Today I'm very excited to have Crystal Marie in Reader Corner. I'm sure many of us know Crystal (and her Many Reviewers) as one of the more active people in our community. Through her review blog she's always been very supportive of authors and the LBGTQ+ community in general.

Today we get to learn a little more about the person behind the reviews!

Welcome Crystal!

​Tell me a little about yourself?
 
My name is Crystal Marie – and I read way too many books.  I read so many that I did end up starting a blog – but this isn’t about the blog this is about me as a reader :)  I got started reading at a young age, and as I have grown older I still enjoy reading.
 
What are your hobbies?
 
Besides reading, I also crochet, play with my dogs, marathon Netflix shows. (Yes, Netflix I do want to continue watching after 3 episodes!)  I also try out a bunch of those “Facebook recipes” that go around.

I like to test out the recipes on Facebook too. I've found some good ones.

Do you have pets, and if so tell me about them? This is my favorite question!
 
Yeah… I have a few dogs LOL.  At my house, I have 3 dogs.  Issac, Christopher, and Charlie.  My parents (who I live literally 50 feet from) have 7 dogs:  Irene, Jaynee, Poncho, Harold Martin, Gideon, Sallie, Bettie. (And yes, in case you’re wondering, I did count that on my fingers. It’s so hard to keep them all straight!)
 
So I have 3 pictures for you here!  The first is the “Group Shot” of the “Original” Misfits! (We call them all that because each of them has a little thing that’s wrong with them all.  BTW, 8 out of 10 of the Misfits are rescues.  They were all rescued for various reasons!)  Anywho – we have the Original Misfits in the group shot.  The big blonde on the couch is Christopher – he’s the newest rescue that we saved right before Christmas.  The black one is Harold Martin who is our old man :)

Why were you drawn to this genre?
 
I quite literally found this genre by mistake.  I had just gotten my kindle and was doing a massive 1-click spree (don’t judge me!) of freebies and 99 cent books. And I had grabbed Bailey Bradford’s “Rescued” on sale. And I just started reading it, and I couldn’t stop. So I devoured that series, and a few others of hers and then spread my wings out to other books in the genre.
 
Why do you like this genre?
 
I like this genre, and other genres, for a fresh change. I’m not one of the readers that only sticks to 1 genre specifically, I do bounce around a bit. So it’s always nice to start reading a MM book after a break and its like reading the genre again for the first time.
 
What are your reading habits?
 
I have reading “days”. Where I will do literally nothing but read all day.  But usually I read before bed, and when I’m working on the weekends.  I used to read constantly, but then I realized (And I’m one of those people too!) That I was reading so much? I was missing the real world. I wasn’t doing anything but reading, and as much as I love reading, that wasn’t healthy for me.  So I started where I gave myself strict timelines to read, and that I had to also do other things throughout the day as well.
 
Do you prefer paperback, hard cover or eBooks?
 
That depends when I’m reading.  I usually do eBooks, but I do also have a vast amount of paperbacks as well.
 
If you’re an eBook lover tell me about your favorite devices? Tricks and recommendations welcomed!
 
So I used to have a kindle fire, a friend of mine had bought me one many moons ago.  And I stuck with the Fires.  And then I had gotten my iPad bout 2 years ago, and so I read on that.  But honestly its such a hassle with an iPad (even the mini that I have) because its so big and heavy.  I didn’t want to go back to a Fire because I wanted something that was literally JUST for reading.  So I saved up my money and was able to get a Paperwhite. Which I do love for reading.  Don’t get me wrong, the Paperwhite has its issues that I don’t like (It seems like it takes forever to download books on it) but I do still love how its small enough it fits in my purse, and that I can read on it outside.
 
What’s your favorite TV show and/or movie?
 
Favorite “Now” TV Show would be Blacklist.  Flippin’ love that show!  Right now on Netflix though I’m marathoning Midsommer Murders.  So far I’m liking the show!
 
What music do you listen to? Rec’s welcomed!
 
Oh I’m a country girl to the core.  Or 80s and 90s rock music.  That’s about it for me!
 
Why did you decide to do this interview?
 
Well, I was on Facebook and I saw where my awesome host Elizabeth had posted about looking for people to take the interview.  So I decided to take part in it. Usually I’m interviewed about the blog itself, so it was nice to be able to just be “me” in this interview!
 
Do you ever go to conventions to meet authors? Do you like to interact with authors on social media?
 
I’ve been a couple conventions, but (as bad as this sounds) as a reader I can’t afford to go to a bunch of them.  Especially with it all coming out of pocket, I have to weigh the pros and cons, and sadly most of the time it’s not worth it money wise for me to go.  Something always comes up that does take priority to attending conventions.

I do interact a lot on Facebook with authors. Which I do think is great.  Especially for those of us who can’t afford to go the conventions, we can still enjoy talking with the authors and getting to know them.
 
What other types of books/magazines do you read?
 
I read a bunch of genres of books.  MF, FF, MM – pretty much any genre out there I do read from. I like keeping my options open.
 
What are your favorite flowers?
 
Daisy’s are my all time favorite flowers 😃

I don't think the fact I'm a confirmed coffee-holic is a big secret.  

The writer who drinks a lot of whiskey, has a drinking problem is almost cliche.

Then there is the writer who guzzles coffee by the gallon while writing. That may be cliche, but I happen to know of a few writers for whom that is true!

I'm one of them.

I don't love just any coffee....noooo. My current favorites are whole bean Dark Mahogany and Italian Roast. I think I could be called a coffee snob.

My newest obsession is cold coffee. It's summer here on Ohio's north coast (aka Cleveland) and in the evening I do like to enjoy a cup, but it's often too warm. 

Enter cold brew coffee. 

The idea is simple, put coarsely ground beans in water for 18-24 hours, shake it up every few hours and when the brewing is complete discard the grounds. You're left with very smooth, flavorful cold coffee. 

A quick Pinterest search will bring up all sorts of brewing methods and recipes. I did opt to purchase a nifty thing called a Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker simply because I didn't have any jars big enough and was going to have to buy something! It works great. I've been really enjoying a cold coffee drink on hot days.

I like to mix mine equal parts coffee and milk and mix in some chocolate syrup. Sometimes I add a bit of nutmeg or cinnamon. What a great cold drink for a hot day!

My latest batch is make with Italian Roast beans, I'm a dark roast fan all the way.

Got a good coffee recipe to share? I'd love to hear it.

Cheers!

​Elizabeth

​Blurb:
 
Dwyn is a young man in the small, isolated town of Manicouga, son of the Minstor, who is betrothed to marry Kessa in a few weeks’ time.
 
Mael is shepherding the remains of his own village from the north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed Land’s End.
 
Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When the two meet, their love and attraction may change the course of history.
 
————--
 
"A Legendary Love” is a new house line from MCB for mythology themed MM books, not my own personal series name. "The Great North" is the first book in the line; others will tackle other myths, and be by other authors.
 
The Great North was inspired by St. Dwynwen's Day, also known as Welsh Valentines Day. 

Excerpt:
 
"We celebrate Dwyn's Day as a testament to true love and sacrifice. It's a remembrance of the way things were and the way they've come to be. In the end, let it be a reminder that every one of us has the power to change the course of events through love."
—Dillon Cooper, New Gods and Monsters, Twenty years After Dwyn
 
The gray clouds scudded by overhead, blowing in quickly from the east.
Dwyn shivered and pulled on his woolen cap. It was cold out, unusual for so early in the fall. The rains had been heavy this season, the wettest in a generation, and Circle Lake was close to overflowing its banks. If he stretched to look over the rows of corn plants, he could see the waters lapping at the shore far below, as if hungry to consume his village of Manicouga.

His father had consulted the elders, some of whom had seen more than fifty summers, and everyone agreed things were changing. Whether that augured good or ill was anyone's guess.

He shrugged and moved along the row of plants, breaking off ears of corn and throwing them into the jute sack that hung from his shoulder.
Ahead of him, two of his age-mates, Declan and Baia, were working their way down the next two rows.

Dwyn frowned. He got distracted easily, and he'd let the two of them get a jump on him. That wouldn't do.

He redoubled his pace. He moved with focus and purpose, and soon he was closing the gap with his friends.

"Someone's being chased by a lion," Baia said with a laugh.

"Or a tiger." Declan grinned, his nice smile only missing one tooth, lost to a fight with one of the Beckham brothers the year before.

Dwyn grinned. "Or a bear?" Dwyn only knew lions and tigers from the fairy tale his mother used to tell them, "The Girl and the Aus." He had no idea what an Aus was, either.

Bears he knew. The hunters occasionally brought one home, and old Alesser had a five-line scar across his wrinkled face that he claimed came from one of the beasts.

A shout went up from ahead of them. Dwyn craned his neck to see what the ruckus was, but he couldn't make out anything. "What's going on?"
Declan, who was half a head taller, looked toward the commotion. "Hard to tell. Something down by the road."

Dwyn laid down his sack carefully and ran up the hill to one of the old elms that dotted the field. He climbed into the tree, scurrying up through the leaves and branches until he had a clear view of the Old Road. It ran from up north to somewhere down south, maybe near the ruins of old Quebec if the merchant tales held any truth. Hardly anyone from Manicouga ever followed it, but occasionally traders would follow it to town, bringing exotic wares and news from the other villages that were scattered up and down its length.

They swore it went all the way down to the Heat, the great desert that had consumed much of the world after the Reckoning.

"What's going on down there?" Baia called from below.

Dwyn tried to make sense of it. "There are three wagons coming down the pass. They're loaded up with all sorts of things. They don't look like traders though."

The first of the horse-drawn wagons had just reached the field above the main township. It stopped, and someone hopped off to talk with the villagers who had gathered from the fields.

"We need to get down there," Dwyn said, scrambling down the tree trunk. "Something's happening." Nothing new ever happened in Manicouga, and he wasn't going to miss it.
​
He grabbed his sack and sprinted toward the Old Road, not waiting to see if Declan and Baia followed.​