The Starlight Blogger Award

/ saraletourneau

This Award is created to highlight and promote Inspiring Bloggers.

Yup. I’m still catching up with blog tags and awards that I was linked on over the past few months. Today’s comes courtesy of Zezee @ Zezee with Books, and is one I hadn’t heard of before this nomination. The Starlight Blogger Award was created by Caroline @ Yesterday After to celebrate bloggers who inspire us with their creativity. So, thank you very much, Zezee, for your nomination. It means a lot to me. 🙂

Here are the rules for the Starlight Blogger Award:

  1. Thank the giver and link their blog to your post.
  2. Answer Caroline’s three original questions as well as the three new questions your nominator has given to you.
  3. Choose your 6 favorite bloggers and notify them of their nomination! In your nominees, think of “the light emanating from the stars,” the bloggers who truly touch your soul with their work, the ones that are the light for you – a true Starlight Blogger.
  4. Include the logo of the award in a post or on your blog. Also, never alter the logo, and never change the three original questions.

Also, per Caroline’s request, this note must be included in every Starlight Blogger Award post:

The design for the STARLIGHT Bloggers Award has been created from YesterdayAfter is a Copyright image you cannot alter or change it in any way just pass it to others that deserve this award.

Copyright 2015 © YesterdayAfter.com — Design by Carolina Russo

Now, let’s get to the questions! I’ll start with Caroline’s original trio, then go on to Zezee’s.

The Original Starlight Blogger Award Questions (from Caroline @ Yesterday After)

1) If you describe or picture your inner soul, how will you describe it?
Image courtesy of Science Photo Library

Image courtesy of Science Photo Library

I can’t picture it having a specific shape… But I know what its colors would be: mostly violet or indigo, with some magenta, blues, greens, teals, turquoise, with some specks of gold. I actually have a “gemstone” at home that contains all of these colors. It’s commonly known as chalcopyrite, or “peacock ore.” (See the Science Photo Library image on the right.)

Why these colors? Um, well, they’re all colors I love. (*blushes*) I don’t know how else to explain it, but violet and indigo are very “me” colors at the moment. These and a few of the colors mentioned above are also part of the blog’s color palette.

2) What are you working on right now?

Depends on what your definition of “right now” is. 😉 My biggest current writing project is Draft #3 of The Keeper’s Curse, which you can learn more about at the Novels page or through the Chronicling The Craft series. I also have a few blog posts in various stages of being drafted. So, at any given time, I’m working on quite a few things!

3) What is your creative dream project?

I don’t know if I have a single dream project. I want to write more books after The Keeper’s Curse. They would cover a wide range of fantasy subgenres (epic, contemporary, dark, and steampunk, for starters), and would be for teens or adults depending on the protagonist’s age and predicament. I’d also love to teach writing classes in the future – not in an academic setting, but as part of writing conferences, non-for-profit writing programs, or online.

Zezee’s Starlight Blogger Award Questions

1) Suppose you had to write a retelling of a fairy tale. Which fairy tale would you choose? Name one thing in that fairy tale that you would alter.

Hmmmm… the only one I can think of isn’t exactly a fairy tale. But I’d love to write a retelling of The Nutcracker someday. I’d like to watch the ballet performance and re-read the original story first, though. So, right now, the only change I foresee making to the story would be to have it set in modern times. And being a ballet dancer when I was a little girl, I definitely want to incorporate dance into the story. 🙂

2) What is your favorite quote?

It changes all of the time. (*lol*) But here’s one that I’ve loved for a while, and one that needs no explanation.

Song In Your Heart quote

3) What story or poem do you turn to when you’re feeling down? Thoele Confidence cover

I found Sue Patton Thoele’s The Woman’s Book of Confidence wonderfully inspiring and thoughtful. It features short meditations, examples of life experiences, and affirmations that remind women to take care of themselves, use their intuitive wisdom, and overcome fears and anxieties. Talking about Confidence also reminded me that I’ve had Sue’s Woman’s Book of Courage on the backburner recently, so I’ve recently picked it up again and am reading one “meditation” each night.

