THE SMASHTASTIC TEAM

MEET SMASH

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Hi! I’m Ash, aka Smash. Smashley has been a life-long nickname, and thanks to a good friend, Smash Attack became my online identity. I’m a 30-something social worker who lives in a big city in the South with her adorable hubby and 3 furbabies.

• Social Worker: After years and years of trying to find my way, I graduated in 2011 with my Master’s in Social Work. I’m interested in Child Welfare (adoption, teen pregnancy prevention/assistance, girl empowerment), Domestic Violence prevention/assistance, Refugee assistance, Macro-level advocacy – all over the board! I have experience working with children and adolescents in schools and homes, helping to address the environmental or mental health issues that are holding these children back. In the future, I hope to be work with other populations, such as refugees or pregnant teens. You can find out all about where my passion came from here and here.
  • I am currently working for a national non-profit agency that has an evidenced-based program that addresses the high school dropout epidemic. I am SO EXCITED to be part of this community-wide effort.
• Wife of a Future Doctor: My husband, Todd, and I were married in 2008. He was accepted into an excellent medical school and decided to pursue psychiatry. He graduated 2012 and he is now continuing his training in one of the best residency programs for his field. I am UBER proud of him. He is my best friend, my supporter, my intelligent, sexy Irish man.

• Self-proclaimed Geek: I’ve been a geek for many years and I love my geeky husband. I’m a technology lover but alas, no money for a lot of the cool items I’d love to own! I was once into Anime/Manga BIG TIME and did the convention/cosplay route. I guess I’ve grown up some but I still indulge in my ultimate geeky love from time to time: VIDEO GAMES! My favorite video game of all time is Super Metroid, and I love the entire series. I am also a major fan of Just Dance for the Wii! I rarely have time to play video games these days, but they are there, waiting for me to pick them up and be a kid for a day.
• Book-a-holic: As you guessed, books pretty much rule my life. My favorite genres are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult, Angel Mythology, Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Zombie Fiction and Tough Issue books. 

• Lover of all things that go bump in the night: This goes along with my book addiction. I love ALL supernatural/paranormal fiction: Vampires, Weres, Fae, Bean Sidhe, Demons, Elves, Pixies, Fairies, Ghouls, Ghosts – the list goes on! This translates to film, as well. I LOVE HORROR AND FANTASY MOVIES/TV SHOWS!
• Scrapbooking fiend: Why does this hobby have to be so expensive? I do love it so, and wish I had more time to put into it. Books and this blog have really taken over my time to scrapbook! I am now enjoying Project Life when I have a moment to spare. It’s so much easier and keeps crafting streamlined.
• Owls: My scrapbooking love led to my love of OWLS. If you couldn’t tell that I adore anything owl, then you just haven’t been paying attention.
• Pets: I can’t leave out my fur babies!

Meet Pokey

Lucky

and Kyo

MEET MEL

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My name is Mel, I’m 36 and obsessed with all things paranormal.  If it has fur, fangs, wings, horns, and/or deals in magic I’m all over it.  I’m a sarcastic, coffee addicted loner with an out of control sweet tooth, book addiction and a wicked case of GMS.  Though I’ve been known to read anything from horror to the back of a cereal box my preferred genres are PNR, UF and some YA.  I live in Kentucky with my three fur babies and like Rory Gilmore I carry a book with me everywhere I go.  I work for an accountant to pay the bills; I read to stay sane.  When the world gets me down there’s nothing better than an escape into a fantastical world where the impossible is possible. Reading is one of my biggest passions in life and I love reviewing and discussing them almost as much as I enjoy reading them.  I have been known to chat people up at the bookstore and pimp out authors and/or books that I love.  Getting the opportunity to review books and hopefully turning new people on to those book will be very rewarding for me.  Thank you, Ash, for letting me pimp books on your website.

• If you were stranded on a desert island (with electricity?) what 3 things could you not live without?

Being on a desert island with electricity really wouldn’t be much different than my everyday life.  Well other than the fact that it would be a nice, quite vacation from my stressful life and have a tropic breeze instead of the miserable weather we have here in Central Kentucky.  Things I can’t live without regardless of my locale?  My Nook Color, my coffee maker and coffee.  I’m a sugar addict but you gotta have priorities right?  I could deal with black coffee if I had to.

• What book would you absolutely have to have with you, and why?

Jeaniene Frost’s First Drop of Crimson. Jeaniene is one of my favorite authors and while I love the entire Night Huntress/Night Huntress World series, First Drop of Crimson just touches me in a way that other books haven’t and it’s my go to book if I’m depressed and want to feel better.  It gives me hope that someday I will find a man who will accept me for who and what I am and never be jealous of the fact that a large portion of my heart will always belong to the man I lost to cancer two years ago.

• What 5 words would you use to describe yourself?

