The Upstream Writer: Blog Tag: The "Liebster" Award--Take TWO!

Back in 2015, I was nominated by a friend for the Liebster Award, a blog tag game that is a fun way for bloggers to network and get to know each other.

This year, it happened again! Thanks to Leticia Toraci for nominating me, and without further ado, let me get to her questions!

1. What is your favorite season of the year?

I love Summer and Winter—mostly because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and our “equinox” seasons tend to be unpredictable and moody, whereas Summer is definitely warm, and winter is definitely cold. No “surprise rain showers” or dramatic temperature swings.

2. Which were the three best books you ever read?

The three best? Hard to narrow them down to 3, since I have a “best of” for pretty much every genre! Best Fairytale Adaptation would have to be The Lunar Chronicles. Best thriller would be The Winner by David Baldacci. Best historical fiction novel would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

3. Where would be your dream vacation?

My dream vacation is to tour Great Britain in a month. I’d visit all the countries in the British Isles, all without renting a car—public transportation, bikes, boats or just on foot would be wonderful! I would visit all the libraries and bookstores I could, find all the hidden-away spaces to just rest and imagine—I would have a great time!

4. Your favorite book genres?

It would be a much simpler task to list the genres I don’t like to read! I love fantasy (urban, high, low, dark, light...) and sci-fi (cyberpunk, steampunk, some varieties of hard sci-fi, but any amount of technical jargon will do me—basically any kind of “-punk” genre is a sure bet!) and mystery (cozy, crime, thriller, paranormal, supernatural); historical fiction is also not off the table, so long as there is plenty of adventure and well-developed characters to be had, and especially if there is time travel! Not a whole lot of horror or romance (unless I am familiar with the author in other genres and “trust” them to treat the subject matter well) and definitely no erotica. Basically, if I like the premise, I am willing to give it a shot!

5. Do you have any reading habits or books you like to reread?

Sometimes... I don’t often reread books unless it’s for something like fanfiction, or I’m referring to a specific quote, but I definitely can say that I am slowly filling my bookshelf with books I have read, adored, and now am collecting for the purpose of pulling them off the shelf and reliving when the mood strikes. Books like The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, The Inkheart Trilogy and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier... and on it goes!

6. If you could retire tomorrow (and live a comfortable life with no time pressure), what would you do?

I would systematically finish every book I’d ever started, then once I had that cleared out, I would go back to those finished first drafts I have buried in the past and finish those, then I would choose my favorites and start publishing them!

7. Do you have any hobbies?

One of my hobbies (outside of reading and writing constantly) is spool-knitting scarves and hats on those plastic looms. Sad to say, it is the only form of yarn craft I seem to have any skill for. I have made a gigantic blanket, which I am pretty proud of, though!

8. Which book(s) you think every person should read?

Ha! You’re better off asking about which authors, because, by thunder, if I like a book I will seek out everything that author writes! Definitely The Princess Bride is at the top of that list. The Book Thief, too. I recommend any of the anthologies by the Writerpunk Press Group—they will BLOW YOUR MIND.

9. Do you buddy-read books?

Not a lot. I’d love to, though. I do love raving about a book I’ve read and shared with a friend! I’ve tried setting up a thing with at least a couple different friends where we exchange books and just plan on swapping back once we’ve finished them... but with the one friend, it was like a year or sixteen months before we actually got back together again... and the other friend still has my books, as far as I know. So yeah, not good at that.

10. Do you participate in Readathons or like to set up TBR lists?

I have only one actual TBR list, and that is all the independently-published books I’ve downloaded (some of them bought) from indie authors in my network.

11. Do you have any current artistic/writing/life projects/goals?

My goal is to get another full-length novel series going, whether via small-press publishing like my first novella, or self-publishing. With that first experience under my belt as such a positive one, I am all the more motivated to keep it up!

And now comes the time when I nominate the eleven bloggers to share the love with! They are: