Awards

Aw, man, you guys are awesome. And because of that, I have a bunch of awards to give out today. And because they all have stuff associated with them, this post is going to be kind of long. So in order of... whichever link I clicked on first, here goes.

I got the "One Lovely Blog Award" from Mina Lobo (thanks, Mina!). Here are the rules:

• Name, thank, and link back to the blogger
• List seven facts about yourself
• Pass the award to 15 other bloggers and leave them comments on their blogs to alert them

Here are 7 facts:

1. I love making lists, preferably alphabetical ones.
2. I could eat cherries and string cheese every day.
3. I can't remember a time before I wanted to be a writer.
4. When I was little, I tried reading while riding my bicycle. It didn't go well.
5. I'm a huge college football fan.
6. When I was around three or four, I used to watch Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers every single day. Then I watched it again every day in high school when I found out it was on at 5:30 in the morning while I was eating breakfast.
7. I name all my laptops and refer to them by name often enough that my mom has taken to calling them by their names too.

Next, Alyssa over at Life is Good gave me the Liebster Blog Award (thanks, Alyssa!). Here are the rules for this one:

• Post 10 facts about yourself.
• Answer 10 questions the tagger has given you and give 10 questions to the people you've tagged.
• Choose 10 people with fewer than 200 followers and link them in your post.
• Tell them you've tagged them.
• Remember, no tag backs!

I'm going to use the 7 facts from above, and add three more:

8. I watch around 30 television shows per season (not including the summer, which is usually far lower).
9. After spending a month in France, I can say exactly two things: "Sorry, I don't speak French; do you speak English?" and "I would like a medium cup of dark chocolate ice cream, please."
10. I had a goldfish that lived for six years. When I got it, it was small and black. By the time it died, it was orange, over an inch long, and its eyes bugged out of its head. It mutated to adapt to its surroundings.

And these are the questions from Alyssa:

1. What's your favorite sport? (To watch or to do.) To watch is probably college football, though everything in the Olympics (especially beach volleyball), hockey, and the Little League World series all come close. To do is probably swimming.
2. What genre do you write in? And if your not writing a book, what genre do you like to read in? Most urban fantasy, though I've been working on a contemporary YA book as well.
3. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? The Ring. And I know it's not really that scary, but I don't watch scary movies. This was a mistake I made when I was 15 and thought it was wimpy to be afraid of scary movies. Turns out, I should have been a wimp. I didn't sleep for a week.
4. What was the happiest moment of your life? I honestly can't pick out one moment that stands out above all the happy moments I've had. I spend a lot of time being happy.
5. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving. Food, family and fun... what's not to like?
6. What book are you reading right now? Stolen by Kelley Armstrong. Again.
7. What superpower do you wish you had? I think my answer to this questions changes a lot. Maybe the ability to fly. Or to control fire.
8. What is your favorite drink? Vanilla Coke.
9. If you could make a wish come true what would you wish for? Be honest. World peace. No, um, I'd wish for health and happiness for the people I love. And maybe for the ability to do more to give that to everyone else. (I sound so noble there. It's actually a massive guilt complex that makes me think like that.)
10. If you could be a character in one one of the books you've read, who would it be? Jo March from Little Women. I've always related to her, and I love how she was tough and successful, but also dedicated and loyal to her family. With all her faults, she always strove to be a good person, even if she didn't always understand what that meant. But she held her own when she wasn't willing to compromise (which wasn't an easy thing for a woman in the 1860s).

Next up, Jaycee DeLorenzo gave me the Fabulous Blog Ribbon (thanks, Jaycee!). For this one:

• Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.
• Name five things you love.
• Name five things you hate.
• Pass the Ribbon on to five other bloggers. (Leave them a comment to notify them of this.)

Five Fabulous Moments

1. The day I finished my first novella at 12 years old.
2. The day I got my black belt in karate.
3. The day I was hired as a salaried employee with benefits at my first job.
4. The first time I stood up for someone else on the playground, even though it got me teased more.
5. Being made the senior production manager at the news station I worked for in college.

