Happy Friday everyone! ❄️ We’re officially one week away from Christmas! I can’t believe that the time has gone by so fast 😨 For me, the holidays are a very weird season. I can’t wait for them to finally arrive, but I don’t want them to at the same time, because when they do, then we have to wait a whole year for them to return!! I guess that’s what makes them so special, right?

Anyways, today we have a new topic for Let’s Talk Bookish! This weekly tag is hosted by Eternity Books and Literary Lion, so if you’re interested in participating head on there ☺️

BUT, before we begin, let’s do our Advent Calendar!

The objective of this Advent Calendar is to get to know each other better and learn about some of the things we love to do this time of year! I really hope that you guys decide to participate, and I can’t wait to read your answers as well. If you want to check out the upcoming questions go to this page.

What is one of your favorite holiday dishes/food?

My country doesn’t really have many traditional Christmas-y foods. We don’t really eat peppermint or hot drinks (cause it’s always hot here)… Or anything else really. But, almost every single family cooks pork and moro (rice and beans cooked together) on Christmas Eve, so that is my favorite Christmas food. BUT, if we’re talking about holidays in general, one of my favorites ever is Habichuelas con Dulce (I think the proper translation is sweet beans? I’m not sure 🤔). It is a dessert that we always eat during Lent and Easter.

Reading & Blogging: Their effect on writing.

Have you sometimes felt that as a reader, you should also be a writer or vice versa? Do you think that a desire to write is connected with a love of reading?

I don’t think that readers are writers, but I do believe that writers should be readers. I don’t understand how someone could be passionate about writing and putting their words on a page without loving to read at some capacity. In my perspective, wanting to write novels comes hand in hand with reading them. For instance, if you want to be a journalist, you probably like reading articles on subjects that interest you. Personally, picturing a writer that doesn’t read doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, not everyone that likes to read needs to like writing. They’re both very different and not everyone that enjoys a good story feels like they could be the ones to create it as well.

What motivates you to write?

Reading inspires me. As simple as that. Growing up I didn’t envision myself as a writer, cause I didn’t understand how I could come up with so many words at once. But, the more I read and discovered new worlds I found myself longing to write them myself. I’ve read so many books that have helped me through the years, and I’ve learnt so much from different novels that I dream with writing stories that help others as much as those have helped me.

As a book blogger, do you ever feel discouraged about publishing a book because you know how readers & bloggers can react to books/authors?

Honestly, sometimes I do. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I know that not everybody will like what I end up writing. But even when we don’t like something, there is a degree of respect that we should adhere to. Some people are a little cruel with their opinions and don’t consider it important to express themselves in a way that doesn’t hurt authors. Giving constructive criticism and explaining your dislikes about something does not entail hurting someone’s feelings. I don’t want to be a hyprocrite. I know that at some point or the other I’ve probably said some not so nice things about certain books, but I try my best to not be unnecessarily mean. So, reading horrible reviews about books sometimes does discourage me about publishing my own work. Still, I try to remember what I said previously. There are so many people that might end up loving it, and I think that’s worth it.

Do you think that authors can be book bloggers as well, or that they’ve crossed the imaginary line between authors and bloggers and therefore are not like other book bloggers anymore?

Yes and no. I don’t think that being an author means you can’t be a blogger, but I can’t picture an author as a blogger 😂 This is simply because I would imagine most of your time goes into writing your book rather than reading and critiquing other people’s work. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. It’s completely doable and possible.

Do you guys think that readers are writers, or vice versa? Would you be discouraged about publishing your own work because of negative reviews? I would love to know.