Superstar Spotlight - Here's Orchid! (Giveaway Points Post)

We're so excited to have our first guest blogger. We've followed Orchid's blog for a long time and love The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia. The look is gorgeous (just look at her amazing button!) and the reviews are always fresh and original. The best thing we've found about her blog is that she finds fantastic books that we've never even heard of! She's a Book-Finding ninja!

Please welcome, Orchid!

Author: Nancy Farmer

Title: The Ear, the Eye and the Arm

Number of Pages: 311

Publication Date: 1994

Genre: YA/Sci-Fi

Synopsis: “Tendai, his little sister and their younger brother escape from their splendid home to explore their dangerous city. Tendai is motivated by wanting to earn a scouting badge, and he desperately wants to prove himself, as their overprotective father has always placed tight restrictions on what the siblings can and can't do.”

I’m really bad at formalities, but I’d like to thank Alyssa, Jake, and Gregory for having me over to do a guest post!

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is another great book that I had read a few years ago. The title and bits of the story have been stuck in my head, so I decided to see if my library had it, which they did, so I went ahead and checked it out.

One of things about this book that stuck out in my mind the most would have to be how Nancy Farmer overlaid the new and futuristic with the old and traditional, as you can see from the cover.

Ear, Eye, and Arm, who all have special abilities, run a detective agency. Their names give you a clue as too what their abilities are, like, Ear who has really big and sensitive ears that can hear the slightest sound; Eye who can see a rain drop in a cloud; and the Arm who is extremely tall and gangly and can sense things by touching them.

But the main story follows Tendai and his siblings and the adventures and trials that they encounter on their first trip out of their home alone.

My favorite part of the book would have to be how against the odds they manage to find a way out of the danger that they wind up in.

My other favorite part of the book would have to be how the General tried to run his family like they were in his army by holding inspections before breakfast.

My least favorite part of the book would have to be how everything in Tendai’s home is run by a robot; the dogs are robots, the help are robots, there were even machine guns and they needed security cards to get in and out of their home. If you ask me it was bit overkill, but the father was a general who was the main force behind cleaning up the streets and ridding the land of some of the worst gangs, and he was slightly paranoid.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is definitely a book worth checking out.

Thanks for having me,

Orchid was also kind enough to answer a few questions! Here goes!

1. Orchid, now that’s an interesting name. Is it your real name or screen name? How did you get it?

Actually, Orchid is just my screen name. I was shooting for a name that nobody else would have, so I chose two flowery names that sounded good together. It’s girlier then anything else in my life, but I like the way Orchid Forsythia sounds.

2. What's your blog all about?

My blog The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia is mainly about the books that I read, along with the occasional music or movie trailer and the even rarer movie review. I also like to review obscure and neglected titles.

3. What inspired you to start blogging? Did you see a specific blog? Read a certain book?

I was inspired to start blogging mainly because I wanted to share my view on the books that I read. Plus it’s a great way to find new authors and books to check out and I love reading about different peoples views on the same book.

4. What’s your favorite genre and any specific books?

OMZ! That is a toughie. If I had to pick a favorite genre, I would be torn between Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mysteries, and Supernatural books. Some of my favorite books would have to be Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie, Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow, The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson, In the Forest of the Night by Amelia Atwater Rhodes, and the Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. I could seriously go on forever on books that I like.

5. What’s your take on V-logging?

Personally, I’m not much into vlogging, but I will occasionally watch a vlog or two.

6. What’s your dream job?

Currently I don’t have a dream job, but I would like to do something that involves a lot of traveling.

7. If you could give any advice to a potential blogger, what would it be?

The best advice for bloggers would be to persevere, even if it doesn’t seem like anyone is reading at first. Because you’re not going to gain instant notoriety, the best way to get readers is to follow and comment a lot on other blogs.

8. Do you have a certain ritual before you start a review?

Yes, I have found that I cannot get into writing a review if I’m not listening to my ipod, although it has to be either country or classic rock or classical (because that’s the only music I like). Like right now I’m listening to A Thousand Times a Day by Patty Loveless.

9. How would you react to a zombie apocalypse? What’s your plan? Do you have one? If not, you should seriously consider creating one. (This is a Jake Question.)

I would calmly secure somewhere that could be easily defended and make sure that I’d have enough supplies to last for quite awhile. Yes, I have a plan and it’s to out last the zombie horde.

10. Any question we didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

What am I reading right now?

Gallows Hill- Lois Duncan

Thanks for having me Alyssa, Jake, and Gregory. It has been a pleasure, nay, a privilege guesting on your blog. J

Be sure to visit Orchid at her wonderful blog, The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia. We know you'll love it as much as we do! (Orchid is lovely but now we're dying to know her real name. Aren't you? Starts with "J"...)

**Giveaway ALERT! A comment on this post (within 7 days of post date) gets you 5 extra entries in our MegaBook Giveaway. And if you'd like to get an additional 5 points, become a follower on Orchid's blog and mention that you did so in your comment here. If you haven't entered yet, go to the contest post (or click on the contest link on the upper right sidebar) to enter! Good luck!

In other contest news, we made it to 650 followers (thank you!) which means we should be adding 2 new winners and 2 new books. However, since you have all been so supportive and Alyssa's writing blog, Demonic Attractions, now has 200 followers, we're going to add 4 more winners and 4 more books! That means we're up to 18 winners! We'll announce the books on Monday but we can confirm that The Iron King by Julie Kagawa is now included!