The Liebster Award

I was nominated by michaelatorrens for a Liebster Award (thank you, Michaela!). Basically, the Liebster Award is a acknowledgement of the quality of your blog, and also a nomination to answer 11 specified questions. Then, nominate 11 other people, and ask 11 more questions more questions of your own!

So, here are my answers to Michaela’s questions:

1. Why did you start your blog?

To try and connect with the big, wide world. I’m a writer, and so it makes sense for me to get my work out there, and show everybody what I can do!

2. What do you do about writer’s block?

Ah, Writer’s Block…. my nemesis! What can you do, apart from try to push through it? I find music helps me to relax my mind, as does walking in the rain. However, like most people, I do all my best work when I am away from a pen and paper (in the bath, mostly!).

3. If you could spend a day with any author in history, who would it be and why?

Ooooh, good question! A tough one to answer. There are many people I would love to meet, but I reckon if I could meet anyone, I’d want to meet William Blake. His work, his process, the whole works fascinate me.

4. What are your goals for 2015?

Blimey, I’m still thinking in 2014 terms! Well, I’d love to see my work getting out there to a wider audience, perhaps sell a few books, meet a few interesting people…. and, although not technically a ‘goal’, I’d like to meet somebody special.

5. Do you have any unique traditions in your family for the holidays?

Nothing springs to mind, but I suppose we do have a certain way to doing things. For example, no one is allowed to look at the presents before everyone is gathered around the tree on Christmas Day. If you had to go downstairs for some reason, you had to close your eyes when in the vicinity of the presents! Oh, and there’s always a fight for the last of the parsnips… we love a roasted parsnip in our family.

6. What’s the most blatant lie you’ve ever told?

This is going to sound like a copout, but I do try to avoid lying wherever possible… I don’t see the benefit in it. The only real lie I tell that jumps to mind is the lie I tell myself every day – that I feel alright, and I’m going to have a good day, and one day this will all seem laughable. My health is pretty poor at the moment, and so saying I feel “well” is a falsehood most days. However, it’s not a harmful lie, it’s a helpful one, and I’m not ashamed of it. Some days, I almost believe it.

7. While writing, do you smoke marijuana, drink alcohol or participate in any other vice to get your creative juices flowing?

I’m not a drinker but I am a smoker, and I do find that it helps me to think, and to write, more eloquently.

8. How much weight do you put into naming a character that you write?

An awful lot – after all, names are everything. They’re the title you give to that personality, that unique being. They have to fit – or, if they don’t, there has to be a good reason why. I’m terrible for choosing unconventional names… I can’t imagine calling a character John Smith, for example. I’m not exactly sure why that is.

9. Do you have a favourite quote?

My problem is, I have too many – I am often awestruck by the beauty of other’s words. However, if I have to pick just one, I would nominate a statement made by Oscar Wilde: “we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”…

10. Do you prefer to write on paper (and if so, do you prefer a quill, pen or pencil?), or do you prefer writing on a computer?

I must admit to being old-school – I work much better with a pen and paper. All my initial thoughts are written by hand in a journal. Editing, however, is much easier when you’re word-processing, and so the computer is pretty much unavoidable past a certain point.

My 11 questions for my nominees are: