Vlog: Tips and Advice for New Bloggers!

May 6, 2014May 6, 2014Leave a comment

I’ve been blogging for What A Nerd Girl Says for nearly TWO years now, sildenafil and I absolutely love it, more about and I love how much my life has changed since starting it. I love the people that I’ve met, and the things I’ve gotten to do, and I love writing for it.

I got a ton of feedback from you guys, all the time, and I LOVE hearing from you and one thing that I get a lot is “I’m starting my own blog; do you have advice?”

And you know, I always do the best that I can to give the best advice that I can. I have been doing this for two years but I don’t know everything and I’m learning every day how to be a better blogger and to have more and more fun with it.

So I decided to reach out to my blogger friends, and get some advice from them to share with you guys! It turned into an awesome vlog, which you can check out here:

There is a TON of great advice in this vlog, if I do say so myself, but there was also a ton of advice from these bloggers that I could not fit into the vlog so I wanted to share it below.

ADVICE and TIPS!

“Don’t be afraid to be controversial. Show up. Make your site look good. Keep your brand consistent.”

–Jackie, Seeking Bazinga

“Be serious. Don’t do it for the wrong reasons (like for perks or special admittance to events) – it shows in your work. If you genuinely love it, you’ll want it to be great, and it will be better for it.”

“Seek out other bloggers who share interests and work together.”

–Amber, Grown Up Fan Girl

“Be honest about what you write/blog about. Be true to yourself and your love for it. Be yourself. Don’t be afraid about what others will say.”

“It’s not a competition! Just do what you love! Write what you love! Share what you love! Everyone else is doing it…so don’t be afraid to share as well. Blogging is supposed to be fun where people can share their thoughts and feelings about whatever they want to share!”

–Jasmine, Movies Shows and Books

“Take notes because sometimes you have the olds and forget what you wanted to write about in your review.”

–Alethea, Read Now, Sleep Later

(This is one that I’m DEFINITELY going to start doing…)

“Patience. I’m still new to the whole blogging thing and I love it. As a starter things get slow but honestly just wait you’ll get it.”

–Kristen, Recently Acquired Obsessions

“I’ve learned if you are blogging for a particular fandom, competition can fester even if you don’t mean for it to. Fight against the urge to fall into the trap of trying to beat people, as hard as that can sometimes be. There is always someone who will feel threatened when you gain followers and they don’t. Just be true to the followers you have. Don’t be afraid to share your own personality. You can be consistent, but don’t forget to be real and to be nice. The golden rule should apply.”

–Amber, The Mortal Institute

“There will always be petty drama. I don’t care what bloggers you deal with. Just ignore it, blow it off. It’s never going away. My advice; never respond to it nor let it show that it bothers you. If you do that the you’ve let them win and you’ll forever be miserable. Just do you and be you and eff everything else.

That doesn’t mean you can’t make friends. I’ve met 3 of my closest besties from this world but it’s not often that happens or that jealousy will get the best of them. Especially if you come up with a really stellar feature to do. It’ll kill them that they didn’t think of it first and some may even try to sabotage you and your blogging rep. The blogging world is very, very similar to high school drama which is crazy considering a lot of bloggers are at least in the late 20’s.

So. Have fun with it, don’t let anyone bring you down and you’re golden.”

–Amy, Lady Reader

“Seeing as I’m still new to the whole blogging thing I’d just say do it because you love it. If you love books so much and fangirl over characters then put those feelings out there, if you love a certain celebrity, then do a whole post about them. Don’t be afraid to show the real you.

Oh and the followers will come haha. Just because you only have 60 followers (me) and other people have love thousands, don’t let that put you off. Like everyone has been saying; it’s not a competition. It’ll soon lift off. Even if you don’t have a lot of followers, it doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. Be proud of it. Love it. Talk to your blog like you would talk to a friend.”

