What a surprise! Wow, this is fun... but this is also the second time I've had the Liebster Award for another blog of mine. I hope I'm not breaking any rules here... here's hoping. And I'm unable to post the actual picture here either, so I've got a link to it on Photobucket - as I've run out of room on Blogger and they won't give me anymore room to upload images... bummer! However, I will also put the image on the sidebar too.
First off I must thank Captivated Reader for nominating me for this Award... how wonderfully kind of you for doing this for my blog! Thank you! You guys can find her blog at Captivated Reader where she posts almost every day about so many things, from bookstores, books and authors to what she's reading, what she's bought and ... well, anything book-related. A great blogger this one! And she's also a Bookcrosser too!
11 Random Facts About Me
1. I love gardening. Yep, I have been working on a little 'postage stamp' garden for around 12 years and love it.
2. I have Epilepsy I was born with and have what they call 'attic space' in my brain. It's a part of my brain that doesn't work; and yet I've rewired myself so everything else does.
3. I've learned to play an instrument when I was told I could never learn music - I play a flute.
4. Family is a big thing in my life. I love my family to bits...
5. I've never been married or had children.
6. My first car was a 1981 Toyota Celica Liftback, manual 5 speed transmission... red in colour and it was love at first sight! :D
7. I collect vinyls, handbags, cd, books and dvds.
8. My late-Grandma gave me her piano and I taught myself to play it a little - still need lessons.
9. My second bedroom is filled with over 1,000 books I've collected since I was 4 years old... I have a story to each book I own.
10. I have written over 8 books of work from poetry, novels and novellas to a massive sci-fi fantasy saga and erotica - and none of it has seen the light of day to be published yet.
11. I survived a 4.3 Melanoma when I was 23 1/2. The surgeon told me that if I hadn't gotten it removed when I did, I would have had 6 months to live... I'm now 40 and haven't had another cancer since. So, to help and give back, I take part in The World's Greatest Shave each March and colour my hair... it helps the Leukaemia Foundation find a cure and next year, I might shave off all my hair.
When did your love for reading books begin?
Wow, that happened a long time ago. I was 4 years old, was very sick with
childhood Epilepsy and my older brother went to school. He brought home the ‘I Can Read’ Series and
didn’t like to read, and I wanted to know what the big deal was. So, I stole them from his school bag and
taught myself to read… at first, though it was escapism; which turned into a
passion as I got older.
Where's your favorite place to read? Do you have any favorite foods/snacks or
beverages that you eat or drink while reading?? Or do you solely focus on the
book you're reading?
I love to read outside while sitting on the curb in the
sun in Winter. In Summer, it’s my
backyard while sipping on diluted Cranberry Juice on my outdoor setting under
the shade of Lilly-Pilly Trees. When I
get too hot sitting in the heat, I just stop and look around my pretty little
garden and enjoy the sound of the day… yeah the book gets ignored for a bit.
A lot of the times I do love to stretch out on my lounge
with my feet up on the coffee table to read as well. The best place to read is in bed just before
the light gets turned out… really late at night when everyone else is in bed.
Nostalgic question for you! What was your favorite book growing up?
Aaahh… that’s gotta be ‘Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory’ by Roald Dahl. My copy is a
paperback and half the pages are falling out of it… and yes, I still have it. I
also love the first film adaptation too… so much fun! But the Oompa-Loompas were just a little bit
too creepy if you ask me.
Do you have an all time favorite book & why is it
special to you?
‘The Secret Garden’ was one I found hard to read but I
loved it. It’s something I read when I
was young, and because it was about a garden that was hidden and secret and a
sick child, I could relate to the characters.
There’s another one:
‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis. I have an old copy of this amongst my
collection somewhere, and I read that a few times when I was young and loved
the adventure of it.
Name the last book you reread!
‘The Stand’ by Stephen King. A great book by a great author.
