Because I am so far behind on my to-do list and have nothing planned this week for blogging, and to give you a chance to get to know me even further, here’s this week’s Weekly Geeks thought-provoking questions from Bernadette at Reactions to Reading:

Having recently been told that I’m odd because I’m not terribly interested in author interviews I’ve started to ponder whether there are two types of readers…those who stick to the books versus those who like to know more about the author’s background, thoughts, motivations and writing process.

So, what about you?  Do you seek out interviews with authors of books you’ve enjoyed? Why or why not?

Most of the time, I do not seek out interviews with authors of books I’ve enjoyed.  The last time I actually did this was when I started getting involved in the Twilight fandom and realized that Stephenie Meyer answered a LOT of questions about the series in early interviews.  Reading through them helped bring me closer to the characters and their backstory, enlightened me on her writing style and thought process, and helped integrate me a bit more into the fan sites.  I have not really had a desire to do something similar with other authors since then.  A large part of this reason is the sheer fact that I do not have time to do so. Another part is the fact that it never crosses my mind to do so. I would rather take what little time I have to research some of the historical/cultural aspects of the book rather than find interviews that may or may not give additional information. 

Do you interview authors on your blog? If yes what did you gain from the interview process? If no is it because you don’t want to or because you haven’t felt able to ask an author yet?

I do not interview any authors on my blog.  This is due mostly because I do not want to do so.  It is not something that interests me at this point in time, and the idea of asking an author for an interview on a blog that gets very few readers seems to me to be rather presumptious and arrogant on my part.  Also, I am a bit bothered by interviews of the same authors on multiple blogs.  I personally tend to skip over them because you see the same or very similar questions on each of them.  I would hate to invoke the same feelings or reactions in my readers.

Do you subscribe to the blogs of authors you like? Which ones? All the authors you like or only certain ones?

I do not subscribe to any author blogs at this point in time.  Again, it is not an area which I really want to explore right now due to lack of time.  I already have over 100 blogs in my feed reader.  I would rather check out what my blogging friends are doing than check in with an author.

Do you track down author websites or look for biographical information about them elsewhere? Would you skip reading a book if you couldn’t find out anything about its author?

Again, I do not need author information to read a book.  It is not necessary for me to know any biographical information in order to be able to enjoy a story.  In only a few cases have I actively sought out additional information about an author on their websites or elsewhere.  The last time I did so was at least four years ago.  I completely separate the author from his/her work.

Have you hosted an author on a blog tour? Was it someone whose books you already read or did it introduce you to a new author?

This coincides with the previous question about author interviews.  I have not hosted an author on a blog tour.  I might stir up controversy but I am not a big fan of blog tours.  Like author interviews, I get tired of seeing reviews for the exact same book on multiple blogs over the course of a few days.  Rather than generate interest in said book, I tend to click through those reviews and consider not reading the book.  It is just the way I operate when shopping.   If a sales clerk tries to push something on me, I will walk away.  I feel blog tours are similar to that sales clerk, and so I tend to delete and ignore interviews or reviews done specifically for blog tours.

Most of the time, I just want to read my latest book, review it, discuss it with my readers and move on to the next one.  I do not have a lot of time to devote to reading, and I want to make sure that I try to fit in as much reading as possible.  If the subject matter truly interests me, I might do a quick Google search on that subject to find out just how accurate the novel is in its details.  I tend to do this more often with historical fiction, but I believe that is more in keeping with my love of history than anything else.  I can and do easily ignore the author’s background when reading and, with very few exceptions, have avoided digging deeper into that background.  (I had no idea Joe Hill was Stephen King’s son until someone left a comment for me to mentioning that relationship in passing.  I knew he was a son of someone famous, but that relationship had no bearing on whether I liked or disliked his novel, which is why I never took the time to find out the exact relationship.)  The author and the novel are separate entities, as far as I am concerned, and I tend to keep it that way as much as possible.

I know I may be alone in this thought process given the proclivity of authors’ interviews and blog tours.  What are your thoughts?  Is any sort of knowledge regarding an author’s background essential for reading?  Blog tours – love or hate them?  Author interviews – love or hate them?  If it is love, what is the fascination?

var linkwithin_site_id = 125794;