Severus Snape. Gosh, where do I start? The greasy mop of hair? The large hook-like nose? Now some of you may object to this choice, or even to Harry Potter being counted as ‘literary’ but quiet, you. I heart Severus. Especially because we got to find out I was right about him all along. He WAS good. And he loved Lily. It was so sweet and tear-jerking. Also, he died. Nobly. He didn’t WANT to kill Dumbledore, he HAD to. To save Draco. One of those bad on the outside, good on the inside types. It’s a massive turn on. Also, Alan Rickman is sexeh! Best. Voice. Ever. Every time I read a book, I want to turn to page three hundred and ninety-four.

I also delightedly received the Prolific Blogger Award from Mae at Mad Bibliophile. Yay! (and thank you Mae) It’s  a very special award, and even as a whole page dedicated to explaining it. The seven bloggers I’ve chose to award are:

Fresh Ink Books

Lorelei V

Turning The Leaves (a new blog, but already filled with interesting reviews and literary insights)

Tooth Soup

Wordsmithonia (Ryan has given me awards before, but they got lost in my messy blogosphere -Sorry dude! – His blog rocks)

Savidge Reads (who have also started a new PenPals project that I think is quite rad)

Avocado and Lemon – a relatively recently discovered blog, but excellently written, and with some great discussion points on writing and literary events etc.

Oh Atticus. I know every girl deep down loves a bad boy. And yes, there is always going to be a part of me that wishes he would just, oh I dunno, get on a motorbike with me and break some speeding laws, maybe hurl a brick at a shop window after midnight. But when it comes down to why this lawyer-man is so damn sexy, it’s all about his honest-to-goodness heart of gold. He’s a loving father (I was going to make a comment about single dads being sexy, but thought I’d hold off on account of him being a widower and all); he is articulate and wise; he stands up for what’s right even though everyone is against him. Plus he happens to be a character out of one of the most beloved books of all time, myself and the rest of the world included. (As a staff-written shelftalker from Better Read Than Dead told me, ‘the only book I was forced to read in high school that I actually loved’.)

Oh Atticus. I almost want to be charged with murder or rape, just to have you defend me. (Oh, was that going too far? Hrmm. Methinks this Literary Lusts meme may be getting slightly creepy. I’d be innocent of course, wrongfully accused because of the colour of my skin…)

What’s your Literary Lust this week? [Btw, what do you think of my new button? It was made by the lovely and talented Rebecca from Just One More Page. She's actually made a few variations, which I've uploaded to flickr for your choosing. Thanks Rebecca for lending us your mad banner-making skillzzz. ^_^]

Also, because my laziness causes me to cram various concepts into one post, here is my vlog about the Sticky Institute Zine Fair I went to during my literary weekend in Melbourne.

I forgot to put it in widescreen. Sorry.
Artists mentioned:

Frankie Pan – Where Did My Sock Go?

Ayano Takeuchi – Audrey & Audrey

Sarah – 1/2 (Sorry hun, couldn’t find any linkity links to share)

Amanda – I <3 Poor Spelling  & Bad Grammar

Daniel Reed – Crumpleton Experiments

Andrei S. Buters – Dead by 30

Dana Maxwell Cooke – Dealing With Post-Human Abilities

He’s grumpy as hell. He treats his daughter as if she were an annoying little French pebble in his shoe. He’s also kinda disfigured on account of the fire that burned his house down. And he attempted to commit bigamy against his criminally insane wife.
Yes, readers, I have just described my long-time literary crush, Mr. Edward Rochester, eventual husband of Jane Eyre, and master of Thornfield house in the gloomy, angst-ridden England that is the creation of Charlotte Bronte.
Now, I must admit, when I watched that God-awful film adaptation starring Anna What’s-her-face from X-Men as Jane and a blonde (wtf?) William Hurt as old Rochester, my love for this character wavered slightly. Then I remembered that movies never get it right.
What exactly is so appealing about the broody Mr. R? Well, for one, he’s loaded. But of course that’s a fringe benefit. Secondly, he totally shows up the bitchy Blanche when he dresses up as a gypsy. (I wrote a really awesome* short story about this in grade 12 English that has since been lost…if I ever find it I’ll publish it here). Thirdly, he has a psychic connection with his one true love, his frail bird of a girl, plain little Jane. The Rochester I imagine is shaggy haired, dark, rigidly manly and handsome in an unconvential way. He also has mutton chops. But they would look really hot on him.
And he most definitely would NOT be former double-oh-seven, Timothy Dalton.

* I say awesome because Mrs. Kennedy gave me an A+, not because I actually thought it was awesome.

This is a weekly meme I’ve decided to begin, because we’ve all read books where we’ve fallen in unashamed lust with a character, perhaps scribbling Mrs. Elena Rochester and what have you on school books. Wha? Just me? Rightio.

Anyone who happens to subscribe to With Extra Pulp on Facebook may have noticed a growing list of literary lusts from various contributors. This leads me to be quite sure that you’re lying if you say you’ve never had a crush on a literary character. So every Sunday I’ll be posting a new literary crush (or lust, if you’re over sixteen). You can join in on your own blog if you have one. The rules are pretty simple: Must be a character that appears in a book, comic or graphic novel (because, let’s face it, superheroes are hawt).

Anyway, on with the lusting!

Westley from The Princess Bride

Talk about your devoted man. This sweet but brave farm boy-turned-adventurer goes up against all sorts of evil and malice in his quest to reunite with his beloved Buttercup. Imagine having a man whose every response is “as you wish”? Sure, it might get a bit boring after a while, but really. Look at his face (we have to go with the movie adaptation here because Cary Elwes was just so damn yummy). Could you really, ever get sick of waking up to that face every morning?

Plus, on top of being incredibly charming, full of undying love and devotion, and brains that can outwit even the cleverest Sicilian, he also has mad pirate skillz. Being a Pirate + True Love = literary lust.
By the way, I’m a complete noob when it comes to making banners for things like this, so, ahh, please bear with me while I wrestle with the computer to make one. If you feel like donating your artistic talents please feel free to get in touch.