Liebster Award

Kristin Smith nominated me for the Liebster Award! I was thrilled when I found out she picked me along with ten others for this honor, and I have to admit that I never thought I would be selected. My blogging journey has been a long one and the recognition I've received from bloggers recently has left me amazed. Thank you, Kristin! And thank you to all the bloggers who follow me and frequently comment. You make my blog worthwhile. :)

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. The goal is to help people find these blogs that are worthy of a bigger following. In German "Liebster" means kindest, beloved, valued, and welcome.

The current rules for accepting this award are:

1.    List 11 random facts about myself.

2.    Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated me.

3.    Nominate 11 more blogs who have less than 200 followers and let them know they’ve been nominated.

4.    Post 11 new questions for those bloggers to answer (if they wish to accept the award—it’s completely optional).

11 Random Facts about Myself:

1.    If you asked me in high school what I wanted to be, I would’ve said a psychologist or a police officer. I always wanted to be a writer, but no one accepted that as a legitimate career choice.

2.    I have about 61 story ideas I still need to write. And more come all the time!

3.    I am a big fan of the shows Scandal, Once Upon a Time, and Grey’s Anatomy.

4.    My lucky number is 4.

5.    On my left arm is a dragonfly tattoo.

6.    I dream of going to Ireland.

7.    The longest scar I have is 10 inches. (From spine surgery.)

8.    When I drink coffee, it's always decaf.

9.    I own all the Charmed seasons and have marathons whenever I can!

10.  I don’t watch much football, but I am a Green Bay Packers fan.

11.   I’m right handed.

11 Questions from the Blogger who Nominated Me:

1.    What are your favorite pizza toppings?

I could eat a plain cheese pizza and be blissfully happy, but I do like adding pineapple or black olives. And having ranch dressing on the side to dip my pizza in is a must!

2.    Who is your favorite superhero?

I know the popular thing to say is probably Batman, but my favorite is the Man of Steel . . . Superman.

3.    If your house were burning down, what would you take and why?

This is a great question because I think about it a lot, as I live in Florida. My first priority would be to round up my cats. I adopted four kittens last year, and although they are adults now, they are still my babies. Next, I would grab my books—meaning the two backpacks, two boxes, and whatever notebooks I have in my desk drawer. If my stories went up in flames, my life as a writer would cease.

4.    If you had a time machine, what year would you travel to and why?

I answered this question once for PK Hrezo’s blog fest and I said I’d want to go back in time to when I was about five, so I could experience the happiness before life became a struggle. Now, thanks to a story I’m working on between my other WIP, I would say 17^th century England to mingle with pirates and gain more knowledge than all the research available put together. Do you think this trip would qualify as a tax exemption? ;)

5.    What are you afraid of?

Fire. I had a close encounter when I was twelve years old. A brush fire nearly took my home and ever since that flaming, traumatic day, I’ve had a serious fear. 

6.    What's the best book you've read in the past year?

I haven’t read all the books I want to read for this year, but since I must choose no it would be Fearless by Christine Rains. Here is my review if you’d like to read it:

I adore Christine Rains' imagination! An old spirit guide disguised as a stuffed hippo named Tawa? I wouldn't be able to come up with anything more creative if I tried! I love strong heroines and Abigail White, one of the Fearless, is just that with swords and monster-killing abilities. I also love sexy, mysterious heroes and you can't get any better than a tattooed and muscular man named Demetrius of the Darkwood clan. Pointed ears doesn't diminish his hotness in the least. *wink* These two characters are great together. Their banter is extremely entertaining, and their personalities are fun. I haven't read such a great duo in a long time.

Fearless is a fun story full of monsters, lust, mystery and twists. It's now one of my favorite reads. I recommend it to everyone with playful imaginations. 

Fearless is a FREE short story ebook, which you can find HERE. 

7.    What is the best vacation you've ever had?

I haven’t really been on many vacations, but the one that sticks out for me is the only time my family took a vacation together when I was twelve. We went to Fort Lauderdale and stayed in a hotel on the beach that was built in a square around the swimming pool. I learned how to swim in that pool. But my favorite part was sitting on the beach at night with my family and watching the ships sail across the horizon.

8.    What's your biggest pet peeve?

When people don’t rinse off their plates (or bowls). I hate finding plates in the sink with crusted food and dried sauces on it. Ugh! I’m getting mad just thinking about it. haha

9.    What's your favorite love story?

This was tough. I finally decided on A Walk to Remember.

10.  What is the best thing you've done in your life?

I’m not really sure what to say for this one so I guess the best thing I’ve done is . . . live.

11.   List five adjectives to describe yourself.

Determined, creative, friendly, smart, and blonde.

My 11 Nominees:

1.    Natasha Duncan-Drake at Tasha’s Thinkings. Her A to Z was all about vampires and so much fun! 

2.    Sophie Duncan at Sophie’s Thoughts and Fumbles. Natasha and Sophie are twins, but they each have something wonderful to offer! 

3.    Gina Stoneheart at Dawning on a New Day posts the most thought provoking, inspirational posts I’ve ever read!

4.    Stephanie Bird at Stephanie’s Studio is an author and artist. Her blog centers around art, nature, and spirituality. 

5.   David Walston at Blah Blah Blah Yackity Smackity. His posts are always entertaining and his comments never fail to make me laugh. 

6.    Lisa Thomson at Lisa Thomson Live blogs about divorce support. Even if you’re not going through divorce (I’m not) her posts are still empowering.

7.    Holli Moncrieff at A Life Less Ordinary. Every Friday she posts a chapter from her book, Lost. 

8.    Melanie Schulz, author of alternative fiction. She is an amazing writer! 

9.    Sarah Foster at The Faux Fountain Pen is a writer worthy of more followers.

10.   Fe at Felicity Writing Away. She shared beautiful poetry for A to Z that everyone should read.

11.   E.J. Wesley, author. I don’t actually know how many blog followers he has, and for a lack of male bloggers, I’m nominating him anyway!

And the 11 Questions I’m asking them to answer:

1.  If you were allowed to read books by only one author, who would it be and why?

2.  What is your favorite dessert?

3.  On a Friday night, what are you most likely to do?

4.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?

5.  Who is your favorite literary character? (You can pick one hero and one heroine.)

6.  What is your biggest dream?

7.  What song could you listen to over and over again?

8.  If your house were burning down, what would you take and why?

9.   Who is your inspiration, your hero?

10.  What advice would you give your teenage self?

11.  If you were not in your current line of work, what would you be doing instead?