K. Bryant.

This is another book I won from the awesome NiNoCon. I won the ebook and read it in one day. It was THAT good. Nothing I had to do got in the way of my reading this book. I read it throughout the day and by the time I went to bed, it was over. Which was the saddest part-it was over. The sequel isn't even out yet...I'm so sad.

C.K. did an excellent job with this book. Kira's adventure will keep you intrigued from start to finish. There is not a dull moment in this one. I read every single word from start to finish, no skimming this one. It was one of THE BEST books I've read in a long time. I hate to sound this way, but I was happily surprised by how well written this story is.

This is usually where my spoilers would come in, but I hate to spoil it for anyone. Okay, okay, I'll do it...

IF YOU WANT SPOILERS, CLICK THE READ MORE BUTTON NOW