I’ve seen the Liebster Award on a couple blogs I visit from time to time – but I honestly never expected that someone would nominate me for it! This award recognizes blogs with 200 followers or less, and allows each nominee to “pay it forward” to other up-and-coming blogs. So, I owe a huge THANK YOU to The Parasite Guy for nominating my site for a Liebster Award. I really appreciate it!

What do bloggers need to do when they receive a Liebster Award?

1. Accept the award, post the Liebster Award logo at the top of your post, and link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the 11 questions provided.
3. List 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Ask 11 questions (different from the ones you were asked) for your Liebster Award nominees.
5. Nominate 11 other people / blogs, and inform them of the award.

11 Questions

Here are the 11 questions that The Parasite Guy asked his nominees, and my answers to those questions.

1. What is your favorite book of all time?

I honestly can’t pick only one book – because I love too many! So, if I may, I’ll list one or two favorites of the different genres I read (which you’ll read about more when I answer Question #2):

• Fantasy: Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea cycle, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
• Poetry: Mary Oliver‘s New And Selected Poems, Volumes 1 and 2
• Craft of Writing: Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldritch, and A Writer’s Book Of Days by Judy Reeves
• Spirituality / Self-Help: Gratitude And Beyond: Five Insights For A Fulfilled Life and The Path Of Synchronicity, both by Allan G. Hunter
• Historical Fiction: The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran, Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin, and Island Of The Blue Dolphins and Black Star Bright Dawn by Scott O’Dell
• Other Fiction: The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, The Hunger Games by Susan Collins

You can find more favorite books listed in the About page of this website.

2. Do you have any preferred genres? If so, what are they?

Of course. 😉 Fantasy is my favorite genre, followed by poetry and the craft of writing. And when scanning over my bookshelves, I see I also have quite a few books of science fiction, spirituality / self-help, and historical fiction. But I enjoy reading most kinds of literary genres. If it tells a good story and has believable and relatable characters, chances are I’ll like it.

3. Why do you write?

The short answer: I write because I must. It’s my purpose in life, my most valuable means of self-expression, and my way of contributing to the world. If I didn’t write, all of these ideas and thoughts would hover in my head, clamoring for a way out. I write to let those creatures loose. And I feel the utmost sense of satisfaction and reward when I do.

The longer answer: Click here to read my creative prose piece, “Lifeblood.” It was published in the 2009 anthology More Great Writing By People You’ve Never Heard Of and discusses (in an abstract way) why writing is a vital part of my life.

4. How critical do you tend to be when you read?

It depends on how engrossed I am by the book I’m reading. The more I enjoy it, the less critiquing I do while reading it – and, therefore, the faster I tear through it! The opposite is true as well: My reading speed slows down if I notice more flaws in a story. On a related note, I’ve found recently that I’ve become more critical when reading as I’ve gotten older. Just about anything catches my attention: the dialogue that the author uses for his/her characters, the author’s writing style, the relationships between characters, even my own reactions or connections with the characters. My guess is that my experience as a music reviewer is creeping into other parts of my life. I don’t know how to be subjective anymore. (Ha ha!)

5. Approximately what proportion of your day is spent on WordPress?

Not very much, to be honest. I can’t measure the time by the number of hours per week, not per day. Maybe a maximum of a couple (2 or 3) hours per week? That’s why I treat my “blog” more like a website. I need time to work on my reviews, poems, and other creative projects. Blogging takes time away from those tasks. So I sometimes go for several days without logging into WordPress. Any time I spend on WordPress is for posting my blog entries (which are usually drafted out in Microsoft Word in advance), updating my static content and widgets, and visiting handful of favorite blogs by other bloggers.

6. Do you have pets?  If so, what kind are they?

No pets. My younger brother and I had fish as pets when we were kids. We also took care of a baby turtle one summer. (It would have been run over by a car if my brother hadn’t saved it!) That’s about it.

7. What is your favorite sport to watch?

Football! American football, that is. I do watch my local professional baseball, basketball, and hockey teams on TV every now and then (though I can’t stand it when hockey players fight). I also go to two or three New England Revolution (local professional soccer team) home games every year, and I enjoy watching the Olympics. But when it’s football season, I watch every New England Patriots game without fail.