–Hayley, Geek and Book Nerd Site

“Do you. Love what you do. Do what you love because it’s what you truly enjoy and don’t do it for the recognition. There will always be people with more connections, even people who have less traffic will sometimes get better perks and it may feel sh*tty for a bit. Just…you have to have that passion for what you’re actually doing on your site. The perks are few and far between and you have to view them as a present. A thank you for all your work. The studios don’t owe you anything and as soon as you seem entitled to them, you’re done. Be kind, to a point. Be a hardass when protecting your reputation and brand – this is a must no matter how meek and kind you want to be (I feel like I am the epitome of meek and kind, this was a learning experience). If you view the perks as the be all end all you will go crazy and destroy your mental health (I’m saying this from experience).”

–Kimmy, Page to Premiere

“Do it because you love it. Don’t ever do it because you think it’ll get you perks. That’s completely the wrong reason to have a blog. Work hard, have a passion for it, love it, get involved. When you show how much you love it and how much you love the community that comes with it, the rest falls into place. The rest is just an added bonus to the fun that you have just writing your blog. I don’t get paid to run my blog, and yet I spend a TON of time, and money and effort on it. Why? Because I genuinely enjoy doing it. I enjoy the community that I’m a part of because of it, and I enjoy meeting people who are like me. I enjoy writing it, and I enjoy interacting with anyone who comes my way. The perks that came are just an added bonus and they are still so far and few between. Start a blog because you are passionate about something and you want to share that passion with others.”

–Sara, What A Nerd Girl Says

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I hope you enjoyed watching the vlog and reading all of the fantastic and amazing advice from all these wonderful bloggers. I hope you’re able to check out each and every single one of them because they are all TRULY awesome!

And if you have a site, please definitely share in the comments because I would love to check it out!

And a HUGE good luck to all of you who hope to start one. I hope that we didn’t scare you off (haha!) and that you’ll be writing alongside us VERY soon!

Happy Blogging!

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Ontario Teen Book Fest-Author Spotlight on Jessica Brody

May 2, 2014April 30, 20141 Comment

I am so so so incredibly excited to be kicking off the official Ontario Teen Book Fest blog tour! The Ontario Teen Book Fest is SUCH an important event to me, buy and I’m happy to be putting this tour to bring as much attention to the event possible.

Last year’s event brought so many amazing authors into my life. I went to the event, side effects only having been familiar with Morgan Matson, Jessica Brody, Marie Lu, and Stephen Chbosky. I left the Fest with a gigantic bag stuffed full with books and friendships with authors like Ann Stampler and Leigh Bardugo and the duo of Lex Thomas and ANDREW SMITH and Gretchen McNeil and Carrie Arcos and Jennifer Bosworth. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to experience that again!

But first, the blog tour!

When: May 17th, 9 am to 5 pm

Where: Colony High School
3850 E. Riverside Drive
Ontario, CA 91761

This event is a completely free and un-ticketed event! Priority seating WILL be given to teens, but come one, come all! There will also be giveaways and raffles at the Fest, also free!

You can visit the website, to see the full schedule of the day by visiting the official Ontario Teen Book Fest website.

Books WILL be available for purchase at the event, available from Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair Company :) They are an amazing company so definitely bring your books from home, but try and support Mrs. Nelson’s by purchasing a book!

Its going to be an incredible event and I’m honestly counting down the days! I hope you can come along for the ride, in the days leading up to the event. I’ve got some great bloggers helping me out to profile these amazing authors. Check out the full blog tour here!

May 2nd: Spotlight on Jessica Brody — What A Nerd Girl Says
May 3rd: Spotlight on Elana K. Arnold — Nite Lite Book Reviews
May 4th: Spotlight on Lauren Miller — A Bookish Escape
May 5th: Spotlight on Livia Blackburne — The Thousand Lives
May 6th: Spotlight on Lauren Kate — She Reads She Blogs
May 7th: Spotlight on Katie Alender — Movies, Shows and Books
May 8th: Spotlight on Catherine Linka — Fangirl Feeels
May 9th: Spotlight on Sarah Skilton — Read Now Sleep Later
May 10th: Spotlight on Lissa Price — Recently Acquired Obsessions
May 11th: Spotlight on Jessi Kirby — What A Nerd Girl Says
May 12th: Spotlight on Katherine Ewell — iFandoms Collide
May 13th: Spotlight on Mary Pearson — The Windy Pages
May 14th: Spotlight on John Corey Whaley — Read Now Sleep Later
May 15th: Spotlight on Robin Benway — Adventures of a Book Junkie
May 16th: Spotlight on Ava Dellaira — Fangirl Feeels

So today’s kick off spotlight of the tour is on the one and only:

Jessica Brody!

