I've pretty much allowed my blogging to take a back seat to 'life as she needs to be lived' since the April Blogging A-Z Challenge finished and then, I woke up way too early this morning to Gina Stoneheart's comment on my previous post. Thank you so very much, Chrys, I'm humbled to have been nominated by you with your other 10 exceptional nominees.
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).
So, here we go:
1.
I’m a Christian or, as one of my
friends so aptly named it, ‘A Follower of The Way’.
2.
I was such a ‘girly girl’ when I was
growing up. While all the other girls
were playing netball and hockey, I was passionately doing ballroom dancing.
3.
Later I made up for not playing
sport and (even at my tremendous height of 5’ nothing) I played college
basketball and, well into my forties, action cricket. Now, two decades later, I walk for exercise.
4.
I’m accident-prone. I blame this on my having ridiculously small
UK-size 3 feet which are not feet at all and should, more accurately, be called
‘inches’.
5.
Through my late passion for sport,
I’ve torn and snapped more ligaments and muscles than I thought a human body
possessed.
6.
My first choice of career, at about
age six I think, was to be doctor. My high
school course subjects were chosen with this in mind. That career disappeared down the laboratory
sink when, in Standard 8 (Grade 10) we had to dissect a frog. Now any semblance of medical knowledge is
restricted to first aid.
7.
I have three adult children, two of
whom have wonderful spouses and my youngest who is engaged to an equally
wonderful young lady. My sons started a
band called, Two Steps Left in which my youngest is the lead singer and rhythm
guitarist and my eldest is the bassist.
8.
I rescue animals and people know
that, if I can, I’ll help. I currently
have three rescue canine furchildren – Patrick the Yorkie; Angus the Scotty;
and Castiel (named by my son), the Spaniel>
I also have five feline furchildren, the youngest of which is a feral
rescue, Paisley, named for his beautiful markings and the fact that he keeps
his tail curled up like a piglet – too cute.
Sadly, Paisley’s sister escaped and I never found her again. My eldest is Max, who is nearly 20 years old
and who is now becoming very frail. The
other three are my two pure black beauties, Panda and Cole and Oliver, my
previous feral rescue.
9.
I love poetry and other writing and
am trying to get the last two chapters of my first long story, Escape From Mount
Vilipend, out of my head where they’ve been stuck for the longest time. I suspect this might have a lot to do with
not really believing that the work is any good but I do need to finish it.
10.
I love to travel and would spend all
my time writing and travelling or writing while travelling if it were possible.
11.
I’m passionate about helping people
and have started a business assisting myself and other people to develop an
asset base of passive income.
My 11 Nominees, who may have more followers than I can discern, are:
- Nick Wilford of Scattergun Scribblings
- Sam Farkas of Dizzy With Words
- Liz Blocker of Writing a Novel
- J E O'Neil of Still Writing
- Rebecca Giltrow of Rebecca Writes
- Damaria Senne and Pamela Moeng of Storypot (1 to go for 100)
- Elizabeth Sarah of Fashion and Figure Skating
- Sharon Bradshaw of Hope and Dreams
- Kat of A Writer's Musings
- Valerie Storey at Writing at Dava Books
- Untethered Realms
And
my answers to the 11 Questions are:
1. If you were allowed to read books by only one author, who
would it be and why?
A. The Late James Oliver Rigney, Jr,
whose pen name for his Wheel of Time Epic Fantasy series was Robert
Jordan. I have read and reread this
series and never tire of it. To me that
is the mark of a master-author.
2. What is your favourite dessert?
A. Meringues of any sort and in any
combination. Mmmmm.
3. On a Friday night, what are you most likely to do?
A. At home doing nothing
spectacular. I enjoy being at home.
4. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it
be and why?
A. I would be confident within
myself because ‘faking it’ becomes tiring after a while.
5. Who is your favourite literary character? (You can pick one
hero and one heroine.)
A. This is a difficult one. Esther of the Bible must be my female heroine
for her courage in saving her people; and Aragorn from Lord of The Rings for
his strength (physical and mental) and humility – a combination I very much
admire.
6. What is your biggest dream?
A. I probably answered this in my
random facts above. I want to be
financially free enough to experience the different cultures of the world and
write – not about them but using them as catalysts for either poems or novels.
7. What song could you listen to over and over again?
A. A number of songs actually – the
most notable being - Royal Falcon by Parrish and Toppano; Barcelona by Queen;
Dance With You by Live; Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World; anything by my sons’
band, Two Steps Left.
8. If your house were burning down, what would you take and
why?
A. My animals. Everything else is replaceable. My writing is saved in the cloud and that’s
important.
9. Who is your inspiration, your hero?
A. Sarah Palin - without a
doubt. This lady was an exceptional
Governor who, when she was nominated as Presidential Vice Presidential
Candidate enjoyed an 82% favourability rating across both parties. Her achievements are legend and yet she was
vilified and even the church in which she worshipped was torched by political
opponents who tried to destroy her. They
didn’t, she survived and thrived which I believe had a lot to do with her
unwavering and unshakeable faith in Jesus in whose name there is infinite
power.
10. What advice would you give your teenage self?
A. Not everyone who appears to want
the best for you, does. Protect your
heart If you have any doubt, don’t!
11.If you were not in your current
line of work, what would you be doing instead?
A. Retired because retirement has
nothing to do with age, it’s a dynamic of finance.
My Questions to my nominees:
These are random questions and will
not give you even the slightest inkling of what your personality is. Choose the one which appeals most to you and
give a few words on why.
1.
Company or solitude?
2.
Cats or dogs?
3.
Reading or listening?
4.
Flying or sailing?
5.
Lead or follow?
6.
Urban or rural?
7.
Mountains or sea?
8.
Straight or circular?
9.
Alphabetical or numerical?
10.
Left or right?
11.
Crunchy or smooth?
