Feature with Followers | #20

Random Fact of the Day: Mondays and Tuesdays are known to be the least busy shopping days.

Hello readers! I hope everyone’s weekend went swell and that you are cherishing today being the last day of the weekend (I know I am, lol)! Feature with Followers is a weekly meme created by JBelkBooks (me) in which I will be showcasing one of my AMAZING followers. This gives me an opportunity to really get to know them and give them an opportunity to get their blogs out there in the community. The way I choose my featured follower is Top Secret, so wait for your chance to be featured! [If you think there is someone out there worthy of being showcased that I haven’t shared yet, definitely shoot me something in the comments that provides the blogger’s name and URL, and I will be sure to check them out!!]

*INTENSE, MYSTERIOUS MUSIC* WHO IS THIS WEEK’S FEATURED FOLLOWER???

• She has the same nickname as me! (twinsies)
• She recently posted the 100 Questions Tag!
• This blogger worships Cassandra Clare, lol.

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Jessica @ Mud and Stars!!

ABOUT JESSICA: HI I’m Jess! I’m a 25 year old Marketing Assistant from Abingdon, which is a little town near Oxford, United Kingdom. Abingdon isn’t a very exciting place to live, but it does have an awesome tradition of bun-throwing, which takes place whenever the Queen celebrates any kind of anniversary… basically, currant buns get thrown off the top of the town hall and the people of Abingdon run around the town square with their umbrellas out trying to catch them. Reading that back, I can see why people say England is ‘quaint’. I work at a big publishing house in Oxford, which is awesome. I’m obsessed with YA books, One Direction, and gravy. I’m probably too old to blog about One Direction, and there’s not all that much to say about gravy, so I blog about YA books in my spare time.

Q&A TIME!!!

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ME: When did your blogging journey begin and why did you decide to start?

JESSICA: My blogging journey began in July last year. I’d been thinking about starting a book blog for a long time, because I love reading and I wanted to get into the habit of writing regularly and doing something creative. I spent ages procrastinating over it, because I was worried what I wrote wouldn’t be good enough. Then I went to YALC (the Young Adult Literature Convention, which is part of London Film and Comic Con) and I attended a book blogging workshop which gave me the push I needed to get started. Listening to the bloggers speak, I realised it was all about having fun – I should do it for me, and stop worrying so much about whether it was any good. I started off by reviewing some of the books I bought at YALC, and then slowly I started interacting with other bloggers and getting to know people. I’m so glad I stopped procrastinating, because I love blogging so much, and have met so many awesome people along the way.

ME: How’d you come up with your pen name, mud and stars?

JESSICA: Mud and Stars comes from a little proverb my Grandad taught me: “Two men looked out through prison bars; one saw mud, the other saw stars.” My Granddad was always coming out with proverbs, rhymes, and poems – he had an amazing memory and could remember lines and lines of poetry off by heart. He developed Alzheimer’s disease in his later life, but even when his mind was deteriorating and he had no idea who we all were, he was still able to remember little poems like this one perfectly. I thought this one was really lovely, so I decided to incorporate it into my blog name

[Ah, so beautiful and very creative! Unlike mine, your pen name has meaning and I love that. Mine is literally my first intial, my last name, and the word ‘books’, lol.]

ME: Besides reading and blogging, what else do you do with your spare time?

JESSICA: I am one of the laziest people on the planet, so my main hobbies are pretty much eating, sleeping, binge-watching Netflix (currently Shadowhunters and Once Upon A Time), and complaining about how tired I am. I do also love to write (I’m attempting to write a YA novel!) and I go to ‘Power Plate’ twice a week (basically an exercise class where you stand on a vibrating platform doing squats and various other painful physical activities).

[Hahah, I can totally relate to eating, sleeping, and watching Netflix 😉 Power Plate sounds so intense, lol, so I applaud you for your dedication!]

ME: If a movie was being made of you life and you could choose the actor/actress (or book character if you’d like) to play you, who would you choose and why?

JESSICA: I think I’d choose Rene Zellweger, because I identify with Bridget Jones on so many levels. I’m British, I work in publishing, people often laugh at me (as opposed to with me), I always claim to be on a diet whilst simultaneously shovelling chocolate and/or wine into my face, and I really fancy Colin Firth.

ME: Since it is the 4th month of the year, what are four aspects (personality, appearance, etc.) about yourself that you love?

JESSICA: That’s such a hard question! I guess I like the fact that I’m creative. I like the fact that I’m organised at work (my boss actually told me I’m ‘too organised’ the other day) yet outside of work I’m a total mess! I like the fact that I have the ability to laugh at myself (because if I don’t, let’s face it, someone else definitely will). And umm… I like the fact that I’m myself and I don’t really mind what people think of me any more (it took years to grow into that one!)

[Creative but organized people are always the best people!]

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Wowwy, thank you for the lengthy responses, Jess!! Like I said before, I really do love that she has some sentimental reasonings behind her blog and I hope she is making great progress with her attempt to writing a YA novel! I instantly adore people more when they love to eat, sleep, and watch Netflix, so she is definitely on my ❤ list, lol.

Make sure you guys go by Jessica’s blog and browse a little bit because she JUST reached 500 followers and she definitely deserves even more!

 

 

If you want to keep in contact with Jessica besides on her blog, feel free to check out her social media listed below! Just simply click on the icon and you’ll be taken straight to her!

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Thank you again to Jessica for taking the time to chat with me and sharing yourself with the blogging community. I hope to continue to see your blog strive in the future, and continue to love yourself *cues Justin Bieber song*! ❤ 

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time…

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