I was invited by talented British author E. L. Lindley @LindleyE to take part in the Liebster Blog. This is the mission I was set:
(a) List 11 random facts about myself.
(b) Answer 11 questions set for me.
(c) Come up with 11 questions to ask other authors.
(d) Nominate and tag 11 other authors for this award.
Here's my 11 random facts about myself:
1. I don’t drink tea or coffee
2. I can’t swallow tablets.
3. I’m a chocoholic. Sadly, my scales can verify that fact. Even before I’ve finished chewing, I have the next piece lined up to pop into my mouth.
4. I love elephants and dream of seeing them in the wild on the plains of Africa one day. In the meantime, I have a vast herd of my own – eli ornaments, clothes, belts, bags, jewellery.
5. I held my school’s sausage-eating record. I ate 26 in one sitting.
6. I can’t put my face under the shower since I nearly drowned in the Atlantic when on holiday in Tenerife.
7. The movie Jaws scared me so much, I won’t swim in the sea anymore.
8. I’ve never smoked and can’t bear to be anywhere near cigarette smoke. But I love the smell of wood smoke.
9. It took me three goes to pass my driving test.
10. I am fascinated with the history of the American West and am learning Lakota Sioux.
11. My left foot is bigger than my right.
These are the 11 questions I was set:
1. If you were to be banished to a desert island with only one book, one
piece of music and a luxury item, what would they be?
Book: Lonesome Dove. Music: Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean (it’s one of the few songs I can dance to and it would help keep me fit). Luxury item: a limitless supply of paper and pencils.
2. If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would
it be?
Have confidence and believe in yourself more. Reach for the stars.
3. Have you ever had a crush on a literary character?
Yes, Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
4. Which is your favourite season and why?
Autumn. As much as I like to be warm, I love this season with its vivid
foliage, from red to yellow.
5. What’s your most treasured possession?
My eyesight. I’ve been short sighted since I was about nine and it has plagued my life. In my teens, I’ve missed buses because I couldn’t read the number and struggled to see the blackboard at school (both because I was too vain to wear my milk bottle bottom glasses). I’ve said hello to strangers and ignored friends because I couldn’t see them properly – and I once jumped into a car with a blurry stranger who stopped at a bus stop to give me a lift. I thought I knew him. That was verrrrrry embarrassing. I also cracked my head on a tree playing golf and was at risk of two detached retinas. That scared the living daylights out of me. My eyesight is bad but I treasure what I have.
6. Who has been the most influential person in your life?
My late father. I loved him to bits. He was a power station engineer and worked shifts. But no matter how little sleep he got, he invested his time in myself and my brother. He encouraged the creative side in me. As a kid, I wrote stories on a toy typewriter, he put the pages into a book for me and added illustrations. I was his princess and he made me feel safe and loved. Often, when quite little, I would fall asleep in a chair and he would lift me up in his strong arms and carry me upstairs to bed. You can’t buy that feeling of being treasured. I loved my mother, too. But I was a "daddy’s little girl"
7. Which film or TV programme would you urge people to watch?
My favourite film of all time is Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are just brilliant. Guaranteed to make me laugh my socks off. I love it so much, I’m going to share it. Here’s a link to a trailer: http://bit.ly/cTOytJ
8. What’s your pet hate?
It’s a toss up between people dropping litter and parking in disabled spaces.
9. If you had a time machine for a day, where would you go?
There’s lots of places and times I’d like to visit. As much as I would like to go back and eradicate many cruel maniacs who have brought misery to others, I believe changing history could mess up the present and the future. So I’d jump in my DeLorian and cram as much of this in as possible: I’d go for a ride on a Viking Longship; visit The Palace of Versailles and dance with The Sun King, Louis X1V; be a fly on the wall at The Battle of The Little Big Horn; and sip Spanish wine and go to the Running of The Bulls in Pamplona with Hemingway. I’d also like to meet my two grandfathers, who died before I was born, and go back and tell my dad how much I loved and appreciated him.
10. As a reader, what’s your favourite genre and is this reflected in your own writing?
I love historical fiction. This hasn’t influenced my writing because my books to date are animal fantasies for children. Though, I do have an historical romance that I’m burning to write. But first, I’ve just finished the first draft of a sequel to my children novel, ANTics and an idea for another animal fantasy has gripped my imagination. What goes on with these talking animals? They’ve taken over my life.
11. Try and pitch your book to readers in five sentences.
Reviewers have described ANTics as "cool" "clever", "entertaining" and "hard to put down". It’s is a fun fantasy for ages 7+ about three young ants’ scary adventures fleeing the clutches of the world’s craziest spider, who has threatened to turn them into ant soup. Their antics will keep you oohing and aahing as they try to outrun and outsmart the monster. It’s packed with funny incidents and hair raising incidents, but also addresses issues like bullying, courage and friendship. At the end, there are some interactive suggestions for young readers.
My eleven questions for my own tag team are:
1. What is your earliest memory?
2. What was your favourite toy as a child?
3. Did you read much as a child?
4. Do you prefer to read ebooks, paperbacks or hardbacks?
5. What other interests do you have apart from writing?
6. Who is your biggest fan?
7. If you have a pen name, how did you choose it? If you haven't, what pen name would you choose?
8. What's your favourite word?
9. What inspired you to write your first book?
10. How did you come up with the title?
11. Can you tell us a little about your latest writing project.
Here’s the link to E.L Lindley’s Blog and I will keep you posted with the links of anybody who agrees to take up the challenge:
tinyurl.com/7pu6zcc
Thanks for reading and don't forget to keep reaching for the stars.
