Out of the blue, I was recently (and kindly, I might add) awarded The Liebster Award, by Murees Dupé at
Daily Drama of an Aspiring Writer.Here's how it works:
Liebster Award Rules:1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award and link back to his or
her blog.
2. Answer 11 questions from the presenter; list 11 random facts about
you, and create 11 questions for your nominees. (Whew, this part
is a lot of work, which is why it's taking me awhile to complete.)
3. Present the Liebster Award to 11 bloggers whose blogs have 200
followers or less and whom you feel deserve to be noticed. Leave
a comment on their blog notifying them of your nomination.
4. Upload the Liebster Award to your own blog.
Murees's Questions for Me:1. What is the worst job you ever had?
A laundry I worked in, once. The biggest problem was boredom.2. What is your favorite snack?
Cookies. Any kind. I love them.3. What is your favorite TV series?
Downton Abbey. I confess, I'm hooked.4. Who would you like to meet? (Person could be dead or alive.)
Hmm. Perhaps Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Then I could ask him why he felt his Holmes stories weren't literary.5. If you could be any animal, what would it be?
A dog. They are such noble creatures.6. What are you most grateful for?
My marriage, my extended family, and my friends.7. What do you hate?
I don't hate.8. Do you include exercise into your daily routine?
I should, shouldn't I . . . Does gardening count?9. Do you like animals?
Dogs, cats, horses, for sure. Maybe not octopi.10.What is your favorite season?
Fall, but Spring runs a close second.11.What is your favorite food?
South Indian cuisine. So many delicious dishes. So much variety.
Eleven Random Facts About Me:1. I love to read a good mystery, whether for adults or for children.
2. I love poetry, both reading it and writing it.
3. So, it follows that I hang out at book stores and libraries, right?
4. I love the French Impressionist painters.
5. I'm hooked on the Victorian Era. So much so, that I'm starting a second blog, called,
Victorian Scribbles. It's still in construction, but it should be ready for visits by next week. Take a peek.
6. I love opera. Especially Puccini's operas. Especially
La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, and
Tosca.7. I once nibbled a dog biscuit just to see what the appeal was for my dog. I don't recommend it; not my kind of cookie. Probably not yours, either.
8. One of my ambitions in life is to walk a part of the pilgrimage road in Galicia that leads to Santiago. To get a certificate, you have to walk 100 kilometers on it. (Hmm, maybe I should start exercising. See Murees's question #8.)
9. I drink a cup of hot chocolate every morning. It's a great way to start the day.
10.That said, I'm not particularly keen on chocolate
per se. I mean, I enjoy a piece now and then, but I can have a gift box of chocolates on the shelf for a good six months before its contents are finally gone.
11.Some day I would like to go to Ireland. It's a land that seems (to me) both haunting and haunted.
Here's My List of Questions for My Award Recipients:1. Who is your favorite artist?
2. Favorite author?
3. Have you ever interviewed someone? If so, who? and about what?
4. What is your favorite genre in literature?
5. Do you speak any languages other than English?
6. If you were 19, what career would you choose—the one you did choose, or another?
7. Which deceased author would you most like to meet, and why?
8. Which living author would you most like to meet, and why?
9. What is number one on your bucket list?
10. Do you believe in Hobbits?
11. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
And Here Are My Picks for the Liebster Award:(Go check out their sites; they write good stuff!)1. Rosi Hollinbeck -
The Write Stuff2. JaNay Brown -
JaNay With Words3. Richard Hughes -
Writing and Living by Richard P. Hughes4. Victoria Lindstrom -
Writ of Whimsy5. Julia Hones -
My Writing Life6. Catherine Winn -
The Writing Room7. Julie Luek -
A Thought Grows8. Joanna Marple -
Miss Marple's Musings9. Linda Jackson -
Writers Do Laundry Too10.Shannon Lawrence -
Writing from the Peak11.Kenda Turner -
Words and SuchCiao for now . . .
I've just created a FAQ page (see the header bar above) that should answer all you burning questions, such as Why Caroline by line? Where did the follow button go? and What can I do to get published?
Anything else you're dying to know? Ask away!
Anyone with children will know the ‘why?’ stage. The child discovers that this tiny word can make an adult talk and talk and talk. The child receives undivided attention because the adult loves to show how much he knows.
‘Isn’t the blossom beautiful?’
‘Why.’
‘It’s beautiful so it attracts bees.’
‘Why?’
‘To help make more trees, and more blossom.’
‘Why?’
‘So that...er...would you like some Gummy Bears?’
It goes on forever. The child isn’t really listening, she’s just enjoying the attention, the love that’s being devoted to her.
‘Why?’
Because adults love to explain. Adults want to be able to show they understand and that everything is explicable.
‘Why?’
Because adults fear that not knowing means they are stupid. Or that the child will feel rejected. Adults just love to fill silence with sound.
‘Why?’
Shut up. I don’t know.
Take the recent riots. How many different explanations did we hear? Left wingers giving left wing explanations (cuts; no jobs; the breakdown of the state). Right wingers giving right wing explanations (bad parenting; nanny state; the breakdown of the family). I am sure many of these views could have been given even before the event.
Question: If there was a riot next week what would be the causes?
The right wingers and the left wingers have already made up their minds. The event itself doesn’t have any relevance.
