The first is the Kreativ Blogger Award, and I have answered its 11 questions below. (Actually, I think the questions I answered are a combo of awards put together by Tina Moss and passed on to Melinda). The second is the Lucky 7 Meme, where you share part of your WIP, and I have copied that below the Q&A.
I hope you enjoy this short break, and I will update later in the week with more info on what's new and exciting in all the developments coming out from J.K. Rowling.
1) What setting best describes you? A cabin in the Appalachian mountains overlooking a clear mountain stream. Actually, to make that even better, connect it by wormhole to a mountain in Turkey, on the Black Sea Coast, overlooking some ruins.
2) What was your favorite childhood book? I would say it was a series. I absolutely loved the Little House books, but I always came away feeling like a naughty, spoiled girl after reading about Laura's life.
3) Besides reading and writing, what are at least two of your favorite past times? I spend a lot of time fermenting. :-) I make kefir, kombucha, beet kvass, yogurt, all kinds of cheeses, and really anything that can be improved with the addition of time and microorganisms. Besides that, I love spending time with my family.
4) What is the coolest/strangest thing you've ever done? Living in Turkey for several years with my husband and his family is definitely at the top of the list. The first time we moved there, before kids, we lived in Antalya, on the southern Mediterranean coast. We made friends with another Turkish-American couple and would go hiking together every weekend. We didn't have cars, so we'd take a bus out to the mountains and follow a trail to the top of one. There were always ruins to pass along the way. One weekend we hiked to the top of Mount Olympus (yes, there is one in Turkey as well), and we camped overnight just above the eternal flames. I think we even used the flames to heat tea. A guy from Batman passed during the night, which made both my husband and the other Turkish husband a bit nervous as Batman, in eastern Turkey was near the area of some terrorist activity at the time. The next morning, we were awakened to the sound of bells outside our tents as some very young goatherds and their goats traipsed silently by on their way down the mountain.
5) If any character from any book could be your best friend, who would it be? Well, considering the nature of this blog, I guess I'll pick a Harry Potter character. And I'd pick Lupin. I always liked him a lot, and except for his furry little problem, felt that we had a lot in common. But it might be hard to be best buddies now, aside from the whole fiction thingie, as he's dead. :-(
6) If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do? Spy on my teenage kids is probably not a good answer, I guess. No, of course I would never do that! :-)
7) What famous person (dead or alive) do you consider a role model for your own aspirations? I hope it doesn't seem presumptuous to say JK Rowling is one of my role models, because I surely don't mean in the way of achieving her financial success. And I would honestly hate to achieve her level of fame. But to be honestly true to my story, to have it well told, and to so engross the reader both above and below text...that would be my idea of ultimate writing achievement. Also, to take any financial success I may experience and share it so well with others that I drop in income level would, I think, be awesome.
8) Which Greek or Roman (or other culture’s mythological) deity would you be (either who you’d like to be or who you most resemble)? The Anatolian mother-goddess who is the predecessor of Cybele, Artemis of Ephesus, and many other mother-goddesses who followed. She was worshiped, it seems, at the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to the new agrarian communities. Here's a pic.
9) Would you marry a Vulcan? I did. Just one who speaks with a Turkish accent.
10) Do you believe in any conspiracy theories? I'd like to answer this from a different, alien, angle. I definitely do not believe aliens altered the course of human history, but I really like watching those shows that say they did. Sometimes, it takes someone to look at historical evidence from a totally wacky angle to come up with interesting bits of possibilities that are not seen by the mainstream. It's those little intriguing bits of forgotten archaeology and history, not the overall hypothesis, that I can get into.
11) If you were to reincarnate, what would you be? Well, as cats are at the top of the reincarnation chain, I guess I'd like to come back as a house cat. Sleep all day, have a house full of human servants to care for my every need, soak up the sun...what could be better?
For the Lucky 7 Meme Award:
Rules:
1. Go to page 77 of your WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy the first 7 sentences, paragraphs or lines exactly as they are written, no cheating.
4. Tag 7 authors and let them know.
From my WIP, Call of the Jinn, a YA contemporary fantasy:
the cockpit, he stepped to the helm.
"Dad, I'm fifteen." She followed in his wake, closing the door firmly behind her. "I'm not a child anymore. You've got to start telling me more about them...both sides."
"You're still not ready." Fiddling with the GPS, he glanced at her over his shoulder, and his expression softened. "Listen, I lived among the Jinn most of my early life. You learn to recognize these things. High, uncontrollable passion is the truest mark of a Jinni. I've never met Hinkelstein, but have heard about him. He's an artist, running a musician hotspot, always in the forefront with anything provocative in the community, lets his passions rule his sense."
And to continue both of these awards, I'd like to tag seven readers of this blog who I know have blogs of their own. Pick either award, or do both, and if you do, please give us a heads-up and a link!
Tag! You're IT!!
1) Farida Mestek
2) Priya Sridhar
3) Jeremy Feijten
4) Nicole Rivera
5) Mary Ann Dennis
6) Leslie Rose
7) Laura Marcella
