One of the best parts about running this blog is having the ability to meet some really cool people, and some of the coolest people that I have met have led me to really cool blogs. I’ve said it before, no one’s blog is 100% original but everyone’s voices are different so there are blogs that I love to read because I love the writer, and I love the passion that they show for what they are writing. They are fun and interesting to read and they inspire me to get better and better in my blog.

So I decided to do a feature (inspired by Megan at the Nerdy Girlie’s Geek Girls Gab), where I profile the bloggers that I love. Not only do I get to find out more about them, but I also get to share them with you guys! Most of the bloggers that I follow are like me, nerd girls, fan girls and they enjoy the same things as me, and you! Every blogger that I profile is one that is super important to me and I urge you to check them out!

If you are interested in being featured on the Blogger Spotlight, feel free to contact me, please! I would love to hear from you, to feature you on the blog and to help spread the word about it!

*      *      *     *      *      *

Today’s blogger is Shaina from The Urge to Write 

You can find her:

Her Blog

Her Twitter 

Sara: Tell me a Little Bit About Yourself:

Shaina: I’m a PhD student and love science, but my other passion is for fiction writing! I always feel a little silly saying this, but it’s still my dream to become an author one day! I also love reading and dancing. Two of my all-time favorite book series include Harry Potter (duh) and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, which I talk about to death on my blog. I also get really obsessive about my TV shows -right now, that would be The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon A Time. I’m also a HUGE sci-fi nerd…especially Star Trek and Stargate SG-1.

Sara: Tell me about your blog: 

Shaina: I just realized that my blog’s one-year “birthday” is coming up in June!!! I started The Urge to Write as a creative outlet and originally as a way to put my fiction writing out there. I’ve posted some short fan fiction as well as chapters from the book I wrote this year (nothing too polished, just drafts). But my blog has become my place where I talk about all of my obsessions -books, TV shows, music, etc -and WordPress has turned out to be a great way to connect with fellow bloggers, aspiring authors and simply others who enjoy the same things as I do!

Sara: What inspired you to start your blog?

Shaina: I guess I was feeling frustrated as a writer. I wanted to get my work out there some way. When you’re a musician, for instance, you get to play in front of people, and people usually know you’re a musician -but I feel like if you enjoy writing, it’s easy for no one to actually know you have this secret passion.

Sara: What is your favorite nerd memory?

Shaina: When my sorority sisters and I took up several rows in an on-campus auditorium to watch J. J. Abram’s first Star Trek installment (it was the free movie that night). I went to a super nerdy school for undergrad, it was awesome.

Sara: What are you most looking forward to, as far as new books/movies/etc?

Shaina: The sequel to Karen Marie Moning’s Iced, called Burned, is coming out I think in 2014, but her web site says the release date is TBD…BUT I’M SO EXCITED!!!! I cannot wait. This trilogy takes place in the world she created in the Fever series but focuses on a new character -Dani O’Malley, this spunky red-haired teenager who runs around Dublin kicking Fae (as in Fairies, from Irish folklore) ass. (I highly recommend all of Ms. Moning’s books, but keep in mind, even though Dani’s young, they’re not young adult books. They are gritty and a little controversial.)

Sara: As my blog is mostly about books and reading, what are some of your favorite books or authors to read? 

Shaina: As I said, J. K. Rowling and Karen Marie Moning -also L. J. Smith (she wrote the original Vampire Diaries books), Orson Scott Card, J. R. R. Tolkein. More recently Kelley Armstrong.

Sara: What are some of your favorite blogs to follow? 

Shaina: WhatANerdGirlSays! Also the blogs of some other aspiring and self-published authors: Inside the Mind of a Fantasy Writer, Emily Guido, Paula Acton

Sara: Who is your fictional crush (what, we’re nerd girls, we all have one!)

Through the years I have had so many of these, haha…one of my old favs being Sirius Black…more recently, though, the dark, brooding yet vulnerable Damon Salvatore ;)

*     *     *     *     *

I hope you all enjoyed learning about Shaina and will check out her blog at The Urge to Write!

And don’t forget to check out the last featured blogger, Sylvia from FanGirlFeeels!

You can also check out other featured bloggers here.

And I’ll see you soon for the Tuesday Top Ten!