Unique, loner, snarky, stubborn, geeky

MEET AUDREY

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Oddmonster lives in a cottage in the forests of Vermont, with six dogs, a back-talking rabbit and a superhero. A wrangler of wild coffees, bike healer and all-around miscreant, Oddmonster reads too much because it keeps her out of trouble. Mostly. Her favorite authors this morning are Michael McDowell, Gloria White and Stuart McBride, but it’s only 10am, so that could change at any moment. In strict contravenance of Smash Attack policy, she has a collection of owl figurines whose heads all come off. I’d like to write for Smash Reads because — and bear with my 70s, fern and shag carpet lingo here — but the energy on the site is really welcoming and cheery, and I’d like to hang out with other people who like to bounce around about books and overuse the mightily maligned exclamation point. Also, if Smash is doing zombie books, that means I don’t have to. SUPER WIN GO TIME.

• If you were stranded on a desert island (with electricity?) what 3 things could you not live without?

Food, water and a gassed-up powerboat to conduct high-speed raids on neighboring islands.

• What book would you absolutely have to have with you, and why?

 Powerboat Care and Repair: How to Keep Your Outboard, Sterndrive or Gas-Inboard Alive and Well, by Allen Berrien

• What 5 words would you use to describe yourself?

“Those children read too much.” (Wait! I can explain: it’s a quote from the fantastic Love in a Cold Climate, by Nancy Mitford, where the matriarch of the semi-autobiographical Mitfords is trying to explain to other people why her children are pounding out lurid newspaper titles on the stairs as they’re sent to bed. Man’s. Long. A-go-ny. (etc))

Meet Jen D.

Former Reviewer

(who I hope stops by for a guest review or 8!)

Dearest Most Devoted Booklovers!

My name is Cody and I’m a 25 year old book addict.  I can often be found curled up in a corner sniffing my latest book I purchased with the change I made from shaking a coffee cup on the nearest street corner.  When I’m not busy picturing myself battling demons, learning from wizards, being bitten by vamps and wolvies, and kickin’ it with angels, I’m usually checking Twitter like a starved crack whore frequently, working hard on The Boyish Booklover, or slapping some random colors on a canvas and calling it art. Reading has been something I’ve loved doing since I was about six or seven.  When other kids struggled to read ten picture books in a week, I was plowing through thirty of them.  I loved reading everything from Roald Dhal and Beverly Cleary, and worked my way up to reading J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis.  I will read almost anything as long as it grabs my attention within the first few chapters, but I love reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Distopia, Paranormal Romance, Horror, YA and occasionally I’ll slip in a Young Reader book as well.  I created The Boyish Booklover as a place to talk about the books I read, post reviews, and eventually make new friends and find more books to read. I’ve been drawing since I was little and am in process of working toward my Bachelor’s degree in Illustration so that one day I can work my fingers down to bloody little stubs as a concept artist on movie and television set designs, or even as a freelance artist.  I draw and paint as many things as I can manage to make look like it’s not drawn by a three year old, and I do it often.  I’ve started writing a book (my first one) that is definitely going to be dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi and a main character who will hopefully be believably gay.

    
I live with my boyfriend, Brendon, and our one and a half year-old dog, Sophie.  Not positive on what breed she is, but we assume a schnauzer made it with a wiener dog.  Either way, she’s the most f#@%!ng adorable dog ever, and my baby.  Literally.  I treat her like she’s my child. I’m admittedly a complete dork.  I watch SyFy, cartoons, kids shows, and I love eating Lucky Charms, Trix, and Fruity Pebbles.  I have the lamest humor of all times and often find myself laughing alone at my own jokes.  I talk to myself, and have conversations with my dog **tells the voices to shut up**.  I’ve read the Zombie Survival Guide, and already have my small group planned out for when the Zombie apocalypse happens.  All I need now is a machete… and a tourniquet. I stumbled upon Smash Attack Reads! during one of my many episodes of scanning the blogosphere.  I instantly fell in love with Smash’s humor, charm, and the fact that this chick liked reading horror as well.  When Smash asked for help with reviews on her blog, I jumped at the chance to be a part of something awesome and big!  Smash Attack Reads! is getting ready to blow up into something amazing and super fun!  I hope you all are as excited as I am!

• If you were stranded on a desert island (with electricity?) what 3 things could you not live without?

1. My iPhone (or iPod at the least)
2. An endless supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste
3. A pad of paper and pencil (for drawing and writing)

• What book would you absolutely have to have with you, and why?

Probably J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings because the imagery is so vivid and entertaining and the plot is incredible.

• What 5 words would you use to describe yourself?

1. Amahzing!
2. Book-nerd
3. Creative
4. Genuine (I wanted to put witty, but I’m positive there are people FAR more witty than I)
5. Friendly – so feel free to contact me about ANYTHING!

Get Yo’ Drink On! (Doesn’t necessarily have to be alcoholic in nature)

Email:  theboyishbooklover@gmail.com
Twitter:  @CodyCalahan
Blog:  The Boyish Booklover