HAPPY 2ND BLOGOVERSARY!

As you may have guessed by the title of the post, today is our two year blogoversary! (Welllll, actually it was yesterday)

We've had a couple of exciting posts go up already this month, including our Mid-year Book Freakout (which is kinda like a survey) and a post about our friendship, also known as The Story of Chely. We've got a few more exciting Chely friendship related posts to go up yet so we hope you enjoy those!

Today is our actual two year blogoversary so we though it would be nice to write this little post to celebrate.

We're not the biggest or most popular book blog, in fact we're quite small but we love it this way. We started this blog because we love books and we love talking about books, but even more than that, we love talking about books together- it's our absolute favourite thing to do (followed very closely by food, Kdramas and sleep). We're still incredibly shocked that we made it this way. We never expected to get any readers or meet such wonderful people, whether they be other bloggers or authors. We definitely never thought we'd receive books for review and we consider ourselves very, very lucky to get the chance at all. We want to thank you all for supporting us- you are all wonderful!

We are warning you now...it could get real sappy real quick from now on.

I'm going to add my part now and I expect Chami will probably add her own part in later. As lovely as you all are, I could have never possibly have done this thing without Chami. Chami's been my best friend for like three years now and she's been there for me through some of the suckiest parts of my life. She's listened to me rant about the bitches I had to deal with at school for hours on end and she's listened to me scream in excitement about all sorts of things. She's honestly the craziest person I've ever met in my life, but she is also the very best. There's no one on Earth who could ever be a better friend than Chami has been to me. Oh God, I'm already crying here. Chami, I love you so so much and I'm so proud of you for getting through Year 12 (you're almost at the end!). You are honestly the most brilliant, most lovely, most intelligent, most grammatically incorrect person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and I consider myself very lucky every day to have you in my life. I love you forever and ever Cham-dawg <3 xx Ely

THE STORY OF CHELY

As you may know, it's our two year blogoversary this month and so all month long we're doing awesome things around here. Today I thought I'd talk about the most important thing about this blog.
Chami and I's friendship.

(Also, Hey everyone! It's Chami interrupting Ely's blog posts again.- Chami)

We've been best friends for about three or so years now, which seems like eternity sometimes and a very short time at other points. I can't tell you what made us add each other on Facebook, but we did and I don't regret it (most days). (Hey? What do you mean by that? I AM ALWAYS LOVED - Chami)

I don't think we've ever mentioned this, but I'm about a year and a half older than Chami. (I'm five, and she's three and a half...mentally (No, Physically as well - Chami), that is). I mention this, because it's means we were a year apart in school. We went to the same school for about two years or something, but we never officially met. I have this one memory of Chami being on stage during 'Performing Arts Week' playing some ridiculously annoying (*amazing - Chami) teenager or something (aka, herself).  I'm actually kind of glad we didn't become friends while we were at the same school because I'm not sure the world could have handled it.

Basically, Chami moved schools before we ever got the chance to cause serious damage to the school together. We became friends early in 2011 through a mutual friend and from then on, there was no turning back. We spent the first six months or so of our friendship speaking mainly in LOLs and smiley faces (Oh gosh, don't even remind me -Chami), which make us severely cringe when we read back on our conversations. (Yup, Yup, Yup - Chami)

Most of our friendship occurs online despite the fact we live nine minutes (in every direction) away from each other. The first time we actually got to meet in person (I think) was when we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in cinemas. We had an amazing time, especially Chami who got stuck going down an up escalator for mine and all of our friend's enjoyment. A few months later we got to go and see Maggie Stiefvater together. Chami got way too excited...of course. (I tried to take her hair. In my defence, Ely didn't prevent me - Chami)

We didn't get to see each other for a while after that, as Chami spent my birthday on holidays in China with her family. (How do you even remember this?) We were finally reunited in January of 2012 when we went to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie. We saw each other a few other times between January and about March of 2012 before school got too crazy. During that time, this amazing(ly young) picture of us was taken...

On the 6th of April, 2012, we got Facebook married as it was the popular thing for fifteen year old girls to do in those days (Is that still a thing?) (I don't know. Nope. No clue - Chami) This was probably our craziest, non-book related time. We spent a lot of time talking about cacti and Vampire Diaries and crying about novels we were trying to write but were incredibly terrible. "I don't like this font, I've ruined my novel!" - Chami. (I am OCD about fonts okay?) 
We talked about Russian (?) and the fact the Chami is a midget on Facebook during this time. Sometime during NaNoWriMo, we decided to count our Skype conversations for some reason, we already had 898 pages from less than two years of friendship. We're a little insane...

