Patricia’s Q&A

One of my recent nominees for the Liebster, Patricia Riviera, wanted my answers to the questions she asked to her own nominees. My oversized ego immediately said yes!

1. What writer most inspires you?
I would say Isaac Asimov. I love his scientific approach to fiction. It’s driven my high school literary analysis, thus making me the nightmare of some of my literature teachers. The ones that didn’t like science anyway.

2. Do you write/blog for yourself or for others?
As of writing these words, for myself. It’s strange, but writing fiction is fun. Writing is a key part of the modern world, so practising it is also constructive, time well spent. Besides, our humble corner of the internet doesn’t attract enough people so that my sole drive for writing becomes that traffic.

3. Who is your favorite visual artist of all time?
Not sure if this fits your question, but it’s Ian Callum, the design director of Jaguar, as in the car. I consider the car as a piece of visual art, in some cases. Jags are beautiful pieces of human ingenuity and technical proficiency. He’s responsible for making them aesthetically pleasing, might I say impressive.

4. If you could learn a new language, which would it be? How would you approach it?
I think Russian is the most beautiful language ever. It would have to be that. As for the “approach”, take classes I suppose, until I’m good enough to go to the country and learn by living. However, I’m not sure I want to stay in a country with the politics and economics of Russia. Then again, I only get the over mediatised political incidents. I wonder what it is really like to live there.

5. What is your biggest phobia? What is your biggest dream?
Easy question, unfortunately. My biggest fear is failure. My biggest dream is success. If that doesn’t fit the bill, I’m scared to death of hornets (I lived in the south of the US), and I’d love to go ‘round the world in a sweet car. Like an Aston, or a Nissan GTR.

6. Assuming you believe in reincarnation, who do you think you were in a past life?
I’m probably the least religious person on earth but I’ll play along. Given that I live a life of relative peace, I’d say whoever I was, he/she wasn’t a bad person. Maybe a merchant of the Renaissance? That would be cool.

7. What mythical creature most represents your personality, and how?
Dragons, duh! I love heat, I hate cold, I love meat, and I have a borderline scary love for chimney fires.

8. If you could invent something to improve the world, what would it be?
A way to safely stabilize the plasma of a nuclear fusion power plant (Nerd alert). That would mean clean, practicaly infinite energy for humanity. No more use for Petrol, cheap electricity due to abundance, spread of access to the damn thing etc… I’d be great.

9. Would you rather: Be a recognized, acclaimed writer in your lifetime, or Remain unnoticed until your death in which then your words will live and be studied forever? Explain why.
I’m not sure if my words are worthy of the honour that is eternal study. I’d rather use my influence while alive to draw attention to things that need it (flaws of the classical educational system, lack of interest in politics, and the classics like world hunger and wealth distribution. I’d add sexism and racism to the list, but a  white teen would probably get accused of doing it for the attention, thus minimalizing the problem and shifting attention away from it in the media. People love to bash on people that do selfless acts that they themselves do not). Bessides, I don’t want all the students of the future to damn me for their bad grades, or the teachers to look for some kind of meaning in every thing I’d write.

10. Tell me about your perfect dessert.
I’m really not a foodie. Anything that contains chocolate will do just fine.

If you don’t know the rules of the Liebster, then you are either new to WordPress (in which case, thank you for flying with air DragonSpark during you discovery of this strange new world) or your incredible skill has catapulted you to fame before someone could nominate you. Either way, the rules are on top of our post concerning it.
For the practicality of the award, I won’t be nominating anyone new.

 

Liebster Award :D

So we both (imabookworm and DragonSpark) got nominated for the Liebster Award by Sue Blake who is a great writer we “met” on the Speakeasy challenge. We’d like to start by saying thank you!
This is so cool I never thought I’d actually get an award! I knew I’d never win the speakeasy but I still managed to get nominated through it (well through someone we know from there) how cool is that?!
Anyway, the show must go on:

The Rules *dramatic music*:
1. Link to the person who nominated you
2. Answer their questions
3. Nominate new blogs for the award
4. Ask them 10 new questions
5. Let the nominees know they have been nominated
6. Smile

Actually I just added that last one it’s not an official rule but it’s cooler if you do 😉

Our (awesome) answers to the (awesome) questions asked:

What has been the most enjoyable or interesting aspect of writing your blog?

imabookworm:
I mainly write stories or poems for challenges, I like having to work with the prompts, pushing myself and trying new things and I’m always glad to get feedback, good or bad, because it helps me improve and get that much closer to being a better writer 🙂
I’m also glad to meet new people with similar interests to me and sometimes a similar mindset. I like meeting someone, knowing very little about them and then discovering them as I read them and comment.

