Thursday, February 7, 2013

Love Me or Liebe Me!

Al Diaz over at Father Dragon Writes tagged me with the Liebster Award (for blogs with fewer than 200 followers), which was kind of him, in principle, only he's making me do an awful lot of work for it. Just kidding, Al. In my book, any amount of work is too much, so you can just ignore me. :-) I thank you for thinking of me and, folks, I encourage you to check out Al's blog and lose yourselves in the delightful fantasy world he weaves. I dig the man's way with words, and I think you will, too.

Totally relevant tangent: Liebster is the German word for "dearest." So what this award's meant to do, folks, is bring a little love (or liebe) to a lonely blogger's spot in the blogosphere. Aw.

Anyway—here are the Liebster Award Rules:
  1. 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. Upload the Liebster Award image to your blog.
Numbers 1 and 4 = Done

As for #2, I'm going to cop out and just answer and create 11 questions, 'cause I've done the 11 random things before and I'm all randomed out.

Mr. Diaz asks:

1. What genre do you write?

I write dark, whimsical romance. (That's totally a genre.)

2. What are you working on right now?

Answering your questions, Mr. Diaz. Oh, and I'm editing my Greek-Myth romance novel, That Fatal Kiss.

3. Panster or plotter?

That seems a personal question. Oh, what the hell; a bit of both.

4. What do you do when you get writer's block?

Break out the chocolate/curl into the fetal position/go for a smoke. Not necessarily in that order.

5. The best lesson you learned about writing?

To do it without expectation of anything but my own pleasure in the act of creating.

6. Which POV do you prefer to write?

Third person omniscient, which, I've been told, is old-fashioned and ought not be attempted in the modern era. (Pffffft.) I only recently experimented writing from the first person P.O.V. and quite enjoyed it.

7. How do you respond to critiques?

I'm grateful for constructive criticism which helps me deal with problematic issues in my writing, delivered with respect, as I endeavor to do.

8. Do you argue with your characters?

The main characters I'm working with at the moment are the Lord and Lady of the ancient Greek Underworld, so I don't think it wise.

9. Do you have a bad timing muse (i.e. the one who gives you the best ideas when you can't do nothing about them)?

He sometimes transmits inspiration through my dreams. I've woken up with plot points, even fully formed songs which I had only to jot down upon arising. If I don't do this, I lose the gift in my misty memory, which is my fault, not his.

10. The book you cherish the most?

Cherish, huh? Hmmm... Must there be only one? What is this, Highlander?

11. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what kind?

I must. Usually, it's new wave, goth rock, or alt rock. Maybe a bit of dubstep now and again, for when I'm feeling frisky.

My "questions" for my nominees will come in the form of "fill in the blanks":

1. Some movies I love are:
2. As for music, I groove to:
3. I rarely miss these TV shows:
4. I hated these foods when I was a kid, but now I heart them:
5. I like to celebrate my loved ones by:
6. Some authors whose every work I will read without fail are:
7. These colors make me feel great when I wear them:
8. I'm always up for a game of:
9. My fave treats from that special someone are:
10. I think it'd be fun to try out this job for a day:
11. I really liebe:

(Yeah, I'm a bitter old hag, but sometimes, only sometimes, mind you, I like to accentuate the positive.)

Nominees I'm about to...well, nominate: you made it to this list 'cause I dig your style, so don't hate on me for passing along this work award—you brought it upon yourselves.

Adventurous Tiger
Ari Michaels Writes (I've no idea how many followers Ari has, but she should definitely have more.)
Hypnotik Eye
No Natural Mama
Precious Monsters
Pull Up a Toadstool
Random Stream of Consciousness
Surviving Boys
Tahoma Beadworks & Photography
The Ranting Monkey
The Six-Fingered Monkey
Warped Nerdiversity

OK, so if y'all were counting carefully, you'll notice I've exceeded my target number of nominees by one. You see, my Dudes, in most things, I think it's best to err on the side of generosity. Because, if I'm being honest, *I* need all the liebe I can get...


38 comments:

  1. I actually learned a bit more about the Liebster Award in this post than I ever knew before. :) Thanks for the edumacation! And I liked your answers :)

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    1. Thanks, Trisha! I happen to know just a weeeee smattering of German and realized the root of "Liebster" had to be "liebe," so imagining this "award" as a promotional tool for our dearest bloggy friends wasn't a big stretch. :-)

      I'm gonna hop over to your new blog site
      in a mo, see you soon!

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  2. Thanks for the award! My second blog could use a little love!

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    1. L.G., it's my pleasure. And I intend to visit it more, too. Working a full-time day job makes it really hard for me to sprinkle my liebe throughout the blogosphere, but I'm trying! :-)

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  3. Hahaha, you were complaining about work and you even unraveled the origin of the Liebster award. I think I am the lazy one. So very well done. And it was great to learn a little more about you. Congratulations :)

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    1. Well, now, as I mentioned in my response to Trisha's comment above, my little bit of German helped me infer the meaning of the award, but I can't really say I did all that much research beyond making sure I understood the translation of the word "liebster." However, this blogger DID do quite a bit of research on the origin of the Liebster Award and found this post from a German blogger. In it, some of the explanatory text in German roughly translates to "The aim of this action [presenting someone with the Liebster Award] is that we bring good, unknown blogs to light...talented beginners and people that, although they've been blogging a while, are still not as well known." (PS: This translation is courtesy of Google Translate.) So, yeah...basically, it's about showing the love. :-)

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  4. Congrats on the award. I love third person omniscient too - I love the tone of 'can you see what I see' that it gives me. I'm trying not to do it in my current WIP but it's veering that way anyway.

