I want to thank Marilyn Davies at Mindful Splatter for nominating me for The Liebster Award. I’m honored you thought of me!

Here’s how it works:

Thank the person who nominated you and put a link to their blog in your post. Answer the 11 questions they have given you, list 11 random facts about yourself, and create 11 questions for your nominees. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been chosen. With all the talented people out there, it should be easy. Finally, paste the Liebster logo on your page for others to admire.

So here goes.

The questions I was given:

• What musical instrument would you like to play, and why? I played saxophone through college and often miss it, so if I decided to play an instrument again I would dig the old sax out.
• Do you believe in ghosts? Depends on what day you ask me. Sometimes I’m extremely logic driven and only believe in things that can be proven. Other times my imagination takes charge and I get a great thrill out of creepy ghost stories.
• If you had a chance to travel to Mars, would you? Definitely not. I actually thought about this recently when I saw a call for volunteers for a proposed colony on Mars. A one-way trip, spending the remainder of your life inside a glorified tin can, never again feeling the sun on your face or visiting friends or watching a sunset over the ocean . . . um, no.
• What is your favorite book, and why? That question is just mean–way too many to choose from. “The Hobbit” had a major impact when I read it at the age of eleven, so I’ll go with that.
• What is your favorite gift someone has given you? I love the spa days and thoughtful gifts my sweetie gives me, every sweet-but-misguided present my little ones come up with and the beaded Christmas ornament a dear friend recently made for me. I think my favorite gift, though, would have to be a surprise party for my birthday. There’s nothing better than the gift of love, friendship and time together.
• Who is your favorite actor, and why? Brad Pitt, because we went to the same elementary school. and I remember him when he was a sixth-grade golden boy running for student body president. I was only in kindergarten, but even back then we all knew who he was.
• When are you the happiest? Um, that question could easily get way too personal. 😉 I’ll go with right after I’ve finished a great writing session–nothing beats that feeling of accomplishment. Except when my little boys tell me they love me.
• What is your favorite zoo animal? Giraffe. Our local zoo has a giraffe feeding station that my boys love.
• Have you ever met a world-famous person, if so, did you talk to him/her? Why yes, way back when I was a student at Dartmouth College. A man was arguing with the cashier at the little local pharmacy because his bill was one penny off. He persisted until the line stretched across half the store and the poor cashier was in tears. I finally handed him a penny and asked if we could please move on now. He shot me a nasty glare and stalked out without a word. The other people in the store gaped at me, and one of them said, “Did you know that was Charles Bronson?”
• How many books do you think you read a year? A couple dozen, maybe? I’d like to read more, but it’s hard to create my own fictional world when I’m caught up in someone else’s.
• Who is your favorite author? Another cruel question. I can’t pick one! J. R. R. Tolkien, Philippa Gregory, Michelle Moran, George R. R. Martin, J. K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Joss Whedon, Aaron Sorkin, Carrie Vaughn and Cecily White for starters.

11 Random Facts About Me:

• I can recite the Charm of Making from the film Excalibur.
• I watched The Empire Strikes Back in French while traveling on a cargo boat in French Polynesia.
• I adore cilantro and tomatillos and despise salmon and coconut.
• I was lead singer in a bar band in Denver.
• I love to scuba dive with sharks.
• I make killer chocolate chip cookies.
• I have a go-kart track in my backyard.
• Halloween is my favorite holiday. No, the Fourth of July. No, Christmas!
• I have nightmares about tornadoes.
• When I was a kid, my granddad gave me a pig’s heart to dissect. He knew I’d love it.
• Before I can go to bed tonight, I’m going to have to dig a fleet of toy cars out of my sheets.

11 Questions for the nominees:

• What is your work in progress, and how did you choose it?
• What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
• If you could grant yourself one wish, what would it be?
• If you could undo one mistake, what would it be?
• What is your proudest accomplishment?
• What do you do for fun?
• If you had time for a new hobby, what would you choose and why?
• What bad habit do you need to give up?
• Where is the happiest place on Earth?
• If you had a time machine, what period would you visit and why?
• What is keeping you from reaching your dream?

My 11 nominees are:

• S. K. Jarkins gothmomz.com
• Cecily White cecilywhite.com
• Lisa Medley lisamedley.wordpress.com
• Alison Merritt legendsandloversseries.blogspot.com
• Barbara Bettis barbarabettis.com
• Shirley McCann shirleymccann.blogspot.com
• Wanda Fittro awritercalledwanda.blogspot.com
• T. Sue Versteeg tsueversteeg.com
• Cindy Blackburn cueballmysteries.wordpress.com
• A. M. Buxton ambuxton.wordpress.com
• Janet B. Taylor janetbtaylor.com