The Liebster Award

It’s been a long time since I’ve been nominated for an award post.  My blog’s gotten older.  It’s not new and shiny anymore.  And that’s okay.     But I read Mae Clair’s blog every week (https://maeclair.net/blog/ ) because I enjoy everything about it!  And she reads mine.  She was nominated for the Liebster Award first and wrote a wonderful blog for it, and then she nominated me.  I hope my answers live up to her expectations:) Before I talk about the award, though, I’d also like to mention that Mae’s one of the writers who contribute to the blog The Story Empire.  I’ve reblogged their content occasionally and posted it on my author Facebook page, I think it’s so useful.  You can find The Story Empire here:  https://storyempire.com/blog/.   

For the Liebster Award, the rules are:

1. Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display the award.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger gives you.
3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 11 blogs.
5. Notify those blogs of the nomination.
6. Give them 11 questions to answer

11 Things About Myself:

1. I’m tall: 5’9″
2. My grandfather was a Dark Dane (his family moved here when he was young).  He told us thunder was Thor knocking down pins at a bowling alley.
3. I raised pigeons when I was a kid.  Still love ’em.
4. I played on our basketball and volleyball teams in middle school for 3 years.
5. I love to cook.
6. I broke my leg June 17, 2016 and they say I’ll heal by this August.
7. My younger daughter lives near St. Petersburg, FL, and keeps inviting us down.  She calls in February and says, “How’s the weather?” because she’s sweet and devious:)
8. My husband’s great-great (maybe another great?) grandfather stowed away on a boat to leave Ireland and come here because he poached a rabbit and had to run.
9. I never wear toenail polish because I dropped a wheelbarrow on my toe and permanently lost the nail, so it looks odd.
10. I’m addicted to Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series.
11. My favorite food is scallops, and I don’t share apple dumplings.

The 11 questions Mae sent me:

1. You’ve been given a working time machine.  What era of history would you visit?  I’d travel to ancient Rome.  I took Latin for four years in high school.  It’s a dead language, but I loved the history and the myths.  If I had my way, I’d own a shop that baked bread and I’d visit the Pantheon–for all the gods–and the baths while they were in their glory.  And I’d rock a tunic and sandals:)
2. What is your totem animal? (Inspired by a post Mae recently saw on Jan Sikes’ blog).  Hmm, I have a thing about birds and cats, but I wasn’t really sure, so I took an online quiz to find my spirit animal, and I got the owl.  I’d make a great team member for Christopher Robin, Pooh, and Piglet:)
3. What was the first story you wrote?  The very first?  That was a long time ago, and I don’t think I have it anymore.  But it was about two boys who were just starting to dabble in breaking and entering.  Neither can remember exactly what happens, but a man catches them and drags them to a huge, open field, then forces them to run a gauntlet. People with heavy sticks form two lines, and when the boys try to make it to the end, as unscathed as possible, the one boy falls and is getting pounded, so his friend goes back to help him.  The boy who fell realizes the people with sticks will concentrate on the easier target, so trips the friend who saved him.  That way, he can make it to the finish line.  At the end, the boy who got there first steps onto a podium, and it sinks and disappears.  The second boy, beat up and bleeding, crawls to his podium of safety and it goes up.  The boys had died, shot as intruders, and the gauntlet had been a test to judge their souls.
4. Beach or mountains?    Beach.  I love water and the sound of waves.
5. What is your favorite time of year?    I love seasons.  If we moved someplace that was always warm, it would be a hard adjustment for me.  But I get plenty sick of winter by the end of February.  That’s why I love spring.  I can’t wait until the snow melts and flowers start poking their heads above ground again.
6. Name someone from history you find intriguing.  Once I saw the bust of Nefertiti, I wanted to know her history.  She was married to the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten, who tried to change Egypt from worshipping many gods to only one–the sun.  A lot of mystery surrounds Nefertiti, but it seems that she was not only beautiful, but also powerful.  She was involved in her husband’s politics, often pictured as standing behind his throne.  He referred to her as His Beloved.
7. What is your favorite fairytale?  Snow White with the evil stepmother, the seven dwarves, and all the forest animals.
8. When was the last time you played a game of chess?  Never.  Never learned it.  I’m more of a Yahtzee and Euchre type girl.  More low-key.  I don’t have to think too much when I play.
9. If you could travel to any city or country in the world, where would you go?  Holland when all the spring bulbs are blooming.  I’ve visited Holland, Michigan, but it’s not the same:)
10. Name your favorite cartoon when you were a kid.  This is embarrassing.  I don’t remember the Saturday morning cartoons I watched.  When my kids were little, though, I got hooked on Dungeons and Dragons.
11. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?  Is Dobby, the house-elf, a mythical creature?  I was pretty taken with him.  But just in case, I’d choose dragons, but I want them to be vegetarians:)

My 11 questions for those I nominate:

1.  Are you a cat or a dog person?  Or both?  Or other?
2. What are 3 of your all time favorite movies?  books?  songs?
3. Let’s say you’re single and can run off with one fictional hero (if you’re a gal) or heroine (if you’re a guy).  Who would it be?
4. If you could be a master of anything (besides writing), what would it be?
5. What’s something on your bucket list?
6. Whom do you consider to be the most memorable villain in literature?
7. If you had to move and could resettle anywhere, where would you go?
8. What’s your favorite food?
9. What was one of the hardest lessons you had to learn in life?
10. What makes you happy?
11. What’s the last or next book you have coming out? Or you’re working on?

I know not everyone I nominate will have the time to do this, but here goes.  There’s no time limit, and if you want to pass, no problem.  I had fun with it this time:

1. M.L. Rigdon aka Julia Donner @ https://historyfanforever.wordpress.com/
2. Kathy Palm @ https://findingfaeries.wordpress.com/
3. Les Edgerton @ http://lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/
4. Rachel Roberts @ http://www.rachelsroberts.com/
5. Kyra Jacobs @ https://indianawonderer.wordpress.com/
6. C.S. Boyack’s Entertaining Stories @ https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/
7. Christina Rowell @ https://devilslayingamongstotherthings.blogspot.com/
8. Sue Bahr @ https://suebahr.wordpress.com/
9. Rita Robbins @ https://raslone.wordpress.com/blog/
10. Karen Lenfestey @ http://www.karensnovels.com/
11. Liz Flaherty at WordWranglers @ https://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/2017/05/powering-through-liz-flaherty.html

Happy Writing, All!