Behind the Blogger Book Tag
I was recently tagged by Kenzie to participate in this Behind the Blogger Book Tag! I figured it would be a fun one to do this week, since next week marks the beginning of my Summer School - Self Publishing Edition series! There will be posts up every Monday and Wednesday for the next 7 weeks, some of them guest posts, some of them by myself, all of them chock-full of useful information for anyone curious about Self Publishing!Okay, let's get on to the tag and TODAY'S post, shall we? First up, the ever-important GUIDELINES er... RULES and REGULATIONS!
— RULES —
- Thank the person who nominated you! . . . Thanks, Kenzie! I always enjoy having blog tags to fall back on when I don't know what else to post! And this one looks fun
- Answer all the questions down below!
- Pingback to the creator of the tag . . . This would be Ellyn@AllonsyThornraxx (Love the Doctor Who reference right there in her blog name!)
- Nominate 5+ bloggers who you’d like to know more about to do this tag! . . . 5 is a reasonable number, I can probably do that.
1. Why did you start blogging and why have you kept blogging?I started blogging way back in November of 2004 when the craze had just sort of kicked off. I had a Xanga blog back then (yep, that's where I started!) and I mostly started because 1) a friend told me I should, 2) I enjoyed journalling, and 3) I was about to publish my first book.Since then, my first blog had to be ported over to blogger, because xanga went belly-up, but I still have it, though it's a private blog just for people I actually know in real life (mostly for my mom so I can keep her apprised of what's going on with her grandkids) and for myself so I can look back and remember things. I update there fairly rarely these days, though.I decided to split off from that more personal blog and create the first iteration of my professional/author blog a few years later in August 2007.Why have I kept blogging? That is the all-important question, is it not?The answer is simple: I love it.I love having a place where I can write up my random thoughts... and get some feedback on them. I always love it when I see a new comment, and I love it even more when it's a LONG comment! You never, ever, ever have to apologize for leaving me a novel in the comments section (well, okay, if you write me 50,000 words in there, it will take me a VERY long time to read and respond, so don't go taking me literally), but seriously, I never ever ever mind! As an author of epic fantasy, most of my projects take months to complete. Sometimes they take years. With a blog post, I get to write, finish, add a bit of polish, and publish all within an hour or two. That is a very refreshing feeling, and it helps keep my skills sharp.2. What is your favorite type of blog post to write?Oh goodness. That's a hard question, actually. One of my main problems is that I like to write such a wide VARIETY of posts. But my favorite posts to write are honestly the Henry Fairchild ones. They are also among the most difficult to write, which is why he hasn't been around much lately. I feel like I almost have to write up a bunch of his posts and then have them ready on a more consistent basis. I also don't get as much interaction on those posts, so I let him fall by the wayside a bit.I also enjoy writing movie reviews.Flash-fiction stories are fun.And my February is Fantasy month posts... those are always a blast to write!3. What are your Top Three favorite blog posts?That one's easy:A Great Injustice - my post about why I love BoromirThe Montague Caper - Henry Fairchild's foray into Romeo and JulietOkay, maybe it's not that easy... because I'd have to say there's a dead-even tie for third place between The Most Nefarious Villain Is... and The Least Incompetent Henchman Award
Speaking of which, I am pleased to announce that the Silmaril Awards are returning this SEPTEMBER for the FOURTH year in a row! Mark your calendars, tell your friends, and start thinking about characters you want to nominate! Don't know what the Silmaril Awards are? We have a WEBSITE where you can read all about them!4. What are some of your favorite things to do to relax?I absolutely love hanging out on a boat out on a lake somewhere. I love to swim and be in the water. If I can be out there with a book, so much the better!
I love to read. Reading is probably my favorite relaxing activity.I also enjoy going to baseball games.I love watching good movies or episodes of a good TV show.I enjoy going on bike rides.I love hanging out with friends.I love playing board games.I enjoy playing soccer or frisbee.5. What are three of your favorite things?My family.My friends.My church.6. What are your proudest blogging moments?
