Women’s Fiction Writer Christine Nolfi kindly nominated me for the Liebster Award for blogging. What is the Liebster? Well, it’s a rather fun challenge that asks me to:

1) tell you 11 random facts about myself;

2) answer 11 questions which Christine sent;

3) nominate 11 authors; and   4) send them 11 completely new questions.

But before I get to that, let me tell you a bit about Christine Nolfi. I’ll start with saying that she writes in a Southern voice and offers up characters who are every bit as quirky as those I create. She’s the author of three outstanding novels – Treasure Me, Second Chance Grill and The Tree Of Everlasting Knowledge. I read Treasure Me – gave it a five star rating and then added Second Chance Grill to my Kindle. To learn more about Christine, or read her answers to the questions on this fun challenge  CLICK HERE and visit her blog.

Okay now, let’s begin…

11 Random Facts

(1) I never planned on becoming an author. In college I studied Fine Art and my intention was to be an artist or designer. Fate had different ideas and along the way I discovered that I was a much better writer than artist.

Sugar has me pretty well trained

(2) I am a terrible dog trainer and at just nine weeks old, Sugar already knows she’s the boss.

(3) I have no tolerance for books and movies about cruelty to either animals or people.

(4) I think kindness is the best character attribute a person can have,

(5) I’m not impressed by wealth, power or prominence, but I am impressed by brilliance.

(6) I believe both good deeds and evil actions eventually have a payback.

(7) I am a notorious night owl.

(8) When choosing a restaurant, ambiance takes precedence over food every time.

(9) I teach Sunday School to Kindergarten and First Grade Kids.

(10) I create my own wall calendar every year using pictures of my dog, friends and family.

(11) I am a cancer survivor. Over twenty-five years ago we were playing golf with a radiologist friend and he noticed a tiny lump on the back of my neck. It was a single lymph node that had broken away from the mass around my spleen. His sharp eye probably saved my life.

Now, here are Christine's questions for me to answer… 

 1)  Describe your life five years from now.

I can’t say where I’ll be or in what circumstances, but I know I’ll still be writing novels It’s in my blood. Southerners are born with a storytelling gene.

(2)  What was your favorite toy during childhood?

Paper dolls. I had a whole family of them stashed in a shoebox, along with the wardrobe of clothes they wore.         I imagined the most wonderful worlds for them to live in and the beauty of it was that I could change those worlds at will.

(3)  Most embarrassing moment during adolescence?

I was shy in Junior High and I guess it was well known, because when the High School Drama group put on a quiz show for an Auditorium presentation, they called me up as a contestant. There was no way to get out of it, and the moment I stepped onto the stage my mind went blank. The acting Quiz-Master asked “Who said there is nothing to fear but fear itself?” and in a barely audible voice, I answered “You did.” The audience went wild with laughter and began shouting that I was right – he had said it. So I grabbed my two dollar prize and scrambled off the stage as quickly as possible. In the years since then, I have many times turned to humor when I am in an uncomfortable situation.

(4)  What do you most enjoy about the writing process?

Getting to know the characters in any given book.  Before I even write the first line, I know the characters as intimately as I know my best friend. Being so in-touch with each character is what enables me to create individualized voices and mannerisms.

(5)  You can spend the day with someone famous (living or dead). Who do you choose? Why? What do you talk about?

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird – I am fascinated by how she so poignantly captured the essence of the 1950’s South in this story about one small and somewhat unorthodox family. Her characters breathed such life into the story that it had over time become a classic, despite the fact that it was the only book she ever published. I’d like to ask why she didn’t continue writing or if she did, what became of that work.

(6)  How many unfinished manuscripts sit dusty and unloved in your office?

Six. And there’s good reason why they are still in the drawer. It takes many years of trial and error to hone your writing skills into work worthy of publishing. The road that leads to an author’s success is long and difficult, so once you develop a following your readers become your best friends and they deserve your absolute best every single  time.

(7)  Of which of your works are you most proud?

This is like asking a mother to tell which of her children she is proudest of. Impossible. I am proud of all my published novels. I am a neurotic perfectionist and if I were not proud of each and every one of these books, I would never have allowed it to leave my sweaty little hands. I love each of my books for a different reason.

(8)  Please share the most heartwarming or amusing comment you’re received from a reader.

I have been blessed over and over again b receiving heartwarming messages from my readers so I’ll instead tell of one that I found rather amusing. A young girl wrote to me and said she had enjoyed Spare Change and now wanted to read The Twelfth Child, but her Kindle was broken, could I tell her how to fix it. The note made me laugh so I sent her a paperback book and suggested she get in touch with Amazon.

(9)  Do you eat your veggies?

Absolutely. The only vegetable I don’t care for is brussels sprouts, and every year or two I give them another try just to confirm that I still don’t like them…I don’t.

(10) What was the catalyst that drove your to write your first book?

Southerners are born storytellers, so it happened in a rather natural progression for me. I spent many years writing business articles and marketing promotions, but by comparison that type of writing is structured and constraining. Being an avid reader, I knew fiction would give me a place to spread my wings and find my own voice.

(11)     Favorite Vacation Spot?

Hawaii, it’s where we spent our honeymoon. But Florida runs a close second and I’m blessed to actually be living here.

And now, on to the next round of fun-to-know authors… To visit the blog of each of these fun to kn ow authors, just click on their name and whoosh…you'll b there to see how they've answerd my questions. My Nominees are…

Patricia Sands, Author of The Bridge Club

Jane Steen, Author of The House of Closed Doors

Elaine Walsh – Author of Atomic Summer

Leona Bodie, Author of Shadow Cay

Matthew Merrick – Author of Exiled

Elena Aitken – Author of Sugar Crash

Jillian Dodd – Author of That Boy

Elle Thornton – Author of The Girl Who Swam to Atlantis

Barbara Taylor Sissel – Author of The Ninth Step

Karla Darcy – Author of The Five Kisses

Melanie Young – Author of Rainbow in the Dark

NOW, HERE ARE THE NEW QUESTIONS THESE AUTHORS WILL BE ANSWERING…SO BE SURE TO STOP BY EACH OF THEIR BLOGS FOR A VISIT!

1)    What was your favorite book as a child?

2)    When you are writing, do you prefer silence or music? If music, what type and what are your favorites?

3)    When you are not reading or writing, what is your favorite pastime?

4)    What or who inspired the book I've listed here?

5)     If you were an animal, what would you be?

6)    If you were granted one wish by our ‘Magic Genie' – what would that wish be?

7)    Name someone you admire (other than an author) and tell why you admire them.

8)    If you could spend a month living anyplace in the world, where would it be?

9)    Tell us what's on your desk and what you see when you look out the window.

10)   What is your favorite Social Media and why?

11)    Do  you have a current work-in-progress, and if so, please tell us about it.