Internet Legend: Liebster Award Post

I haven't seen one of these things in ages. Memes like this were all the rage when I started blogging. I was tagged in this by Natasha over at Thirty Nerdy Fabulous the other day. As I'm severely lacking for blogging motivation, this will serve as a nice kick in the pants to get a blog post written.

The questions (and my answers):

1) Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote? Whether it was a short story, poem, song lyrics, whatever? How old were you?

I wrote a kids' picture book in 9th grade honors English. (I think. It may have been 8th grade English.) We had to write a story and put it together like a book somehow. Our "books" were donated to some hospital or charity or something. I wrote it and had my very art-talented brother illustrate it. Loads of extra credit. Just don't ask me what the story was about. I have no idea.

In thinkinga bout it, though, this may not have been first. If it was 9th grade English, the poetry book we wrote may have come first. Awful poems.

2) What is your guilty pleasure in the writing world? That thing we know we shouldn't want, but can't seem to get enough of.

Twitter

3) Star Trek or Star Wars?

I thought I'd blogged about this on here before. I'm firmly in the camp of liking what I want and as much as I want. So both. Both is good. They're equally good for their own reasons. I don't buy into the argument that you can only like one and not the other and if you like the "wrong" one you're somehow less of a geek.

4) If there was one book/article/whatever you would suggest an aspiring author read - what would it be?

I'd recommend they find out what their learning style is and find something that helps them learn the way they learn best. I'm a visual learner, so I learn a lot about writing from watching television and movies.

5) What show/movie are you a fangirl of?

I know I've blogged my OTP lists and fandom lists before. (Probably on Tumblr.) But to recap the main ones: Once Upon a Time, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Star Trek (obviously), Star Wars (obviously), Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, The West Wing, Intelligence, Harry Potter, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Will also throw in Legend of Zelda here just for good measure.)

6) Are you for self publishing or traditional?

I'm for whatever fits your personality and your project. Me, I know I don't have the personality for self-publishing so I'm going to stick it out on the traditional side. But I have friends who self-publish and I have friends who have started to mix both in their careers.

7) What is your one pet peeve that drives you mad in books?

Deus ex machina. (I'm looking at you Twilight). When something that should be a huge stumbling block for the main character isn't. (Or the opposite.) It's a mechanic dating back to Ancient Greece (or even earlier, perhaps) and it's stuck around and persisted so long because it's convenient. A writer paints themselves into a corner and throws the rule book out the window to solve the problem.

8) Do you have any rituals (ie turning around in a circle three times, a specific snack you must have, a blood sacrifice to the muses) that you perform before you sit down to write?

No. Sometimes I'll turn on music while I write, other times not. Just depends on my mood and what I'm writing. Twitter's usually up in the background and I might have a second browser window minimized for research purposes, but otherwise it's just butt in chair (or bed) and fingers on the keyboard.

9) What are the top three songs on your writing playlist at this moment?

When I listen to music while writing I just put my entire iTunes library on shuffle. My library is on the songs setting and sorted by album so I guess that would make it "Mamma Mia!", "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "Super Trouper" from an A*Teens album. (Shut up.)

10) Which decade have you been displaced from? In other words, in another life were you possible a flapper in the 20s or a hippie in the 70s? Big hair in the 80s? Rockabilly in the 50s?

Um... Regency would be my guess. Except that I'm far too liberal minded for that era. But I like the clothes from that era and from 1770s-1780s England. Also from 1900s to 1910s England. So basically I just probably should have been born in England sometime.

11) List/show the five favorite things on your desk right now.

There's nothing on my desk right now that would be anything special. But I do have a TARDIS cookie jar in my room alongside a teddy bear dressed like a guard from the Tower of London.

I'd tag people on this, but since no one reads this any more I'm not sure there's a point. Thanks, Natasha, for asking the questions. It was interesting trying to answer them!