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 almanacRhodrymavelyne - 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!
~