Five Things I Love

1. My family and friends
2. Laughing
3. Writing and reading
4. Movie trailers
5. Ice cream

Five Things I Hate

1. Hypocrites
2. Passive aggression
3. Love triangles
4. People who complain about the government but don't vote (or try in any way to fix the problems)
5. Homophobia

And finally, Kathy McKendry gave me the Booker Award (thanks, Kathy!). For this one, I have to share the top 5 books I've ever read. I can't tell you how difficult this was.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - Read my A-Z Post to find out more about why.
   
   
   
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - It took me three tries before I was finally able to finish this, but I've read it about once a year since then. I just love the relationships in it, and the way the characters develop into adults.
   
   
   
3. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - Seriously, what's not to like about Peter Pan? I read the book long after I saw the movies and fell in love with it, and the book is really beautifully written. Simple enough for a child, but artistic enough for adults.
   
   
   
4. Bookends by Jane Green - I don't read as much contemporary as I did when I was in high school, but this is another book I try to read once every couple years. There's nothing overly special about it, but the characters are so well done, and I get a warm, fuzzy feeling every time I finish it.
   
   
   
5. Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong - Technically, this is the third book in her Otherworld series, but it was the first one I read. It was also the first urban fantasy book I ever read. Now I've written an urban fantasy book and read more of them than I can count. And if this book hadn't been so darned good, none of that would have happened.

And I'm tagging EVERYBODY! Because you're all awesome and deserve shiny awards. So anyone who wants to claim it can. And for the Liebster Award, here are my questions:

1. Who's your favorite Harry Potter character?
2. What's your perfect age?
3. What's your favorite dessert?
4. Would you rather be a contestant in a beauty pageant or on Fear Factor?
5. Would you rather be dumb as a brick but beautiful, or a certified genius and ugly enough to crack mirrors?
6. If you see a crime happening and you can safely stop it but choose not to, are you accountable for what happens?
7. How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?
8. What's your favorite smell?
9. Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school and why?
10. What would you do if you woke up one morning with an extra eye that could see through walls?

And that's that. Happy Monday!

11 Questions, An Award and a Guest Spot

First on the agenda, The Capillary tagged me in the 11 Questions meme that was going around, and I'm just now getting to answer them.

1. What's your pipe dream/dream career? Professional windsurfer. This would be a lot more achievable if I could actually surf.
2. What do you fear more? Dying or public speaking? Dying. Definitely. Especially if drowning or smothering or being buried alive is involved. I actually don't mind public speaking. I did extemporaneous in high school and debate in college, so it's not that bad to me.
3. If you could be one hero's side kick, who would it be? Beckett, from Castle. My level of hero-worship for her is bordering on the pathetic, especially when you consider that she's not real. But she does everything the boys can do, and in heels. She's awesome.
4. What character archetype do you find yourself drawn to most? The comic relief/sidekick. I don't know if that's the technical term for it, but I always love the sweet character who makes the MC laugh and so rarely gets the girl. Like Ron Weasley (though he does get the girl so he's not the strongest example).
5. If funds were not an issue, what cosmetic alteration would you get on a continuous basis? ie. fake nails, hair extensions, laser hair removal, liposuction, etc I don't know that I'd really get anything. I wish I could say this is because I'm comfortable with my body just the way it is, but it's actually that I'm too lazy to deal with the upkeep of anything. I guess maybe the Keratin treatment for my hair, if I had to choose.
6. Do you need a playlist or a song to inspire you? It depends. Mostly no. In fact, I have a lot of trouble writing to music usually, because I get distracted easily. But I have a short story based on a Taylor Swift song (don't judge) that I like to write while listening to the song. On a non-writing note, I do use music to pump me up when exercising (or driving... because that's an activity I need inspiring to do).
7. What is your go-to fandom? It changes. Harry Potter is a pretty safe fallback. Most recently, I was reading a lot of Criminal Minds fanfiction. Before that, I think it was The West Wing and Gilmore Girls.
8. Wine or beer? Wine... coolers.
9. Rum or Gin? Um, neither. Amaretto.
10. What are your 3 essential things you need when you're trying to be creative? Silence/white noise, my laptop, soda
11. Buffy or Bella? Buffy. Though this isn't really a fair fight because I'd choose a Teletubby over Bella.

