The Liebster Award – Writing, Invisibility, and Plant Murder

Hello wonderful people! I have big news this week. It seems that another wonderful person – Lynda, of Easy Reader Editing – has nominated me for a Liebster Award. Me, not the Little Furry Muse! (Although obviously she still takes full credit for any award-worthy material produced. Where is one without one’s muse? Certainly not on awards lists.)

Little Furry Musing aside, I’m beyond flattered to be nominated, not least because Lynda is not just a lovely person but a wonderful blog writer in her own right (she has two of them. Two!), and is very free with advice and insights into the editing process. I definitely recommend checking out her Easy Reader Editing site. On top of that, while the award is technically for emerging blogs and I just celebrated my kinda-sorta two year blogiversary, I really feel like I’m only barely getting the hang of this whole thing. So pats on the head and congratulatory biscuits are always very welcome!

How it works is that I have eleven questions to answer, after which I will nominate some other bloggers to answer my eleven questions. So let’s get started!

What is your favorite perk of writing?

Ooh. Tricky. There is, of course, the immediate reward of the story itself – when things are going well (and the plot bunnies aren’t proliferating all over the place, or the characters being obstinate, or the cat sitting on the keyboard), just being able to hop into a different world full of tea and scones and dragons makes me inordinately happy. Then there’s that amazing moment when someone comments on a story, either privately or online, and tells you that they enjoyed it, or that it touched them – or, even better, that they want more. Warm fuzzies all round. Then there’s the writing community I’ve fallen into along the way. It’s hard to imagine a more funny, supportive, slightly weird but definitely wonderful group of people.

Um, so, favourite – all of those?

Have you ever liked the movie better than the book?

*Twitches, looks over shoulder* Don’t tell anyone, okay? Actually, no. It’s fine. I have no shame over this one. I tried the first Maze Runner book and put it down pretty rapidly. Too many reasons to go into here, but let’s just say suggestions of the gang rape of an unconscious girl while at the same time creating really weird alternative swear words and belabouring where they come from kind of put me off.

I’ve seen two of the movies, though. I like them.

If you had three days, all expenses paid, away from home, where would you go to relax?

Um. Somewhere with no other people?

Okay, more specifically, then. It being almost summer, but not quite, I would like very much to be somewhere a wee bit warmer, on a little boat, anchored off a nice beach. Good snorkelling in easy reach, a hammock for the evenings, and a nice stack of books. My winter retreat fantasies are similar, only with a remote cottage instead of a boat, and a fire instead of a hammock.

Tell us about your strangest talent.

I can kill any plant. Seriously. If you’re really sick of having house plants, but you can’t bear to just let them die, invite me over to house-sit for a week or so. They’ll never recover, and you can let them go gently, safe in the knowledge that it wasn’t you that did this dreadful deed. I’ve even killed cacti. I had no idea they were actually dead until I bumped one and it just fell off its pot, roots completely severed from the stem. That’s talent, people.

What makes you smile most often during an average day?

I love this question! What a wonderful thing to think about. The Little Furry muse makes me smile an awful lot when she’s not being grumpy with me (so about 5% of the time). A good cup of tea. Sun in the garden. Silly things on social media. My dragons (as in the ones people have given me, not the ones in my head. Although they make me smile, too). Walking down the road and seeing the sea. That one always works.

Do you have a bucket list, and if you do, what is one of the bigger items on it?

I was talking about this just the other day. I actually don’t have a bucket list – I feel so lucky with all the places I’ve visited already, and all the things that I’ve seen and done, that I’ve never really felt the need to put a list together. I do want to go pretty much everywhere still, though.

Um – I would like to randomly spot someone reading one of my books, though. That would be amazing.

If calories and health were not a concern, what would your go-to treat be?

Calories? What is this of which you speak?

In all honesty, I don’t bother much with calories or worrying about my health when it comes to treats. I actually really enjoy things like working out and eating salads and fruit, so when it comes to treats I just eat them. So my favourites would be… my homemade brownies, or my choc chip cookies. And ice cream from the awesome little shop in town, which is really just a hole in the wall in which they’ve jammed an ice cream freezer. Their Nutella ice cream is amazing. Um. Pizza? I don’t really consider that a treat, though. That’s just dinner.

