This is the continuation of the Q&A with me. If you’d like to read part one, you can do so here.

Florinda asks:

Have you ever lived anywhere other than California? And if you haven’t, would you want to, and where?

In part one of this series, I mentioned that I lived in Manhattan for a very short time. I lived there from birth until the age of two and then came to California. I haven’t lived anywhere else, but I would love to live in Oregon. Preferably, Lake Oswego. I visited once and just loved it there.

Patty asks:

I feel as though I know so much about you…well…just the bits you have shared…you seem to be normal, like to cook are reasonably well adjusted…and I love that you work at a university…ok…what was your major in college…your specialty so to speak…and how do you get such amazing books to review.

All through junior college I majored in Business so I continued with that when I got to the university. Once there, after taking hours and hours of accounting and economics, I thought about how nice it would be to study something in the arts. I changed my major to Film Studies with an emphasis in screenwriting and then completely psyched myself out and ending up getting a B.A. in Mass Communication.  It took me so long to get my degree that I never thought I’d ever step foot on college campus again so then what did I do? I got a job here.

As for the books that I review, I get them from all over. Initially, I got some from Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program. Later, when I had a bit more confidence I’d email publishers and ask them for review copies. Once they got to know me, they began to offer books to me. I also do a lot of tours and network with authors on FB. I only take books that I want to read anyway so it all works out.

Diane asks:

I am curious as to whether you have always lived in CA, and whether you have ever visited New England?

Since I already answered the first question (above) I will tackle the second. I’ve never visited New England but would love to.

Kay asks:

OK, I’ll ask a couple of questions that are a little more light – and I totally agree with you about blogs and “hearing” the blogger’s voice – I know my posts are much like my conversations – it’s how I talk.

First, I am also a Disney fan and I want to know what is your favorite ride at Disneyland? When we used to visit Disneyworld in past years, my daughter and I had a tradition of always beginning our vacation stay with a ride on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – then they took it away! We were crushed.

Also, what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream – Ben & Jerry’s if that floats your boat – any other kind if you are not a B&J lover.

I love Disney! I have so many favorite rides though but if I had to choose just one, I’d say Peter Pan. My favorite part of that ride is when you soar over the city. I love all of the twinkling lights. Mr. Toad is still here in California so you will have to come visit!

My fave flavor of ice cream is Häägan Dazs, Vanilla Swiss Almond. I’m simple. Creamy vanilla with almonds covered in dark chocolate. Yum. However, if Ben & Jerry’s is the ticket then it would be Cherry Garcia.

Wallace says:

I LOVE hearing about bloggers too (like you — it’s a lot of what draws me to the blog). I want to hear more about your childhood as well… it sounds fascinating. Also, how did you and your husband meet (gotta get a cute romantic story in there somewhere!)?

My childhood in a nutshell: Lived well. Lost everything. Mental illness in one parent. Alcoholism in the other. Baby sister to take care of. Ran around the streets of Hollywood. Saw some horrible things. Had dreams and wished hard. Got out. There is a ton of stuff in-between but that pretty much sums it up. The weird thing is that although that was a very difficult time, I was in HOLLYWOOD and saw that Hollywood sign every day. I fantasized about stuff all the time like becoming famous, etc. That part of my childhood was very much like any other kid. I think.

The story of how The Hub and I met is sort of cheesy. I was working at a bank at the time and he was a customer. He fed me some corny line that I totally fell for, and that was that! He was The One. LOL. He says it was because of all his money, but trust me…there wasn’t any money. Afterall, I knew his entire financial portfolio. He forgets that part.

Well, that’s it for this week. I’ll post part three sometime next week.  If you’d like to ask me something,  just leave me a comment below.

A few weeks back I took a chance and asked if any of you had any questions to ask me. I enjoy getting to know a blogger through some personal tidbits. Not too much, mind you, but enough to know they are real flesh and blood and not just some troll posting as a reader. Ahem, went off a bit there.. so here we go with the first set of questions. There will be three parts unless I receive anymore questions between now and the final post.

Rhapsodyinbooks asks:

What I want to know is, how do you find time for reading between work and kids and husband and taking care of the house? Do they let you read undisturbed or do you need to hide out somewhere?

For the most part, the kids are fine. They know reading is my thing and they are old enough now to feed themselves (just kidding). It’s The Hub who is the problem. He does not get it, and never will so I endure endless comments about my reading. As far as the house is concerned, I am an organization freak so I cannot read until the house is in order. This leaves me time to read at night and I read a lot while at work (before work and at lunch). Sometimes I can sneak away to my room if they are all watching a really good movie. I have been known to do that.

Helen Murdoch asks:

You may not want to share this with us, but I seem to remember you had a post about medical stuff that was going on. I’d love to know how you’re doing!

I was diagnosed with lupus a few years ago. Lupus is frustrating because you look perfectly normal and in most cases quite healthy but your body is essentially attacking itself. It’s an auto-immune disorder and manifests itself in many ways. For me, it’s mostly food allergies, skin rashes and problems with inflammation of my vocal cords. The vocal cord thing actually caused me to change job roles because I used to do a lot of public speaking and I am not able to do that anymore. On top of all that, extreme exhaustion. Most days I am running at about 80% which is much better than when I was first diagnosed.

Sandy says:

You know, I remember you doing a list of things about yourself that I totally LOVED. Random things. I know you have alluded to the fact that you didn’t necessarily have the happiest childhood, so we are going to avoid that unless you want to talk about it. I would love to know about your reading life as a child.

I turned to books for escape. At age 5, I would spend as much time as I could in the school library before going home and when I finished with those, I forged my mother’s signature to obtain a library card from the public library. I’d spend hours there, going through the Nancy Drew books (my fave!). There was a librarian who took me under her wing. She’d hide all the Nancy Drew books for me and then turned me onto other books once I had read all of those. I loved Encyclopedia Brown, Beezus and Ramona, and Victoria Holt which is strange since I was only 7 or so at the time.

In case anyone is curious, the random list Sandy refers to is under the About tab, above.

BermudaOnions asks:

I do think knowing more about the blogger helps you form a connection and also helps you realize if their tastes are similar to yours. I remember reading about your childhood and I’m wondering where you grew up.

I was born in Manhattan but only lived there until I was about two. Although young, I do remember Central Park and the zoo and the subway. Oh, the subway scared me to death. Then we moved to California and I grew-up in Hollywood. We moved a lot during this time but it was always just a few blocks from where we lived before, so the streets of Hollywood were my playground.

Lisa asks:

How is it that you are able to read so many books?! What kind of work do you do?. Does it have to do with publishing and you are reading for work and pleasure? I think it is amazing that you read so many books and I love that you review them for us here.

I don’t think I read nearly enough. Not at much as some other bloggers, that’s for sure. Lisa, I am a technical writer/web developer who specializes in instructional design. Although working for a university means that my job is always changing, it always hovers around those duties. Because of my work, I am always online which makes it easy to stay connected.  There was a short moment in time where I managed the Facebook and Twitter accounts for my department but they decided they didn’t want a social networking presence, so those accounts are just sitting out there…so lonely.  Nope, I just read for pleasure.

Well, that’s it for today. If you missed a chance to ask me a question and still want to, just post it in comments. I will post the other parts over the next couple of weeks.