Liebster Award

I’ve been nominated for an award! I even took the time to figure out links with my mildly Luddite technical abilities to thank the guy who did it. Len, keeper of the Kraken’s Wake, was kind enough to nominate my rather humble blog for this award. I saw it somewhere else, but now I can’t seem to find the main site. After I post it’s hunting time. Until then, it’s time to answer these questions!

Oops, first, I hunted down rules, because I knew there were some. Here they are.

Here are the Liebster Blog Award Rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger has set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

About me

1) I went to Italy and it transformed me. In the past month most of that was undone, but at least I have a starting point. I created an entire story based on me getting past my own “female” dependency issues.

2) I wear my emotions on my sleeves. There are few times where I truly hide information because I just don’t see the point of it. If I’m honest with you up front you know what you’re getting, down the road you don’t look at me funny and think, “Who are you?”

3) I love to table top role play. I think it’s one of the greatest gifts this world has ever seen. It combines creativity, problem solving, and a love for storytelling. I can’t wait to do this with my kids.

4) I’m Christian, LCMS to be specific. My brothers are both pastors (well one will be soon), my nephew is my godchild, and I believe I’ve been blessed with great things in this life, even through the painful lessons I learn from time to time.

5) The book I’m trying to get published, the Devotion of Kelst and Ayne, was not the book I wanted to first publish. I wanted to hold onto that for a bit so that when it released I was a stronger writer and it was edited and written better than my first novels.

6) I love when it’s cold enough out my beard freezes. I feel alive with how the air is hard to bring into my lungs, trying to push against the winds, crystals forming on my face, eyes starting to freeze and blur. It’s just an exhilarating feeling.

7) I am considered our office’s spell check, but I still use a dictionary a lot. I cling to spell check. It’s not that my spelling is atrocious, just sometimes my fingers move too fast, strike the wrong keys, so on and so forth. At other times, I know there’s a word out there for what I need, so I have to whip out the thesaurus. I cheat on both of these. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I picked up a physical dictionary.

8) I don’t read as often as I should. I know it will improve my own writing, I know I gained incredible insight from Game of Thrones, but at the end of the day, I just really like creating. I get it, though, if I don’t look at the canvas others painted upon, I can’t come up with inspiration for my own. I’m trying to use Good Reads to force me into reading more.

9) I really enjoy video games, but I haven’t been playing them all too often lately. I just haven’t had time to. My favorite games are rpgs. It’s like interacting with a novel if they’re done right. I do feel this generation’s rpgs are greatly lacking in quality, though.

10) If I could be a supernatural creature I would likely be a faerie. The dreaming is amazing, glamour is great, the whimsical nature is refreshing. There’s something about them I just love. It feels we’re getting back more to the originals, but for a while there, you said faerie, and everyone heard fairy. The fae were not kind creatures. They were creatures of incomprehensible desire.

11) I like women. Some people look at art. Others go to the opera. I find God made women in such a way they are art. And if there is a woman in my life, she is the biggest painting right in the center, and the others are nice trinkets. But currently it’s more like a gallery.

1) If you had to pick a color that you would no longer be able to see; what color would it be and why?

Yellow. As a Green Lantern fanboy it can’t hurt me if I can’t see it, right?

2) All time favorite villain and why?

Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. Let’s get all my fanboy tendencies out there. He was cryptic, he was trying to do everything he could for “mother” (or at least her head), he introduced me to a great deal of Japanese sword mythology, and he was such a powerful bad guy you spend almost the entire game not even fighting him: you’re just fighting his under powered clone and it’s kicking your butt.

3) Favorite video on YouTube?

Still exposing the fanboy in me…. War of Change AMV using Soul Eater. Posted it a while back, the song just really resonates with me right now and the anime is unbelievably awesome. I usually just go to YouTube for AMVs and songs I specifically want to listen to.

4) If you could shift into an animal form, or some hybrid of animal and human (like the therians from my stories) what animal would you change into?