8. What is more important: love or friendship?

I believe both qualities go hand in hand. But I don’t think you can have friendship without love, regardless of whether that love is platonic or romantic. Many kinds of love exist in our world: parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, between significant others, between other relatives, etc. In my opinion, though, none of these relationships can survive without both people providing equal amounts of certain qualities – and love is one of those qualities.

9. If you could live in a world without money, would you?  Why?

Sure! As someone who watches her budget and prefers saving or spending, I a) imagine a world without money would be liberating and b) would manage fairly well in such a world. Where can I get a ticket?

10. What is your favorite food?

If you’re looking for my favorite type of food, I’d say Italian. If you’re looking for specifics… well, where to start and where to end! I love strawberries, pineapple, chocolate, peanut butter, salad, chicken parmesan, cheese, raspberries, mangoes, apples, ice cream… Just to name a few!

11. Who is you favorite fictional symbiont / parasite?

That’s an interesting question. The only parasitic character I can think of would be Voldemort, the primary villain of the Harry Potter books. Interestingly enough, the main antagonist species in my in-progress fantasy novel is also parasitic. But I won’t say more about that for now. 😉

11 Random Facts

And now, here are 11 random facts about myself.

1. My favorite flowers are hydrangea, orchids, and fuchsia.
2. I love collecting journal books for writing poems, and I view the covers of the journals I pick as an extension of my personality.
3. My first car was a dark green 1994 Mercury Sable that I inherited from my parents.
4. I love taking long walks outside – but I find yard work boring.
5. I adore fleece and microfleece. Pajamas, jackets, blankets – they’re all so comfortable when they’re made from that material!
6. My parents almost named me Alyssa Lauren Letourneau. They decided against it because of all of the letter L’s.
7. I am very competitive when I play Uno. And I mean “very.”
8. I dislike Kindles and other kinds of e-readers – so much that I’ll probably be one of the last people on Earth to give up printed books for electronic versions.
9. When I was a child, I loved weird food combinations like French fries with honey and waffles with peanut butter. (I don’t eat either now, in case you’re wondering!)
10. Also when I was a child, I named my first two stuffed teddy bears Chocolate (because he was brown and white) and Strawberry (because she was pink and white).
11. Spring is my favorite season.

11 Questions for My Liebster Award Nominees

Coming up with this list was tough – maybe my interviewing “muscles” have started to atrophy. But here are the 11 questions I thought of for my Liebster Award nominees:

1. What book are you currently reading?
2. Do you read any poetry – and if so, who are your favorite poets?
3. What is your favorite “escape”? (A vacation spot, a place to go and do your creative work, etc.)
4. What song (either instrumental or with vocals) left an intense emotional impact on you the first time you heard it?
5. Are you an early worm or a night owl?
6. If you could pick any meal for dinner tonight, what would it be?
7. What is your favorite word at the moment?
8. What is your favorite social media website?
9. Describe the room you’re sitting in right now.
10. If you had a newspaper in front of you, what section would you read first?
11. Name one thing you are grateful for, regardless of whether it’s tangible or intangible, great or small.

My 11 Nominees

Last, but certainly not least, here are my 11 nominees for the Liebster Award! They’re listed in alphabetical order.

1. 1WriteWay
2. A Writer’s Notepad
3. Bella’s Blog
4. Keep Calm And Write On
5. Positive Energy Works
6. Reflective Words In Text And Sound
7. Summer Yuuki
8. The Book Lover’s Boudour
9. The May Diamond
10. Vision, Voice, and Views
11. Young Adult Fiction

Coming Soon: Depends on what I finish first. 😉 I have two more reviews in progress for Sonic Cathedral (Misth’s Rise Of A New Day, and Edenbridge’s The Bonding). I’m also planning to post another “Recent Reads” article when I finish the book I’m currently reading. As for “Chronicling The Craft,” that’s coming as well but not for a couple weeks. May has been extremely busy month for my poetry and for me personally, so I haven’t worked on my novel-in-progress as much as I would’ve liked. But time will come around for it, I’m sure.

Until then,

Sara