Young children imagine all adults will give similar answers, that the reasons for something happening are easy for us grown ups to understand. The world is black and white. Up until around the age of seven or eight, if you ask a child whether it is wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed a starving family, almost every one will give a categorical ‘yes’. It is wrong to steal. Of course it is.
This is one good very reason for giving children a diet of fiction. Children get to hear inside the heads of other people, even if they aren’t real. These imaginary people can hold views that real people may have. And slowly, a child begins to realise that two characters versions of the same event may be very, very different.
As children begin to explore the territory of what makes us the people we are then they can begin to understand that others may be inflexible, or are not even prepared to listen to evidence before coming to conclusions, that sometimes judgements are clouded by temperament, character or emotion.
It’s a giddy experience, the dawning realisation that there may be fewer certainties in the world.
Why?
It just is. Now go to bed.
Hey guys!
First I want to say, I am so sorry I have neglected going to and commenting on your blogs the last couple of months. I have so missed it and vow to get back into it.
As you can imagine the last 2 months have been totally crazy. I must admit, I was in over my head. I have had a blast but I've been barely keeping my head above water and struggling to get stuff done.
Anyway, I am now back to my regularly scheduled blogs on marketing and indie pubbing.
So today, if you have any suggestions on upcoming topics or any questions on indie pubbing, marketing, my books, or for me in general - please leave them in the comments.
Or you can tell me what you are working on (you know agents stop by here so it's a good way to plug :)
Whoever leaves a question/comment will go into a drawing for your choice of 1 of these 4 prizes:
1) a free book of On The Bright Side
2) a free book of Untraceable
3) a query critique
4) some other books/arcs I have laying around
This is my way of saying thanks for not giving up on me and for all your support :)
So I got a lot of questions yesterday.
Jan Status (Untraceable)
- I've sold approximately 3,600 books to date (from Nov 31st).
- The highest sales are on Amazon. B&N second.
- ebooks account for most of that at 90%.
- Only about 200 paperback.
Winners for Q/A postAll prizes for launch day will be mailed out on Monday.
Karen Adkins, Mandy, Vera and Danielle. Email me at shelli@srjohannes.com to discuss your choice of prize.
1) a free ebook of On The Bright Side
2) a free ebook of Untraceable
3) a query critique
4) some other books/arcs I have laying around. You can choose.
Don't forget to stop by On The Bright Side tour still going on :) There are are some giveaway, prizes, marketing tips, writing tips, character interviews and more.
Answers to your questions
How do you manage your time with everything?
Well I'm glad it LOOKS That way. Because I don't feel like I do. fake it 'til you make it that is my motto. So honestly? I try to schedule the time. 1 hour for interviews, 1 hour to write etc etc. I also have ADHD which comes in handy for multi tasking. I'm also a night owl so I get a lot done after 10 pm. Plus I am having so much fun it doesn't feel like work. But I am tired :)
3 Comments on Answers, Prizes, and Bookanista - Oh My, last added: 2/3/2012
.jpeg?picon=2982)
.jpg?picon=1806)
.jpeg?picon=2058)
![[question-marks.jpg]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XR1fCkahIOU/SfYZ7cYUFUI/AAAAAAAAABE/N_NcW5nU44g/s200/question-marks.jpg)
Thank you, Elizabeth, for this wonderful award! Such a nice surprise. You have some good questions, answers, and personal reveals :)
Thanks for the award, Elizabeth. I always thought working in a laundry would bore me to death. And my daughter ate some doggy treats once to see why the dog liked them. Obviously people and dogs have different tastes in food. :)
Thanks for the award, dear Elizabeth! You have grouped me with some writers whom I truly admire, and some others whom I'll have to get to know. All the best ~ Victoria
Those are some fantastic answers! I love the fact that you start your day off with hot chocolate. I always wanted to know how edible the dog biscuit truly was, but I never had the guts to actually try it. Thank you for participating and congratulations with the award.
Thank you, Elizabeth. It is an honor.
Catherine, glad you liked the questions and reveals. I'm looking forward to reading your answers.
Linda, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the award. I'll be over to read your answers.
Hi Victoria, I am sure they will enjoy getting to know you and your blog as well.
Murees, thanks again for the award. It was a little bit of work, but it was fun.
Hi, Richard, glad you are pleased with the award. I'll look forward to reading your answers and seeing what questions you ask.
I'm so very honored and flattered you thought of me. Thank you very much. The appreciation for blogs and content is mutual and your award is well-deserved. Congratulations.
Thanks, Elizabeth. I had fun reading your answers. I learned a lot about you. We DO have a lot in common by the way. The questions are also good... I'll have to think about the answers.
Thanks so much, Elizabeth, for this fun award. Appreciate you thinking of me :-)
Congrats on your well-deserved award Elizabeth!!
"Maybe not octopi" made me laugh :)
Julie, thanks for stopping by. I hope others will check out your blog.
Julia, I'm looking forward to reading your answers!
Kenda, I agree, it's a fun award. It's really thought provoking.
Thanks for stopping by, Optimistic. Glad I made you laugh! :-)
I hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day Elizabeth!!
Sorry, I am so slow in getting over here to thank you for this kind award, Elizabeth. And, yes, south Indian cuisine is just awesome!
You love opera too. I am off tonight to see Placido Domingo in la Traviata at the Met - wow, a free ticket from someone I met last week.What luck!
Optimistic, I did. Thanks for the good wishes!
Joanna, yes, I SAW on FB that you get to hear this glorious tenor. Traviata is one of my favorite operas, too.