The Real Neat Blog Award

/ saraletourneau

real-neat-blog-award

Heather Jackson and Robin Rivera at WriteOnSisters.com have nominated me for the Real Neat Blog Award! Thank you so much, ladies! WriteOnSisters.com is one of my favorite writing resource blogs. So, regardless of whether you write novels, short stories, or flash fiction, I urge you to check it out at your next chance. 😉

Accepting the Real Neat Blog Award is pretty simple. You answer five questions posed by the person / blog who nominated you, then nominate four or five others and ask them five new questions. Let’s see what Heather and Robin wanted to know!

Question #1: What book, show, or movie do you wish you’d written?

I’ll stick with books – and I love so many books that I’d probably pick a different one the next time I’m asked this question! But right now, the book that comes to mind is Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See. It follows a blind French girl and a German boy forced to enlist in the Hitler Youth as they navigate their rapidly changing lives – and ultimately meet one fateful day – during World War II. I could list a thousand reasons why I love this book: the characters, the sheer amount of research that was required of Doerr… And the writing in general took my breath away. It’s poetry in prose; powerful, vivid, and evocative, yet strikingly concise. It’s a more literary style than what I use in my own work, yet I can’t help but admire Doerr’s command of language. It inspires me to meet the same criteria (powerful, vivid, evocative, and concise) in my own way.

Question #2: If you wrote fan fiction, what would you write for and why? If you already write fan fiction just say why.

I guess now would be the time to confess that my YA fantasy novel The Keeper’s Curse was kinda sorta inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit? *face turns red* But I digress.

If I wrote true fan fiction, it would most likely be for Middle-Earth. I don’t know which characters I’d follow or where exactly I’d go, but Middle-Earth (and therefore Tolkien’s work) was my gateway to fantasy, and I’d probably write my own stories to acknowledge the impact it’s had on me and pay tribute to that world.

Question #3: What famous author (living or dead) would you most want to team up with to write a book?

That’s a tough one. I’m independent by nature, so collaborating with another writer has never crossed my mind… This past week I was reading Laini Taylor’s Blackbringer, though, and I absolutely adore it. Not only is she a genius wordsmith, but she has such a vivid imagination and incredible world-building skills. I think I could learn so much from her. So, yes, Laini Taylor would be my choice.

FYI: I haven’t read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy yet, but I’m planning to get on the first book as soon s I finish Blackbringer. 🙂

Question #4: If you could have one day to use a time machine to go forward or backward in time, where would you go and why?

How about ancient Egypt? Or India before the British invaded in the 19th century? Or the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations? (Speaking of which, I recently visited the Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed exhibit before it left the Boston Museum of Science. Click here to see some photos.) I’ve always been intrigued by ancient and exotic cultures, so I’d love to visit the peaks of those periods to witness everything, from the architecture and the religion, to the clothing and everyday tasks.

Question #5: Have you ever written anything that you wish you hadn’t?

Nope. Anything that I’ve ever written, I’ve made sure to deliver it with thought, care, and fairness. So I can’t say I’ve ever regretted anything I’ve written. The only time I was worried that what I wrote would be taken out of context was a post I wrote here after the Kathleen Hale controversy last year. Luckily it hasn’t.

Nomination Time!

I always struggle with nominations, because I want to spread the love evenly but don’t always know which blogs are award-free. But if I had to choose a few people I haven’t nominated for awards or blog hops before… How about Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff, Tori @ Stori Tori’s Blog, Sanovia @ CreatyveBooks, and Phoenix Grey? Here are your five questions:

  1. What is your favorite book that you’ve read so far this year? Why?
  2. Which literary character do you relate to most? Why?
  3. Pick any fictional world you’d like to visit. What would you do there? Also, what you would avoid doing? 😉
  4. Now, pick one of your favorite places in real life, a place that feels like a second home. What is this place, and why is it special to you?
  5. Share one of your favorite quotes. Why does it resonate with you?

What about you? You don’t have to be a nominee to answer these questions, or the ones that Heather and Robin asked me. Feel free to share your answers below! I always enjoy chatting with you.

24 thoughts on “The Real Neat Blog Award”

  2. Great answers… I’m actually surprised I never saw your Hale article, as that was when my blog blew up last year (I wrote a much lengthier play-by-play that STILL gets about 200 views a month… so shake up the community it did!!)

    Congrats on your nomination. 🙂

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  3. I feel so frivolous…if I had the use of a time machine to go back to ONE day in history, it would be to 1977 on the first day release of Star Wars so I can watch it on the big screen with all those people seeing it for the first time. I’m a huge Star Wars fan but I was born in the 80s and I’ve always wished I could have been around for the craze when it came out 🙂 I know, supremely geeky and like I said, frivolous!

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  5. Enjoyed reading these questions! Time travel, eh? Hmm, I think ancient Egypt, and Israel, or Medieval Europe would be cool! I would go to Maya, but I know the Aztecs and others were sacrificing people at the time (not sure if Maya did or not), so I would be terrified to travel back in time there, lol. 😀

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    • Oh crap. *lol* That’s a good point about the Mayans. Because now that I think about it… yes, like the Aztecs, the Mayans took part in human sacrifices. 😮

      I’d still like to go back to that time, though. Not to live or be an actual Mayan, but to be a “fly on the wall” and observe what their lives were like back then.

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  6. Oh congratulations for the Neat Blog Award – you thoroughly deserve it! I loved the questions – how quirky and imaginative. And I was fascinated with your answers! AND your fab questions!

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  7. Congratulations on the award, and thank you for the nomination. It’s something I am going to do, when I get the chance. 🙂 I liked your answer to the time machine question. I’d be torn between going back and seeing some amazing piece of history, or going back and fixing one of my mistakes in life.And the fan fiction question? I would be too scared to write Tolkien fan fiction, I’d worry to much that it wouldn’t live up to such an amazing world and writing, but it would be one that I would gravitate towards if I ever considered doing fanfiction.

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