Monday, July 25, 2016

The Liebster Award

I'm pleased and grateful to have been nominated by a very talented writer for the Liebster Award. It's a fun way to spread camaraderie and readership.



After sharing the pretty badge, I want to thank Patricia Garcia. She is positively lovely and you can read her delightful reaction to the award here:

Pat Garcia Book Reviews

Her other blog features some really moving prose. It's the one I discovered when we were part of the April A to Z Blog Challenge and that home page can be found here:

Everything Must Change


Now let me share my answers to the questions posed by dear Patricia Garcia. I hope I was not too wordy. ~grin~ They are compelling questions.

1. What does writing mean to you?

Writing means expression of self, whether through diaries or fiction. In fact the former led to the latter when I realized how well my young self could portray scenes.

2. Where do you get your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from a combination of memory and dreaming which my imagination weaves together. Basically, I write the way I wish life could be but with a heavy dose of danger and angst not welcome in my reality.

3. Do you write fiction or non-fiction or both?

My intentional focus is fiction, but I still spend a lot of time writing in journals.

4. Do you blog and if so, how often?

This blog, as well as some other group and one separate solo endeavor, never see as much activity as I intend. The April A to Z Blog Challenge is my most active period, for sure.

5. Where is your favorite place or room to write?

I like writing wherever it’s most peaceful. My back porch is a favorite place when the weather is good (especially cool and rainy under my tin patio roof!) and my home office if I’m left alone long enough.

6. Do you have a regular routine, like writing in the morning or evenings? Or do you write whenever it hits you?

I have been guilty of not writing at all lately. My routine is completely amorphous if the muse really prods me. I’ve been known to get up and write at three o’clock in the morning and returning to bed only when exhaustion overtook me. At one day job there were days I stayed late, off the employer’s clock, just to have uninterrupted writing time.

7. Who is your favourite author? What kind of influence have they had upon your writing or upon you personally?

Michael Moorcock is probably my first choice. Elric of Melnibone tales especially, though many Stephen King, Andre Norton, “Ringworld” and “Thieves’ World” series books influenced me greatly. I have always appreciated a combination of angst and romance, continuing to this day.

8. Do current events in the world have an effect upon what you write?

I’m sure they do, though I avoid addressing politics and current world news. I prefer escapism from reality. And real world happenings leave me feeling quite helpless.

9. How often do you read? Do you read books in different genres?

I have not read as much lately as in past but enjoy biographies, science fiction, romance of every possible configuration, and fantasy. My tastes tend to go in waves. Dear friend and author Tina Holland hooked me up with free books from a conference and I’m really grateful because it led to some surprising territory.

10. Please share a paragraph or two of what you are currently working on.

Well, here goes:

“You know what?” I asked softly, barely above a whisper. “I do love you. You can’t make love if you aren’t in love.”

His body tensed. It transferred to his tight, near breathless voice. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He said nothing, his face turning from my shoulder to the seat cushions beneath us. I felt awed. Was he crying? I felt certain he never dared show any such vulnerability at home.

11. Where and what do you see yourself as within the next ten years? Will you have relocated? Will you have become the writer person that you have dreamed of being?

Ten years go by so fast and my dreams are mostly relegated to the rapid eye movement sort. So instead let me share how I imagine my much older self, skipping these middle years and  living as a solitary successful writer.

The fantasy: My home is expensive but not opulent, and quite reclusive. It’s either atop some wintry, thunder filled Japanese valley or perched over some isolated beach or overhanging an Alaskan waterway well north of Anchorage (view is key!). I live essentially alone, not lonely. Usually I envision some quiet assistant catering to all my wants and needs. There is always an animal companion whose nature depends upon where we live.

~

Now I will share the rules of the award, one of the necessary stipulations. There are only five and I took liberties with the order in which I met them.

1. Write a blog post about your nomination, displaying an image of the award.

2. Thank the person who nominated you that includes a link to his or her blog.

3. Answer the 11 questions the person who nominated you asked you in his/her blog post.

4. Nominate 5-11 other starting bloggers who you think deserve this award and come up with 11 questions of your own for them to answer.

