Oh my God, YOU GUYS! I got some kind of an award! Woohoo! Thanks to Nikki Roberti for nominating me on her blog for something called a Liebster award. Now I’d never heard of it. So…. I checked Wikipedia and discovered: The page “Liebster award” does not exist.

Cutting edge stuff right here.

And if you run Liebster through Google translate from the detected German to Punjabi, you get ਪਿਆਰੇ. Doesn’t that look cool?

I’m clearly just procrastinating now. With no indication what exactly I get for doing this other than that sweet sweet narcissistic kickback I present:

The ਇਹ ਪੁਰਸਕਾਰ

Here are the questions Nikki asked. Stay tuned for the questions I get to ask my victims friends.

1) How did you come up with your WIP’s title?
My current WIP changes titles more often than I update my Nano word count. Whenever I think of one I love, I go straight to Amazon to see how many books already snagged it. My favorite working title is now a secret for the time being, since it hasn’t been taken yet.

The working working title I tell people is Flirting Near Disaster. How I came up with that was when the song ‘Flirting With Disaster’ came on the radio and I thought it might make a great title, but then checked Amazon and found it was, obviously, taken. Since the name of the rock band in my story is Near Disaster, I thought of calling it Flirting With Near Disaster, but even I can tell that sucks. The secret name is way better.

2) What motivates you to write?
The voices in my head. Also napping. Napping always motivates me to write because as soon as I lay down, I have an epiphany. And then I get up to write and damned if I don’t want a nap. I am planning to invent a device that just records my brainwaves straight to Scrivener so I can write all day long in the manner I work best — napping.

3) Do you find yourself putting past experiences in your book? Give an example!
I draw a lot on past experiences, mainly because it validates that something I’m writing is plausible. It not only could happen, it did. The end result often ends up only vaguely connected to anything real. An example? In Calamity, Mallory has an older hair dresser she goes to out of loyalty more than out of any faith that he’s worth his salt. This hair dresser was inspired by my dentist who is literally eighty, and whose skills as a dentist are questionable. But you try telling that sweet old man you’re going to start seeing a modern dentist. You’ll have a hard time because your teeth hurt so much.

4) What is your main character’s biggest obstacle?
She’s judgmental and makes too many assumptions without verifying her opinions. She can look someone over one time and decide everything she needs to know about them. And she’ll misread situations based on her preconceived notions.

5) What is your crutch word that you always have to go back and delete because you use it too many times?
Just.

I’m giggling at how long that question was for such a sad little answer.

6) Who is your author role model and why?
Now that I’ve joined the writing community, my role models are anyone who puts the work in day after day, despite the constant fear of rejection — and also the constant rejection. They write amazing stories that I get to read. I’ve learned so much from so many people who generously share their time and knowledge — how to get rid of junk words or become a plotter or navigate the foreign waters of publication. So at this time my Pitch Wars buddies, my Pitch Wars mentor, and my critique partners are my constant role models and inspiration.

7) What happens in your favorite scene from your WIP?
My MFC discovers that she had misjudged the MC completely, and the truth is going to rock her world. Get it? Because of the rock band?

8) Please share a favorite line from your manuscript!
This is from a scene where Eden is in the dentist chair (not my octogenarian incidentally). She’s leaning back, drill shrilly squealing, and the dentist has on his blue mask, peering into her mouth. And he says …

“So, maybe we could go get a drink or something later.”
My eyelids went wide. “Argh ghongh ang argh.” Honestly, how could he think I’d say yes?

9) Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year?
Yeah. I can’t imagine not doing it.

10) What advice do you have for other authors?
Just keep swimming. If you love to write, keep at it. Find a writing community, share your work, and critique other writers. Surround yourself with people who understand. When you finish writing one thing, set it aside and write another. But mostly back to the first — keep swimming. Nobody can make you stop writing but you.

And now I get to tag some of my blogging buddies with questions of their own.

Colleen Halverson
Esher Hogan
Laura Heffernan
Ron Walters

1) When did you decide to become an actual for real, sweat-pants-wearing, coffee-drinking, dirty-kitchen-inhabiting writer?
2) What genre(s) do you write and why are you drawn to that?
3) In fifty words or less, what is your current project about?
4) On an average day, what’s your writing routine?
5) Are you a plotter or a pantster?
6) Who is your favorite character you’ve ever written and how would you describe them?
7) What’s the most egregious writing cliche you’re guilty of committing?
8) What’s the greatest word in the English language?
9) What do you do on days when you just. can’t. write.
10) Which book do you wish you’d written and why?