The Leibster Blog Award.....

has been administered to this little blog my friend Kat Clements over at The Cat’s Cradle. Please visit her very informative site on creative writing, editing, and grammar galore. Thanks so much for tagging me, Kat!


So here are the 11 questions she has for me to answer:

1.      What personal trait of yours do you most often give to your fictional characters?

My fictional characters don’t always resemble me, but when they do, they usually wind up being warm-hearted and impulsive. They’re sensitive and caring, but also have something of a temper and express their emotions with passion.

2.      Which part of the writing process do you dread the most and why?

Depends what type of writing I’m doing. In fiction, I usually know what I want to do with the beginning and end, but then have trouble connecting the dots in the middle! Non-fiction always hinges on the burning question of which facts to include and which to leave by the way-side for fear of swamping the reader. Making these decisions always has me biting my nails!

3.      What’s your favorite book and why?

The Prey of the Priest Catcher by Leo Knowles. I am a great devotee of The 40 Martyrs of England and Wales who were executed during the persecution of Catholics after Henry VIII’s break with Rome.  This book really makes the story of the underground Church come to life in an almost novelized retelling.

4.      What time of day do you usually write?

Gosh. It really varies when/if I write on a daily basis. I don’t have a set schedule that way, although I often find time in the evening and have been known to sty up most of the night on a creative splurge!

5.      Do you prefer libraries or bookstores?

I concur with Kat that libraries are superior to bookstores because you don’t need the green papery stuff to delve into their treasures. I also take full advantage of the interlibrary loan privileges in both Maryland and Pennsylvania. What a joy to be a borderlander!

6.      What do you normally eat/drink while writing?

I usually don’t eat or drink while writing, but will take breaks to snack on whatever I can scrounge up (currently strawberries and chocolate!) in the kitchen….for energy purposes, ya’ see!

7.      What are your muses?

My muses include the mystical relationship between God and humanity, the spark of divine grace that connects all souls, the power of legends passed down by word of mouth, the glory of music that transcends cultural divides.

8.      What kind of genre do you read?

I am a major non-fiction reader. I know this may sound sort of sad, but I have always been a fan of historical eye-witness accounts and rare, musty tomes from days of yore. Biographies and history texts are the cat’s meow! I also read some historical fiction and a little fantasy.

9.      Who’s the best character ever written?

As I mentioned, I am not a major fiction reader, so I’m probably not the best person to ask. I have grown to like Cat Royal created by Julia Golding. She’s clever and caring, with enough street-smarts to survive 18^th century London but enough charm to mix with the upper classes. Don’t care much for her swearing, but she’s still quite relatable.

10.  If you could travel through time, would you go to the past or the future?

Being a history buff, I’d definitely like to visit the past…..providing I could return to the present at the end of the excursion! There are so many different time periods I would like to visit, including the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan era, and the Georgian era.

11.  How do you balance your life while reaching your writing goals?

Er….I don’t? But to me that sort of tension between the real and imagined world is part of the beauty and adventure of being an artist-in-the-making!

       And here are the 11 random things I have to say about myself:

1.      I am a practicing Catholic, and as such I believe in the sanctity of life and that each one of us is a Child of  God. I hope to spend my life sharing the love and truth of Christ who became one of us to save us through His death on the Cross.

2.      I am deeply moved by the music of Canadian Celtic/World singer, Loreena McKennitt. She has the most richly ethereal voice that echoes with a spiritual resonance. Her compositions seem to fit perfectly into an older folk genre, and her choice of poetry to put music is excellent.

3.      I refused to watch the Narnia movies or LotR until I was 16….and I finally succumbed only because numerous friends threatened to tie me to a chair and never speak to me again if I didn’t! Amazingly, I am now grateful to them, since I have come to appreciate both!

4.      For the past two years, I have taken an increased interest in the upcoming Scottish Independence Referendum, and actively come out in support of the Unionist Camp which aspires to keep The United Kingdom a united kingdom.

5.      My interest in all things British began with my childhood crush on Robin Hood and fascination with the folklore surrounding him. It has since developed in leaps and bounds and in all directions!

6.       I have become a fan of Kung Fu, a TV series from the 1970’s about a young Buddhist monk and martial artist who is exiled from his home in China and travels through the American Old West in search of his long-lost half brother. Along the way, he uses his fighting skills to mete out justice to the oppressed.

7.      My parents had a baby before me who was born in Italy and Filomena Marie. Sadly, she died 14 days after she was born and is buried in the Provence of Avellino. Still, I feel blessed that I have an older sister in Heaven who I know is praying for me and my family.

8.      I am double-jointed in my thumbs! ;-)

9.      I can sing some songs in Welsh and Gaelic, and would love to learn more of both languages and actually be able to carry out conversations in them! I would also be interested in learning more Latin (the language of my religion!) and Italian (the language of my cultural background!).

10.   I suffer from vertigo, so I don’t do well with heights and generally dislike climbing up tall monuments or attic ladders! I also am pretty allergic to the outdoors, but I do love nature, so I work around my condition the best I can.

11.   I have been nominated for the Leibster Blog Award….!! Oh, you guys know that already? Sorry…..<:-(

And now it’s my turn to nominate eleven other blogs and bloggers....drum roll, please....

1. Mary and Lena from The Best Thing Since D5W

2. Rae-Rae Franchi from Tides of Honour: The Great Cabin

3. Mach Hall from Reactionary Drivel

4. Jonathan Platt from JP Thinks

5. Emerald from My Turn to Talk

6. Sasch from Sasch’s Place

7. Henry Hill and Paul Watterson from Open Unionism

8. Jordon from Defending the Legacy

9. Elizabeth from One Light in a Dark World

10. Chloe from Mountaintop

11. Ricky Yates from Ricky Yates

And, since this is a movie review blog, my questions to them are:

1. What do you consider the greatest movie of all time and why?

2. What do you consider the worst movie of all time and why?

3. Who is your favorite actor/actress?

4. Who is your least favorite actor/actress?

5. What scene from a movie do you find the most inspirational?

6. What movies have mad you laugh the most?

7. What movies have made you cry the most?

8. What movie do you find the most hoaky?

9. If you could only watch one more movie forever, what would it be?

10. What are some movies you’ve wanted to watch but never gotten the chance?

11. What are your top 5 movies you would like me to watch and review?

I will try my best to watch and review at least one-of-five of the films each of you guys suggest to me!

Anyone else who feels the urge (especially Kat!) is welcome to answer these questions as well! Please either leave your answers in the comment box below or on your own blogs, putting the link to your answers in the comment box instead. You can also list 11 random things about yourselves if you'd like. Hope you all have fun!

"So...is this like...the Oscars???" ;-)