Do you like attending literary events (book signings/book festivals, etc.)? If
so, share with us a favorite literary event you've attended!
We have The Logan Arts Festival here in Logan City. However it’s in its infancy; so we’re just starting
out with it. Logan City Council is
working on making it bigger as each year passes. But last year was its first time out there;
and they held it at The Butter Factory (a historical landmark which can be
hired out to groups and companies, which really was a butter factory; making
all the butter and dairy products for South East Queensland).
Well, I was asked by Ged Maybury to help him launch his
new book ‘Nosebleed’ and if I could make a small, funny speech for him to get
it off the ground… and I said I would!
So, I made a small 3 minute speech which I felt as though it stretched
out to 50 minutes. And the best thing
was that people laughed in the right places… thank the gods! And they also went and bought the book
too! It was so much fun to be a part of
launching somebody’s book and to hang out with him too. :D
If you were to host a dinner party and could invite any author(s) to attend
your dinner party, from the past or present, who would you invite and why?
Ooh, I’d invite Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Doris
Lessing, Sara Douglass and Ged Maybury.
All of them are great writers I admire and would love to get into a room
together to chat, eat and enjoy their company…oh yeah, how could I forget? Wilbur Smith too… lovely man, just lovely. :D
Which fictional character (from a novel) would you most like to meet in real
life?
There’s two: Stu
Redman and Franny Goldsmith. They’re
from ‘The Stand’ by Stephen King. They
are both such great characters in that book…
What has been the best experience you've had as a book blogger?
I love it when I’ve written about a book – good, bad or
ugly – and hear back from the author in my comments, telling me that it’s good
to know there’s honest people who don’t just say a book is great because that’s
what the author wants to hear… I love it when an author has both their feet on
the ground like that – and take the time out of their busy schedule to read
blogs like mine.
Do you participate in weekly book memes, online
read-a-thons, reading challenges, etc? If so, which one is your favorite one to
participate in?
I try to.
However, I have other things going on outside my book blog and reading
schedule. So, read-a-thons and
challenges are difficult to take part in when I’m also working in the art world
too.
What do you enjoy doing for fun when you aren't blogging
and reading?
I’m an artist, photographer, gardener, collector of
books, vinyls and handbags, enjoy cooking things from scratch and I run a small
hobby business called Crafty Pegs. It’s
on Facebook and in its first year of business.
So far, I’m going well… and I’m working the Creative Markets once a
month. I’m also a volunteer at the
Logan Art Gallery; and have been for the past 15 years.
Yeah, I’m a busy person, but it’s what happens when you
live on a fixed income… you find other things to do besides finding a paid job.
Okay... let's see who I've nominated!
And now... for my questions!
1. How many books do you have in your collection?
2. Do you buy books for gifts, then think: 'Nah, I'd like to read that one.' and buy a second copy, then get home and realise you already own it?
3. When you find you can't find a thing to read, what do you do? Do you have other hobbies to keep you occupied?
4. Is your collection confined to one room, or is taking over your house, your life... are you the crazy book lady/man of your family?
5. Do you have a favourite place to read? Let us know what is it.
6. If you were permitted to meet just one author on your last day on Earth, who would it be?
7. Out of the bookstores on planet Earth, which one would you love to live close to?
8. Do you have a local bookstore you frequent? Tell us about it.
9. When did you begin reading books?
10. Does anyone else share your passion for reading?
11. Have you ever come across a book where you'd love to be one of the characters in it? Which book would it be?
Okay, it's your turn now... and here's what you have to do:
The Basic Rules of the Leibster Award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog in your blog post.
2. Display an image of the Liebster Award in your blog post.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer 11 questions provided to you by the person who nominated you.
4. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you feel deserve the award and have less than 300 followers.
5. Create a new list of 11 questions for the bloggers you've nominated to answer.
6. Let the bloggers you've nominated know you've nominated them.
7. List the rules for the Leibster Award in your post.