(a) List 11 random facts about myself.
(b) Answer 11 questions set for me.
(c) Come up with 11 questions to ask other authors.
(d) Nominate and tag 11 other authors for this award.
Here's my 11 random facts about myself:
1. I don’t drink tea or coffee
2. I can’t swallow tablets.
3. I’m a chocoholic. Sadly, my scales can verify that fact. Even before I’ve finished chewing, I have the next piece lined up to pop into my mouth.
4. I love elephants and dream of seeing them in the wild on the plains of Africa one day. In the meantime, I have a vast herd of my own – eli ornaments, clothes, belts, bags, jewellery.
5. I held my school’s sausage-eating record. I ate 26 in one sitting.
6. I can’t put my face under the shower since I nearly drowned in the Atlantic when on holiday in Tenerife.
7. The movie Jaws scared me so much, I won’t swim in the sea anymore.
8. I’ve never smoked and can’t bear to be anywhere near cigarette smoke. But I love the smell of wood smoke.
9. It took me three goes to pass my driving test.
10. I am fascinated with the history of the American West and am learning Lakota Sioux.
11. My left foot is bigger than my right.
These are the 11 questions I was set:
1. If you were to be banished to a desert island with only one book, one
piece of music and a luxury item, what would they be?
Book: Lonesome Dove. Music: Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean (it’s one of the few songs I can dance to and it would help keep me fit). Luxury item: a limitless supply of paper and pencils.
2. If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would
it be?
Have confidence and believe in yourself more. Reach for the stars.
3. Have you ever had a crush on a literary character?
Yes, Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
4. Which is your favourite season and why?
Autumn. As much as I like to be warm, I love this season with its vivid
foliage, from red to yellow.
5. What’s your most treasured possession?
My eyesight. I’ve been short sighted since I was about nine and it has plagued my life. In my teens, I’ve missed buses because I couldn’t read the number and struggled to see the blackboard at school (both because I was too vain to wear my milk bottle bottom glasses). I’ve said hello to strangers and ignored friends because I couldn’t see them properly – and I once jumped into a car with a blurry stranger who stopped at a bus stop to give me a lift. I thought I knew him. That was verrrrrry embarrassing. I also cracked my head on a tree playing golf and was at risk of two detached retinas. That scared the living daylights out of me. My eyesight is bad but I treasure what I have.
6. Who has been the most influential person in your life?
My late father. I loved him to bits. He was a power station engineer and worked shifts. But no matter how little sleep he got, he invested his time in myself and my brother. He encouraged the creative side in me. As a kid, I wrote stories on a toy typewriter, he put the pages into a book for me and added illustrations. I was his princess and he made me feel safe and loved. Often, when quite little, I would fall asleep in a chair and he would lift me up in his strong arms and carry me upstairs to bed. You can’t buy that feeling of being treasured. I loved my mother, too. But I was a "daddy’s little girl"
7. Which film or TV programme would you urge people to watch?
My favourite film of all time is Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are just brilliant. Guaranteed to make me laugh my socks off. I love it so much, I’m going to share it. Here’s a link to a trailer: http://bit.ly/cTOytJ
8. What’s your pet hate?
It’s a toss up between people dropping litter and parking in disabled spaces.
9. If you had a time machine for a day, where would you go?
There’s lots of places and times I’d like to visit. As much as I would like to go back and eradicate many cruel maniacs who have brought misery to others, I believe changing history could mess up the present and the future. So I’d jump in my DeLorian and cram as much of this in as possible: I’d go for a ride on a Viking Longship; visit The Palace of Versailles and dance with The Sun King, Louis X1V; be a fly on the wall at The Battle of The Little Big Horn; and sip Spanish wine and go to the Running of The Bulls in Pamplona with Hemingway. I’d also like to meet my two grandfathers, who died before I was born, and go back and tell my dad how much I loved and appreciated him.
10. As a reader, what’s your favourite genre and is this reflected in your own writing?
I love historical fiction. This hasn’t influenced my writing because my books to date are animal fantasies for children. Though, I do have an historical romance that I’m burning to write. But first, I’ve just finished the first draft of a sequel to my children novel, ANTics and an idea for another animal fantasy has gripped my imagination. What goes on with these talking animals? They’ve taken over my life.
11. Try and pitch your book to readers in five sentences.
Reviewers have described ANTics as "cool" "clever", "entertaining" and "hard to put down". It’s is a fun fantasy for ages 7+ about three young ants’ scary adventures fleeing the clutches of the world’s craziest spider, who has threatened to turn them into ant soup. Their antics will keep you oohing and aahing as they try to outrun and outsmart the monster. It’s packed with funny incidents and hair raising incidents, but also addresses issues like bullying, courage and friendship. At the end, there are some interactive suggestions for young readers.
My eleven questions for my own tag team are:
1. What is your earliest memory?
2. What was your favourite toy as a child?
3. Did you read much as a child?
4. Do you prefer to read ebooks, paperbacks or hardbacks?
5. What other interests do you have apart from writing?
6. Who is your biggest fan?
7. If you have a pen name, how did you choose it? If you haven't, what pen name would you choose?
8. What's your favourite word?
9. What inspired you to write your first book?
10. How did you come up with the title?
11. Can you tell us a little about your latest writing project.
Here’s the link to E.L Lindley’s Blog and I will keep you posted with the links of anybody who agrees to take up the challenge:
tinyurl.com/7pu6zcc
Thanks for reading and don't forget to keep reaching for the stars.
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