Good morning! I have a special treat this week for my readers. Instead of me rambling about what I’ve been doing this week, I’ve interviewed a special friend of mine, Carrie Schmidt, of Reading is My Super Power. If you recall, she ran my giveaway in December to highlight my newest book, Heir Force.

Though Carrie and I have never met in person, I believe we could be pretty good friends. I mean after all, anybody who loves books has to be a great person, right? Below is the lovely Carrie.

Carrie reads about 3x as many books as I do. So that is a lot of books! She reviewed my first book, Cookie Encounter, back in 2016. You can see that here.

Without further ado, here is my interview with her.

Me: How did you get started blogging? How did you choose books?

Carrie: I’d tried dabbling in blogging in the past but my choice of topics bored even me after just a few weeks. LOL. Then, I began to notice that people asked me for book recommendations a lot … or for my thoughts on a certain book. And I was reading all these great books and dying to talk to someone about them. So I decided to try this blogging thing one more time, and fortunately talking about books hasn’t bored me yet haha! I really don’t think it ever will. (Goodness, no, how could it?)

Me: How long have you been blogging? Do you still enjoy it?

Carrie: I started my blog in April 2015 so we’re coming up on three years now, which is crazy! What a whirlwind it’s been, and while it’s a lot of hard work and very time consuming I still love every minute! (Well, time flies when you’re having fun, right? And what is more fun that reading great books?)

Me: What is your favorite genre?

Carrie: I have a pretty eclectic taste in books, but my very fave genre is romantic suspense. This can be contemporary or historical, so I get the best of both worlds there, and then I get the mysteries I love plus the KISSES which are my fave 😊 (Hmmm, maybe I should consider romantic suspense. Maybe not. I would probably screw it up. Next question!)

Me: How do you stay on top of all the books coming out?

Carrie: I have some Amazon search tricks that I use to keep up with what’s coming around the bend, and then I – no joke – have a chart so that I don’t forget the books I’m most excited about. I’m such a book nerd lol. (Charts are cool, I’m good with that. I’m a list person myself.)

Me: What is the most fun; meeting authors, reading new books, or ?

Carrie: Oh my goodness… Can I just say c) all of the above? Lol. (Yes, that is perfectly acceptable) Meeting authors is such a thrill. I mean, that first time I met Laura Frantz in person and she knew who I was & was excited to meet ME? Craziness. Absolute delightful pinch-me craziness. BUT equally thrilling is meeting fellow readers & blog followers. I have made such sweet friendships over the past three years, with other bloggers & with some of my blog followers as well as authors. And then of course there’s reading new books – which is loads of fun too and something I still get giddy over! (Yes, I love books, new and old. My family were talking about the smells of books recently. My hubby thought we were losing our minds. Then we heard a piece on the radio talking about that very thing. Yes, it’s a thing!! He’s not into books, can you tell??? But we have an understanding. So it’s ok. He knows I’m pretty happy with the simple things in life; my books and a handful of Peanut M&Ms.)

Me: What are three things about you that most people don’t know?

Carrie: 1. I have a degree in elementary education & I used to teach third grade (and now all my students are marrying & having babies) 2. I wanted to be an actress when I was growing up. 3. I collect Cinderella stories from around the world.

Well, I don’t have a teaching degree, but with homeschooling have now taught every grade from K-12th, and my class size had an excellent teacher/student ratio… 🙂 

Me: If you could go to any setting in one of the books you’ve read, where would you go?

Carrie: Oh wow – what a tough question! So. Many. Settings. I think my brain just imploded LOL. I’m going to cheat a bit & say I would love to visit Regency England. Or even just contemporary England. Can ‘England’ just be my answer? Lol. (Yes! Absolutely! I’m with England. I think about Miss Marple’s time or maybe the Downton Abbey era. Let’s just go with England!)

Me: Have you ever thought about writing a book yourself? If so, what genre would it be? What time period?

Carrie: I have thought about it. But it’s a very brief & fleeting thought because a) I don’t think I have the right talent for it and b) it would cut into my reading time too much. #priorities  (Yes, this is why you read 3x as many books as me. Sigh.) However, if I did find ways around excuses a & b, I would definitely write a contemporary romance with maybe a dash of suspense for good measure. (Sounds fantastic! I’d be interested!)

Me: What bugs you the most about books?

Carrie: A lack of diversity that reflects the world we live in. (Hmmm. I mentioned this in my new book, Heir Force. But not in the way you refer. My character, Kate, was in a boring meeting at the base where she works and it was about this very topic, which I’m afraid she is very tired of. She even wonders if CEOs in Japan or China have these meetings (somehow I think not) and whatever happened to the melting pot? So, let’s move on…)

Me: What do you love most about books?

Carrie: How much time do we have? Haha! (All the time it takes!) I love that books give my imagination wings to fly. I love that I can go on great adventures I wouldn’t dare try in real life, meet friends on the pages, learn a little history, and be reminded of the goodness of God in the land of the living. All without leaving my fave reading spot 😊 But most of all I love how nearly every story I find in books is somehow a reflection of THE Story. That connection is my favorite thing to talk about! (Amen, sister!)

Me: Have any advice for writers/authors in general?

Carrie: Remember that your story matters – the one you’re writing and the one you’re living. Don’t let discouragement keep you from finishing either one well. Oh – and please no more than one person coming back from the dead per book, as a general rule. Unless your main character is Jesus 😊 (Oh, my, yes! What have you been reading??)

Me: What is your favorite snack while reading? Favorite drink?

Carrie: Ruffles Baked Cheddar & Sour Cream chips and a Diet Coke from McDonald’s with extra ice (Ok, the chips are fine, but they don’t have any chocolate and I can skip the soda; make it an iced tea, half-half for me, but no ice. Does that make it an uniced tea??)

Me: Where do you do most of your reading?

Carrie: In bed with my dog Zuzu snuggled up close (which sounds sweet but it’s really because she doesn’t want to share ‘my’ heated blanket) (Dogs can be like that. Ripley thinks my lap belongs to him, which makes working on a laptop, um challenging…)

Me: What is your favorite season for reading? Time of day?

Carrie: Favorite season for reading is winter – I love bundling up with a good book while snow is coming down outside. (Me, too! See my blanket above? It’s for work and for reading.) Favorite time of day to read? Whenever I’m not doing something else. Lol. (Same.)

Me: What is the highest number of books read in a year since blogging?

Definitely 2016’s total of 377 (Whoa! You blow me out of the water with that one!)

Thank you so much, Carrie! This was a lot of fun! I enjoyed talking with you today and hope my readers enjoyed our interview.

Happy reading everyone!

~~Michelle