Liebster Award - Thank You, John!

John Wiswell over at Bathroom Monologues kindly bestowed upon me the Liebster blog award.  As some of you know, I stopped accepting awards a over a year ago because of time constraints.  However, I am more than happy to participate this time because John is such wonderful member of the writing community.  His flash fiction ranges from the somber to the quirky to the downright hilarious - and it's always thought provoking. I'm honored that he thought of me, and I urge you to pay him a visit and check out his archives.
So here are the rules, and I'll be passing this on to 5 other bloggers.  Yep, I'm bending Rule 3 because I'm such an outlaw.  OK, lazy.  But John did it! John did it!  "If John jumped off a cliff, would you?"

Possibly.

The rules: 1. Each nominee must link back to the person who nominated them.
                 2. Answer the 10 questions which are given to you by the nominator.
                 3. Nominate 10 other bloggers for this award who have less than 200 followers. (I chose 5)
                 4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
                5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

(Other winners nominated by John include:)

-Shannon Lawrence

-Cathy Olliffe-Webster

-Larry Kollar

-Deanna Schrayer

-Cindy Vaskova

 John's questions for me:

1. What is the hardest you’ve laughed in the last year?

            I laugh a lot at work. It's a stressful job, but my co-workers have a wonderful sense of humor and are not above doing absolutely ridiculous things to lighten things up.  Oh, I also visit the website Dog Shaming.

2. What theme do you wish more fiction tackled?

            I'd like to see more fiction which features characters who have Down Syndrome or other medical issues - and not in a way which portrays them as pitiable, or uses them as a foil to show what a thoughtful, considerate person another character can be.  A current example would be actress Jamie Brewer's characters in the American Horror Story TV series.

           

 3. What was the last time you envied another writer’s work?

           I've been re-reading some of Dickens' work.  I'm jealous of the way he nails description of everything, and how he creates such unique and memorable characters.

4. What’s the next book you’re planning to read and why?

         Rangers In World War 2 by Robert W. Black.  I like military history, and since my Dad loaned it to me we will have something to discuss.  (He only reads non-fiction, which somewhat limits our book conversations.)

5. Does anything in fiction routinely scare you or creep you out? Whether it’s werewolves or doctor visits.

        Psychopaths.  Because they are out there.  When I was little I was afraid of skeletons, but my Mom always told me "the dead won't bother you.  Worry about the people who are still walking around."

6. If you could spend an afternoon hanging out with any villain, who would it be?

        Dr. Moriarty.

7. If you could delete any character from all of fiction, such that no one would remember it had ever existed, what character would it be?

       Jar Jar Binks. Oh wait, that's from a movie.  OK, Bella from the Breaking Dawn series.  A star-crossed love affair between Jacob and Edward would be far more convincing - and entertaining.

8. What’s your favorite nickname you’ve ever been given?

      My niece called me Aunt Elsa when she was a toddler because she couldn't say "Lisa". It always makes me think of Born Free.

       

9. Do the last ten books you read have anything in common?

      Only that they are all paperbacks.  They range from Christopher Priest's Inverted World to Richard Adams' Watership Down. The one thing I almost never read is horror.

10. By a unique snafu of publishing, you are legally obligated to write a crossover between two popular franchises of your choosing. Which two are they? 

     It would have to be Kinley MacGregor's Highland series (romance) and Cherie Priest's Clockwork Empire series (steampunk).  The new genre will be referred to as Steamkilt © and the first book in the series entitled "Laird of the Clockwork Castle".
(Steamkilt was coined by Stuart Nager)

I'm passing this award to:

Donna B McNichol

TCC Edward

Sarah Foster

Joy L Campbell 

Portia

Your questions:

1. If you could completely re-write the ending of a book, which would you choose?

2. Pick any two fictional characters to be your new parents. (They don't have to be from the same time period - or even the same universe.)

3. Have you ever witnessed a truly heroic act by someone else?

4. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? Why or why not?

5. You've just had a novel published and the fanfiction community is going wild.  How do you feel about it?  Are you flattered, angry, resigned?

6. Have you ever written a love poem and given it to someone? What was the reaction?

7. Name a topic that you would never, ever write about.

8. You are accepting an award in front of an audience and you experience a wardrobe malfunction.  Do you run from the stage in tears, pretend you don't notice anything and continue, or laugh it off and try to make the necessary adjustments?

9. You can choose any location in the world to pursue your writing, but you must remain there for the rest of your life.  Where would it be?

10. You're going to a party.  If money were no object, what character would you dress up as?

Hope I remembered to do everything.