And now I tag 11 people. I'm sorry if you've been tagged before.

1. K.S. Lewis
2. Hope Robertson
3. Erin Summerill
4. Nick Wilford
5. Veronica and Thomas
6. Shelley Sly
7. Sara - Cutest Landing
8. Roland D. Yeomans
9. J.A. Bennett
10. David Powers King
11. Becky - Once Upon a Time

Here are your 11 questions:

1. Favorite TV show?
2. Beach or ski resort?
3. What's your favorite part of the writing process?
4. Self-publishing or traditional?
5. If you could have any one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
6. If you met an alien, what would you do?
7. Would you prefer watching a mediocre movie or a really, really bad one?
8. How do you relieve stress?
9. If you ever got the chance to participate in a really big tomato fight, would you take it?
10. Craziest thing you've ever done/would like to do?
11. What are your favorite boys' and girls' names?

Sara at Cutest Landing gave me an award for cool blogs who have less than 100 followers! Thanks, Sara! The rules for this are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. See above.
2. Nominate up to 5 others for the Liebster Award. See below.
3. Let said bloggers know via comment on their blog.
4. Post the award on your blog.
5. Consider signing up for the A - Z Challenge. It's a great way to find new and interesting blogs.

I think these people have fewer than 100 followers, but I can't tell if that's just through Google Friend Connect or real, so please let me know if I underestimated! I'm tagging:

1. K.S. Lewis
2. Rebecca Belliston
3. The Capillary
4. T.Z. Wallace
5. Ilima Todd

And last, but definitely not least, I'm going to be a guest blogger on Rebecca Belliston's website tomorrow. My topic is Plotting vs. Plodding. You should head over there every Tuesday and Thursday this month to see other great guest posts.

Sunshine Award

So I don't normally post twice in one day, but McKenzie McCann gave me an award, and I was so excited that I had to post this immediately. It's my first blog award!

OK, so here goes:

The rules are to:
-Thank the person who gave it to you. (Thanks, McKenzie!)
-Write a post about it.
-Pass it on.
-Answer the questions below.

1. Favorite Color? Purple! And red. Often in combination (notice "fashion sense" is not listed among my talents).
2. Favorite Animal? I love ducks, but only as a collectible (rubber duckies, etc.). Otherwise, they're vicious little beasts. Other than that, probably pigs or dogs.
3. Favorite Number? 73. It was my number when I played softball as a kid. Everyone always picked 7 and 3, so eventually I just combined them.
4. Favorite (non-alcoholic) drink? Vanilla coke. Ugh, I'm so addicted. I use to go through a 12-pack a week in college (yeah, we're still talking about soda).
5. Facebook or Twitter? Mmm, I think Twitter. I like Facebook, but Twitter was really set up for someone like me. I have these random bursts where I really, really need to tell the world about what I did (I wish I could say these were monumental occasions). Facebook lets you do that, but not as efficiently. They both have their strengths as marketing tools though.
6. My passion? Besides writing (I like how everyone feels the need to add this), I'm passionate about television. I majored in it in college, and for awhile I thought I wanted to be an editor for a TV show or to write television reviews (which I still do sometimes). I watch about 30 shows a week religiously, and I track ratings and network information as well. And the other half of my time is spent telling people I'm not a bum for watching that much TV--I'm doing research for my reviews!
7. Getting or Giving presents? That's a close one. Probably giving. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love getting presents, but there's something so nice about picking out the perfect gift for someone.
8. Favorite pattern? Plaid. I have a plaid comforter on my bed, and it's the comfiest-looking thing in the world. It doesn't help my writing when all I want to do is curl up under it and be cozy.
9. Favorite day of the week? Saturday. I know it's cliche, but I don't care.
10. Favorite flower? I guess wildflowers. Or something else brightly colored. I'm not really a flower person.

And so now I'm going to pass this on:

1. K.S. Lewis
2. Kyra Lennon (I know you were already tagged by McKenzie, but now you get it twice)
3. Emily R. King
4. Cassie Mae