Sunshine Blogger Award & Questionnaire

I have been chosen to receive the Sunshine Blogger Award!  Much like the Liebster Award I received a little while ago, it is given to bloggers by bloggers, and the questions are chosen by each prior recipient.  This week’s questions come fro m the talented and sweet J.A. Goodsell, and I’m excited to answer them ... there are some really good ones in here.  So let’s get rolling!


1. What do you write and why?  I don’t confine myself to one genre, because life isn’t one genre ... the town of Aviario and the people that pass through its borders have lives of their own.   My characters have the same struggles and challenges to overcome as anyone else: both internal and external.  The little bit of magic and intrigue just makes it more fun.

2. What is your favorite quote and why?  I have two ancient, typewritten index cards decoupaged to my desk which tie for first place.  The first is by Elmer Rice: “It’s not what you do that matters so much, it’s what you are.”  The second is by Disraeli: “The world is a wheel and it will all come round right.”   So far, they’ve both been true.

3. If you could change any moment in your life, would you?   Wow. that ‘s a heavy question for a Wednesday morning  pre-caffiene!  But, yes.  There were many times I held my tongue because I thought speaking my mind would do more harm than good... and many of those times, I suffered for it.  Like Buster Heywood, I’ve had to learn to find my voice and use it.  However, knowing that I can’t actually take any of those moments back doesn’t bother me: I can still change how I act going forward, and that is what matters more.

4. What did you think of the Game of Thrones finale (if you don’t watch GoT, what did you think of the last finale you watched)?  Ahh, Game of Thrones.  I have seen some of the series and am on the fourth novel, but I don’t keep up with the pack, as it were.  I can only enjoy it in small doses... and that may be a blog post all its own, someday.  The last finale I watched was Series 9 of Doctor Who, and I had a lot of issues with what was done.  The writers did things simply for dramatic value, without thinking of the true essence of the characters involved and what they should have done ... which I find an increasingly common occurrence in television and movie series  these days.  Since before the inception of Aviario, I have been an ardent defender of “keeping in character”... once you have followed a character for long enough, they have to have very good reasons for breaking from what makes them who they are ... and if they don’t, it not only cheapens the story, but disrespects the viewer or reader.  ...  Oof.  That one got away from me, and I may not be done wit h it.  Watch this space, I may come back to it.

5. If you could choose any artist (writer, artist, musician) to spend a day with, who would you choose and why? Jewel E. Leonard. I haven’t seen her face-to-face in twelve years, you see, and I miss her terribly.   If we are going for the “usual fantasy answer”, I think Canadian musician Alan Doyle would be an absolute joy to spend a day with.  I had the privilege of talking to him for a short while after a show on his So Let’s Go tour, and he was a lovely human being: easy to talk to, down-to-earth, and with a sparkling sense of humor.  I’m pretty sure we could just sit in a pub and swap stories for hours.

6. Have you ever gone skydiving?  No, but every now and then, I wonder if it’d help me conquer this fear of falling ...

7. Have you traveled out of your home country (if so, where)?   Yes, I spent a lovely week in France during my junior year of high school.  Someday, I would love to go back and appreciate it with a more mature mind.  My favorite place was the Sainte Chappelle cathedral... it’s on the opposite side of Ile de la Cite from Notre Dame, and smaller, but what it lacks in recognition and size, it makes up for in beauty.

8.  What is one major thing that will make you put down a book and never finish it?  Poor technical writing.  If I am constantly fighting against my inner editor to actually read what ‘s on the page, it takes me too far out of the story.  I want to be immersed ... the prose needs to feel as natural as breathing.

9.  What is one major thing that keeps you reading until the very end?  Strong, well-developed characters and plot.  If you make me care for your characters strongly enough, I can readily ignore the odd typographical or grammatical error.

10. Who or what inspires you to do what you love?   My younger self, the one who was constantly spinning stories in notebooks or on her parents’ Gateway PC, doodling the characters on everything and sharing them with everyone before she was “taught” that no one wanted to hear such things, and she needed to Be Serious.   I owe her a lot, you see.

11. What is your spirit animal?  Sparrows, hands down, for many years.  But since a trip to Mystic Aquarium, cownosed rays have been competing for my attention in a pretty spectacular, splashing fashion.

Here is the point where I am supposed to nominate eleven other bloggers to answer my own questions, but I’m not up on how many people have actually received the Sunshine Award!  So ... let’s do it this way: if you like the looks of these questions, and you haven’t been nominated. feel free to say I went ahead and nominated you!  Everyone could stand for a little award boost if they need it, don’t you think?   Without further ado, your questions:

1. What was the first story you ever wrote?  (Yes, for the love of sacred things, fan fiction absolutely counts, and don’t you dare be ashamed of it.)
2. Which book are you currently reading ... or, what’s the last book you read?
3. What’s your “if I go in, I come out penniless” store, and why? 
4. Board games or card games?
5. What sort of trait instantly puts you on the side of a character?
6. What would make a character irredeemable to you?
7. Tell me your thoughts about faith as a plot vehicle.
8. Which story or movie from your childhood has put down roots in the things you create now?
9. Which author was your inspiration to begin writing?
10. Do you listen to music while you write?  If so, please share your current favorite writing song.
11. Give us a link to your favorite fellow indie author’s book, so that we can build our reading lists!

I hope you have fun with these questions if you decide to use them, and comment with a link below, so others can see!   Please come back next week, when I’ll be reviewing Catherine Dougherty’s novel “In Polyester Pajamas” ... a light-hearted look at two unlikely best friends in their fifties as they grow old but refuse to grow up.
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Until next time, I remain your hostess,