Nomination for Liebster Award

Posted in Inspiration, Misc. by

J.A. Ward Writes has been Nominated by April Books for the Liebster Award! I want to say thank you to my nominator and congratulations to all of my nominees, you all have wonderful blogs.

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

liebster-award1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you.

2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees;

3. 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 letting them know they have been chosen. (No tag backs)

4. Copy and Paste the blog award on your blog.


Random Facts About Me:

1. I am double jointed in my fingers, as in I can do the “genie in a bottle” wave with them.

2. I am a crazy cat lady. I own three cats currently and fantasize about owning a home with a separate cat house where they can all frolic and play.

3. Music is where the other half of my heart belongs. I play guitar, piano and hope to tackle the violin one day. I also write song lyrics and I am constantly listening to music.

4. I like to call my house the Gingerbread House, because it really looks like what I would picture the house from Hansel and Gretal to look like. Minus it being made out of editable materials.

5. I am addicted to the game Ruzzle. This usually changes every few months but the current game that I can’t stop playing on my phone right now is Ruzzle. Wordaaholic MIGHT be my username…

6. I love any movie that is set in Olde English times. Basically if Keira Knightly is in it, I have seen it.

7. I am the oldest of four siblings, and my only brother, also the youngest, is 15 years younger than me!!

8. I married my high school sweetheart. I met him when I was 17 and we dated for a few years until he moved to North Carolina and I went to college. We broke it off for awhile but fate brought us both back home a few years ago and we got back together and got married and the rest is history. Or is it herstory?

9. I have a super writer crush on Maggie Stiefvater. I have calmed it down a bit recently but I still love her like whoa. Not just for her writing but for the person she is – I basically want to be her. I mean, she writes best-selling novels, she composes music for them, she sharpies guitars to giveaway when new books are released – how much awesomer could you be??

10. I heart dolphins. I finally got to actually go swimming with some of them on my honeymoon and it was amazing. I sometimes imitate a dolphin to annoy my husband. I think I sound a lot like them but he says I sound like I am choking while trying to laugh. PS – if you heart dolphins too, never watch the documentary The Cove. You will be crying for days.

11. I have a small obsession with castles. One day when magical money appears in my bank account, I am going to go over to Europe and seeing as many castles as possible. So, like, ALL of them.

Questions from My Nominator:

The questions below are from April Books:

1.       What got you into blogging? When I decided that I wanted to put a lot of focus on my writing, I started a blog. I can’t lie … part of it was just the assumption that as a writer you have to have a blog these days. But I also had been reading practically every blog entry Maggie Stiefvater wrote on hers and it really helped me get through some tough spots when trying to write my first draft. When I thought about this, it made sense to me to try and document my journey as a writer, and what better time then to start at the beginning? This way if I do make it to publication, people will be able to see my complete journey through my posts.
2.       Favorite TV show and why? I honestly cannot pick just one. I have a few favorites for different reasons. One would have to be Downton Abbey because, as I said above in the facts about myself, I love anything set in the old English times and it also helps that the show is fabulous. Second choice would be Justified because the acting is just amazing and so is the writing. It is one of the first shows where I actually might like some of the bad guys more than the good guys! And finally, Breaking Bad. I just started watching it on Netflix and my husband and I blew through 4 seasons within a month or so. It was that good. It is just such an interesting concept and the depth of change that the main characters go through is amazing to watch.
3.       When writing books are there any reoccurring themes in your work, or if you’re not an author are there any reoccurring themes in the books you like to review? I like something with a little magical twist to the story. I still definitely have some ideas that don’t have any supernatural elements to them but I seem to be drawn into characters who have to deal with issues above and beyond the norm – like immortal stalkers and discovering you are from the future and have loads of super powers to play with. That kind of stuff. There is almost always a significant love theme though as well. I am fascinated with love and all the different forms it can take.
4.       What were you like as a teenager? As a teenager I was very bookish and quiet. I had my core group of friends and enjoyed being with them and my family. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful boyfriend my junior year who is now my husband, so that was always a highlight of my teenage years. Before him I mostly read and wrote stories and songs on the piano.
5.       Paperbacks or e-books and why? This is a tough one. Before I got my Kindle Fire for Christmas I was super against e-books because I just loved the feel of holding a real book. I think if I were to read something strictly for myself I would still prefer a paperback. But now that I have my Kindle Fire it is just SO convenient. To be able to carry around so many books to choose from, to be able to highlight a word and look up the meaning if I don’t know it, to highlight favorite passages and takes notes ….I could go on forever. As a writer that is very important so I am going to have to convert and say e-book now! But I have hardcovers of ALL my favorites, of course.
6.       Do you have a funny vacation story? When my husband and I went on our honeymoon to the Bahamas, there was a staff person that called my husband away from our table when we were having breakfast one morning. He reluctantly went over to the corner of the room to talk to this guy. When my husband came back he was shaking his head and laughing. The guy was asking him if he wanted to buy some weed. My husband politely declined. OH, also on that same trip when we went swimming with dolphins, the one dolphin decided it needed a bathroom break right in the middle of our session. Let’s just say the water was not the crystal clear blue that it had been before that incident.
7.       Have you ever been out of the country and where did you go? I went to the Bahamas for my honeymoon and I have been to Canada multiple times, mostly to see Niagara Falls but once other time to go to Toronto for business.
8.      Book you’re most looking forward to reading this year? I have not read the Insurgent series by Veronica Roth so I am definitely looking forward to that. Also Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Princess comes out soon too! There should be another Raven Boys book in September as well that I am excited for. Also the ton of books I received for Christmas are screaming on my shelves to be read!
9.       Biggest turn off in a book? Flat characters. There are only a few books that killed me to finish because the characters were so very flat and predictable. I can get through a cliche storyline or not the greatest action happening if the characters are well-rounded and memorable.
10.   What are you doing when you’re not reading or writing? I am watching awesome movies I borrowed from the library or Netflix with my husband or I am listening/playing/working out a song on the piano/guitar.
11.    Favorite holiday and why? I would have to say Columbus Day because it always falls around my anniversary and my husband and I both get it off for work so we usually plan a long getaway weekend together to celebrate and relax.
My Nominees:
All of the blogs below are deserving of this award and I hope all my followers check them out!


My Questions for Nominees:

1.       Who is your favorite author and why?
2.       If you could hang out with one character from a book or TV show for a day, who would it be?
3.       Edward or Jacob? Or neither? Or..both??
4.       What was your favorite book series you have ever read that wasn’t Harry Potter?
5.       Do you have any pets? If so, what do you have?
6.       What aspect of writing do you find the hardest?
7.       If you could live anywhere else for a year – all expenses paid – where would you live and why?
8.      Who is your favorite band/singer?
9.       Name a celebrity crush.
10.   If you could go back and change your name from birth, would you do it? What would you change it to?
11.    Favorite vice or addiction?

14 thoughts on “Nomination for Liebster Award”

  1. First of all thank you very much for the nomination. I am amazed you play the instruments I wanted to learn since I was little, guitar and piano. That detail about the dolphins sound made me laugh, I can imagine you. 🙂

    Reply

  6. Thanks so much for nominating me! It will be fun to answer these questions.

    And I really enjoyed reading your answers! I am also a crazy cat lady or really just a crazy pet lady and I’ve fantasized about a separate house just for pets LOL. Also love Downton Abbey and Justified, I’m a tv junkie.

    Thanks again for including me in this, and congrats on your award! 🙂

    Reply

Leave a comment