Then this blog was started on the 12th of July of 2012 and life was never the same again. Our first posts are incredibly embarrassing, in fact they are so bad that they make me want to cry every time I see them. We honestly didn't think this blog would go very far at the beginning and things didn't go wonderfully until December, when Eva Pohler sent us an e-mail asking us to review her books for her. We'd gotten a few review requests before, but Eva was the first one to ever send us paperback copies. (And oh, how we love her - Chami)

By April 2013, the blog had become a normal part of our lives and so it made it into a far number of our Facebook convos. For example, these two lovely examples from Chami: I do think that it was very unwise of you to leave me with the blog. I might go crazy and write Warner posts a couple hundred of times. (It's an obsession.) and So i was just checking out the blog and realised that the Book Discussion had posted and i hadn't finished writing mine, so it was half done. Me: "It's not the 21st-oh f$%#." Can you guess who the crazier of the two of us is? (Points in the direction of Ely - Chami)

My final year of high school kinda took over from April onwards and we didn't get the chance to see each other again before my 18th birthday, which was in October. I can't even begin to describe how much of an amazing time I had. Like I said, we really don't get to see each other very often so when we do...well, we take lots of selfies and hug an awful lot. See this wonderful collage I made for Chami's birthday this year.

(Babe, these pictures are just perfect - Chami)
I've been quoting Chami a lot in this post, so I thought I'd include some of the things I've said to/about Chami lately...
In moments of extreme book depression like this, only your true best friend can understand your pain. Best Friends are when they remember something your grandfather said months ago and use it against you in a normal conversation.
It's always the most awkward moment when people say how beautiful your best friend is, and you just remember that time they dressed up as the personification of Australia. 
HOW DID ALLEGIANT WIN THE GOODREADS AWARD THINGY FOR BEST YA FANTASY?????? AND MORE THAN THAT, HOW DID UNRAVEL ONLY RECEIVE 3,520 VOTES. HOW? ANSWER ME. I'M DYYYYYYYING. (DIES WITH YOU - CHAMI)
Friendship is when you don't even say hello to each other anymore but just start ranting about books straight away. 

Yeah, I'm pretty weird too...

Anyway, I'm sorry this post is really, really long but I thought it would be nice to share this with you guys. The mushy parts will come with the actual 'blogoversary' post. Thank you all for reading this and for sticking by us. Of course, thank you to you Chami for being an amazing and weird best friend/sister, (Thank you for being the world and more. I can never thank you enough for being one of the greatest human beings ever - Chami) I couldn't have done this without you. (Nor I - Chami) Also, don't you dare go adding your own commentary to this post- you go get your own :P ( OMG - OMG I JUST READ THIS AND HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS GOING TO. GIRL. SEE. EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS. THIS DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE YOU CREEP. STILL LOVE YOU. - CHAMI)

GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY: Cecilia Robert

As part of our blogoversary celebrations, today we have the absolutely wonderful Cecilia Robert featuring on our blog! She's also been nicer enough to allow us to do a giveaway of her book, Reaper's Novice. Thank you so much to Cecilia- not only for this post but for supporting us for the last six months or so.


10 Random facts about me by Cecilia Robert.

- I love reading  Zodiac signs –not in an obsessive way—just to learn about character traits. This is much more fun when I am creating two characters whose signs are incompatible s and have to compromise so they can get along without killing each other.
- I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender --The animated series.
- I tend to think I wasn’t born to drive anything on wheels (Other than a bicycle). The Last time I took driving classes, I lasted a week. By the end of it, I almost suffered a nervous breakdown. Every time I drove too close to the pedestrian walk, or edged closer to the Zebra crossing. I’d clutch the wheel so hard my knuckles hurt.
- I can knit/crochet while watching the TV.
- I'm a slow reader. It takes me approximately one week to finish a book.
- I'd rather use the escalators than climb the stairs
- I prefer spicy foods over chocolate
- I'm 5'3, and somehow most of my characters end up having the same height or shorter, in my stories.
- I speak German and Swahili fluently.
- When I was young, I wanted to work as a flight attendant. Now I’m Acrophobic and can’t stand the thought of  having more than five feet between the ground and my feet.

About the author
Cecilia Robert lives in Vienna with her two children, has an incurable obsession with books, anything romantic, and medieval architecture. When not working in her full time job, catching up with her two children, writing or reading, she can be found, daydreaming about her next hero in a story who'll make her swoon with just a look (or a word).
Links:
Blog: http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com

About the book: Reaper's Novice (Soul Collector #1)

17- year- old Ana Maria Tei’s life has always been perfect: loving parents, good grades, and a future so bright it outshone the sun. But now words like “separation” and “divorce” are sending her world plummeting to hell. Determined to keep her family intact, Ana plans a family-bonding trip from Vienna to Tuscany. Except fate has other plans. Ana’s parents and siblings are killed in a car accident on their way to pick Ana up from school.