My Nominees for the Starlight Blogger Award & My Questions for Them

Here are my six nominees for the Starlight Blogger Award. As always, please don’t feel obligated to accept and respond if you don’t have time or typically don’t do blog awards. Just know that I find your work inspiring and creative, and therefore worthy of this recognition. 🙂

  1. Alex Hurst @ Memories of a Time Hereafter
  2. Leanne Sowul @ Words from the Sowul
  3. Sarah Zama @ The Old Shelter
  4. Rae Oestreich @ The Wallflower
  5. Rebekah Hendrian
  6. Victoria Grace Howell @ The Wanderer’s Pen

And here are the three questions the nominees can answer, in addition to Caroline’s original questions:

  1. What inspired you to work on your current writing or creative project?
  2. What one person from your offline life inspires you to be the writer / creator you are today?
  3. What would your current WIP’s protagonist(s) choose as his/her favorite color? Why?

How about you? What color and/or shape would your inner soul look like? What retellings would you be interested in reading and/or writing? What story or poem cheers you up?

23 thoughts on “The Starlight Blogger Award”

  1. Hi Sara congratulations for receiving the Award that I’ve created 🙂 Yes I am Carolina the creator of The Starlight Blogger Award! It is nice for me to see who receive it! Thank you for answering to my questions, great answers! And thanks to respect all the rules! Best wishes! Carolina

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      • Thank you Sara! I am happy that you like that question! You have a lovely Blog keep up with your good work! I am an artist designer and beside painting and sketching and design unique jewelry sometimes I write poems I hope to see you visiting I also host every Friday a Meet and Greet weekly event! Hope to see you there… 😉

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  2. Thank you so much for the nomination, Sara! That was very sweet.

    The peacock ore is gorgeous!! How lucky you are to have one in your possession. My family used to keep geodes in our house as little book ends. I used to love taking them off the shelf and staring into the little galaxies of fractured blue. 🙂

    Did you ever find any info on the sister redwoods? Maybe it’ll add another fun element to your world-building for Keeper’s Curse. 😀

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    • You’re welcome, Alex! 🙂

      I bought the chalcopyrite piece from my Reiki master last year. (I think it was last year…?) That was the first time I’d ever heard of that stone, and its colors mesmerized me. Now it’s one of my favorite stones to meditate with.

      I traveled last weekend, so I only had a brief moment to read about redwoods and how they share root systems. The one thing it did make me think about, though, was that maybe the underground levels need to be deep enough so they don’t disturb the tree’s roots. Hmmmmm….

      *Googles redwood trees again to read more intently now that she has a few minutes*

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    • You’re welcome, Leanne! 🙂 I tried to come up with new questions that touched on creativity as well as inspiration, since those are the main themes of the Starlight Blogger Award. So I’m glad you like them!

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  5. What a beautiful award! Congrats, Sara. 🙂
    That peacock ore is mesmerizing; I didn’t know about that ore until now. Green, purple-reds and blues are my favorite colors and I think would represent me, though I’m not sure what rock, ore or gem that would be.
    A story that cheers me up? That’s a good question. Something lighthearted that would make me laugh; I tend to go for humor when I’m feeling down.

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      • It would have to be something using those colors I mentioned, I think. But as for what…maybe a European swallow (even if the colors don’t fit, lol). I loved watching them in Italy and used to daydream as a kid flying like them. 🙂

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  6. Oooo! This is a cool tag! I haven’t seen this floating around either until now. I’ll definitely do it. I was running low on tags to do so this comes at a good time! I will actually get to this within the year haha. XD Epic speeches really inspire me. That sort of counts as a form of poetry right? Sam’s Speech moves me every time, along with Aragorn’s Speech in Return of the King, the 11th Doctor’s Speech in Akhaten, Katniss’s Speech to Rue’s family in Catching Fire … So many good ones!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    • Yay! 🙂 I look forward to reading your answers, Tori!

