2 year blogiversary Q & A

Hello there, guys! Here’s the monster post with my answers to all your questions, and thank you for everybody who sent them!

Q & A

Why did you start blogging?

I started reading book blogs casually around 2017/2018, and I started a blog of my own on blogspot (although it wasn’t about books). Gradually I decided to move to WordPress and blog about books. Mostly because of how warm and friendly the book blogging community was.

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If you could go back to the beginning of your bloggerly life and tell younger you to do only ONE thing differently, what would it be?

Choose a better blog name. Cause what was I thinking of when I came up with ‘the doodlecrafter’.

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If you could blog about something other than books, what would it be? (this is basically just a smol trick to get to know all your other hobbies DON’T MIND)

I wouldn’t mind going back into blogging about travel, wildlife and photography (basically what my previous blog was about). It would probably be me posting to the wide internet for almost no one to see, but hey, I did that for two years too.

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What’s one of your favourite books?

One does not simply ask a reader’s favourite book.

Just kidding. If I were to choose from the books I read recently, I would pick If We Were Villains. I’ve obsessively reread it at least four times.

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One book you basically owe your life to

No such book lol, but I can say I owe my life to all the books I have ever read.

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One book you hate with your entire being and wish to get back the hours you spent reading it?

I had it compulsory for school which meant I’ve read this about a hundred times and annotated every bit of it, but The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan is the worst book ever.

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Do you like Gale or Peeta better (doesn’t mean you have to actually like either one, but…)?

Gale is the typical hunky hot boring guy. Peeta, on the other hand, has this slay (among many others):

ICONIC.

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Your beloved weapon of choice?

Something lightweight and easy to hide. Like a pistol or a dagger. Or poison.

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If you got the choice to spend the rest of your life on earth and be a normal magic-less human or enter a fantasy world (BUT A VERY VERY DEADLY ONE) what would your choice be?

I might look interesting but I’m actually a boring person who prefers to keep my life. (I’ll be that unnamed background character who dies in the first ten pages if I’m in a deadly fantasy world)

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Pineapples on pizza, yes or no?

I hate pineapples and I dislike pizza. Do not judge me.

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Book/movie characters you most relate with?

Ishu from Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating. Something about the socially awkward closeted South Asian younger sister being overshadowed by the overachieving older sister (who, BTW, does not want to be a medical student). There might be other characters but she is the only one who comes to mind.

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If you could time travel to any period in the past where would you go?

Is there no option to travel to the future??

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What is your dream vacation spot?

New Zealand. Mostly because nature documentaries have made me obsessed with the wildlife there since I was a kid.

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Do you have any siblings?

Two sisters, one older and one younger.

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What is something you really appreciate about living in Sri Lanka?

Right now? Probably nothing lol. The only thing still good about this country is that it has free education and free health care.

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What are the top three items on your personal bucket list?

• Travel abroad. Around the world. Have a big adventure.
• Buy myself a new phone, because the tab I have is on the verge of falling to pieces
• Get a driving license: I’m getting there. Guys! Finally I’m learning how to drive!

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One book that you think is way too overrated and another you think is way too underrated?

An overrated book? I just can’t get the hype for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. In fact *hides behind a wall* the only V. E. Schwab book I’ve enjoyed so far is Vicious, I DNF’ed A Darker Shade of Magic.

As for an underrated book, I feel like more people have to know about Kings, Queens and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju. The main character is a half Sri Lankan lesbian and there’s SO MUCH queerness everywhere! (the writing style wasn’t really my jam but it could be yours)

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If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Anything with chocolate. I sometimes have cravings for anything chocolate-y.

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What’s your favorite subject in school?

Maths, geography and history. I kind of forced myself to love maths so that I could be good at it and now I can’t break off the relationship. I like geography and history in the ‘ancient explorer obsessed with maps and random trivia facts’ way not in the academic way.

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What’s one fictional creature you wish would exist in real life?

Dragons! Specifically, the eastern dragons in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

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Favorite color and/or aesthetic?

A deep, greyish green. Or deep blue.

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What’s the one feature of WordPress you would change, or one WordPress superpower you would like to have?

Can I get one of those cool premium themes without having to pay anything for it?

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What was a silly dream you had as a kid?

Okay listen up, I’ve had my fair share of strange dreams but this one was straight up WEIRD: the characters of Twilight and Harry Potter battling against each other inside my school auditorium. It was one of those recurring dreams – I’ve seen it at least four times.

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What belief that you used to have all your life was changed during the pandemic, and why?

People need other people to survive. Not me though. I survived through a year of talking almost exclusively to my four family members and being a gremlin. Otherwise, the pandemic only proved what I already believed: some people are inherently selfish and some are not even mildly intelligent, but most people help each other out.

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What did the fish say when it swam into a wall?

Ow!

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You get to trade appearances and lives with a fictional character for a year – and then you have to swap back and pick up where the other person left off, without anyone realizing the exchange ever took place. Who do you pick and why?

This might be the hardest question here…I’ll say Murderbot lol. Because unless it goes about killing people (which it doesn’t like to do) it’s very good at disappearing into the background, avoiding people and consuming an unholy amount of movies, shows and books.

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What do you think is the hardest part about writing reviews?

Actually writing them. It’s one thing to rave or rant over books in your head, and another to actually type the words out. This is why I don’t review books unless I feel strongly about them, be it negatively or positively.

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What is a book series you have no intention of finishing?

Probably Twilight lol. There’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children as well. I liked the first book, but I’m not interested in reading the other books in the series.

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An author you would pick to co-write a book with

Adiba Jaigirdar (she just gets how to write relatable teenagers) or June Hur (such atmospheric prose!)

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What are some of your favourite locations/settings to read about in books?

Non-eurocentric dystopias and medieval settings.

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What is your favourite and least favourite thing about your blog?

Least favourite thing just might be the fact that I think of changing my blog’s design a thousand times every day.

Favourite thing…one, I like what I write, and I’m glad of all the past posts I have written, though I know there is huge room for improvement. And I love all the friends I’ve made through blogging!

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What’s your favourite book. Just the one…

The Lord of the Rings. Timeless. classic.

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What is the first book you remember reading?

Probably those read-it-yourself ladybird picture books. My parents’ biggest flex those days was that I could read some of them by heart.

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What’s your favourite and least favourite part of your WIP?

My favourite part? The characters. I love my chaotic messy morally grey OCs who don’t make the right decisions most of the time. Also the bittersweet story arcs I’ve got for them (I love causing them pain. Sorry, Novaya, Lin and Ari.)

Least favourite part must be…actually writing the story. See, I can daydream the scenarios like scenes in a movie as much as I like, but I am pretty bad at actually properly writing stories. Even when I do, I tend to overthink stuff and keep rewriting the same thing without going forward.

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Do you have any blog-related goals in mind you want to reach before your third blogiversary?

Actually, yes.

• Reach at least 400 followers
• Have a consistent posting schedule
• Write more reviews
• Write reviews for ARCs (Getting there, if Netgalley wasn’t a jerk that keeps declining my review requests, how do people do this.)

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Do you have any new favourite books or authors you’ve read in the past year?

Fonda Lee, June Hur, M.L. Rio, S.K. Ali, Brandon Sanderson and Hafsah Faizal are all new favourites. And also a lot more, because I’ve read incredible books in the past year.

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