Enter Grim, aka Ernest. He promises to relinquish the four souls if Ana agrees to trade her soul for theirs and serve a lifetime as his novice. In order for Ana to graduate from her Reaper’s Novice station to a Soul Collector graduate, Grim puts her to test. To her horror, she finds out becoming a Reaper’s Novice didn’t happen by chance. It was preordained, and she is forced to make a choice: save her family’s souls or come to terms with who she really is and complete the task set for her.

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GUEST POST: Leti Del Mar

As part of our one year blogovearsary celebrations, today we have a guest post from the lovely Leti Del Mar. Leti has been featured a few times on ABookSoFathomless previously, especially within the last month due to the release of her new YA novel Land of the Unaltered. We hope you enjoy Leti's guest post and that you make sure to check out her contact details at the bottom of this post! Now, over to Leti...

Are you a Blogger or an Author?
 

If someone had asked me that question two years ago, I would have said “Author” without any hesitation.  Today, well I’m not so sure.  When I began self-publishing my work, everyone said I needed a blog.  So I dove right on in and started blogging.  I had a loose idea that I wanted to blog about writing, but that was pretty much it.  

Over the last year my blog has evolved and my passion for blogging has grown.  I look forward to sitting down to write a blog post just as much as I enjoy working on my novels.  Why the shift?

1.  I refocused the purpose of my blog.  Instead of my blog being just about writing, I have transformed it into a site to help and promote other Indie Authors.  This has shaped the kinds of posts I write and I now spend a significant amount of time researching the topics I write about to make sure that I present worthwhile content.

2. I have made meaningful connections with other bloggers.  Through blog hops I’ve gained quite a following, but I try to visit and comment on the blogs I follow.  This helps me to feel like I’m doing more than shouting on a soap box.  I’m exchanging ideas with friends.

3. I try to give even more than I get.  I am always surprised by how generous the blogging community has been toward me and I try to pay it forward.  Last April, I started an Indie Author Interview feature on my blog and within a few weeks, I was booked solid for a year.  I love that I can help promote others and I have made a point of having helpful resources for writers on my blog.

4.  I added book reviews to my blog.  As an author, I know just how important reviews can be.  So when I read a book for pleasure, I always make sure to write a review.  Then I started posting these reviews on my blog.  I changed up how my blog handles these reviews and this feature has become quite popular.  Lately most of the books I read are ARCs given to me by authors or free copies from Net Galley.  It has been great.  I mean who doesn’t love a free book?

So am I an author or a blogger?   I wouldn’t have been a blogger if I wasn’t an author first, but I can proudly claim, “I am a blogger!”

Leti's Contact Links:

Twitter

Facebook

Google+

LinkedIn

Mailing List

You can find Leti's brand new YA novel, Land of the Unaltered, at:

Amazon

Smashwords

Goodreads

Barnes & Noble 

GIVEAWAY: Mindy Hardwick books

As part of our one year blogoversary celebrations, today we are giving you the chance to win two e-books from author Mindy Hardwick. The two books available are Weaving Magic and Stained Glass Summer and you will have until the 31st of July to enter for your chance to win. The giveaway is open internationally.


Weaving Magic by Mindy Hardwick
He loves magic. She loves romance. But the biggest illusion is the one Shantel and Christopher perform together. Sixteen-year-old Christopher fights to stay sober while fifteen-year-old Shantel struggles in the aftermath of her mother’s death and seeks refuge in a fantasy world. But the unacknowledged roots of their problems refuse to stay buried and soon, the two are headed toward a deadly magic trick. Can Shantel and Christopher move beyond magical illusions to find love?
Goodreads 
Our review 

Stained Glass Summer by Mindy Hardwick
Twelve-year-old Jasmine adores her photographer Father and wants to be an artist just like him. But when Dad abandons the family, Jasmine is sent to spend the summer with her Uncle on a Pacific Northwest Island. Soon, Jasmine is learning stained glass from island glass artist, Opal, and thinking she might just be developing a crush on Island boy, Cole. But, it’s not until Jasmine finds herself mentoring another young artist that she can truly let go of her Father and call herself an artist by her own terms.
Goodreads


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UPDATE: The wonderful, wonderful month of July

July is a very special month for Chami and I. You see, July 2012 was the month that we created A Book So Fathomless. That's right, this month is our one year blogoversary and to celebrate we've organised a couple of really exciting things with the lovely people we've met in the last year. Everything is going to kept secret until this Saturday- the 6th, when things are really going to kick off! So make sure you come back and check everything out soon!

Love,

Ely and Chami xxx