Hybrid of a fox, the kitsune Japanese thing. They’re sly, sexy (or should I say foxy? Oh ho ho.), and just look cool. I mean, fox fur is so soft, I could just pet myself when I felt down.

5) What is your favorite sports team and why?

Green Bay Packers. I don’t follow many sports, but I do love the Packers. Something cool about a publicly owned team and just the general attitude of the players.

6) What is your nervous habit?

My newest nervous habit is I chew the inside of my mouth. It’s painful. I hate it and it’s pretty constant. I’ve had it for about a month. I’ve said Thursday I won’t acknowledge the reason why until next Friday.

7) Who was your favorite Star Wars character and why?

Padme. I love Natalie Portman, the love story is ever so tragic, and she wears a tight white outfit that gets ripped up a bit.

8) What do you hope to gain by writing your blog?

A new job. Fame, fortune, women, immortality, everything Shakespeare wanted. Also, would love to just get my ideas out there to others. I think they’re brilliant or I wouldn’t write them. On a more emotional note, it’s also my vent. For everything happening to me recently, it’s where I can just blast a space with everything I’m feeling, something in days to come I can look back at and remember where I was and see where I am.

9) What was your favorite toy when you were a child?

NES. I shattered my nose as a small boy, and so mom and dad bought me an NES since I couldn’t do anything for two weeks. I slept in the living room and just flipped on the system whenever I wanted. I was five or six at the time.

10) Of the four elements (fire,water,earth,air) which best describes you and why?

On most days, I resonate with earth. Stability, dependability, and providing a pillar for others.

11) If you had a mutant ability, what would you want it to be and why?

Time manipulation. I could get more writing done, make all my customers happy at work, and not look at the end of the day thinking “How am I getting all of this in?” Also, who can hit someone moving as fast as the Flash, but exerting so much less effort? Just walk through the battle field flicking their foreheads.

 

That ends the first two harrowing parts! Now onto the final: my nominations of others. From what I can tell I’m looking for under 200 readership, so here goes (in no specific order):

1) Tobias M. He’s insightful with how to write and create. I like his writings. He’s a bit borderline on his following, but lets give him love.

2) Christine H. I know Len nominated you, but I’d feel bad if I didn’t nominate you as well. I love your writing, your creativity, and the self improvement sections.

3) Shareenayoub. I’m not sure your following. Looks like it could be pretty substantial. Funny lady. Everyday life events turned into epics.

4) Venom is a real life friend going through interesting times alongside me. So here is her blog. Give her love.

5) John T has had an interesting go of trying to get published, but has made it into a humorous joke. Perhaps one day he can get the love letters published.

6) Dennis J. Lots of awesome art.

7) S.M. Welles. Kind of a cool story of success and still climbing that ladder most of us are trying to reach.

8) DJ. Who can’t get behind some sci fi on Venus?

9) Gina. She was my editor. Now she’s trying to get published. Motivate her! Just like plaster her blog with “You can do it!”

10) Worldpen has some good articles on how to create stuff for us writers outside of reality.

11) And finally K. Esta. Love supporting the fantasy and sci fi writers.

QUESTIONS!

1) If you could be a supernatural creature, which would you be?

2) What weapon would you use if you were in a combat oriented novel? Guns, swords, maces, all are welcome.

3) What is your favorite genre and why?

4) What genre can you not stand and why?

5) What do you put on a burger? We’re getting close to lunch….

6) If you had to pick wealth, fame, or love (from a lover, we’ll say you have a very loving family), which one and why?

7) Who is the most influential writer to you and why?

8) You get locked in a friend’s bathroom and have to wait for a locksmith to get you out. You have an hour. What do you do?

9) What music do you listen to while writing? Why does that music inspire you?

10) Who is the most supportive person in your life for your writing pursuits?

11) What is one word you write over and over again, and every time it sets off spell check?

Thanks again Len for the nomination! Thanks for everyone who actually answers these. I have to admit, a lot of the people nominated I just went to fantasy and sci-fi and just started poking around. Looks like I found a lot of good future reads, though.