"What do you want to be?" "Happy," she says with a smile. - Colleen Hoover

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Emmmabooks Interview

Alright so I'm stumbling through YouTube-as I tend to do-and I find myself on Emma's channel. The first video I watched was her bookshelf tour and then in my suggestions it brought up her video on Fifty Shades of Grey. I hesitantly clicked on it- I say hesitantly because I was sure she'd hate on it like every other video I've seen- but to my surprise she defended it. I was so happy that someone else understood my love for it that I had to keep watching her videos. About five videos later I knew I wanted to interview her and lucky for me she agreed.
So huge thank yous go out to Emma for making great videos and for giving me the opportunity to interview her.
Enjoy!!

1. What made you want to start making book related videos on YouTube?
Back in January of 2014, I saw a few videos that were all about pronouncing different words from The Mortal Instruments (my favorite book series). I thought this was such an awesome idea! One of the best parts of reading, especially fantasy, is how everyone interprets new words differently, so those videos totally inspired me to make my own! I had been watching booktubers for a while and was considering starting a channel, but those few videos gave me the push I needed to start my channel.

2. Which BookTubers inspire you the most?
I'm really inspired by PolandBananasBOOKS,  Katytastic, abookutopia, and JoelBooks are MAJOR inspirations for me, but I definitely get a lot of inspiration from my booktube friends like Little Red Reader, Misssassykassie, Kelly's BookSpill, sierrareads and OHxXxSNAP13. We have so many great discussions about books and booktube in general that it's nearly impossible for me to leave a conversation without a new discussion/tag idea!

3. Out of all the book related videos/blog posts which are your favorite to watch/read?
I don't get around to reading many blogs (I'm a huge multitasker, so it's much easier for me to listen to a book review while doing other things as opposed to reading one) but I honestly really enjoy watching tags! They're always super short and funny and I feel tags are where a youtuber's personality really comes out. Unique discussion videos are also a huge favorite of mine. If you can bring up a bunch of different points about a topic that surrounds reading, content in books, anything book-related honestly, I'll almost always love it.

4. You get to star in any book to movie adaptation, which book would you pick and which character would you play?
I would LOVE to play Isabelle Lightwood. It's not even that I love her character and get compared to her all the time, but I would love to be representing The Mortal Instruments fandom on the big screen. In all honesty, if I had any acting skills at all, I would 100% audition for the T.V. show :)

5. You've told us who you're playing and in what adaptation, but who's playing your love interest?
AH! I don't know if I could possibly pick a perfect Simon. I tend to never dream cast because A. I'm not all that knowledgeable about famous/upcoming actors and B. I like to be surprised when a casting comes out and decide for myself how I feel about it. Though, I wouldn't be opposed to keeping Robert Sheehan as Simon. I thought he did an amazing job at portraying Simon, despite all the flaws of the movie.

6. One of my favorite videos of yours is where you defend Fifty Shades of Grey, what made you want to make that video?
As someone who really loved the first book in that series, I found myself constantly defending it against people who were basically protesting against it, even though they hadn't read the book. I spent so much time replying to comments, tweets, or even real-life debates about the book, that I felt it was only fit, as a booktuber, to make a video for it. I worked really hard on posing a logical, articulate argument and it was absolutely amazing to see how many people supported me in posting it. I was SERIOUSLY nervous as it was uploading, thinking I would lose tons of subscribers that I love because I had a controversial opinion, but in reality, almost everyone praised me for being so brave to speak out against the hate, so it was definitely satisfying in the end.
TO WATCH "DEFENDING FIFTY SHADES" CLICK HERE

7. If you could interview any author alive or dead who would you pick and why?
I would love to interview Cassandra Clare! She's my all time favorite author and I have so many questions I'd love to ask her about herself, her writing process, her books, etc. I've already met her, and for such a short book signing, we did talk for quite a while! But I would love to have the opportunity to actually sit down and ask her all of the questions running through my mind whenever I read her work.

8. Name your 3 favorite book to movie adaptations?
In no particular order, I ADORE all of the Twilight movies. I couldn't tell you why I'm so obsessed with them, but I have my own personal Twilight movie marathons all the time!
I feel like the Harry Potter movies shouldn't even count, but I can't help but include them. It's almost a rite of passage to love them as a reader and loyal Potterhead, but I used to watch nearly 4 a day and they definitely always cheer me up. To go with more recent adaptations, I think The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations out there right now. I had reread the book the day I went to see the movie, and with it so fresh in my mind, they really kept the majority of details in!

9. Are you excited about the Mortal Instruments becoming a tv show or did you want them to stay movies?
I actually have a full video discussion on this! I'm definitely happy it's getting a second chance after the movie bombed so badly, but I can't say I'm not nervous. I've never watched a book made into a T.V. series, so I don't know how different it is from a movie adaptation. I'm also fearful considering the same producers as the movie are involved with the production of the T.V. show, whom I blamed for the all of the issues with the movie. Another fact making me a bit "iffy" is that frankly, I WANT THE SAME CAST! The cast was such a controversial part of the movie, but I really really loved each cast member the characters. Given, I did see the movie before reading the books (the movie is what made me want to read the books!) so I'm a little biased but I thought Lily, Jamie, Kevin, Jemima, and Robert did a great job despite the executive problems I had with it. I do also believe that The Mortal Instruments would have succeeded better with a movie series. I think it deserves the hype that Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc got from their movies. Now we'll have no midnight premiers or any of those privileges a movie series gets, and I think the Mortal Instruments deserves that level of recognition.
TO WATCH "TMI AS A TV SHOW AND THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY DISCUSSION" CLICK HERE

10. Aside from BookTubing and reading what do you enjoy doing the most?
Two major interests of mine are electronic music and hoop dance. I've been a dedicated electronic fan since I was about 13, and if my money isn't going towards books, it's going towards concerts and festivals. The music has had such an impact on me over the years, and I really could not imagine my life without it. Hoop dance is one of my newer interests. It's exactly what it sounds like: dancing with a hula hoop! It's a really beautiful and graceful style of dance and so much fun to learn. I only really started teaching myself in the beginning of January, but I feel like I've come so far now and it's the most rewarding feeling to conquer a new trick. 

11. Is there anything you would like say to aspiring BookTubers and Book Bloggers?
First of all: DON'T GIVE UP. Don't expect your channel of blog to blow up immediately. It takes time and energy, but it will eventually pay off. Also, don't try and be somebody else! I see so many new booktubers who try and act like Christine (PolandbananasBOOKS) and it makes me not want to see the rest of their channel. People will love you for just being you, so don't try and get success by copying someone else's personality! You'll get more comfortable speaking in front of a camera and you'll develop your own personal writing style over time, but just let everything come naturally because that's what viewers are looking for! Just be yourself and have fun with it! In my opinion, that should be the main focus for anyone starting a booktube channel or book blog. :)

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