A Day of Awards - Time for Sunshine & Blogger's Tag!

I'm happy to report on this Sunshine Award I received. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere.” The way the award works is this: thank the person who gave you the award, and link back to them. Then answer questions about yourself. Finally, select up to 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post, and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award. And don't forget the Sunshine Award badge!

Thanks S.K.Anthony for this honorable award! :)

I've nominated 5 bloggers for the Sunshine Award, and please feel free to do the Blogger's Tag as well!

Here are my nominees:

Aford of Quill Pen
Sheena-kay Graham on whichever blog she'd like to post
Lexie C of Pennies in the Jetstream
Suzanne Furness of The Word Is...
Diana Wilder of about myself, by myself

And these are my intriguing answers to the questions:

What inspired you to start blogging?

At the SF Writers Conference in February 2012, it was encouraged to start a blog to get your name out there no matter how your book gets published. Also, internet presence, I was told, is one of the things agents look for.

I had no idea what creating and maintaining a blog entailed and really had no interest in anything to do with marketing and promoting. But since I like to write and spread my opinion, and did want my book to be known, I decided to look into it. And boy, there’s no stopping me now!

How did you come up with the name of your blog?
The name Writer’s Mark just came to me – putting my mark out there as a writer. It was initially called “Writer’s Mark – Christian fiction, poetry, and ideas.” Later, I realized that if I just post my Christian work, there’s a lot of my other work which wouldn’t be showcased. So, I stuck in the “and other” to open the field and not be limited to just Christian work.

What is your favorite blog that you like to read?
There’s not just one. I do have several favorites that I love to return to and don’t like it when I’ve spent too much time away.

Tell about your dream job.
Dream job… of course to write fulltime. I wouldn’t want any other writer type of job like editing. I would love to teach creative writing part-time at the college level later on, after enjoying the freedom of writing whenever and wherever I want. Ho hum… :)

Is your glass half full or half empty?
Oh, really more than half full! That doesn’t keep me from complaining and pining for more, hear me. I’ve been where the glass was less than half full on several occasions in my life, and I can celebrate that now I’m a spoiled child of God with the glass level rising.

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?
One week is definitely not enough for the ideal spots I’d want to go. So for one week, I’d be happy to go to Maui again or Mexico, somewhere hot, beachy and where I could get some fun drinks. :)

What food can you absolutely not eat?
Something I wouldn’t even try? There are some things I hate, like olives (unless they’re totally buried in the other ingredients), but I try them every blue moon to see if my taste buds have changed – yuck! But something I wouldn't even try might be worms – you know, grubs or some other wormy delicacy in another country.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Okay, a year ago I would definitely have said milk chocolate, but now they are coming out with some tasty dark chocolate sweets. I mean, have you tried Reese’s Dark Chocolate? And Sprinkles has this chocolate cupcake with marshmallow filling and dark chocolate ganache that’s divine. And let me mention one more. At the Cheese Cake Factory, they have the Godiva Dark Chocolate Mouse cheese cake that is so heavenly I was UNABLE to share it with anyone! until I’d had my fill. (They give you such a big slice, I was eventually able to share some and still have some to take home.)

Do you watch TV – if so, what are some of your favorite shows?
I like S.K.’s answer, “Bwah hahha, do I? YES.”  I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed. I can go probably one, maybe two nights in a week without watching TV. But more than that would start to hurt.

I love some of the food competition shows, like Top Chef, The Worst Cooks in America, Chopped, Sweet Genius… there’s a million. I also love The Amazing Race, Law & Order SVU, and Sunday Best.

Here's the "No Badge" Blogger's Tag:
In case you haven't learned enough about me, John Byke of 2012writers Still Alive started a Blogger's Tag, and I agreed to take part in it. Here are the rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and eleven random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

My photo and 11 random facts:

1. My childhood dog was named Chico

2. A chunk of my hair in the back fell out after dying it once
3. As a child I used to suck my thumb, and every now and then I still get the urge to do it (but don't)
4. My brother and I used to shoplift Cadbury's candy bars from the grocer
5. Now, as an adult, I do my best not to lie, even a little
6. I loved the movie Oz: The Great and Powerful. Saw it in IMAX 3D
7. I'd rather be miserably hot than cold
8. I hate ironing clothes, and buy clothes that don't need to be ironed
9. One privilege I don't want to give up is having a housekeeper
10. I only buy new shoes once the old ones are nearly falling apart.

These are the 11 questions my tagger asked me:

1. Favorite vacation spot?  Italy, the Amalfi Coast

2. Shoe size?  9

3. Favorite celebrity?  I’ll change that to favorite actor. (I’m not into all that celebrity stuff). This is hard. I’ll say Will Smith. I can’t wait til his new sci-fi movie comes out with his kid.

4. Cats or dogs? If I were to have one, cat. They need less attention and play with time.

5. Satellite or cable TV?  Cable TV. Don’t like the extra garb you need for satellite.

6. Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? Who knows? Going by familiarity, I’d say Bill Gates.

7. Rice or noodles?  Rice, brown rice at that!

8. What secret or hidden talent do you have? Spending time alone, even going on vacations and to movies by myself.

9. Any pet peeves about people in general? Gum smacking.

10. Complete this: If I could change one thing in the world it would be... all the negative TV shows out there that promote self-entitlement and intolerance.

11. What do you think about the haircut in my picture above? Here’s John Byke’s pic he’s talking about:

 I’d say it’s very monkish.

Okay taggees, now answer these 11 questions:

1. Lefty or righty?

2. “Hi” or “Hello”?

3. What old-time tradition would you want to bring back, i.e., drive-in movies?

4. What celebrity do you think you look like most?

5. What animal would you want to be if you had to be one?

6. Did you have any childhood bad habits, i.e., sucking your thumb? What?

7. Momma’s boy/girl or Daddy’s girl/boy?

8. What’s your favorite leisurely activity?

9. What one word would you use to describe yourself?

10. Popcorn or chips?

11. Who’s the last person (or animal) you kissed?

Thanks for reading. :) I look forward to your comments and answers! Be sure to let me know if you've accepted the tag.