Hmmm, honestly, every February when Fantasy Month rolls around, I find myself pretty psyched to be a blogger. And the Silmaril Awards are another proudest moment, even if they weren't my idea originally, I love getting to participate and getting to organize that event and I am so proud of the way they've come together and how so many people seem to enjoy reading and nominating and voting for awesome fantasy characters. Both of these annual events are some of my favorite blogging times and I love how both events bring fantasy fans together from all over to reminisce and gush about some of the characters who have touched our lives.7. What are your hobbies outside of blogging?Writing. (Which coincides with blogging, I suppose, but I am a published author and plan to publish many more books).
Reading. Is reading a hobby? I mean... really...Um... I don't... I don't have hobbies. Um... what do I do? When I'm not writing, I spend most of my time corralling my four hobbits on their daily adventures. That makes me Gandalf. That's it! Outside of writing, my hobby is "being a wizard."Oh, and board games. I very much enjoy playing board games. I mentioned that already.8. Describe your personality in three words.Laid back. Shy. Nerd.9. What are your top three pet peeves?Hmmm. I'm sure I have plenty of these, though of course now that the question has been asked my brain has decided to shout "ABANDON SHIP!" This also happens whenever anyone asks me, "Do you have any questions?" Like, I'm sure I do! I know I do! I had at least 20 of them a moment ago, but now that you've asked me that question, all mine pale in comparison and have decided to hide themselves in shame!Let's see if I can't come up with a few, though....When people interrupt me when I'm trying to read. Especially if I've FINALLY gotten to the big, climactic bit and there's really no good stopping point in sight, I mean, really, I should just press on and finish the book before my next break... and then somebody has the audacity to ASK ME A QUESTION or NEED ME FOR SOMETHING MUNDANE like, "Hey, our children probably need to be fed sometime this week..."
Okay, I don't know if this is a pet peeve, but it's laughably frustrating. I have about a gazillion mechanical pencils, right? And they ALL take size 0.7 lead. So then, WHY IS IT that, when I run out of lead (in ALL my mechanical pencils at the same time, of course), the ONLY lead I have in the house is size 0.5?!?!?!?!? Like, who even bought that? And what did they buy it FOR?!
Non-leak-proof goggles.Why do these exist?Why are they selling goggles that DON'T have the "leak proof" symbol on them? Am I missing something?Toy packaging. The kind you can't open without getting out scissors to chop through the plastic clamshell that is uniquely designed to be impossible to cut open with scissors, thereby requiring that in the process of opening the toy, you must sacrifice a percentage of one of your fingers for the privilege of handing the unpackaged item to your child, who will play with it for approximately 27.6 seconds before abandoning it in favor of the cardboard box it arrived in!10. What's something your followers don't know about you?This one is hard, because I'm not a super-secretive person. But, this one you may not know. First, a few bits of background information: I have always had a vivid imagination and a penchant for telling stories, I've been a Star Wars fan since I was about 5 years old, and my maiden name was Walker.What all this adds up to, is that a very young Jenelle (I was about 6 or 7 at the time) held her Sunday School classmates completely spellbound one Sunday morning as I told them in a conspiratorial whisper that I had an older brother named Luke that we didn't talk about because he had gone off to battle the Galactic Empire and we had to keep his identity a secret. Our last name used to be Skywalker, I told them, but when we traveled from Tatooine to Earth, we changed it so that we would blend in more. I then proceeded to swear them all to secrecy, lest the Emperor learn of our existence and use us to get to my brother, who was a hero, by the way, and working on becoming a Jedi.
Ahem.Yes.I was THAT kid.Time to tag people! Let's see, I'm trying to think of some of the bloggers I follow whom I don't normally tag and I haven't seen them do this one yet... Savannah Grace @Inspiring WritesMoth of the DayR.F. Gammon @The Florid SwordRebekah @Flash Flood TypistBeth @Fantasy & Fairy TalesThe million-dollar-question, of course, being: Will I remember to let them KNOW they've been tagged? Hmmmmm.....
And YOU! If you love the look of this tag and want to put it up on your own blog and answer the questions, please, consider yourself tagged!Talk to me! Are you a blogger? What's your favorite type of post to write? What's your favorite type of post to read? Do you share any of my pet peeves? How about hobbies? We bloggers may often come across as gremlins who hide in the dark with our fingers permanently attached to a keyboard, but we do like to get out occasionally! What do you like to do to relax/for fun? What's your favorite board game?