DragonSpark:
Well that’s an easy one. The part I enjoy the most is the period of time (Usually on Sunday mornings) straight after I read the Speakeasy weekly prompt. I usually spend it with a cup of warm coffee in hand, alone in a usually quiet kitchen (I sleep in on Sundays, leaving the rest of the family plenty of time to breakfast), my mind hard at work, trying to solve the challenge that has been set before me. It crafts a basic plot, set in a crafted world with crafted characters. It’s kinda like trying to make a face with PlayDough. You make out the rough edges, then you refine it, change things you dislike, modify them. Sharpen the chin. Draw out the nose. Raise the cheekbones. It’s a fun, enjoyable way to spend the morning, especially knowing it will bring interaction with veteran writers as the week progresses.

Which fictional character’s blog would you most like to follow?

imabookworm:
If Legolas and Gimli from Lord of the Rings had a blog (similar to what I have with DragonSpark) I would definitely follow it! 😉

DragonSpark:
Hum… I’d have to call it even between Indiana Jones, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), James Bond, and Tony Stark… I would love to get a glimpse into the core, intimate personality of these epic characters. I’d love to read Lara’s opinion on modern politics, Tony’s answer to Speakeasy prompts, James’s ramblings written on a cloudy evening and Indiana’s review of the latest Michael Bay movie. If you HAVE to put one on top, it’s Lara, followed closely by Bond.

If you were a superhero what special powers would you have and what would be your cool superhero name?

imabookworm:
I would like to be able to heal people. My superhero name might be something like Blue Dawn or Spark or maybe just Blue. I don’t know… I’d wear blue of course. And have blue hair 😀

DragonSpark:
As far as the power goes, I’d want to control and be able to materialize things from pure energy. Kinda like a cross between Green Lantern and Sam Temple from the “GONE” novels. Except my energy wouldn’t be green. I’d rather gold…. Or maybe crimson red. As for the hero name, I’d probably keep DragonSpark.

What makes you feel sentimental?

imabookworm:
I often cry for nothing except that I don’t want to cry and I then get angry at myself for crying so I don’t think that counts.
I don’t know. I’d say mainly a good book, then it could be a good film with not-too-cheesy sentimental bits in it like Hunger Games (and the books are amazing if you haven’t read them). And House M.D… The rare parts when House is not being his usual miserable self or when there’s something wrong with Cameron. I started watching that this summer.
Also: dawns and sunsets, beginnings and ends…

DragonSpark:
I guess anything that reminds me that time is passing by. A sunset over a calm sea. The remains of a car overgrown with grass on the side of a dirt road. The movement of clouds playing with sunlight. That sort of thing.

Pick a favourite lyric from a song?

imabookworm:
Oh how to chose?? There are so many good songs with good lyrics!
I like Coldplay and Muse lyrics, this however is from neither of those:

“And I don’t want the world to see me
‘Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am”

Goo Goo Dolls – Iris

DragonSpark:
“And I was thinking to myself “this could be Heaven or this could be Hell””
The Eagles “Hotel California”

What was the last movie or TV show that made you laugh out loud?

imabookworm:
I have a very bad memory >.<
At the moment it’s the film festival so cinema tickets don’t cost much. Yesterday it just so happened that we had a word of the day and said word was “genuinely”. So we went to see X-men: days of future past with my brothers and at one point the bad guy says “genuine” and me and my brother looked at each other like “genuinely” and we burst out laughing.
I’m pretty sure we also laughed at the “French” people in the film who sounded anything but French (I mean seriously, no one in France actually speaks like that that’s just in movies).
The evening we saw Edge of Tomorrow with our parents and it was funny, it’s not a very funny kind of film but there are funny moments. I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to see it but I’ll just say this at one point Tom Cruise is like “… when we get to Lyon” and I’m like okay they’re going to Lyon. Ten minutes later I think back to it: wait he said they were going to Lyon, but they’re already in the north of France and they have to go to Germany… Why the hell are they going to Lyon?! (Because Lyon is in the south of France)

DragonSpark:
Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones always cracks me up, however I read the books so that probably doesn’t count. It would have to be The Simpsons then.