Jessica Brody is the author of several adult and young adult novels including The Fidelity Files, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, My Life Undecided and her young adult science fiction trilogy, Unremembered, Unforgotten and the yet to be released, Unchanged. Unremembered has just recently been optioned for film by Reliance Entertainment and Kintop Pictures. Her books can be found not only here in the U.S. but also in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, China, Russia, Brazil and more! She currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Colorado. You can find her at:

Her Website / Her Facebook / Her GoodReads / Her Twitter / Her Instagram / Her Tumblr / Her YouTube

Her Books

In all honestly, she has kind of a lot of books and you should definitely check her out at the many links above so that you can read them ALL. For this, I’m just going to profile two.

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job…but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never had to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand-new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Boulevard either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In Jessica Brody’s hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have fifty-two reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

Interview!

Nerd Girl: Okay, first off: tell us, how absolutely excited are you for the Unremembered movie, and what do you hope they capture from the book to the screen:

Jessica: GAH! I’m SO super excited for this movie! My books always feel like movies when I’m writing them and when they’re developing in my head so this is a huge dream come true for me! I have full faith in these producers to adapt the book to the big screen. But one thing I really hope they’re able to capture is the waging war between nature and science that runs through all three books of the trilogy. What really makes us human? And when science starts messing with human nature (as it often does even today!), what are the consequences? Does it make us any less human? These are the questions I sought to answer in the book and I hope they translate to the screen as well.

Nerd Girl: Sera is an extraordinary main character and, because of that, sometimes it might be hard to remember that she is a teenager. However, she goes through very “teenage” things like first love and discovery. Was it important to you to make sure she experienced that to make her familiar to the reader?

Jessica: Well, thank you so much for saying so!

At first, I thought it would be difficult to make Seraphina relatable. Being that she’s a genetically modified super human with no memories (not your every day teen to say the least!) But as I started to write the book, it became apparent that Seraphina went through the same struggles as all my other teen contemporary characters. Like most young people, she’s trying to figure out who she is, how she fits into her world, who to trust, what she wants her legacy to be. These similarities surprised me as I wrote but now that I look back, it makes me so much sense. Being a teen is being a teen. Regardless of how beautiful you are, how fast you can run, how much you remember. It’s a transitional period in your life. A time of discovery. And it was a discovery process for me to realize this but in the end, I’m happy with the message that’s portrayed in the book.

Nerd Girl: Both Unremembered and Unforgotten have cliffhangers that make any reader want to throw their book across the room. What is the trick to creating a really good cliffhanger?

Jessica: I think the trick to ending any book with a cliffhanger is making sure you wrap up all the BIG loose ends of the current story. There’s a difference between making the reader want to know what happens next and completely frustrating the reader because you, the author, didn’t do your job and finish the story. In both Unremembered and Unforgotten, I was very careful to make sure the major conflicts and storylines were resolved. THEN and only then, did I introduce the next major conflict to come in the form of a cliffhanger.

Nerd Girl: You can switch places with one person for a day: who would you pick and why?

Jessica: Taylor Swift. I’m such a nerd fan of hers! I just think she’s so dang adorable and talented. I would love to be in her shoes for a day. I’m sure it’s not all it’s cracked up to be (a theme I plan to explore in a future book one day), but it’s still something I’d love to experience.

Nerd Girl: In Unforgotten, the characters bounce back and forth between various time periods. What is the hardest part about writing a book in different time periods?

Jessica: Probably the research. In Unforgotten, the book takes place in three time periods: 1609, 2032, and 2115. These are all very different settings. And two of them haven’t even happened yet. So after I finished researching life in the 17th century, I would then have to crack open a book about what we can expect in the future. It was like changing college majors in the middle of the semester, from a history major to some kind of speculative technology major!

Nerd Girl: Have you ever had a ‘fangirl moment’ and who was it with?

