I'm so delighted to be apart of the BBAW interviews this year. It was a pleasure interviewing manga and YA fiction fan, Diana of Stop, Drop, and Read! Let's see what Diana had to say...

I love the name of your blog, Oriental Desires, and the blog design. What's the story behind the name?
Why thank you Terri! For my domain name, I actually struggled to figure out what I wanted. It was a little hard. Oriental Desires came to me when I thought to try something that would relate to my personal interests. I really admire oriental-related things, be it designs or stories. And there are times where I would see something oriental and desire it, hence my domain name is born. But actually, my blog's name is Stop, Drop, and Read!, which I came up with after. By the time my review blog was well established, orientaldesires.blogspot.com already stuck before I could switch it to stopdropandread.blogspot.com. There are times where I wonder if I should change it but in the end, I'm too used to it and it gives it a flare.

How long have you been blogging and what got you started?
I did a couple of reviews back when I was in elementary for a kid's newspaper called The Brand New Planet. It discontinued awhile but I always wanted to do something like that again. Ever since I discovered review blogs, I thought it would have been a great idea. It also kept track of what I have read and improved my English ever since I started last August.

I see you're a fan of manga which, based on my limited knowledge, seems to be very similar to anime. Can you tell me the difference between the two?
Anime is basically Japanese animation, like Pokemon and Sailor Moon that you see on TV. Manga on the other hand is Japanese graphic novels. Like comics, but instead of Marvel stuff, you get stories of all kinds by Japanese artists. (You would have to read backwards!) Since mangas have become widely popular, you have other Asian countries doing their own comics too. (Korean = manhwa, Chinese = manhua, etc).

Anime and mangas have generated millions of fans across the globe and many have adapted their own drawing style to "manga". It's something that pretty much anyone can enjoy because like stories, mangas' limit is sky high. 

What's your favorite book and who's your favorite author?
I can't really decide on only one favourite book and one favourite author! I have so many! But if I have to say my favourite novel at the moment, then it would be Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert. And favourite author is Maryrose Wood!

Real books or e-books?
I can not stand e-books. Real books for me because they are more authentic and I would be in a better mood to read it. Not stare at a screen, no siree.

Do you read in silence or have some background noise?
Silence for sure. If the book doesn't capture me completely and I'm trying to read it with background noises, I tend to skim over. It gets a little frustrating.

If you had to give up something to support your reading habit, what would it be?
Whoa, that's a little hard when you are asking Miss Indecisive here. Hm, I don't think I will be able to answer this one, sorry!

If you were going to venture outside of reading YA fiction and manga, what genre would you try?
Well, I do read adult novels because I review for the Hachette Book Group. But something I haven't read yet but really want to check out are those Harlequin novels. I want to see how cheesy or possibly how erotic they are haha.


Thanx, Diana!

So, everyone be sure to check out Diana's spot: Stop, Drop, and Read!