When was the last time you did a little dance of joy that probably looked a bit embarrassing?

imabookworm:
This morning when I caught a Pokémon… it’s always so stressful, the ball starts moving and you’re like please don’t come out please don’t come out! …So when you end up catching it you’re pretty happy…

DragonSpark:
Exams finished for me last week. When I got home, the house was mine. I really hope nobody had a camera in my room when I realised I was on vacation.

What do you like most about where you’re living now?

imabookworm:
I’m tempted to say the wifi, my electric guitar or maybe just the fact that I live in a house where there are no noisy neighbours (except for this morning). Otherwise it would be its proximity to three different train lines. I’m sorry that’s not very romantic :p
I used to live in a flat where I could see the sunset from my room (on the 5th floor so I had a good view) every evening so I miss that.

DragonSpark:
Tough one… I’d say it’s my room. It’s like my cocoon. That AND it’s the coolest place in the house (because I decorated it!).

Is there anything that you just don’t get? (E.g. “I just don’t get video games/Twitter/UGG boots… I mean what’s that all about?!”)

imabookworm:
Hmmm… Let me make a list:
People who wear makeup all the time
Guys who shout all the time but never have anything interesting to say
Twitter. It sounds kind of boring: tons of people telling their life with a limited amount of letters so you can difficultly get much meaningful stuff
People’s obsessiveness with flappy bird
People’s obsessiveness with candy crush (I had that game but it was more annoying that anything else)
And the list could go on…

DragonSpark:
Yea, on a more serious note, the one thing I don’t get is homophobia. People say isn’t “natural” and yet there are many animals that do take part in homosexual activities. People say that it’s a threat to families and children, yet many gay and lesbian couples raise their children better than straight parents. Don’t even get me started on the whole “it’s an abomination to God” thing. I’d make a lot of people mad. If you can’t stand the thing, well don’t go to the Gay Pride, don’t socialise with gay people etc… What if someone you know well makes his/her coming out? Well either you’re a true friend/family member and you keep on loving and accepting them for who they are or you act like a selfish five year old and reject them or try to change them.

And finally…
With the 2014 football World Cup now in its knock-out stages, can you make a prediction of the result in the final? (N.b. it’s a perfectly acceptable answer to say “I’m really really really not interested in football!)

imabookworm:
I’m going to say France for the sake of it because I’m French. Apart from that I don’t really care sorry 😦

DragonSpark:
Well, I hope France can make it but Germany is probably gonna kick our butts. So I’d say either Germany or Argentina will win the cup.

 

Nominated Nominees:

Renada

Tinkerbelle96

Abhilasha S

Patricia Rivera

S. J. Paige

 

Our questions to them:

What’s a good book ending/ what’s the best book ending you’ve read?

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever done or that has ever happened to you?

What is/would be (if you had one) first on your bucket list?

If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?

What time period would you live in if you had the choice (“now” and “the future” are not valid answers) and why?

You’re stranded on a desert island with four books, two movies, and an album. What are they?

If you could play any role in any movie, what would that role be and why?

You can go on a three week road trip. Where are you going and what’s your ride?

It’s the best day of your life. What happens?

You are stranded on a desert island with a box (of any shape or size). What’s in the box? (The answer can’t be the same as the desert island question above)

I figured you might have gotten tired with the “why do you blog?” (either DragonSpark too or he just didn’t think about it) but if you want to answer it as a bonus question feel free.

I meant to post this two days ago but I wasn’t quite finished and life happened (unexpectedly I must say, I wasn’t expecting it to appear before Tuesday) so sorry for the delay.

Tadaaa!