Jessica: I had a major fangirl moment the first time I read Rainbow Rowell. I had just read Eleanor and Park and I went to one of her signings in LA. I waited until her long line of fans had died down before getting my book signed and introducing myself. We spoke for a little while and she asked what I had written. Then she asked if they carried it in the store. They did. And she actually BOUGHT Unremembered while I stood there and watched. And she asked me to sign it. I was so speechless and beside myself. To this day, I can’t believe Rainbow bought my book! GAH!

Nerd Girl: Because this is for the Ontario Teen Book Fest, all about the teens, what is your favorite memories from when you were a teen?

Jessica: Okay, this is super JUVENILE, but one of my favorite moments was when I was thirteen and the guy I’d been crushing on for weeks asked my best friend if she thought I would go out with him, if he asked me. I still remember the giddiness I felt when she passed on the message. The whole delivery was SO middle school but I don’t care. I was ecstatic!

Nerd Girl: Last question: who is your fictional crush?

Jessica: Gosh, it changes by the day. Today, I’ll go with Sky from LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD. I just read it and it was amazing! I’m excited to meet the author, Ava Dellaira, at the festival this month!

Giveaway!

Oh yes! There is a giveaway! With three prizes. It starts today, and ends May 20th, three days after the actual fest.

The prizes include:

Grand Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Poster Signed by All Attending Authors and a Swag Pack!

Of course, its not signed yet but it will be!

First Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Signed by All Attending Authors!

Second Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Shirt Signed by All Attending Authors!

The shirt will also be signed at the Fest as well!

And its easy to enter, in the rafflecopter below! Sorry, no international this time around!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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L.A. Times Festival of Books 2014: Day One and Day Two Recap Vlogs!

April 15, 20141 Comment

Guys, doctor I just had SUCH an amazing weekend. This weekend was the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at U.S.C., where the entire weekend is dedicated to the amazing culture of reading. It’s one of my favorite weekends of this year, and this year was no disappointment.

There was a team of five us: me, Sylvia from Fangirl Feeels, our friends Cassandra and Alexandra and my sister, Jessica. We had our game plans, and despite minor hiccups along the way, we managed to do everything that we wanted to do.

I met (and met again, for some) amazing authors this weekend: John Green (OHMYGOD), Rainbow Rowell, Lauren Oliver, Marissa Meyer, Sarah J Maas, Robin Benway, Veronica Roth, Lauren Myracle, Leigh Bardugo, Deb Caletti, Kiersten White, Andrew Smith and Stephanie Perkins.

But I won’t keep you from seeing my awesome vlogs. I vlogged while at the Fest so you get some pretty awkward and hilarious moments from me, a short video of my conversation with John Green and…lots of awkwardness haha.

Check it out!

Day One!

Day Two!

Yay! I hope you enjoyed seeing the awesomeness that was my weekend!

I managed to grab extra copies of Cinder, Anna and the French Kiss and Fangirl for a giveaway. There will NOT be a giveaway for the month of April (as of now), but there is a HUGE giveaway coming for my Blog Birthday in May so keep an eye out to see how you can get your hands on these books!

Oh! And don’t forget you can check out ALL the pictures on the What A Nerd Girl Says Facebook page here!

Happy Reading Everyone!

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Tuesday Top Ten-Best Nerdy Gifts for the Holidays!

December 10, 2013December 9, 20132 Comments

Christmas is coming! Its only a few weeks away, dosage and I know what you’re thinking? What do I get for that favorite fangirl/fanboy in your life?

Now, buy information pills there are places like Barnes and Noble and Amazon and all those places that can provide awesome gifts for any fangirl or fanboy, see definitely. I am definitely happy every year that I get a B&N gift card from my boyfriend’s parents. Guaranteed. Every year. But with the fandom life growing all the time, there are so many more options. And I’d like to share some of the cool gifts you can get for a fangirl/boy, or that you can even ask for yourself, that are a little more off the beaten track. Some of these websites are smaller, some of these are handmade, and they are all awesome.