Is there one person who’s been influential enough in your life that you always think of them with a grateful heart?

I wouldn’t say there’s any one person that comes to mind. I’ve been lucky to come across so many wonderful people that inspire me in lots of different ways. Some of them have showed me what friendship really looks like, others how to overcome adversity with grace, still others how to live your life unapologetically. I think they’re all wonderful.

Would you rather be completely invisible for one day, or have the ability to fly for one day?

The introvert in me is screaming, “Invisible! Yes to invisible!”, but I’m going to say fly. I doubt I’ll have to make too much small talk when zooming across ocean waves and spiralling over mountains, anyway.

What’s your least favorite fashion (any decade) that you wish would have gone away before it started?

High. Waisted. Jeans. I hate them so much. I always feel like they’re trying to cut me in half at the belly button, and they’re very unaccommodating to pizzas or large helpings of chocolate cake. Plus I find them very unflattering on me. For a while there it seemed that everything was high-waisted, and my only option was to refuse to buy new jeans or shorts for a few years. Skirts were okay, because I could buy a larger size and still wear them on my hips.

On another note, it took me about five years to come around to skinny jeans, and then only because it became clear that my old bootcut jeans were actually not going to last long enough to carry me past the skinny trend. Now I don’t mind them, as long as they have some stretch. Otherwise I can’t sit with my feet tucked under me, and that’s unacceptable.

What “old person” things do you catch yourself doing?

How much room do I have for this one?

• Always taking a cardigan in case it gets cold (even in summer).
• Looking at young people in crop tops and wondering if they’re cold.
• Complaining about being cold.
• Saying “Ahhhhhh” after the first sip of tea and nodding approvingly.
• Carrying cat treats in my coat pocket to feed the strays.
• Looking in horrified askance at anyone that suggests going out after 8pm.
• Saving old packing envelopes, boxes and bags like a hibernating squirrel, “just in case.” (Of what? An apocalypse that destroys all packing materials?)

And that is entirely all from me! Thanks again so much to Lynda for nominating me, and choosing some really fun questions.

And in no particular order, I’d like to nominate the following lovey bloggers for the award. Make sure you check them out!

Debbie Jinks – Debbie runs the very friendly FB community All Write, as well as blogging and writing short stories over at A Song To Write. She’s also a talented musician and a fellow dragon-lover, so you know she’s a good one.

Lisa Sell – Lisa is a wonderful writer, whose blog deals with not just the writer’s life, but also with coping with depression and loss, and the other things life throws at us. It’s co-hosted by the beautiful Feegle-cat, too, so there is much cat wisdom and cute photos to be had.

Anna Kaling – Anna writes funny romances that are so good she’s even converted me to being a romance reader, and has an affinity for the Loch Ness Monster and bad monster movies. I don’t feel there’s anything more to say.

And here are my questions:

1. If you had to choose just one of your characters as your favourite, who would it be and why? *grins evilly*
2. What do you find the hardest about writing?
3. What do you find is the best thing about writing?
4. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
5. What writing goal are you working towards right now?
6. What do you read when you’re writing? (Similar genre, different genre, not at all?)
7. If you could be a penguin or a goose for a day, which would you choose and why?
8. Favourite movie adaptation of a book?
9. What is your writer fuel while writing?
10. Have the feline overladies been in contact with you regarding their plans for world domination? What have they said? Please share the cutest photo of your little furry muses that you have available, in order to further spread the worship of the feline species.
11. If you could become really talented at one thing, what would it be?

RULES OF THE LIEBSTER AWARD 2018:

1. Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you and display the award logo.
2. Answer 11 questions that the blogger sets for you.
3. Nominate blogs that you think are deserving of the award.
4. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
5. Let your nominees know about their nomination.

Thanks for reading, lovely people!

just for fun, liebster award, reading, writer's life