      Yes, epic speeches are AWESOME. I don’t know if they count as poetry – but the ones you mentioned come straight from the speaker’s heart and drive home their respective story’s themes. Definitely inspiring, and a great answer to Zezee’s #3. 😉

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  7. Awww, thanks! You (and your blog) inspire me too 🙂
    I haven’t seen this one either, very cool.
    Peacock ore is gorgeous – and I just know it will take me weeks of contemplation to answer that first question, lol.
    If you make it to that Nutcracker retelling, sign me up. I’ve mentioned my love for the ballet/story before, I know. Actually, my first pet (a cat) was named Nutcracker Prince.
    I think you would do a great job as a writing instructor/lecturer, if your writing posts are anything to go by. And of course, you must write many more books 🙂
    Does ANYONE have one favorite quote? (Or book, or song, or anything impossible like that?). I can’t imagine being that set. My favorite color changes from time to time, and don’t even ask about anything else.
    Half the things I write end up being kooky retellings, I think. Or they started off that way, and derailed (like TLCS). I flooded my brain with fairy tales as a kid and never recovered. (I’ve mentioned that “The Boy Who Wanted to Learn Fear/to Shiver is one of my favorite stories ever, which says heaps about me anyhow). I guess it’s the universal power of stories and themes that make me wonder why people even fight the “retelling” thing at all?
    Thanks again, and I’ll do this as soon as I can answer question 1 . . . *goes off to think*

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    • Awwww, shucks. 🙂 Thanks, Rebekah.

      I didn’t know how to answer #1 at first either, tbh. *lol* But when I sat down and thought about it, I couldn’t see a shape (maybe mine isn’t confined to a shape…? Idk), but I definitely knew its colors.

      Oh, I will make it to that Nutcracker retelling one day. I don’t know when – it might be a ways off! But I know I will. I can already see it being a YA fantasy of some kind.

      That’s such a cute name for a dog. 😀 I never had dogs, but my brother and I had goldfish when we were kids. I named my first one Gwen, after Gwen Stefani. (Reasoning: The fish was as orange as the oranges on No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom cover, which was I listening to nonstop back then.)

      Of course I’ll write more books! I just need to get past TKC first. XD And thank you for the writing instructor comment.

      Isn’t that the funny thing with inspiration, though? You start with an idea, then it evolves into something so different from the original spark. 😉 So what was the inspiration for TLCS? I can’t remember if you’ve said it somewhere before…

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      • I’ve never said what the inspiration for TLCS was, other than my fixation on food service, small businesses, and small town politics after the apocalypse . . . but it was originally a Little Red Riding Hood retelling! Ironically, all of the original elements are still completely intact.It just got a little crazier and became more of an adventure yarn. But it’s all there ;P

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  8. You’re so very welcome, Sara! 😀
    I enjoyed reading your answers. I think that’s really nice that you’d like to teach writing classes and I’ve always wanted to see The Nutcracker performed on stage but I always either forget to attend or some other difficulty pops up during the Christmas season that prevents me from going but one of these days I will.

    I don’t have a WIP but I have a character stuck in my mind that I want to write a story on but am a little apprehensive to start on. But her favorite color would be bright yellow, like the sun.

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    • Thanks, Zezee. 🙂 I really need to see a live production of The Nutcracker someday, too. I just need to find a friend who’s interested enough in ballet to tag along…

      Nice! And if you don’t mind me asking, what makes you apprehensive about working on her story?

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      • You’re welcome!
        I always get anxious when working on stories. I start to doubt myself and think I’m no good and that I’ll run outta ideas and then I stop and switch to a new project. I’m trying to train myself to stick to one project until the end.

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      • I know what you mean. Doubt is not a writer’s friend; it wrecks one’s confidence and prevents us from finishing stories. The most we can do is try to stick with it and believe that we have what it takes. And once you finish one story, you can use it as proof that you’ve done it once, and now you can do it again.

        I hope this helps in some way. Have you been able to finish writing a story before? Or does doubt get in the way too soon for you to get that far?

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      • Thanks, Sara!
        I’ve never been able to finish unless the story is very, very short. I have a bunch of starts though. That’s why reading Big Magic was so helpful.

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