These are in NO particular order at all. These are all awesome things you can get

10. Nerd Shirts on Day of the Shirt

There’s nothing like wearing a tshirt that represents your favorite fandoms. But its even better when its a shirt that not as many people have. Day of the Shirt is a website where you can visit more than a couple dozen different t-shirt websites, all of them who sell really awesome fandom t-shirts. Most of them are fairly cheap (think 10-12 bucks and a couple bucks shipping). The best part of it is that most of the shirts are done by independent artists and are only available for purchase for 24-48 hours, making them limited, and sometimes, even a bit rare. I have a purple “Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes” shirt that I got off of one of the websites and I get tons of compliments on and I’ve never seen it go up again. You can find all kinds of cool shirts for any fan girl or boy on your list.

9. Bags, Scarfs and More at Bittersweet Stories Designs

I own TWO bags from these lovely ladies. Natasha and Delilah are the dynamic duo behind the super awesome Bittersweet Designs. They are most known for their Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices fabric designs but they also have Vampire Academy and Divergent. They can make you custom bags and purses, scarfs, headbands, and so many other super cute things. I’ve bought two different bags from them. I have a purse, and a laptop bag and I love both of them so much. They design each one to YOUR preference, and send your proofs, and really take the time to make sure that you’re getting what YOU want. Each one is handmade individually and they’re super sturdy and just beautiful to look at it. I’ve gotten SO many compliments on my bags. Definitely check it out!

All pictures copyright Bittersweet Stories Designs.

8. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and More at The Noble Collection

I wish I could buy EVERY SINGLE THING on the Noble Collection but alas, I cannot. But that shouldn’t stop you from diving in and buying some fan collectibles for your friends! This is the place to get prop replicas. The prices can be a little bit on the heftier side BUT these are the legit prop replicas and they’re made solid. I’ve bought stuff on here, and they last so well. They have wands, and such from Harry Potter, chess sets (that are gorgeous!), and so many more things. You can have Bilbo’s sword or Batman cufflinks, or replica dragons from the Game of Thrones. Literally, there is a ton of really cool, fantastic replicas that I wish I could get my hands on. The Noble Collection makes really awesome things and if you have a Potter, Game of Thrones, Batman, LoTR, The Hobbit fans in your life, you’ll want to check out this website!

All pictures copyrighted to the Noble Collection.

7. Harry Potter Themed Candy at Sugardukes Sweetshop

I am lucky enough to know the brains and creativity behind this one :) Which means I’ve had the opportunity to try a lot of the delicious Harry Potter themed candy that she has created. Some of the delicious things I’ve enjoyed are Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, Fever Fudge, and more. Her candy is SO delicious. While writing this, I discovered that her shop is closed for the holidays, unfortunately, but I’m keeping her on the list because her candy is delicious and I hope you’re inspired to visit her shop when she gets back on January 1st. She also makes this dill pickle barrels, which are similar to root beer barrels but pickle flavored. I can’t get enough of those. Oh, and she just had me try these new candies that were Love Potion chocolates or something of that sort, and they were so YUMMY! I can’t wait to get my hands on those! She also sells official Harry Potter candy like the Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts!

All pictures copyrighted to Sugardukes Sweetshop.

6. YA Book Handmade Shirts and Bags at Fangirl Feeels Etsy Shop

My girl Sylvia has so much creativity and she is ROCKING her Etsy shop. She makes the COOLEST shirts and bags. She took her love of all things YA and is translating into her artistic ways. Right now, she’s making Divergent bags (different factions! I love them!), The Fault in Our Stars bags and shirts, Game of Thrones bags, but message her and she’ll make more! She hand paints everything, which means you know you’ll get a unique and well made product every time. She also made herself and her nephew t-shirts for the Catching Fire premiere (see above) and got a TON of compliments. I’m going to get my hands on an Amity bag one day, I promise. She does an amazing job on all of them, really takes the time to make sure you’re getting what you pay for and she ships quickly :) And like I said, she’s open to custom orders and to making other things, like e-reader cases or laptop cases, things like that.

All pictures copyrighted to Fangirl Feeels Etsy Shop.

