Thursday, September 8, 2011

Feature & Follow Friday #62

Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday (err Thursday) on Parajunkee.com


If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

*Thanks so much to Rachel for allowing me to be part of the Follow Friday fun. Parajunkee is one of the best blogs out there and FF is a highlight of the blogging community. The FF has been one of my favorite parts of my week for over a year and I'm so excited to help my fellow book bloggers get to know each other better.

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger.

If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the link here for Follow Friday Feature or go to Parajunkee and click the drop down link above FEATURES > Feature & Follow Friday and get on the waiting list!

It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.



Our Feature - Drying Ink






"I'm a bookworm from the UK (where the rain's so incessant that it's a choice between reading and gibbering insanity...) - I love all things SFF, and though I go in for more traditional fantasies as well, I'm enjoying all of the original or unique things coming out of the genre at the moment. For example, Mark Charan Newton's Legends of the Red Sun series. As for what I'm reading now? I'm rereading Geist by Philippa Ballantine, which is a great fantasy with a touch of steampunk - and refreshingly short as well!

Other than fantasy, I spend my time on a number of other hobbies (excluding insane mumblings over ASoIaF) - pyrography, kayaking, and writing, to name a few. I started blogging because I wanted to talk about my latest finds, and write about cross-genre trends and features that we don't normally see in reviews: for example, my series on surpassing conventions."


Q. Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one?



Hmmm...There have been a few times, but I can't think of specific instances. In general, I think the reader should root for the hero. If they don't, that indicates a flaw in the story. This occurs most often when the hero isn't developed well-enough. If I don't know that much about the hero's personality, his/her hopes and dreams, etc, I'm not going to care that much if the hero wins or loses.

On the other hand, rooting for the villain could be a tribute to an author's skill if the author meant for that to happen. I love when villains are really well described. When they aren't pure evil. I like knowing why the villain acts as he or she does and seeing a good side to the villain. It's more realistic if the person is layered.


Now for the Follow Fun!















RULES To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:



  1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
  2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - We Fancy Books & The Little Book Blog
  3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
  5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
  7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!




Happy Follow Friday! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!


*********





36 comments:

  1. Good luck on your move! I'm from the greater Sacramento area and I loved growing up there. My fam is still out there. It's home. I hope you love it!

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  2. I guess a good instance would be where a character is percieved as being evil-doer at the beginning, but turns out to be the good guy. But then, that would technically mean they weren't a villian to begin with... right?

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  3. I can't think of one in particular. They were created to give impending troubles and should not succeed in their dark intentions no matter what. That's why they were called villains in the first place.

    Happy Friday!
    xoxo.april
    Friday Hops

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  4. Just hopping by! I feel like occasionally authors manage to create sympathy for the villain, and that's great. More often than not, however, if I end up cheering for the villain it's because the hero annoys me.

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  5. Hi, Alison! :) I hope your move goes smoothly! If you're a person who likes the sun, I'm sure you'll love living in Cali so hopefully you'll have lots of fun there!

    (Oh!! And have fun driving by Wyoming -- I just have this sudden urge to remind you that Tucker Avery from Unearthly lives there... LOL.)

    I'm not so great at remembering specific instances either, but I definitely agree that I like it better when villains are layered!

    Here's my Follow Friday! And I have a brand new 300 Followers Giveaway up and running, if you want to enter! :)

    Hope you have an awesome weekend!

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  6. That's a big move! Safe travels and all that!
    I chose Victor from the Vampire Academy series....
    The Bawdy Book Blog

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  7. I enjoy layered characters too! Sometimes, a villain can be so well-written that you can sort of empathize with them because they seem so real! Great question this week! :)

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  8. Good luck! I'm in the middle of packing for a move in two weeks, but it's only across town. Sending good-weather and safe-travel wishes your way. :)

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  9. I also love villains that aren't necessarily all evil. Working the whole "grey area" thing always draws my attention!

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  10. Great answer! I kind of felt the same way. I always usually root for the main character of the story. I think most people tend to root for the hero too. Unless you're a pessimistic person. lol

    Happy Follow Friday! :)

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  11. I'm going to have to think about this one!

    New follower! Jenaissance.

