Reader Spotlight: Shareca the Californian Comic Connoisseur and Consumer of all Mediums Under the Sun

 

In the Reader Spotlight series we ask our smart, diverse and multi-talented readers what makes them tick, and what they're seeing in Spun Yarn manuscripts. Our readers span the gamut of literary taste, so expect to see a little bit of everything! 

By day, Shareca is an English teacher and tutor, and is about to begin her MFA in film studies. Because that’s not enough, she also runs a Comic Book and Gaming Aficionado website at The Daily Fandom and is a longtime reader for us here at The Spun Yarn! She reads everything, but especially Young Adult, Poetry, and Mystery/Thriller.

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The Spun Yarn: Shareca, you have been with us since 2017. Why do you do it, and what about reading for us do you find rewarding?

Shareca:   My favorite aspect of the reading experience is getting to partake in the editing process. I love being able to help writers, as I am one myself. I love the fact that I can help shape a story or at the very least, give advice from my perspective as a totally new reader. It makes me feel wonderful knowing that I was a part of someone’s process. 

The Spun Yarn: You've seen a lot of manuscripts come through. In your experience, what is one thing that's hard for authors to get right?

Shareca: Can I choose two? Endings and beginnings. It’s like an essay: you either love to write introductions and hate to write conclusions or vice versa. It is astonishingly hard to grip a reader at the beginning of the story and to leave the reader with a hard-hitting life analysis at the end. You know, the stories that really make you consider your mortality. I think that’s the most troublesome part of writing. There’s never a definite way to do beginnings or endings, but I wish there were! 

The Spun Yarn: You are a passionate gamer and comic book fan, and have turned these passions into a business, is that right? Tell us about it!

Shareca: Yes! I run The Daily Fandom, I do a lot more comic book reading than gaming these days (adult life, sadly). It has been a wondrous experience to teach myself a ton of development quirks over the past two years. It was something I didn’t foresee myself doing, but one thing led to another and the former owner couldn’t take on the website anymore and I just said, “let’s do it.” Since then, I have been “doing it.” 

The Spun Yarn: Where do you live, and what do you love about living there?

Shareca: I live in Fresno, CA. I love the weather here — that’s my favorite aspect. Also, it’s a small town in California so I don’t have to deal with the traffic as much (thank goodness!) The weather, however, is my ultimate favorite reason to be here. I live about 3-4 hours max from everything in California and it’s nice to be able to drive anywhere in under 5 hours!

The Spun Yarn: You love to read, and like other passionate readers are probably on the lookout for your next favorite book. What are you in the mood to read right now, or what kind of book would you love to read that you haven't found yet?

Shareca: A healthy, romantic, dreamy, sort of detective story. I love detective stories and I feel like we don’t get much in the genre of Sherlock and Drew. I am always missing detective love stories. I haven’t found one that has gripped me yet, one day I will.

The Spun Yarn: You’re right, we could really use more classic detective narratives. Stick around, and maybe someone reading this will send us one for you!

Reader Spotlight: Haeli the Teenaged World Traveler

 

In the Reader Spotlight series we ask our smart, diverse and multi-talented readers what makes them tick, and what they're seeing in Spun Yarn manuscripts. Our readers span the gamut of literary taste, so expect to see a little bit of everything! 

Haeli grew up and attended school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but when she turned 15 her parents decided it was time to travel before she grew older and went off on her own. Haeli's family got rid of everything they owned, sold their house, and bought an RV to travel the US and Mexico. Since then they've been to many cities in Mexico, attended a WorldSchooling conference, reunited with Haeli's exchange sister, and are now touring the National Parks. Though Haeli misses her friends, she wouldn't exchange the new Worldschooling perspective she's gained for all the lakes in Michigan. 

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The Spun Yarn: Wow Haeli, you are certainly not the average teen. We're curious – what does a typical day in your life actually look like? 

Haeli:  Lately, I hike all day, then come home to eat dinner and watch a movie. When we're not in the national parks, I usually spend my time reading, editing YouTube videos for my YouTube channel Haeli’s Layne, playing Minecraft with my little sister, and writing the middle grade chapter book I'm currently working on. Of course, I can't go a day without writing to my best friend Faith. We're even better friends now than when I left. 

The Spun Yarn: So this is tough, but we do it to everyone: pick a favorite book and tell us what you love about it.

Haeli: Harry Potter, no question. My Dad started reading the series to me when I was five or six years old, and I was hooked from Chapter 1. I wasn’t a good reader yet, because I didn’t have the patience. The special reading program in school helped a little, but I really started reading when my Dad told me he wouldn't continue the series until I had read the first three by myself. That's all I needed. It was a hard book for a seven-year-old, but I finished the third one by the time I was eight. I'd become one of the best readers in my class, because I found out I loved to read.

The Spun Yarn: You generally read YA manuscripts for us here at The Spun Yarn. What's been your favorite moment as a reader so far?

Haeii: When our editor Sarah emailed me and told me the author of the manuscript I'd just reviewed was inspired by my feedback to keep working on her book after an eight-year hiatus.  I told the author in my feedback how much I truly loved the story, and later the author put a quote from me on her wall! I literally cried when I heard how I had affected someone in such a good way! I can’t wait for that story be published!

The Spun Yarn: So what do you think makes a really fantastic YA novel stand out?

Haeli: Lately I've been into dystopias with complicated but cute romances, such as The Hunger Games, The Selection, and Divergent. I think the thing that makes a good Young Adult book, or at least one that hooks readers, is a couple's ongoing conflict, such as fighting and lying. I get so annoyed that I basically yell at the characters to TALK to each other! I have to admit that it hooks me though, and I can’t stop reading until the end when the characters are finally in a good relationship. I also think character development is very important, but there are many different tastes in YA, which is why I'm glad that my opinion on a manuscript is one of three.

The Spun Yarn: You've hit on one of the most valuable aspects of the three beta reader package. We're excited to have you read more manuscripts for us and discover new authors you love!