The Liebster Award

(Better late than never?)

I was nominated by the fabulous A.R. Rivera. Unfortunately my blog has been on autopilot while I prepared for the Crossroads of Frozen Eternity release. But no matter. I’m here now and ready to go. *cracks knuckles*

Step 1: Post 11 random facts about yourself
1. My husband and I had only owned our first house for one month before the entire (finished!) basement was flooded with raw sewage and we learned why they call home-ownership an ‘experience.’

2. I took only two years of French in High School. I stopped after that because I believed I would never need to know how to speak it. Then my husband and I moved to Quebec for two years and I regretted the choice.

3. I studied Information Technology, Networking and Security in college because I didn’t think I needed professional training to write (and I still sand by that). I also wanted something that could make me money for a few years, and it did succeed at doing that.

4. If money were no object, and there existed an easy (and fast) way to travel back and forth across the ocean, my husband and I probably would have chosen to stay in the UK, if only to be close to all the history. But alas, money is an object, and flights across the ocean are neither cheap nor fast (though I’ll grant they’re much better than boats.)

5. My husband and I moved to England for a year so that he could accept a teaching job (which I have blogged about extensively). What I haven’t mentioned is that we crossed the ocean with plans to stay with friends we had only met on the Internet at that point. It’s probably one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done, but it was also one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Because I ended up with an entire group of amazing new friends, and I wouldn’t have if we hadn’t taken the risk.

6. I hold dual-citizenship in the US and Canada. I have now been in Canada so long that everyone tells me I sound Canadian. I like that.

7. My favourite quote is “Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as far as I seek can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” Because I believe that the only way to accomplish/achieve is to take action and chase success.

8. I participate in a science-fiction table top adventure group that now spans two continents, three countries and four time zones. We meet via Skype.

9. I am one of those weird people who finishes reading (almost) everything I start, largely because it drives me nuts to leave things unfinished. In high school, I started reading Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright and I was never able to finish it before I had to give it back to the teacher I borrowed it from. It is still driving me crazy. (Though I have finally found out I can borrow it through Open Library!)

10. One of my favourite activities when I am in private, or the company of good friends, is to turn up my favourite music and to sing along at the top of my lungs, even if I get the words wrong.

11. There exists, in my head, a multi-universe story that spans several life-times, involves reincarnation, time travel, complex science and magic. Someday, I would like to turn it into a series (or several) of books.

Step 2: Answer 11 questions from your nominator
1. What is your greatest passion?
My greatest passion is most certainly writing. I’ve had my nose stuck in a book for as long as I can remember. At a certain point, I realized I wanted to be on the other side of the book and create fantastic worlds for other people to get lost in.

2. How old were you when you discovered this passion?
I was probably about thirteen or fourteen (grade 7-8). I took a writing class and the flood gates opened. I had always doodled with writing stories before that, but that was the moment I realized I wanted to do it for a living.

3. Name your biggest celebrity crush.
I’m going to have to go with David Tennant on this one… I mean, have you heard him read Shakespeare?

4. All-time favorite novel.
This one’s easy! The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. It’s translated to English from German. It is the most amazing book I have ever read (and I have read my copy so many times that the cover has disintegrated.)

5. What was it about that story/character drew you to that particular novel?
At the time the idea of a story that never ended was my personal vision of heaven. Ironically, the main character in the novel feels the same way. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a story about falling into the world of story, entering the world of a book and interacting with its characters. It’s a story about finding yourself, about learning to be happy with who you are, and how to discover the inner qualities you might think you don’t possess. And I discovered it at around the same time I realized I wanted to be a writer.

6. Favourite TV show?
No longer running (sadly) but it’s a toss-up between Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. I fell in love with SG1 after falling in love with the movie (Stargate), since it continued the plot with all my favourite characters (plus some new ones). I didn’t think I’d ever get on board with a spin off, but Altantis really won me over. (Let’s be honest, it was the reformation of Rodney McKay that got me XD).

7. What is your pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve has always been, and probably will always be, hypocrisy. I hate it when someone condemns something, then turns around and does it themselves. There’s a lot of hypocrisy at various levels in our lives and the older I get, the easier it is to spot.

8. If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I’m going to go with Nikola Tesla, because I regard him as one of the most brilliant, and under-appreciated, minds to ever grace the Earth.

9. Would you rather have super-strength or super-intelligence?
Without a doubt, super-intelligence. It might be the less flashier of the two, but then I’ve never been comfortable as the center of attention. I think having the ability to figure it all out with relative ease would be amazing. I’d certainly lose a lot less sleep than I do now. And frankly, I think it could help a lot more people.

10. What one thing are you most proud of?
It may sound weird, but being able to buy a house. My husband and I saved up for eight years to buy our first house and our first encounter with home-ownership didn’t go well. However, we still made enough off the sale of our first house to buy our second house, which we both absolutely love. But coming in a close second is the fact that I’ve published two books ^^;; You’d think that’d be first, huh?

11. Name your favourite band and post your favourite song.
Aside from books, many of my favourites tend to be fluid. At the moment my favourite band is Sabaton (a Swedish heavy metal band). And my favourite song of theirs is Art of War, both because it’s based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and because it reminds me of my favourite (original) character.

Step 3: Nominate 11 bloggers (I’m noticing a theme here) to do the same
(I will admit, this is the part at which I’m most terrible. Not because I don’t follow this many blogs which fit the criteria (it was originally specified the blogs should have under 200 followers), but because I’m incredibly shy when it comes to tagging people… so here are the people I’m brave enough to tag)

The lovely and talented Beth Alvarez (who has done the cover art for both of my books!)

My co-author James Abendroth of Black Guard Press

The fabulous E.M. Wynter

The amazing Katy Huth Jones of Life is a Four-Letter Word

The magical library faerie Kelley Minars (who is also my fabulous web host <3) The fantastic Michell Plested of Irreverent Muse (and the Get Published Podcast)

And the ever-clever Liza O’Connor

(If you’re reading this and you’d like to be tagged… send me a message and we’ll make it official ;)

Step 4: Provide 11 questions for your nominees to answer
1. What is one thing you have done that you never thought you’d do?

2. What is your favourite book or series of books?

3. If money were no object and you could live anywhere, where would you choose?

4. (Stealing this one, cuz I like it) If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

5. How do you find motivation on your off days?

6. What is your favourite type of music and/or band/performer?

7. If a genie were to grant you one wish, what would you wish for?

8. What is your favourite way to spend your free time?

9. Who is your favourite fictional character and why?

10. (Gunna steal one more, again cuz I like it) What one thing are you most proud of?

11. What is your favourite piece of advice either that you have received or that you wish to pass on?

Step 5: Notify your nominees
To Twitter!