Well . . . that’s not quite correct. I do live in the Pacific Northwest and I do love me some granola, but I don’t think that’s quite the vibe I’m going for.

Hi everyone, NerdyMoxie here, Wickedcoolflight’s newest blogger and I think, I am also our only left coast representative currently. I am so excited to e-meet you all!!

All of my family is originally from California and I was born there in a place known as San Luis Obispo or SLO as it’s known to locals. From there we moved to Oregon where I grew up in a little town on the Southern coast then the summer, I turned thirteen we moved to . . . LAS VEGAS! I definitely had stars in my eyes and bright lights, big city vibes in my heart. Mostly it was hot, and I spent that first summer passing out from the heat, wondering how I was possibly ever going to drink the amount of water I needed in this new hellscape, and wondering if water would make me fat. Oh, to be thirteen again. Actually, spare me.

From a young age, I was a voracious reader and would read anything I could get my hands on. Reading also gave me an escape from life at home that wasn’t ideal. The library in my small Oregon hometown became imprinted on my heart because it opened me up to worlds I didn’t know existed. It taught me to stretch the boundaries of my imagination and dream bigger and bolder. Books showed me hope existed in all kinds of forms I didn’t know was possible. They taught me to love myself and others more authentically. Books showed me loves comes in all forms and that we shouldn’t settle. They taught me to be unapologetically myself.

I was that kid that would much rather be reading and living in my book world than the real world. I am 100% that adult these days too. I’m what they call a mood reader, so I read anything that sounds good to me. Often times I pick up books based solely on the cover or one or two sentences that spoke to me on the cover copy. One positive about being a mood reader is I can read A LOT when I am into something. Sometimes to the detriment of anything else going on in my life. A downside of being a mood reader is when my mood fluctuates (thank you astrology!) sometimes I find I am no longer interested in the book. I always have an extra big current reads pile so I can switch out when my brain gets bored and still finish the books I want to.

I enjoy reading Fantasy, YA, Romance, Graphic novels, Sci-fi, and some Chick Lit. I read and review outside of those categories but that is mostly where you’ll find me.

Authors/artists I enjoy: Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Elena Armas, Tawna Fenske, K.J Sutton, Sarah J. Maas, Teresa Crumpton, Brigid Kemmerer, Kerri Maniscalco, Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughn, and Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, Rick Riordan, Deb Caletti, and Scott Westerfeld.

Books + Graphic Novels I’ve enjoyed: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, Saga by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughn, The Shadow Hunters universe by Cassandra Clare, Modern Faerie Tales series by Holly Black, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Fable by Adrienne Young, Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, and The Graceling Realm by Kristen Cashore.

In my spare time, you’ll find me enjoying time with the four-legged house dragon (shout out to Alyssa Colman author of the upcoming middle-grade release The Gilded Girl for referring to cats as house dragons in her book. I will never be the same) who shares my home with me (Nala the feline), playing board games, playing Magic the Gathering, hand lettering, starting my creative business, meandering on walks through my neighborhood or hiking, journaling, and oh yeah, all the reading.