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    1. Thanks, Annalisa. :-) I'm not sure I understand the difference between 3rd person POV and the dreaded "head-hopping," so now I'm paranoid about splitting up scenes when they're told from a different character's point of view. Perhaps I need to do some reading up on POV basics.

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  5. OMG you are so sweet to award that to me!!! Thank you so much and congratulations to you! :D I'll try to do the questions in an upcoming post.

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  6. PoV hmm highbrow Mina - well you have nominated some fab blogs, not mine obviously but am not bitter (odd how far a pen can go into a gerbil) - don't seem to have much time for awards etc anyhow - the return to full time employment is soooo depressing. :)

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    1. I'll have you know, my dear Mr. Macaulay, that I traipsed over to your blog to see if it qualified for the "under 200" followers stipulation and lo, you had 201!!!!! Rulez is rulez, mate. ;-) (Also, I'm not sure I take your meaning with the gerbil comment and, frankly, not sure I care to...) :-D

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    2. lol gerbil diagrams in the mail. That's true after despairing of ever reaching 200 (I didn't eat or sleep for months) I suddenly hit 201. For some crazy reason I also signed up to A-Z challenge - think it was my competitive mojo kicking in :)

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  7. Hey Mina, thanks for the love. My blog is relatively new, but it gets about 8,000 views a month. (Don't be fooled by the follower number.) But I appreciate the award, and I'll work on this this weekend. Have a great evening!!

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    1. I know, Follower counts aren't the whole story. It's engagement and "conversations" that really matter when you're blogging. (Wow, 8000 hits is AMAZING!)

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  8. Congratulations on the award! I love how you describe your genre. :)

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  9. Ha! Funny answers! Thanks for the chuckles and congrats on the award. :-)

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  10. I offer my most humble appreciation, I really am still quite amazed anyone reads what I write. Thank you.

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    1. Well, I think *more* people should read what you write, hence the Liebster Award. :-)

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  11. Thank you for the award. It's my first one ^_^ I'll post answers to your questions soon and pass on the love <3.

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  12. Congrat's on the award, it's nice to know a little more about you.

    "To do it without expectation of anything but my own pleasure in the act of creating."

    So True!

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  13. Eu aprecio isso muito senhora, bonito do escuro!
    I need all the love I can get!
    This is why you are my favorite ;o)
    So, here's my post and stuff ;o)
    http://bleueyedgirl.blogspot.com/2013/02/all-you-need-is-liebe.html
    https://www.facebook.com/BleuMamaDesigns
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/BleuMamaDesigns … #cheeky


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  14. @Unie - You're welcome!!!

    @Yolanda - Thank ye!

    @The Six-Fingered Monkey - De nada, Dude!

    @Tracy - Nice! :-)

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  15. Love the answers. Especially to number five. Lots of wisdom in that and something I'd do better to remember!! Al is awesome, isn't he? Definitely one of my favorite blogs. :)

    I wrote my first book in third person--though not omniscient. I've written in first ever since, because it dominates YA and I got so used to reading it that it felt more natural to write in it. I do still like third though, because I like writing descriptions that aren't necessarily in the characters POV, that are just woven into the story. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass describing everything in first person, but I guess both styles have their good and bad.

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    1. Yeah, Al's a pretty groovy guy. As for POV, I think it's fun to experiment. I might even give a shot at a romance in second person, but I'm not sure if that would be limited to a short story of if I could carry it throughout a full novel. Hmmm... (ponders)

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  16. I like third person omniscient.

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    1. Me too. Though a really good thing about 1st person is that it's way harder to fall into head-hopping with it.

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  17. Thanks for the lieb Mina! I know that it was days ago and that I've done nothing about it, but I promise you that I will...if for no other reason than to link back to you in appreciation. :)

    Really do appreciate you thinking of my little bloggie. <3

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    1. Aw, you're welcome, Dude. And don't sweat linking back or anything; it's all done in the name of a good time, is all. :-)

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  18. Hey Lady. Thanks for nominating me for the Liebster Award. Unfortunately, my list of followers is so meagre that I could only find two folk that have 200 followers or less! Also one of those guys hasn't posted anything since last year! So, I shall gracefully accept your reward and answer the questions given. Maybe if I make nice with the other guys on your nominated list they might make nice with me...

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    1. Yeah, just answer the questions, that'll be dandy. PS: The DM's site (Mark's blog) seems to be down (the message I get reads "deleted") - do you know if Mark shut down shop?

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  19. I loved this "dark, whimsical romance. (That's totally a genre.)" LOL! I totally agree. :)

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    1. Thanks, Mina! I'm hoping that asserting it often enough will make it so! :-D

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  20. Hey there. Mark is blogging a lot less of late. I'm not sure if he has knocked it on the head though. I'll check and let you know.

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