5. Geek Girl Fare at Her Universe

I first discovered Her Universe at Gallifrey One last year, where I bought my “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” Tardis shirt. I LOVE the stuff they sell because its completely aimed at us fangirls! Sometimes there are things out there that I want but it just doesn’t fit right! I’m a girl! I have curves and I want some Doctor Who and Star Wars and Star Trek things that fit me! This is definitely the place to go. AND I just found out that the founder, Ashley, is actually David Eckstein’s wife. I bet that means absolutely nothing to you, BUT David Eckstein is my favorite player EVER from the Los Angeles Angels so I’m, like, fangirling hard about that. But their stuff is awesome! I want it all. There are super cute Doctor Who and Star Wars shirts. You can buy a Tardis dress or a Princess Leia hoodie, or a Spock hoodie. They even have Walking Dead stuff now too. I will go broke buying things from Her Universe!

All pictures copyrighted to Her Universe.

4. Doctor Who/Disney Crossover Merch by Karen Hallion

Karen Hallion is an amazing artist. I follow a TON of fandom artists but she is by far my favorite and the reason is that she combines two things that so many of us love: Doctor Who and Disney. I first discovered her when I saw her Doctor Who and Cinderella fan art and nearly died of happiness. She has done Rapunzel and Snow White and Belle and Mulan and so many more. She does a TON of other fan art too, like fandom art nouveau and she just did a Doctor Who/Hermione Granger crossover that I just DIED for. You can check out her Etsy page and get prints, stationary and more. You can also google her and find authorized websites where you can buy her artwork as phone cases, tablet cases, shirts and more. She is also featured on Day of the Shirt often, on one of the t-shirt websites. She is INCREDIBLY popular and she’s a fan favorite. Definitely a must for any Doctor Who fan.

3. Convention Tickets

You wouldn’t think this is a good present, but it totally is! A lot of convention badges and tickets go on sale around this time of year, and a great present is buying those tickets for a friend. Now, tickets to San Diego Comic Con…probably not your best bet. One, they are really hard to get (I’m an attender of CC and I can’t even get a badge anymore). Two, you have to basically buy your own. BUT, you can buy your friends tickets to your local convention. There are SO many. The link above will take you to a Wiki page that has a list of conventions all over the world! And take my word for it: the smaller conventions actually tend to be more fun than the gigantic ones. So grab some tickets for a friend and buy your own! Its the gift that keeps on giving!

2. Book Themed Jewelry from Hebel Design

I only own one thing from Hebel Design but I so wish I owned more. Viviane Hebel is a YA fan, just like us, and she took her love and talent with jewelry making and started creating jewelry based on some of the books that she loved to read. Now she’s expanded into a ton of familiar titles. She’s made Shadowhunter rings and steles and jewelry from Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles. You can buy Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo), Lynburn Legacy (Sarah Rees Brennan), Covenant and Lux series (Jennifer L. Armentrout) and so much more from her. Plus, this is something she is very good at, that she’s spend many years working at, so every piece she makes is crafted to perfection. I have a Clockwork Angel necklace (which is a prized possession of mine) and its beautiful. You can see the time and care that went into making it. If you have a YA fan in your life, you’ll find some really great stuff here. She also makes these beautiful bookmarks, that you can get personalized with book themed charms and quotes from the book!

All pictures copyrighted to Hebel Design.

1. Book Character Dolls from Ellie’s Quirky Creations

I admit, I’m a little biased on this. BUT not without reason. Ellie is my mom. She surprised me, and my sisters and my cousin with these AWESOME Harry Potter character dolls for Christmas last year. Then she made me the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond for my birthday and I custom ordered a Magnus Bane doll to take to the TMI premiere, where I got it signed by a ton of cast members (see below). She has made a TON of amazing dolls, and also does cute fandom ornaments too! Every doll and ornament is handmade and it is made very sturdy, though you should know these are for collecting, not for playing. She has done Harry Potter, Mortal Instruments and Doctor Who but she does take custom orders as well! She has also branched into Despicable Me (minions!), Batman, Hunger Games and more. You can even get sports team themed wreaths too! She’s done so much that I can’t even begin to show all the cool things she’s been making so definitely check out her Facebook page and place an order.

Me, the first ever Magnus Bane doll and Magnus Bane himself, Godfrey Gao at the City of Bones premiere

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I hope you enjoyed this week’s Tuesday Top Ten and that you’ll check out all of these SUPER awesome stores for your nerdy Christmas needs! Tell them I sent you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

What A Nerd Girl Says

Nerd Life is Just So Much Better Than Regular Life

Tag: Fangirl Feeels