Despite the fact that my previous #AskAmber became inundated with questions about wheelie bins, I've decided to do it again. No wheelie bins this time, you'll be glad to hear - just some deep questions including potatoes and fear (but not together, because potatoes are glorious.)
@MileLongBookS yo hey Amber! What do you wish publishers would ask of you more often?— Charlie ✨ (@charlieinabook) 25 February 2017
Ooh, that's tricky - I feel like they have pretty much everything covered! I'd love to see more of an emphasis on bookstagram, though. Bookstagram is basically the hugely popular bookish side of Instagram, and sometimes instead of writing a full review of a book here on the blog, I'll feature it over on my Instagram instead. It can get the same results but with a completely different audience, and I'm kind of obsessed with it.
@MileLongBookS Where did your blog's header come from (I've always been curious)?— Cassidy Jiang (@quartzfeathers) 25 February 2017
A few years ago, I was working away on my blog, and the clock hit 3am. I was probably slightly delirious, and for some reason I decided that I needed a brand new blog logo (and an entirely new template...) there and then. No planning. No consideration. I literally just jumped right in and played around with whatever came to mind. I'm really happy with it though - I even have it on a jacket because I'm a boss woman or something. I used to change my blog logo and template every few months, but I haven't changed the current design in years, which says a lot.
@MileLongBookS What is your favourite way of eating potatoes? (Always asking the important questions)— Megan Bourne (@butterflybourne) 25 February 2017
I'll eat them mashed, roasted, fried, sauteed, baked... I won't eat them boiled or raw. I have taste.
@MileLongBookS What post are you most proud of? Which one embarrasses you the must?— Lara Liz (@otherteenreader) 25 February 2017
This is hard because I'm equally proud of a lot of posts but for different reasons, and it's the same with posts that embarrass me. For example, I'm vaguely embarrassed about the post where I 'revealed' (for lack of a better word) my ongoing experience with anxiety and panic attacks. I was in a really bad place when I wrote it, and I was very open - like, the level of open you might be in the privacy of a therapist's office rather than the Internet. I purposefully haven't read it since I published it because I know it's a mess, but I also know it's helped people.
There are other posts, like my first ever book haul, which... I mean, why? Why did I publish that? There's literally no substance to it. At all. Go and read it, I dare you. Photos taken with a grainy Nintendo DS in artificial lighting against the background of my kitchen floor, and no mention of what I actually think of the books. Christ.
Posts I'm proud of can be found in this handy Twitter thread!
@MileLongBookS what are you afraid of, if anything?— Jack (@BemusedBroccoli) 25 February 2017
'If anything' - how optimistic of you. The paranoid part of me is like, Amber, don't reveal your fears on the interwebs, people could use them against you. But I'm annoyingly trusting so whatevs. I fear bad things happening to anyone close to me (extreme illness, death, something bad happening to anyone close to them which will then negatively effect themselves...), vomit, driving in the dark, and driving in fog. ...Does that mean I have four fears? Oh my god. I am Four from Divergent. I AM BADASS-ish.
@MileLongBookS WYR never eat guacamole again or never eat macarons again— charli;🌦 (@Charli_TAW) 25 February 2017
I would never eat macarons again. I don't get to eat them that often anyway. Peel the avocado, peel the avocado...
@MileLongBookS Did any blogger inspire you to start Mile Long Book Shelf, if so, who?— Cassidy Jiang (@quartzfeathers) 25 February 2017
I started book blogging because of YA author Luisa Plaja, who used to run Chicklish, one of the biggest book review sites in the UK. I contributed to that for a while, and through Chicklish I discovered an entire community of book bloggers: Sasha from The Sweet Bonjour and Ria from The Beaucoup Review are two I remember the most, but unfortunately they're not around anymore.
@MileLongBookS where are 3 places you'd most like to visit? (countries or cities or just landmarks or whatever you like)— charli;🌦 (@Charli_TAW) 25 February 2017
The first place is... Paris. I'm envisioning a delightfully bright and airy Airbnb with curtains that flow in the gentle spring breeze from the balcony overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
Amsterdam is a place I've wanted to visit ever since I read Anne Frank's diary as a child. I'd love to go to her museum, in addition to the TFiOS bench (or whatever's in its place now?) and the beautiful sights in general.
My third choice is... Edinburgh. I didn't really know anything about it until Zoe Sugg vlogged her trip there a few months ago, and it looks like such an amazing place.
To be honest, though, I want to go to most places. These three are just the tip of the iceberg...
Thanks for sending in your questions, and sorry I couldn't answer them all! Click here to read the last Q&A I did.