5. List these rules in your blog post

Now, for the nominees: 

Jingle Jangle Jungle  - Mary shares great musical trivia and lots of videos 

Kalpanaawrites - Here you can view lovely photographs and read about writing, yoga, and travel

Kurt Nemes
- This is a truly amazing classical music almanac


Rhodrymavelyne - An aptly named Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration with book reviews and shared snippets

Joan Summers
- She shares design and more, especially her delightful travel photos


And lastly, here are the questions I propose:

1. What is your favorite destination, be it local or across the globe?

2. Do you have any extremely early childhood memories? If so, I’d be interested to know what you recall.

3. What is your favorite form of escapism?

4. Does your region/town have a famous attribute? If so, what is it (whether it’s a famous former resident, some large festival, or anything else that comes to mind)?

5. Would you embrace eternal life, given the chance?

6. If time travel were possible, would you move forward, backward, or stay put?

7. What color are your eyes? Would change it if you could? And if so, to what shade?

8. Given the chance to take animal form, what would you choose? Would you prefer being a pampered house pet or something wild and fierce?

9. In that animal state, would you hope for human sentience or existential oblivion?

10. Where would you go as an animal? Would you stay home or roam afar?

11. Do you currently have a project you would like to tout? Feel free to self promote!

~

22 comments:

  1. Thank you so very much for nominating me! Hmm, I'd better get working on these questions! :)

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  2. Also, congrats on being nominated yourself! This was a beautiful interview! Must share...

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  3. I am sitting at my computer laughing because we have lots of things in common that I did not know about. For example, my most active blogging time is during the A to Z Blog Challenge. Then you write the way you want life to be. That's me too. When I read that I said Spot On. And I could go on and on.
    I love your excerpt. It made me want to know more.
    All the best, Lady Darla and have a great week.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

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    1. Thank you for the kind word and the nomination, dear Patricia. Your comment made me smile. I hope you have a wonderful week, as well!

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  4. I love your ideal home in ten years. I'll be your distant neighbor!

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    1. You would make a lovely neighbor, I'm sure. Thanks for the kind comment! Be well, my dear.

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  5. Thank you, Darla! I appreciate the love <3 It's going to be about a month before I can post my responses (I just started a new job, and in preparation for that - I pre-wrote my posts for the next month) But I have added the graphic to my sidebar as a reminder to get that post written!

    Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

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    1. I'm thrilled that you're interested in playing! Best wishes on the new job. I hope it's a wonderful, lucrative experience. Be well!

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  6. Congratulations on a well deserved award. I loved learning more about you, too.

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    1. Thank you! You're very kind. You are among the many lovely folks I considered for the award, actually. I'm never sure when such would be a burden. Be well!

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  7. Writing on the back porch is the best! The weather is never all that good here. Maybe for a month in the fall and a month in the spring. The rest of the year it's either 100 degrees or 20 degrees!

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    1. Ouch! And I thought Ohio summers could be a bummer. I am huddling inside with air conditioning as much as possible currently but am hoping for some less humid mornings and evenings in future. Thank you for stopping by with a kind word!

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  8. Love your excerpt, Darla. Talented writer :)
    Congratulations on the award. Really enjoyed your answers. I don't think I'd get much writing done on the back porch - I'd be drinking iced tea, staring off into the garden and thinking up new stuff :)

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    1. Thank you, Nicola! You're very kind. The notion that you'd be thinking up new material makes me smile. Please do so! And happy writing, my dear.

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  9. Hi Darla! I've been embracing summer (lol) and hope you are doing the same. Thank you for the nomination because it will get me back into the swing of things. My blog has been rather dormant the past few months. We were able to spend a few days on the gulf coast of Florida, escaping the heat of the mid-Atlantic. That, in itself, is funny. But while there it only felt in the 90's and not in the 100's. Hard to believe it's August! Take care, my friend.

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed a break from the heat, ironic as that is. It calls to mind my 2012 trip to mid Florida where I helped my parents for a few weeks. Both there and home saw temperatures in the 100's that summer. Yuck.

      So glad you accepted the nomination! Be well, my dear.

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  10. Now I'm feeling guilty! I've been nominated twice and never got round to doing anything about it. Time to scroll back a few months methinks!

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    1. Aw... You have no idea how close I came to nominating you for this but decided you've been blogging so many wonderful short stories and photos that it might be a burden.

      Happy writing, my dear!

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