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  12. Ooo that is such good insight! I never even thought about why people would root for the villain, but that is a really good reason why. Go you!! haha

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  13. There are some villains I LOVE to hate ;) Maybe they are meant to be love/hated by us maybe it works out that way.
    I don't think it's realist to ALWAYS love the "hero" ONLY.
    Gr8 blog :) New follower
    Books and Beyond FOLLOW FRIDAY

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  14. Good luck with the move. I couldn't think of a villain to root for either.

    My FF is here.

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  15. Have a safe and fun trip! =) God bless Alison!

    xoxo. April

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  16. Happy Friday!!!--Hope your move is going well!!! I'm originally from WI, and now a CA transplant, so I feel like we're neighbors! ;)

    Great answer--and normally I'm with the good guys all the way, but I've been reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin--and Tyrion is *TOTALLY* my fave bad guy that I want to win!!!--This book is full of heroes and villains, and Tyrion is a Lannister, which means he was basically born and raised to be a bad guy...he's not a saint (unless you compare him to the rest of his family)--although, it seems like he may be getting over being loyal to his family...

    Have a great weekend!!!

    (\__/)nymfaux

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  17. Heey
    Bad guys are usually very interesting! I found myself hoping Anakin (Star Wars) and Gollum (LOTR) would somehow become happy!! Hop on by if you have the time:
    http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2011/09/follow-friday-book-blogger-hop.html
    Juli @ Universe in Words

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  19. I can't remember the particular books, but I rooted for villains to get their happy endings, if not necessarily win.

    Have a great weekend!

    http://beyondstrangenewwords.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-blogger-hop-28-follow-friday-3.html

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  20. I like your response. It is a tribute to an author if they can show a good side to the villain and make us cheer him on. I'm not a big fan of pure evil villains. People who do bad things just for the sake of it!

    New Follower

    Lucy
    http://lily-bookhaven.blogspot.com/

    (Be sure to enter my Giveaway. The winners get to pick a book from Book Depository!)

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  21. Good answer about possible underdeveloped character is rooting for the villain and it wasn't meant to be that way. :)

    http://www.ataleofmanyreviews.com/index.php/2011/09/follow-friday/

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  22. Good luck with your move! :)

    I agree that it's more realistic if villains are layered. I usually can relate them a little bit in that way.

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  23. Hope the move goes well!

    I definitely agree with your answer! Often when I'm rooting for the villain, it's because the main character is simply unlikable. But if the villain shows one bit of a good side or has a REASON why they are bad, I always feel for them.

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  24. Great, thoughtful ideas about villains and character development! I'm a first time visitor, now a follower. Thanks for all you do!
    xo-E

    ElizabethMilesBooks.com

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  25. I just posted my first FF post :)

    Hope your moving won't be too stressful as they usually tend to be!

    Ivana

    http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-blogger-hop-follow-my-book-blog.html

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  26. Happy moving week! Good luck and safe journey to you. :-) It's definitely different when the villains are well-developed and you have the opportunity to learn their motives. Sometimes they're not as bad as we first believed. Like you said, I know there are some, I just couldn't think of any off the top of my head, and I'm still coming up empty!

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  27. Hi Alison! Hope everything goes well on your move. Sunny Cali is very different from where I am in FLOODED Virginia!

    Have a safe trip!
    Teresa
    http://www.theduchessmommyreads.blogspot.com

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  28. Hey Alison Happy Friday! Hope your moving is going well. Have a great weekend :)

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  29. Happy weekend, and good luck with the move.

    If the villian is diverse and interesting I could see rooting for them.

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  30. Have a good weekend, Alison! And hope the drive/move goes okay!

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  31. I don't think I've ever wanted a villain to win. Is that bad?

    Happy Friday, Alison! :)

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  32. I guess the author had been doing a good job if readers were now invested in both the protog and the villain. Yikes...:) now that would be gripping. Have a great weekend.

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  33. Hi Dear
    Have update my blog with link to this blog so I wont miss reading and the Follow Friday image on the homepage so I can support the followership .. Hope this works ;)
    Have a great weekend ...
    -Nrul-

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  34. Past follower dropping by with a new blog. Come see!

    -LupLun
    Shooting for the Moon

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