Liebster Award nominee. That’s me!

Thank you, Susie Reece, for nominating me for a Liebster Award!

I spent the first 10 to 15 years of my writing life completely alone and without knowing any other writers before finding the local fiction focus critique group friends who are still in my life to this day, and before finding the Livejournal community that fulfilled me and taught me the importance of connecting regularly with other writers. I recently moved my writing blog from my website to here in the WP community because I was feeling ridiculously isolated online. In my mind, this shows that I did the right thing. *whew, relief*

Here is the link to Susie’s nomination. I appreciate her kind words about my blog. Although I’ve read that some folks don’t participate because they see the Liebster as kind of a chain letter, it seems to me a lovely gesture from a fellow blogger that helps to promote you. (As Susie said, think Screen Actors Guild—SAG Awards—but for bloggers by bloggers.) Taking a little time out of your busy day to sit back, take a breath, and have a little fun sharing things about yourself with readers and fellow bloggers can relax and recharge you.

No questions were specified, so I’ll use the ones given to Susie when she was nominated. (WARNING: I am a Queen of Long-winded.) Away we go. 🙂

1. If you had one wish what would it be? World peace. That might sound beauty pageant-ish and cliché-ish, but it isn’t. Anything else I wish for won’t come to pass if this world is blown up or we’re all killed in the name of some cause.

2. If you could change one law, what would it be and why? (My apologies, in advance, if what I’m about to say offends or hurts anyone who is reading this. That is not my intent. I’m being truthful about something that hurts me as a woman, to my soul.) If I had my way, female genital mutilation would be abolished worldwide. You can talk culture and tradition and spin it and justify it any way you want, but I’ve seen it done and the bottom line is it’s barbaric and cruel. I’ll bet if the shoe were on the other foot, men would have long gotten that practice taken off the books with a quickness, or gone to war trying. (No, circumcision doesn’t even come close.)

3. What is your favorite movie? First place is a tie between Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). These two films continue to feed the hopeful child in me even though I see the world through adult eyes now. Directly behind those two are Life of Pi (2012), because it feeds the hopeful adult in me.

4. What is your dream job? Being able to support myself totally with my writing.

5. If you could travel to a different time period, when would it be? I’ve always been fascinated by the time of the Pharoahs in ancient Egypt, but with my luck, I’d probably be living on the wrong side of the tracks. Only if I had an H.G. Wells time machine and could zip right back to present day would I dare attempt it.

6. Do you love zombies, if not why? I sort of like zombies because in the world of fictional disasters, they’ve put my town high on the map (The Walking Dead)! I sort of don’t like zombies because they only see me as organ meat. Yetch.

7. Who is your favorite actor/actress? I love Denzel Washington’s work, and the amazing Glenn Close. My favorite Korean actor is Rain (Jung JiHoon), and Choi JiWoo is my Korean favorite actress. My favorite Japanese actor is a toss-up between Takeshi Kaneshiro and Takumi Saitoh. My favorite U.K. actors are Idris Elba and Clive Owen; U.K. actress, Tilda Swinton. If you’re talking Latin flava, I’m talking William Levy and Edward James Olmos. It’s impossible for me to have just one or two favorites in the whole world, because there is so much talent out there and all of these actors give you something different that another does not.

8. Do you now or have you ever had a nickname? Back in high school, I remember classmates calling me Stuff. Since the day I was born, my dad has called me Puddin’. LOL

9. What would you want your last meal to be? Pork tenderloin, kimchi cucumbers, and rice from 운암종 (Stone Bowl House) in Atlanta, plus fried dumplings and a bottle of 백세주 (Bek SeJu) from Choi’s Korean Kitchen in Fredericksburg (VA), plus real New York cheesecake for dessert, all chased by real Southern iced tea. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

10. What is your biggest fear? Being confined to a small or enclosed space with no way out.

11. Do you think I’m awesome? Not particularly. *ducking and covering* Just kidding! Gotcha! You are utterly awesome, Susie. Keep up the good work. 🙂

Now, I have to give 11 facts about myself.

1. I’m somewhat of a melting pot – descended of African slaves, Irish settlers, and Native American tribes (Cherokee on my mother’s side, Seminole and Blackfoot on my father’s side).

2. I am addicted to Korean and Japanese dramas and Mexican telenovelas to a frightening degree. Speaking of Korea, I am a huge Rain fan. Like, off the charts.

3. As a writer, I hate outlining and I avoid it whenever I can (though I don’t advise anyone else to do that). The majority of the parts and pieces of my stories are stored upstairs in the ol’ gray matter. They seem to like it better up there.

4. When General William T. Sherman came a’ callin’ on Atlanta in 1864, some of that Civil War fighting came through my town and right across my lawn. If I drive over to Vinings Mountain and park between the office buildings and apartment complexes, I can gaze at Atlanta from just about the same vantage point he did. Very humbling.

5. I love arts and crafts. I knit, crochet, and embroider. One day, I hope to dabble in quilting and make one out of my Maid of Honor dress from my little brother’s wedding.

6. I’ve lost both my little brother and my mother to multiple cancers.

7. I’ve never been able to keep a book-bound diary or writing journal (remember how they’d have a lock and key?). By the third day, I’d bored myself silly with it every time. When I finally tried blogging instead, on a lark, it stuck and I haven’t stopped since.

8. I’m a Korean language student. 안녕하세요. 나는 미국입니다.^^ I can read Hangul, recognize some words and phrases, and type it. Sadly, just when we started learning grammar, I lost my teacher (she had to move to another state). So, I have a long way to go yet before I’m any good. My love of South Korea started a long time ago, when my father would send me beautiful dolls in hanbok when he was stationed in Seoul.

9. I can’t work at a messy desk. Clutter and all that comes with it stops me dead in my tracks. There’s a place for everything and everything should be in its place. (Blame my dad’s genetic material for that one.)

10. I have a comic book and graphic novel collection (around 500 total count, multiple titles, in excellent to mint condition) that I started in the late 80s and kept up for around 10 years. I was so hooked on the story lines, I could hardly wait for the new issues each week. (Yes, my kid’s friends thought I was the coolest mom in town LOL) I’d have a lot more but for the fact that an arsonist burned our apartment building down back then, and I lost 2/3 of them to fire, water, and soot. In a few more years, when most of them are 25 to 35 years old, I’ll re-inventory what I’ve got, revisit the stories, and see what they’re worth.

11. When my OCD is triggered, it sounds exactly like the Earl of Lemongrab. “Unacceptabllllle!! Youuuuu!! Twelve years dungeon!!” *sigh*

Forgive me for being so long-winded. That, too, is my Dad’s fault.

I’m having way too much fun with this.

I have 2 nominees for the Liebster Award instead of 5, because 1) ALL but 1 of the blogs I’m regularly reading right now have more than 200 followers, 2) I don’t want to flit around the community and pull blogs that I haven’t been reading for the sake of having 5, isn’t that cheating? And 3) A lot of blogs don’t show you how many followers they have. At this rate, it’ll take me another month to publish this post, for the searching. No can do. Here are my 2, if they choose to accept it! If you don’t, just know that I think your posts are awesome.

1. Short… but not always so sweet, Belle Beckford. http://shortnotsosweet.wordpress.com/

2. Bhartithewriter, Bharti Athray. http://bhartithewriter.wordpress.com/

I truly enjoy spending time on these two blogs every week. Belle and Bharti, sincere thanks for making me reexamine my life and this world we’re all on.

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As I understand it, the Liebster started around 2010 and its origins have been lost over the Internet as time has progressed, but here is the gist of it and the rules (I was given 11 questions, 11 facts, and 5 bloggers).